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Tips About The Havanese Breed

  • 12/05/2011

The origins of the Havanese breed of dogs begins on the island of Cuba, a country that still recognise this breed as their national dog. Following Columbus's American exploration, the breed spread to the Americas and then world wide.

European settlers brought to Cuba all the animals from their farms at home and among them, were the dogs from which originated the Havanese breed. The breed (then known as the Blanquito de la Hablana, or Havanese Silk Dog) continued more or less unchanged until the 19th century, when they were bred with French and German poodles to produce the breed as it is today. Following the political and social upheaval of the Cuban Revolution, the breed faced extinction, but it was pulled back from the brink by a concerned breeder in America starting with a group of only 11 dogs. Due to their popularity, the number of Havanese dogs increased quickly. Nowadays, the breed regularly ranks in the top 50 of registered breeds in America based on total numbers of dogs.

Appearance and General Description of the Havanese Breed

If you're looking for a large, short-coated, physically imposing dog, then the Havanese is not the right dog for you. Instead, these dogs are long-haired, small but sturdy little animals. The Havanese is classified as a toy dog, with a typical height of between 8 to 11 inches and a typical weight of 7 to 13 pounds (think lap dog). They look slightly longer than they are tall when fully grown.

The ancestor of the current Havanese, the Havanese Silk Dog was uniformly white in colour. Modern Havanese dogs have many different colours or combination of two to three colours. The most common colours of the coats of these dogs are silver, white, cream, blue, black and gold. The eyes of the Havanese are usually dark, but chocolate coloured dogs may have lighter eyes. The breed generally has a long silky coat. Their coat comprise two layers, an undercoat and an outer coat, both of them are soft and their hair feels very light to the touch. This coat allows them to tolerate heat very well and serves to protect them against the sun - good to have if you once lived on a tropical island for generations!.

Though not typical for the breed, some Havanese are born with short coats. Genetically, the expression of the recessive gene gives rise to the short coat. The temperament and other physical characteristics of the Havanese dog - (as is known the variety with the short coat), remain the same as to the more common long-haired variety of the breed.

These little dogs are best suited to living indoors, although they do enjoy outdoor activities and need regular exercise. They can live about 14 years. They are suitable pets for all ages, including children. And this makes Havanese dogs the perfect pet for any family. You can read more about their history and origin on this site.

The Havanese breed, initially named Blanquito de la Hablana, or Havanese Silk Dog, evolved from the dogs that accompanied some settlers to Cuba, They are small but sturdy dogs. The Havanese is an indoors breed of dog.

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