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FCI-Standard
N 250 / 11. 05. 19980 / GB
HAVANESE
(Bichon
havanais)
TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN : Western Mediterranean basin, development : Cuba.
PATRONAGE : F.C.I. 
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 10.12.1996.
UTILIZATION : Companion and toy dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.
Section 1 Bichons and related breeds. Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The breed comes from the Western
Mediterranean region and has developed along the Spanish and Italian
coastal region. It would seem that these dogs were imported early in
Cuba by ocean navigating Italian captains. Erroneously, the most
frequent brown colour of these dogs (tobacco) gave birth to the
legend which would mean it to be a breed originating from Havana,
capital of Cuba. The political events however have led to the total
disappearance of the old blood lines of the Havanese in Cuba;
apparently a few dogs could be successfully smuggled out from Cuba;
their descendants have survived in the U.S.A.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : The Havanese is a sturdy little dog, low on
his legs, with long abundant hair, soft and preferably wavy. His
movement is lively and elastic.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS : The length of the muzzle (tip of nose to
stop) is equal to the distance between the stop and the occipital
protuberance. The relation between the length of the body (measured
from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock) and the
height at the withers is of 4/3.
BEHAVIOUR / 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.
HEAD : Of medium length, the relation between the length of the
head and that of the trunk (measured from the withers to the base of
the tail) is of 3/7.
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Flat to very slightly rounded, broad; forehead hardly
rising; seen from above it is rounded at the back and almost
straight and square on the other three sides.
Stop : Moderately marked.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Black.
Muzzle : Narrowing progressively and slightly towards the nose
but neither snipey nor truncated.
Lips : Fine, lean, tight.
Jaws/Teeth : Scissor bite. A complete dentition is desirable. The
absence of premolars 1 (PM1) and molars 3 (M3) is tolerated.
Cheeks : Very flat, not prominent.
Eyes : Quite big, almond shape, of brown colour as dark as
possible. Kind expression. The eyes rims must be dark brown to
black.
Ears : Set relatively high; they fall along the cheeks forming a
discreet fold which raises them slightly. Their extremity is in a
lightly rounded point. They are covered with hair in long fringes.
Neither propeller ears (sticking sideways), nor stuck to the
cheeks.
NECK : Of medium length.
BODY : The length of the body is slightly superior to that of the
height at the withers.
Back : Topline straight, slightly arched over the loin.
Croup : Noticeably inclined.
Ribs : Well sprung.
Belly (abdomen) : Well tucked up.
TAIL : Carried high, either in shape of a crozier or preferably
rolled over the back; it is furnished with feathering of long silky
hair.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : Forelegs straight and parallel, lean; good bone
structure. The distance from the ground to the elbow must not be
greater than that between the elbow and the withers.
HINDQUARTERS : Good bone structure; moderate angulations.
FEET : Of slightly elongated shape; small; tight toes.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : According to his happy nature, the Havanese has
a strikingly light-footed and elastic gait; forelegs with free
stride and pointing straight forward, the hindlegs giving them the
impulsion and moving in a straight line.
COAT
HAIR : 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. 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 : There are two varieties of colour :
Rarely completely pure white, fawn in its different shades of
light fawn to havana-brown (tobacco colour, reddish brown); patches
in those colours of coat; slight blackened overlay admitted.
Admitted colours and patches (white, light fawn to
havana-brown) with black markings. Black coat.
SIZE :
Height at the withers : From 23 to 27 cm [9"-10.6"]. Tolerance :
from 21 to 29 cm [8.3"-11.1"].
FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be
considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should
be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
IMPORTANT FAULTS :
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.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
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.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles
fully descended into the scrotum.
See photos of
Havanese.
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