Q.1. How well do havanese do with children?  Other pets already in the household?

A. Havanese are excellent with children although as with any "infant" the new havanese puppy needs to be introduced gradually and watched for "puppy behavior" and corrected accordingly.

B. Havanese puppies should never be left alone for a few weeks with pets already established in the household.  Both older pets and the new puppy need time to establish their "Pack order" and the new havanese puppy needs to grow some in order to better defend him or herself should it become necessary.

Q2.: I [My child] is allergic but we would like to get a pet and see that havanese are considered good for people with allergies.  Is this true?

A2.  Well I don't know about them being "good" for allergies but strongly advise you seek your doctor's advice.  The havanese do not shed quite as other dogs do meaning they have less "dander" which *generally* is the source of allergies in pets.  However, they do "blow coat" annually so if one is seriously allergic they should check with their physician.

Q3. How much grooming is involved with a Havanese?

A3. This depends on whether you plan to show the dog or not.  Pet owners frequently decide to keep their havanese in a "puppy cut" year round for ease of maintainence.  There is some matting involved if you plan to leave the coat long and you should be prepared to line brush out the dog's coat 2-3x weekly if that is the plan.  For the show dog it is forbidden to scissor the dog anywhere but to neaten the feet.

Q4.  How much should I expect to pay for a havanese?

A4.  There are many factors that go into the price of a havanese including: whether you want a pet quality or show potential dog; whether you want a male or female; age of the dog; geographic location of breeder.  Generally speaking one can expect to pay from $1000  and up. Some breeders differentiate between show/pet quality and gender differences when arriving at pricing structure. Bear in mind as well that a reputable breeder is incurring significant veterinary costs to ensure the healthiest pup possible.

Q5. Are havanese difficult to housetrain?

A5.  Sometimes it seems as if they are but I tend to think this is because we are more forgiving of the small puddles a toy breed will make as opposed to larger dogs which in turn means we are less lax in the consistency of training.  Crate training is an excellent and highly recommended method to housebreak your new havanese pup.  Where training has been consistent, most havanese can be fairly well trusted by about 7 months to go for a while without accidents.