Havanese puppies

HISTORY: The Havanese is a member of the Bichon family of dogs. The progenitors of the breed are believed to have come from Tenerife/Spain. Ship manifests from Tenerife bound for Cuba list dogs as passengers brought aboard, and these dogs were most probably the dog of Tenerife. Some believe the entire Bichon family of dogs can be traced back to the Tenerife dog, while others theorize that the orig

ins are in Malta, citing the writings of Aristotle, and other historical evidence of the early presence of such dogs in Malta. Whatever the actual origins of Bichon dogs, these little dogs soon became devoted companions to the Spanish colonists in Cuba and were highly admired by the nobility. A lesser known fact is their use as poultry herders by more common Cubans; a fact to which many attribute the intelligence of the breed which is rather unique for a "toy"breed who does not generally require a lot of smarts as their job is simply to lay on a couch and be pampered. As part of the Cuban Revolution, upper-class Cubans fled to the United States, but few were able to bring their dogs. When American breeders became interested in this rare and charming dog in the 1970s, the US gene pool was only 11 dogs. The American Kennel Club (AKC) only officially recognized the Havanese breed in 1996. With dedicated breeding, and the acquisition of some new dogs internationally, mostly from Hungary, the Havanese has made a huge comeback and is one of the fastest growing breeds of dogs in the AKC. The 2013 AKC Statistics rank the Havanese as the 25th most popular pure-breed in the United States; considering that they came off the AKC's rare breed list just about 20 years ago, this is quite an astonishing development, one that has some breeders worried about careful selection and maintaining a sound gene pool.