Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 8:52AM 
Poor Treasure has morning sickness so we know she is pregnant. She is a food hound and NOTHING and I mean NOTHING stops her from eating except morning sickness.
She is also keenly interested in the pups and is carrying a dolly around. This is not her norm.
We are on puppy watch starting the 29th of August - oh boy...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 6:04PM 
Now I want you to know that this outfit trumps Sophie's no eyes and wide mouth though I LOVED that photo.
I saw this and went oh my!
I mean red looks really good on him but those things coming out of his head....
Sparky is a great dawg. He indulges mom but I can imagine what he was saying when he posed for this.
I promise, I won't show this to his canine mom. :-)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 10:15AM 
Sophie and her mom is hanging out in PEI escaping that horrid heat in the states. We won't tell her we had it too but she just missed it.
It sounds like she is having a grand time socializing and survived the road trip.
I just love this expression and had to share.
Me think Treasure is indeed pregnant. Hormones and all but we will be doing an ultrasound late but in early to mid August.
Monday, July 25, 2011 at 8:09PM 
The Spice is really wonderful and gentle with the pups except when she gets wet and gets in crazy dawg mode.
But otherwise, she is amazing and the pusp really, really like her.
This conditioning is good for the pups but it is also good for Spice. She learns how to deal with little ones and that's a good thing. But really she seems to be a natural at it.
I can't wait till they are flying and running and trying to keep up with her.
Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 10:43AM Check them out and he has more coming...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slantyyz/sets/72157627140962147/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/slantyyz/sets/72157627270371570/
Darlah
Just a really quick video of the picnic. I think neither of us used the video camera all that much.
Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 7:39PM 
We had a great time at the picnic. Thanks to Yvonne and Alex for having this get together in their yard. Thanks to Lucille and Ron for keeping everything going smoothly from food to water for dogs to an amazing amount of stuff. Yeah we helped out too but it was their place. Thanks to all those that came with their dawgs, that brought food, smiling faces despite the heat. It was an amazing time and oh those dog licks and I got many!
I am working on the picnic photos now. The link will be posted here. Look later tonight. I didn't have a wide angle lens so I didn't get a full group shot but I heard Steven did. I look forward to seeing it!
Darlah
As promised, here is a link to the photos we took. Not all are great quality but I included them all without editing (just resizing) so I could get them up real fast.
Friday, July 22, 2011 at 5:06PM 
We had planned to have Truff, Kat and Spice swim but plans aren't turning out. There has been no pool time today. We had a lot of distractions plus I am the one that gets ready for these events so by morning I have to brush the dogs going, make sure I didn't forget anything cause hey I am super human and then when we return brush the dogs I didn't take.
I had this entire plan today that just didn't work and here I have 2 dogs to wash still, a blog I am trying to finish and a car to be packed and....and...and
So, tomorrow my plan is to brush the dogs, leave at 9am and Nathan can clean the puppy pen. I will let you know at the havanese picnic if it really pans out.
Today I have to make sure all the grandkids clothes are washed and packed as daughter is picking them up in the morning after we leave (son's here) and who knows what I will forget.
Nathan has made his famous wings to take tomorrow. Will I remember those?
Breath deep. It will all fall into place...yeah right!
Off to wash Spice then Kat. Truff is getting a break as I am TOO darn lazy and he smells scrumptious anyways!
If I forget Truff's duck tomorrow, he will have words with me...I just know it.
Hope to see all of you there! Yes, we go early to set up so you can breathe easy and take your time. heh
Thursday, July 21, 2011 at 9:20PM 
Here Fiona is sticking her tongue out at Daddy.
She's a bloody riot as he was taking her in the pool and she was daring him to come get her.
We also had Risa and Shoshi in the pool.
Then I did bath times.
We are getting ready for the picnic.
Then we took another photo of Fiona after her bath. How do you think she turned out?
What a world a of difference a simple bath can make.
Fiona was overdue but so are the rest.
Can I go to sleep?
After the heat, the baths, the blogs, cleaning, puppies and swimming and much more, well that bed is looking mighty fine to me.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 7:34PM 
Risa likes to get out real early and go out after the sun goes down when it is this hot and tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher.
