Havanese Pups Playing Recovery

Well, we had a really full day yesterday. Many human adults came to visit, a few Havanese as well and wow a full day. We were actually quite characters last night as we were overtired but this fine morning after human daddy left and human mommy fed us, well we mostly all crashed. Not that we didn't sleep last night - but we did. We just took longer to calm down. We find an active play session before bedtime helps the deep sleep and this crew has been easy.

Human mommy says the best part of this crew is even when they are in an overtired state, not a whiner in the crew. They find things to amuse themselves (it helps to rotate toys and give them things to do) but also they can see us walk past their room and they are a patient crew but once you step in, they know its time to come downstairs and they rather like that and are WAY excited.

We are going to miss the human daddy these next few days but mommy has a lot of fun things planned for us. We are going to test each on the receptiveness of commands. It's a tad early but it's good to expose them. We will see how they do. Then if the weather cooperates, we will be taking them outside for a romp each day, into the kitchen and into the hallway and family room to give them a different environment.

Then who knows, we will watch some TV and get snuggles and brushes and everything will be right in the world. Ah - to be a Havanese puppy...human mommy wishes!

Sound Conditioning

We condition our dogs by playing realistic sound bytes that simulate anything from a roaring thunderstorm, to rain to street noise, to traffic and much more.

Tonight we are concentrating on the sounds of storms. We will change the sounds and vary the level of the sound throughout this process. This way when your puppy hears his first real noisy traffic or a roaring storm, they will be less apt to react to noise as it will be familiar.

Each day, from now until they go to their new homes, they will experience sound conditioning in a place - their xpen next to my desk where they feel secure. At times Wasabi (Havanese mom) may be feeding them, others we will be playing with them and at times they will just be sleeping or playing with the guys. By associating sounds with various 'good memories' we attempt to minimize the startling effect that we all have from a loud sound.

Our oldest golden retreiver was a rescue and a prisoner of her fear till we did slow conditioning with her. No one and nothing should be a prisoner of their fears.

By practicing positive slow conditioning, we hope to eliminate these common fears that occur with loud noises in 'some' dogs.

We fear what we don't know.

Solitary Havanese Play

Havanese are highly sociable and love people but they can also amuse themselves. Watch this little guy play with this toy while his siblings are snoozing this fine early morning.

The Havanese: Do You Really Have To?

Here's one of my dawgs saying - what does a Havanese have to do to get some sleep around this place. Human mommy and daddy want to cuddle, Havanese mommy wants to check us out, clean us up and coddle us and 5 siblings - well it's rough to get some sleep around here. Oh, but I try.

This was one of my pups after playing its heart out with Katsuro yet again. We all did and what you don't see is we are spread out and crashed but I was the only one with that eye open - just watching.

Well, my pups had their 2nd outing into that great vast yard with snow - hmm think that's what they call that white brr cold stuff. Three of them sniffed around and did their duty, 1 said - are you kidding - its FREEZING and the other 2 well it wasn't our time - you know but human mommy and daddy will be timing these outside adventures after we eat. This way we will 'get' what this outside break is about other than chillin' and getting conditioned to this cold.

Human daddy stuffed us in his jacket when we were done and took us out 1 at a time with the rest of the adult pack.

Well more later.

Wasabi's Havanese in Toronto Pups Video

We hope you enjoy it! Now the furry crew is off to bed and human mom too!

Havanese Non Stop Fun

My pups had nonstop fun and thanks to a Havanese friend of human mom's - Maureen who gave her the idea they got a new cat toy in the mail today and here it is. Here they are trying to catch that ball and boy did they have fun. Even the adult Havanese had a roaring good time with it.

We had a really full day today. We are increasing our eating from our dish, drinking or is that playing in water. Well, hey human mom you were the one that introduced them to that bath and water - tsk tsk!

We also had a play session out in the kitchen that was a roaring good time. We are going to try to get a new video up tonight or tomorrow.

