Our Experience

With Cuban Havanese

 

Since reading Zoila Portuondo's book on

Havanese, I have been intrigued by the

Cuban Bichon Havanese. Zoila has worked to

restore the breed in its native country.

Zoila described the little Cuban dog as being very specific in its conformation, coat and temperament.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of my Havanese lines went back to the original ones used by Dorothy Goodale to develop the breed in the US. Since the Cuban dogs can't be imported to the US and registered with the AKC, I knew only what I could manage to find written about them and a few pictures . Then one day while playing on the internet, I ran across the website of Cuban breeders- Echale Salsita. On the website, I found an email address. So, I reached out and was soon exchanging emails with Miguel and Pavel. I was delighted to find that they had been mentored in their breeding program by Zoila Portuondo!!! Even more to my delight, I learned that they were now living in Mexico (Havanese can be imported from Mexico and registered with the AKC)!! Thus begin my Cuban adventure. Miguel and Pavel gave me so much information about the Havanese in Cuba. As we got to know each other better, I asked about their puppies that may be available. They made me wait for just the right one for me ;-) When the time finally came that my perfect puppy Chan Chan was born, plans were made for his trip to the US. Since it would be a long trip from Mexico to Miami, we decided that brother Chulo would travel with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pavel kissed them goodbye at the airport, and the boys were on their way.To confirm my theory that Chan Chan was destined to be with me, my friend Carol just happened to be near Miami and could do the airport pickup. The arrival was near Christmas so I call him one of my best Santa gifts ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chan Chan quickly became a part of the WyHaven family and we began to play around with dog shows. At the IABC Association show, he received the highest ratings from all the judges and became an International Champion and went on to win the Toy Group. Now that he has passed all health testing, we are looking forward to Chan Chan making positive contributions to our breeding program. He brings the beautiful coat, jaunty gait, elegant neck and the loose tail which are the hallmarks of the Cuban lines. I am forever grateful to Zoila, Miguel and Pavel for my little bit of Cuba.

 

 

 

We now have our second  generation from our precious Chan Chan - WyHaven's Cuban Legacy "Puppy".  Puppy is named in honor of his famous ancestor from the original Cuban foundation stock.  Chan Chan passed along to Puppy some of the wonderful Cuban traits that we hoped to add to our breeding program including his magnificant coat, full dentition, broad backskull, correct muzzle and a perfect tail!