GENERAL APPEARANCE
Height at shoulders: Approximately 21 to 29 cms
The Havanese is a sturdy little dog, low on his legs, with long abundant hair, soft and preferably wavy. His movement is lively and elastic.
Undercoat is woolly and not very well developed: it is often totally absent. The topcoat is very long (12-18 cm in an adult dog), soft, flat or wavy and may form curly strands. 
Colour: Rarely completely pure white, fawn in its different shades (slight blackened overlay permitted), black, havana-brown, tobacco colour, reddish brown. Patches in mentioned colours allowed. Tan markings in all nuances permitted.
CHARACTERISTICS AND CARE
Exceptionally bright he is easy to train as an alarm dog. Affectionate, of a happy nature, he is amiable, a charmer, playful and even a bit of a clown. He loves children and plays endlessly with them. Daily brushing is recommended.
HISTORY
The breed comes from the Western Mediterranean region and has developed along the Spanish and Italian coastal region. It would seem that these dogs were imported early in Cuba by ocean navigating Italian captains. Erroneously, the most frequent brown colour of these dogs (tobacco) gave birth to the legend which would mean it to be a breed originating from Havana, capital of Cuba. The political events however have led to the total disappearance of the old blood lines of the Havanese in Cuba; apparently a few dogs would be successfully smuggled out from Cuba; their descendents have survived in the U.S.A.