TRACKING THE HEALTH OF HAVANESE 20 YEARS LATER
by Dr. Rafe H. Schindler and Sara Dellorto
T he Havanese breed was recog- nized by the AKC in 1996. Since its inception, the Havanese Club of America (HCA) has been very conscientious about tracking the evo- lution of the health of the breed. See the “health tab” on the HCA website at https://havanese.org . In addition to the club’s contribu- tions to research sponsored by the Canine Health Foundation, the HCA instituted an annual health test- ing awards program (The Top Paw Awards) for its members, to encour- age the systematic annual testing of dogs. The club maintains an informa- tive and up-to-date health section on its website, and has sponsored ma- jor health surveys every eight years.
The last two surveys conducted in 2004 and 2012 contained informa- tion on more than 2,000 dogs. We learned from both of these surveys that Havanese are a relatively healthy breed with very few life-threatening issues, thus leading to the common belief that they are a “long lived” breed as well. These facts, combined with the many charming characteristics of the breed, has led to their enormous popularity as home companions and more recently to their recognition in the show ring. In 2017, the HCA Board asked the Health Committee to research the question of how long Havanese actu- ally lived. The answer turned out to be quite surprising!
The Health Committee began by dis- tributing what came to be known as the “Longevity Survey” at the 2017 HCA National Specialty in Asheville, North Carolina. The short confiden- tial survey asked only for the age and sex of AKC registered dogs living in particpants’ homes that were at least seven years old, and at what age any of their other Havanese had passed away. The survey was subsequently sent to all HCA members, and then expanded to includemembers of AKC regional and local Havanese and all- breed clubs; Havanese social media groups; and anyone else we could solicit information from. The survey was meant to be a snapshot of the Ha- vanese population, so the data was
“WE LEARNED FROM BOTH OF THESE SURVEYS THAT HAVANESE ARE A RELATIVELY HEALTHY BREED WITH VERY FEW LIFE-THREATENING IS- SUES, THUS LEADING TO THE COMMON BELIEF THAT THEY ARE A “LONG LIVED” BREED AS WELL.” 62 • T op N otch T oys , O ctober 2019
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