All my pups are now 2lbs even or over but all under 3lbs. They are 5 weeks and 4 days tonight. We have our vet visit for shots, microchip and wellness set up for December 4th. Human daddy has to make a baer appointment to make sure we can all hear well but there's no doubt with that the way they react now. They hear everything and seem very curious about all sorts of noises including the vacuum cleaner, the door bell that rings and they even reacted to the crew barking when someone rang the door bell today. It wasn't a bad reaction but a cock of the head and a run to the edge of the xpen to see what was going on. My crew wants to see everything that is going on.

Well, they are all sleeping after the kitchen play. We will try to get a video up soon. Look for it.

Snuggles and nail clipping and tomorrow we are going to try combing hair with a baby comb to get them used to being brushed and combed. We will see how we do about that. Human mommy is looking forward to that as it gives her one on one time. She rather likes that!

Havanese Thoughts to Ponder

How many pups can you count enjoying their play?

A wise person said - "He never bit anyone, which is more than you can say for most of us." The dogs are getting teeth and I - Wasabi are starting to correct them and so are the humans by saying yeoch in a louder voice and they are catching on FAST.

Another wise person said... "People love their dogs." "People have the relationship with their dog that they expected to have with their spouses or their kids. Dogs never stab you in the back, probably because they don't have opposable thumbs. And they lick your face when you cry. You can't say that of anyone else. Nor would you want to."

Wasabi says: My pups are now at the age where they are licking your face, running to you when you near the x-pen, playing joyfully even with the other Havanese but when they try to feed off the other Havanese, well they are correcting them . We must do a video as soon as time allows.

We had a rather full weekend and are trying to wind down from that. Life is amazing with the little ones, human daddy says but they now need an x-pen upstairs vs. a whelping box. Although some of us a a tad under 2lb and some a tad over 2 lbs - we feel the need to spread out unlike Risa's crew. No one stays out of the play these days and all are highly curious. We change the environment to slowly condition them to feel comfort in change. This makes it easier when they go to their new homes. We are also walking them around the house, getting them used to water running on them if they need a bit of cleanup and praising them when they hit the pee pad.

More later...and look for a video soon!

Havanese Feeding Frenzy Time

Sorry we are so late in filling you in today. We have had lots of visitors and they are still here. So, today will be a tad short. My puppies are crawling all over me and get so excited to see me but they are now really entertaining themselves.

My littlest masked dog can often be seen on top of one dog or another playing his heart out wrestling and the white one - who happens to be a major snuggler crawls into my neck and settles in. He's been doing that since he was born. Nice....

More on the crew tomorrow...

Havanese Wasabi Says It's Daddy's Turn

Here's human daddy hanging out with the one that has a half mustache like me. He's getting way cute as his hair comes in and he is one of the litter that hits that pee pad consistently. His play is creative where you can often find him under a blanket with the blanket going up and down and he loves tunnels, carrying cases and independent play but he also likes to play with the rest of the crew. He just seems to enjoy his own play thoroughly as well. What that means is he can find ways to entertain himself. We are really pleased with this ones personality. Each are different and unique in their own ways. Each have their own unique personalities.

My daddy was having fun trying to get my crew to eat from our round dish. Boy I (Wasabi) likes to clean up after that mess. Lick, lick - yum, yum. Goats milk - oh boy!

Another character (we only have a couple that are quiet but still playful so far) is the one we call Tux. He just has no fear about anything so far and just runs through the tunnels. When he isn't doing that, he is hanging out on his back swatting a fish - yeah a fish. We will put a video of it up as soon as human mommy gets her act together. We would love to count on her but she tells me work and sleep somehow count too - hahahaha!

Hey, we played in the tub today with mommy and had our first bath. We loved playing in the water, wasn't crazy over the shampoo but loved the blow drying and massages she gave us. So, we got to follow human mommy's rule of thumb - always end on a good note to make the memories a good one.

Here's a video of Tuxedo playing...

Havanese Puppy X-Pen Play Time

There goes that mommy again, crawling in and laying down in the x-pen to play with my pups. She can't help herself.

'Would you be able to?'

From one, to another till she is at the last one - they all get their snuggles and me time around here and if that's not enough, then daddy, and Jonathan and Dennis have to climb in.

One great thing is mommy really takes care of me when I feed the little ones. She often puts a soft blanket under my head so I am comfortable and strokes my head and back. She really takes care of me but everyone loves the doggies around this place and hey - how could they not. We make them laugh, feel good and we tend to complete the house they say!

