Harlequin Havanese

Havanese

If you have been doing research on Havanese you may find yourself scratching your head at how different they look. I remember when I first became interested in the Havanese breed; I was amazed at how I could go to several websites and none of them looked the same. I eventually fell in love with the European type Havanese.
I especially loved the Hungarian Havanese that made their way from Russia via Cuba and the Costa Rican type. They are smaller (6 to 13 lbs) and I loved their thick soft coats and small bone structure. Almost all of my Havanese were imported from Europe and those that were not have European parents. The American bred Havanese of the "Arizona Type" are much larger (12 to 25 lbs.) and have thicker coarser coats with thick bone structure. As a consumer and adopter of Havanese do your research and know what you are buying. I have had several calls from disappointed Havanese adopters because they had no idea their small Havanese puppy would grow into a 20+ pound adult. Ask questions of the breeder concerning Havanese type and weight of the parents.

Here are two examples of Havanese taken from the 1980's

Costa Rican type ......................VS...................Arizona type

It is believed that the Havanese that made their way from Cuba to the US were at some point crossed with Bichons. Thus creating these differences in both bone structure, coat and weight.

Becky Holleman
702 Cobb Rd.
Kinston, NC 28501
252-523-0322

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