The Havanese is one of the older dog breeds of the Bichon Family (a group of small dogs that originated from the Mediterranean). During the course of its history the Havanese has been known by any one of the following rather extensive list of names:

• Cuban Shock Dog
• Bichon Havanais
• Havana Silk Dog
• Havana Spaniel
• Havana Bichon
• White Cuban

Once upon a time the Havanese was the favorite pampered pooch of the rich elite of Cuba but that was before Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution in the late 1950s. In 1959 as the socialist regime of Castro consolidated its power, in keeping with most regime changes, the first order of the day was to dispatch with any connections, however tentative, that alluded to the former government. Thus like many a rich and powerful family that once boasted a lot of clout in Cuba, the Havanese dog breed found itself in the unenviable position of persona non grata and as a result soon enough its numbers dived into a steep spiral of decline!

As is the case with many other dog breeds, pinpointing the precise origins of the Havanese has proven difficult. One theory contends that Havanese dogs were taken to Cuba by Spanish traders as gifts for the Cuban women in an effort to cement trading relationships, and more likely to solidify other more amorous kinds of relationships. Some dog authorities believe that the Havanese is a descendant of the Bichon Frise, another dog breed that comes from the Mediterranean and has a remarkable resemblance to the Havanese.

Indeed it could well be that before undergoing developmental transformation typical that resulted in the characteristic appearance typical of the modern day Havanese, Spanish colonizers introduced the Bichon Frise to the West Indies from the Canary Isles. Yet another view embraces a somewhat more convoluted path, speculating that Bolognese and Maltese dogs from Italy found their way to Argentina where they were crossed with small poodle variants before eventually finding their way to the West Indies as a new companion breed that eventually consolidated into the Havanese dog.

Commonly known as Habaneros in Cuba at one time, the Havanese dog breed eventually found its way to Europe and left its mark where for a time it went by the name White Cuban. In Europe the Havanese quickly became popular as a pet and even more so as a performing dog. With time the Havanese dog’s star as a pet in Europe dimmed but it continued to shine brightly for longer as a performing dog. During that period the Havanese dog breed could often be seen performing in circuses all across Europe but then there too their star began to dim.

By the early 1960s in both Europe and Cuba the numbers of Havanese dogs had petered to the point of extinction and their apparent continued existence today is owed greatly to three families that fled Castro’s Cuba for the United States with their beloved pet Havanese dogs. In the 1980s, following the formation of the Havanese Club of America a survey was conducted that arrived to the conclusion that at the time there were approximately 500 Havanese dogs registered in the United States.

Havanese Dog

Article on havanese written by Kayye Nynne