Getting a Havanese

*cricket silence*

Hello! Yes, I know I've dropped the ball yet again. Button is now a good 8 months old, and I haven't made any posts between flying off to New Zealand and bringing him back. I guess life gets in the way sometimes, but better late than never, no? Lets get right into it then...

A good place to start off as any would be why I decided to get a Havanese. I always knew I wanted a small to medium non-shedding dog- I didn't want something too small and fragile like a toy poodle, neither did I want something in the range of a Lagotto. In Singapore, toy poodles, poodle crosses, maltese, pomeranians and miniature schnauzers are popular. Most, if not all dogs are sold in pet shops and bred by puppy mills. Unfortunately we don't have ethical breeders here who health test, socialise and show their puppies. There is a Kennel Club here, but the showing community is small and show breeders a rarity. 

Many years back, before I had my first dog Ruffles I heard of the Havanese. A friend of a friend imported two from Australia, and they were apparently cute little clowns who didn't shed. Perfect. Although I ended up getting Ruffles, who is a poodle cross, as my first dog, I learnt several things since then which turned me towards other breeds, pure breeds to be specific, for my second. 

First off, when I got Ruffles I was primarily concerned with not getting a dog from a puppy mill. I was a complete dog novice then, so all my information about purchasing and owning a dog came from the internet. I was horrified by stories and photos of dogs coming from puppy mills and bred in terrible conditions, so I resolved to find a breeder that treated his/her dogs well. Eventually I found a place that had one male toy poodle and five female cavaliers. The owner was a lovely lady and I ended up getting Ruffles from her. In many ways, I count myself lucky. Ruffles has the most lovely temperament out of all the dogs I've known, and save for his allergies he is in good health. What more could you ask for, right? 

I've since discovered that many "designer" dogs (popular crossbreeds like the cavoodle, labradoodle, basically "Oodles") have health issues ranging from allergies to luxating patellas, hip dysplasia, underbites etc. And many of these issues would be preventable if breeders health tested the parents. I don't mean a simple "vet check" of the puppy before it goes home, but specialized testing for sound bone structure, eyes, heart and so on. Designer dog breeders do not test for these things. Yes, you can get a breeder who does not cage his/her dogs and makes efforts to socialize the puppies before 13 weeks, but look around and you will not find one who health tests both the mother and father for common hereditary diseases unique to their breed(s). 

That's not to say that all breeders of pure bred dogs do these things. But ethical breeders are certainly out there, you just have to do a lot of research to find them. These breeders will be motivated by breeding puppies that are the best possible specimen of the breed, which is why they enter their dogs in conformation shows. This also means that when puppies are on the floor, first priority goes to the breeder for his/her show pick, to show homes, and then to pet homes. (NB: This is why ethical breeders are not as accessible in my opinion, but I digress). 

So anyway, when I was planning for my second dog the Havanese popped back into mind. I knew I wanted to import, preferably from Australia or New Zealand because dogs coming into Singapore from those countries did not need to be quarantined. Eventually I found and befriended Button's breeder on social media, and this was way before I planned on actually getting my second dog. I did this deliberately so that I could have a bit of time to get to know the breeder, and likewise the breeder could get to know me. It would be a few years later that I would actually book a plane ticket to fly to New Zealand to get Button. 

More on that in the next post!

N