Playing With Pups

Once a mom, always a mom? Fiona was playing with a visitor we had that is a real pistol.

I am always so fascinated at their maternal instincts even though they are not the mom.

The dawgs are really fascinated by the pups. Can you blame them?

They are also pleased that our son is doing night time duty now and I am back in bed to snuggle with them. It's amazing how excited they were. I missed them too.

Shhh I also missed Nathan too. hehehehe

Can't Miss That Snow

 Yes, it snowed today - can you believe and the dawgs LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Can you blame them? It's nice and cool.

We had visitors today, canine and human so we had a very long day. Now it's time to put my feet up, play with the ipad and wait for the pups to wake so I get to play with them.

Something about the cool weather is invigorating to them.

But when pups go out in winter that first time, it's like a person moving from California to Toronto in the dead of winter. Well, it's a tad jolting but they adapt much faster than humans. Aren't you glad?

Plus wouldn't you love to watch this much enthusiasm over white stuff? I do!

No Brush Yet Day

The dawgs play rather hard around here enjoying life and if I don't get to brush them quite yet, well they are a sight for sore eyes.

You have to laugh.

I do and shake my head and take the brush out but today is my day off cause tomorrow I have baths to do.

Plus I am going to go get a massage - can you believe? I need one after all this couch non-sleeping taking care of this little one but good news no supplementing last night though I checked and weighed as if I was - progress.

I love to see hard work pay off. it helps when she was a fighter along with me.

The crew is mucking it up in a big way.

Lucy is smitten with Raylan but shhh you didn't see my dawgs this way - unkept heathens - hahahahaha

Well, okay natural wonders.

A dawg should be a dawg too!

Crazy Daze

We have a puppy here from one of our good friends, Paula that is a Kat pup visiting till she goes to her forever home on Thursday. This saves the owners a drive all the way to Sudbury. She's a true pistol and so is her sister. The black and white is down here so I could get an upclose and personal look at her. She's a show potential. She's heading back to Sudbury about the same time her sister goes to her forever home.

I have to say, I adore their personalities and puppies are plain fun. I will miss this splash of fun but soon the Wasabi and Abigail pups will be similar in age and doing their own splash of fun.

Lucy also came by to say hello. Oh Lucy...she's a dream gal. I just adore her. I am reminded of Ricky Ricardo every time I hear her name.

Then Fiona had her bath. It's about time. hahahaha. Risa needs one next. but I am getting a deep tissue massage tomorrow and I think the last one I had was oh 5 years ago and I adore and need one. I am usually the last one to treat myself. The dawgs come first so wish me luck and hope I don't fall asleep and miss it.

Penny may be coming by with her human to pick up a Havanese calendar and say hello sometime this weekend. Otherwise, it's dawgs and dawgs and fun and fitting in showers, cleaning and snuggling and training and lovin and well dawgs!

Birthdays are Special

Shoshi had a birthday yesterday and I was a bad gal for not mentioning it even though I wished her happy birthday many times.

Two weeks from now Nathan and I have another anniversary. I expect a fabulous meal. ROFL

But what did Shoshi get? A fab meal, I hear.

Don't fotget birthdays or anniversaries. It's a moment to make memories and life is way too short to not treasure the memories.

Hug your Havanese today and guess what, you are apt t get one back. Now how great is that?

Messy Times

Fiona is our tiniest Havanese and is a delightful ball of hair but sometimes no matter what you do, she gets her hair looking like she just got out of bed.

Personally, I find this delightful. I find dawgs better looking naturally than brushed and kept on a table to stay just right but they still need to be brushed. heh

I miss sleeping with the dawgs. I am still sitting vigil with the pups and the crew is sleeping with Nathan. Fiona loves to snuggle up close to me and I do miss that but so do most of the others but I guess Nathan is enjoying and getting his fix and hey that's okay too. 

It was raining and windy today and I was so busy I didn't get photos but there is something magic about the wind and Havanese. They go together quite nice especially when they are in full coat.

The crew is highly interested in the pups but we keep them separate at this point. We do take them out, let them sniff and look. This is the start of socialization with others.

So, if you have a messy dawg? Get your camera out and click, click and share. I wouldn't mind seeing.

Mother's Have Time Outs Too

Today Yvonne was supposed to meet a puppy buyer at our home and they decided to opt out. They don't know what they are missing with missing out on a Havanese.

The day we we were exposed, the day our lives changed. They are amazing beings - I tell ya!

This is Abigail out for a run in the backyard. She's ever so busy these days but balance is important. So, she gets out for play and running in the backyard and snuggles and massages. Wasabi also does and the rest get mini massages when they are groomed not quite the full body ones that moms get daily but they still do that ooohm does that feel good tune out thing.

One day I am going eat something delish, get a massage and do nothing but play ipad games. ROFL

But if I do that, I will miss the dawgs. hehehehe

Leaves are Falling, I Still Get Groomed

I like it when Mommy takes a break from grooming but usually she only does this every once in awhile.

