Havanese and Bichon Frise

[quench]

Bichon Frise
The Bichon Frise is an excellent family dog. He is friendly, gentle and cheerful. Great with people, including children, and other dogs. He loves to entertain and loves being the center of attention. Give him a chance to show off, and he will. He loves to play games like fetching the ball or dashing around the house in a game of hide and go seek. This is a biddable breed which makes him easy to train. This highly sociable breed doesn't do well being left alone for long periods of time as they love to have company.


Havanese
The Havanese is a playful and entertaining dog that enjoys company and likes to be active. This breed is very loyal to its owners, and is sociable, cheerful, and has a very amiable character. Very intelligent and responsive, the Havanese breed gets along well with children and with other pets, making for an ideal family pet. This dog likes to be affectionate and enjoys receiving fuss and attention. These dogs are also very eager little creatures, and very enthusiastic.


As you guys know I'v had my mind set on a Pap, but i keep hearing that they they bark alot and are really hyper active.. so i dont know if that would be such a good idea for an apartment. These two breeds have caught my eye. ( Please I dont want you guys to think im some idiot that changes his mind every couple days, I just really want to weigh my options so I know the dog i'll get is exactly what im looking for =) )

So I'm here again asking for any advice, stories from personal experience, or anything thats basically not said in the descriptions above. For those who dont know, I will be living in an apartment with a roommate, the dog will receive plenty of attention and love. This will be MY first dog.



PS!
I got really exited as i was reading about the King Charles spaniel, they seemed perfect, but then I heard about the genetic health problems... heart failure etc... so that really got me thinking.. i dont know.

Thanks guys

 

[mrose_s]

Cavs are great, but due to their popularity they are being bred by everyone that can get their hands on one to make some quick cash. Thats why you wouldve heard about the health issues I'd say, find a reputable registered breeder (health checks on parents, parents have titles, etc etc ask more here) and you shoudl be able to minimise the risk of health issues with your dog.

I don't know much about the other breeds you listed as I'm not a small dog type person.

I just wanted to congragulate you on not rushing out to the nearest petshop, finding a puppy that looks so cute and finding out just to late that it doesn't fit your lifestyle at all.

There shoudl be some stickies in the "breeding ground" that will help guide you to a reputable breeder

 

[Dekka]

Bichons make great apt dogs. (I would personally find a great breeder and get a cav..but that is just me) Bichons are very affectionate, fun, easy to work with, and have low exercise requirements.

 

[mrose_s]

though they do need professional grooming

 

[mrose_s]

heres that link if you wanna go over it

Responsible Breeder Checklist

 

[Laurelin]

Havanese are one of my favorite breeds! They're wonderful dogs. very friendly and very sweet. A bit more laid back than a papillon. My friend had a bichon but I don't really know much about them. They're not really a breed that catches my fancy. Cavaliers are much more laid back than papillons, based on the ones i know. They're sweet dogs too.

Okay, I really just like all the toys.

Paps can make great apartment dogs. They don't need much outdoor exercise, but they're very active. If you want a dog that will be content sitting around for long periods of time, papillons are probably not the choice for you. If you want a dog that is a good indoor dog that loves to do things and thrives off of attention and mental stimulation, a papillon would be a great choice. Papillons are considered one of the more er... lively of toy breeds. (Min Pins may have us beat) I don't think they're hyperactive, just active and athletic and VERY smart. Which can be a handful for some people. It's really not the pain you'd think, but I like very active and interactive dogs. They will do the lap dog thing quite well, but unlike some other toy breeds, they are not content doing the lap dog thing most the time. Papillons are either on or off. they will run run run and then crash for a while then run run run again. As for personality most people describe them as a cross between a golden and a border collie. They're not as intense as bcs obviously, but very intelligent and very trainable and I swear they can be as energetic. (Or at least Beau can). They're also less aloof than the herders and tend to have a personality sort of like a golden. Most love people and love to please people. They can be kind of clingy. They are definitely a breed that needs humans around whereas my sheltie sometimes seems to care less whether or not you are paying attention to her. The deal with papillons is that they seem to have an intuition that no other breed has. They're sometimes described as having a sixth sense. I've had a few different breeds and have been around many different kinds of dogs, but papillons seem to connect to people very differently than the others do. Truly a companion dog in every way. They also have the most dynamic silly personalities. They constatnly make you laugh. Most people call them a big dog in a small body, and they don't mean it in the way most people mean it. Most little dogs are fully unaware that they are little. (paps are no exception)They mean that in papillons to just say that the breed itself doesn't have a lot of the personality traits of other toys. They really do act like a larger breed.

