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! 

Award Photos
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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.

Tuesday
Nov272018

Cold Tuesday

Slowly recovering. I took photos today and got everyone groomed though it doesn't look like it in the photo gallery. That's okay as I know it is done. Charlie pictured above was playing here for the day. They had a terrible flood in their house and Charlie is not fond of workers in his home. So he came to play and we loved it! He did too as he played non stop and Rocky was pleased he was here too! Grey was as well. Oh okay, they all were. :-) It is cold enough that no one is getting snowballs or wet and mucky. Thank you to whomever I need to thank!

Dogs are truly having fun today. 

I am looking forward to heats going away. Pups are coming soon. Xrays on December 7th. I am waiting till after the anniversary (December 2nd) to get things ready in here and enjoy the space for a bit more. It's going to be a crazy winter but a fun one and I suppose a busy one especially during the Christmas Break. We still have no clue where we are eating. I was hoping Akasaka was still open but we haven't driven by to see if it was a closing or a remodel. argh I should look at an alternative but as much as Nathan would like Ruth Chris, it is simply way too expensive. Sorry dear...

I truly believe th edogs like when it is cool but dry as they are simply playing like crazy. They will sleep tonight. Maybe we will get to sleep till 7am. LOL

Hope everyone is surviving the holiday shopping craziness and life is treating you well. Give hugs to yoyr little ones from us.

The snow is starting to fly though it's trily not sticking yet and there is really not that much. But I say better than rain. The dogs love it too. 

Although Inula thinks she is a havanese she really has excitement come to her life when Ash and Grey arrive. It is as if she says - ah bigger dogs - finally. 

Scruffy and Pepper, Levon and Trigger are arriving tomorrow. Hopray for that!

Murphy was missing her Saffron so much that I am now taking her in with the gals in heat and she is delighted. No matter what goes on, Saffron and Murphy are ever so tight - sisters and all. Their relationship is truly special. 

Monday
Nov262018

Messy Crew

This is a treat. (sarcastic) With all this rain I have been grooming myself to death and here in the gallery you can see they come in sopping wet and then veg. Sky doesn't want to come in at all. 

Those going home today did not go out after their baths. You can easily see why.

Our water meter was changed out. It took about 15 minutes even though they said an hour. Glad that was done.

Grey pounces on Nathan every morning to wake him up by standing on him. LOL I get snuggles and kisses. He gets dogs walking up him.

The house is emptying out. The dogs are quiet. Yes, when its not busy they get into chilling mode especially with rain. 

They say wet snow is coming so snowsuits for the sane. Me - I have already lost it. LOL

Did you know Hannukah is early this year? It falls on our anniversary. When it is around the same time it surely makes the malls crazy. 

Sunday
Nov252018

That Look

I love when you have that look when you click. That's Sky. She was a muddy mess before her bath and she is halfway a mess again. Oh boy!

Here is the gallery.

I hate this mucky weather. I have a friend that has 13 inches of snow in Utah. I think I would rather have that. At least I could get stunning photos. Love snow photos. But today I groomed literally all day so hardly any photos. Tomorrow I groom all day again. Oh boy.

Dogs are having a blast. It's not fun keeping the girls in heat separate. I believe Raven and Stormy are pregnant. They are getting round and are eating like crazy. In a week we will get an appointment for xrays. 

Did I do classes like planned? No. Did I get things cleaned - just the desk, the closet but not the tv room. I am almost out of time. Yikes

Tomorrow I do 5 dog groomings and 7 go home. :-) We are emptying out on Cyber Monday. So many were shopping this weekend. Do we really have Cyber Monday?

Time to snuggle with dogs....

Saturday
Nov242018

Rainy Saturday

Grey (schnauzer) loves all the dogs - Ash too but Grey is in total love with Stormy. Not sure if Dennis caught it on the photos in the gallery but everyone seems to be in total love with the Stormy. Here he is with Coach which he also enjoys playing with. Could it be the perfume or that Stormy is most likely pregnant so she has a different smell? 

Here is the gallery.

We have a lot of pheromones going on. Saffron is now in heat as well. Sounds like one way or another we will have puppies. LOL

We went to the show today. We bought treats - of course, a tunnel bed and some hair things. I took a video of the havanese in the ring. We watched the tibetan terriers and went to Bow Ring who is in liquidation. Then a smoked meat sandwich and home. I love, love Centre Street Deli but each time we used to go there I had an upset tummy due to grease as I have no gallbladder. Grease tends to wreck havoc but no issue this time. Hooray. 

It was nice to get out. Then we got back just after Addie got dropped off at noon. I then groomed myself to death with all this rain then I gave up. I am hoping we do not have any more rain. What is worse - snowball or rain? I am not sure. Give me sun or powder snow that doesn't stick. 

