Winter is Here?

We are still doing boarding and grooming. People are now travelling. We have a taste of normalcy which we hope remains. Spots for holidays are filling up fast. 

The dogs are having an immense amount of fun on the pool cover. When they run across it, it bounces like a trampoline. Even Yoshi finds it extra fun and it is her 1st year. Wait till she sees snow.

You never know when a pup will be a show dog. You have an idea but it doesn't always work out. Their destiny may be something different as was the case with our Dusty. We had high hopes for her to be a champion show dog as is her mom, Treasure, but she did even better than that. She is now in a home where she is a therapy dog - youngest yet certified at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. She is so well loved and again, our bonus is that we get visits.

What happens when a pup we keep for our breeding program after two years, doesn't stay with us? Sometimes they remain too small or they grow too big. It can be as simple as that. We love the dogs enough to accept they may have a journey uniquely their own, not necessarily what we had in mind. It's hard but we do love them! Dusty is now playing a very important role in the lives of many people. She is an awesome dog and makes us all proud of her every single day. Her family loves her to pieces. It doesn't get any better than that for us.

Many of the dogs we breed are therapy dogs now. It's nice to find a purpose and you can make a difference in your life and others. We update our blogs when we receive photos so everyone can keep updated with siblings and pups they know. We had fun at the picnic that was held in 2019 in Brighton.  We hope to be able to have another in 2020. We look forward to this each year. We always place up a gallery (http://talemaker.jalbum.net/Havanese%20Picnic%202019/) after the fact filled with photos of the dogs and their families that attended, usually in the 60-75 dog range. It is always a potluck. I think everyone has a good time.

Note: If you are interested in a future Talemaker Havanese puppy then please complete the Puppy Questionnaire (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/talemaker-puppy-questionaire/) and we'll continue this conversation with you directly in email. In addition, we are always aware when one of our good friends and fellow Breeders have Havanese pups available and will be happy to direct you to one of them.

The process starts, for those seriously interested, with you completing our puppy questionnaire. You get a good look into who and what we are with the excellent work my wife, Darlah, has done on the web pages and her blogs. She does put it all out there. The more time you spend on our web site the more you will get to know about Havanese in general and our Havanese specifically. We do not advertise. But through our web site, www.talemakerhavanese.com (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com) the HFC (the national breed club for Havanese in Canada (http://www.havanesefanciers.com) and word of mouth from our puppy families, we continue to have a waiting list which has lasted 9 years straight and counting. We only breed when we think we can improve our lines. And our puppies are spoken for before they are born. We have a huge interest in finding the best homes we can for each and every one of our puppies. And remember, we are the farthest thing from someone that takes your money and never wants to hear from you again. When you get one of our puppies we are always going to be there for you, whatever you need, throughout the life of the pup.

Now we need to hear from you. Why do you think you could provide a great loving home to one of our puppies? Those of you that follow the blogs have a very good idea on exactly what we put into our puppies and our four-legged crew. Some blogs are daily, some not but All About Our Dogs (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/all-about-our-dogs-boarders/) is always a daily. We go the extra mile and then some as that is who we are. We LOVE the dogs, walk the walk and talk the talk. We live and breathe them more than many can even imagine. They are our family. As breeders and yes, rescue folks, (Darlah is chair of Havanese Rescue in Canada and had been for many years with only a lapse of a short period of time) we have gone through a great deal of changes. We listen to our dogs and learn from them and adjust our way of thinking to help the dogs be all they can be. We do not pretend to know it all. What we do is invest time in learning, listening and experiencing. We think the dogs are worth it. We are not afraid of the work. What we get back, what we feel in our hearts, is worth every effort.

Our Golden Retrievers, Whitney and Terra are now gone. We had a Golden Retriever named Whitney that came to us a mess at only 6 years of age. She was bleeding near her mouth from a dog bite the day we brought her home. But the physical injury was only the most visible one. She was in bad shape psychologically. We did what needed doing to get her straightened out. It took years. We slow conditioned her until we helped rid her of her fears. She lived with us for 8 more years before leaving us at the rainbow bridge at the age of 14 1/2. We miss her immensely!

