Why the breed exists
The Havanese is Cuba's own breed, developed on the island from bichon-type dogs brought by Spanish settlers and shaped into something distinct: small, sturdier than it looks, with a long silky double coat that insulates against sun rather than cold, and a springy, bouncing gait that is written into the standard. It was a companion to Cuban households for generations, and it is unusually good at the job — sociable, trainable, and genuinely oriented toward people rather than merely tolerant of them.
It is also a reconstruction, and the numbers are small. Few dogs survived the upheaval after 1959, and the American line was rebuilt in the 1970s from eleven dogs traced to Cuban émigré families, according to the Havanese Club of America's own breed history; AKC recognition followed in 1996. The breed is well populated today, so that is dated history and not a plea — nobody needs to rescue the Havanese by buying one. What a family should know is ordinary: the coat is a daily commitment or a regular trim, and a dog bred to be with people does badly left alone all day.
The official written standard belongs to the breed's parent club.Read the official Havanese standard →
Choosing a Havanese on purpose
Every breed has its own list of required health screenings, kept by its parent club and published through OFA. A preservation breeder working in this breed tests to that list and shows you the results — including the ones that didn't go their way.
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