As you know, Darlah writes the vast majority of the information on this site. Every now and then I slip in a comment. Today I feel like contributing.

We are currently doing our version of boarding with five additional Havanese. I say our version because to call us a kennel brings up images of crates, pens and chain link fences. That's not us. What we do is bring those dogs into our home and treat them just as we treat all of our dogs. Since some of them were born here in the first place that comes as no surprise.

Anyway, this means we play with them, love them, walk them, brush them, let them play with each other, love them more, greatly help any dog with socialization, let them sleep on the bed with the rest of the dogs unless the owners have specifically requested that we do not, and give them free run of most of the house and all of the backyard.

All of this evolved from the days when we had a single dog, an incredible German Shepherd named Lacie. Lacie was a King Shepherd, a large version at 105 lbs. She didn't growl at a stranger, per se. She simply looked at you and you froze in place until given permission to move. And yet she was a complete pussycat as you'd expect of a dog raised with seven children. But when we had to go out of town we had to board her and we hated it. The last time we did it we picked her up shaking and quaking we swore "never again". And from that day to this one of us stayed home at all times.

So when we decided to cross that invisible line and get into breeding and raising Havanese, offering boarding was a no brainer. We already knew this is something we ourselves would have wanted. And it just made too much sense. It truly was one of those win/win situations. We provide a dog with the best possible experience we can, almost as good as being at home with their family, and most important, we provide the knowledge to the people that have trusted us with their dog that they will be well looked after and loved. They are not here marking time waiting until their families return. They are interacting with our family and our dogs and loving it. But make no mistake, they are thrilled to death when the families return and they can once again go back to being the center of the universe instead of having to compete with all those other dogs here!

If you have a Havanese you wish to board with us, please email us, in advance. Believe it or not there is a limit to how many dogs can sit on me on the recliner at the same time.

Thank you,
Nathan

PS: If you haven't seen or purchased your 2010 Havanese calendar brought to you by the Havanese Canadian national breed club, please do so now. This link takes you right there. http://www.havanesefanciers.com/?q=Calendar2010. I really like it but then I'm bias as I created it with the help of a lot of photos sent in to me from HFC members from coast to coast.