Missing Guests

Obi, Zack and Coco went home and Remy goes home tomorrow.

I tried my 2x extender out that I have had for eons but never used. It came with a lens I had bought quite sometime ago and I found it's a whole level of steady required so blur, blur, blur so not many photos came out. I promise to do better tomorrow or yank out that tripod.

Obi and Shanty was busy playing this morning. Obi is a sweetheart. He's a snuggler too. I am going to miss having a puppy that age around.

Remy has been playing with Cesar and Treasure and Ceser - well Cesar plays with anyone that will. Remy is a snuggler especially at bedtime. His fave human here is Nathan. I can't blame him.

What can I say about Zack and Coco. They are regulars and we just love them.

Jay Jay joins us soon. I can't wait!! Then Coach and Sassy and Louis - oh my real fun in store for us and wow what a fun week this will be.

Talemaker Havenese Craziness Evolves

Treasure is off to handling class tonight as she has a show not this weekend but next. She knows her stuff but it is always good to practice, practice and perfect. We are working on getting all the waiting to be fun. Will we manage it? Time will tell.

If you haven't noticed, in the right hand column, we started an area just to talk about Wasabi, her pregnancy - the pups when they arrive and all the fun till they go home.

All the dawgs count around this place so anything non preggie or pup related when they arrive will be here.

You may want to read both but for those that just want a look into what it takes to do this breeding business emotional and otherwise and want to see puppy photos, look at what sort of date to date status Wasabi is at and much more, well visit us at Talemaker Puppy Life.

New Snow Fall in Toronto

Last Monday, our friend Holly flew from Florida to pick up her pup, Blazin.

It was 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit for our American friends) that day. All the snow had melted and it wasn’t half bad.

The very next morning it was -8C (17F).

Holly thankfully handed me off Blazin to take outside for his morning pee and ran away from the open door.

She thought she was going to freeze to death momentarily.

Meanwhile I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt under my ski jacket, bare feet slipped into clogs. There was no snow.

On Friday we drove to our Vet located an hour and change east of Toronto. We got caught in a major snow storm and ended up spending a few hours visiting with Yvonne and Alex before heading back so that the snow plows had a chance to clear the road, a sometime reality of our Canadian lifestyle.

As always my largest issue driving back was all those drivers on the road that don’t have a clue that snow covered roads and lousy visibility calls for a different mode of driving. Not everyone was clueless but there were a few complete nutcases that made up for it.

One 18 wheeler comes to mind. I fully expected to see him overturned before we got back to town. He certainly wasn’t allowing for any margin of error in a vehicle that could not stop on a dime in any conditions let alone those.

Between Friday’s snow storm and today’s snow fall our yard is no longer snow free. Snow banks are probably two feet high and I’ve taken turns with one of my sons shoveling out paths for the dogs in the backyard. The dogs love it. They go racing round and round the paths and every now and then sheer exuberance with life sends them flying over the top of the banks right into the piles of powdered snow.

Watching their wonderful antics compensates for the pain in my arms, shoulders and back from all that shoveling. I get absolutely no sympathy though. The kids think I’m still 30 and if I didn’t go out and shovel Darlah would and then I’d never hear the end of it.

When outside in winter always watch your dogs for signs of stress, cold affecting their pads and such. They do not have the body weight and metabolism of the larger dogs and cannot stay outside in extreme temperatures for any extended period of time.

The other night it was -20C (-4F) when I took the dogs for a walk. Actually with the wind chill factored in supposedly it felt like -30C (-22F). I can tell you without a doubt that it was very cold. That’s not the words I would normally use to describe the weather but I’m trying to keep this to a family rating. I only went once around our own block and in two cases I had to pick up a dog because their pads got to cold.

Even though we have a large selection of sweaters, jackets, even snow suits, in such cold weather never spend too much time outside with your Havanese.

I have a few pictures to share with you. As you can see, they love running in the snow. Their joy of life is a constant inspiration. I hope you enjoy them and remember, comments are always welcome. Darlah and I love interacting with any of you interested in interacting with us.
I’m off to walk a few dogs.
Nathan

Wet Havanese Dawgs

It's a wet and rainy day out today and here Kat is waiting his turn for grooming.

