Hookups, Snow & Puppy Possibilities

Well, the snow is disaPPEARING but that Fiona misses it. Me, I am not sure. I got washed yesterday despite mommy being sick so she must have felt I was really bad. That's okay - she snuggled with me extra cause she thinks I smell good. I think I smell just fine the other way.

Daddy is still out of town so it's just the mommy out in the back in her jammies - what a sad sight that is. She thinks she has it going on with that big baby blue bathrobe with hearts on it but shhh don't tell her - she doesn't.

Wasabi is going to mingle with the cool Coolio again today to see if they can get another hook up so we can make sure pups will come. Will she - will she not? They usually refuse when the time is past - and usually is the operative word. Today will come with its own story. We shall see.

More later - hoping for warmer times.

Lots Happening at Talemaker

Yeah it snowed today and can you believe most of it stayed in our yard 3/4 of the day but now it's mostly ice.

It's way crazy and they are predicting more snow on Halloween weekend - just in time for the Havanese specialty.

My pack mate sister and I are going to dress up for Halloween and try to win a prize. The secret is in on what we will be - can you guess?

Well, that daddy human is still out of town with our pack mate Wasabi and she was having a tryst with that Coolio guy from Rockhurst (see his picture right here) and they had a tie that lasted 30 minutes. I guess he was making sure we or is that Wasabi and Coolio had pups. They will try it again a couple of times over the next couple of days to make sure we have puppies again in the Talemaker house. If it happens it means they will come during Christmas week. Is that exciting or what?

The human mom is still sick but getting better. We are hoping by weeks end she feels - well - human again.

We are all missing the human dad, the Wasabi woo and Miss Abs. We can't wait till they all return.

More tomorrow...

Hey, There's Bleepin White Stuff Flying

Can you believe it - white stuff coming down and sticking enough that Fiona did the shimmy through it and was in love with the stuff. Risa just hung out and let the stuff stick to her hair.

Oh, it should be gone by tomorrow but still, isn't it way too early for it to be here? No summer - early winter - yeouch! The year that wasn't - I tell ya!

Well, the human female around here still has that thing called pneumonia but she's getting better. Not there yet but they say these things take time.

We were lucky to have a visit from Audrey and Gidget. We will be cuddling with Gidget while Audery goes away and we can't wait. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo of Gidget that we could use as she was trying to play with Kat and bouncing around so fast that everything Nathan took was a blur.

We also had a visit from Jean, her friend Nancy, Quito and Kooba and that was ever so nice. We hear they went up to 'Eye on Fashion' to visit and hope they had a grand time. Nancy is just as nice as Jean is. Just wish I wasn't so much in a fog when they came.

Nathan is still out of town till end of week as he is breeding the Wasabi to the handsome Coolio. Our Abigail is in heat at Yvonne's house and yep there goes that training for brace but Nathan will muck through it - and what will be will be.

Me, I am crawling on to the couch tonight and watching Dexter. What are you watching this fine cold day?

Fiona Misses Her Abs

Well, it's been a pretty much - mom work, groom and do nothing else day so we can get well. It's hell having pneumonia - I tell ya. The dogs just don't get the fact that you can't do everything you usually do.

The crew is missing the Wasabi and the Abs and the human Dad. To top it off, the computer is not cooperating so not such a fun day but if you are dealing with anything similar - know tomorrow is another Havanese day. Hug them - love them and enjoy. They are the greatest infusion of joy.

No photo today - not up to taking any today - but we hope you understand.

Boy that human daddy is going to love cleaning up teh backyard - NOT.

Quiet Times Havanese Style

Fiona is acting way sucky - unlike her and she is playing with Terra in a strange way - wriggling her body all over the floor and pouncing on her. She doesn't usually play with Terra but Abigail is gone so she tries.

It's okay as I still am sick and Nathan is away so we will hang out and watch TV and chill.

Fiona just finished eating and she had a saturated beard on one side. Now you tell me - how does that happen that only one side gets like that? Does she eat sideways? ROFL

Have you bought your Havanese grooming book? It's a must to get, IMHO. We have it to bring to the specialty so come out to it and buy it and if you can't, drop in here after Nathan is back and buy it from here. It is chock full of tips.

Rockhurst Puppies in Action

Catch Rockhurst pups in action. Hope this fills your puppy fix. Look at those pups. hehehehe

Fiona Misses Abigail

What a suck Fiona is turning out to be. She truly misses her Abigail. I never saw her hang out and do nothing so much in her life. Oh, she has played with Terra and Shoshi but not the same.

It's interesting how everything changes when one or two leaves.

Am hoping she pulls out of this. Plus - I think she is missing her Daddy - Abigail too as she follows Alex around everywhere and howls her howl if she perceives herself left alone.

More later>>

Kooba & Quito

Here's a recent photo of Kooba and Quito. They seem to be hanging out quite well these days and it makes my heart swell.

As you know, Kooba was the Havanese rescue that we took in and fostered for the HFC and Quito's owner expressed interest in her and a connection was made.

They look great together, don't you think?

They just came back from Rice Lake and are hanging out together. We heard they had great fun!

