Need To Do List
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 12:15PM 
Cali just had a bath. I didn't do her pads or trim her feet which sorely needs it but I have time. With visitors it is a must. I don't have time to do it later. :-) I usually do it at the same time but I am pacing myself. Cha Cha is next and then I will figure out if I can do a 3rd.
I need to redo my should buy list for puppy people. I do have my faves and the store I bought from - lovely gentlemen seems to not be carrying it any longer.
So, if I was to get brushes Rens has some 'decent' ones but some not worth the price or you get what you pay for ones. I will create a new list. Just give me a day or two. I will also offer other sources as well. I also have a new source for Panegenics spray which is truly the best with OMG running a close 2nd and I will include that. So many things we are able to get at shows. Why some companies one year carry x and not the next, I can only assume to know why.
Also someone pointed out to Nathan that they went back and looked at all of Fiona and Abigail's pups weights at 8 weeks old. This is how weights work:
Each line is different. Some grow fast, some grow slow and you get surprises. Each stops at different ages. You must know your lines. Some, like Spice have a mixed size range. Why? Wasabi, her mom and Risa have large in their lines but over the years we have managed to downsize - for us actually not intentionally. Wasabi's smallest pup in adulthood has been 6.5lbs. Spice always seems to throw a couple of small ones. With Truffie, who knows. Just like humans you can have surprises but Abigail has never thrown huge. Wasabi with one sire (not our own) threw large the entire litter. It seems we doubled up on the large and thus produced large.
Havanese used to be larger. Many have downsized their lines as it is popular to have pocket dogs but its a dangerous thing to do. We shoot for standard not tiny. They are hearty companion dogs. They are intelligent and so far we have been able to avoid the nasal passage issues of some breeds that decided to go the downsizing route. You can destroy a breed if you go the 'popular' route. That includes colour. I will tell you my Shoshi who is not show quality, has the coat of hell (pigs tail) has an amazingly pretty face and makes my heart skip a beat just watching her. If allowed, if you let it all unfold, these dogs are amazing. They each bring something unique and similar to the table and for me I like that they aren't a plastic mold pup. They are unique.
But yes, I have different lines that grow at different rates.
This time we are mixing Fiona's line with Wasabi's with SpicexTruffie. Will that mean more small or large as you can get throw backs. We will find out but by looking at structure you can usually tell. I do not mind surprises. It makes life interesting. Now off to wash Cha Cha.
Reader Comments (14)
Cali is looking so wonderful. Her coat is just beautiful and the white is so white! I find it very interesting to read about the lines and sizes especially since we consider Cooper bigger than the norm. Amazing how different lines will produce different sizes. In the end, big or small, we love them all :-)
Cali is looking so wonderful. Her coat is just beautiful and the white is so white! I find it very interesting to read about the lines and sizes especially since we consider Cooper bigger than the norm. Amazing how different lines will produce different sizes. In the end, big or small, we love them all :-)
I was asking Nathan in an email on Sunday about how big he thought my puppy might grow to. I later saw on one of your blogs where in the blog you were comparing the size of Truffie at eight weeks and the size of Bailey at 8 weeks, which were basically the same size, and I was just surprised that they were actually a little smaller than the littlest girl in Abigail and Truffie's current litter. Those are the only weights that I looked at in that one blog. It just seems in this litter the two boys are much larger and around the same size and the two girls are much smaller and around the same size, so I thought maybe the boys might end up much larger.
Diane:
Fiona throws small with Phantom and Phantom is not large but has a substantial amount of bone density and much larger than Fiona. Fiona is on the light side in that department. Fiona was too small in the ring till she grew hair. You will laugh but the hair gave a different perspective. Fiona, until she had pups was lucky if she was 7lbs. To put that in perspective Cali is 6lbs 8 oz At 2 years old Fiona was 8 oz larger than Cali.
Abigail's line is different than Fiona's. Her line stops growing earlier. If bone structure is tiny then yes the dog will end up being smaller as an adult but if bone structure is similar it is debatable on who ends up taller/larger or more weight. More weight also has to do with how much you feed a dog. Nutrition also plays a part. Spaying/neutering too early also plays a part as it interferes with the growth plates. Abigail pups are more consistent than say Spices but in 1 more generation that may not be true. You will get the odd surprise but will have enough knowledge to know approx sizing per bone density.
It is by far interesting as sizing was never important to me as long as they were in standard as I can't show a dog too small or too large. It isn't till of late that people have wanted tiny or small almost maltese or Yorkie size. It's a dangerous and slippery slope to travel. Anyone who breeds and cares knows the damage of other breeds when traveling that road. Humans have truly changed not only looks but have introduced health issues not intentionally but by simply downsizing.
