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Havanese breeders

The Havanese is a small companion dog in The Royal Kennel Club’s Toy group.

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Advertise your Havanese puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Havanese in the UK? List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk so buyers looking for Havanese puppies for sale, and owners searching for a Havanese stud dog, can find you. You can advertise Havanese puppies for sale, planned litters and stud dogs, and share your eye certificates and other health results. A basic listing shows your kennel name, location, website, social media and categories. Paid plans unlock more showcase features. Add your listing or see pricing.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Havanese

The Havanese is a small companion dog in The Royal Kennel Club's Toy group. The RKC breed page calls it the national dog of Cuba and a member of the Bichon family, thought to have reached the island from the Mediterranean with Spanish or Italian traders. The Havanese Club of Great Britain explains in its breed history that it began as an expensive lapdog kept mostly by wealthy Cuban families, many of whom left with their dogs after the 1959 revolution. Dogs bought from exiled owners in the 1970s became the basis of the breed in the USA, and a formal breeding programme restarted in Cuba in 1991. The first four Havanese reached the UK from continental Europe in 1993. The RKC places the Bichon Frise, Bolognese and Löwchen in the same family; the Maltese and Coton de Tulear are other small Toy breeds to compare. You can also browse all Toy breed breeders.

Size and build. The breed standard describes a small, sturdy dog, a little longer in body than its height at the withers, with an ideal height of 23 to 28 cm. The feathered tail curls over the back and the action is springy.

Coat and grooming. The long coat feels soft and silky, may be wavy or lightly curled, and has an undercoat. Any colour or mix of colours is allowed except merle. The RKC lists the breed as non-shedding, yet it still needs grooming every day. The club says show dogs are left untrimmed apart from neatening the feet.

Exercise. The RKC suggests up to 30 minutes a day and says a flat can suit. The club urges owners not to carry or baby the dog constantly, but to let it run, play and have a daily walk.

Temperament and suitability. The standard calls the Havanese lively, affectionate, intelligent, friendly and outgoing. The club says it bonds closely with its family and is not suited to kennel life. Regularly left alone for most of the day, it becomes sad and withdrawn, so the club does not recommend it for people who work full time. The club rates it as very good with children, especially older ones who understand its small size, and says it enjoys obedience training and mini agility. The RKC gives a lifespan of over 12 years. See also our companion and family dogs section.

Havanese health tests

The RKC Havanese breed page lists eye testing as good practice, the minimum it strongly recommends before breeding, and adds elbow grading as best practice. It also points to a breed club health scheme and says it offers no breed-specific DNA test package for the Havanese. The breed is in Breed Watch Category 1, meaning no breed-specific points of concern have been flagged for show judges.

The Havanese Club of Great Britain's health testing advice treats two checks as essential for breeding dogs. The first is a yearly eye test by a BVA eye panellist, starting after 12 months of age and before the first mating. The second is a single kneecap (patella) examination by an experienced vet after 12 months, graded on the Putnam system. Heart testing, hip and elbow screening and several DNA tests are listed as optional extras that add to what is known about the breed. The club's eye testing page names cataract as the main hereditary eye disease and says most cases develop after six months of age. No DNA test exists for any eye disease in the breed, so examination by a panellist is the only check.

  • Eye testing using the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme (RKC good practice; the club asks for a yearly test)
  • Elbow testing using the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice; club optional, not before one year)
  • Patella (kneecap) examination graded on the Putnam scale, once after 12 months (club essential)
  • Litter eye screening by a BVA eye panellist, which the club says is usually done at 6 to 8 weeks
  • Heart testing, not before two years of age (club optional)
  • Hip screening using the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme, not before one year (club optional)
  • DNA tests such as hereditary calcium oxalate urolithiasis (HCOU) type 1, von Willebrand's disease, haemophilia A, methaemoglobinaemia, macrothrombocytosis and CDDY (club optional)
  • Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Havanese breeder

A Havanese breeder who follows the Havanese Club of Great Britain's additional code of ethics will hold current clear eye certificates for both parents, dated within the 12 months before the mating. The code says no bitch should be mated under 18 months, and ideally not before two years. Bitches should not be bred on consecutive seasons or mated after the age of seven, and three litters is normally the limit. No puppy should be sold before it is fully weaned or under eight weeks old. Buyers should receive the pedigree or registration papers, worming records and a diet sheet. The code also asks for the RKC "progeny not eligible for registration" endorsement on all puppies, with an agreement signed by everyone involved. Expect a careful breeder to ask how long the dog would be alone each day. In England, anyone who breeds three or more litters in 12 months and sells any of the puppies, or runs a business breeding and advertising dogs for sale, needs a council licence and must show the licence number in adverts. Read our buyer safety guide before paying a deposit.

  • Can I see both parents' eye certificates, and were they issued within 12 months of the mating?
  • Was the litter eye screened by a BVA panellist before the puppies go home?
  • Have the parents had their kneecaps examined and graded?
  • Have the parents been elbow graded, and can I find their results on the RKC Health Test Results Finder?
  • Will the puppy be RKC registered, and will any endorsement be explained to me in writing?

Havanese questions

Does a Havanese shed?

The Royal Kennel Club lists the Havanese as a breed that does not shed. The long, silky coat and undercoat still need grooming every day to keep them free of tangles.

Can a Havanese be left alone while I am at work?

The Havanese Club of Great Britain says the breed bonds closely with its family and becomes sad and withdrawn if regularly left alone for most of the day. It does not recommend the breed for people who work full time, and it says Havanese are not suited to kennel life.

What health tests should Havanese parents have?

The RKC treats eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme as good practice and elbow grading under the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme as best practice. The Havanese Club of Great Britain asks for a yearly eye test and a one-off kneecap (patella) examination before breeding.

How big does a Havanese get?

The breed standard gives an ideal height of 23 to 28 cm at the withers, and the RKC puts the breed in its small size category. The RKC notes that individual dogs can be larger or smaller than the standard's measurements. It gives a lifespan of over 12 years.

More for Havanese owners and breeders

Official sources