Topknots © 2003 Cynthia Rust     www.cynadohavanese.com Havanese are not allowed to be shown in a topknot, but their use has become indispensable to for protecting head furnishings outside of the breed ring. The topknots serve multiple purposes. They allow the dogs to see, while at the same time keeping hair out of the dog's eyes and thus reducing tearing and staining. Topknots are really quite easy to put in as long as you know the basic steps: You will find it easier on your dog and yourself if you elevate their head while working. The simplest way to do this is to have your dog lie down, and position a small bolster pillow or rolled up towel under his chin. This gives him a place to rest his head, and helps hold him steadier while you work. You are going to be working very close to your dog's eyes. Care must be taken to avoid injuring your dog's eyes with the comb. Make a part from inside corner of eye to inside corner of eye. The hair below this line is parted down the middle to the nose to make the side furnishings. The hair above this line will go up to be included in the topknot. Next you will make a part from the outside corner of the eye to the top inside corner of the ear. Repeat this same part on the opposite side. Your final part will connect the lines from ear to ear, over the top of the skull. Because each dog varies slightly in conformation as well as in hair length, you will need to adjust the position of the lines slightly with each dog. With very small puppies, you may even need to make a center part and put the hair in two topknots. When making your parts, the neater the part the less irritating the topknot will be to your dog. With more sensitive dogs, even just a few strands out of place can make a difference. Now you are ready to band it. Be careful not to get the bands too tight. If your dog gets an oriental look to the eyes it is too tight. If this happens, you can loosen the band without damaging your dog's hair by carefully sliding the end tooth of a comb under the front of the bands, and lifting gently. This should move the bands just enough to loosen the hair. If your dog's topknot is extremely long, you can either put in a second band, or you may bring it forward and then tuck it through the center area below the bands (from front to back). Either of these will help make the length more manageable. When using elastic bands, it is very important you cut them out rather than pulling them out. The slightest bit of pulling could damage hair. Suture scissors work quite well to cut the bands without getting hair. Another option is to again take a comb, hook it under one of the bands so that you can pull it away from the dog's hair, and then snip it with a scissors. Never leave a topknot in overnight. The hair can tangle in the bands and become damaged. You will need to put in a new topknot each day. Always remove bands before bathing.   Many Thanks to Adrienne Schneeweiss and CH Elfin Snowhite Startin' Over-"Brody" for the wonderful demo photos. Permission to reproduce and/or circulate this article is granted with the condition that it be disseminated in its entirety and the copyright/credit to Cynthia Rust & Cynado Havanese remains attached. Authored By © Cynthia Rust 2003       Photos by © Adrienne Schneeweiss 2003 www.cynadohavanese.com Last modified May 5, 2004