# New rescue



## Caroline

I fostered this dog and have decided to adopt her. She is a rescue from a high kill shelter in NC. One year old- already been to the shelter twice. Surrendered this time b/c she was "too much work". The rescue I work with pulled her as a last minute add on and she came up with Pilots for Paws last Thursday. I shudder to think what would have happened to her if she didn't make that transport- the shelters are just busting. She immediately worked her way into my heart.....I've fostered over 20 dogs and never felt I had to adopt one until her. She is very special. 

She was a matted mess when she got here and all you could see was a fluffy white dog. The shelter said she was Shihtzu mix. The groomer we brought her to immediately said OMG- she is a Havanese. She had to shave her completely, except for a little on the end of the tail and her ears and a bit on her face. What emerged from the mess was a beautiful little dog- even naked!

In looking at pictures and the breed standard- the groomer appears to be right- although all the pics I see are of dogs with hair so I have to picture her with a full coat- and I am by no means an expert. Her picture is the profile pic- and I also included a picture that shows her head shape better. I don't have any good shots of her body, but she does have that springy gait the breed description talks about. Sweet, sweet personality- I love this little girl!

Appreciate any input people have on whether you think she is a Havanese- figured this was a good place to go to ask this. Sorry I don't have better pics- I can post some more tomorrow when the light is good again. 

Funny thing is, I just ran the DNA on one of my other dogs last week, who is also a rescue, and she came back part Havanese- and then this little girl comes up the same week!


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## Caroline

*Nikta pics*

Sorry- new to this forum. I don't think the pics uploaded so I reattached. Hopefully that works!


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## irnfit

No pics here.


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## irnfit

There she is. We posted at the same time. She is a cutie.


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## Caroline

*thanks*

Thanks- I am so in love with sweet little dog! Do you think she is Havanese?


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## Pipersmom

What a sweet little face! She looks like she could be a Havanese. 

Thank you for giving her a home. How could anyone could leave her at a shelter.


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## davetgabby

kudos to you. Welcome aboard.


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## StarrLhasa

Welcome, Nikita and beautiful little dog - does she have a name yet?

She may be a Havanese. Have you ever seen/used this Identification Table created by the founder of Havanese Rescue? The underlined breed names in the left-hand column are links to flyers with photos and descriptions of each breed to help distinguish them from each other.

http://www.theyreallkeepers.com/idall.html

A tape measure can be a helpful tool to measure the proportions of the front legs, rear legs, and length of body.

Looking forward to more photos of your little one.

Oh, by the way, there is a small number of short-haired Havanese also called Shavanese on this Forum. You can use the Search feature to look for their pictures to compare your shorn dog to them.


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## waybrook

She certainly could be a Hav - whatever she is she is definitely one fortunate little girl... Thank you so much for taking this sweet baby into your heart...


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## Caroline

﻿﻿Thank you all for the information- very, very helpful!!!

She is 11" tall at the withers and about 13" long. She is 13 lbs. All of that does put her in the breed standard. I attached another pic (very dark but shows her profile). Tried to upload a video, but it wouldn't take it. 

I also looked at the pics of Shavanese, and again, I think this is very possible that she is a Havanese. The fact sheet was very helpful and I can use that to help with the other dogs where I volunteer.

Again- many thanks. Whatever she is...she is great!

Oh- and for now her name is Nikita. She came up as Niki, and I like Nikita better. Thinking of a permanent name that means snow, or star or angel, or something like that, but haven't decided on one yet. My name is Caroline- I guess I didn't fill out the profile right- I'll have to change it!


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## Tom King

She certainly could be, but also could be a cross. I saw a dog in a car not long ago, thinking it could be a Havanese that looked very much like this girl, but when I asked the people, they said it was a cross between a Maltese and a Shih Tzu.


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## Caroline

Tom- You breed some beautiful dogs- enjoyed looking at your web site!
Maltese and Shihtzu- could be. The Maltese would explain the longer muzzle- guess I'll never know for sure, unless I do the DNA, but not sure how accurate that is anyway. 

I love her no matter what- but it is fun to speculate!


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## krandall

Nikita said:


> ﻿﻿Thank you all for the information- very, very helpful!!!
> 
> She is 11" tall at the withers and about 13" long. She is 13 lbs. All of that does put her in the breed standard. I attached another pic (very dark but shows her profile). Tried to upload a video, but it wouldn't take it.
> 
> I also looked at the pics of Shavanese, and again, I think this is very possible that she is a Havanese. The fact sheet was very helpful and I can use that to help with the other dogs where I volunteer.
> 
> Again- many thanks. Whatever she is...she is great!
> 
> Oh- and for now her name is Nikita. She came up as Niki, and I like Nikita better. Thinking of a permanent name that means snow, or star or angel, or something like that, but haven't decided on one yet. My name is Caroline- I guess I didn't fill out the profile right- I'll have to change it!


She's adorable! Another place you can look is Tokipoke's thread on shaving down Louis! Then you can see a very cute Havanese from full coat, through skinned naked and growing out.

