[Cristina76]

HI Everyone,

I am new here. I am actually really excited I found a forum on Havanese. So I have a few questions for everyone here. I have been researching the Havanese breed and I have a couple of friends that have these cute little dogs. This is the breed I want to bring into my home. My problem now is finding a reputable breeder. This process has cause me alittle stress being that I am doing this research online, and mostly out of state. So I was wondering if anyone had any feed back on any breeders good or bad, and on important questions to ask. I am also looking for a puppy that I can show.

Thanks for all your help in advance

Cristina

 

[Rita]

Welcome aboard. You are doing the right thing by researching first. What state are you in? Most people may private info you some information about their breeder.

Also go to http://havanese.org
Click on the local clubs and that this will give you some information (maybe of people in your state). You still have to researach though.This website also has questions to ask breeders etc. That should help.

I also think Melissa started a link on this forum to answer some of your questions. Look under general for questions to ask breeders. It is on the forum some where. I am not an expert at posting so I do not know how to attach you to that thread. Sorry.

Good luck.

 

[Cristina76]

Thank you so much Rita,

I Live in Northern California, and most of the breeders I've found in my state dont sell puppies with breeding rights, and I want to show her. I think it will be fun.

Anyway thank you so much for that link, Im going to check that out. and I will for sure look for the questions to ask. thanks again, and if you can think of anything else please feel free to send me a message.

 

[MopTop Havanese]

Hi Christina~
Where in No. Cali are you? I am in Rocklin, and I know of a few breeders in the area who have puppies. (and there are a few in outlying area's, Bay Area etc).

I am sure if you are looking for a girl to show, that you would be able to find a breeder in this area who is willing to do a co-ownership with you until your girl is finished and health tested.

Let me know if there is anything I can help you with!

 

[Rita]

Great answer Katie. I was thinking about this more last night because I cannot sleep............

It seems to me that show dogs may be harder to find than finding a dog just for a companion. Most breeders/showers seem to keep the one or two for show for themselves. That is why co-ownership may be a good idea.

I believe my breeder may change the limited registration "if it is show quality" if you show proof of the dog being spayed or neutered. That is to prevent average joes like us from breeding and to keep the breed healthy. You can find the recent thread about this under Questions and Suggestions, "Buying a new puppy." After reading that you will understand why they put limited registration on puppies.

Also, join a local club and attend shows. Get to know breeders and let them know your interested in showing. I think things will work out if they know you are serious.

Maybe some breeders or showers on this forum will have some good advice........

 

[Cristina76]

Thank you so much Katie and Rita. I live in P
lacerville. right out side of sacramento.

I dont have a problem with a co owner ship till the dog reaches champion level. and i do plan on going to shows.
I watch them on the animal plannet. My parents use o show and breed Old English Sheepdogs. so i do know somethings from them about basic competition stuff.

i will definatly check out the other sections of this forum.

It would be alot easie to find a puppy closer to home.

thanks again everyone i appreciate everything u can tell me.

 

[MopTop Havanese]

Have you spoke with any breeders in the area? I know of one in Orangvale, Yuba City, Sacramento, Grass Valley, Fresno~
Let me know if you would like their information!

 

[Cristina76]

I Have emailed a few a while back and they either didnt respond or didnt offer show quality. To be honest i forget who it was I spoke to and I think it was only 2 local people. I actually did local research a while ago and one i found those blocks then started looking out side the state. If u know there names and email addresses of local breeders I would love that information.

 

[Kathy]

Hi,
I would suggest you go to www.havanese.org and then read all the info on buying a puppy, contact the breeder referral person, after that, click on the local club information and you will find breeder's through the clubs too. There are two clubs in California. You are smart to be careful though, ask lot's of questions and go visit them. Of course be sure to ask about health testing. To get a show bitch, you might have to wait a while also, as every puppy in a litter is not going to be show quality. Many breeders prefer to sell males to first timer's, so you might consider that too. Males are very loving and great too.

 

[Cristina76]

Thank you all for your help. I have alot more research to go. anymore suggestions are always welcome.

 

[Kathy]

Another suggestion I have to start coming to dog shows and meet breeders and see their dogs. Join our club, get involved in the club activities. Go to a couple of different conformation classes. There are couple not too far from you.