When it is wet, you need to brush them out or they will mat. But until it is their turn, they are playing and having a grand time.

We bought furniture covers for the couch from Sam's Club and the hubby says - what do you want to do that for? Well, now he sees the reason why.

Wet dogs and a couch staying clean doesn't mix so we keep it covered.

If I found them there again, I would get 2 more. It takes 2 to cover the entire couch but we have an extra long one.

As you can see, we also put blankets and fun cuddly stuff on top of the couch as Havanese tend to like to sleep on high plus they like to nest.

We have a real dawg house around here and 4 visitors at the moment. The crew is having a roaring grand time.

Now back to brushing and watching TV and relaxin. Hoping this wet stuff turns into white stuff. Still do not have our leaves raked or furniture in or..but white stuff is better than rain - at least sometimes.

Heat & Not That Outside Kind

Oh here I am before THAT human Mommy brushed and combed me out. We have Yvonne's four while she enjoys that hot Florida sun so she has this list on her desk and she checks each of our names off after we are done as if she can't remember. Maybe she can't and it's her OLD age setting in.

Mommy put these funny pants on me as I am supposed to be over my heat and tested me with that crazy boy Kat. Usually when I am done, I growl at him but I didn't so back we are behind closed doors even though all signs point to no heat for me or Abigail. Mommy thinks best to be safe.

We have these doors all over the house. Mommy yells out and daddy puts that boy away and we shuffle back and forth. It's crazy times. But when we get outside in this balmy weather, we run all over that pool cover and have a roaring grand time.

Hope you are enjoying the weather. We are slowly getting better - and it's about time.

PS: See why you want to get your dawg spayed or neutered? Who wants to go through this twice a year unless you have to.

Highlights: Abs & Fiona & Nathan

It's harder than you think. Where's that tail? Gad - do they have to make those banging sounds - X doesn't like it.

More Photos later...still sick but getting better and Yvonne's dogs are coming here for a month - are we excited or WHAT!

Friday Highlights All Breed Trillium

Puppies - oh so Many Havanese Pups

Yvonne's puppies came to visit after their Baer test - all passed. They were amazing on the stairs. Abs and Kat just adored them and so did the Wasabi Woo. Nathan...well he is already lost when it comes to the little ones.

And to top things off - we have a skunk in our yard so our yard is unusuable - joy - not!

Yvonne's Pups Came For a Visit

Tomorrow look for photos from Yvonne's visit. Kat was actually happy - even smiling seeing the pups and Nathan - well we won't talk about him as he was over the moon seeing the little ones. (Nathan here - I was actually on the floor covered in puppies. Life is hard.)

We even had 2 take a swim. I guess they are Kat's kids after all. ROFL

More tomorrow...

Handling Class

Can I get away with mucking up in the dirt and then having Mommy say - well you are going anyways even if I need a bath - yep Abigail. A dawg has to do what a dawg has to do.

More later on how to handle - I don't want to do anything but play.

Havanese Flying & Pups

If you check out Yvonne's site - Chicadoro Havanese you will see our visit this weekend. There's lots of puppy pics from running, to playing to even sticking out their tongue at another. The pups are a riot. Check them out.

Well, the weather is good seeing it's almost the end of the season. Not a raindrop in the sky. Nathan hit the pool with the pups and I went out there with camera in hand and caught Kat jumping in the pool.

Check it out and be sure to click on the pics to see a larger view.

I also managed to get out in the pool after I caught the action.

Can you believe the rain this year? Well, they say NO RAIN this week and that makes Havanese - well our Havanese happy campers.

Have you ever seen a Havanese look at the rain and say - hmm not me - no, I am not going out!

Then there are the kind that adore it. We have both. We force the ones that don't to grin and bear it so to speak. We place them smack, dab in the middle of the grass and tell them to do their duty but it's a riot watching the feet getting lifted as if to say, Daddy - that's wet grass - oooh.

Kat doesn't mind the wet grass. He doesn't mind the rain and he can't get enough of the pool. I guess he's a water dog.

It's as if it's his job. Every dog needs a job.

Well, we got to hang out with visitors, had walks, went swimming - life is good this Labour Day weekend - I tell ya. It's what the entire summer should have been like.

All our visitors have gone home, sniff, sniff.

