Havanese snapshot
The American Kennel Club describes the Havanese as the only dog breed native to Cuba, cheerful little dogs with a spring in their step and a gleam in their big, brown eyes, and it calls them vivacious and sociable companions. This is a small but sturdy toy breed with a long, silky coat that can be straight, wavy, or curly and comes in many colors and patterns, including solid colors, sable, and parti-color. The tail is carried plumed over the back, the ears drop, and the expression is soft and intelligent around dark eyes. Owners meet the temperament as a dog that follows the household from room to room and wants company more than it wants distance. The breed ranked No. 25 in AKC registrations for 2024, holding the same place it held in 2023.
| Height | 8.5 to 11.5 inches at the shoulder. |
|---|---|
| Weight | 7 to 13 pounds. |
| Lifespan | 14 to 16 years, as listed by the AKC. |
| Coat | A long, silky double coat, straight, wavy, or curly, in many colors and patterns. It needs regular brushing to stay free of mats, or a shorter clip that still needs routine care. |
| Temperament | Cheerful, vivacious, and sociable, in the AKC's description. A companion breed that bonds closely to its household. |
| Group and origin | Toy Group. The only dog breed native to Cuba, as the AKC describes it. |
Two snapshot facts shape the insurance picture. The first is the lifespan. A dog that can live into its mid teens passes through a young orthopedic window, a long adult stretch of annual checks, and senior years in which several managed conditions can overlap. A policy here is bought for duration as much as for any single event. The second is the screening culture. Few toy breeds arrive with a club required test set, an annual eye exam, and a public database to verify results in. The tool below teaches you to audit that file line by line.
Health tendencies in Havanese
The Havanese Club of America, the AKC parent club for the breed, runs its health program through the Canine Health Information Center, called CHIC, which is run with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, called the OFA. Its health and testing guide names the areas that matter: eyes, hearing, hips, kneecaps, a hip disease of young dogs, chondrodysplasia, the heart, the thyroid, and a skin condition called sebaceous adenitis. The six cards below cover the conditions that most shape an insurance decision. They are tendencies, not predictions, and several are most usefully understood as record problems as much as medical ones. What was tested, what was found, and on what date is the thread through all six.
This section is general information about conditions a breed can be prone to. It is not veterinary advice and it is not a diagnosis of any dog. Signs listed here are possible signs owners may notice, and many of them have several causes. Only a veterinarian who examines your dog can say what a sign means.
Patellar luxation (slipping kneecaps)
What it is
A developmental condition in which the kneecap, called the patella, slips out of the groove at the front of the thigh bone where it should track. The Havanese Club of America explains it in plain terms: the groove can be shallow, the kneecap does not seat deeply enough, and it slips in and out of the groove. The club adds that medial luxation, slipping toward the inside of the leg, is generally thought to be inherited, while lateral luxation is generally the result of an injury or trauma. The Merck Veterinary Manual describes patellar luxation as a developmental orthopedic disorder, displacement of the patella from that groove, either toward the inside or toward the outside of the leg. Patella evaluation is one of the three tests required for a CHIC number in this breed, performed after one year of age, and reputable breeders test both parents. Each slip wears the joint, so a condition that looks like a party trick in a puppy, a skip and a kick, is a joint problem on a schedule.
Signs owners may notice
- A sudden skip or hop on a back leg for a few steps, then normal walking again. Merck describes this intermittent, non weight bearing lameness that resolves within a few steps as the characteristic sign.
- Holding a back leg up briefly, or kicking it out behind to pop the kneecap back into place.
- Lameness that becomes more frequent over time in higher grades.
- In severe cases, a crouched stance on the back legs and consistent difficulty walking.
When it can be urgent
A skipping gait is a routine appointment problem. A dog that suddenly will not bear any weight on a leg, cries with movement, or has a swollen knee may have an injury on top of the luxation, such as a ligament tear, and that change deserves prompt care rather than a wait and see.
How vets usually evaluate and treat it
Vets grade the luxation from 1 to 4 by feeling the kneecap while moving the joint, following the system Merck sets out. In Grade 1 it can be pushed out by hand but returns on its own, and signs are mild or absent. In Grade 2 it slips out on its own or with handling and can stay out briefly. In Grade 3 it is out most of the time but can be put back by hand. In Grade 4 it is permanently out. X-rays show the joint and any bone changes. Merck notes that conservative care, including weight management, controlled exercise, physical therapy, and pain relief, aims at comfort but does not correct the anatomy, and that surgery is typically recommended for moderate to severe grades, for marked lameness, or for worsening signs. Surgery categories include deepening the groove and realigning the tendon attachment.
