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Hello! We are Peluito Havanese. We, Arlene Etzig and Hugo Roque, live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. We have owned and showed Havanese since 2002.
Hugo and I met in 1978 in Puerto Rico. When we met, I also had the opportunity to meet his family pet Havanese "Toby". Toby became a part of the Roque family when a very close family member gave Toby to them as a gift. He was a cream Havanese and was loved and adored by all.
Hugo's family is originally from Holguin Cuba. His family left Cuba just as most Cubans did after Castro and his communist party took over the island. They left in one of the last exile flights out of Cuba in August of 1971 and headed to Miami, Florida where family members anxiously awaited them. Shortly after, they moved to New York and lived there for a few years until they moved to Puerto Rico.
I (Arlene) was born in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. My family moved to Puerto Rico when I was just a wee 3 years old. I lived in Puerto Rico and grew up speaking both English and Spanish. As a child, our family pets were a Miniature Schnauzer "Toodles", and 2 Maltese "Lulu" and "Cosita". After graduating from high school, I went to college in New Orleans and got my degree in Computer Science, and then returned to Puerto Rico in 1985.
Hugo and I married in 1990 and shortly after, "Hasso" the Rottweiler became our family pet. In 1992, our beautiful twins Tami and Hugo Jr. were born. In our search for the perfect place to live and raise our children, we moved to Minnesota in 1995 and have lived there ever since.
We purchased our foundation dogs from Tapscott's B.I.S. Havanese in 2002, and the adventure began! We are absolutely in love with this breed, so shortly after, "Viva", a German import and our first Champion, and "M.C.", and "MeMe" also became members of our family. As a result of owning and showing these fabulous "peluitos", as we affectionately call them, we ended up purchasing a van and a camper. Nowadays you can find us having a great time at dog shows and at campgrounds with our family and our beautiful Havanese.
We would like our prospective puppy buyers to be absolutely sure that a Havanese is the correct breed for them. The only way we feel that we can accomplish this is by being glaringly honest about the pros and cons of owning a Havanese, and about the best way to go about finding a good, responsible breeder. If you are given a set of facts to work with, you are able to make an educated and hopefully a correct decision. In the long run it is better for the puppy owner and a definite advantage for that adorable little Hav that is about to become a member of your family, and believe us, occupy a very special place in your heart.
So many times we hear of people who buy a puppy for all of the wrong reasons (i.e. it's cute, for a birthday or Christmas gift, etc.) only to realize later that they have overcommitted and are not able to properly care for the puppy, socialize it, or even worse, the puppy just "didn't fit in" with their lifestyle of activities, business or vacation trips. By then, this adorable little living creature has become attached to its new family and the pain suffered by both the dog and the owner is heart wrenching. Sometimes these dogs end up being abandoned or given up to shelters or rescue agencies.
Please visit the links on this page so that you can learn some of the pros and cons of owning a Havanese and also get some tips to assist you in finding a reputable, responsible breeder.
If after reading this information you feel the Havanese is the right breed for you, and you are willing to commit at least 15 years of your life to responsible dog ownership, then by all means, we welcome your inquiries about our Havanese and any litters we may have planned!! Please visit our Little Ones page to see our past and planned litters. You may also access our Application for Adoption and Sample Contract at this link. Thank you for your time, and enjoy our web site and the pictures of our fur-babies!
Arlene & Hugo
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