Once we lost Terra we took a step back. We wanted a larger dog to be a part of our family but also to provide socialization to our Havanese that only a larger dog can provide to help them be all that they can be and as well socialized and balanced as we can make them. After much research and due diligence, we ended up bringing in a Tibetan Terrier from The Netherlands. While they have many similarities to the Havanese, this breed is not one we'd recommend for first time puppy people. They are very strong willed. Darlah created her own page for her so if you are interested in seeing our Inula, follow this link (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/inula/). She is also a daily participant in many of Darlah's daily blogs as she plays with everyone.

We kept a pup from Roxie's litter. Sired by Kat our Ella has a lot of characteristics we've not seen in such depth since Kat was last in the show ring taking on all comers. She has multiple best baby puppy in group rosettes to show off. This link takes you to Ella with a perfect free standing show stack in the ring (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/talemaker-puppies-roxie/2015/2/15/ella-in-the-ring.html). She is now over 4 years old and had an amazing show career. You will be seeing more of Ella as time passes. Now she has her very own puppies and loves them to pieces.

We have placed a number of rescues and we have helped them along the way. Darlah is actively involved with Havanese Rescue for the national breed club as I mentioned. Thankfully they don’t get Havanese rescues that often but when we do we have willing foster homes and there are always people looking to help. Puppy mills should never exist. Bylaws are written to squish them flat but they exist and flourish and move on and start again where good dog people struggle to help and do the 'right' thing.

We health test, invest our heart and souls into puppies and will always take them back if circumstances lead someone to become unable to care for one of our pups. For the record, any reputable breeder will always take back their pup; whether it is a week, a month or 15 years later. We will always take back our puppies. We genuinely care. Puppy millers do not. They may say they do but when faced with a return they won't take back their puppy. How sad. How can you breed and not care. If you heard about this great deal where you can get a supposedly purebred Havanese puppy for $500 or $800 don't fool yourself. You get what you pay for and those puppies will not be health tested to the acceptable standard of a national breed club member, nor will their parents or grandparents. Remember, you get what you pay for and a puppy will be a treasured member of your family for 12-17 years or more. They are worth the investment. They are worthy of your love.

The pups are placed on puppy pads throughout their time with us, taken outside and in our kitchen, upstairs and hallway areas for exercise, socialization and training. We show it all to them. We love them beyond belief and it is hard to say good-bye. When they come back to visit, we get closure. We can see they are well loved and that this addition to someone's home made the pup and the new family happy forever. If a mistake occurs and on rare occasions it happens, then we make it right. We are human. The real crime is not learning and getting better.

We strive to improve, always. We also take classes to enable us to learn more from breeding, obedience, conditioning, first aid and much more. We never stop learning.

We also take classes with our puppy people at times and it can be so much fun! Just recently we had a blast with our puppies in class and have many videos and photos from those classes to treasure.

Dogs are our lives and that's not simply just a statement. We hope we make a difference and help, not hinder, as the dogs are truly worth it. We will continue to grow, to learn and perfect and always strive to do the right thing for the dogs. When it's about us then you make decisions not in the dog’s best interest - so we struggle with ways to make a difference, always. Once summer arrives we will set up some playdates, get-togethers with littermates. They are always a lot of fun and good for the heart. I can't wait. Regardless, those of you that might be interested in a Talemaker Havanese puppy, please fill in our puppy questionnaire (http://www.talemakerhavanese.com/talemaker-puppy-questionaire/).

We are always here to offer support to our puppy people and visitors alike. We are truly excited that you took the time to visit us. Havanese make tales easy. They fill your life with smiles. There is simply nothing like them. Can you tell we are totally smitten? Thank you for joining with us on our Tale-Making Havanese journey!