Tomorrow & the Simba

We all want to wish you a happy holiday. This is our first Christmas with Simba and we luv him soooo much. What a wonderful addition to our family.  He is a true sweetheart   Hope u and ur family are enjoying the holiday. Special hugs to Fiona.

Lara. Devi. Bella Alex and Chloe.

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Thanks for sending this. He looks so spoiled and having so much fun. We miss him. Hope you are having a grand holiday - even more special as this is Simbas first!

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Update of Ziggy (coming tomorrow) and Happy Birthdays going out to Scruffy, Ziggy, Coco and Bentley. We get to see Bentley the day after his one year old Birthday - how fun!

Last of the Cards

Dash from Yvonne and Kat and Teaka from Teaser and Kat

Hi Nathan and Darlah,

Merry Christmas to you and your family! We hope you have a wonderful time in this holiday season!

We are doing well in Hong Kong. Dash and Teaka are used to the presence of baby Evan, and I think they will enjoy playing with him when he gets older :-)

Miss the play dates with your crew!

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Eugenia: We miss you also!! Wish you lived closer. Glad you are adjusting and the baby is beautiful!

Poppins, Deb & Josh!Nathan & Darlah

Wishing you peace, joy & love this season & throughout the coming year!!

Poppins, Deb & Josh

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You look so very happy - so wonderful to see! We miss you and great to see Poppins!

Hi Darlah & Nathan

We wish you all the very best for the holiday season. As well. much happiness with family, dogs, puppies and visitors throughout 2013.

Patt & Bruce, Jazmyn & Marlee

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We just adore these two! They are not a Talemaker duo but we love them as if they are and you can't help it! Glad you came into our lives!

Katsura's Boyz & More

There's not really a story behind the pic, other than the fact that we had an urge to get them to wear hats the other day.

It was a tricky pic to take, because Monty wanted to eat everyone's hats, and nobody liked wearing them. We had to use a toy and food to keep their attention. It's also why Mac and Ray are leaning, since My's standing behind me holding treats in front of Monty.

Have a great holiday, we should get together again sometime soon!

Cheers, Steven and My

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As we have a few more cards or photos to get in, we will add a few more received and tomorrow add in the rest.

Ripley Update:
Hi Nathan ( and Darlah, too!) Thanks for the holiday email. Though Ripley was not born at Talemaker, he is a Katsura baby, so I do consider us part of the extended family. Ripley and I have had a great year.

He is the best thing I have done for myself in a long time. So thanks to you, Kat, Lola and Yvonne.

Happy Holidays,
Sue Warner

Chloe Update:
As you can see, she is a highly stressed dog and finds it extremely difficult to relax!  Happy holidays from the Duncanson family.

Biggie Update:
Hi there!
Here’s some photos of Biggie – he’s doing just great. I bought him a Frisbee the other day and it took him about 15 minutes to figure it all out (how you can’t pick it up with your mouth while you’re standing on it!). Now he’s a little expert and carries it proudly around the park. He’s really a joy and I can’t wait to spend some time off with him over the holidays.

Happy Holidays,
Jessica Waese
B.Arch. OAA

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Be Sure to check out Tangles and the Xmas Tree with Paula's adorable son!

Scruffster's Xmas & BDay

Hi D & N,

This is Scruffy's first Christmas and we are so excited.  He got to experience his first tree, his first stocking, and he even chewed on some of the wrapped gifts when I wasn't looking.  He is also enjoying his first real snow of the year, aside from when he was just a wee little thing.  He loves it! He was literally hopping around, smushing his face in it, pawing at it and even chasing it.  It was so incredible to watch as we have never seen him move quite like that before.  He will be mighty spoiled as his birthday is the 27th.....double the gifts for him! He is hoping Santa will forget about the wrapping paper incident and take him off the naughty list.

It wasn't easy to get a good picture of him with the entire tree so this was the best I could do and after dozens of tries he just gave me this look of "This better be worth it Mom or else you are just insane!" See photo #2 and you will know what I mean!  Haha, he is such a character :)

Hope you are both well. See you in the new year!!!

Lori & Roger

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Here at Talemaker we wish you all a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. Give the dawgs a hug and snuggle from us!

