This statement is both straightforward and not subject to interpretation. Very simply put, responsible dog ownership today is critical to the preservation of the right to own them at all in the future, and members of HSDAA are expected to do their part.

A.    No owner should keep more dogs than they are capable of managing, bearing in mind that Havana Silk Dogs are extremely social animals requiring individual attention as well as optimum nutrition, adequate, safe, and comfortable areas in which to sleep and exercise, regular veterinary care, and regular grooming in order to thrive. Any member endorsing an applicant for membership in HSDAA certifies by their signature that they have personal knowledge these conditions are being met by the applicant, and confidence that they will continue to be met in the future.

B.     Informed owners and breeders alike understand that under the current FAA regulations, the allowable conditions for shipping dogs as cargo via any commercial airline (including lack of pressurization, recorded temperature variation from 0 to over 90 degrees in the cargo hold during a single flight, sustained decibel levels requiring the use of ear protection by OSHA for ground crews, amount of time dogs are allowed to be kept on the tarmac, and the unacceptable number of dogs injured, lost, and killed each year as a result of shipping ) makes shipping Havana Silk Dog puppies as cargo or baggage  an unacceptable practice, carrying significant risk for both physical harm and psychological trauma. The only safe and acceptable air transportation for Havana Silk Dog puppies is in an under seat carrier in the passenger compartment. Responsible owners only transport their adult Havana Silk Dogs as cargo or excess baggage a last resort and when it is clearly and defensibly in the best interest of the dog to do so. (This does not include the shipping of pregnant bitches as cargo, which is not recommended at all.) In such cases, direct flights during temperate weather will lessen the risk somewhat.

C.     Owners who find themselves unable to keep their Havana Silk Dog for any reason should contact the breeder of the dog first, and breeders are obligated to assume responsibility for all animals they have produced. In the event that the breeder cannot be reached, the owner should contact HSDAA for assistance. Under no conditions short of a hurricane, earthquake or tsunami should a Havana Silk Dog be turned over to a shelter.

D.    Times being what they are, responsible owners and breeders alike should have in place a workable emergency plan for the animals they own, and those entrusted to their care, in the event of a natural or made-made disaster. Keeping more animals than you can fit into your vehicle(s) in an emergency situation engenders significant risk for their well-being.
 
BREEDING CONSIDERATIONS
The breeding of purebred dogs in general, and Havana Silk Dogs in particular, is both an extremely gratifying undertaking and a responsibility of mind-blowing proportions which should not be undertaken lightly.
In the current climate, where the basic right of dog ownership is becoming more imperiled daily on a local, statewide, national, and even global level, dog breeders have found themselves on the front lines of the battle whether they wish to be there or not.
Therefore, the ability of dog organizations in general, and the Havana Silk Dog Association of America in particular, to defend the ethics, decisions, and practices of their breeder/members is ultimately critical to the continuance of the sport of purebred dogs.

BREEDING FEMALES
It is important that breeders examine their motives before undertaking any breeding.

A.    Breeding should always be done selectively, with the sole intention of producing healthy dogs of original breed type and proper temperament.

B.     Breeding should be undertaken only when the breeder is in a position in terms of both time and finances to properly care for the bitch and the litter. Although Havana Silk dogs tend to be naturally competent mothers, leaving an inexperienced bitch alone to whelp or care for a new litter because of obligations in your “real job” is unfair to the bitch at best, and at worst can result in total disaster.

C.     No fancier should attempt breeding until they have an understanding of both the breed standard, and the basic principles of genetics and animal husbandry. This knowledge generally takes some time and effort to acquire, and can be enhanced significantly by working with a  mentor whose knowledge and skill is reflected in the consistent success of their own breeding program over the years.

D.    Responsible breeders choose the best sire for their bitch based on results of his health-screening and production record, and require soaped photographs of all sires under consideration.Because one of the objects of the HSDAA is to select away from the chondrodysplastic (Arizona) phenotype, no dog or bitch should be considered for breeding until it has been evaluated by soaped photograph. Because a pretty coat can hide faulty structure, responsible breeders also make soaped (adult) photographs of the bitch available to the stud dog owner before breeding, as well to all prospective puppy buyers, as a matter of course so that informed decisions can be made by all parties.

E.     Because straight-legged bitches who are themselves out of a chondrodysplastic parent can produce chondrodysplastic pups when injudiciously bred, ethical breeders share information about the phenotype of the parents of the bitch (assuming it is available) with the owner of the prospective stud dog and buyers of puppies sold as show/breeding prospects as a matter of course to insure that informed decisions can be made by all parties at that point and in the future.

F.     Ideally, no bitch should be intentionally bred until such time as all health-screening currently recommended by the Club has been completed and certified by OFA. Unfortunately, perfection only exists on a planet yet to be discovered. Bitches who take it entirely upon themselves to effect a breeding without permission of the owner (unfortunately a common genetic trait in this breed)  before all health-screening has been completed should have the remaining health-screening completed as soon as it is deemed advisable and in the best interest of the resulting litter to do so.