Tomorrow the Frannie gets a bath and goes home. We will miss that gal!

We have a busy house but a fun one. 

Friday
Nov232018

Cold Before Rain

This is Beau and this was taken today. He was here for a bath, nails, pads and rounding out the feet and tummy shave. Their vet did the tummy shave and bum cleanup. I just evened it out. What a delight to have him visit. You will see him with Leti and Spirit. Leti is Beau's mom. 

Here is the gallery. It includes a few videos with Beau. The rest of the photos, if the dogs were being dogs and liting their leg, laugh or ignore it. Dogs will be dogs.

I do believe Brewer is in love with the cold. He's as bad as Inula. 

Harlow departs tonight. We have a full house and everyone adores the schnauzers. We have a great group. 

Addie comes tomorrow. We head to the dog show for a small bit. Adele and River departs tomorrow and Cinnamon and Ella are still in heat. I do believe Stormy and Raven are pregnant. We will get conformation next week for Stormy then a week later for Raven or maybe we will just do them together. We haven't booked anything yet. Stay tuned. But I guess I will lose my living-room again. LOL

I did get a table today on Amazon that goes on the chair so I can use my laptop or tablet. It was on sale for 37.00 lol Black Friday and all. My big spend. Tomorrow anything purchased is for the dogs. 

Dennis did a big spend for pants and sweaters which is sorely needed. Hope they fit. Prices were almost too good to be true so he will find out by December 11th (Thanks Sherri for letting us know about the sale)- yes that's how long shipping is from Old Navy and the Gap. 

Each year I think of getting Dennis an electric shovel but I never do. Do you think the snow will fall hard this year? They say rain tomorrow. Not sure what is worse - snowballed dogs or soaking dogs. You tell me? What do you prefer?

Dogs are waiting for their snuggle and tv watching. 

Thursday
Nov222018

Coldest 11/22 Ever?

Yes, they say it was the coldest day but we still managed to have fun. I even went to Loblaws which I truly abhor. 

Tomorrow I have a very heavy grooming schedule and Saturday Nathan and I are going to go to the All About Pet Show. No Black Friday for me. :-) You have to be a brave soul besides going out tomorrow to shop.

Here is the gallery.

Rocky arrived tonight, Coach and Sassy this morning. They have been mixing it up already. The 2 schnauzers are here and playing well. We have a fun, busy crew. Harlow goes home tomorrow. 

I am still obsessed with Stan Lee's the Lucky Man. Best of all when I watch the dogs cuddle with me. I rather like that!

Wednesday
Nov212018

No Gallery Day

This is Tchibo and his new human brother Maximilian. They live in Russia now so we don't get to see them but they are great updating us and filling us in. We miss them.

I have had such a heavy schedule playing catch-up on grooming that l had to cancel. The price you pay for having to reschedule. Sorry.  I am not there yet but getting there. 

Dogs have been having fun. This cold is something else but we are surviving. As I type I have my tablet and dogs all over me in the recliner and some on my neck. I can't move but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I have photos on my desktop but I will post them tomorrow. Till then, stay warm.

Tuesday
Nov202018

2 Blogs Today

This is Ali's sister, Chloe. Hard to keep her still. She was a walking, playing moving action gal on the table today. Kept me on my toes. 

Here is a mini gallery.

I had a heavy grooming schedule today picking up from taking time off. I am exhausted but I have a washer. LOL

Tuesday
Nov202018

Happy 6th Birthday


Pepper celebrating in style.Nora wants to say happy sixth birthday to her litter mates too. 
Brewer wants to wish his siblings a happy birthday. Let's see - we have Darcy, Kora, Che, Rafi, Lily, Pepper and Nora a happy birthday! This crew is from Spicy and Phantom! 

Monday
Nov192018

Monday Monday

Here is today's gallery. This is Sparky all cleaned up. No matter what I did he was looking messy. As I have many dogs to groom tomorrow I just finished doing Sparky and will freshen him up in the morning. 

Fenton and Cali is going home tonight. Our washer was fixed - hooray and now I have this love hate thing going on with it as I did laundry all day. LOL

Brewer had a bath and trim up today as it is his birthday tomorrow. He goes home to celebrate tomorrow night.

Nathan is off to the dentist tomorrow as his temporary falls out and has been since the day after they did it then dad happened so.... hoping he gets it fixed.

I am supposed to be watering the plants today. It's not happening. 

Harlow has Dennis figured out. each time he eats she's his new best friend. hahahaha

Can I go to sleep yet?

Sunday
Nov182018

Falling Down

I am falling down on getting a lot of photos but it is what it is.

Here is the gallery.

The dogs have been having a blast. They don't care if it is indoors or outdoors. They play. This is Fenton and Cali in the photo above. 