Xmas Update

Hi Nathan and Darlah,

                Lucy has just been amazing! It's insane to think that all the pups will be 1 year in February, where has all the time gone? Lucy just got groomed yesterday and is all pretty for Christmas. She came home with a Christmas bandana and a bow in her hair. It has been such an experience for her since there has been snow on the ground here recently. She loves playing in it and hops around like a little bunny! We've been putting her in a lot of sweaters lately and she surprisingly doesn't seem to mind them, which is great because she looks adorable in them :)

                Hope all is well and hope you have a Merry Christmas!

                                                The Caruso Family

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Lucy - it is so great to see you and we really miss you. You look sensational and your mommy and Daddy need to get a video camera for the holidays so we can see the bunny hop. :-)

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Tomorrow we have Scruffster!

Xmas Cards

Stella gal and Valerie is wishing everyone a wonderful holiday! Isn't she just so cute!

Tomorrow we update you with a few photos from Lucy!

Xmas Cards

This is Shady's family - isn't this the cutest family photo. I just love it.

Shady is a Wasabi pup and they just adore him. It's how it should be!

Wasabi made wonderful pups indeed!

Tomorrow we give you Stella. :-)

Xmas Cards

Alice, Thomas, Rocia and Jim Farrell and their dawg Pacho sent us a card. Pacho is such a wonderful dawg! We are sharing them in the order they came in. We wish you all a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.

To see today's play, look at the message below.

Fun Play

We had a lot and I mean a lot of fun play but I am short of time. Nathan has me doing photos for the magazine so I have no time to do them for the blog but I am hoping I get HIS job done so I can return to sharing photos here.

Here are a few photos taken today. Shhh don't tell him I did a few despite having this rush job for him. hahahaha

Yes, that is Jeannie under Risa. heh

Chasing Jeannie - oh my!

Daisy and Shoshi ran and ran and ran. Oh my are they going to sleep tonight!

Scruffy in the air playing with Shoshi. It's old gal play day. hahaha

Ty was playing with Shoshi and Scruffy - can you believe? Shoshi you are a kid again - bravo!

Xmas Cards

As I receive Christmas Cards and New Year Cards in the mail. I will scan them in and share then with you. This is 2 of my most fave people (Carol and Malcolm) and their dogs Coco and Doozie.

Malcolm wasn't a dog person per se but these two won his heart in such a huge way. I call that Havanese magic!

Thanks for being in their lives!

Scruffy and Snow?

Well we haven't had snow and they don't live too far from us but the Scruffster had some fun in it. They are predicting another no snow year. I hope they are wrong.

Be sure to check out Abigail's blog as Tangles has a new pal.

Now my tip for the day. I can sometimes be slow but Val, a Master grooming said it won't work and you can't do it but I did. I am glad. What did I do? If you have a boy that is getting urine on his legs, shave his belly, all the hair around his private parts and you won't have to wash those legs everyday. I just did this with Kat and Logan. I also removed hair around Jeannie's private parts, Daisy, Risa and Shoshi. It works for females too and reduces the possibility of having a urinary tract infection as you are keeping the area clean.

The first time you do it they won't like it. They lick the area but day 2 it stops. It feels strange, I imagine. But wow what a difference indeed. Jeannie has so much hair between her legs that her legs were getting crusty no matter how many times I cleaned her but not today. Wow - I may be slow but I love to share when something works so you aren't going the slow way I am.

Tre's Changing Looks

Gerda uploaded this to me and I said wow he looks like Risa. Gerda said: 

I thought so too but there is no blood relation there??

I wrote back: 

Risa's grandfather is Phantom's great great grandfather Mucho Bravo Cuby's Mi'Hijo. It is where that look comes from. It is so obvious and quite nice that it is coming back. Risa is a gorgeous Havanese in my opinion so I am rather jazzed to see this.

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What do you think?

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Tomorrow we have some great photos of Scruffy!

Celebrating

Just wanted to share the fun that Shelley and Al have with their Chinook and Breeze.

Shelley said:

4th picture we love of Chinook catching it in the air!   Well the first one also of them chasing the ball and it is beside them as they are just after each other!   Love our Kids!  Took many pictures but the are just a few!  They could hardly wait to get to the beach today.