G.     Likewise, because Havana Silk Dog bitches have a tendency to come into heat on the exact day on which they have been scheduled for their OFA hip evaluation (and which is a terrible time to xray hips or check patellas due to the copious amounts of relaxin produced by bitches in this breed) it is highly recommended that bitches have both a patellar and preliminary hip exam at a year of age. This will significantly reduce anxiety and embarrassment on the part of the breeder when the inevitable occurs. Which it will.

H.    Although the practice of a breeding bitch on successive heats has been traditionally frowned upon by ethical breeders and is discouraged by many Parent Clubs, current research by leading reproductive specialists indicates that this practice is both in the long-term best interests of the bitch from a health standpoint and reduces the number of whelping problems. Breeders who choose to follow these new recommendations use common sense,assure themselves that good homes are available for the puppies which will be produced, and have an exam performed by their own veterinarian to assure that the bitch is in optimum condition before each breeding.

I.      Havana Silk Dogs are generally easy whelpers. C-sections in this breed are usually the result of “mechanical” difficulties caused by the relatively large birth weights of the pups in relation to the size of the bitch, which does not give them a lot of “wiggle room” when they are poorly positioned in the uterine horn. Bitches who display hard labor without results for over an hour should be x-rayed to make sure that there isn’t a “stuck puppy” holding up the works. (As experience in this breed has shown that in this situation odds are about even that the first pup will be delivered in the car on the way to the emergency vet clinic, it is prudent to bring necessary whelping equipment along, but it’s still better to err on the side of caution and make the trip anyway.)

J.     Havana Silk Dogs are naturally competent and attentive mothers. Breeders should be aware that the daughters of bitches displaying poor mothering skills generally display the same deficiency themselves when bred.
 
STUD DOGS
Because he can produce significantly more offspring over his lifetime, males in any species generally have far greater impact on future health, soundness, and breed type than females do. Founder’s Syndrome is the name given by geneticists to the widespread dissemination of a deleterious gene throughout a breed which can be traced to a single widely-used sire many generations before.
This indisputable fact of animal husbandry is the reason why males must be held to a higher standard than females when evaluating them for breeding.
Experienced breeders understand that all intact males are not automatically great sires, or even great stud dogs, no matter how well-loved or good-looking they are. Because many serious health issues do not show up until maturity, many a big winner over the years has done serious damage to his breed’s gene pool before being removed from public stud when that damage was finally discovered.

A.    Responsible breeders see that their males have all age-appropriate health-screening, and pass all such health-screening, before being used for breeding.

B.     In a breed in which chondrodysplasia has been definitively linked to several serious and life-threatening health issues, responsible breeders offering a dog at public stud make soaped adult photographs available to the owners of prospective mates as a matter of course so that they may make fully informed decisions regarding their choice of the dog as a potential sire.
Whether failure to disclose skeletal abnormalities or other deviations from the standard which may be hidden by coat in a sire is intentional or unintentional on the part of the stud dog owner has unfortunately little bearing on the result, and it is the hapless puppies produced who end up ultimately paying the price. It is a practice which is simply not in the best interest of any breed.

C.     For the same reason, the owner of the stud should require soaped photos and health-screening results on all bitches brought to him, and honestly inform the owner if he believes that his stud dog is not right for his bitch. The profit in accepting a stud fee from a bitch who produces mediocre pups with your sire’s name on them is short-term at best, and neither the dog’s reputation as a sire nor the gene pool are well-served in the long run.

D.     Although the perfect dog has yet to be discovered, no male displaying obvious deviations from the standard for his breed in the areas of either soundness or breed type should be used as a sire if progress is to be made in the breed. The reason for this is simple- breeding together two animals displaying the same flaw is unlikely to result in improvement in the offspring, and if a bitch does not display a particular flaw herself, there is little logic in paying thousands of dollars in stud fees to introduce that flaw into her offspring through the male.

E.     Because the owner of a stud dog has in reality little control over the puppies his dog produces, and to minimize the possibility of his dog unwittingly having a deleterious effect on the breed’s gene pool in the future, untried sires ideally should be judiciously bred and the resulting puppies carefully placed and evaluated for health, temperament, and quality before the dog is made available at public stud. Standing an untried dog at public stud and collecting stud fees for his services from inexperienced breeders (who are the only ones who will avail themselves of his services) without having a clue what the dog can produce is at best irresponsible (and at worst downright unethical) in this breed.

F.     Sires of robust health and quality which repeatedly produce puppies displaying less than robust health and quality when mated with multiple unrelated healthy bitches of quality should be removed from breeding as a courtesy to the breed. (It happens. If producing excellence was a matter of simply breeding two good dogs together, there’d be more a lot more great dogs out there.)
 