Still, it's time to regroup - concentrate on us and then get ready for whomever is coming next.

Splash - ready for a cool down? We are...Havanese hitting the water and it's almost the end of summer.

Catch you tomorrow and here at Talemaker, we are hoping you end your long weekend in the company of a Havanese. It couldn't get any better than THAT!

Be Still My Heart: Havanese Living & Enjoying Life

Hey guys, I am Risa - the black dog with white feet. That's why my champion name is Whitesox. I tend to manage the crew here but the humans here just won't stop till we are all having fun.

That human daddy was getting me going and at first the rest of the crew went - dare we play with the 'boss'? But play they did.

We just uploaded a video from the picnic hoping you will enjoy. What has become abundantly clear is we like to play no matter where we are. Maybe it's that Abs that won't stop or those humans or...but forgive us as we tend to be all over that video as we were the ones moving our ahems off and crashing on the way home.

Oh, there are plenty of the others human and canine alike but like we said - we are used to having CRAZY fun. Enjoy!

PS: Disregard the jerky nature. That human daddy is still learning. We all have to do that for the rest of our lives. HA!

Rita & Yvonne's Havanese Picnic '08

Havanese and Knots in Hair

Talking about wet - what do you do when you have mats? Brush every day or cut short.

I am dematting 2 dogs and my arm is going to fall off - no lie. It's a tough job when you let it go.

To make it worse, if you wash or they get wet, it tightens the knots. Many people do not realize this.

The Abs says - well mommy brushes me daily so I hardly ever get those things.

Back to watching TV and dematting...

How? Spray, separate and brush. It sounds easy but there is a method to it - believe me and I have got really good at it due to having dogs visit us with them. :-)

Pure Play: Socialization & Doggy Camp

We are blessed with the pleasure of watching other people's Havanese when their owners go away on holidays. We offer a fun filled crazy dawg house for the visitors.

We only take in small breeds as its a way for us to socialize our crew, enjoy others of like mind and besides - we prefer it like that.

Most of the dogs are our pups that were born with us and some are from referrals. All are indulged. We even moved in an extra bed next to our king sized one so all the dogs could fit.

We placate the owners and take crates and we even leave them open but we find they enjoy the bed and when they return home, they know the rules. But if you INSIST - we will leave them sleeping in a crate. We do care what your needs are. The Havanese are really intelligent dogs. So - it's vacation for them too!

Well, this week we have Coco and Zack. Soon we will have Mary's crew and Jazzy and we think Remy. Then Coach and Sassy. What an exiting summer this is going to be.

Now where am I going with this? Whenever you leave your dog anywhere, there is always a transition the first time. The next visit the transition is fast and they know what they are in for.

What are the transitions? Where do I fit in the pack? Where do I sleep - top of the bed, bottom, next to that human or that one? Who will play with me?

But we are blessed. We have a really great crew. The Abs is who I call my fishing rod. The dog that sits on the outside looking in - well she just reels them in. Here she is with all that funny stuff in her hair.

She's now finished being a show dog and we will be breeding her soon. Here we are trying to protect her head from chewing by other puppies by wrapping it with paper and conditioner but does it help? Nah - just makes you laugh at how she looks. The things we do for the show ring. Abigail is glad her show career is over. She has too much playing spirit to be held back and we like it that way!

But the emotional aspect of the dogs are the most important to us above and beyond anything else. She has a 'calming' spirit. Some say she doesn't act like a puppy in the ring as she is more laid back but if you ran in front of her and you were another dog - well then her love of life spills out and you - the human that watches will laugh and laugh. She knows how to play.

Zack and Coco are fitting in real well. They are even enjoying the massages I give to all the dogs when they get brushed daily. I wait for their baths even if they get dirty till just before they go home and spruce them up in between with waterless bath unless they are here extra long and they will get the baths like our resident crew does.

I call it 'grooming conditioning.' Each morning their ears are checked, eyes cleaned and they soon get it that I sit here and let this crazy human do this and I get a treat for it. Then depending on how the day goes, at various times throughout the day, they either find themselves up on the grooming table or on my lap getting brushed. Nathan does the after pool brushes most times. I get kisses - sometimes complaints but always patience and consistency wins out and that massage and treat business tends to get them excited too.