Hip dysplasia and Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: two hip problems, one X-ray file
What they are
These are different diseases that share a joint and a screening X-ray, so this guide treats them in one card and separates them inside it. Hip dysplasia is an inherited looseness of the hip joint. The ball and socket fit poorly, the joint wears unevenly, and arthritis follows. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center describes that looseness leading to arthritis and pain, and the club notes the disease is genetically heritable. Hip evaluation is a CHIC required test here, performed after two years of age, and the only way to diagnose hip dysplasia is with X-rays of the hips. Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, called LCPD, is a separate failure. The club describes it as a disease caused by lack of blood flow to the hip, and the Merck Veterinary Manual describes it as a deterioration of the head and neck of the thigh bone, associated with loss of blood supply and death of bone tissue. The ball of the joint collapses and fragments instead of simply fitting loosely. LCPD is mostly seen in the young dog, usually between four months and one year of age, and Merck gives the typical range in young miniature and small breed dogs as four to eleven months. The club notes that LCPD is not itself a CHIC required test, but it would be detected on the X-rays taken for the required hip certification after age two, and that it is believed to be inherited, although the way it is inherited is not known.
Signs owners may notice
- For hip dysplasia: stiffness after rest, trouble rising, reluctance on stairs and jumps, a swaying or bunny hopping gait at a run, and loss of muscle over the hips in a dog that is moving less.
- For Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: a back leg limp in a young dog, often the first real limp of the puppy's life, pain when the hip is handled, chewing or licking at the hip area, and thinning muscle on the affected side.
- In either case, slowing down on exercise the dog used to enjoy. In a puppy, treat a new persistent limp as a prompt appointment, not a growth phase to wait out.
When it can be urgent
Both conditions are usually prompt appointment problems rather than midnight emergencies. A dog that suddenly cannot bear weight on a back leg, cries out during movement, or has had a fall or other trauma may have an injury rather than a joint disease, and that change deserves same day care. The urgency in LCPD is of a different kind: the club stresses that early intervention is important, so a young dog's limp should be X-rayed promptly rather than rested for months on assumption.
How vets usually evaluate and treat them
Evaluation combines a hands on joint exam with hip X-rays, and the X-ray is what separates the two diseases. In hip dysplasia it shows the fit of the joint and any arthritis. In LCPD, Merck notes, radiography reveals irregular bone density of the head and neck of the thigh bone, collapse, and fragmentation of the bone. Treatment then diverges. Hip dysplasia in a pet dog usually starts with weight control, controlled exercise, pain and anti-inflammatory medication, and rehabilitation, with surgery a category for dogs whose pain does not respond to medical management. Cornell lists surgical categories for severe hip disease that include femoral head and neck ostectomy, an operation that removes the ball of the joint, noting that it is more common for small to medium sized dogs and that dogs of this size generally have good function after it. For LCPD, the club describes treatment ranging from rest and anti-inflammatory medication in mild cases to surgery in more severe ones, and Merck names femoral head and neck ostectomy as the recommended treatment, with an excellent prognosis for recovery after surgery, while noting that total hip replacement is also an option in selected cases. For a dog of Havanese size, that operation is the workhorse in both files, which is one more reason the two diseases belong in one conversation.
Eye conditions and the annual CAER examination
What they are
The breed club lists the eye conditions seen in the Havanese, albeit at low incidence: cataracts, prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid, known as cherry eye, retinal atrophy, retinal folds, distichia, persistent pupillary membranes, and vitreous degeneration. A cataract clouds the lens and can reduce vision. Retinal conditions affect the light sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Distichia means extra eyelashes that can irritate the eye surface. The screening answer to this list is one examination: the OFA Companion Animal Eye Registry exam, called a CAER exam. It is one of the three CHIC required tests, it must be repeated annually, and it must be performed by a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist. A general practice veterinarian cannot perform it. The club explains that the exam screens for eye diseases proven, or suspected, to have a heritable component. Annual is the operative word. A cataract can form after a clear exam, which is why the certificate expires.
Signs owners may notice
- A cloudy, bluish, or white look inside the pupil when a cataract forms.
- A red, fleshy swelling at the inner corner of the eye, which is the classic look of cherry eye.
- Squinting, pawing at the face, watery or irritated eyes, which can fit distichia or surface irritation.
- Bumping into furniture that has moved, or hesitation in dim light, as vision fades.
How vets usually evaluate and treat them
Evaluation is an eye examination, with dilation so the lens and retina can be inspected directly. Treatment depends on which entry on the list is found. Cherry eye is usually a surgical conversation about the prolapsed gland. Cataracts are assessed individually, and surgery can be an option in suitable dogs. Extra lashes that irritate the eye can be removed. No treatment restores vision lost to advanced retinal degeneration, so care focuses on confirming the diagnosis and helping the dog adapt. The yearly certification exam is a screening record of what the eye showed that day, not a lifetime guarantee for any puppy those dogs produce.
Congenital deafness and the BAER hearing test
What it is
Congenital deafness means a puppy is born unable to hear in one ear or in both. This card exists because the test is part of this breed's story, and it is written at the breed's actual scale. The Havanese Club of America says hearing problems in Havanese are generally seen to be very rare, and its Top Paw program history records that the BAER test was a fourth requirement for a CHIC number until 2022, when it was removed because deafness was shown to be very rare in the breed. The same history notes an association with the piebald gene, the gene behind white patterned coats, which is why hearing still deserves a question in a parti-color or heavily white puppy even though the breed level incidence is low. The test itself is the BAER test, short for Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response. The club explains that it is the only way to test hearing, that a veterinary neurologist using special equipment administers it, that each ear is tested separately, that it is quick, that it can usually be done without sedation even in young puppies, and that OFA certification of hearing is performed once, at six weeks of age or older. A dog deaf in one ear only can behave almost normally at home, which is why a behavior based guess is not a test.
