# Pure Bread??



## sherryhh16 (Feb 16, 2010)

Ok I bought my puppy at a pet store. I know I know not a good idea. But I fell in love with my Havanese. My only concern is she is very small. She is six months and only weighs five pounds. Which is fine really cuz I wanted something small. She also has very short hair. Which doesnt seem to be the norm for a Havanese. She seem to have had more hair when I got her when she was 10 weeks old. Does a havanese lose hair when there young just to grow more. I wonder if she is purebred??


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

That is how pet shops stay in business, we can't ignore a puppy. I had smarty at those ages and her hair continued to grow. There are a number of small dogs on the forum, many are grown and weigh 8 lbs. Post her picture and let us see your girl.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Rosie at that age was not quite 5 lbs. The Vet didn't think that she would get any bigger. But I have found that Havanese grow like large breed dogs, it takes a year or more for them to get to full size and then they continue to fill out. Small breed dogs are usually as big as they are going to get by 6 months. Rosie is a year and 2 months and weighs a little over 10 lbs. So don't worry yet. I can't speak about the hair issue. When I got her at 4 months and a little over 2 lbs, she had fairly long silky hair but not much of it--then the undercoat came in and now we are all about hair--lots of it. Enjoy your puppy and see what happens.


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

None of mine ever had their hair shorter (except when I cut it). You should show us a photo of your little girl. I can't speak to the weight since all three of mine are bigger than that. Ruby has gained a lot since her last visit at the vet. She feels pretty close to 10 lbs. to me. She was six months old on May 6th.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Pixie is weeks away from two, and she managed to hit 7 lbs on the dot. Mig is 12 weeks and is the same weight as Pixie was at that age. Both sets of parents were standard size. Please post a picture of her!


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## LuckyOne (Sep 3, 2009)

Einstein and Watson just turned one and are each 15 lbs. Please post a pic of your pup. We love pictures!


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Sherry, 90-95% (if not all) of puppies from pet stores come from pet mill breeders (sometimes called commercial breeders). Their parents are not given health care, quality food, fresh air or exercise, contact with humans unless it's for mating or taking the pups from them and are basically physically and emotionally unwell. A dam is forced to produce a litter every time she's in heat so can have 5, 6 or 10 litters before she is discarded, so the health of the puppies is like a crap shoot.... sometimes you're lucky, sometimes not.  

Some pet stores actually only sell/adopt out dogs or puppies that come from shelters, so they help the issue with over population and you know the money is going to a good cause. It depends on the type of pet store you went to.

Your puppy might not be a purebred, but there is no test to know for sure. The truth is, that many mill operators aren't looking at what each breed's standard is and they mate the dogs as often as they can, with the dogs they have. They often say 'purebred' so they can take in more money for the puppy.

There are short-haired Havanese, but they don't lose their hair length as time goes on. Maybe your puppy has health issues, but not sure if you've had a blood test done for diff. things, such as liver, kidney, protein levels, etc... I'm not saying she's sick! I'm just pointing out that there could be various reasons for her coat condition. Her diet might be a factor too. 

If you tell us more about your puppy, (what is her name?) we'll try to see if we can help give you answers.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi Sherry,

I'd also like to say that while we try to educate people to AVOID purchasing puppy mill dogs, you are a far from the first, nor will you be the last person on the forum with a puppy mill Hav. There are a number of people here with part bred Havs, and LOTS of Hav rescues (most of which are puppy mill dogs) too! Now that you have your little one, you are welcome here on the forum, and everyone here will try to help you as much as they can!

The one "rule" here is that you MUST SHARE PICTURES!!!


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

krandall said:


> Hi Sherry,
> 
> The one "rule" here is that you MUST SHARE PICTURES!!!


 And we can help you with that too! It's not that we're greedy for pics, it'll help us to help you about your dog too! hoto:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

good buddy said:


> And we can help you with that too! It's not that we're greedy for pics, it'll help us to help you about your dog too! hoto:


But we ARE a little greedy about puppy pix too!


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

krandall said:


> But we ARE a little greedy about puppy pix too!


Yeah we are! :becky:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

BTW, Sherry,

Here is a thread about a short haired Havanese (sold as a normal Havanese).

http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=9939&highlight=short+haired+Havanese

She's absolutely adorable, but can't be shown and shouldn't be bred. But it will give you a good idea of what a healthy short haired Hav should look like. A couple of our other short hair Hav people posted in that thread too, so you can actually see photos of several of them. From what I've read, however, it is apparent from VERY early that the pup is going to be a short hair... they don't get fluffy and then lose it.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Sherry, I just realized that we'd been wondering where you went to after you posted this thread: http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?p=325609#post325609 where you are basically concerned about the same things. Are we talking about the same puppy?

If you get a chance to let us know more, we'll do our best to help. 

Maybe she's not getting notifications at her email addy ??


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## Evye's Mom (Dec 16, 2008)

Hi Sherry, In addition to the above link that Marj posted, you raised very similar concerns on another thread: http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=11087&page=2.

Everyone here on the forum are very kind, caring, knowledgable people who are here to try to help in any way they can. You have posted two additional threads regarding these very same issues. Forum members have responded with care, concern and excellent advice. You never followed up on those with any kind of response. Are you reading the replies you get to your posts?

If you are still having health concerns after several months have passed I would suggest a visit to your vet. Rule out any possible health issues. If all comes back normal, you can be assured you have a small, short-haired, questionable pure-bred Hav that is at least healthy. As everyone has requested numerous times, we would love to hear how Bella is doing. We would love a picture too.


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## hartman studio (Feb 14, 2008)

Sherry,
My Cocotini was only 4 and 1/2 pounds when I brought her home at 6 months.Parents were both normal size Havs. She was 7 and 1/2 pounds at 1 year and now has filled out to 8 and 1/4 pounds at 2 and 1/2 years old. So I agree with everyone who says their pups continued to grow. She never lost hair (except when she was blowing coat), but it continued to grow longer. Hope you will post pictures!


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