Opinions on a Havanese?

[Rosebud8506]

Yours is such a cutie!!! I can''t wait to get a fur baby!!

 

[Rosebud8506]

Date: 6/6/2007 3:29:39 PM
Author: njc

Yup, thats her in the avatar. We had a hard time finding mini''s too.

If you havent already looked, the American Kennel Club site is good for breed and other information that may help you out with deciding. There is a ''future dog owner'' link that maybe helpful. Also I found the Havanese Club site that lists info about puppies and rescues among other things.

Just keep asking around!

njc: those are both great sites!! i checked those out! thanks

 

[iwannaprettyone]

My grandad had a Havanese, their coats are SUPER HIGH MAINTAINANCE! I prefer rescue dogs, they seem to "know" they have it good. I have 2 "Twenty Dollar" dogs from the pound and would not trade them for the world.







Here is some specific info from purebredpuppy.com

Havanese
What''s good about ''em
What''s bad about ''em
If you want a dog who...

Is small, yet sturdier (and healthier) than his Maltese cousin
Is playful and entertaining
Is polite with people and other animals
Has a long coat that doesn''t shed (often a good choice for allergy sufferers)
A Havanese may be right for you.

If you don''t want to deal with...

"Separation anxiety" (destructiveness and barking) when left alone too much
Shyness or fearfulness when not socialized enough
Housebreaking difficulties
Barking
Frequent brushing and combing
Very high price tag
A Havanese may not be right for you.

If I were considering a Havanese...

My major concerns would be:

Separation anxiety. More than most other breeds, Havanese need a great deal of companionship and do not like being left alone for more than a few hours. They tend to express their unhappiness through destructive chewing and barking. If you work all day, this is not the breed for you.

Providing enough socialization. Standoffish by nature, Havanese need extensive exposure to people and to unusual sights and sounds. Otherwise their natural caution could become shyness or fearfulness, which are difficult to live with.

Havanese puppies are NOT suited to small children, no matter how well-meaning the child. Children cannot help being clumsy, and that a child meant well is little solace to a Havanese puppy who has been accidentally stepped on, sat on, rolled on, squeezed, or dropped onto the patio. Even Havanese adults may feel overwhelmed by the loud voices and quick movements that children can''t help making -- and stress and shyness (even defensive biting) may be the result.

Grooming. Without frequent brushing and combing, Havanese become a matted mess. If you can''t commit to the brushing, you have to commit to frequent trimming to keep the coat short, neat, and healthy.

Housebreaking problems. The Havanese belongs to the same "family" of dogs as the Bichon Frise, Maltese, Bolognese, and Coton de Tulear, all of which are difficult to housebreak. Consistent crate training is mandatory. Sometimes a doggy door is necessary.

Barking. Havanese are often too quick to sound the alarm at every new sight and sound. You have to be equally quick to stop them.

To teach your Havanese to listen to you, "Respect Training" is mandatory. My Havanese Page discusses the program you need.

High price tag. Though the Havanese is no longer uncommon, many breeders are still charging over $1000.

Not all Havanese are alike!

There are energetic Havanese, and placid Havanese.
Hard-headed Havanese, and sweet-natured Havanese.
Serious Havanese, and good-natured goofballs.
Introverted Havanese, and Havanese who love everyone.

If you acquire a Havanese puppy, you can''t know for sure what he or she will grow up to be like. Because a good number of purebred puppies do NOT grow up to conform to the "norm."

If you''re considering an adult Havanese...

There are plenty of adult Havanese who have already proven themselves NOT to have negative characteristics. If you find such an adult, don''t let "typical breed negatives" worry you.

When you acquire a puppy, you''re acquiring potential -- what he one day will be. So "typical breed characteristics" are very important. But when you acquire an adult, you''re acquiring what he already IS.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Awww...your "mutts" are SO CUTE!!!!!!! I just want to hug them and smoosh them and love on them! (Can you tell how much I love doggies? haha). They look like real sweeties!

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Thanks, I am pretty fond of them!

 

[Mara]

Rosebud I know you already got a Havanese (yay so cute!), but I just had to chime in here and defend Westies....!!! hehee.

As you guys all know we have an amazing Westie girl and while we don't have kids around us typically and she was not raised with children, we raised her and trained her to be super tolerant with basically anything. We handle her (manhandle her) all the time and she lets us roll her over, play with her paws, blow raspberry kisses on her belly, handle her teeth, mouth, take things from her, whatever. When kids come up to her and want to pet her, she doesn't really LIKE them all that much because she doesn't know them (and she is more of a 'hang out with my owners' kind of dog), but she stands here and tolerates it. I don't worry about her with kids in the future because of how we raised her. I think she might be a little jealous but she will be protective as well.

When we got her, we wanted to have a well behaved, tolerant, patient animal that we could take out as often as we like in almost any situation without having to worry about her. I too have seen Westies that were not really trained in the right way (in my opinion) and are not as tolerant as Portia is....and I also read the negatives on Westies about stubborness and not good with kids etc...but I had a Westie when I was a teenager and she was just as tolerant and amazing as Portia is. I think that a huge amount of the way any dog tends to react is how it was raised and trained. So while I do agree that with Westies they can be stubborn, independent, not great with kids....I think that it has to do with how the owner intends to train and raise the dog.

I didn't really read this thread before but I just was checking it out because I am not familiar with Havanese and I saw the comments about Westies and of course being a proud mama of one I wanted to just chime in with our own experience. We would not trade our little girl in for the world, she is an amazing animal and part of our family and I think we done good with her and I think also her easygoing personality comes in handy too!!

 

[Rosebud8506]

I still love Westies! I think they would be too high energy for us, however. I see the two we have walking around in our neighborhood, and they are just adorable. I''m not sure if yours does a lot of digging, but my DH would have a fit if he came home from work and found some holes in our yard.

He''s pretty protective of his lawn, hence another reason why he agreed on the hav.

I think we made a good decision for us on getting the Havanese. I agree with you on the part its the owner and how they are brought up. I think they''ll be used to it if they are exposed to kids and some of the rough play that kids tend to do (no harm intended of course!).

 

[Mara]

hehe rosebud, portia does not dig...we don''t have a yard but i have a ton of plants on my patio and she just likes to walk around and sniff them. when she goes to my parents house she just sniffs them and lays around in the sun, she doesn''t touch dirt. honestly she is such a good girl....she hardly barks, she doesn''t dig, doesn''t bite, doesn''t scratch at anything, doesn''t ruin anything in the house, she''s not that hyperactive, she can be playful and energetic when WE want her to (aka when we get her riled up or take her for a walk or something) but for the most part she is really mellow and likes to just hang with us and do whatever we are doing. she''s very pack oriented. anyway, i could rave for days about her, she is really the best dog and we are so happy she turned out so fabulous. she does have a few issues like a finicky stomach and sometimes she gets the typical westie skin allergies but we have been good so far with managing all of that.

yours sounds like she''s already on the right track, enjoy the puppy days!!!!