Signs owners may notice
- A puppy that sleeps through loud household sounds that wake its littermates.
- No startle or orientation response to a sound made out of the dog's sight, on one side or on both.
- A dog that responds to visual cues and vibration but inconsistently to its name or to sounds from behind.
- In one sided deafness, often nothing obvious at all. That is the case the BAER test exists to catch.
When it can be urgent
Congenital deafness is not an emergency. Sudden hearing loss in an adult dog is a different problem and deserves a prompt appointment, because ear infection, obstruction, and other treatable causes sit on that list and should be examined rather than assumed to be permanent.
How vets usually evaluate and treat it
Evaluation starts with an ear examination to rule out infection or blockage, and hearing itself is confirmed with the BAER test, which measures the brain's response to sound in each ear separately. There is no treatment that restores congenital hearing. Care is management: training built on hand signals and visual cues, a securely fenced or leashed life outdoors because the dog cannot hear traffic or a recall, and honest records. For breeders, the club's program material places results in the public OFA database, and a result for each parent, and ideally for the puppy, is reasonable to ask to see. For a pet owner, the insurance relevance is narrow but real: a BAER result known before enrollment is a known condition, and how a policy treats it should be asked in writing.
Heart murmurs and cardiac disease in the senior years
What it is
Cardiovascular disease is any condition of the heart or blood vessels that disrupts the normal delivery of oxygenated blood to the body, in the club's definition, and heart diseases can be present at birth or acquired later in life. This card is deliberately written at a different temperature from the heart card in a breed where heart disease dominates. The Havanese club reports that its two health surveys suggest the incidence of congenital and acquired cardiac disease in Havanese is relatively small. Cardiac testing is not required for a CHIC number in this breed. It is a recommended additional test, and the club's health committee strongly recommends annual testing by listening to the heart, called auscultation, especially after the age of five or six years, to catch the onset of cardiovascular problems that can develop with natural aging and allow early treatment that supports quality of life. A murmur, an extra sound heard with a stethoscope, is a finding, not a diagnosis. In an older small dog, a new murmur commonly opens a conversation about the heart valves, including the mitral valve on the left side of the heart, and the next step is staging, not panic.
Signs owners may notice
- At first, usually nothing at home. The first sign is normally a heart murmur a vet hears at a routine visit.
- A soft cough, often worse at night or after excitement, if heart disease advances.
- Faster or heavier breathing at rest, and a dog that tires sooner on walks it used to manage easily.
- Reduced appetite, restlessness at night, or episodes of weakness or fainting in later stages of any heart problem.
How vets usually evaluate and treat it
Evaluation starts with auscultation. The club's program material sets the testing frame breeders use: a congenital cardiac evaluation is performed once at one year of age, adult onset cardiac testing is performed by a board certified veterinary cardiologist and repeated annually, and cardiac results are valid for one year. In a pet senior dog, a new murmur usually leads to a conversation about an echocardiogram, an ultrasound scan of the heart that shows the valves and chamber sizes, and chest X-rays if breathing signs are present. Treatment depends on the diagnosis and its stage. Some murmurs are monitored with rechecks and no medication. Heart disease that has begun to enlarge the heart or produce fluid is managed with daily medication, usually for life, with repeat imaging to adjust doses. This is why the annual listening habit matters. It converts a senior surprise into a dated sequence of clear checks followed by one finding.
Chondrodysplasia, chondrodystrophy (CDDY), and the disc question
What they are, kept separate on purpose
Two similar names describe two different things, and confusing them is the most common reading error in this breed's health file, so this card separates them line by line. Chondrodysplasia, called CD or CDPA in the genetic literature, is a form of dwarfism affecting limb growth. The Havanese club explains that in affected dogs the growth plates close prematurely and sometimes unevenly, which can produce short straight legs, bowed legs, or one straight leg and one bowed leg, and that the Havanese breed standard mandates straight legs with feet pointing forward. The club treats CD as hereditary and states that dogs with CD should not be used for breeding. Chondrodystrophy, called CDDY, is a separate mutation. The UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory explains that CDDY also includes a short legged appearance, and in addition involves abnormal premature degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae, which makes those discs susceptible to herniation. Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center describes the same process: in chondrodystrophic breeds, premature hardening of the soft center of the disc at an early age, from birth to one year of age, results in disc degeneration, and that degeneration can lead to a rupture of the center of the disc through its outer layer. The CDDY mutation is an insertion of the FGF4 retrogene on chromosome 12, identified by researchers at UC Davis, and UC Davis lists the Havanese both among the breeds appropriate for CDDY testing and among the breeds in which the variant has been found. Now the careful part. Cornell's breed predisposition list for this condition names several breeds and does not name the Havanese. The Havanese is not a long backed breed, and nothing in the sources for this guide establishes disc disease as a common clinical problem in Havanese the way it is established in the Dachshund. What is established is narrower: a gene variant exists in this breed, a DNA test for it exists, and a dog that carries the variant is at increased risk for disc herniation as the UC Davis laboratory frames the result. A gene result is a risk statement. It is not a diagnosis, and it is not a promise in either direction.
