- Rarely completely pure white, fawn in its different shades (slight blackened overlay admitted), black, havana-brown, tobacco colour, reddish-brown.
- Permissible: Patches in mentioned colours
- Permissible: Tan markings in all nuances
About the Havanese
Origin: Cuba
- Size
- Small — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 3-6 kg
- Height
- 22-29 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI group
- Companion and Toy Dogs
- Origin
- Cuba
- Also called
- Bichon Habanero
- Known hereditary risks
- 5 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Havanese?
Small, sturdy companion dog with long, silky double coat and cheerful temperament. Cuba's national dog, known for its intelligent disposition and making an ideal city companion.
Havanese history and origins
Developed from Bichon-type ancestors brought by Spanish settlers, became companions to Cuban aristocracy. Nearly extinct after Cuban Revolution but preserved by Cuban families who fled to the United States.
Havanese appearance and size
Typically 3-6 kg and 22-29 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Companion and toy dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Exceptionally bright he is easy to train as alarm dog. Affectionate, of a happy nature, he is amiable, a charmer, playful and even a bit of a clown. He loves children and plays endlessly with them”
Quoted from FCI standard n°250. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Small
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Companion and toy dog” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 3 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 5 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 5 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Havanese
What you get with the Havanese
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Companion and toy dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Exceptionally bright he is easy to train as alarm dog”
- Longer-lived than a crossbred dog — median 14.5 years across 389 animals, against 12
What you are taking on
- 2 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “All grooming, the usage of scissors to even out the length of the coat and all trimming…”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; McMillan et al. 2024, median age at death; Havanese Club of America - Health & Testing Guide. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Havanese
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged permissible.
Coat
Undercoat woolly and not very developed
it is often totally absent.
The topcoat is very long (12-18 cm in an adult dog), soft, flat or wavy and may form curly strands.
All grooming, the usage of scissors to even out the length of the coat and all trimming is forbidden.
Notes
- Exception: tidying up the hair on the feet is permitted, the hair on the forehead may be slightly shortened so that it does not cover the eyes and the hair on the muzzle may be slightly tidied up, but it is preferable to leave it in natural length
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°250 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: From 23 to 27 cm. Tolerance: from 21 to 29 cm”
- FCI states a tolerance around the figure.
Quoted from FCI standard n°250. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the Havanese down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- General appearance lacking in type.
- Truncated or snipey muzzle, length not identical to that of the skull.
- Bird of prey eyes; eyes too deep set or prominent; rims of eyelids partially depigmented.
- Body too long or too short.
- Straight tail, not carried high.
- « French » front (pasterns too close, feet turned outwards).
- Deformed hind feet.
- Coat harsh, not abundant; hair short except on puppies; groomed coat
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Depigmented nose.
- Upper or lower prognathism.
- Ectropion, entropion; rim of eyelids of one or both eyes depigmented.
- Size over or under the indicated norms of the standard
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Havanese in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Havanese
Known hereditary risks for the Havanese breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
5 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Bones & joints
Hip dysplasia
Monitor
Malformed hip joints leading to degenerative joint disease/arthritis. The only way to diagnose it is by X-ray, and it is one of the three tests the parent club requires for a CHIC number.
What to ask for
OFA hip evaluation X-ray on both parents after two years of age (ratings of excellent, good or fair are considered normal for the breed).
Patellar luxation
Monitor
The kneecap slips out of its groove. Medial luxation (as opposed to trauma-related lateral luxation) is generally thought to be inherited, and it is one of the three CHIC-required tests.
What to ask for
OFA patellar luxation exam on both parents after one year of age.
Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
Serious
Loss of blood flow to the head of the femur, usually striking young dogs between four months and one year old, before other health testing would normally happen. It ranges from mild to severe and can need surgery. The parent club states it is believed to be inherited, though the mode of inheritance is not known.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists. A hip/pelvis radiograph in a young dog showing lameness will show it; it is also incidentally visible on the OFA hip X-ray taken at two years, though by then an affected dog would usually already have shown signs.
Chondrodystrophy (CDDY) and associated intervertebral disc disease risk
Serious
An FGF4 retrogene variant shortens and can bow the legs and changes disc structure. The Havanese breed standard calls for straight legs, and the parent club states dogs showing this dwarfism should not be bred; the same underlying variant is linked to a raised risk of intervertebral disc herniation, and Havanese is one of the breeds OFA names for this DNA test.
What to ask for
OFA/DNA CDDY (FGF4 retrogene) test on both parents, and confirm straight legs and normal body proportions against the breed standard.
Immune system
Sebaceous adenitis
Monitor
The body attacks its own sebaceous (oil) glands, causing hair thinning and scratching over the back, sides or neck; it can also be largely symptomless. The parent club's own health survey found it in roughly 0.8% of Havanese, and it is believed to have a genetic component in the breed, though the exact mode of inheritance has not been established here.
What to ask for
No DNA test exists for Havanese. Diagnosis is by skin biopsy sent to a histology lab if a dog is symptomatic; ask whether either parent or their close relatives has been diagnosed.
How long the Havanese lives, in the records
Median survival 14,5 years
95% confidence interval from 14,1 years, upper bound not estimable, from 56 recorded deaths among 389 dogs
Mortality hazard 0.72 (0.56, 0.94) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.
Few deaths recorded for this breed, so the figure is imprecise.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
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Puppies
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