 

[marjrc]

Good luck with finding the right breeder and pup for you, Cristina! It is very important to ask a lot of the right questions and for THEM to ask you a lot of questions... you can tell a lot about a breeder by the questions they ask - or don't ask! You will find this info on the web... 'questions to ask a breeder' type of thing. Very interesting!

It is important to actually go to their kennel/home so you can see their other dogs, where they are raised, cleanliness, diff. environments that the pups can get used to, etc... Seeing how they treat the pups parent(s) will give you an idea how these people view their pets too.

I don't know a thing about showing exc. what I've read and seen on t.v. so can't offer advice there, but good luck and it might be worth the long wait for the right pup rather than get the first one that's available. Let us know how things go!

 

[Cosmosmom]

Hi
I bought my first dog from A breeder in Arizona almost 5 five years ago . I waited over five months for him and he was worth it . He was not show quality but I was told he was pick of the litter .
They cannot really tell about the dog if it is definetly show quality until its teeth come in . Asta was a wonderful dog but not show quality . HE had flaws . I told the breeder I wanted a companion dog and poss would show him .
Now this breeder was flexible and did not insist that I neuter him until later .
Some breeders are not so flexible and if you buy the dog for companion and not show they insist that they be neutered .
Unfortunately I lost Asta tragically this summer .
The breeder I bought him from was no longer breeding dogs so I went on line .
I bought a dog from a breeder in South Dakota that I found on line . SHe had puppies available for sale right away . The dog was shipped to me after I had filed out an application and told her what I wanted ..
I do not know if this is an ideal way to buy I dog . He had a five year heath guarantee . He is adorable but a handful . Asta was much more social /
The important thing is that you want to get a healthy dog . The first breeder spent much more time getting to know me and we talked on the phine often .
The second breeder was very nice but she did not interview me as intensely but we did communicate by e mail .
I was very impressed when I saw her dogs on her web site they all seemed to be happy an smiling .
First of all decide what you want the dog for .. Show dogs cost more than what they call a companion dog .
Go to dogs shows if you can and decide is the life you want or are you going to have someone else show your dog . ? Are you going to breed the dog . They have to get 13 points before you can breed them . If you co own a dog - how often do you get the dog or is it always with the co owner or handler .
Some dogs do well ,others not so well and then they are retired ..
They are a lot of new people breeding and raising HAvanese some do it for a short period and then stop.
The breeder who I bought from had been breeding for over ten years and only breed Havanese .
Havanese have some unique health issues as well .
Good luck . They are worth it ..
Do not buy a dog from a store !!

 

[marjrc]

I found this at this site: http://www.stoppuppymills.org/takeaflyer.html

"How to Find a Good Dog Breeder" Flyer
To better recognize a compassionate breeder, The HSUS developed a flyer that features a checklist all potential puppy buyers should read before opening their wallets.
1-99 flyers = $0.10 each
100 flyers = $8.00
500 flyers = $25.00

Somewhere on here today, but I can't remember which thread, someone gave this link out so I checked it. I thought it was interesting that you could get a flyer printed out to pass around. There was also this page there: http://www.stoppuppymills.org/5easysteps.html

This is actually a d/loadable form for ordering pamphlets, stickers and kits: http://www.stoppuppymills.org/forms/SPM-print-order-form.pdf

It's got great info and warnings. Thank you to the one that posted it before!! Better to know what we are up against, yeah?

 

[Cristina76]

I am really stuck on if I want a show quality or not. I think I just like the idea I can decide if I want to show the puppy. I do think that if you breed havanese or any purebred dog you should definatly show them. Im just glad I'm not looking to bring home a dog tomorrow, so I have plenty of time to go to show's see if its for me. Right now I'm leaning on pet quality. Its so hard,

I have heard that showing a dog is very time consuming, and fairly expensive. I have the time, and 25.00 a compatition doesn't seem to bad, but then I was told the havanese coats the worse part of showing. It takes a long time to learn to handle the coat, and to handle the dog, and if you dont learn the two your dog will never win shows. it's so hard to make this descision. Doesn't anyone know any sites that gives you info on showing? besides what the dogs stat's should be, hight weight etc... like how the showing works behind the scense? I went to the akc website to see if they have a show schedule and coudln't find anything.