The trouble is, there are so many crosses out there these days, and the crosses can look like all one parent breed, all the other breed, or something in between. She could be a Havanese... i've seen registered Havanese that look LESS like Havs than she does.. OTOH, I've seen crosses that look a lot like Havanese too.

The important thing, and I know you already know this, is that you and she were both lucky to have found each other! No matter WHAT she is, you are welcome here. We have other forum members with part Havs, maybe Havs and even some who just want a Hav "someday"!


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## Caroline

Krandall- thanks for those kind words. In just the short time I have been here, everyone has been so warm and welcoming, and I have enjoyed reading some of the other threads. I may never truly know Nikita's breed, or breed mix- but I would like to stay a part of this community!


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## TilliesMom

Welcome Caroline and Nikita!! So happy you have found each other and the forum!! 
That is a very blessed little girl you have!


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## Tuss

Definitely looks havanese! Does she have the havanese personality?


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## jabojenny

I'm no expert at identifying Havies, but Nikita is sure a cutie! Welcome aboard and either way you are both lucky you found each other!


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## Caroline

Tuss,
I think so. She is a sweet, bouncy, friendly dog. She just exudes happiness. Very cuddly, sleeps under the covers with me. Played with my other 2 dogs right away, despite having been abandoned to the shelter twice in her short life, and going through the transport from NC to NY. She acts like she's always been here!
So- from what I've been reading, sounds like she very much has a Havanese personality- she is a little angel.


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## Caroline

I attached some new pics of Nikita. I took a look at Tokipoke's thread- thanks for referring me to that. Her body type is very similar to Louis- he is so cute! Hard to tell with the face, as they were able to leave some hair on Nikita's ears and face. 
I did learn it will be a long time before she has a really long coat... I groom my other dogs, so I will have a little time to learn how to groom her at least


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## gelbergirl

Nikita is very pretty. Is she well socialized, playing with toys? Hope you're all having fun


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## Moe's Gram

Nikita is just adorable! Thank you for taking her into your home and your heart. She is truly blessed that you found her. Welcome to the forum. You will certainly learn alot here!


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## Caroline

She is well socialized, so wherever she was the first year of her life, that was somehow done. I've been very surprised at how well she has adjusted- she plays well with my other 2, and did right from the start. Not shy at all, my son and daughter in law came over to meet her and she ran right up to them wagging her little tail! I'm actually going to bring her to doggy day care tomorrow- it is a little soon, but otherwise she would be home alone and I'm sure she'll do just fine. 

She eats well, stools are good. I switched her to raw diet, and she looked a little puzzled at first, but then gobbled it up and has had no problems. Had a couple accidents, but caught on real quick and has even learned how to use the doggy door. She is amazing.I'm sure she is adjusting in ways I don't know, and there are personality traits I haven't seen yet. But I've had a lot of fosters, and she has done incredibly well. She hasn't even been here a week yet. 

She doesn't really know any basic commands, but that's no big deal, we can work on that. I was going to just foster her, but then she fit in so well, and I just fell in love with her!


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## Momo means Peach

What a sweet face she has! It seems that fate found a way to put you two together.


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## riverlogic

What a pretty girl. Such trust in her expression. Good for you, Caroline  My Bucky is a Hav Shih-Tzu cross. She certainly looks a lot like him, especially the side view. The nose is the same, ears, colours, coat texture. 
Michelle


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## Caroline

She does look like your Bucky, and it is the same profile. Could be her mix too.
I can't wait to see what her coat grows in to be!


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## The Laughing Magpie

What ever she is cute!!! Does look like a shih tzu mix to me, head is apple shaped but muzzle is too long, I think some adorable mix maybe Havanese. It really doesn't matter once you fall in love.


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## Caroline

She does have a rounded head, and the muzzle is long, but it may be a bit wider than a Havanese from what I can tell. Her tail is not as curled as a Shih Tzu- looks like a Havanese tail.... and her eyes are almond shaped like a Havanese. Her body type could go either way but her legs don't have that characteristic turned out thing that Shih Tzus have. Both breeds have sweet personalities- and that came through loud and clear! 

So....I'm no expert, and I really appreciate everyone's insight into helping me figure this out. Also- appreciate the warm welcome and wonderful advice! I think I'm settling on that she is a Shih Tzu- Havanese mix for now, for the purpose of vet records and that type of thing. 

And- I just looked over her vet records from the shelter- and they mixed something up. One page says her DOB is 7/29/11, the other says 9/15/11. One page says she's a tri color Shih Tzu, the other page just says Shih Tzu. I don't see tri- color in her. That's no big deal, but the real problem is that the shots are different on each page. So, I'll have to sort that out at the vet's. 

