To the family pet of people living on a small tropical island. His duties have been
those of companion, watchdog, child’s playmate and herder of the family poultry flock.
His presentation should reflect his function,always in excellent condition but never so over-
done as to preclude a good romp in the leaves. As his personality is rather playful rather
than decorative.
While historically always a toy dog, his size should never be overly large, nor shall he be
fragile as to make him unsuitable for a child’s pet. His unique coat reflects centuries in the tropics, with the thick double coat to protect against the heat and the long hair over the eyes, to protect from the sun.It is remarkable soft and light in texture, profuse without being harsh or wooly.
In both structure and gait, the havanese is not easily mistaken for any other breed.
A havanese puppy will stay in the puppy personality his entire life. A havanese dog will not grow up and be that grumpy dog who doesn’t want to play. This makes a havanese puppy the perfect family pet, they will always be happy and ready to please you.
His characteristic topline, slightly rising from the withers to the rump is a result of moderate
angulation both fore and aft combined with a typically short arm. The resulting springy gait
is flashy and unique to the breed.The overall impression of the dog on the moveis one of
agility rather than excessive ability to cover ground. These characteristics of temperment,
structure and gait contribute inlarge part to the characteristic to the breed, and are essential
to type.
A havanese should have a sweet, happy, playful personality which is very trainable. As you can see in the above photo, this is Barkley, he is full of that happy playful personality. He has stolen the toilet paper roll out of the trash, he has it stuck over his nose and is of course refusing to give it up. This is typical of a havanese personality, smart enough to know that once they do something to make you laugh. It will most definitely become a game.