Havanese Dog Owners ?!?

Is a Havanese breed okay as a family pet (Young-ish Children, Easy Grooming, Reasonably relaxed) ??

Havanese are generally very good with children. They thrive on attenion, and are just about perfect family dogs. They are small, but heavy boned, so not fragil. They are playful without being hyper. They are smart, but not too smart. (they are fairly easy to train, but won't spend their time figuring out ways to frustrate you!) If introduced to toys early, they will "fetch" and play "tug-o-war", but after the puppy phase, they arn't known as chewers. That is their good pionts....now the "bad".......

Although not as difficult as most small breeds, Havanese can be hard to house train, crate training is best!

Because of their small size, many people spoil them. Keep in mind this breed will be a fairly heavy dog for it's size. You do not want to let bad habits go- correct your puppy to make a good dog! Also, taking your new puppy "everywhere you go" can cause seperation anxiety later. Training classes are wonderful!

And, lastly, that wonderfully cute, fluffy white coat is very labour intensive! The correct look for a Havanese is "casual", but as any woman can tell you, that tousled, carefree look is still hard to maintain!! You will need to groom your Havanese several times a week, or keep them clipped short. The cotton like hair also soaks up odors and moisture, so frequant baths are also nessasary. The good thing is that being a "Bichon" breed means that long hair does not shed AS MUCH as most others. But Havanese do shed some.



Because of all it's wonderful traits, this is a breed that has become VERY popular with puppy mills, and, because they closely resemble several other breeds, it is easy for unethical breeders to sell cross bred pups as purebred Havanese. "Papers" are easy to fake, so that is no garuntee of quality or the puppy being purebred. Be very careful! Do a TON of research on your breeder, as well as the breed!

the relaxed and good with kids part is all in the training u do.the grooming in the other hand it quite extencive the need to be brushed daily and trimmed every 4 to 6 weeks depending on how long u keep the coat.baths once a month and they need to be blow dried becuz of the long hair.

I'm not too familiar with the breed but the ones that I work with (I'm a pet sitter and work at a doggy daycare) are kind of standoffish. However, like many small dogs, I'm sure they're very loving with their own families.

not really for a "young" family, although a medium sized playful dog, looks like a sheep, so i doubt its easy to groom (very wooly).

I know several people that own them. Many are not what I would describe as "great" with children. They seem a little intolerant of them, and most of the ones I know live with kids.

A few seem to be great.

Talk to some good breeders and see what they think. Even research in the breed and checking out the Havanese Club of America site will give you a lot of information!

My grandma has a Havanese (Lola) she gets full of energy and then crashes. They LOVE to run. So make sure your yard is fenced. Their hair surprisingly dosnt tangle much. I dont think they would be good with little-little kids, because Havanese arent always in "Play" mode.