ADVERTISING, SALES, AND CONTRACTS
There is no single contract which is right for everyone. What is important is that all transactions involving the sale and purchase of puppies and adult dogs, and the use of dogs at stud, be accompanied by a written contract which should be examined and understood by both parties prior to the transaction, and that all contracts be signed, dated, and include the relevant registration numbers.

A.    Ethical breeders advertise their puppies and stud dogs in a factual manner. The HSDAA’s Conformation Certificate and Register of Merit programs, along with the OFA’s CHIC program, all provide excellent and objective material for owners to utilize in advertising the merits of their dogs and litters.

B.     Puppies should be placed carefully in screened homes. Even when a buyer is referred by another breeder one knows well, it is prudent to do one’s own research as to the quality and suitability of the home.

C.     Pet puppies should always be sold on Limited registration. With novice pet owners who express a “possible” interest in showing the dog in conformation, it is better to err on the side of caution – Limited registration may be lifted by the breeder once the owner has given an indication of continued interest by attending training and handling classes, or competing in Companion Events such as Rally or Obedience, and a contract may be written by the breeder and signed by both parties outlining the expectations which must be met for obtaining full registration should the dog be evaluated and deemed show quality. Cautious but supportive approaches such as this can encourage participation in the sport of dogs while protecting the breeder against the possibility of outright deception.

D.    Responsible breeders are extremely cautious regarding show prospects, especially when selling a puppy too young for anything other than the first (8 week) or second (6 month) evaluation. “Guaranteed show quality” should clearly be explained to mean replacement of one puppy with another (if that is the breeder’s intent) rather than a positive guarantee of the puppy itself as positively show quality.

E.    Experienced breeders are cautious in selling show/breeding prospects to enthusiastic novices who appear to be acquiring and finishing dogs at a rapid rate. It is wise to remember that the average length of time actively spent in the sport of dogs is about 5 years, and a houseful of dogs is a decided inconvenience when a novice reaches the 5-year “burnout”. Unfortunately all too often, those champions end up back with their breeder/mentors to be rehomed.

F.     In order to make the transition to its new home as smooth as possible, new owners should be provided a three-generation pedigree, a completed health exam record dated and signed by a licensed veterinarian, registration application or certificate, complete inoculation and worming records, feeding instructions, and a signed sales contract clearly spelling out the terms of sale and guarantees provided. In addition, because there have been multiple reports of adverse effects resulting from over-vaccination, a protocol for breed-specific vaccinations should be provided. Good breeders also make themselves available after sale as needed.

G.     A conditional sales contract which encourages or requires the breeding of a dog with part or all of the resulting litter to be returned to the breeder (so-called “puppies-back” contracts) in lieu of or in addition to a cash price constitutes a “pyramid-scheme” of questionable ethics and legality and is strongly discouraged by the American Kennel Club and considered unacceptable practice for members of the HSDAA.

H.    Experienced breeders eenter into o-ownerships cautiously with all terms and conditions clearly written out in the sales contract, and discussed well beforehand to avoid misunderstanding. In no case does the co-ownership involve future offspring of the dog.

I.      Responsible breeders do not under any circumstances consign dogs to pet stores, brokers, or commercial kennels and do not donate dogs or stud fees as prizes for any raffle, auction, or contest.

J.     To avoid misunderstandings after the fact, the services of a stud dog require a written contract in which all possible outcomes of the contracted breeding are clearly covered from a monetary standpoint.

K.     Again in the interest of avoiding conflict, it is highly recommended by experienced HSDAA breeders that a nominal cash price be paid at the time of service even when the intent is for a puppy from the resulting breeding to be transferred to the stud dog owner, and that a nominal cash price be paid for that puppy, and that a regular sales contract from the breeder be conveyed along with it at the time of sale.
Stud dog owners with no interest in retaining for themselves puppies resulting from breedings by their stud dogs should remember that it is the seller, not the breeder, who has a legal contract with the eventual owner of a pup if they are not the same person. Accepting a pup to sell in lieu of a stud fee has far too often proven to be a poor financial decision in the long run.
 
L.      All breeders are expected to keep accurate and thorough breeding records in accordance with AKC requirements

SPORTSMANSHIP

A. The Havana Silk Dog Association of America endorses the Code of Sportsmanship of the American Kennel Club, and expects its members to do accept and practice this Code.

B. Sportsmanship is practiced not only at dog shows, but while travelling, staying in hotels, at meetings, in relationships with other dog people, and any place where one is representing the Sport of Dogs.

C. Good Sportsmanship includes taking time to assist new people, mentoring and guiding them as they gain experience. It is important to remember that everyone was new at one time, and the "newbie" of today may become the great breeder or judge of tomorrow.
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