Signs owners may notice
- For chondrodysplasia: visibly shortened, bowed, or uneven front legs in a young dog, against a standard that calls for straight legs and forward feet. This is a breeder and vet conversation in puppyhood, not a wait and see.
- For disc trouble in any dog: neck or back pain, reluctance to jump or climb, crying out when lifted or when moving, a stiff neck or an arched back.
- Wobbliness, knuckling or dragging of the paws, or weakness in the back legs, which Cornell lists among the signs of disc disease pressing on the spinal cord.
How vets usually evaluate and treat it
Leg shape is evaluated on examination and, where needed, on X-rays of the limbs, and the breeding answer is the one the club gives: affected dogs should not be bred. The gene question is evaluated by a DNA test, and UC Davis explains how to read the result: a dog with no copy of the variant is not predicted to be at increased risk from this variant, a dog with one copy will have some leg shortening compared with a dog with none and is at risk for disc herniation, and a dog with two copies is at the same disc risk with more shortening. UC Davis also advises that results be shared with the dog's veterinarian to assist in clinical decisions, and Cornell advises considering the whole dog rather than this one test in isolation when breeding decisions are made. If disc disease itself is ever suspected, evaluation is a neurological examination, X-rays that may show disc calcification or a narrowed disc space, and advanced imaging such as MRI or CT. Cornell lists the treatment categories: milder cases may be treated with rest and pain medication, more severe cases may warrant surgery, and ideal body weight plus ramps or steps to reduce jumping are part of long term spine care in at risk dogs. Our full guide to intervertebral disc disease in dogs explains the clinical condition, its staging, and its policy wording in depth. Read it as the guide to the disease itself. Read this card as the guide to what a Havanese gene result does and does not say.
The CHIC evidence checklist: the breed-unique tool
No other guide in this series gets this tool, because no other breed in the series hands a puppy buyer a test file this complete and this easy to verify badly. A CHIC number looks like a stamp of quality. It is not. The Havanese Club of America states plainly that a dog does not have to pass the required tests to obtain a CHIC number, because the program's purpose is to encourage testing and open disclosure of results through the OFA database. The number proves testing happened. Only the results prove anything else. This checklist turns a breeder's screening claim into evidence you have checked yourself, line by line, in the public database. It is general information, not a substitute for the OFA database itself, and your veterinarian remains the right reader for any result you do not understand.
| Line to verify | The evidence to ask for | How you verify it | What a gap usually means |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHIC number, both parents | Each parent's CHIC number, with the parent's registered name and registration number. | Search the registered name in the public OFA database and open the parent's own record, not a screenshot the breeder selected. | No CHIC number on a parent of a litter listed through the breed club's referral route is a direct conflict with the club's rule that both parents have CHIC numbers for that listing. |
| Hip evaluation | The OFA hip result for each parent, with the date of the X-ray and the grade recorded. The club lists the normal grades for Havanese as excellent, good, and fair. | Confirm the dog was two years of age or older at the radiography, and read the grade itself in the database. | A hip result taken before two years of age is preliminary in this system. A missing grade, or a grade you were told verbally, is not evidence. |
| Patella evaluation | The OFA patella result for each parent, with its date. | Confirm the evaluation was performed after one year of age, as the club requires, and that the result is recorded as normal or with its grade. | An evaluation done in puppyhood does not meet the club's timing. This is the cheapest test on the list, so its absence is hard to explain. |
| CAER eye examination, current year | The current CAER certificate for each parent, showing the examination date and the examining ophthalmologist. | Check two things: that the examiner is a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist, and that the exam falls in the current year. The club requires the exam to be repeated annually, and its award rules require the CAER number to be current. | An eye certificate from two or three years ago is an expired snapshot in a breed where a cataract can form after a clear exam. Treat it as history, not clearance. |
| Cardiac evaluation, recommended | Any cardiac result for each parent: a congenital evaluation at one year of age, or adult onset testing by a board certified veterinary cardiologist. | Check the date against the one year validity the club's program gives cardiac results, and check who performed the test. | Cardiac testing is recommended, not CHIC required, so its absence is not a rule breach. Its presence, kept current, is a breeder going beyond the minimum in the direction this guide's senior card points. |
| BAER hearing result, recommended | A BAER result for each parent, and ideally for the puppy, recorded once at six weeks of age or older, each ear separately. | Confirm the result states each ear's outcome, not a single combined pass. One sided deafness is exactly what this test exists to find. | BAER is no longer CHIC required because deafness is very rare in this breed. In a parti-color or heavily white puppy, the question is still worth asking out loud. |
| Legg-Calvé-Perthes status | The parents' hip X-ray record read with LCPD in mind, and the breeder's direct answer about any LCPD in the lines behind the puppy. | The club notes LCPD would be detected on the X-rays taken for hip certification after age two, and that a hip X-ray for a dog with LCPD will not be normal. A normal adult hip record is therefore meaningful evidence here. | A breeder who has never heard of the condition cannot tell you anything about it in their lines. That silence is information. |
| Thyroid and other recommended tests | Any thyroid result and any other OFA supported test the breeder chose to record, such as elbows. | Read what is actually in the database under the parent's name. Additional recorded tests are the pattern the club's Top Paw awards were built to recognize. | These are beyond the minimum. Judge them as evidence of a testing culture, not as a pass or fail line. |
| DNA results, where the breeder tests | Any DNA panel result the breeder relies on, including CDDY and CDPA results where they were run, stated as a copy count result for each parent. | Match the result to the individual dog's registered name, and read it with the UC Davis explanation of what each result predicts and what it does not. | A panel described as clear without the individual result named is marketing language. The gene card above explains why precision matters here more than reassurance. |
| Your own puppy file | A dated copy of every document above, plus your puppy's own vaccination and examination records, filed before you enroll. | Assemble it yourself from the database and the breeder's copies, and keep it with the policy documents. | If a claim is ever questioned, this file shows what was tested, what was found, and when you knew it. It cannot be assembled after the fact. |
Two habits make the checklist work. First, verify in the database yourself, every time. The club built its program on open disclosure, requires CHIC certificates for parents of puppies listed in its breeder directory, and tells buyers they can look parents up by registered name. A breeder inside that system will expect the question. Second, date everything. The difference between a current eye exam and an expired one, and between a hip X-ray at two years and one at fourteen months, is the substance of the record.