Then this weekend we have more visitors and a bonus, grandpa is also coming to visit and he LOVES doggies. Good thing around this place.

Also, the grand kids are coming and they just ADORE us. It's going to be a fun socialization weekend for us. Socialization in small doses is important as it helps us to be all we can be.

Okay, mommy - it's my time. They do have to eat, you know - and sleep too. Oh, you haven't finished?

Now if that wasn't enough, mommy decided to put on a mini jacket that she had for Shoshi when she first got here and place it on our mostly white pup.

You can't see it in this photo but it's way too big. He's going to have to grow into it but we think this will be his coat as it's an easy on/easy off and Shoshi never wore it cause after all, she's a girl doggie. This will fit him for a bit till he has to get the next size.

When we have our back yard play sessions - maybe in the snow - am hoping - this will help us stay warm till we get our full coat (our undercoat) in. This is a perfect coat as it's fast to put on, gives freedom of movement and it's toasty warm. We be stylin it and mommy is doing a file that tells about what type of clothes you should look for and why. Look for it soon on our Havanese Stylin' & Toys section. Be sure to send your Havanese in stylish clothing and tell us why you like it. If the photo is a good quality (meaning not hard to visualize), we will add it to our Stylin' section.

Wasabi - yeah me - well I just adore sharing - I honestly do!

Havanese Moms Can Have Fun Too

It's 4 and a half weeks now and I finally went out back and had some roaring good fun with Katsuro. He's been bugging me for weeks to play so, I finally gave in.

Thing is, now mommy is getting that comb and I had to tell her - NOT NOW! It's time to let me in to see my precious babies. I mean - haven't they totally missed the scent of me from leaving their presence? What - they didn't notice, you say? Please...no white fibs around here, mommy. I am the sun and the moon to them now till they leave the nest and by that time, I will have done a stupendous job.

Oh - you think you are a part of that equation too? Just because they wag their tails and come running....oh okay they run faster for daddy cause he's a totally silly guy but I suppose they get excited to see you too. Heck, some of them just hang out, snooze, dream of fun things to come and not worry about Havanese mommy cavorting all over the yard with that big boy dog.

So, let me in and put that comb away. Oh, and don't forget my massage when you pick it back up. Sometimes you have to deal as I am an adventurous gal and I like the just rolled and shook hair look.

Havanese Sleep Positions

Well, my pups have some strange sleeping positions and we are all now starting to hang out either together or by ourselves when we sleep. I guess they have adjusted to the air temperature but human mommy still has a heat lamp set up just in case we want some more warmth.

We have a carrier and a tunnel in the x-pen so my pups can get used to different places. This way a carrying case won't be an unfamiliar place. We will put a crate in there after a week or so to start them getting used to that as well.

The pups are really starting to show their personalities and it happens in hours the changes vs days. It's amazing. We are finding our one with our half mustache much like his mom is the most adventurous of the crew lately. He will run and wag his tail and come running to you, give kisses, climb under blankets - all sorts of things. It's a riot. They each have unique personalities and none are whiners of any sort but human mom was laying in the x-pen yesterday as we were trying to take a video and the DVD medium was corrupt - sorry no video - will try today and three of them thought they could suckle on her tummy. ROFL They just love human interaction though - way nice!

Today we have a lot of visitors coming to see my pups. I tend to get a little stressed so we are going to keep visits short. I can't seem to feed my pups when too much activity is going on. I am a dog that tends to enjoy activity but am also on guard as my babies are special - amazingly so and mommy and daddy are hoping that they have personalities like me as I am so evenly balanced when I am not worried about the babies and I have a full spirited sense of play that will keep you laughing. Oh well....got to get ready for visitors. Mom is not feeling well so tonight she may crawl back into bed at 8pm when all the visitors are gone.

And as the last photo shows...we are all dead tired and getting our rest till visitors come after a full morning of play with human mom and dad and me - Wasabi Woo, of course!

You can always click on photos to see a larger photo of us. Try it! We did a video but a very short one - better one tomorrow. We promise!

Havanese Jammin' Calm Style

Well, folks, this is 4 weeks and 1 half of a day later since birth.