This isn't unusual- we get sketchy records all the time. Can't blame the shelters, they are over- burdened and the ones we work with are so appreciative when rescues pull. I'm just happy she got on the plane last week...and it really was fate, as she was an add- on because there was space on the plane, and the shelter begged the intake coordinator to take her because she was on the euthanasia list. We didn't have a foster for her, and the intake coordinator was going to add her to her already over- burdened household (she has a heart of gold)....so I took her home...and well, as they say, the rest is history! It was meant to be...eace:


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## krandall

Nikita said:


> She does have a rounded head, and the muzzle is long, but it may be a bit wider than a Havanese from what I can tell. Her tail is not as curled as a Shih Tzu- looks like a Havanese tail.... and her eyes are almond shaped like a Havanese. Her body type could go either way but her legs don't have that characteristic turned out thing that Shih Tzus have. Both breeds have sweet personalities- and that came through loud and clear!
> 
> So....I'm no expert, and I really appreciate everyone's insight into helping me figure this out. Also- appreciate the warm welcome and wonderful advice! I think I'm settling on that she is a Shih Tzu- Havanese mix for now, for the purpose of vet records and that type of thing.
> 
> And- I just looked over her vet records from the shelter- and they mixed something up. One page says her DOB is 7/29/11, the other says 9/15/11. One page says she's a tri color Shih Tzu, the other page just says Shih Tzu. I don't see tri- color in her. That's no big deal, but the real problem is that the shots are different on each page. So, I'll have to sort that out at the vet's.
> 
> This isn't unusual- we get sketchy records all the time. Can't blame the shelters, they are over- burdened and the ones we work with are so appreciative when rescues pull. I'm just happy she got on the plane last week...and it really was fate, as she was an add- on because there was space on the plane, and the shelter begged the intake coordinator to take her because she was on the euthanasia list. We didn't have a foster for her, and the intake coordinator was going to add her to her already over- burdened household (she has a heart of gold)....so I took her home...and well, as they say, the rest is history! It was meant to be...eace:


We have another forum member who (I'm pretty sure) has a Havanese/Shih Tzu mix rescue... Leslie (Forum name "Lsprick") so you might want to look up some of her threads. There may be pix of her girl. She also has two purebreds.

The difference in the dates of shots isn't going to make any difference, since they are only two months apart. One thing you should know, whether she is purebred or part Havanese is that Havanese are a vaccine sensitive breed. So you should probably go with a minimal vaccine protocol, like the one suggested by Jean Dodds:

http://www.weim.net/emberweims/Vaccine.html

The trouble is that sometimes, even if the dog seems "just fine" after vaccination, the cumulative effect causes problems (especially in terms of allergies and auto-immune disease) down the road. This is actually true with many breeds and mixed breeds, but we KNOW it's a problem with Havanese.

Many of us choose to just do titers on our dogs after the one year booster shots... a few even do titers then. Of course, you still have to do Rabies on whatever schedule is mandated by your state. But you have to do that by law, not because it's good for the dog.:doh:


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## Caroline

Thanks for the warning about Havanese also being a breed that has issues with vaccines...I have reasons to worry about them! 

My other dog, Lily, has a real problem with vaccines- she is some type of a poodle mix. She was a stray, so, no history, and no choice but to start from scratch...although I guess titers are an option, but not something I knew then. She very well may have received vaccines she didn't need. 

After her first set of shots, she had a mild reaction with nausea and vomiting that lasted a day. So, at that time I did do some reading and came across Dodd's research. 

Then, a year later when she was due for distemper booster and rabies, I separated them and premedicated her with Benadryl and continued to give Benadryl every 8 hours. Nonetheless, she wound up in the emergency vet's with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis after the rabies vaccine. She was very sick, oozing large amounts of frank blood from her rectum...if I hadn't been home when she first started to have symptoms, I'm afraid she wouldn't have made it. They treated her with IV fluids and antibiotics and she came around, but I'm very hesitant to give her rabies again.

She's not due for 2 1/2 years, so I'm hoping some of this research will be further along by then. Have you had any experience with states accepting rabies titers? Are the titers accurate enough to use?


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## Pixiesmom

Looks like she finally found a great home!!


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## krandall

Nikita said:


> Thanks for the warning about Havanese also being a breed that has issues with vaccines...I have reasons to worry about them!
> 
> My other dog, Lily, has a real problem with vaccines- she is some type of a poodle mix. She was a stray, so, no history, and no choice but to start from scratch...although I guess titers are an option, but not something I knew then. She very well may have received vaccines she didn't need.
> 
> After her first set of shots, she had a mild reaction with nausea and vomiting that lasted a day. So, at that time I did do some reading and came across Dodd's research.
> 
> Then, a year later when she was due for distemper booster and rabies, I separated them and premedicated her with Benadryl and continued to give Benadryl every 8 hours. Nonetheless, she wound up in the emergency vet's with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis after the rabies vaccine. She was very sick, oozing large amounts of frank blood from her rectum...if I hadn't been home when she first started to have symptoms, I'm afraid she wouldn't have made it. They treated her with IV fluids and antibiotics and she came around, but I'm very hesitant to give her rabies again.
> 
> She's not due for 2 1/2 years, so I'm hoping some of this research will be further along by then. Have you had any experience with states accepting rabies titers? Are the titers accurate enough to use?


Wow! That's horrible! I don't think any state is accepting titers for Rabies. But I do know that some states will accept a vet's note saying that it is not safe to vaccinate the dog for medical reasons if the dog has had prior bad reactions..


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## Caroline

Well, I've got some time before I have to worry about what to do. I think my vet would write a letter- so that might be the way to go...hopefully Nikita does OK.


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