The human mom is rather tired. She's on benydral due to hives and it makes her sleepy. She hasn't figured out what she is reacting to but it's not pretty from head to toe.
Me, I am enjoying this schedule of cool play inside and short stints outside. I know this heat won't last.
I am just glad the humans got the air on otherwise - well we would have to go shopping. hahahahaha
That's my story and I am sticking to it!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 7:35PM 
The thing is Spice needs a bath BEFORE the picnic but it is Tuesday and she needs one NOW. What to do?
I may wash her anyway but we shall see. I am trying to not do it twice. :-) It is only 3 days till wash day if I wash her the night before. Can I wait...
We have had a couple of visitors come over and Spice is turning into the gal the boys all want. I went oh oh she is coming into her first heat but not so.
It has to be that charming personality that she has and oh boy she does.
Did you know that this particular Wasabi's litter is her full brothers and sisters? I think they have her personality.
Monday, July 18, 2011 at 8:03PM 
Spice has shows at the end of the month. Poor Daddy wil be doing it alone with the Spice while I get her ready before they go. Work is work, I suppose.
But Spice is such a play monkey that I look at her and wonder how much longer she will keep her hair.
Gad, she's just like her mom. If there is dirt, she will find it. If there is fun she will be there.
It's what makes her who she is.
Sunday, July 17, 2011 at 4:52PM 
Well Saturday July 23rd is coming up fast and I do hope you can join us in Brighton. All you need to do is bring chairs, a dish and your havs.
In the photo here, this was our first picnic held at our home. You may also want to see the photos from last year's picnic. We used to have them here but sadly we have outgrown the event in the city and Yvonne's place is perfect as it is fenced, a huge yard and truly fun.
I hope you can join us.
Directions to the Havanese Picnic – July 23, 2011
If you are coming from the west (Toronto, London etc..) travel east along the 401 to exit #509, County Road #30. Turn right at the stop sign and head south to Brighton. At the second stop lights (they are very close together) turn left (this is hwy#2) and head east out of town for approx. 6kms (3 miles) to Stoney Point Road. Turn right onto Stoney Point, go over the two sets of railroad tracks and head south to the first street on your left, Powerline Road. Turn left onto Powerline and then a quick right into the first drive on the right, #13. Here’s a site from Mapquest with a detailed map:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=CA&popflag=1&latlongtype=internal&latitude=wZ8XGjnkqxvkhiA4fmtEUA%3D%3D&longitude=GoeOdwnZ2eUcwTgEOv7U6A%3D%3D&name=&phone=&level=ADDRESS&addtohistory=&cat=&address=13+Powerline+Road&city=Quinte+West&state=ON&zipcode=K0K
Time: 12 noon to 4pm Be there!
Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 8:33PM 
It looks quite serious but it isn't. These two were having an amazing amount of fun.
Frannie was over for a visit but Frannie's Mom, Dad and Frannie are now at home and Spice is sulking as she doesn't have the fun one to play with.
Spice is into fun from morning till night.
She also thinks if you hug THAT one you have to hug me twice for their one.
Yeah - right!
No visitors tomorrow so it's quiet time and maybe pool time and maybe learning time for videos etc. That little window never makes it into the day.
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 5:40PM 
We had a lot of visitors drop by today and no one swam except Breeze who jumped in like her Dad and now Truff does. Oh my.
When we invite people over we say come for a swim but no one seems to take us up on it. It's just a Dawg visit, you know.
It was wonderful to see Mia's parents but I didn't get to say goodbye as Breeze felt the pool was simply inviting and off I went to dry her.
But we also had our daughter and son-in-law come up to take the kids out to the mall to give this old granny a break and they get to see them.
Fiona had a bath today and I let her air dry without brushing till the end. I folded laundry while I stood and watched and put more laundry in etc. She just stood there with the breeze drying her coat while I looked on. I can do this with her as I am standing at the grooming table (my grooming area is in the laundry area) and she stands there waiting for her treat.
How do I know? That tongue darts in and out saying - hey lady TREAT TIME!
