Tail Waggin' Treasures
Tail Waggin' TreasuresHavanese · Havapoo · Toy Poodle

Havanese · Havapoo · Toy Poodle

We treasure them until you do.

A small, family-owned program in Ottumwa, Iowa raising Havanese, Havapoo, and Toy Poodle puppies. Our dogs live in the house with us, and every puppy gets eight weeks of hands-on raising before it goes anywhere.

Join the waitlist How we raise them

What we raise

Small dogs bred to be company

Three closely related answers to the same question: a small dog that wants to be wherever you are. They differ in coat, grooming cost, and how much structure they need from you — not in how much they want your company.

Havanese

8–13 lb · silky coat

Cheerful, adaptable, and famously velcro. Havanese tend to settle well in apartments and do best when someone is home most of the day.

  • Long silky coat — brush 3–4× a week, trims every 6–8 weeks
  • Sociable with kids and other dogs when raised with them
  • Can be vocal; early training on doorbells pays off

Havapoo

7–15 lb · Havanese × toy poodle

A first-generation cross. Bright, affectionate, and quick to train — often a little more sensitive than a straight Havanese, and usually curlier.

  • Coat varies within a single litter, from wavy to tight curl
  • Curlier coats mat faster — grooming every 6–8 weeks, brushing at home
  • Learns fast in both directions; consistency matters
  • Not an AKC-recognized breed, and we don't pretend otherwise

Toy Poodle

5–9 lb · curly coat

The smartest of the three and the most sensitive. Toy Poodles pick up routines fast — including the ones you didn't mean to teach.

  • Dense curly coat — professional grooming every 6–8 weeks, no skipping
  • Highly trainable; short daily sessions beat long ones
  • Fine-boned and genuinely small — supervision around toddlers
  • Often bonds hardest to one person in the house

Two things we will not fudge. Neither breed is hypoallergenic — they shed very little, which is not the same thing, and people with real allergies should spend time with an adult dog before committing. And crossbreeding does not cancel out inherited disease. We are working toward OFA testing on all of our breeding dogs; that is not finished yet, and we will tell you exactly where each dog stands rather than let you assume.

The tagline, literally

The first eight weeks are ours

Everything that makes a puppy easy to live with happens before you meet them. Here is what those weeks actually look like in our house.

Days 1–3

Born in our home

The whelping box is in the house with us, not out in a building. From the first day, they are in the middle of everything.

Weeks 2–3

Eyes, ears, first steps

They start to see and hear us, and wobble out of the box for the first time. This is when they begin to notice people.

Weeks 4–5

Weaning begins

Solid food starts, though they stay with their mother and littermates — that is where they learn how to be a dog.

Weeks 6–7

Vet care and shots

Distemper and parvo vaccinations for their age, deworming on schedule, and every treatment written down and dated.

Weeks 8–10

Go-home day

Eight weeks is the earliest any puppy leaves. The smallest stay until ten — a toy puppy that is not eating reliably and holding its weight is not ready, whatever the calendar says. Records in hand, potty training started, and a blanket that smells like their mother.

Which puppies stay longer depends on size and how they are growing, not on a schedule. Very small toy puppies can drop their blood sugar fast, and going home before they are steady on solid food is the single most common way a healthy puppy gets into trouble in its first week. We will tell you where your puppy stands by six weeks, so you can plan your time off.

Included

What comes home with them

  • Up to date on shotsCurrent on distemper and parvo for their age, with the record in hand.
  • Dewormed on scheduleEvery treatment dated on the record that goes home with you.
  • Two weeks of foodSame food they have been eating, so nothing changes at once.
  • A blanket from the litterSlept on by mom and siblings. It does more than it should.
  • A written contractIncluding a window to have your own vet look the puppy over.
  • Us, afterwardText or call for the life of the dog, and we take a dog back at any age if you cannot keep it.

Straight answer

We're a new program, and we'd rather you hear it from us

Every breeder worth buying from started somewhere. What should matter to you is not how many litters we have raised, but how we raise them — and whether we will tell you the truth when something goes sideways.

  • Our dogs are pets firstThey live in the house with us, not in a kennel building. The puppies are raised in the middle of everything.
  • We keep it smallA few litters a year, deliberately. We are not trying to scale this into something we cannot do by hand.
  • We're working toward OFA testingOur goal is OFA screening on every breeding dog. It is not complete yet, and we will tell you exactly where each dog stands.
  • Veterinary care, documentedPuppies go home current on distemper and parvo for their age and dewormed on schedule, with dated records.
  • We say when we don't knowNew breeders get asked hard questions. If something is outside what we have learned yet, you will hear that instead of a guess.
  • Come see for yourselfOnce the puppies are old enough for visitors, you are welcome in our home — or on a video call if the drive to Ottumwa is long.

Next litters

The list opens before the puppies do

We do not have puppies right now. Two of our girls are in season, so we should know more in early fall. The waitlist is simply how you hear first — it costs nothing, commits you to nothing, and no deposit is asked for until there is an actual litter on the ground to reserve from.

We would rather have a real conversation than a thread of emails.

Optional, and the part we most like reading. If you have recently lost one, we are sorry — tell us about them anyway if you would like to.

We use this only to reach you about puppies. No newsletter, and we do not share your information.

Just talk to us

There is still no application to fill out — the waitlist above is only so we can reach you. Call, text, or email and we will have an actual conversation about what you are looking for and whether one of our puppies is the right fit.

(641) 226-4864 Email us