# Nevena Havanese review



## LoveMyHava

Last April we got an adorable puppy that was 4 months old from Nevena Havanese (aka Nevena "Truelove" Havanese), in Fallbrook, CA. We did extensive research on Havanese breeders and decided to go with a breeder who did all the genetic tests and assured us that our puppy had impeccable pedigree. Nevena said that this dog—the only older puppy she had at the time—was her “pick of the litter”, the one she was keeping for herself to breed her, but an illness in the family made her decide to sell the dog.

I, my husband, and our 8 year old daughter love our dog. When we got her, the toes on her left leg were slightly turned out but it didn’t seem to be an issue so we ignored it for some time. In the following months, the paw kept turning out and her leg grew increasingly bowed. We thought this might not be a big deal till we took her to the vet to be sure, and the vet was very alarmed and recommended an x-ray. It turned out that our dog had valgus deformity of the carpus, a well-understood and serious condition. We began an odyssey of research and gathering opinions and learned a lot about this condition.

After taking our dog to our local excellent pet hospital, PetCare, we got a second opinion from one of the most experienced and respected orthopedic vets, Dr. Gary Brown in Fremont, and it became clear that surgery was our only option. If left untreated, this condition will progress and mean a life of misery and awful complications for the dog. Two vets suggested it was likely the breeder likely about the deformity. 

During this trying time, I reached out to Nevena to let her know, and she was condescending and defensive. She told me to send the dog back, offered a refund and insisted that the surgery was not needed. She arrogantly and brazenly contradicted some of the most respected experts in the field and told us that if we had the surgery she would "never talk to us again”. She refused any responsibility or role, and refused any support. She insisted that our dog was “normal” but then contradicted herself saying she had had bowlegged dogs in the past, revealing that she obviously knew this problem existed and was familiar with it at least to some extent. In some correspondence she even suggested that our dog’s condition was our fault, she accused us of “over-exercising” her. Both surgeons dismissed this out of hand as a possible cause. You can imagine how painful the accusation was under these challenging circumstances!

We went ahead with the surgery. Our dog has come through months of recovery pretty well and we hope that she will lead a normal life. It has taken months for us to adjust to her limitations, the enormous time and energy that this has taken and the cost which has exceeded $5,000. We shudder to think of the life our dog would have been forced to lead if we had returned her to Navena; she would have never gotten treatment and who knows what her fate would have been.

In retrospect, other warning signs about the quality of this breeder were present. When we got our dog at 4 months old she had not been even the least bit housebroken, even though Navena had reportedly been planning to keep her. While picking up the dog, I asked several times to see where the dog had been living but I kept getting deflected and did not want to be rude by insisting (I should have). Attempts to find out about her daily routine in the early weeks of having her were also dismissed with “whatever habits she had here, she’s forgotten about them.” The breeder would not talk to me by phone either before getting the dog or after we returned home with her, citing concerns about facts getting twisted and wanting to have everything in writing from the beginning. Finally, I am no breeder, but I have concerns about the frequency of her litters—3 breeding dogs but at least 4 litters a year—seems like too many. This was confirmed by the Havanese Forum article that lists as warning signs having more than a couple of litters a year and not having the pups live in the home (Nevena has her pups in a separate building outside—she wouldn’t show it to me). 

Recently I learned that one of her litters was delivered prematurely under emergency c-section; I doubt prospective owners were notified of this, it certainly wasn’t listed on her website with the litter. The whole experience makes me wonder where is the line between breeder and puppy mill. 

Painful as it is, we feel it is our responsibility to tell our story. We would be happy to give more details including x-rays and our correspondence with Nevena to anyone who might be considering getting a dog from her. It is always best to have as much information as possible when making such an important decision. All we have is our story and our opinion and will offer you that and nothing more.


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## Sheri

I hope your little girl recovers well and has a good, long, healthy rest of her life.


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## mimica

Hello, I'm very sorry you had a terrible experience with that breeder. I am in southern california and I actually was considering purchasing from her but, I could not afford her price. Thank you for telling your experience here with Nevena Havanese. I hope others will see your post and walk away from purchasing a havanese from her. As expensive as they are, I'm sorry you had to pay thousands more for vet bills.
What is true though with any animal, is that you never know what could happen or go wrong. Even if both sire and dam have all health clearances. She needed to be upfront and truthful that its happened before to other puppies instead of denying and saying that she knew nothing.


I found a breeder in Southern California by the name of Nancy ( havaneseinsocal.com ) She has a wonderful testimonial page and she is very knowledgeable and truly loves her little fur babies. She answers all your questions and I never hesitate to email or call her. She is always kind and caring and will never get irritated if I ask too many questions :wink2:
I wish you could have found her before you went to Nevena. 


Before I decided to purchase our first havanese from Nancy, I also had a horrible experience with a breeder by the name of Kim, up in Aubrun, CA. She never responded to my questions and I realized she was more in the business of breeding havaneses for money. She was very cold-hearted, just like Nevena. It's a shame that with such sweet dogs they have a lot of heartless people profiting off of them. 

Again, I'm sorry for the horrible experience you had and I hope your post will help others who are possibly considering purchasing a havanese from her. 

:hug:


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## MarinaGirl

I also had a bad experience with Kim in Auburn, CA. She's definitely a BYB. She made up so many stories about why I couldn't visit in person and she was going to deliver my puppy to me on the side of the road. And she kept sending me pics of my puppy but they weren't the same dog. When I changed my mind about buying a puppy she said there were plenty of people who wanted it and that she'd refund my deposit, but then she didn't so I had to report her to Visa as a fraudulent merchant before she finally issued the refund.


