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As with any breed, Havanese have health issues and as conscientious breeders, we know that health testing is very important. You can find our dogs' health certifications on their individual pages on our website.

To help put these concerns in perspective, I have listed several along with the percentage of Havanese affected. These numbers are taken from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals website at http://www.offa.org
Description Percent Abnormal Percent Normal
Baer Hearing Test 0.7% 99.1%
Hip Dysplasia 6.2% 93.0%
Patella 2.7% 97.3%
As you can see, the percentage of Havanese affected is quite small. Compare these numbers with those of some well-known and well-loved family companion dogs shown in the tables below.
PATELLA LUXATION % Affected
Pomeranian
63%
Lhasa Apso
11.1%
Poodle
6.4%
Golden Retriever
7.2%
Pug
7.6%
Shih Tzu
4.6%
Labrador Retriever
17.9%
HIP DYSPLASIA % Affected
Pug
61.7%
Golden Retriever
20.2%
Shih Tzu
18.9%
Bulldog
73.6%
Poodle
12.6%
Labrador Retriever
12.4%
Main Coon Cat
22.6%
Pomeranian
6.3%
Perhaps the most well known Havanese health concern is juvenile cataracts. Careful testing of all breeding Havanese each year has helped bring the incidence of all types of lens disorders within the breed downward. And by eliminating those findings classified as "significance unknown", the numbers are even lower. These figures are taken from reports published by the Canine Eye Registry Foundation at http://www.vmdb.org/cerf.html.
PROBLEMS IN LENS
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
 2004 2005
Percentage of Affected Havanese
14.6%
11.6%
14.1%
13.2%
9.7%
 8.25% 2.12%
Percentage Less those Items Classified as "Significance Unknown"
7.3%
4.9%
6.3%
6.0%
3.7%
 7.19% 3.02%