I think this look describes papillons to a T.

Yep, definitely a little fart of a dog.

I still think they're about as yappy as any other toy breeds and most of that has to do with training. Compared to the shelties, though, nothing is yappy.

ETA: Why not try going to a dog show since you have a lot of breeds you're interested in? Even if you're not wanting a show dog, it'll give you good ideas about the breeds and the personalities. We were looking at papillons and Chinese Cresteds before we got Beau. After meeting several at the show it was obvious to us that paps were more our type of dog.

Yeah, I always go off on a tangent. Hopefully I helped you decide if you should continue looking at papillons or not lol.

 

[bnwalker2]

Bichons are GREAT little dogs. I had the pleasure of training one a few years ago. My aunt bought one from a pet store a few years ago, despite being advised NOT to do so. This little dog was such a sweetie, and so easily trained. Unfortunately, they didn't keep up with his training and then got bored with him so they gave him away. They were supposed to let me know if they couldn't keep him and I was going to adopt him... I loved him so much. But they didn't tell me until about 2 weeks after the fact that he was gone.

While I had that dog training him, he was such a lover. He was energetic but worn out easily for such a young pup (5 months old at the time). He loved his tennis ball and I could easily tire him with a game of fetch. He learned commands and tricks and within 2 weeks could sit, lay down, stay, come, heel, give paw, roll over, and was housetrained.

I would recommend a Bichon to anyone, BUT be sure you get one from a reputable breeder and not a pet store. Of course, you probably already know that, but after the ordeal with Max I always feel like I need to remind people of that.

 

[quench]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

mrose_s, Thanks for understanding =)

But yeah, Bichon or a Cav are looking really good, take a look at this ;

"

Virtually all Cavaliers eventually suffer from mitral valve disease, causing progressively worsening heart murmurs leading to heart failure. This condition, in which the 'hinge' on the heart's mitral valve loosens and can gradually deteriorate, causing a heart murmur (as blood seeps through the valve between heartbeats) then congestive heart failure, can begin to emerge at an early age, and is present in more than half of all Cavalier King Charles Spaniels by age 5. It is rare for a 10-year-old Cavalier not to have a mitral valve heart murmur. While heart disease is common in dogs generally -- one in 10 of all dogs will eventually have heart problems -- MVD is generally (as in humans) a disease of old age, but unfortunately, the cavalier is prone to early-onset heart disease, at as young as age one or two. It is the leading cause of death of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the reason the breed's expected life span is only between seven and ten years. Veterinary geneticists and cardiologists have designed breeding guidelines to eliminate early-onset mitral valve disease in the breed, but it is unclear if a statistically significant number of breeders follow these guidelines. Reputable international CKCS clubs all recommend that puppy buyers seek breeders who have cardiac clearances for their breeding dogs from a vet cardiologist, and who follow the MVD breeding protocol (parents should be at least 2.5 years old and heart clear, and their parents (eg the puppy's grandparents) should be heart clear until age 5).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier_King_Charles_Spaniel


That REALLY has me worried, and yeah as for the dog shows HECK YEAH! I'm trying to find one around Chicago! I love dogs so that would be alot of fun and like you guys said, I could see them in person to decide between which one I want etc. Anyone know where I can find out when there will be dog shows around Chicago?

 

[quench]

Also if ANYONE has anything to Add about the CAV or BICHON feel free too =) THANK YOU!!

 

[Laurelin]

That REALLY has me worried, and yeah as for the dog shows HECK YEAH! I'm trying to find one around Chicago! I love dogs so that would be alot of fun and like you guys said, I could see them in person to decide between which one I want etc. Anyone know where I can find out when there will be dog shows around Chicago?

Yeah, I understand the concerns about health, that'd worry me too. IF you go with Cavs be very very careful with the breeder you choose, though that really goes for anything.

Um... you could look at the AKC and find out what superintendent runs the shows.

http://www.akc.org/events/conformation/superintendents.cfm

Here's Onofrio's list: http://www.onofrio.com/shwpubs.html

There's one in Springfield IL Oct 19-22.

Here's a list of superintendents. We go though Onofrio here.

Based on the IKC it looks like it's Onofrio as well-
http://www.ikcdogshow.com/