When I was a puppy, I could get brushed less but as an adult in full coat, she likes to brush me daily. It's not if she does it every few days that I will be a ball of knots. That's not the case as really I am ok. She just likes how I look nicely brushed.

We are still pulling in leaves and doing the sweep and vacuum many times a day.

How are you surviving?

Coach & Sassy Visits

Coach and Sassy came by today to play with the crew but unfortunately we have had much off and on rain. Still, it was great fun having them here. We already miss them.

It's great for the dawgs to have playmates that come to visit. It's great socialization for the visitors and for our crew.

It's important to expose your dawgs to all sorts of environments and other dawgs in a safe way. Know who you are exposing them to and when the mix works, well the fun begins and they are better for it.

No dawgs should live afraid and by us slow conditioning them, well you fear what you don't know not usually what you do.

Well, the weekend is gone. How did that happen so fast? Tomorrow we are in for much grooming and Fiona gets her bath. I am hoping for a sunny day - and you?

More Teddy Fun

We had a glorious time watching and capturing the dawgs at play. Here you can see Raylan with Teddy. Teddy came over to play again today as he had so much fun. Tomorrow Coach and Sassy and their parents are coming to play and we are hoping for more fun. Well the parents will watch. Only Nathan goes running around with the dawgs while they run after him. Me, after grooming, exercising and a lack of sleep - well I can click the camera and enjoy.

We still have puppy calendars for sale for the HFC. Check them out. You can pick them up here if you are local. Proceeds go to help the breed. It's filled with wonderful puppy photos of Havanese for 2011.

We also have a new blog that is getting updated as I can to help you with your holiday needs - heh It's called, Silly or Not Dog Products. Let us know of a product we should add and hopefully this will help others in their search for those precious dawg items.

Today I washed Kat, brushed the rest and I am hoping on Monday to wash Fiona. Everyone is always groomed despite how I feel. The dawgs get better care than I. But...I wouldn't have it any other way.

Catch today's photos. 

Such Teddy Bear Fun!

Teddy came to visit us today to play with the guys and it was a great amount of fun. The guys really missed him. Check out the photos to see what I mean.

Today we had a no brush day. What is that? I decided no brushing for 1 day. hahahaha Tomorrow we will begin again. Every now and then you need a time out day and that's okay.

I did get a laundry room/grooming area all cleaned up. One has to do that on a continual basis. I tend to take shampoos out and they don't make it back in the cabinets. I do similar with the brush and combs and then I look at the grooming table and go yikes - got to clean that up so that was what today was. I also did a fair bit of laundry with pups and all and played and took photos and enjoyed our visiting.

Tomorrow we have another visitor, the human kind.

Strategies

Okay, Raylan says Kat, let's run in a quick fashion, take Red at the stairs and jump and play and show him how to do it?

Okay, I didn't hear any conversation on this one but that's exactly what they did.

Don't you imagine what you dogs are saying to each other? They do communicate, just not like us.

Here's Looking at You

Ever notice how some dogs seem to pose? That's Raylan. I am going to miss him when he goes to England. He's just a ball of great personality and I know Iam biased but he is also a cutie-patootie.

Raylan is an Abigail and Katsura son.

Where does he get this 'look at me' attitude? Oh we know who it is from.

Well, I washed the two moms today. Tomorrow I will wash someone else. I usually do every 2 weeks on washing but Raylan is once a week and so is Kat. Soon Red will be the same. Show coats stay nicer the cleaner they are so we go the extra step so they can look nice for their debut in England.

I fell asleep mid-day today. That's so unlike me. The son was here to feed dogs and let me sleep.

Dawgs, pups etc are exhausting but that unconditional love - worth everything so I don't mind getting tired when I have snuggles to look forward to especially at bedtime where they all crawl into us and sleep. Yeah, they sleep on our bed. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Muddy Times

Today and last night the crew found the mud UNDER the leaves. I just bought more bags so the sunlight can get to the ground.

Why bother? Well I had mud tracked all through the house. I found taking an old towel, spraying the floor with a spray bottle and walking on it over the mud cleaned it faster. What a riot. It happened so many times that I had to find solutions to all that cleaning. Who can wash a floor many times a day? Not I but I can't just leave tracked paw prints either.

My floors get thoroughly washed the old fashioned way each Friday or Saturday. They get vacuumed daily in the Fall. Come Winter I do the towel dry thing I did with the towel minus the spray bottle.

I guess I could use a Swiffer but this method is actually faster as the towel is larger and it doesn't leave all that cleanser residue. hehehehe

The dawgs have a grand time trying to grab the towel as I do it too.

What kind of shortcuts have you learned since you have dawgs in your life during muddy or leave filled times?