We are all growing and enjoying life. We are playing more and more each day and are really excited to see humans. Our tails wag and we literally try to engage our pack mates and the humans in play.

We have tunnels, a crate and lots of fun things to do in our day time world to help us be all we can be. From time to time, human mom and dad will change the environment and they will be taking us in various rooms on a variety of surfaces so we can be slowly conditioned and not afraid of anything.

Most people don't get to know me as I tend to be in protective mode over my kids. Sure, I am friendly but just want to know why everyone is coming to see my kids.

Human mommy says we have a full house this weekend and we may even see Jazzy's parents - another Havanese that we adore!

Let me tell you a bit about me. My nature is a tad different than Risa. I tend to be a calm dog. I am adventurous, I love tunnels, and playing in a silly manner. Daddy says I flow like poetry in motion. When they have captured me running, I flow amazingly graceful and don't try. It just comes natural. I am very agile and can balance on most anything.

I tell you all so you can get an idea of my pups and what genetic abilities I am apt to pass along. I don't have an aggressive bone in my body but I will protect my pack and my pups but tend to look for solutions. This is called evenly balanced.

Today, I went into this tunnel in our play yard and one of the pups crawled in after me, over me and right out over my head. some moms wouldn't have toleration for such antics but I tend to love deeply and take things in stride. I let things roll off my back or over my back quite literally.

Each pup is showing its strengths on a given day and that changes but personalities are coming out. This one coming out of the tunnel has a mustache on half his face like his mom. as it grows out, it will become stunning. This particular pup is mighty adventurous. He has no issues going through tunnels, under blankets and having a roaring good time. He also has started telling you when he wants to play. But each are different but similar and more on each as photos allow. Be sure to look at snapfish though as we add new photos all the time. Today we are going to try to get a video up but if not today - tomorrow. More later as we have company soon and human mom has to try to eat this garbage she made in the microwave - yuck!

Playtime is Off to a Great Start

They call this fun? The pups interacting this way is a pure delight to behold. You laugh and laugh says human daddy.

"The pups learn many social rules through play" Wasabi mom says. We learn a great deal about how to interact properly, social status and how to respond to appeasement behavior.

Enough about that, mom - we are plain having fun. Tails are wagging when humans come around. Play sessions are enjoyed and rubbing tummies is a past time we can't get enough of.

Personalities are starting to come out fully. Our rrrrrr purr growling can be heard by all and human mom loves that the best working right next to our x-pen. We find her in the x-pen more than out.

One Havanese X-Pen Day Almost Down

Well, it's almost 1 day down in this big x-pen of ours. After our visitors come, well human mommy and daddy are taking us upstairs and then the cleanup begins. They clean it all up only to do it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow night we hit the big 4 weeks old. Wow.

Mommy placed this photo up as the first thing that came to her mind when she saw it was the song - 'stop in the name of love before you break my heart.' But it didn't stop there - but maybe it should have. Silly, silly mommy...

Then the song goes on 'think it over' heh and why these photos came right after each other - well just another Hava-nice day in the Potechin household at Talemaker Havanese. What can I say.

Pups are all snoozing. We are waiting for our visitors and then human mommy is doing a cleanup and as soon as the laundry hits the dryer, she's crawling into bed.

No visitors tomorrow but a very, very busy weekend I am told. Oh - and you know what the best is? We get to see the entire pack now. They all sit outside the pen and watch us as if we are from another planet - heh - well Havanese mommy Wasabi doesn't but....the pack is in - take care of the precious cargo mode and it's nice.

Havanese X-Pen First Day Downstairs

Hey - mommy confused me as I thought the crew was coming downstairs tomorrow but here we are in our x-pen and life is grand.

We have a ton of extra space and we are spending our time snoozing or checking the new digs out - digs as in new surroundings.

We are rather busy today as human mommy is showing us the lay of the land and so am I but more later....

Havanese Finding Fun in Toys

My puppies certainly enjoy their toys and human mommy and daddy have a heck of a lot of them so they will be changing them every day when we come downstairs. Most of them like to snuggle and sleep with them. The white one tends to like to sleep with his head up on the railing and tux - the one with most black likes to sleep under the rails without the extra stuff. Will that change as they get older or we move to an x-pen? I am not sure. Time will tell.

