American vs European Havanese
In the United States, many modern Havanese dogs can trace their lineage back to the communist nation of Cuba. When the communists took over the island nation, many of the aristocrats fled to North America, bringing their fluffy pet dogs with them. With these dogs and some dedicated enthusiasts who were well versed in havanese dog training methods, were able to build up the breed into the healthy and popular breed it is today. As a product of these efforts, the Havanese has become one of the most popular dogs to be registered in recent years and the American Kennel Club recently reported that the Havanese was up forty two percent in registration in the year 2004 alone. While the dog is of healthy stock today, these modern dogs are almost all bred from those same eleven animals with only minimal traces of other lineages mixed in over the years. Of course, the stock of Havanese living in Europe is of a different strain than the Americans.