The snow is pretty much melted with pockets here and there. Inula loves to eat the snow. 

Needless to say, we have a great mix of dogs that rather enjoy each other. 

Saturday
Nov172018

Down Day

Here is Murphy getting her bath. This is a gallery of just Murphy, Shoshi, Spirit and a cameo of Raven I believe who needs a bath and is looking worse the wear. Dennis slept in till afternoon. I washed dogs and groomed them from early morning till now. I am mentally and physically exhausted. You will notice I had my table at the front door in the hall. Each day I have to unplug all the items, dryers, clippers etc and put everything away so no one trips on lots of cords then in the morning I get to do it again till this washer gets fixed. Tomorrow I have another full day of grooming. 

Mini Gallery

Shoshi had a special day having a bone she couldn't hold in her mouth.

We still have 2 girls in heat. I am pretty sure Raven and Stormy are pregnant or in full bloom false pregnancy. I doubt it's the latter.

Nathan got home yesterday and the dogs were so pleased - me too. Inula, the crazy dog that she is went nuts. It is a TT thing.

Today Nathan took a nap. Sparky arrived and is settling right in. Is he a ladies man or what!

Thanks to Sylvia and Sherry for food. Truly appreciated as I am not up to cooking but I need to be so I need to do something about that. 

I so needed a couch today but didn't get it and don't see a day when I can. Glad Nathan gets it. Someone needs to. LOL

Hope you enjoy Murphy and her dramatic shakes.

Till tomorrow. So much for tons of snow....

Friday
Nov162018

First Snow Nov 2018

Here is the gallery.

Dogs are loving it but I stayed up till midnight taking snowballs off the dogs. Buy a snowsuit to avoid this on wet snow. Powder doesn't stick like this. The 4 legged kind is the best!

Dennis also did a few videos. Check them out here.

The dogs are tired of me brushing these snowballs out and putting them under the dryer. It is a fruitless undertaking.

Nathan arrives home and then we head to the laundrymat. Hopefully it is empty and 7 loads later it will all be done and that's not all of it as we have gazebo curtains and chairpads that can wait. 7 is enough. 

If he says hello to the dogs before me I will swat him. LOL He will be physically and emotionally tired.

All the snow fell off the gazebos by themselves - hooray. Last gazebo Dennis would have to take a pole with a brush to take the snow off or it would collapse. Nice to have a true metal roof. Dogs like that it leaves them a snowless section underneath too. We are thankful for no wind. 

so what happened to this huge snowstorm? For shame is the weather people wrong again?

Dogs are enjoying heated blankets and staying warm. Yeah we are silly like that. We heat them up so they are comfie.

Washer may be fixed Monday or not. Motor for pump may come in on time or not. When you have no more socks, or sheets or hahahaha. It will be almost 2 weeks without a washer before it gets fixed. 

I will be so glad when we have normalcy - whatever that is. It's not here yet in so many ways but still those dogs are snuggled, loved and bring us much comfort - all from visitors to our own.

Thursday
Nov152018

Wishing

Wishing for warmer weather, Nathan home, not feeling so - not sure. I am not going to truly do a gallery today. I got the curtains done now outside, closed the trug, statues inside, pool cleaner inside. So, no gallery today. Storm can now come after I find the snow shovels.

Dennis is tuning out playing video games surrounded by dogs. Cinnamon is in heat. Raven will only eat mousse where Stormy would eat the wall if allowed - well not literally but she is starved and if pregnant a week ahead of Raven.

I am awaiting the repair guy. I need to regroup. 

Dogs are running like crazy while I was taking curtains down which was fun - not as each plastic piece that held it up was frozen. So, about 240 had to be removed. I waited too long. But as I was doing it the dogs were crazy running around. I wish I had a camera attached to my head but I didn't. I will update daily but it may take a few days to do galleries. Sorry. 

Wednesday
Nov142018

Long Day Short Blog

If you are seeing this without a photo know we are getting back too late and I am not up to it. But I will play catch-up on Thursday. 

Dennis is amazing with the dogs so fun is the operative word.

Made it home after 10pm. More later.

Tuesday
Nov132018

Indeed a Day

You can tell it was wet and mucky outside. Dogs are literally a mess. I had to wash and cut all dogs departing tomorrow as I head into Dad's funeral. I will be back late tomorrow night. It's been a day that felt like forever. Jon our son has school Thursday at 8am and I need to get back for Dennis. Nathan will be back sometime over the weekend.

Here is the gallery.

Dennis will be staying home to take care of the dogs. I also cancelled groomings and a water meter install. 

Dogs had a treat tonight. As Raven has not been eating well I gave her starter mousse so everyone got a heaping spoonful. They were pleased.