For the first time mommy and daddy left the whelping room door open so I could snuggle with them and go back and check on my babies when I felt the need. I am beginning to relax and not worry as much as I know they are safe.

Today I got into the other side of the whelping box away from my pups and they climbed - all right over after me and then I went to the other side and they climbed over again. Something about wanting to feed, I imagine. They are good climbers. It means they are strong and that's a good thang! They all continue to gain. They are all walking and playing and investigating their environment and they love pushing that foam ball around.

Human mommy was weighing them today while she sat on the other side of the box and I came over and laid on her and soon all my pups were feeding and I was laying on mommy so she couldn't move. She thought that was a great experience.

Someone said we got snow yesterday - oh my - mommy will have to get cute jackets for the pups - excuses to dress them and when they are old enough, I will introduce them to that white stuff. Human mommy hasn't even moved everything in yet - silly.

Well, tomorrow we have a couple of people coming to see the pups so mom is deciding if we come down 1 day early to the x-pen or wait till Friday.

More later - human mom has to feed me and her too - and coffee junk too - well for her.

Havanese Full House Today

We had a full house today. Auntie Yvonne and momma Rita came to visit us. It was nice but too short. Human mommy says she has to do something about water pots - work - work - work.

My pups are having fun now playing with each other as you can see but you know what they like to push around? That foam - cheapie ball. Go figure - something that hardly costs anything.

On Friday the pups come down to the x-pen and we are excited - I think. Mommy gets to see them in her office all the time. She mumbled something about having to find the x-pen.

More later...

A HAVA-NEESE New Day

My puppies adore this doggie that human mommy put in the whelping box. It simulates a dog's heartbeat so my pups like to snuggle with it when I am not available. We bought it from DoggieStyle Petwear where they have a lot of cool dog stuff.

A gal has to go outside, do her duty and look at the big blue rainy, miserable sky - you know. Well, maybe not. I think I will hang out with the pups all day today. ROFL!

Human Mommy was at it with testing the pups but she didn't get to but one today. Busy - busy day but she did get to play with them, change their beds, weigh them and brush and comb me out. Those crazy celebrities are keeping her busy.

Mommy had one of my babies....crawling in this tunnel that she bought at Dine's Boutique (they have some really cool stuff) and he just didn't know which way to go. Much more difficult, at least for this one than the other tunnel but that's a good thing. It will hold their attention longer.

It wasn't until I Wasabi, his Havanese mom looked in the tunnel that he knew which route to go but that's okay. He saw me and life was good. They just smell me and come running these days. This tunnel also crinkles. How fun can that be!

I must have that extra special touch. Can you just hear him saying, oh there you are mom.

Human mommy and daddy are really enjoying how we interact now. It has just truly begun. The faces are getting more defined. The personalities are starting to come out. Life is ever so good. We even get to come downstairs at the end of this week - cool!

Havanese Hanging Out on the Rails

Now I have some interesting pups, I might say. My puppies like to climb on the pig rails in my whelping box and sleep there. Thing is, they forget where they are and tend to roll off onto the floor and surprise themselves. None of Risa's last litter did this. Oh, they climbed over to the other side but didn't climb up to hang out on them. It's a Havanese trait you know to climb up on high places and just appear as if we are balancing but usually we are solid. I call this 'High Training' and they have a bit to go. I just ignore them and human mommy can't understand why but I know what they are doing. Silly human mommy - practice makes perfect you know!

My pups have some other interesting things that they do. I swear one purrs like a kitten - yeah you heard it. No, I didn't mate with a Kat - hahahaha for all those that know my packmate's name is Kat - I meant cat but he appears to purrrrrrr just purrrrfectly. I did mate with the stunning AMERICAN/CANADIAN CHAMPION R'Gang's Buster At Rockhurst.

Now some of us tend to spend time under the rails - yeah walking the line. Human mom says - didn't Johnny Cash do that already? Sometimes - whenever mom is charging the cameras - Murphy's law and all - you can see a few walking up against the wall and around the box. Maybe they are looking for an escape route? Next week they get to come downstairs into their x-pen and then the real fun begins.