Monday, February 18, 2008 at 12:36PM All we hear these days is the pitter patter of tiny feet scurrying around the floor - 2 havanese puppies - 1 adult in full play saying catch me, hiding and pouncing. Such fun. Everyone needs more than one havanese. Follow their adventure at http://talemakerhavanese.com
Sunday, February 17, 2008 at 1:15PM 
Hey - okay I am no longer the youngest one. I was for a week but now that FI-OH-NO is. I have been teaching her all sorts of fun things like eating wood from in front of the fireplace (human mom and dad spoil the fun though) to eating all sorts of frozen plants in the back. I simply need more frozen things to chew on. Mommy and Daddy clean up the poo and cover the pee spots every single time so we don't even get to sniff. I tell you - they are joining the OCD group of dog care. ROFL! I better hide now or that mommy will brush and comb me. Seeing we are dealing with icy rain, why bother, mom. I just adore getting sopping wet so you can spin your wheels drying dawgs and cleaning us up.
What To Get the Dog That Has Everything?
Okay, I am NOT a Havanese but hey I can be brushed less and so what if I shed. I am big, friendly and a huge sap. I try to play with the little ones and they don't get it but lately that FIONA and ABIGAIL climb up my body and they try to lick my face. What is THAT about? I like these long-haired type but shhh don't tell those humans. I know - they got them ALL for me. But what is this thang about them getting to sleep on the back of the couch or on top of a chair. Huh...what type of equality is that? It doesn't matter that I am slightly larger and I may hang over. Heck, you should see me travelin' in the car where I sit my rump in the seats and hang my paws on the window rest. Can a Havanese do THAT?
More later as we deal with freezing rain, crazy playing outside (which we did), Just imagine us looking as if we are starved when mommy and daddy have Chinese food.
We are missing the Sass and hoping she's having a grand adventure with Coach. Train, train, train today daddy...Miss Abs..and now let's start with Miss Fiona - the Ever-ready battery. Good luck!
More later...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 9:47AM 
As many of you know, Opal chewed off Katsuro's hair so we have had this inbetween hair growing in. It's sort of like dealing with puppies as their hair grows in but not long enough to do a beardie knot back.
There are ways I make grooming easier.
1. I use a grooming table.
2. I put a treat bag on my waist for easy access.
3. I use a hose/sprayer in my sink.
4. I arm myself with spray conditioner, a great brush that helps take knots out, a cat comb with flexible teeth, a face comb and a blower that I do not have to hold - just direct.
5. I use Cindra hair gel .
I use the treats as an incentive for the dogs to stay put and they do as I, layer by layer, spray with the leave-in conditioner, brush and then use the comb to make sure no knots exist. I don't dry bone dry but as you can see here - pretty much dry - just slightly damp. This way the hair stays in good condition. I also use this Cindra hair gel to flatten down the hair around Katsuro's forhead near his eyes so he can see and you can see his eyes. I simply put a dab on my fingers, distribute and comb/brush in the direction I want it to go with a face comb. Face combs are great for that daily cleanup around the eye area. Eventually, when the pups get older, the cleanup around the eyes is much less much like a retriever - just clean the corner of their eyes. I will fill you in on cleanup around the eyes after I do the pups.
As you can see in this photo, Katsuro is ALMOST dry and I will do a comb/brush through later but its enough. In the summer, I may skip the drying all together and just brush/comb a few times to eliminate any knots and let the air dry him.
When I want the feet cleaned up (may have to learn this) I just have a groomer come in to trim the feet so they look neat and cut the hair between the pads to eliminate slipping on walks, and shave the tummy area and around the butt to eliminate any stuck poo.
Sorry for being so graphic but couldn't think of any other way to put it. Hair artist, I am not.
Now I just tried 'gold on gold' shampoo on Fiona and Abigail to see what I get. As you can see from this photo, Abigail is a tad relaxed, more so than Fiona, but that comes with age and a conditioning process to this bathing stuff. They do relax especially if you reward them as they go along.
I have a grooming table noose that I didn't have to use on Abigail even though I line brushed her - and that takes a bit more time but comes out nice. She has a lot of patience. I even used a face comb on her feet and she had no issues with it. Usually the feet and the bum area are the most sensitive to puppies. She doesn't seem to mind at all.
With Fiona, I had to use a bathing tether in the sink (a suction cup with a noose) and a grooming noose (see the blue thing hanging) to get her done.
These tethers do NOT hurt them in any way, shape or form but rather allow you to free your hands. This also allows me to focus on getting her done and focusing on making it a positive experience.
As you can see, Ms. Fiona looks really calm but as the blower was going, the brush and comb and the spray - well she wasn't so complacent but she also wasn't crazy - I can't handle this experience either.
Fiona actually enjoyed the blower more than Abigail. It was sort of like the dog that hangs it's head out the window to feel the breeze. That is what she did.
As you can see, she's snuggling with her daddy, glad its all over.
This is also a way to reward them for a job well done by lovin' them up.
Doesn't she look like a tiny bear, all soft and smelling wonderful. Now she is sleeping after a good lunch.
She's having marvelous dreams, I imagine and is calculating ways to undo the 'looking good' that human mom did. Ah - well that's okay as a dawg has to live too. It's not all about those looks.
