# Havs in NorCal or SF Bay Area



## lhwalker11 (Mar 4, 2012)

Hello!

I first want to thank you all for your awesome posts, I've been learning a lot just by reading your forum for the last few weeks. 

My husband and I are looking into getting a Havanese puppy this summer. I grew up with poodles (standard then mini) but have fallen in love with Havanese. We met our first Havanese a few years ago while living in New York, and have since moved to San Francisco. We've been waiting for the right time, and feel like we are finally in the place where we can give a dog the life it deserves given our work and schedules. First and foremost, we want a wonderful pet, but I might eventually be interested in training the dog for pet therapy, if it would be a good fit. 

I've been doing a lot of research on the breed, and it seems like there are fantastic breeders in the area--many of whom I've seen on this board. We aren't able to bring home a puppy until summer, which makes this process very hard because of course I look at the pictures and want them all immediately  In the mean time, as we figure out breeders (looking at rescue too), we want to get to know the breed as well as is possible. I feel like that may also help to inform our decision on which breeder to go with. 

Do those of you in the area have any suggestions? One breeder told me that there's a show coming up at the end of the month, but it happens to be a weekend I'll be out of town. Do you just recommend asking breeders if you can visit, even if you aren't sure that they will have a puppy for you? Any insight would be fantastic! 

On a completely different note, I'd love to hear your take on males versus females in these breed. My family always had males, but I know differences can vary by breed so I'd be curious as to what you think the differences are in Havs. 

Thanks so much for your help, and I'm sure I'll be around here quite a bit in the coming months and hopefully years! 

Lisa


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## angiern2004 (Apr 24, 2011)

Haha. Seems like forever ago that I made a very similar post to yours, but boy how things have come along for us. We live in Roseville (Sac area) and just got a puppy last weekend.

How far are ya willing to travel? Sometimes the closest breeders will not have a puppy that suits your lifestyle, needs, or timing preferences. If you're willing to drive up here, definitely check out Elaine at LilPawz, Katie at Moptop, and Kathy at Bellatak. My lil guy is from Katie at Moptop and we couldn't be more pleased.

Bear in mind that responsible breeders don't have litters all the time, so you may have to be a bit flexible with timing.

I did a tremendous amount of research into breeders, so feel free to pm me if you have any questions. I definitely have a few breeders to avoid, but I will not post that publicly, so pm me after you've narrowed down your list and I'll let ya know if I know anything about them. When you do find breeders that you might be interested, the is a WONDERFUL list of "questions to ask a breeder" on this website.

The northern ca hav club website is www.hcnc.com.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Welcome! As Angiern said, there ARE a number of good breeders in northern California. But don't discount breeders out of your area either, especially if it is important to get a puppy during a specific time frame. As Angiern said, if you want a good breeder close, you might need to be flexible with timing. Like you, I wanted a puppy early in the summer, so that I had the whole summer to devote JUST to his early education before I went back to work in Sept. (I work mostly from home, but I still don't have as much time during the school year as I do in the summer) We have some wonderful breeders in N.E., but none that would have the right puppy available at the right time for me. So I travelled from MA to NC for Kodi, and couldn't be happier with the decision. I love my breeder so much that, even if there WERE puppies closer, I'd go back to Kodi's breeder in a minute if and when I'm ready for another pup.

As far as gender is concerned, from everyone I've ever talked with who really knows the breed, they have all said that, disposition wise, there is little difference between the girls and boys in this breed. It depends more on good early handling, and how you continue to socialize your pup once you bring them home.

I didn't have a strong preference for on sex over the other, and was able to get my pup from a top breeder earlier than I might have otherwise, because they had a waiting list for girls, then had a litter of all boys! I couldn't possibly be happier with Kodi. He has the sweetest, sunniest disposition, is VERY well socialized (partly breeding, partly good early training by the breeder, and a LOT of work on my part to make sure he had (and has) tons of opportunities to socialize with people and dogs of all ages and sizes in safe, non-threatening environments) OTOH, there are lots of people on the forum who will tell you that thier girls are JUST as wonderful!

I wouldn't pick a puppy on either gender or color. Let the breeder help you pick the pup that has the right disposition and personality for YOU and what you want to do with him or her!


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Hi! and welcome to the forum. I can't add much to the discusssion, but wanted to join the thread to see how it progresses.

I got bot Snickers and Snoopy from a No. Ca. Breeder. They are cousins. My fur balls are on the large size - they still conform but at the top of the range. I've met other owners who really wanted a small toy'ish sized Hav. They are available too. For my wife and I our dogs are a perfect size - big and sturdy enough so they don't feel like they would break if you looked at them wrong, yet small enough to comfortably sleep in your lap for hours at a time!