Oh Fall is So Much Fun

We have piles of leaves out back and Risa ran her little heart out and dove into the piles of leaves. I wish I had the video camera going as it was funny.

So, I took about, okay I took out 129 leaves off of Risa. Yes, you got that number right. They stuck all over her and I counted them. I know some were just pieces but I counted them none the less. When I groomed her today, I still found a few more and I think the floor also had a dusting. I know it did as I swept.

Then I captured Kat in this photo and said, don't you DARE go into that pile. Can you tell he has this silly little smirk on his face? Well, he does and what did he do? Yes, like mother like son. To make it worse, he rubbed into it as if he was scratching his back to say - well THERE! The pups followed suit. So now look at what the adults taught the little ones. Oh and Raylan had that silly smile just like his dad. Mischievous Havanese and I guess other than the work, I wouldn't have it any other way!

I just wish that lottery ticket came in and I could just play and have someone else do the work. Yeah - right... knowing me I would be doing just what I am today just with some extra hands.

Our son Tal now has to rake yet again. Me, I just get to pull leaves out and sweep the floor. The dogs are all brushed out, teeth cleaned, ears checked and pads trimmed. Good thing this leave business happened BEFORE their brush out.

Dealing With Autumn

How do you deal with the leaves? Anyone who has seem a Havanese in a pile of leaves knows it is delightful but it also catches on their hair and tracks all the leaves  throughout the house.

I use a Dustbuster but a fast upright light vacuum would do and it's on my list after this week.

It's a riot to watch the crunch, crunch fun. They dive in, run through and make a pure mess out of any pile you didn't pickup yet or maybe if you are like us you actually create them so they can have fun.

But we are crazy dawg people who would rather have extra work if it means the dawgs will be having fun.

The laughter you have makes the extra work worth it!

Where Did They Go?

What were the humans doing today? They were off at a breeding seminar on structure and genetics. They even came back with the smell of Risa's father on them. What was THAT about?

We had a truly fun day with that human Dennis. He played with us, cuddled with us and showed us a good time but when that mom and dad came in, we decided to give them the best greeting of all!

Tomorrow we have a late morning but we will probably wake up the humans at 5am. Yeah the clocks change tonight but we have that internal clock thing going on and they are going to try to stay up late to fool us. Will they be able to pull it off? Time will tell!

Change of Food

 We are changing our food to a grain free. We are feeding Beef Fritatta, a new Fromm's product. When you change food, you have to go in stages otherwise your dawg can get loose bowels. So you add oh about 10 kibbles the first day, 14, the next and so on and so forth till you are changed over completely.

The dogs love the change but with a grain free you have to feed less. Yes, it cost more but yes you are feeding LESS. Grain-free is easier on the digestion system and we are pleased thus far. We will update you in a couple of months when we see how it goes. We still add wild salmon oil and Missing Link to our adult dogs as we strive to give a balanced diet for our dogs and minimize any dry skin.

Talking about food, the only time I go a tad crazy about making sure they eat is when moms are feeding pups or are pregnant. Otherwise, if they skip a meal, they will eat the next. It's taken me a long time not to fret but I accept that you can have a picky eater and one that eats less than you think they should eat and some will eat anything and everything and then you are dealing with a diet. We add leftovers - chicken cut up, beef - and even sometimes bacon. But we only add enough to add some renewed interest. Remember, if you overdo with the additives, you may be feeding too much.

Today, just for the moms they got vanilla ice cream for a cool treat, some yogurt, bacon, chicken, an egg and veggies. Not good enough for Abigail? So I poured chicken soup broth over the non dairy portion and she went yum. You do whatever you can to make sure the moms are eating sufficiently. They eat oh about 5 or 6 times a day. Amazing, eh?

It's raining today. Everyone got brushed out and already looks like - well we won't go there but hey no knots and that's what is important.

Tomorrow we are going to a seminar that is breeding related. We strive to learn always. Our son will be watching the dogs and pups.

What are you doing this weekend?

Well back to playing with the dawgs till we take a nap...yeah right and when do I take a nap?

Grandmom and Grandson

It's funny to see the mannerisms often of the grandmother vs. just the mom and dad when you see dogs.

Raylan acts a lot like Risa in a lot of ways. He also acts a lot like his dad and mom. It's funny how genetics works - pulling from various relatives to arrive at what you have.

You see it in your kids too. But Raylan likes to muck it up like Risa and you can often see him mimicking her. Is it a learned behavior or genes or perhaps both?

Mismatches?

Put 2 Havanese together even with different personalities and eventually they will bond. Put two similar personalities together and soon they will be playing like banshees and give you a ton of smiles and a few shaking your heads at the nonsense.

That's why it is important to us when someone wants to acquire another pup to match personalities with the existing dog as well as the owners.

We have way too many that say I like x colour and they 'get' the personality aspect but don't fully grasp it unless they are matched with a dog that doesn't fit their household but happens to be the colour they like.