And Al is truly enjoying the scenery with champagne in hand as this is his last day at work. What better way to start the rest of his life than to chill on a beach, watch the canines and sip some champagne. What a life!

Got an Agile Secret

Jeannie says, wow didn't know you could do THAT!

Well they did call me Cha Cha and I live up to my name, as you can see!

Jill and Stuart are out tonight celebrating Stuart's 65th birthday! Cha Cha is celebrating in her own way too, I see!

Happy Birthday, Stuart!!

Distracted

What can I say that human had all my kids to wash and so she has no photos of the others - tsk tsk but she will play catch-up.

Much to do to get ready for my 6 week kids visit so forgive her for not saying much else.

PS: Risa also got washed but Shoshi and Wasabi will wait till Sunday. :-)

Marathon

No photos just craziness today. I am doing a marathon bathing session today so I didn't take photos and Nathan and Dennis who spent most of the time playing with the dogs while I washed and brushed and washed and brushed didn't take any. Geez...

That's okay I guess every now and then. They aren't me ROFL

Everyone played up a storm.

I still have Scruffy to brush up and was going to wash Risa but tomorrow is another day. :-)

Thank you, Lynda for bringing me dinner as a present. I doubt I would have ate. No energy to cook. It was a wonderful surprise and yum good!

Inside Outside Play

Playing catch-up on Washing but we managed to have fun inside and outside. I am glad that Dennis and Nathan play their hearts out with the dawgs when I am washing.

I don't nonstop wash unless it's one of THOSE days but I did manage to see all this fun today despite the washings.

Levon has been on visits here and there so it's been a lot of funto see how he is developing.

As you can see he is pretty good on his back feet and has no hesitation in joining in on the fun.

Here are a few photos from today.

Our dogs love it when we get visits. People are doing holiday shopping and they are having a blast. It's the best of both worlds for human and canine.

Be sure to check out Abigail's blog today as I have a few updated photos of Tangles that are really cute!

Missing

This is Bobbie Ann. I do believe that Jeannie is missing her. Bobbie Ann is not one of ours but her breeder said you don't have to use conditioner on their coat. I guess you could do that - nothing wrong with it but it does come out shinier and silky with the added conditioner.

Bobbie Ann had a blast here and I bet she will sleep for a day or two. Jeannie was back to being all over Roxie so she climbed up on her Daddy and went to sleep.

Roxie had a bath today. Tomorrow someone else.

Even as it gets busy this holiday season pay attention to ornaments and puppies. Make sure tinsel is not reachable and take the tine to relax, play and enjoy without having to crash!

Wet and Mucky

Logan and Panda Playing

I was going to start bathing my crew before the holiday season but it would be a waste with this rain plus its the daughter's last day here so tomorrow is another day - or so they say.

It's wet. muddy and the dogs are bringing in mud each time they walk inside.

Why can't it snow vs. rain? It's so much extra work to clean dogs in rain - plain and simple if you have a few dogs to do. One - no issue - 2 no issue...

Bobbie Ann and Jeannie PlayJeannie rather loves playing with Bobbie Ann and will miss her tomorrow.

I think Jeannie is a play monkey and she is calming down.

This duo played nonstop over and over again all morning and now everyone is napping.

How can you minimize wet, muddy cleanup? Leave them on the tile. Throw a blanket or towel down - something old but absorbent. Make sure the room is warm. Let their feet dry and brush it out. Only wash the feet or the under carriage if needed when it is the end of the day. Most times the dirt will fall off especially if you use Show Sheen after a bath on their coat.

I always keep towels at the back door so I can walk around with them to dry up the wet or my mop like a swiffer in the kitchen for quick pickup but have extra pads if you are using a swiffer. You don't want to just move that dirt around. You want to pick it up - well at least I do.

Low Key Day

This is a very low key day but I have a couple of great videos to share with Sophie.

From Karen:

Here she is at Agility for Fun Class last Sunday.  Tomorrow is graduation from Level 3.  -Karen

Agility Fun Class Part 1

Agility Fun Class Part 2

We are really excited to see what Sophie is learning thanks to Karen. Great job - way to go and wonderful for us to see.