Jeannie is small but her lines are not so it will be interesting what she produces this year. I hope a size up from her. Knowing what is in her lines many generations back I suspect she will have really nice pups. I can't believe she will be 2 soon. Why does time move way to quickly?
Early on I thought Adele looked a lot like Treasure but she really appears to be a clone of Ms. Abs now. She also looks so much like our Laci. How cute she is!
Cali looks just exquisite after her bath and groom.
They're all so special! :-)
Debi I agree with you Adele has her own look and Cali's after bath pix is gorgeous.
Jeannie has a special place in my heart. I love her look and personality.
I love Jeannie too Kathy! I have to confess I love them all as I feel I've gotten to know them! :-)
So nice to see Kona. He appears to have lovely silken hair. His markings are beautiful.
On this size topic, we have both perspectives with Scruffy & Pepper and I like them both for different reasons. I don't think I appreciated Scruffy's traits as well as I do now seeing the contrast every day.
Scruffy (Teaser/Phantom) is solid. He is 15lbs and a pretty good size even though he was the runt of his litter. I guess he got Phantom's bone density. Pepper is a Spicy/Phantom pup but is Spicy through and through. She is much more "delicate" for lack of a better word. She is currently 9 lbs. She still has time to grow but I doubt she will be more than 10lbs. I think there are nice things about both of them. Because Scruffy is solid, I don't worry about breaking him 😄He is wonderful to hug and cuddle up with. I get tired holding him too long but maybe I'm just a weakling? Pepper being delicate means I sometimes worry she will get hurt, but I could carry her around all day. She cuddles into such a tiny ball, it's cute. But there is no meat on her to really hug her.
Ultimately I think this is the beauty of the Havanese. They are each so different and each have something really special about them. Regardless of size or bone density or even their colouring, they all have that wonderful Havanese personality that makes it impossible not to love them! And ultimately a healthy dog is very important and we never would want to sacrifice that for the sake of making designer dogs so we are very lucky that Darlah and Nathan understand that and strive to maintain healthy pups. I'm sure not all breeders do. And I'm not sure I appreciated the importance of it before.
I love this topic of size, being a fanatic about weight.....Scruffy and Cooper have the same mother, Teaser, perhaps the reason for their size: Scruffy 15 pounds and Cooper a whopping 19 pounds but not fat. I make sure of that :-)
Having said this, I agree with Lori, in the end, each Havanese brings something so unique and we love them so. And being healthy is the most important thing. Havanese dogs are truly special regardless of size, colour, etc.
Darlah will you post the puppy " buy list"? I'm always looking for good sources. I love the OMG but am running out and will like to try pangenics. Thanks!
Well Treasure and Abigail are related. So you are apt to see both. Adele did early on look a lot like Treasure but I also feel she looks very much like Miss Abs these days. Cali is slow maturing but she is starting to change body wise etc.
Gerda: Yes I will be posting it as soon as I am finished with it. :-)
How are Abi and Treasure related? I didn't realize that.
They are related via Treasure's mom - an aunt. The small face more petite look you are seeing in Roxie and Lacie is from Abigail's mom. Treasure's line has more bone density. Abigail tends to throw like her mom and like Roxie. Meaning from lighter boned to medium boned. Abigail has turned into having some of the best pups. I hope that her daughters do the same. Her daughters, Roxie, Panda and Adele will hopefully produce the same. If Roxie is not pregnant (think she is in false pregnancy mode) as she only had outside ties but it happens she will be bred when Jeannie is and those 2 will have pups together. That will be special. Jeannie and Roxie are due to go into heat in May. Spice will not be bred next heat unless she is not pregnant now. I know she is as she is vomiting each morning. She is an obvious pregnancy due to her morning sickness. I sit on the fence re: Panda. She only had 1 connection but that's all it takes. She is either in false pregnancy or is. We will know in 2 weeks as there will be no mistaking. False pregnancies disappear within 2 weeks. Then xrays around the 15th as they would be due around the 20th - oh boy. Feb is bound to be interesting. Abs pups depart and we will see what the rest brings.
Thx for the info! Interesting to learn more about the lines.
It will be interesting to see what Roxie and Panda bring forth as compared to their Mom. Especially w/ them being so much alike feature wise, but totally different colouring. Mid Feb puppies will be nice as they will go home end Apr or 1st of May, I presume.
Also interesting to read about size. Laci remains steady @ 8-1/2 lbs. Doug and I often talk about how she doesn't appear much smaller than our 2 Bichons who were 20 and 16 lbs., yet she's at least 1/2 the weight! Guess they had much heavier bones. While Laci may be a light-weight she sure is a strong agile little girl. She tears around the backyard like the "Roadrunner!" :-)