Reading the screening file honestly
The checklist above collects evidence. This section reads it. A screening file in this breed is unusually informative, and it still has hard edges that a careful buyer should be able to state out loud before falling for a puppy.
| The file can show | The file cannot show |
|---|---|
| That both parents were tested for hips, patellas, and eyes under the club's CHIC rules, on stated dates, with results published for anyone to read. | That the parents passed. A CHIC number is issued for completed and disclosed testing, whether the results were normal or not. |
| Whether the eye evidence is current. An annual exam repeated on schedule is a living record in a breed with heritable cataracts. | What a parent's eyes, or your puppy's eyes, will show next year. The annual requirement exists because the answer changes. |
| The hip picture on two diseases at once: the dysplasia grade, and an adult hip X-ray that the club notes would not be normal in a dog with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. | Whether your own puppy's hips will stay sound. Screening shifts the odds across a litter. It does not decide an individual dog. |
| Whether a breeder goes beyond the minimum: current cardiac testing, a BAER result, thyroid testing, and DNA results recorded where they were run. | A prediction about disc disease from a DNA result alone. The CDDY result states a risk. It does not stage a spine. |
| How a breeder answers questions. Breeders inside the club system produce documents. The answers, and any reluctance, are evidence too. | Anything about a dog whose results were never submitted. The database can only show what was tested and disclosed. |
Read the file in that spirit and it does its job. It tells you whether the humans behind your puppy tested what the club asks, disclosed what they found, and kept the annual pieces current. It cannot repeal the breed tendencies above. That is why the policy still matters, and why the next section is about waiting periods, bilateral wording, and renewal terms rather than price.
Policy decisions that matter for a Havanese
For a Havanese, the policy table is a joints and records table. Likely claims are orthopedic in the young dog, ocular across the whole life, and cardiac in the senior dog, and almost every one is hereditary or developmental by definition. The clauses below decide whether coverage survives that reality.
| Policy feature | Why it matters for a Havanese | Stronger wording looks like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hereditary condition coverage | Patellar luxation, hip dysplasia, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, the inherited eye conditions, and congenital deafness are the breed list, and most of them are hereditary by definition. | Hereditary and congenital conditions are covered on the same terms as other illnesses. | Hereditary exclusions, or breed specific exclusions aimed at orthopedic or eye conditions in small breeds. |
| Orthopedic waiting period | Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease usually appears between four months and one year of age, so a long orthopedic waiting period can cover exactly the window this breed needs insured. | A stated orthopedic waiting period you can map against your puppy's age and enrollment date before you buy. | Layered or extended orthopedic waiting periods that leave the first year hip window uncovered. |
| Bilateral condition rule | Kneecaps and hips come in pairs, the LCPD lesion is often present on both sides, and eye conditions in this breed often involve both eyes over time. | Each side is judged on its own record, with clear terms for the second side. | Wording that treats the second knee, hip, or eye as pre-existing after the first is diagnosed. |
| Pre-existing condition definitions | A skipping gait noted at a puppy visit, a cataract seen at one eye exam, or a murmur heard at a senior check can each predate a formal diagnosis by months or years. | A clear definition tied to signs a vet recorded, with a stated route for conditions that were treated and resolved. | Broad wording that lets a single early note anchor the exclusion of a whole body system for life. |
| Known test and DNA result treatment | This breed arrives with more recorded results than most: BAER hearing results, CAER eye findings, hip grades, and in some lines CDDY and CDPA gene results. | Stated treatment of known screening and DNA results, given in writing before enrollment. | Silence about gene results, which leaves a known CDDY result to be argued about at claim time rather than settled at purchase time. |
| Diagnostics and imaging coverage | This breed's diagnoses are test driven: hip and knee X-rays, dilated eye examinations by a specialist, echocardiograms for the senior heart, and advanced imaging if disc disease is ever suspected. | X-rays, ultrasound, specialist examinations, and advanced imaging are covered categories when used to diagnose or stage a covered condition. | Policies that exclude advanced imaging, or that treat a diagnostic exam a vet recommended as routine screening and refuse it on that basis. |
| Chronic condition renewal terms | Hip arthritis, dry and irritated eyes after an eye diagnosis, and a managed senior heart condition are all claimed at every renewal once diagnosed. | A condition covered in one policy term stays covered in later terms while enrollment continues. | Wording that caps a condition per year, ends coverage for a condition at renewal, or reclassifies it as pre-existing. |
