Posted on 08/10/2003 7:50:54 AM PDT by Luis Gonzalez
And now, Cuban dogs. They are called Havanese because they lived for a couple of centuries in Havana. Less than a foot tall, they are bundles of silky fluff willing to go to the ends of the earth with you as long as you don't ignore them.
Laurie Nuell, in Miami, says, ''The lore of the Cuban dog intrigued us. We thought he deserved a Spanish name.'' The Nuell dog is called Juan José, or J.J. ``He's one of the sweetest things ever.''
''Truthfully, during the Elián fiasco, we just got a surge of [Cuban] patriotism,'' says Pilar Alvarez-Mena. ``When I punched into an Internet search everything I wanted, it came up with Havanese. This was the only Cuban dog we could find. And we found a breeder close to Tampa.''
Havanese don't appeal only to Cubans who collect any and everything from home. They are the fastest-growing registered breed in the United States, although many people have never heard of them.
First cousins to the bichon frisé, bichon Maltese and the bichon Bolognese, these small, hairy dogs are meant to be companions to humans who, in turn, spoil them rotten.
They stand less than 12 inches high and have long silky coats of hair over a shorter, equally light coat. And they have a romantic history, somewhat cloaked in mystery, involving the upper classes of Cuba, sea captains, and, yes, the Cuban Revolution.
Probably originating in Tenerife, these dogs were small enough to belong to ship captains and to sail the high seas during the Age of Exploration. Some may have come to Cuba with Italian sea captains, with Malta or Bologna as their source, says one breeder's website, www.losperritos.com/history.htm. The captains are said to have presented the dogs to merchants as a way of encouraging trade.
Other stories have the dog originating somewhere around the Mediterranean, or appearing in Argentina, where perhaps the Italians mixed a bichon Bolognese with a poodle. Or perhaps they came from Spain.
UPSCALE DOGS
''The Havanese heyday was the 18th and 19th centuries,'' says Diane Klumb, who breeds them in Virginia and is writing a book about the dogs. ``They were the dogs of the Cuban aristocracy.''
Emilio Cueto, the Washington D.C. lawyer whose apartment is a museum of Cuban artifacts, turned up what he believes is the first painting of the Havana dog done in 1768 by Jacques Bachelier. It looks like a very hairy, red-nosed poodle.
Cubans called them Maltese, Klumb says.
Apparently, says Klumb, the little dog from Tenerife was mixed with poodle and Maltese to become a Havanese. Only the wealthy class owned them; they were never sold, only given as gifts. The gene pool was small to begin with.
In Havana by the 1920s, Catalina Laza was a breeder of Havanese, Klumb says. She lived in a suburb of Havana with a sugar baron. They also had a place in France, where glass and jewelry designer René Lalique designed her foyer. Laza died in France but is buried in Havana, where Lalique also created her tomb.
COME TO PAPA
Laza, who was a woman of legendary beauty, according to Cueto, gave the dogs to her friends. Ernest Hemingway had a couple of them, said Klumb.
Way before Hemingway, the dogs made their way to 18th century England, where Charles Dickens had one he called a Havana spaniel. ''Cuban Silk Poodle'' and ''White Cuban'' were also names given to the breed.
Today's Havanese can range in color from white to black, pied, brindle, cocoa, all combinations. They were officially recognized as a breed in 1995 by the American Kennel Club, but to be shown in the toy dog group of the AKC competitions, they may not have a brown nose or a short haircut.
CHICKEN HERDERS
In Cuba, it is told that they herded chickens. So maybe they were at the country houses of the aristocracy, says Klumb. Her own Havanese tend to herd a small flock of Rhode Island Reds she and her husband Bill keep in Lexington, Va.
When Fidel Castro came to power and Cubans left the country, they did so believing they would be back in a couple of weeks or months. Most of the dogs were left behind with servants or relatives.
However, two or three families are said to have spirited dogs from the island to Miami and Venezuela. If anyone knows who, they're not telling.
After five years of research, Klumb says, ''I've hit a wall. Two names of families come up: Perez and Fantazio, but there is no Fantazio family. Well, there is one, but ... he hasn't heard of Havanese. I asked him.'' (Fantasio may be another spelling.)
In 1974, Dorothy and Bert Goodale of Delta, Col. came upon a mention of the dog from Cuba in a Spanish magazine. They called the editor and were able to find families of Cuban exiles from whom they purchased six dogs. Then they ran an ad in a Miami newspaper, and a year later they bought six more dogs from a Cuban living in Costa Rica.
In 1979, the Goodales started a registry of the dogs for the U.S. as they set out to save the breed.
Gradually, the dogs went 'round the world again.
When the Soviet Union still existed and Soviets were living in Cuba, they took Havanese dogs home with them. Goodale sent some dogs to Europe. One has made it to Canada from Cuba, and there is hope that new genes from the Cuban dogs can get to the U.S. by this route.
Meanwhile, Cubans have renewed their interest in them, says Klumb. A Habanero Club of Cuba was has been founded, and in 1999 the club's first president, Zoila Portuondo Guerra, wrote Bichon Havanese, a small book published in Britain. A Tampa Havanese breeder, Lois Treat, gives new owners a copy.
The small gene pool has given the breed some problems, although, on the plus side, they are hypoallergenic and do not shed.
Local graphics designer Tom Sterling found his dog in New York -- via the Internet. Bailey was a Christmas gift for his wife, Kelly, who wanted a dog even though he didn't.
''I hunted for the closest thing I could find to a stuffed animal,'' he said. ``I answered all the questions with the worst case scenarios: was I allergic? I said yes, even though I'm not. It popped up with a Havanese.''
Now while Kelly is out all day cooking at Nobu on South Beach, Sterling works at home with Bailey at his feet. ``He has the greatest disposition.''
''They're really smart,'' Sterling says. ``If they're not trained, its totally because of their owners.''
In Boca Raton, Jumpin' Jack Flash, a champion black-and-white Havanese, lives on the ninth floor of a condo overlooking the ocean and learned his elevator manners at nine weeks, say his owners, Bonnie and Jack Fisher.
Yet because of their small numbers and narrow genetic base, Havanese in the United States have a suite of ailments. The problems include early onset cataracts, deafness, hip dysplasia, skin and hair problems, and bowed legs.
Members of the Havanese Club of America have banded together to support genetic research to solve these defects, and Klumb is a leader in the work to support research and education. The HCA also sends medicated shampoo and other dog necessities to the Havana club.
The Fishers, for instance, contribute annually for Havanese health research, and they have Flash's eyes tested annually. So far, so good.
Dr. Lorraine Karpinski, veterinarian ophthalmologist in South Miami, says bichon breeds have an above-average rate of retinal detachment after surgery.
NOT FOR EVERYONE
''Havanese are not the right dogs for everyone,'' Klumb warns. ``These dogs are not good at being alone. If you're at work all day, you don't want a Havanese. They'll get separation anxiety and pee all over the house and become neurotic.''
But she calls the Havanese ''wonderful'' and ``a delightful little dog.
``These little dogs are resourceful, adaptable and fun. They're so Cuban! Nobody's more resourceful than a Cuban.''
Man's best friend...Cuban style.
Just kidding. :)
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