We are lucky as we have a son here that walk dogs as does Nathan and I. The dogs adore their walks. We only take 2 at a time and we usually split pairs up rotating who they go with. If a dog is timid, they get the alpha more assertive type on the walks. There is truth to the fact that the emotion of the companion (dog and human) on the walk gives you a positive or negative experience. I have seen a dog that is jumping all over the place, pulling its heart out with one dog and calmly walking next to another. It's also the humans attitude and the bottom line is - who is in charge? It's not a 'grrr' I am in charge but an attitude that I expect you to walk and no - I won't allow this or we will go home. Even the most 'step over the line' dogs soon learn. This is the time frame that most learning occurs and we take advantage of it for our visitors and for our resident crew where the learning never stops - even for us, heh!

This human here is an avid picture taker. My camera may be lousy (update - I have a better camera but still not the one I truly want) but I love taking the photos. I am bucking for a better camera as I want to capture the action photos so my memories will always be with me. I want a wide angle lens too - hahaha. Such wants...

You can catch us in the pool or Nathan running with the dogs or any of us playing retrieve or the many other fun things we think up to keep them entertained and us too.

If we see happy faces like we did today in these photos - well success and we haven't had a day where it hasn't been like that. The dogs - well I wish I was one of them at times and as I said - our lives - well they have certainly gone to the dogs and what memories we will have and treasure.

Obviously, we can only take care of small dogs in the Toronto area but I post what we do so when you are leaving your little one while you go on holidays - well now you know what to ask and what they should do while you are away. Your dogs deserve the best holiday too.

Say Cheese Havanese

Trying to get the Havanese cooperating - even saying cheese is I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E.

We have Coco and Zack for sleepovers and are having an amazing amount of fun.

Fiona, Coco and Abs is out walking with our son Jonathan and his girlfriend and Zack just came back with Nathan and Kat.

Ramona: Zack did great on the walk. He barked at one dog that barked at him once. He was corrected and didn't bark again.

Abs is really making Coco feel welcomed and it's all working ever so well.

Ah - Havanese heaven. Couldn't be better than this!

Abigail, The Flying Havanese Squirrel Dog

I had to share this one.

Kat is playing with Abigail. Abigail runs up the stairs, does a dash around the upper deck, turns and launches herself off the two steps onto Kat.

Darlah captures Abigail in mid air. What a shot.

Abigail, the flying Havanese squirrel dog.

Nathan

Darlah Here:
What Nathan doesn't tell you is the crew was an amazing amount of fun and he missed it all. He was working. Our air conditioning is not so I took the portable outside to work and clicked away.

Be sure to click any of the photos to see a larger view.

Wasabi had just become extra comfie in her viewing slot in the very best spot to watch these antics. I will only share a few but gad I just kept laughing and trying to hold the camera still.

One day I a going to have a camera with a stabilizer and that takes fast shots so these shots aren't the kind of clicking before it happens.

None of these photos are staged. If they were, I would have to brush them first. ROFL

As you can see the two stooges are doing their Wrestlemania shtick and Kat's looking on. Oh - he got into it too!

It's why he looks a tad disheveled.

The boy once he gets into it just has a way of adding something to the mix.

Yep, the Kat was having a free for all with Fiona who was loving it and Abigail was running to save Fiona?

Nah..she wanted to have fun too or maybe she wanted to play with Fiona herself - nah couldn't be - its usually Fiona that wants Abs to herself.

The gals just love it when Kat joins in and it takes it to an entirely new level of fun that I would categorize as delirious.

There is something about more than one Havanese.

They love - they live and they play like none other with such a zest for life. We could learn from that!

When all was said or done Havanese style, Fiona had her tongue hanging out with satisfaction...

(Hey Fiona - mind your manners and get that tongue in - hahahahaha)

We don't call her the wild child without a reason.

...and Abs...well she found the bowl of ice and chilled out.

From the Talemaker crew to yours - we hope you manage to have this much fun and are staying cool somehow - someway this weekend.

Havanese Visitors

We had Linda and John over and her crew of dogs. Linda managed to swim a little and I was combing out Kat from after his swim when they arrived.

It was a nice relaxing time.