| Specialist coverage | Ophthalmology is built into this breed's screening life, cardiology is the senior referral, and orthopedic surgery is the young dog referral. These are routine stops for a Havanese, not exotic ones. | Referral visits and specialist examinations are covered without a separate penalty or cap. | Policies that limit specialist care, pay it at a lower rate, or require approval timelines that do not match how referrals actually happen. |
Life stages: puppy, adult, and senior
Puppy
The puppy stage is when this breed's two files are built: the breeder evidence file and your own dog's medical record. Work the CHIC evidence checklist before the puppy comes home, or as soon as you can afterward, and verify both parents in the OFA database yourself. At the first vet visits, ask directly about the knees and hips, and note the answers with their dates. Enroll in this stage, while the record shows examinations with clear results rather than findings, and let the waiting periods run while the puppy is well. Hold the Legg-Calvé-Perthes window in mind all through the first year. A back leg limp in a dog of this age and size is a prompt X-ray conversation, not a wait and see, because early intervention is what the breed club itself stresses. If a BAER test was done on your puppy, file the result. If it was not, and your puppy is parti-color or heavily white, ask your vet whether hearing testing makes sense.
Adult
Adulthood is a maintenance rhythm rather than a single event. Keep the eyes in view: the annual CAER exam is a breeder requirement, and for a pet dog the practical version is an eye check whenever your vet recommends one, and a prompt visit for cloudiness, redness, or squinting. Watch the gait as you did in puppyhood. A new or more frequent skip in an adult is a knee asking to be graded, and stiffness after rest is a hip asking to be examined. The insurance work is unglamorous: file claims as they happen, keep every result with its date, and read renewal documents each year for changes to hereditary, orthopedic, or chronic condition wording.
Senior
A senior Havanese is where the breed club's cardiac advice becomes your calendar. Ask for the heart to be listened to at least annually, and follow the committee's steer to treat that habit as essential after the age of five or six years, with the date and the result written down each time. A murmur found against a run of dated clear checks is a finding with a clean history, and that history is exactly what staging and any later claim will be read against. Keep the joints in the same frame. An older dog can hold hip arthritis and a new heart finding at once, and exercise has to be enough for the joints and gentle enough for the heart.
The calendar below turns the breed club's timing rules into one page to keep with the record file, built only from ages and intervals the sources state.
| Stage | What is due | The record to file |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy, from six weeks of age | A BAER hearing test can be performed once, at six weeks of age or older, where hearing testing is done. Enroll in insurance in this stage, and start the puppy's own record file. | The BAER result for each ear, where one exists, plus the parents' verified CHIC file from the checklist above. |
| Young dog, four months to one year | Watch the back legs daily. This is the Legg-Calvé-Perthes window, and a new persistent limp in this window is a prompt X-ray appointment. | Any limp note with its date, and the hip X-ray report if films are taken. |
| Adult, every year | An eye examination rhythm: the CAER exam is annual for breeding dogs, and the pet version of the same habit is an eye check whenever your vet recommends one, with a prompt visit for cloudiness, redness, or squinting. Ask about knees and hips at routine visits. | Each eye result with its date, and each knee and hip answer with its date. |
| Senior, from five or six years of age | Annual heart listening examinations, following the breed club health committee's steer, with an echocardiogram conversation if a murmur is found. | Each auscultation date and result, so a murmur is read against a dated run of clear checks. |
Review the policy each year for age based changes and premium increases. A plan that thins out exactly when a long lived breed's most predictable senior work arrives fails the purpose it was bought for.
A claim, step by step: a puppy limp becomes a hip diagnosis
The example below is hypothetical. It is not a real dog, a real claim, or a guarantee of how any insurer will decide. It follows a Havanese puppy from a first limp in the first year, through the X-ray that names the problem, to surgery and recovery, because that full arc is what orthopedic coverage in this breed has to handle. Pet insurance generally reimburses after you pay the vet, as explained in how pet insurance works.
The limp that does not settle
The puppy begins to favor a back leg. Some days look almost normal. Other days the leg is carried, the puppy chews at the hip and tires early, and muscle is already thinning on that side. In this example the policy was started soon after the puppy came home, so these first signs land inside the policy period. That timing was arranged at enrollment, and it cannot be arranged now.
The examination and the X-ray
The vet examines the hips, finds pain and a grinding sensation on manipulation of the affected joint, and takes hip X-rays. The films show irregular density, collapse, and fragmentation of the head of the thigh bone. That pattern is Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease rather than hip dysplasia: the ball of the joint has lost its blood supply and is breaking down. Keep the full radiology report. It is the page that converts a note about a limp into a named diagnosis with a date.