Havanese Almost One Night Stand

Having a male that is intact with a house full of females makes you acutely aware of the stress they go through when the females are taken away.

As you can see here, Kat looks downright sad and stayed up half the night looking for the girls that left. Although he saw them leave, I gather he had wish-filled thinking that they made their way back. It's rather pathetic as he whines for them but after 24 hours - it usually goes away. This whole scenario is known as 'doing an Elvis' - meaning leaving the building - checking out. There are still some people that believe they see Elvis. One wonders if Kat would be seeing his gals - his in his mind - in his dreams - if he lets himself sleep. I think if I had my druthers - I would have all females and no males. Oh males are sensitive souls - I adore them but if they are intact and you have intact females - well you go through all this stuff wondering how fair it all is to the boys emotional state.

That first 24 hours - you may as not clean them as they spend their time sniffing and sticking their face everywhere trying to get their scent. They don't sleep - they don't eat. I brush and use a waterless shampoo but it is all fruitless till this emotional state goes away.

I did manage to get a new bar for my grooming table and its heavy duty. I will try it out when I feel better and along with that shipment came a Madan brush and Vellus brush and I will let you know how that goes. I get this stuff from Doug at K9Grooming Supplies. He will be at Trillium so if you need anything from him, send him mail. He will bring it to the show. He has great grooming tips and I mean everything he has told me has panned out and he doesn't sell me something I don't need and gets things he doesn't sell for me. He's a great guy to support - seriously.

So, today I will try both brushes and let you know how it goes. Brushes are important to me as I need to keep the coats in good shape for shows especially when you have a playful dog like Abs who mucks it up with everyone and therefore gets her coat chewed.

More later and after a bit of work - may take a lunch break of snuggling with Havanese on the couch.

Havanese on Holidays

Well, this was Wasabi and Abigail just before Alex came to pick them up. Anyone who has had females in heat with an intact male - well it's not a pretty site unless you are mating him so Kat went from clean to looking like - well we won't explain but that means he went from looking good to looking scary - teeth chattering and a howling mess. Boys - what can we do with them...

So, Yvonne and Alex was nice enough to take in Wasabi till she can be mated and they also took in the Abs who also went into heat. I looked at Fiona and went - oh oh she 'may' be going in too but Kat's not bothering her so all is good.

So, did you come here to learn about the birds and the bees and how a little boy in a hairy body called Kat loses his mind? I think not.

The human Nathan is out of town. The human Darlah is WAY sick and crawling into bed and for the first time in a long time could only muster up a page (her real job other than dogs). She always works through every illness but not today.

Let's hope the dogs let me sleep. This way I can dream about what the %$^& we are going to do with Kat with all these girls in heat and a Havanese specialty coming at the end of the month. Can you shoot me and get it over with now? ROFL

More tomorrow when I feel better - hoping!

The Almost Didn't Post Havanese Blog

Oh gad - it's that time again. Wasabi is in heat and if everything times out, she will be mated with Rockhurst's Coolio. He's a way handsome boy so if a connection occurs. we expect beautiful winter puppies.

Wasabi says - didn't we do this a tad over a year ago?

What's worse is Miss Abs may be coming into heat too but she's too young so we will be locking up the boy - somehow - someway. :-)

More as we know.

Havanese: Sharing During Eating Times

One often asks, how do you get so many dogs eating all together and not have a zoo. Well, it didn't start out that way. They all tried to eat each others but we would stand and control the environment even if it meant putting our feet around a bowl while one ate - especially a straggler and they eventually got the idea to respect each others space. We do not allow any food aggression or they lose access to their food pronto! It's not just something that happens but instead something you have to create.

We do have the low growl saying 'it's mine - leave' but it's a correction - a communication that I am not ready to walk away. When they are - they saunter off and I swear smile saying - now all of you that have been standing here can figure out who gets my crumbs. It's a game that Fiona plays heartily as she is always the last and Abigail is always the first in waiting for anything Fiona decides to leave. We feed accordingly so Abigail gets what she needs and Fiona gets what she needs. They can have the exact same food but they want what the other one has.

So tell me - is it the game or do they really believe the other has better food or? You can learn a great deal watching a pack of dogs eat. It's almost like a social ritual like we have when the family sits down at the table. One can be uncle x that eats so loudly that you cringe and another one dainty and eating a little at a time - another that is a taster that slowly decides if there is anything good but is really too busy watching the rest etc.

If you have more than one dog, and you have a family gathering - see who your dogs compare with. It could be fun but not sure you want to tell the human non dog lover that your precious Havanese snorts like them. heh

I know - I am bad but it must be this flu junk that hasn't left me yet. I tend to have a quirky way of looking at life and the dawgs when that occurs...or hmm maybe that's just an excuse.

Havanese on High

Havanese LOVE being in high places. Here the Fiona is sitting on the recliner behind the human dad. Even though the recliner is not solidly in place as it goes back, her balance is such that it doesn't seem to bother her in the least.

You can see her yawning here - getting ready to snooze out.

Some Havanese really have solid balance and that's why they do great in agility and many other types of sports.

