Introducing The Havanese Dogs

The origins of the Havanese breed of dogs are on the island of Cuba, country that still recognize this breed as their national dog. During the Americas' exploration period also started the breeding of these dogs. A group of European settlers followed Columbus, starting from Tenerife, a small island under Spanish rule in the chain of islands known today as Canary Islands, and established in the island of Cuba. These European settlers came to Cuba accompanied by different animals they owned in Tenerife, including the dogs which are believed to be the ancestors of the dogs. The original name of these dogs was Blanquito de la Hablana, or the Silk Dog, and as a result of their crossbreeding with French and German Poodles, a new breed with a new name appeared. Starting with a group of only 11 dogs, a concerned breeder from America pulled back this breed from the brink of extinction it faced following the political and social upheaval of the Cuban Revolution. Due to their popularity, the number of dogs increased as much as, nowadays, the breed regularly ranks in the top 50 of registered breeds in America based on total numbers

A "Tail" Of The Tape: Size, Color And General Description

The breed does not fit to those who prefer large, physically imposing or short coated dogs. They are small, long-haired, sturdy little animals. The breed is classified among the toy dog breeds, with its regular height between 8 to 11 inches and weight between 7 to 13 pounds. Fully-grown, their appearance is slightly elongated.

The ancestor of the dog, the earlier Silk Dog was uniformly white in color, modern Havanese dog have many different colors or combination of two to three colors. Most of these dogs are colored in silver, white, cream, blue, black and gold. Most of the dogs have dark eyes and their color seems to be related to the color of their coats, as chocolate colored dogs have lighter colored eyes. Their coats are generally long and silky. They have two types of coats, an undercoat and an outer coat, but the two of them are soft and their hair feels very light to the touch. It appears that their coat design is a genetic adaptation to the live on tropical islands, like Tenerife and Cuba, as long as it protects the skin of these dogs from the sun and allows them to tolerate very well the heat.

Surprisingly, some dogs are born with short coats, but this is not typical for the breed. It is due to a recessive gene for short coat length that expresses itself in some animals. It doesn't follow that a short-haired dogs (also known as a Shavanese) should not be considered as a pet; the temperament and other physical characteristics of the dog remain the same as the more common long-haired variety of the pooch.

They are vivid little dogs that enjoy outdoors activities and need regular exercise, but are best suited to living indoors. They can live about 14 years. They are suitable pets for all ages, including children. The Havanese dogs are a good choice as pets for families with children of all ages. You can read more about their history and origin on this site.


The Havanese Silk Dog crossbred with Poodles became the Havanese dogs. These small and sturdy dogs have a double coat. Families having small children will find out the Havanese dogs are suitable pets.

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Orignal From: Introducing The Havanese Dogs