Checking the record against the policy
On paper, the insurer lines the diagnosis up against the policy dates and the earlier record. The sharp question in this breed is whether the orthopedic waiting period had finished before the limp began, a matter of exact dates: enrollment, the waiting period length in the wording, and the first recorded sign. The breeder file helps differently. It shows the parents' hip evaluations and recorded results, which speak to what was known and disclosed before the puppy was sold.
Submitting the first claim
The first claim is filed with the examination notes, the X-ray report, and the invoice for the visit. Filing the diagnostic story at once is better than filing fragments, because the X-ray only makes sense alongside the limp that prompted it and the examination that found hip pain. The diagnosis date recorded is the date of the confirming films, and every later claim for this hip refers back to it.
Surgery, and how reimbursement works
The vet discusses the treatment categories. Rest and anti-inflammatory medication are the mild case path, and in this example the collapse on the films puts the dog on the surgical path the Merck Veterinary Manual names as the recommended treatment: femoral head and neck ostectomy, which removes the damaged ball of the joint, followed by early physical therapy to encourage use of the leg. Each eligible bill moves through the same mechanics described in what pet insurance costs and why. Charges count against the deductible first, the policy's reimbursement terms apply to eligible charges after that, and totals are tracked against the annual limit. The operation is the large bill. The therapy visits and recheck films are the follow on ones, and both halves have to be covered for the policy to do its job.
Recovery and the second hip question
Recovery is measured in weeks of controlled exercise and therapy, and Merck describes the prognosis after this surgery as excellent. Record work continues, because the other hip is now a live question. The LCPD lesion is often present on both sides, and recheck films and notes for the second hip belong in the same file. If that side is ever treated, the bilateral clause you read before buying decides how it is handled.
Where claims in this story get denied
Denial pressure points in this breed story are an orthopedic waiting period that had not finished when the first limp was recorded, an insurer dating the condition to a breeder or puppy visit note from before enrollment, a second hip treated as pre-existing under a bilateral clause, and diagnostic X-rays refused as routine screening in a limping dog. Each of those is a clause question, and each can be asked in writing before you buy, while the puppy's record is still clean.
What drives a Havanese premium
No responsible guide will name a price for your dog, because the quote depends on the dog, the address, and the settings chosen. What can be explained is the shape of Havanese pricing and the choices that move it. The full mechanics are in what pet insurance costs and why.
Breed risk profile. Insurers see a small, generally healthy, long lived dog with a specific orthopedic file: kneecaps that can need surgery, hips that can need surgery in the first year or arthritis care across a long life, and eyes examined annually for hereditary disease. The long lifespan means more years in which a managed condition can be claimed.
Size. A Havanese is a small dog, and medication doses, anesthesia, and imaging generally cost less at this weight than they do for a large breed. Size softens the individual bill sizes. It does not soften the likelihood of the orthopedic claims themselves, and insurers price both halves of that equation.
Age curve and lifespan. Premiums generally rise with age, and the AKC lifespan range for this breed runs into the mid teens. The honest comparison between policies is not the puppy premium. It is what each policy still covers, and at what premium, when the dog is in the senior years and the heart checks and joint care are annual events.
Location and plan settings. Vet prices in your area set the bill sizes the insurer expects, and your deductible, reimbursement rate, and annual limit choices trade premium against claim returns. One honest note for this breed. A breeder who completed the full CHIC file, and the additional recommended tests behind it, is worth choosing, and the documents are worth keeping. Do not expect them to lower a quote. Insurers price the breed and the individual dog's own record, not the parents' test results.
Pre-purchase checklist for a Havanese policy
- Work the CHIC evidence checklist first: hip, patella, and current CAER results for both parents, verified by you in the OFA database, plus any cardiac, BAER, thyroid, and DNA results the breeder recorded.
- Note the Legg-Calvé-Perthes window, four months to one year of age, and map the orthopedic waiting period of any policy you consider against your puppy's actual age at enrollment.
- Confirm hereditary and congenital conditions are covered, including patellar luxation, hip dysplasia, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, inherited eye disease, and congenital deafness.
- Read the bilateral clause for knees, hips, and eyes before you buy, not after a first side is diagnosed.
- Ask in writing how known screening results and DNA results, including a BAER result and a CDDY result, are treated at enrollment.
- Confirm a condition covered in one term stays covered at renewal, since hip arthritis, eye conditions, and a senior heart condition are managed for years.
- Check that specialist ophthalmology and cardiology visits, and the imaging each uses, are covered categories for a covered condition.
- Start the annual heart listening habit on the record early, so a senior murmur is found against a dated run of clear checks.
- Enroll as a puppy, after the breeder file is collected and before any knee, hip, eye, hearing, or heart finding enters the medical record.
Questions to ask an insurer, in writing
- How long is your orthopedic waiting period, and how does it apply to Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease in a puppy enrolled at this age?
- How do you treat the second knee, the second hip, and the second eye after the first side is diagnosed and claimed?
- How do you treat known screening results at enrollment, including a BAER hearing result, a hip grade, and an eye finding on a CAER exam?
