A cute little dog, that's what a Havanese is. The breed is a member of the Toy Group of the AKC and are quite often described as "white fluffly dogs". In all actuality, the Havanese are not only white but can be black, cream, chocolate, parti and many more colors.
I first fell in love with the Havanese in 2000. I was looking to add a dog to my life but knew I wanted a small breed. I looked at JRT's but realized that even though they are cute and little, they probably would not be what I wanted in a dog. I started looking at the AKC website at the descriptions of the breeds in the Toy Group. Each description had a picture of the breed. Once I reached Havanese, I was so totally in love! I did some more research on the internet. I found a yahoogroup devoted to the breed so I joined it and just read the messages and looked at the pictures the members posted. With each picture I was drawn in even more.
Since the Havanese were a rare breed at that time, I decided that I would need to go to a dog show to actually see the breed in person and find out if the breed was for me. I ventured to a show near Cincinnati Memorial Day weekend. There I met up with some members of the list. They were from Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. I fell in love with Yo-Yo. I wanted to bring her home with me, although her ma and pa (MaryAnne and Dale) felt differently. I made some good friends that day. I let a few people know that I was interested in a puppy and that I realized that I would probably be waiting a few months since most breeders had long waiting lists. I had been corresponding with Kim from Toledo so planned to meet with her the following weekend at another show in Toledo. I also arranged to meet a very good friend who lives there at the show so we could spend some time together. I walked up to the show ring and Kim stopped me and asked if I had found a puppy yet. I said no and she said she had a male available. We talked about the price and I told her to send me some pics. When I got home from Toledo that evening, the pics were in my mailbox. With each pic I saw, I knew that this little guy was mine....
I immediately emailed her and asked when I could pick him up! It was Monday morning when she got back to me. We were both free that day so I made the drive to Toledo and picked up my little guy. Cutest little guy, black with white markings and the most expressive eyes. On the way there I kept trying to think of names for him. Back in my childhood I had a dog named Patches, so I wanted to keep the letter P as the first letter of the name (call me anal!). Everything I came up with just didn't seem to fit. I kept looking for things along the highway that started with "P". I was just about halfway between Findlay and Bowling Green when it dawned on me -- Pepper. After all pepper is black! What in the world made me think of pepper? I took a drink of "Dr Pepper". When I saw the little guy, Pepper was a perfect fit. AKC registered name: Circo Dr Pepper :)
That was June 5, 2000. By mid-August, I knew I wanted a 2nd Havanese and I told that to Kim! She just laughed. Only this time I wanted a puppy from her female Phantom. Unfortunately, that didn't happen since Phantom had trouble getting pregnant for the first time. But in January of 2002, Cola (who is also Pepper's mom) had a litter with 1 girl and 4 boys. Kim wasn't sure if she was a show quality pup so she allowed me to have her on a co-own contract. If Kim felt she was show quality as she grew older, Kim would show her and possibly breed her. So on March 22, 2002 Pepper and I went to Toledo to pick up his sister.
Coming up with a name for her was even harder. I again wanted something that started with "P" but nothing seemed to fit. We were actually back home for several hours before the perfect name came to me.... while reading a scrapbooking message board I frequented at the time. Paige aka Circo Scrappin Paige Layouts.
Paige is now 4 and Pepper is almost 6 and I am still hooked on Havanese. Every time I see a puppy I would love to bring another one home but I restrain myself.
Here they are, my loves, my kids, my Havs
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