I have to say that Snickers (Female) loves us, but Snoopy (Male) is in love with us. Snoops will crawl up my chest and wrap his paws around my neck and lay his head down to sleep (of course we have to do the "dog massage" in order for that to be fully effective .

There is also a local group that gets together for play dates - I know the owner of that group audits this forum so hopefully she will see this and send you an invite to one of the gatherings. The next one up is this Sunday at the Moulin Pooch 1750 Union Street in the City starting at 11:30 Am. You might driop by and introduce yourself and see some of the Hav's RLH (And talk to some owners).

Cheers!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Is Fresno close by? I met a nice woman at the Portland show who breeds. I have her card but not a web page. You can Pm me for her email address.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

there is a regular SF meet up in the bay area. you should come, and chat with the owners. you can register (free) here:

http://www.meetup.com/SFHavanese

This way you can see what the pups look like and temperament. the meet ups range from SF, san jose, to the east bay.


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## lhwalker11 (Mar 4, 2012)

Wow! Thank you all so much for your thorough responses. I will definitely PM some of you with specific questions, but many of your comments about timing, sex etc are really helpful.

For starters, we will absolutely travel for our pup. I would never get a puppy shipped, but I would go get it. I've started the search within a few hours of our home in SF because I feel like that would enable us to meet parents first more easily than if the breeder is a plane ride away. That said, nothing is out of the question at this point-- it's all about finding a great breeder that has a great puppy. I keep going back and forth on timing-- it is so hard to see the beautiful pups available now so I have to hold back because I know I will have so much more non-stop intensive time to work with a puppy in the summer. I too work from home a lot and in a pet friendly office, but June and July are much slower than the rest of the year, and we won't have any travel for quite some time which I think is also helpful (we'd ultimately like twos travel with our dog, but obviously want to get into a clear routine first). 

Thanks so much for mentioning the meetup, Snickersdad and Sprorchid! It just so happens that Moulin Pooch is no more than a ten minute walk from our apartment, so we would love to come by and meet some local havs (and their people). I hope that we'll see you Sunday!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

lhwalker11 said:


> (we'd ultimately like twos travel with our dog, but obviously want to get into a clear routine first).


Depends on what kind of traveling you do, and whether your breeders tarts your puppy well in terms of potty training. Kodi went to a balloon festival with us in our travel trailer 3 days after I brought him home. He traveled with us off and on all summer. As long as he had his ex-pen, sleeping crate and litter box, home was where we were as far as he was concerned!

It did mean that there were times when the others went to the beach and I stayed behind, because he couldn't be left alone for very long at that point, but it was worth it, and it was still enjoyable! Here are some photos of him at various vacation spots that first summer! (and tucked in his car harness on the way!)


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Oh my, Kodi was soooo cute. Not that it's surprising since he's still a looker!


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

I'll try to make it but it's hard for me to wake up on the weekends, that's on top of draggin' my butt to SF :biggrin1:


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

Lisa -- Hope you do make it on Sunday. Lynda, I, and the dogs will not be there, it's just to far away from the far East Bay to be convenient. I do know that Tracy (the owner of the Meetup group), her husband and Chaucher (their Havanese is on the "I'm going" list. 

Enjoy meeting and greeting!


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## sashamom (Jan 12, 2009)

SnickersDad said:


> Hi! and welcome to the forum. I can't add much to the discusssion, but wanted to join the thread to see how it progresses.
> 
> I got bot Snickers and Snoopy from a No. Ca. Breeder. They are cousins. My fur balls are on the large size - they still conform but at the top of the range. I've met other owners who really wanted a small toy'ish sized Hav. They are available too. For my wife and I our dogs are a perfect size - big and sturdy enough so they don't feel like they would break if you looked at them wrong, yet small enough to comfortably sleep in your lap for hours at a time!
> 
> ...


How big are your two? My puppy weighs 12 lb at 6 mo, my 7 yr old female weighs in at 7 lbs. I am trying to guess how big Rango will be.


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## SnickersDad (Apr 9, 2010)

sashamom said:


> How big are your two? My puppy weighs 12 lb at 6 mo, my 7 yr old female weighs in at 7 lbs. I am trying to guess how big Rango will be.


Snickers (Female) 27 Months is 15 1/4 pounds
Snoopy (Male) 20 Months is 16 pounds and the vet wants them both to drop a pound or so -- i'm not so sure.

Cheers!


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