I think I needed extra hugs today so I think I hugged each dog at least 6 times even with the grooming schedule I had. Hugs are important. :0

Tomorrow's update may be late. Not sure when we will get back. I figure maybe at 10-11pm

Monday
Nov122018

Monday!

This is today's gallery. It includes a few photo of the daughter with leti hanging off the recliner.

I am trying to get motivated to remove the curtains but I can't wash them. The repair places says Thursday afternoon. Not sure we will be able to do Thursday but that depends on dad. 

Dogs are playing. They are so wild and crazy at 7am. LOL

I will have my grooming table and all the equipment at the door all week so I can groom fun - not but makes no sense to put it back each day. Last night Murphy and Raven wrapped around my head in deep sleep. Then Stormy tried to walk up it at 1am, 315am, 6am. I know these times as I looked at the clock. I need sleep guys.

Despite that bedtime is the best as they surround me with love - each and every one. Though till I hear from Nathan its a wait and wonder experience. 

Ali almost caught a squirrel today. Yes, she is that fast. 

I need to groom. Figure I may get that in tonight as I need a nap. Think they will nap with me?

Sunday
Nov112018

Very Small Gallery

Shady and Nora has been playing up a storm. Everyone has. I only had time and inclination for a small gallery.

Here is the gallery.

We spent the morning trying to get a washer working. That attempt was a bust. I did clean floors, move out all my grooming equipment and it is now in the entry way where it will remain till a repairman comes. I must do dogs tomorrow and well only place I can due to electricity constraints from 2 commercial dryers. I didn't need the expense nor the time we had to put into this.

I have been working on 4 hours sleep a night. We had an extremely long day visiting dad with the daughter on Thursday and then its been non stop go, arranging a kitchen to accomodate many. I am just literally exhausted. 

Thank gad for phones and ipad so Nathan and I can connect, which we do many times a day. It is hard on him too. 

This is not fun but the dogs bring me such joy. I wish Nathan had that at this moment. 

Inula got all those sticky seeds on her face and body. It took Dennis an hour to get them off. No one else got them on them and we can't figure out where they are. We did hunt. Like I said - fun day - not.

But the dogs get us by. Shady and Nora here just for the day. Harlow came in owning the place. Murphy was snuggling on my neck and competing with Saffron. Raven's not feeling so hot. Perhaps morning sickness. 

Everyone else is jumping all over each other as I type. 

It's Sunday.... we will see what Monday brings. Now to video conference with Nathan.

Saturday
Nov102018

Bitter Cold

Sky is saying what is this white stuff? This is the pups first experience with this cold white stuff and they LOVE it!

Here is today's gallery.

The dogs are having fun. Last night Brewer and Sky slept with our daughter. She requested them both. They were pleased, I guess they could tell she is a true dog person. 

Dogs are running around like crazy but I am taking in outside cushions, washing and putting them away. Yes, they were still outside. We have been busy.

The daughter cut down Inula with clippers. I am off and on trimming and shaping to finish her (daughter left that to me) but boy she doesn't look like her without hair. Nathan maintains her. Hair grows and yes, I like Inula in longer hair but she has a beautiful shape and it changed her hair colour which often happens when you shave them down. Wrong time of year to shave down though. I may have to get her a coat. LOL

Dogs love this brisk wind but they want to come in sooner and so do I. 

We are dealing with the roller coaster rides that someone dying brings but the dogs make us smile. Nathan... he will be in Ottawa for the duration. 

Really going to miss the daughter. I love how she so loves the dogs like we do. There is love and then there is love!

Friday
Nov092018

Trying to Regroup

Here is this mornings gallery.

We had a long day yesterday. We got in around 1am then off to bed by 2am as it took us that long to let dogs out again and then figure who was going to sleep with the daughter, the 2 sons and me. I crashed.

Nathan is staying for the duration. I am here carless. But Jon has a car and can run errands between his work and school. Will it be a week, weeks - who knows. He is declining but he ate yesterday and he was so looking forward to seeing Kendra and facetiming with our daughter in Portland. It was a good visit. Today not as up. So wise that we went last night. I ate too much fast food. My stomach was a mess. Today on less than 4 hours sleep we are awaiting family to come over tonight for dinner. 

Our daughter had a blast with the dogs. Me, with this weather I am grooming way too much. They get soaked especially dogs like Sky and Spirit that will stay out and get soaked despite saying I am going in. 

I took photos. Not a ton but all I could do at the moment. 

Kendra fell in love with Brewer who she slept with last night. She loves dogs as much as me. It's nice - truly.

Dogs are getting repeatedly soaked but hey maybe its a good distraction. Glad for messenger as I can talk  to Nathan so he can update us. It's hard being here and him there. He's missed his time with his daughter. He is feeling it. What a weight on his shoulder. Guess me too but he's sitting there. Me, I have teh dogs, distractions etc