- How do you treat a known DNA result, such as a CDDY result, when the dog has no clinical signs and no diagnosis?
- Are cataract surgery and cherry eye surgery covered categories for this breed, and is a specialist ophthalmology referral covered on the same terms?
- Once a senior heart condition is diagnosed and covered, will it remain covered at every renewal while I stay enrolled, including daily medication and repeat echocardiograms?
Questions Havanese owners ask
Does pet insurance cover patellar luxation surgery in a Havanese?
An accident and illness policy can cover patellar luxation, including surgery for moderate to severe grades, when hereditary and developmental orthopedic conditions are included, the orthopedic waiting period has passed, and the luxation was not recorded before enrollment. Read the bilateral clause before you buy, because kneecaps come in pairs and some wording treats the second knee as pre-existing after the first is diagnosed. Ask the insurer in writing how both knees are handled for this breed.
What health tests should the parents of a Havanese puppy have?
The three tests required for a CHIC number in this breed, set by the Havanese Club of America through the OFA, are a hip evaluation, a patella evaluation after one year of age, and an annual eye examination called a CAER exam, performed by a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist. Careful breeders may add cardiac evaluation, a BAER hearing test, thyroid testing, and Legg-Calvé-Perthes screening. A CHIC number means the tests were done and the results published. It does not mean every result was normal, so read the results themselves in the OFA database.
Is Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease covered if my Havanese puppy starts limping?
It can be covered as an illness when hereditary orthopedic conditions are included and the limping began after enrollment and after any orthopedic waiting period. Timing is the pressure point, because this disease usually appears between four months and one year of age, which can be soon after a puppy comes home. Enroll early, know the exact waiting period dates, and take a young dog with a new back leg limp in promptly, because early intervention matters and the hip X-ray is what confirms the diagnosis.
My Havanese has a CDDY gene result. Does that mean the dog will develop disc disease?
No. The UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory lists the Havanese among the breeds in which the CDDY variant has been found and among the breeds appropriate for testing, and it explains that a dog with the variant is at risk for disc herniation, not certain to have one. Multiple factors influence whether a disc herniates in an individual dog. A gene result is not a diagnosis, and it is not the same as the clinical disc disease described in our IVDD guide. Ask an insurer in writing how a known gene result is treated, and share the result with your vet.
Does pet insurance cover heart disease in an older Havanese?
It can, when cardiac conditions are not excluded and no murmur or other sign was recorded before enrollment or during the waiting period. The breed club describes the incidence of congenital and acquired cardiac disease in Havanese as relatively small, and its health committee strongly recommends annual heart listening examinations, especially after the age of five or six years. Keep those dated examination records. In a senior dog, the record of clear annual checks is what separates a new finding from a long standing one.
When should I enroll a Havanese?
As a puppy, after you have collected and verified the parents' screening results and before any knee, hip, eye, hearing, or heart finding is in the medical record. This breed has one condition, Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, that usually appears in the first year of life, and several others that are first recorded as a quiet note at a routine visit. Enrolling early clears the waiting periods while the record is clean, and it puts the policy in place before the young hip window and the long senior years arrive.
Sources and further reading
- American Kennel Club, Havanese breed page for size, weight, lifespan, coat, temperament, group, and the breed's standing as the only dog breed native to Cuba.
- American Kennel Club, Most Popular Dog Breeds of 2024 for the Havanese holding the No. 25 place in AKC registrations for 2024, the same place it held in 2023.
- Havanese Club of America, Health for the three tests required for a CHIC number in this breed, the recommended additional tests, and the club rule that both parents have CHIC numbers for its breeder referral list.
- Havanese Club of America, Health and Testing Guide for the CAER, BAER, patella, hip, Legg-Calvé-Perthes, chondrodysplasia, cardiac, and thyroid sections used throughout this guide, including the ages and examiners each test requires.
- Havanese Club of America, Top Paw Health Awards for the history of the CHIC requirements in this breed, including the removal of the BAER requirement in 2022 because deafness was shown to be very rare in Havanese, and the validity periods for cardiac and hip testing.
- Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, recommended tests for the Havanese for the breed's CHIC test set as listed in the OFA database program.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Patellar luxation in dogs and cats for the skipping gait, the four luxation grades, conservative care, and when surgery is typically recommended.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Aseptic necrosis of the femoral head in dogs for Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: its cause in loss of blood supply, its age range in young small breed dogs, its X-ray picture, and femoral head and neck ostectomy as the recommended treatment.
- Cornell Riney Canine Health Center, Canine hip dysplasia for joint looseness leading to arthritis, diagnosis by X-ray and examination, and treatment categories including femoral head and neck ostectomy in smaller dogs.
- Cornell Riney Canine Health Center, Chondrodystrophy and intervertebral disc disease (CDDY/IVDD) for how premature disc hardening leads to disc degeneration, the signs of disc disease, its breed predisposition list, and its treatment categories.
- UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, Chondrodystrophy (CDDY and IVDD) and Chondrodysplasia (CDPA) for the two mutations kept separate in this guide, the Havanese listed among the breeds in which the CDDY variant has been found and among the breeds appropriate for testing, and how each test result is explained.
Sources checked on November 6, 2026.