More later>>

Life Happens: Havanese Style

Well, the human mom still has the flu and she best get well soon as that human daddy is away with his friends from Thursday till late Sunday night. So any tips on chasing that crud away - send them to that human.

Well, the human daddy thought he would get a group photo of the crew seeing it's ever so warm but that human mom has yet to groom them.

There are times it's just not feasible so relax. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to brusha, brusha, brush. ROFL

The photo at top isn't a great photo and great photos just happen - rarely are they staged and not look like they are. This morning, the human dad took a photo of Abigail in action - not posing and although it can be perfected (he's learning the camera) it's more natural looking.

Today, the human mom is walking around in slippers and she sounds different - so different that Fiona starts barking as she is not sure who is coming and even made a grr sound under her breath. The human mom never walks around in slippers so she doesn't know that sound but even when she got up close to Fiona, she didn't look up to see it was the human mommy. It tells me that they rely on sound quite a bit. Be mindful of that if you get a reaction with something new. Now the human mommy will shuffle even more to condition her to a new sound.

Hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. This human is back to the couch after some work. Yep - she's working today.

Is It My Turn?

Is it my turn yet? When you get two puppies together, they can often be closer to each other than to you. Luckily, we got these 2 at separate times but still if they are very close.

But with a separation of time we managed to make us the focus and the play secondary with each other secondary or am I fooling myself?

Yes, you can hear me laughing hard.

Nothing like puppies especially more than one.

Canadians - Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. We get to have our turkey today. Much work for a few minutes of tasty satisfaction. hahahaha

Training for a Havanese Dog Show Brace

Well, the Abs and Fiona are going to go for the trophy at Trillium. It happens at the end of the month. At a brace you have 2 dogs that walk as if they are one and they look alike. Will they be ready - will they not? You tell me?

One training session down - many more to go...

Havanese Dreamzzzzing

Well, the human mom is rather sick today so the dawgs are hanging out dreamin' and we are watching TV shows that we saved for days like this.

Abigail is hanging out with her duck - which usually belongs to the Wasabi woo but we practice sharing around this place.

One wonders what a Havanese dreams of. Is it the games, the snuggles - the joy of life? They certainly seem to have that passion that we could use some of.

We promised you a video of a brace or an attempt of one but not sure if we will get one in. It's not from the desire though the daddy can do it without the human mom and her camera but rather that couch is calling.

Do you have a snuggler, a 'pay attention to me' - a charmer? The Havanese can be and much more.

Our pups had baths yesterday. We are going to 7 to 10 day baths with mild shampoo to help us go through that once in a lifetime 'blowing coat' stage that they are in. A clean coat mats less but never wash a dog matted or it will make the knots felt like.

By the way, the big Havanese specialty is coming to Toronto over Halloween weekend. let us know if you want to buy some raffle tickets. The bags and jackets are way cool. Check them out. Then if interested, send us a mail.

Puppy Heaven Havanese Stylin'

We had Yvonne and Alex's pups visiting and this cutie is known as Mac & Cheese (do I have that right?) who is a Kat and Lola pup.

He's black and white and tan. It will be interesting to see him when he is older. He was simply scrumptious and his owner's quite nice too. Thanks for visiting us. Wish I had felt better to be more myself. heh

Well, today I bathed the duo - Abigail and Fiona and just when I think I have the struggle done - well putting them on their back to dry their tummy with the blower doing it's thing, they remind me that they do not like this position. But it is important that they 'get' that you are in charge simply by holding them in place and in a matter of fact way, continuing and saying no firmly if you must. I have to say 'no' firmly with the Fiona. She likes to test what she can get away with ALWAYS.

In photographing the dogs, I find Abigail the most creative to snap as she always has a face on her filled with emotion. She seems to be the happiest go lucky dog when she is playing.

This doesn't carry this into the show ring yet but put her together with other dogs and she is - well deliriously happy. She also makes everyone feel as if they count. What more can you ask for?

Well, she isn't the only one that is artistically creative looking captured with a camera but here we have the old gal, beardie owned by Yvonne and Alex. The pup that was visiting - well they own the proud mom Lola that coddled and loved this little one till it could go to its forever home.

Well, we just heard Kooba is on her way to Rice Lake - lucky gal and we - well we are trying to not laugh watching Nathan practice a brace with Fiona and Abigail. I promise a video tomorrow after they give it another shot.

More later.>>

Sun Snoozing Havanese

Today we have Yvonne's crew staying for the day and we will soon have a Kat/Lola baby visiting.

We hope to get a ton of photos though the human female here is way under the weather. We will try or maybe the human male will have to do it. We shall see!

Looks like the Fiona and her daddy took a sun bath snooze!

Havanese Pool Cover Fun is On

Fiona Says:

The pool cover is on - let the fun begin and it did!

The crew all ran after daddy. The pups investigated the cover. Fiona wasn't sure at first but then as you can see with her running, she got the hang of it.

But as they played, they got wtter and wetter and...

Dirtier and dirtier.

So, after all was said and done, all those baths this week was for NOTHING.

So now its brushing time and snoozing time. Anything for the dawgs!