About Us

Selah is a Hebrew word meaning 'to pause, to contemplate, thoughtful reflection and weighing (considering) in good sound judgement', essentially, to stop and think about it. This is exactly the essence of our breeding philosophy. In everything we do, we stop to think about why we are doing it, is it productive, is it meaningful, does it fulfill its purpose. We are not breeding just to produce pet puppies but to improve the breed. We believe in producing the very best puppies possible, that our puppies should meet the breed standard and should be healthy in structure and temperament and should make the very best of companions. After all, if you spend the money to purchase a purebred dog, don't you want it to look and act like the breed should and be as healthy as possible?

Selah is not a 'doing business as' name, we are not a company, pet shop, or commercial breeder. We are a family who loves and enjoys the Havanese and determine to invest our time, talents and resources into preserving and protecting the breed. We plan litters as we endeavor to produce excellent examples of the breed in health, type, and temperament so we will have our next puppy to show in the conformation ring. Thus further advancing the quality of the breed. Selah is the name we use to help identify 'our' puppies and our breeding program so we can trace dogs we have bred over generations.

Selah Havanese

Selah (stop and think about it)....Why are you interested in purchasing a Havanese puppy? Is the Havanese breed a good choice for your family? Is now a good time for you to add a new puppy to your family?

A little background information:

In a former life Lisa worked as an Industrial Engineer and later was trained in the medical field to be a midwife. However, being a midwife was short lived since she found it too difficult to leave her three small children for long periods of time and soon decided she wanted to stay home full time and focus on being a mother. Twenty years and six additional children later she does not hesitate to say she made the right choice. While her first passion is her family, she shares a love and passion for animals and in particular Havanese with her children. Raising puppies and showing in dog shows is a family adventure enjoyed by all.

To the advantage of everyone, Tony continued to be employed and support the family. In addition, he returned to school to obtain his PhD. We are all very thankful for his support of our Havanese habit! When possible Tony also likes to attend an occasional show and is very kind to tend to puppies if Lisa and the kids are away at a show.

Havanese truly are a family adventure.

We are members in good standing with the AKC, GLHC, GTKC, and HRI Volunteers

We breed to the AKC Havanese standard, register our puppies with the AKC, and breed from health tested parents who's results are registered with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.

Searching the internet can be a bit troublesome, never knowing what is true and who in the world these people are. Hopefully sharing a bit about us will help alleviate this.

We are Tony and Lisa of Selah Havanese. We live in beautiful Northern Michigan. We have nine lovely children, the oldest of which is now married to a wonderful young man and two childre. We have two children in college and four still living at home. We also have the great privilege of having two grandma's also living with us. Havanese are our passion and hobby, we are not commercial breeders. We NEVER sell to pet stores, flea markets etc. We breed to the Havanese standard and health test our dogs. We only have litters once or twice a year and each litter is planned for the purpose of advancing the breed in health, soundness, and temperament. We believe in being educated and knowledgeable about the breed and always putting the best interest of the dog first.

Our dogs are part of our family, live in our home, on our furniture and go everywhere with us. They are our faithful companions. They enjoy being in the great outdoors, soccer games, horse shows, camping, hiking or just hanging around the house. Our dogs are our love. While we show them in conformation, their primary purpose is to be our constant companions. They are loved dearly and pampered appropriately. Our Havanese are also therapy dogs for children with developmental disabilities and are also taken to the memory care center to visit with senior citizens.

We are actively involved in an all-breed kennel club, specialty clubs, and rescue because of our love for the breed as well as a love for all dogs.

As time has passed my daughter Lizzie has taken on the Havanese passion in full force. As a licensed vet tech, she is now hoping to also be even more involved in developing our breeding program and comes into this with great passion and knowledge. Lizzie has now moved from a 'child' in the breeding program to a full contributor. Though she may move out of our home someday (no time soon!), we will forever and always remain partners in this passion we share, Havanese.

Please feel free to contact us for more information. We LOVE to talk about Havanese!