HAVANESE
BREEDER’S FORUM T hank you TNT for this opportunity to explain a bit about myself. My name is Kathy Ambler and I am by KAtHy AMblEr
Sporting dog, our standard calls for a moderate reach and drive. They are not supposed to cover miles with each step. They are not supposed to run around the ring and although they may lose the ‘flash of pad’ that is more often seen in puppies than adult dogs, they should always have the spring to their step. C) Neck. I have seen way too many “stuffed” necks or the opposite, “bobble heads”. To have the correct outline as well as the correct gait, you have to have correct shoulders and that will give you correct neck length and head carriage. To go along with the neck and to complete the outline, I want a cor- rect tail. While I will not throw out a puppy with a tighter tail, it definitely is not my preference. I love a lose tail and in my opinion, it helps top off the per- fect outline of a correct Havanese. 2. WhaT dog ThaT you have bred have you been mosT exciTed abouT and Why? GCH CH Amblers Totally Awesome Dude, known to all who love him as T.A.D. Tad was a singleton puppy and one that I had no intentions of keeping. I own his dad (Silver GCH CH Wind- fall’s Dude With Attitude, “Opie”) and so I didn’t think I needed his son. But the longer he stayed here, the more I loved everything about him and knew he could not go anyplace. Tad, in very limited showing was in the top 20 in Breed and All Breed, totally owner/ breeder handled. But more important than his show record, is that of his kids. In his first litter he produced Leo and Mae. Mae is here at Ambler Havanese and is CH Amblers Come What May. She is a doll that will hopefully have her first litter in 2017. Leo is owned/loved and shown by Sherrie Mahel of SherRex Havanese. He is formally known as Sil- ver GCH CH Ambler SherRex’s You’re Gonna Hear Me Roar. Leo has been a top ranked (Breed and All Breed) Havanese
Ambler Havanese. I have had Havanese for 15 years now and cannot imagine my life without one. I started by show- ing and breeding Yorkies 18 years ago, but quickly decided that I did not like having to tell families with very young children that I didn’t think a 2-pound Yorkie puppy was the best choice for their family. I started researching a sturdier breed, one that would be good with all ages and had a temperament good for kids of all ages. I found the Havanese and the rest is history. 1. Tell us Three conformaTion charac- TerisTics you consider criTical in your breed- ing program: The Havanese has six critical ele- ments of breed type and of course I am always trying to get all six in my “pick of the litter” show puppy. I believe our breed is an outline breed. So if I had to pick just three characteristics, these are the three I would look for first. A) If you cannot tell it is a Havanese from across the ring, it is missing a very important conformation characteristic that sets our breed apart from all oth- ers—the topline. The standard says the topline is straight, but not level. It has a slight rise to the base of the tail. Every weekend I hear from judges and observ- ers alike, that our breed is losing the topline. (I have also seen dogs that have too much topline, giving the appear- ance of running downhill which is as incorrect as a level topline.) B) The next thing that sets our breed apart from all others is the springy gait. More and more dogs with a generic reach and drive are showing up in the rings and the judges like it, it is very flashy, so they are winning. But it is incorrect. The Havanese is not a
for two years now, completely owner handled by Sherrie. He was the winner of the 2015 Havanese Club of America’s People’s Choice Award as well as the Owner Handler Challenge. Having Leo win the People’s Choice Award was the thrill of a lifetime. These were fellow breeders sitting outside the ring, judg- ing each dog and they chose Leo. I will never forget that night. Leo’s own kids will start hitting the rings this month. Sherrie and I are very excited about them. But, back to Tad. He has three Champion kids already, with four more major pointed, nearing their champion- ships in very limited breeding. He also has wonderful puppies that are living the life of Reilly as much loved fam- ily members. The temperament he is passing on to his kids make them great additions to any family. I always say, I breed pets first and if they have that extra oomph to be a show dog, that is a bonus! 3. WhaT are your ThoughTs on imporTing and exporTing? I think it is wonderful that we can work to build a better breed worldwide. I communicate with breeders from all over the world, thanks to social media. I do worry about importing Havanese from foreign countries just to fill a “fad”. For awhile it was the Chocolate dogs, now it is the Red dogs. I am all for
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