Well, off to wash a dawg and relax or maybe not.
Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 6:22PM 
Shelly, Al, Chinook and Summer Breeze came for a visit and although I was extra busy during that time, Nathan socialized, I got things done and every now and then I got to say hello and enjoy them.
We hope I have more time on Saturday when we see them again.
Shelley is so photogenic and so is Chinook.
They left their suits up at the cottage so no swimming today but tomorrow, I vow to get myself and maybe a few dawgs. We shall see!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 7:50PM 
I have a photo of Wasabi (Spice's mom) somewhere on this site with a mohawk and she didn't actually have one, the wind just gave that perception. I thought of it when I took this photo of Spice.
Like mom, she is a dawg that likes to beat to her own drum. She's fun, fun, fun but creative too.
When we have visitors she thinks they all came to see her.
I should have called her Kissy Face. She loves to give kisses, play and muck it up as all dawgs should.
Inbetween shows she has an amazing amount of fun and we don't keep her crated so her hair is perfect cause she is a dawg and that's more important than championship points. But still, the gal is halfway there. Then she can just enjoy without getting bathed so much. heh
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 7:25PM 
Just like her mother Wasabi, she tends to muck it up every chance she gets so that just so 'do, well isn't so in place any longer but that's okay!
---
I left home at 5:40am yesterday and drove 2 hours to get to the dog show in Woodstock, Ontario. It is an outdoor show under a large tent reminiscent of a circus tent. The judging tables and such were under the tent, the actual rings in which we competed were outside exposed to the elements. Rain was forecast. The temperature was easily 33 Celsius (in the 90's Fahrenheit) by 9am.
Upon arrival I laid down the outdoor carpet and then erected the pop up tent just like everyone else not in a motor home. The tent provided protection from the sun and the rain, as required. I also brought along an 8-sided plastic x-pen for my Spicy in which she could relax while I dealt with the rest. Once the tent was up out came the grooming table and ring side table followed by the grooming kit. With minutes to spare Spicy and I made it to the Ring to compete against five other Havanese. Wait, I forgot to mention that the last thing Darlah did last night before bed was bath and groom Spicy for her show the next day. I mention all this just to illustrate the nature of those of us that compete, that spend hours bathing and grooming, loading the van, driving hours to the site, setting up at the site, preparing the dog yet again and then entering the ring. And if, like I did yesterday, you lose right out of the gate, your day is done just like that. It can be discouraging especially when you and I know that Spicy is a wonderful example of the breed that is going to grow into an awesome classic Havanese. It's worse when I think of all the effort Darlah put into getting her ready, all the handling classes we've attended, all the training and practice that got her ready to walk into the ring. I didn't start doing this yesterday. Spicy and I know what we are doing in the ring together. But yesterday, we lost, just like that.
Today, we got up and did it all over again. As the Havanese weren't in the ring until later Darlah bathed Spicy and made her ready for the show ring first thing this morning. I left for the show at 7am. Upon arrival we repeated everything from the day before. Today's Judge was Mr. Ed Bivin. It was the second time I'd had the pleasure of showing a dog to him. The first time was two years ago at the US National Specialty in Chicago. Treasure was a puppy at the time and this was our first US dog show. There were over 200 Havanese at this show. It was incredible. Treasure was entered in a class of 14 senior puppies, ages 9-12 months. She made the cut and placed 5th. I was very proud of her. I was also very impressed with Mr. Bivin's control of the ring. It is one thing to judge a half a dozen Havanese as he did today. It was another thing entirely to be good enough to handle a couple of hundred. And, believe me, he was good enough. He knows how to judge and he knows his dogs. I entered the Woodstock show just to get the chance to show him Spicy. It reminds me of the more historical justification for dog shows; showing your lines and your breeding stock to other potential breeders while they did the same to you. In today's modern high technology society we've lost a bit of that but today I wanted Mr. Bivin to evaluate Spicy based on his knowledge and experience of the breed, which is, as I mentioned, significant.
