Looking for reputable breeder near South Florida

[mct]

New to the forum and searching for a reputable Havanese breeder in/near South Florida. I have been searching online and found Perl's Havanese:

http://perlchihuahuas.com/

Has anyone heard of this breeder?

Any other recommendations for breeders in the South Florida area?

Thanks in advance for your feedback. Looking forward to learning a lot from this community .

[FancyNancy]

Many of us have traveled some distance to get a dog from the best breeder we can find. I think most of us would agree that the location/convenience of the breeder is less important than the quality. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find both, but it is better to opt for quality. Los Perritos Havanese, near Tampa has a good reputation, and so does My Yuppy Puppy in Ocala. Maybe others here can recommend some too. Best of luck in your search!

[mct]

Thanks FancyNancy for the reply! I am actually in e-mail contact with Lynn as well. I don't mind driving to Tampa for a quality puppy . Hopefully things will work out and we find a healthy puppy that is a good match with our family.

[FancyNancy]

I also forgot to mention...Most of the knowledgeable people on this site are very negative on breeders who breed more than a single breed. Perls will most likely get a bad review here on that basis and maybe for other reasons as well. I'm not an expert on breeders (or anything else) but I believe that a lot of the advise you will get here about breeders is worth listening to. Always remember that choosing a breeder will have the single most powerful impact on whether your experience with your dog will be easy or difficult for the entire life of your Havanese. Take the time to find the best one and be patent. It is well worth it! Again, good luck and let us know how you are doing!

[GrannyMouse]

I'm probably not the one to advise you as I'm pretty new to all of this "Havanese stuff" but I thought her website was impressive and she does have puppies available. Not that this really means anything but the handler pictured on her website is the one we used to finish our first Havanese.

[lfung5]

I think the site looks good. She does the health testing and showing. Some of her males and females are from yups and Prairiwind.
I did some research for my brother when he was looking for his havanese. I think I remember a Csta Havanese in Naples that looked good but please do your own research. This was 2 years ago. Good luck!

[krandall]

Originally Posted by FancyNancy

I also forgot to mention...Most of the knowledgeable people on this site are very negative on breeders who breed more than a single breed. Perls will most likely get a bad review here on that basis and maybe for other reasons as well. I'm not an expert on breeders (or anything else) but I believe that a lot of the advise you will get here about breeders is worth listening to. Always remember that choosing a breeder will have the single most powerful impact on whether your experience with your dog will be easy or difficult for the entire life of your Havanese. Take the time to find the best one and be patent. It is well worth it! Again, good luck and let us know how you are doing!

I'm not sure it's NECESSARILY a bad thing for a breeder to have more than one breed, especially when they are doing all the proper testing AND showing their dogs. Three breeds would be my absolute limit, though. I think it must spread the breeder awfully thin. My take, from reading the site, however, is that Havanese are their main breeds, and the have just occasional litters of the other two breeds. I, personally, wouldn't buy from any breeder without visiting, seeing how the puppies are raised and meeting the puppies and the breeder in person, but I don't see any huge alarm bells on the web site.

[mct]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies guys. I was a little nervous as well with the multiple breeds, but I then saw that Havanese seems to be the main breed and the others on occasion. Since she is relatively close by, I am going to see if we can stop there for a visit to check things out. If I don't get a good vibe, it just isn't meant to be. Thanks again!!

[krandall]

Originally Posted by mct

Wow! Thanks for all the replies guys. I was a little nervous as well with the multiple breeds, but I then saw that Havanese seems to be the main breed and the others on occasion. Since she is relatively close by, I am going to see if we can stop there for a visit to check things out. If I don't get a good vibe, it just isn't meant to be. Thanks again!!

Good idea. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get sucked in by cute puppies!!!! ALL Havanese puppies are to-die-for cute, and it is REALLY easy to buy with your heart instead of your head.

While it looks like this person is doing the proper testing, make sure you look it up on OFFA. Also remember that even with all the testing, and parents with championships, HOW the puppies are raised will have a great deal of bearing on the quality of pet you get. They should be raised underfoot, in sparkling clean surroundings, and AT LEAST partially potty trained by the time you bring them home. (the cleaner the surroundings, the more likely the puppies are to want to keep their surroundings clean, and potty only in appropriate places) They should have an enriched environment, with lots of toys, different floor textures and things to climb on. If the breeders don't have young children, hopefully they have made an effort to have some come visit, so the puppies have that experience too. While not all breeders do this, I was very glad that my breeder had introduced Kodi and his siblings to crates at night during the week before I brought him home. It made the transition to his new home SO much easier.

The new owners have a big responsibility to continue the good up-bringing and ESPECIALLY socialization of the puppy, but you can never fully make up for a bad start while they are in the breeder's care.

[mct]

Bummer - was going to try to see her Saturday but they will be on vacation for a week travelling . Will have to wait until she gets back in town.