What are the Best Dog Foods for the Havanese?
The Havanese is a sweet but sassy breed known for their soft silky coats and overall cheerful attitudes. Their calm dispositions and smaller builds make them easily adaptable and great city dogs, although your Havanese is likely happy wherever you are. To keep them healthy and happy, it's important to provide them with great nutrition from high-quality food. Our team breaks down the unique nutritional needs of the Havanese and makes our picks for best puppy, adult, and senior dog foods.
AKC Classification: Toy Group
Exercise Required: 30 minutes/day
Ideal Weight
Healthy Male: Up to 13 lbs
Healthy Female: 7-11 lbs
Breed Summary
As you probably know by now, your charming Havanese is the social butterfly of pups. A dog breed that moves with both confidence and elegance, they quickly catch the eye of admirers and your furry family member is all too happy to oblige. Don’t be surprised if walks take you twice as long - being friendly is a full time job! Their long silky coats can be a beautiful attribute if well maintained but many find the grooming rituals necessary for a longer coat too taxing. Thus, most Havanese sport a clipped coat, hairbows or clips are welcome!
Although considered a “toy” breed, your pip has a sturdy little body and is quite playful. While only requiring about 30 minutes of activity a day the Havanese is known to excel at many different dog sports including agility, flyball, obedience, Rally, and conformation.
Unsurprisingly, your fur baby loves family, friends, and strangers with equal fervor. A dog that gets along well with other animals, the Havanese is an excellent choice for families with multiple pets and is known to bond deeply to its family. This can also cause them to be prone to suffering from separation anxiety if left alone too often.
The Havanese is eager to please and, as a result, is a true joy to train, picking up new skills with ease. They are particularly adept at therapy work and make excellent service dogs. An incredibly smart breed, the Havanese can be quite cunning, training you to its advantage. We like to think of them as little politicians. A dog of the people who is masterful at getting their way! It’s hard to say no to their cute little faces, but try to prevent too much manipulation by staying firm and not giving in.. or at least not often.
Physical Traits
Elegant, sturdy, hardy, active energetic
Personality Traits
Devoted, loving, affectionate, intelligent, happy
Health Considerations for the Havanese
With the small Havanese frames, there are some potential health issues to look out for, many of which can be avoided or helped with proper nutrition. In fact, providing great nutrition is the most important thing we can do as pet parents to keep pets healthy and happy. With that in mind, here are some considerations that our PhD nutrition team factors in when recommending the best dog food for Havanese.
Hip and Elbow Dysplasia
Bone and joint issues are common in Havanese and can be genetic or develop over time with wear and tear. Common problems include Hip Dysplasia or Elbow Dysplasia, Chondrodysplasia, Legg-Perthes Disease, Luxating Patella, and Arthritis. In any case it’s important to keep your Havanese’s body weight in a healthy range to help avoid or minimize pain. We look for diets that contain these joint-supportive ingredients:
Eye
Cataracts are frequently found in Havanese. Although it is commonly inherited and appears mostly with old age, these clouded eyes can occur at anytime. While surgery is the most effective solution for many eye issues, there are many nutrients that help to support general eye health and can keep your Havanese’s vision in prime form. When we analyze food options, we look for the following ingredients:
Heart
Supporting great heart health in your Havanese should be a major priority, and many foods and supplements have been good about including ingredients that help with this (and overall healthy bodies). Some common heart issues with Havanese are tough to prevent, like Heart murmurs and Mitral Valve Insufficiency, but regular vet visits should be part of your routine. Our team loves to see these ingredients in food to support healthy hearts:
Complete a nutritional assessment to view individualized diet recommendations specifically for your pet.
Foods We Recommend: Havanese Puppies
How long do Havanese need puppy food?
Until they're 12 months old
It's no surprise, Havanese puppies come with tons of energy and will have different nutritional needs than adults. With so much extra activity and growth, puppies' young bodies need food with higher caloric content and easily digestible proteins. Our nutritionists highly recommend any of these options for your Havanese puppy:
Foods We Recommend: Havanese Adults
When do Havanese become adults?
12 months old
Once your Havanese has grown to their full adult size, you’ll want to really focus on making sure they stay in their ideal weight range. You can do this with regular exercise, preventing overfeeding, and providing the right balanced diet. Here are some of the Petabolix team's top food recommendations for the adult Havanese:
Foods We Recommend: Havanese Seniors
When do Havanese become seniors?
Around 10 years old
As your Havanese enters their senior years and slow down a bit, their metabolism will slow down with them. Older joints might show more wear as well, so food with lower caloric content and strong joint support are two of many things we look for in the best dog foods. Of all dog foods on the market, these are some of our nutrition team's favorite for Havanese senior dogs: