In 1974 Dorothy and Bert
Goodale embarked on what would be the most
important search in their 30+
year career in dogs: restoring the
Havanais Bichon (Havanese) to
the former genetic purity acheived by the originators of the breed.
Intrigued by references of
the "Havanese", their first purchase of these
little dogs came from a chance
reference in a spanish magazine. Through
contact with the editor, the
Goodales were able to purchase 6 pedigreed
Havanese from two displaced
Cuban families. This purchase was comprised of
an adult female, 4 daughters,
and an unrelated male. Following a year long
advertisement in a Miami newspaper,
the Goodales were able to purchase 6
more unrelated dogs from an
elderly Cuban gentleman living in Costa Rica.
This gave them the gene pool
of four bloodlines to work with.
It was from this gene pool
that Dorothy and Bert were able to begin a
breeding program to prevent
the extinction of this breed.
