Costs

Unfortunately starting in the New Year, our costs will go up. Please contact nathan for updated costs.

Picnic Photos & Details

The picnic date took place on August 17, 2019 from 12pm to 5pm at Yvonne's place in Brighton. Check out the details here. Photos from the 2019 picnic can be found here. Yvonne's place is NEXT DOOR to her old place. I will try to put a havanese flag out front. Hope you can join us. Directions are here. The house # is 25. There is no picnic in 2020 due to COVID but hopefully in 2021. Stay Tuned!

Grooming 101

Want to see how I get a smooth coat and what equipment I use? I am continually learning and perfecting but I created this video Windows version) and for you Mac apple folks - here's a conversion. - not a professional one, to help you get a head start and perfect your own skill. Got questions? Ask away.

Want to know how to create a bathing machine that will save you time, product and wash your dog better than ever before? Check out Dick and Irma's instructions on how to create your own machine for a fraction of the cost.

Woofstock Is Back

Meet us at Woofstock. Dogs are welcomed. We meet at the restaurant across the street from Woodbine Park. Here is the location. Meet up happens on June 22, 2024 at 9:30 to 945am. Rain date is the next day. Look forward to seeing your havanese there and the humans too! Don't have your havanese yet? Well join us anyway! 

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Certified Pet First Aid

Walks 'N' Wags Pet First Aid is a recognized National Pet First Aid Certificate course for dog and cat professionals and pet owners. Talemaker Havanese now has that certificate having taken and passed the course.

Entries in stimulating your havanese mind (1)

Saturday
Dec292007

Exercise for Your Havanese

Sassy went for a walk today with Wasabi, Katsuro and Risa. Then we took Louis (a visiting dog), Shoshi, Terra and Whitney. We also did a great play session out in the back.

This brings up a point that Sassy hates getting dressed. and she could go ala natural for short walks but for a bit longer while its cold, the sweater or jacket helps when young. A good sign that it's getting too cold is when they are lifting their paws/and or shaking but they can lift their paws from salt, sand and ice piles in-between their toes. Just brush it out and continue unless it is a continual issue then its a red flag to get home. When it comes to clothes, brushing, anything - new that is something that needs to be done - the term - just get him to deal comes to mind. If they are fighting you, as Sassy has tried when I put a sweater on, I just hold her, put it on and then continue to get her ready to go. If I coddled her or let her win when it is something she needs - guess what - you set her up to buck the system and she will know that she can get away with it sometimes if she acts up enough. This is a dangerous precedent to create with a toddler and the same with your pup. I don't yell - nor make it a terrible experience - just do it and reward the correct behavior. Eventually that struggle will cease.

I am often asked how often do you wash your Havanese? It all depends on the elements. I can go 3 or 4 weeks in the summer before I can't stand it but even then, you can use a waterless bath, brush them line by line with it and then they look almost as good as a bath. So, it really depends on you. You can also just wash feet or bums or whatever the need.

If you look at the picture (you can click on it for a larger view), this is Terra, our retriever and Sassy doing her - 'I am relaxed look' and mommy Wasabi laying next. Now notice that Wasabi's hair is still shiny as she is what we would consider a silky Havanese and that's a good thing as her hair stays shiny even when dirty and tends to not mat - a double coat but not a thick double coat but she is getting a bath today. She hasn't yet had a comb out and she 'may' look better then but her hair will tend to become shiny greasy looking when I think its dirty and I believe she has arrived at that point. For some she may not. It's been a few weeks and I tend to groom and brush and clean mine more than others. Yvonne (good Havanese breeder friend) would say - more than ANY others but this gives you a perspective. Each of us have a different standard to what we expect and what we will tolerate. My dogs sleep in our bed so they get that comb out daily with a spray on conditioner and the waterless bath and I never experience 'doggy' odor like I do with the retrievers that always have it. :-)

So baths today, play sessions, walks all help stimulate their minds and body and that is a 'good' thing. If you can't walk due to the ice and cold, start teaching retrieve. This is a critical window for teaching it easily. Find a hallway with one way in and only one way out and you sit at the way out and throw the item down the hall. Use a keyword, stop the game when they refuse to bring it to you, praise when they do and you will have a Havanese that retrieves better than a retriever. When teaching it later, it's more difficult and by teaching it earlier, you give them the ability to exercise their bodies, expel that energy without you moving a thing. You will be glad you introduced this game if you ever get sick and can't walk but if you can, still walk your dog as retrieve is not a replacement but rather an additional avenue for exercise. Your dog needs to see new surroundings. If you were stuck in the house 24/7 think of how you would feel about the world outside and how depression may set in by being so limited.

You have an intelligent breed that needs their minds stimulated. Use that and you will gain great things from it. They are what you put into it.