BUYER BEWARE!
Puppy mills
Don't buy any puppies from pet stores. Regardless of what they tell you, all of their puppies are coming from brokers who purchased them from puppy mills. Those puppies are not properly socialized, the parents are not health screened, and the puppies generally are not healthy. The dogs they breed are kept in terrible conditions, without human love and attention. They live their sad lives in cages. Every time someone buys from a pet store or puppy mill, they are giving reason to puppy millers to continue abusing defenseless animals. Some pet stores will tell you they get their puppies from small breeders rather than puppy mills. Don't let them fool you. Reputable breeders would never sell to pet stores. They are all coming from puppy mills and backyard breeders.
Miniature, Teacup or Tiny Havanese
Don’t be fooled by so-called rare Havanese that are advertised as “miniature” or “teacup” or “tiny” Havanese. As cute as they may appear, there is a reason we are supposed to breed to the Havanese Standard, which says the dogs should be 8.5” to 11.5” tall at the shoulder. The Havanese breed is meant to be a sturdy, playful companion dog. A mini version of it has much higher risks of being unhealthy and living a shorter life. You may pay a lot of money for a “rare teacup” Havanese, but the chances of paying a lot more in veterinary bills is likely, too.
Buy from reputable breeder
A "good" breeder has certain criteria which sets them apart from the random backyard breeder and puppy millers.
1. Make sure you get a puppy from parents who passed all the health testing required by breed club. You could find Havanese puppy for less, but you will probably spend much more in the long run on vet bills if you could not verify health testing done on parents on OFA website. All the health testing is public record. A good breeder health tests her breeding dogs and breeds only dogs who passed all required health testing. There are four health tests that are currently recommended by the HCA: BAER (hearing), CERF (an annual eye exam), patella (once after they are a year old) and hips (once after the dog is two years old or preliminary after first birthday). Many reputable breeders also do cardiac (heart), elbows, full blood work with CBC as well as bile acid test.
It has come to our attention that some breeders advertise "Health Tested" breeding stock when, in fact, the dog(s) that have been tested have NOT PASSED all of their health screenings. NEVER TAKE SOMEONE'S "WORD" for the results of a specific health test! Verify the testing done on parents before purchasing a puppy yourself. All you need is the AKC number of each parent. You can research any of these health tests directly at http://www.offa.org/search.html, just type in the dog's AKC registration number in Search field. You can also verify any CERF results directly on the CERF web site: http://www.vmdb.org/verify.html.
Become an Educated Consumer before you buy. Buy from breeders who ONLY BREED DOGS THAT HAVE ACTUALLY PASSED ALL OF THEIR HEALTH SCREENINGS! If there is no info on health testing done on particular dog, it usually means that dog failed the test or testing was never done.
If the breeder will not supply you with the AKC Registration numbers of their dogs, run like hell and don't look back!
2. A good breeder allows you to come to their home to pick up the puppy. While it can be very time consuming and stressful to have hordes of strangers coming to visit each week, a good breeder will WANT you to come to their house to see the puppies when they are over 6 weeks old if at all possible (most breeders would not want to upset nursing mom with strangers before puppies are weaned and have their first shots), or at the very least come to their home to pick up the puppy to take it home. This gives the breeder and the new owners a chance to meet face to face before letting a puppy go home and also allows the prospective buyers a chance to see how their puppy has been raised since birth. If the breeder refuses to let you come to their home to pick up your puppy, and insists on meeting you at the McDonalds's parking lot instead with puppy in hand... run like hell and don't look back!
3. A good breeder will be there for you and will provide pictures of the growing puppies and updates while they are with the breeder. A good breeder will be available via e-mail or phone calls to prospective puppy buyers and will care about their pups and you, long after you've taken the puppy home. In other words, a good breeder is available to you! It's part of what you are paying for, when buying from a knowledgeable and caring breeder.
4. Many people believe that you only go to a 'breeder' if you are interested in a show dog. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A good breeder sells MOST of their puppies to pet homes (simply because good show homes are far and few between!). A good breeder carefully selects homes for their puppies. Placing their puppies in safest and most loving environment is always their first priority.
5. If there were just two things that I could stress upon you, that you'll take with you after reading this page, it's: DON'T BE IN A BIG HURRY to buy a puppy from the first person who has puppies available and DO YOUR HOMEWORK first! This is a long term commitment for you and your family both financially and emotionally. So you owe it to yourself (and to your new puppy) to buy from a good breeder who health tests their dogs and breeds to the AKC Havanese Standard so that you could have a good example of the breed and a healthy companion for many years to come.