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## mimica

Wow MarinaGirl!! Horrible! I'm sure glad we both backed out when we did. I almost bought the puppy with three limbs from her but thankfully I got a lot of advice from everyone here and also I got fed up with her not answering my emails and it was as plain as the nose on my face that she could care less about the pup and as long as she could get a few hundred she was happy. She said I'd never be able to find a havanese for the price she reduced him to after I told her forget it. She didn't really want me to come pick up the puppy either. She advertises on her website that she is a reputable breeder and her prices start at $1800 and based on her pricing her dogs are health cleared however, when I asked her over the phone if they were she said, NO. Very bad. :argue::rant::doh:


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## Cassandra

Re Kim from Auburn...she also advertises under different names and websites, including one called San Francisco Havanese! Which is pretty far from SF! I only picked up on that when I kept seeing her picture with her husband on different website...There were also too many litters being offered, which can be a red flag...not always, but with other clues such a slightly negative reference to getting a puppy from breeders that show, implying their prices are too high. 

When you first start looking, it can be a challenge to get passed the fluff on websites. Thanks for sharing these experiences.


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## MarinaGirl

mimica said:


> Wow MarinaGirl!! Horrible! I'm sure glad we both backed out when we did. I almost bought the puppy with three limbs from her but thankfully I got a lot of advice from everyone here and also I got fed up with her not answering my emails and it was as plain as the nose on my face that she could care less about the pup and as long as she could get a few hundred she was happy. She said I'd never be able to find a havanese for the price she reduced him to after I told her forget it. She didn't really want me to come pick up the puppy either. She advertises on her website that she is a reputable breeder and her prices start at $1800 and based on her pricing her dogs are health cleared however, when I asked her over the phone if they were she said, NO. Very bad. :argue::rant::doh:


Wow, if I had known the 3 legged Havanese was from Kim Dahlin I would have told you to walk away ASAP! There are way too many bad stories about her and her business. I'm so glad you didn't go forward with that puppy and BYBer.


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## PaulineMi

This situation is an example of how vigilant one must be when looking for a puppy. This "breeder" has a website, professes that a puppy is forever, says she health tests and (some of?) her dogs show up on OFA and have CHIC numbers.

Pathetic. So sorry you are going through this LoveMyHava.


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## LoveMyHava

Thank you for your support, PaulineMi! Yes, vigilance... we spent many hours researching and screening and failed in the end. I would recommend to anyone to check out the breeder's home in person before making any commitment. In our case since there was not a local breeder, we had to travel by plane and that made it harder to do advance screening.


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## LoveMyHava

This is helpful, thank you. I think part of the problem is that because Havanese are so expensive, there is a big incentive for breeders to breed for money... so we have to be extra careful.


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## mimica

Yes, MarinaGirl, that was Kim Dahlin who was selling the three legged puppy. Her whole family sells havaneses, not just her. I hope people will be aware and listen to there convictions. I knew she wasn't a caring person, however, I was holding out just because I wanted the puppy so much. Big mistake. Doesn't matter how cute they look.:jaw::decision:
A lot of good advice here helped me to say "forget about it":doh:


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## mmange

Sorry you had this experience and thank you for sharing. I emailed Nevena for a Havanese puppy listed on her site and she quoted $4800 - which I find very high. Based on this thread and your experience I am consider likely passing. I'd appreciate if anyone has any recommendations on a good breeder in Northern California preferrably but anywhere in California is probably fine as well.


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## Havaneselover1990

I am so sorry you experienced this with your precious furbaby. I’m hoping she is doing well and is very healthy and happy. Your pup is so lucky to have you!

I had a horrible experience with Nevena Havanese and my one year old havanese has some major health issues. A few months after bringing him home, he had a strange lump I discovered in his shoulder blade. It was a random finding, I’m a former vet tech so i found it. My vets even said “wow good find” as they had trouble locating it without my showing them. The vet monitored it for a few more months, then finally did a cytology of it since it was very odd. The results: inflammation and the lab concluded this was due to trauma. Not once did my sweet boy ever experience trauma since I’ve had him, to cause such a lump. I had two vets at different hospitals conclude the same results. They said it would have had to have been severe trauma. He’s also terrified of laundry baskets and things like that. I shudder to think why and what he experienced while with Nevena.
Nevena also tried to sell me a six month old puppy that she was going to use for breeding but claimed “is too small for breeding” and I almost purchased her, a few months after purchasing my male puppy. When I told her I couldn’t take the 6 month old female due to my HOA rules only allowing two dogs and I have my moms dog with me often, she was rude, nasty and condescending saying I’m allowed 4 dogs and I was playing with her emotions. She then told me to look elsewhere if I ever seek a puppy again.
I paid $5,000 for my boy, and she is the most rude, evasive and cold human I’ve ever encountered.
Also, upon picking up my puppy she wouldn’t let me in at all. Huge red flag. She made me stay in her driveway outside of the gate. This woman is definitely a broker or running some type of shady business. She only cares about money and I’m thankful I saved my boy from her presence.


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## Melissa Brill

The original post is from 2016 (wish I had seen it/ remembered it back then because it seems like their pup and Perry may have had, at least partially, similar surgery).


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