Havanese

Temperament:
Havanese are natural companion dogs: gentle and responsive. They become very attached to their human families and are excellent with children. Very affectionate and playful with a high degree of intelligence. These cheerful dogs are very sociable and will get along with everyone including people, dogs, cats and other pets. They are easy to obedience train and get along well with other dogs. This curious dog loves to sit up high on a chair to observe what is going on. It is very sensitive to the tone of your voice. Harsh words will only upset the dog and will achieve very little. The Havanese have a long reputation of being circus dogs, probably because it learns quickly and enjoys doing things for people. Few tend to bark a lot, as they can be taught not to do this. It is not their nature to bark a lot. It is best to teach them not to bark unnecessarily while they are still young to prevent it from becoming a habit. Havanese are good watch dogs - making sure to alert you when a visitor arrives, but will quickly welcome the guest once it sees you welcome them. Some dogs may exhibit a degree of shyness around strangers, but this is not characteristic of the breed. Havaneses live for your every word and gesture. They should be neither timid nor aggressive. It shows no cowardice, in spite of its size.

Grooming:
For pets the coat can be clipped short for easier care. If the coat is to be kept long it needs to be thoroughly brushed and combed at least twice a week. There is a lotion available to prevent the hair from splitting. Clip excess hair from between the pads of the feet. The feet themselves may be clipped to look round. Show dogs need a great deal more grooming. There is little to no shedding, so dead hair must be removed by brushing. Check the eyes and ears regularly. If the ears are not kept clean it is prone to get an ear infection. The beauty of a well groomed Havanese is that it still looks tousled and carefree. If you accustom your dog to nail clipping from puppy age, they should accept the routine as an adult. Teeth should be brushed weekly, and is also best started as a puppy. This breed is good for allergy sufferers. They are a Non-shedding- Hyper Allergenic dog. However, the Short-Coated Havanese have coats more like the average dog, and comparable in looks to a Papillon. They do shed. It is believed, but not yet 100% confirmed, that unlike the long haired Havanese, the Short-Haired Havanese is not hypo allergenic and therefore not a good choice for allergy sufferers.

Exercise:
This playful little dog has an average demand for exercise. This breed needs to be taken on a daily walk.

Living Condition:
Havanese are good for apartment life. They are very active indoors and will do okay without a yard. Havanese are born to live in your home, and not in a patio or a kennel. but at the same time, they require plenty of exercise.

Origin:
Following the French, Cuban and Russian revolutions, the Havanese were almost extinct. Now rare in Cuba, the breed has been facing a crises through the 1900's, but is presently on the rise in popularity, having some dedicated believers in the breed who are actively campaigning for its preservation in the USA. This dog belongs to the family of Dogs called Bichons. The French word Bichon Frise means "fleecy dog" or "curly lap dog". "Bichon"; refers to the bearded appearance of the breed, as the word "barbichon"; means little beard, the word "Frise" means curly. The Bichon Havanese originated in Cuba from an earlier breed known as Blanquito de la Habana (also called Havanese Silk Dog - a now extinct breed) The Bichon Havanese adorned and enlivened the homes of aristocratic Cubans during the the 18th & 19th centuries. Bichon Lapdogs were being brought to Cuba in 17th century from Europe, they adapted to climate and customs of Cuba. Eventually, these conditions gave birth to a different dog, smaller than its predecessors, with a completely white coat of a silkier texture. This dog was the Blanquito de la Habana. In the 19th century, the Cubans took to liking the French and German Poodles, which were crossed with the existing Blanquito to create today's Bichon Havanese. In the development of the Havanese, the Blanquito was much more dominant than the poodle. The Bichon Havanese originated in the 19th century (1800-1900). It was continually bred in Cuba all through the 20th century (1900-2000) and was the preferred pet/dog of the Cuban families. Breeding the Havanese in the USA only started in the 1970's. In the 1960's many Cubans migrated to USA. Most Cuban refugees settled in Florida, and some brought their pets (Havanese). A US breeder, Mrs. Goodale saved the breed from extinction. She advertised in the Florida paper, and found two or three immigrant families who had brought their Havanese from Cuba with papers. From them Mrs. Goodale got 6 Bichon Havanese with pedigrees; a bitch with 4 female pups, and a young unrelated male. Later she was able to get 5 more males from Costa Rica. As an experienced breeder, Mrs. Goodale began working with the 11 dogs. Her first lines appeared in 1974. The UKC recognized them in 1991. The AKC recognized them in 1996. The CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) recognized them in 2001. Around 1980, several German breeders started finding odd-coated puppies in litters with regular Havanese. As these pups matured they did not grow full coats like their other littermates. They had feathering on the skirts, tail, legs, chest, and ears - the rest of the body hair was close lying. They oddly enough grew up to have smooth coats. Breeders got together and found that this was happening in other litters of Havanese and was not a chance genetic mutation in one single litter, but something carried in a lot of Havanese as a recessive gene. These dogs were called Smooth-Coated Havanese, but have picked up the name Shavanese somewhere along the line. The short coated Havanese are not showable or breedable, however they are perfectly healthy.