Check out Risa who thinks she has the very best seat in the house - and she does. No one ever said she wasn't quick. She jumped in that chair faster than anyone can blink their eyes.

Risa is on a starvation and exercise diet - well not really - diet yes - exercise yes but not starving but in her mind - hehehe but she can still move FAST!

Her granddaughter, Fiona got the cheap seat in the house - or maybe not depending on how you look at it.

Fiona is cooling off or maybe warming up on the cement after getting wet herself. Gad does she need a brushing!

She's been an outright pistol these days.

What's that you called me mommy? Not I!

Sebastian is visiting and here you can see him in his haircut. The boy is gorgeous but the hairdo does him no justice but it will grow.

We have been taking him on walks encountering many people, dogs, noises etc. He barked when about 12 people came down the walkway at once all together but I said no bark - placed him in a sit and voila - he was soon meeting a greeting all the humans and their dogs. He is an amazingly well behaved submissive dog who has yet to figure out how to totally placate Kat but he will. He's also fully house trained.

He's been in our pool twice and not on purpose so we are training him to understand the pool and how to get out etc. Gad - he loves his walks. I do too when life allows me to.

Here's a couple of photos of Linda's dogs that came to visit. She even took them in for a swim and gave them some lessons about how to get out of a pool. Good one!

More later - visitors coming!

Visit to Chicadoro's (Yvonne's) & Fun!

Do not tell me that dogs do not have long memories. When we opened our pool, Katsuro looked at it, looked at Nathan and said - let's go. He remembers swimming last year. He has a passion like none other for the swim.

So, today when we were on our way to Yvonne and Alex's, we turned off the freeway and his teeth started chattering, he was whining with pure excitement. He was off to see Lola in his mind.

I said to Nathan, wouldn't it be nice to be wanted THAT much. ROFL. Then I added but she's preggie and well - she will be shutting him down. Well, most of us know how that feels but he didn't.

Well, he spent half the time trying to woo the gals and Lola shut him down pronto and Maggie - well that gal flirted taking advantage of the fact that he would do anything she wanted to. Well, you know the story. Who was the smartest?

He finally calmed down and started running with the dogs and having a grand time.

It helped that Nathan started running with them and got them going.

We have much to report on our visit and some really great shots.

We got home late so tomorrow will have to do.

Wait till you see Flora and our Abigail running their fool heads off and Abigail getting the best of Fiona - yeah that happens at times and Abigail pouncing on Kat's back.

You'll also see the lovely blooming Lola, Maggie - well I - well tomorrow we find out if she is pregnant too - that little mischievous Downsey and Britney, Whitney, Wasabi, Risa and Terra.

What a day. Great food - great company and a lovely family from South Africa originally that we got to share some moments with and laugh. It was all good.

Till tomorrow....

The Ever Changing Havanese & Life

Here's a photo of Lola when she was a wee one. She was such a cutie - don't you think? Lola has changed colours as Havanese often do to a goldish blond. She looks like she is changing colours yet again when you look at her up close getting that richer colour back.

Havanese are such an interesting breed as you can have the looks of one colour then they grow up and get another and then they can revert again or change again. It's like having a package that keeps on evolving. To me, that's ever so much fun.

We have no clue what colours a Lola/Kat combo will produce. Ultrasounds etc. don't tell that but Kat has sable in his line, Lola has it in hers. There is also the greying gene at play. At times you can see a cocoa overcast in Kat's coat. It too is always changing.

Life is filled with surprises and we are excited to see what this one brings.

Personality is prevalent in the Mojo line - Kat has it in spades but hey we are biased. Lola is a Cuban Havanese - a strong gal filled with a genteel personality. She is a first class mom.

Can you tell we are excited?

Now on to the shenanigans of the crew here. Fiona is playing up a storm. I am back exercising doing Kenpo/Cardio X with Tony Horton. It's time I get back into it and well, Fiona was jumping on me the entire time. It made exercise a challenge but a fun one. We are back to finding what life is about - moments that you can treasure. It's why we are called Talemaker - as we bring you quality Havanese that lifetime tales are made from.

Treasure the moments and laugh at even the frustrating moments like a dog jumping on you while you exercise. Life is short and it can be amazing if YOU allow it to be.

More later...