They do tend to sleep after you spend this time with them cleaning them up but that's a good thing. They stay clean for longer, allows you to do other things like typing on this blog and then they wake up and you can enjoy them again.
Here's daddy trying to stack Abs midair after her bath and she's doing her best to do a pointer stance. You want my tail up? Nah...I am a pointer - don't ya know?
Well, how do I take care of the eyes?
I clean the eyes with a makeup pad saturated lightly with 'Eye Envy' liquid solution. I use a face comb, and I take the 'Eye Envy' powder with my finger on the staining around the puppies eyes. I then use the face comb to make sure it covers the entire cuticle. This keeps the area dry and stops it from staining any further. Cleaning twice a day on a regular basis gets you through the stage where they have leakage to the stage where it solidifies making the cleaning MUCH easier.
I have also used plain old vaseline to coat the staining and end up cutting the ends off over time till no staining exists. But I have had good results with 'Eye Envy'. It's just a pain to remember it. It's easier to remember once a day vaseline vs. twice a day 'Eye Envy' but the labourous route gets them cleaner and gets rid of the stain over a matter of a month. They say days but I haven't had that experience.
Another thing you can do instead of the vaseline on a white dog is use Chris Christensen White Creme Cover-Up. This stays on and covers up the stain but also protects it from getting further stain and gives you the perception that there is no staining. You brush it in and comb it through. It does not run off - has to be washed off with shampoo. This will also work where you can cut the ends till the stage where the leakage starts solidifying and you will no longer get stains.
I still keep my dogs eyes clean and none have leakage as adults but I like to get rid of the crust or what some call fondly - eye boogers. It also allows me to remove any stray hairs from their eye that they can't remove that may be irritating them. You stay aware of any issues by investing time in grooming. It's not just about them looking good but also this timeframe allows you to see if anything is not the usual.
Well, I THOUGHT I run out of steam. I did manage to get Super Sassy Lassy to have a bath and she has wonderful silky hair - not a SINGLE knot in her. Must be that magic brush, her hair or just luck but wow - nice! Doesn't she look great? I was going to do her Friday but she is off on an adventure starting tomorrow on Valentine's Day so I wanted to get her smelling just gorgeous as she is.
Sassy is off to hang out with Coach for the long weekend. We can't wait to see the photos of those two.
I decided my Valentine gift to myself was to have a 'no grooming' day. Can you imagine that?
I still need to brush and comb the rest but no more baths. I did 4 today and then start in again on a few more on Friday. It all depends on my energy level but the dirtiest was cleaned already. Boys...heh - yeah you guessed who was the dirtiest.
Gad, I just adore snuggling with the really clean ones.
Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 8:59PM Part of Wasabi's pups were over for a visit and Nathan had a hard time following them with the camera. He was able to get Chico, Sassy and part of our crew (Shoshi with the ball) plus Remy for a bit. We think Remy was schmoozing with the new gals at our home. We can't blame him.
Friday, February 8, 2008 at 4:10PM 
Well, we have totally lost it or have we? Until we get a larger bed, we moved in a twin bed to go next to the king sized bed to give us more room. We are lucky as we have a really large bedroom that also has a sectional couch and TV/stereo in it on the opposite wall of the bed so it doesn't look so hot but it surely will give us room as we expand. Next Tuesday we have Gidget (alias Paris) visiting for two weeks. We are still thinking about how we can create an oversized bed. As you can see we also have a bench and 2 sets of stairs. Yep - we are a dawg house!
Who do you think will sleep where tonight? Any takers on a bet?
Fiona is out on the pool cover looking at the guys wondering if she can get Miss Abs to play with her. The crew hears a dog in the distance, they bark - they run and Fiona goes - what was THAT! Miss Abs has already adjusted to such craziness. Fiona is still in the stage that they think we are all crazy and we are.
Miss Abs says to Fiona - so - you want to play? Fiona has learned a lot of tricks. She slides under a bench faster than you can say her name and she does the same when the pups are after her in the house - well slide under the couch - belly sliding all the way. It's all in fun and rather a riot. I have to catch it on the video camera.
We had a practice session. Sitting perfectly straight was an issue and walking behind without getting up - well let's see how we do tomorrow. One more session before class.
Coach is coming over to visit with his human dad for a bit so the pups are looking forward to that and so is Wasabi. We may have Chico on Sunday and Remy is coming on Sunday before his class. How great is that? We also got a photo of Benny from Risa's crew so we will be posting that tomorrow.
More later...ooooh class tomorrow - fun - fun fun! Are we ready...hmmmmm.... I blame human mommy and daddy if we aren't as we had a way busy week. Excuses, excuses...hahahaha
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 12:20PM Rarely do we get to see an inside look into our dogs going to someone else's home in the formative puppy stage but every now and then we get blessed with someone entrusting us to help their little one be all they are meant to be. Here's a small snippet of Rockhurst Abigail at Talemaker in her first few days finding an effective way to communicate and where she fits in with the pack. Thanks goes to Beth Obrecht for sharing her with us. We now know daily they make strides in fitting in, finding their place and really bringing laughter to your life. What else could you ever ask for... Look for another video of Abigail playing at Yvonne's with pups soon.