And another thing that I thought was weird, is i've contacted alot of breeders via email, and I am actually shocked at how few responded, and how rude some where, and not informative. Out of all the ones I emailed two were great! very nice and informative and asking me questions about me .... I dont understand dont people know you should be nice if someones going to buy something from you? or atleast respond, or answer there questions, sorry everyone had to vent out of frustration.... I'm much better now....

again this site has helped me so much....... Thank you everyone so being so kind and helpful.......

Cristina

I will definatly keep everyone up to date with my adventure in finding the right puppy for me!

 

[dboudreau]

I am new to this group and still learning how to get around. I thought I would give my opinion "Show Vs Pet " puppy. When I first started in purebred dogs,(German Shepherds) I wanted a "Show" puppy. I researched all I could. This was 1987 and the internet was not available. I found a breeder that I liked. Purchased the pup, Baron, at 9 wks old. He was a wonderful dog but plaqued with problems. Breeder was no help. Researched some more. Purchased another from a different breeder. Jena, she was 7 weeks old. At 7 months she was x-rayed and found out she had bad hips. The breeder told me she would replace the pup as long as I had Jena spayed. At 12 months old Jessie entered our household. I still have Baron and Jena. So Jessie makes 3 German Shepherd in a little house. Jessie had temperment problems because she was never properly socialized. She went back to the breeder. Breeder replaced her with a "Pet" lab. (My son wanted him.) He ended up being the healthest and best show dog of the bunch. To make a long story short. No breeder can guarantee that a pup will be "Show or Pet". The good one test the best that they can and breed only healthy dogs. They know by experience which pups have the best potential. But the rest is an educated guess.

I have had 2 more German Shepherds that did a little winning in the show ring and odebience ring, but I learned that they had to be pets first.

Now I have Sam, the Havanese, who was purchased as a pet but has grown into a beautiful dog that I now will be showing this year in our area.

I look forward to reading and learning from everyone.

Debbie & Sam

 

[Rita]

No breeder can guarantee that a pup will be "Show or Pet". The good one test the best that they can and breed only healthy dogs. They know by experience which pups have the best potential. But the rest is an educated guess.

I don't know too much about show but I have to agree from my research. It seems like breeders even keep a pup for themselves to consider it for show and sometimes it doesn't seem to pan out. I found a few good breeders that have older puppies available (they were watching it for show and now are parting with it).

 

[Dawna]

That's a really cool picture of Sam, Debbie.
He looks like a fun guy!
Dawna

 

[BeverlyA]

I just want to agree with Dawna, that is an awesome pic of Sam, Debbie! What a beautiful dog and such a happy expression!

I have so many thoughts on the whole pet vs show puppy topic, it can be confusing, and if you're not really into the Havanese world, it's even more difficult to understand. I do agree with Cristina , when I was considering a show pup and contacting breeders, most, the vast majority, did not respond at all to my inquiries. A few responded and were not very nice, a couple were helpful and took the time to give me some guidance, suggestions, and information. Where I live, in Nebraska, it's difficult finding dog clubs at all, let alone breed specific ones, and no one I meet outside the dog community has ever even heard of Havanese. Trying to find a Havanese breeder to be a mentor is very difficult without traveling a couple hundred miles to see them. When I was considering a prospective show puppy I felt I was realistic about my ambitions. I'm a biologist so I have some knowledge of genetics and I'm always willing to learn more, I've shown horses so I have an idea of what showing entails, I'm financially secure enough to not have to worry about the puppy not getting proper care or medical testing, I have a great friend that breeds and shows champion boxers who was anxious for the experience working with a different breed, she's also a professional groomer plus I figured I would have quite a long time showing the puppy before I would need to make a decsion on whether or not the puppy would be good enough to breed. Of course I have all the Hav books and have tried to do a lot of general research online pertaining to breeding. I know I have so much more to learn, and that's one thing I love about this forum. I understand that good breeders want desperately to protect this breed that we all love so much, and make it the best it can be, and keep out the "just for profit" breeders, but I really didn't find one person that was encouraging. I came to feel that if I wasn't "someone" already, or if I didn't know "someone" that I just simply wasn't good enough to be trusted with an unaltered Havanese. Maybe being from Nebraska didn't help, we are notorious for puppy mills I'm afraid. Maybe I didn't present myself well enough, I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it was enough to at least temporarily discourage me from pursueing a show puppy with the possibility of breeding in it's future. I certainly don't mean to step on any toes with these comments, I'm only trying to give a perspective from the side of someone not already in the business.

Beverly