Havanese Haircuts: 8 Best Styles for the Silky Double Coat

The Havanese hides a surprise under all that softness: it is a genuinely double-coated breed wearing silk. The topcoat is long, fine, and wavy like a Maltese; beneath it sits a light, downy undercoat — a combination almost no other toy breed carries. That double-silk coat is why the Havanese drapes and floats the way it does, why it barely sheds, and why it mats faster than owners expect: loose undercoat gets trapped in the silky topcoat and felts at every friction point. Every haircut below is really a strategy for managing that trade-off. For the breed's full grooming picture — schedules, costs, and tools — see our Havanese grooming guide.

Havanese Haircut Styles at a Glance

Style	Body length	Home brushing	Best for
Puppy cut	¾–1 in	2–3× / week	The everyday default
Teddy bear cut	¾–1 in, round face	3–4× / week	Plush, sculpted look
Havana bob	1½–2 in, blunt line	4–5× / week	Long look, no floor coat
Kennel cut	⅜–½ in	1× / week	Lowest maintenance
Summer length	½ in, fuller head/tail	1–2× / week	Hot months, active dogs
Show coat	Natural, untrimmed	Daily	Exhibitors, devotees
Corded coat	Full-length cords	Weekly separating	The rare traditionalist
Face styles	Natural, round, or tidy	Daily wipe	Pairs with any body

1. The Show Coat — Long, Wavy, and Natural

The breed standard calls for the coat to be presented long and completely natural — untrimmed except for feet and sanitary tidying, no sculpting, no straightening. A mature Havanese show coat falls 6 to 8 inches in soft waves, with the slightly rougher texture of the double coat giving it more body and spring than a Maltese mantle. Many exhibitors part it loosely down the back; the head coat is either left to fall or held in small braids or bands away from the eyes between shows.

The work is real: daily line brushing with a pin brush and finishing comb, always on coat misted with conditioner (dry silk snaps), and a weekly bath with thorough forced-air drying — a damp undercoat under a long topcoat is a matting machine. This is a beautiful, honest, natural coat, and it is a daily commitment without exceptions.

2. The Puppy Cut — the Everyday Default

The style most pet Havanese actually wear: an even ¾ to 1 inch over body and legs, taken with a long snap-on comb and finished by scissor, with the face left soft and natural. At this length the wave still shows, the coat still swings a little when the dog trots, and a thorough brush-out takes ten minutes instead of forty.

The undercoat rule still applies — brush in layers down to skin, especially behind the ears and under any harness — but the puppy cut is forgiving of a missed day in a way no longer style is. Salons define the term loosely, so specify inches; our puppy cut guide covers exactly how to order it so you get the length you expect.

3. The Teddy Bear Cut

The sculpted sibling of the puppy cut: the same ¾ to 1 inch body, but the head is scissored into a full round shape — cheeks curved with shears, crown rounded, ears blended into the circle. Havanese coat takes this style particularly well: the light undercoat gives the face more natural loft than pure silk breeds get, so the roundness holds between grooms instead of collapsing flat.

Budget slightly more brushing than the puppy cut (the fuller face and cheeks tangle around the mouth) and expect the round head to need re-shaping every 4–5 weeks to stay round rather than ragged.

4. The Kennel Cut

The practical floor: ⅜ to ½ inch all over — typically a #4F blade or short comb — with a modest head and a fuller tail plume so the silhouette keeps some Havanese identity. This is the cut for households that want the dog, not the coat: brushing drops to a weekly once-over, burrs and rain stop mattering, and grooms can stretch toward 6–8 weeks.

Two honest notes. First, at this length the signature wavy drape is gone — a kennel-cut Havanese reads as a generic cute small dog until it grows out. Second, resist going shorter than ⅜ inch: skin-close clipping on a double coat risks patchy or textured regrowth and removes sun protection.

5. The Havana Bob

The compromise style groomers reach for when a client loves the long look but not the long-coat labor: the body is left at 1½ to 2 inches and finished in a blunt, even line all the way around — a wearable bob that keeps the swing and wave of the natural coat with none of it dragging the ground. Legs are trimmed into soft columns, the tail plume stays full, and the face is usually kept natural with a light tidy around the eyes.

It photographs like a show coat and brushes like half of one — but be clear-eyed: two inches of silky double coat is still a 4–5 sessions per week brushing commitment, and the blunt hem grows shaggy in about four weeks. This is the style for owners who enjoy coat care but want a ceiling on it.

6. The Corded Coat

The rarest legitimate Havanese style — and it is legitimate: the breed standard explicitly permits cording, putting the Havanese in a tiny club with the Puli and Komondor. Instead of brushing tangles out, the coat is deliberately allowed to felt, then separated by hand into flat, tassel-like cords roughly the width of a shoelace. The double coat is what makes it possible — the undercoat binds the cord's core while the silky topcoat wraps it smooth.

The process starts at 8–12 months as the adult coat comes in: mats are split to the skin by hand (never cut) into sections week after week until distinct cords form, a project of several months. Maintenance flips the usual rules — no brushing ever again, but weekly hand-separating at the skin so neighboring cords don't fuse, and bath days become events: cords are squeezed through with diluted shampoo, rinsed for far longer than feels necessary, and dried completely with forced air, because a damp cord core can mildew. Nobody should sell cording as low-maintenance — but as a statement, nothing else in the toy group comes close.

7. Face Styles: Natural, Round, or Tidy

Whatever the body wears, the Havanese face is its own order:

• Natural bearded face: the traditional look — coat left to frame the face with just the eye corners cleaned. Suits show coats, bobs, and longer puppy cuts.
• Round teddy face: scissored circle, fuller cheeks — pairs with any short body and is the most requested pet face.
• Tidy short face: muzzle and eye area taken visibly shorter than the body. The best choice for dogs that stain, swim, or wear food in their beards.
• Eye handling: the breed's fall of hair over the eyes can be trimmed into a soft visor or held in a small band. Havanese eyes are dark and expressive — most owners regret hiding them.

Lighter-faced Havanese show tear staining much like their cousins — the fixes are identical to the ones in our Maltese haircut guide: short inner eye corners, daily warm-water wipes, and a vet check if tearing is heavy.

8. The Summer Length

A seasonal setup rather than a separate style: ½ inch on the body, legs a touch fuller so they don't look spindly, full tail plume, and the head left rounder and longer than everything else. The dog stays recognizably Havanese from across the park while drying in minutes after the lake.

The double coat cuts both ways in heat — it insulates against sun as well as cold — so the goal is short-and-covered, not bare. Combined with a 4-week groom cycle, this is the easiest whole-summer plan for an active Havanese.

Which Havanese Haircut Should You Choose?

• Minimal brushing: kennel cut, moving to the summer length if you miss the fuller head.
• Balanced looks and effort: puppy cut — the default for good reason — or teddy bear if you prefer the sculpted face.
• Long-coat lover with limits: the Havana bob.
• All-in on the natural breed look: the show coat, with a daily brushing habit to match.
• Something nobody else at the dog park has: cording — after a long conversation with a groomer who has actually done it.

For how these lengths and shapes translate across other coat types and breeds, our complete dog grooming styles guide lays out the full vocabulary.

For Groomers: The Coat That Punishes Guesswork

Havanese clients come in with a photo and a history — the shave-down two salons ago, the ear mats, the exact face shape they finally loved. GroomBoard keeps all of it in the pet profile: comb lengths, face style, matting hot spots, drying notes, and photos from the groom they want repeated, so any groomer on the schedule can deliver the same dog back every time. Automated SMS reminders keep clients on the 4–6 week cycle this double coat actually requires. Start your free 14-day trial →