History and Origins
Country of Origin: Cuba
The Havanese is a member of the Bichon family, which includes the Bichon Frise, Bolognese, Coton De Tulear, Lowchen and Maltese.
Their ancestors from the Mediterranean area accompanied traders across the globe and were sold and gifted to those who valued small, luxuriously coated, companion dogs as a symbol of wealth and status. Such was true of the Havanese who was very popular in Cuba with high-status families, right up until Castro’s Communist regime in 1959 when such trappings of wealth of any kind fell out of favour.
Saved by the efforts of Cuban refugees living in the US, American breeders founded the Havanese Club of America to protect the future of the breed.