Hi,

My Mojito used to have a beautiful full show coat (Havanese).  It's still pretty, but since I got Mambo (my other Hav, when Mojito was a year and a couple of months old) it seems to have stopped growing....!?!   I've seen how rough they play some times, and chase each other around, but Hav hair doesn't touch the floor like other breeds, so I'm not sure if that's the problem.  I feed them Nutra Gold, which is a Canadian import and it's done wonders before.  I also add Linatone oil to their food (amino acids and other good stuff for the hair) but it doesn't grow any longer.   We live in an apartment so they are not in a yard, I do walk them at least 3 times a week.  Has any of you had this experience?  He's done wonderful in the ring here in Guatemala, at International shows here and in El Salvador, but I want to take him to the U.S. in 6 months to get his AKC championship.  I'd love for his coat to be a bit longer by then.  Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!

Ana

I have no experience of Havanese but in some of the other long coated breeds , Lhasa Apso for instance , they go through a coat change between the age of 9 to 18 months.....the puppy coat sheds and the adult coat comes in , they need a great deal of coat care when this is happening , I think it's at this point that a lot of *pet* owners will have it all cut off as they can't cope with the matting! Some youngsters have to be taken out of the ring for a few months because they look such a mess...could this be what is happening ?