To get a point towards her championship I had to beat the other entry into the Bred By category. I entered the Bred By category on purpose, instead of entering her as a Junior Puppy which she is. I wanted to make it clear that Spicy was our own breeding, a Talemaker Havanese, so that I would be judged accordingly. Mr. Bivin did not disappoint. Spicy and I went around the ring with the other Bred By entry, a nice bitch expertly showed by Corinne Kolzow up from Chicago for this show. Spicy has always walked the walk. She moves quite nicely, as does Corinne's little girl. The Judge watches their movement from the side view. Then Spicy went up onto the table to be examined. She stood exactly as she had been trained, her tail wagging gently. The Judge runs his hands all over her body checking the structure, measuring the distances, all part of the breed standard. Then we were asked to walk her down and back so that he could evaluate her movement from dead on. Then we waited to the side while the other pup was examined. Then, unexpectedly, he asked me to place Spicy on the table again and checked her again paying particular attention to her length of body and rear. Unlike yesterday, when Corinne and her pup beat us, today Mr. Bivin judged that Spicy was the better bitch and awarded us best in Bred By. That meant we weren't done yet.
Spicy and I went back into the ring to compete for Breed. This time the campaigning "specials" were in the ring as well as the Winners Dog and Spicy who was Winner's Bitch. They all repeated what we had already done and I remind you that it was well into the 90's, sun shining brightly. For those of you really paying attention remember that I am still putting drops in my eye every two hours and the light doesn't help. Mr. Bivin was thoughtful and considerate enough to have us do our down and back under the tent rather than out into the sun. He was thinking of the dogs and we all appreciated it. When all the dogs had been examined we were all lined up in a row in the stack position. Spicy does a nice natural stack and I keep her attention focused on me until the Judge comes close at which time she will quite often glance at the judge and start wagging her tail. One of the campaigning specials won breed, as expected. And Spicy won Best of winners, Best of Opposites and Best Puppy for her second point of the day. It was very gratifying and made all of it worthwhile just like that.
Then, we waited to compete in Puppy Group. First the rest of the breeds in the Group had to be judged and finally the Group is judged. Probably 90 minutes or more after we'd been in the ring the Toy Group was judged. The challenge for 90 minutes is preventing Spicy from overheating and getting bored out of her mind. It can get interesting and it was very hot. After the Toy Group is judged, the best puppy from each breed in the group also compete against each other for best puppy, unless one of the breed winners competing for Group is in fact a puppy and places or wins the Group. As a puppy winning group they would automatically win best puppy. That is exactly what happened today so Spicy didn't get a chance to compete against the other puppies. There will be a next time.
It took maybe ten minutes to take down the tent and pack away all the rest of leave. We arrived back in Toronto just in time to deal with rush hour. Finally, we arrived home just after 6pm exhausted but satisfied. It was a pleasure being judged by Mr. Bivin and a thrill to achieve Best of Winners.
Until next time ...
Nathan
Monday, July 11, 2011 at 6:00PM 
It was hot, muggy, and a very long day for Spice and Nathan for no points but it was more practice and that's okay too.
Tomorrow is usually a pro handler judge so not expecting a thing but hey more practice. hahahaha
I was told Spice looked stunning.
Will be glad to have Spice and Nathan back at home!
Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 6:14PM 
Tonight mom has to wash the Spice and you don't want to know how she looks. She has a yellow beard from a plant she decided to run her face in and it stained so let's see if I can manage to lift that...gad.
You don't want to see what she looks like but she is a total mess.
Wish me luck. Nathan has to leave at 6am to get there and hang out all day as he is going with others.
I hope it doesn't rain but worse if it has heat like today on an outside show.
It is what it is.
Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 6:55PM 
Spice has a show Monday and Tuesday and boy does she need a bath. Her beard is yellow - yes yellow from trying to eat a plant. At least she isn't eating the berries out back as that stains their hair red and Ms. Wasabi LOVES to do that.
I can see nathan chopping them all down if that happens. But so far, she doesn't love them like her mom.
She always manages to give me a challenge when it comes to getting her back to being presentable for the ring.
But Daddy, I am having so much fun and I can't help myself.
Well, that's what dawgs should be like and if her coat isn't perfect, oh well. It will just take her longer to get her championship and that's okay too.