Buyer’s Advice…

From the Havanese Club of America’s (HCA)website…

HCA Education for Puppy Buyers

You may find available puppies from breeders listed on the Internet. Please make sure they do health testing on the sire and dam of the litter. You must receive documentation of all health testing done. The HCA recommends BAER a test for hearing, CERF, a test for eyes, OFA- Hips and Patella’s. Many breeders do additional testing such as Bile acid for liver, Legg-Calve-Perthes and Heart test. These tests are for the sire and dam of the litter as the puppies will be too young for most of them. A tested and healthy sire and dam mean better odds of good health for the puppies as well as a conscientious breeder. 10 Questions to ask your breeder

BREEDER DIRECTORY INFORMATION
The Havanese Club of America (HCA) provides a Breeder Directory for the convenience of potential Havanese buyers and Havanese Breeders. However, the HCA takes no responsibility for the promises or guarantees that a buyer and seller may agree upon at the time of a sale of a Havanese. The Breeder Directory is comprised of HCA member breeders in good standing who have provided the required information to be listed. The inclusion of a breeder does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the HCA. It is the responsibility of potential buyers to ask questions and decide for themselves if they wish to do business with any particular breeder.

Contracts
Most problems arise due to misunderstandings with the wording of a contract or the lack of one. A contract must be understood by the buyer. READ EVERY WORD BEFORE YOU SIGN IT, and ask questions if you are not sure of a clause.  As a potential buyer it is important that you make yourself clear to the Havanese breeder as to what type of puppy you are looking for, in the first contact you have with your prospective breeder, be it Pet, Show Prospect or Breeding Prospect. The AKC numbers for both parents and the AKC Litter number for your puppy must be received by you, either in a Contract or a Bill of Sale, when you pick up your puppy.

AKC Registration (NOTE: It is against AKC Rules to charge an additional price for registration papers)
There are two types of AKC Registration:
AKC Limited Registration: This means that the puppy may not be shown in conformation, or used for breeding, and is usually on a spay/neuter contract.  Any puppies your dog may produce are not registerable with the AKC.  Limited Registration dogs may be shown in Obedience, Rally or Agility.

AKC Full Registration: This means the puppy is eligible to be shown in any type of competition that the AKC offers for the breed, and any puppies it produces may be registered.

CERF – Canine Eye Registry Foundation
All breeding stock should have a Registered Current CERF number. This number can be verified on the CERF website, www.vmdb.org.  The Havanese CERF number is HVxxx/xxxx/xxx. What this means—HV is Havanese, the next figure is the permanent CERF number, followed by the year CERF was done, and finally the age of the dog, in months at the time of the exam. The reason for the CERF exam is to determine if the dog may have cataracts (or other abnormalities) at the time of the exam. It can not predict whether the dog may develop problems at a later time. A buyer should receive copies of current CERF certificates for both parents before any money is paid.

Heritable Health Concerns

• Chondrodysplasia
• Deafness
• Heart Problems
• Liver Shunt
• Seizures
• Hip Problems-Dysplasia
• Legg-Calve-Perthes
• Patellar Luxation

OFA-CHIC Numbers

The HCA now gives a 4 Star Award each year to Havanese that are tested for BAER – hearing, CERF- eyes, OFA- Hips and Patellar Luxation and PASS all four of these tests.
To earn a CHIC number the Havanese must have the tests, but they do not need to pass them.  By asking for the registered name of both parents of your prospective puppy, before you buy or pay a deposit, checking health information is easy.  To check OFA-CHIC to see what Havanese have been health tested and the results forwarded to OFA: Go to the OFA website, www.offa.org, page down to bottom click on CHIC, which located on the left of the page. This will bring up the CHIC site, click- search CHIC, the breed page is next, scroll down to Havanese, click- begin search. This is the main Havanese listing in alphabetical order. Click on the name, this will bring up the individual testing results.

Before paying any money you should receive

1. Copies of the current CERF Certificate for BOTH parents. (copies of the exam may be altered), copies of BAER, OFA -Hips and Patella’s
2. A blank copy of the contract (if the breeder uses one) so that you will be aware of what is expected of you as a buyer and of the breeder.

When picking up your puppy, you should receive

1. The puppy’s pedigree.
2. AKC Individual Registration Application (the puppy buyer personally registers their puppy.)
3. Copy of the puppy’s Shot Record.
4. A copy of your contract signed by your breeder and yourself after reading it.
5. A copy of all health testing done on BOTH parents plus any done on the puppy.
6. Food Schedule.