Butt to Butt

Okay, what is she going to talk about with THIS photo?

Well, Wasabi really vys for Kat's attention each and every day. She tries to give him kisses over and over again and it drives Kat crazy.

When she does, he growls under his breath at her getting louder and louder but this only entices her to do it more.

Then he corrects her putting her down and she is still relentless. It's a game he acts so irritated with but seems to enjoy the attention.

It's so funny to watch and quite interesting the bonding relationships the crew has with each other. They accept they are a part of the whole except Treasure who thinks she should be the top dog always. ROFL

Bad Hair Day & Camera

Okay, this day started with Mommy taking a photo of me with Daddy's junkie camera. Daddy has her camera.

Well, it's one of THOSE mornings. Mommy didn't get to my hair yet. Without Daddy around she does one here - one there till she finishes us all.

I like it better as I can leisurely read the newspaper and have my coffee - NOT! Okay, use Mommy's Blackberry to play a Doggie game? You don't buy that?

Okay, okay - Mommy had the pups running around and they thought they could feed from me so Mommy put me up on the chair. This way I can look down at them and I look MUCH bigger than them. heh

Our visitor Fred really knows how to chill out in style.

The human Mommy got the pups back in their x-pen and we all went out to watch her clean up and pull a few weeds.

It's hopeless but maybe after the pups are in their forever home she can finally pull those weeds.

Now she has to clean sheets and all that junk she didn't get to as Daddy may be coming home very late tonight vs. tomorrow.

Will he undo all that night time sleeping coming in during the witching hour? We hope not!

Specialty & Hanging Out in Rain

Well, both days Treasure made the cut but didn't get anywhere, heh But I heard she showed beautiful and considering it's the first time at a US specialty for her - they did well to do that. We are pleased that they went and had a good time.

We thank everyone who said they like our site. It means the world.

We try to have fun with it and give you a glimpse of what goes on for us.

We miss Nathan and the Treasured one immensely and hope to see them home Sunday.

I know the pups miss the Treasure too.

But we hear she may be in heat so that part won't be fun as Daddy will be sleeping with his Treasured one or I will till she is done 3 weeks later.

Yikes and Kat will be back to going CRAZY - sigh.

It's life in the Talemaker house - what can I say.

We had a big storm come through last night and another hit this morning. W had chairs in the pool - our pop up umbrellas. It was interesting and we also had dirt and leaves and lots of cleanup. See what Daddy missed doing - cleanup. hehehehe

With all this bad weather we have been playing retrieve in the house. Even the adult Havanese have been using the pads when it was raining really bad. It's times like these with a storm like that when you realize it is good to have them familiar with the pads and the outside.

Is it Friday already?

Nationals & New Food

Daddy is off to the Nationals. Treasure had a bath last time and was raring to go, Kat's in a miff that he isn't going. Human mom too would have liked to but she has the pups and is finding out how much Daddy does. ROFL

We are going to try to get in pool time with Yvonne's crew.

Pups are sleeping now so where are they?

Check out Talemaker Puppy Life to see the pups adventures maneuvering down the stairs. You tell me who did it smoothest!

Oh well, we are missing Daddy - juggling work, cleanups and all that stuff. Had to get my play session in with the pups and adults - big and little and I did. I have my priorities.

Lucy goes home tomorrow at 10am so she will be getting a bath late tonight before bedtime.

Wish Nathan luck and 200+ dogs and a sea of dogs...just do your best and forget the rest!!

Havanese Lovein'

What do you do on an overcast and rainy day? You hang out on the deck, read a book under the gazebo and get some love from the Havanese as Nathan has figured out.

Today we have a full day and when we get a chance, we will fill you in. Til then..have a great one...the start of a weekend...whoo hoo!

PS: Woofstock is in Toronto. It's an amazing event. Do go. We will be there late morning on Sunday. Let us know if you will too. We will have the Treasured one with us!

Socializing Your Havanese

Oh, we all know or SHOULD know that taking classes is a safe way to expose your Havanese to all sorts of fun or strange dogs - well strange to them. If the class is good, the trainer has control of the class, it becomes a safe slow conditioning to all sorts of dogs big and small.

Sometimes people cringe and say - oh my but that class has only large dogs. I know - we have mulled it over in our minds too. Just last night we were at handling class with tons of large to really large dogs and one other small dog as you can see in this photo.

The other small dog was a tad hesitant but curious where Treasure - well this is the usual for her - the land of large dogs, it seems and a smattering of small. She is better off for it.

Realize that just bringing your Havanese to class is not enough. You have to bring the right attitude - an attitude that exudes - we are going to have fun as that attitude will run down the lead. Your Havanese are very in tuned with how you feel. They may know you better than your partner, husband, wife - mom/dad, significant other etc. when it comes to your emotional state.

But classes are not enough. You must follow through on what you learn even for a few minutes each day. By teaching your Havanese new skills, you not only create an amazing bond but you build your Havanese confidence. You are on the road to having the Havanese you want to if you follow through.

Right attitude - classes...big dogs - no problem!!

Playing Hard and Snoozing Long

We had a visitor today - a 4 month Havanese mix and he kept the crew in excitement mode or was it that the crew here kept him in excitement mode.

It doesn't matter - they had tons of wet and muddy fun.

Have you ever seen 2 havanese or more play? It's a sight that brings laughter and smiles.

I had just done my daily grooming and the dirt did fly and the wet soaked their little bodies as they did that Havanese run-like-hell game.

I suspect our visitor is sleeping too after he got home.

Big Dogs and Little Dogs

One would think in this photo that Terra, our golden was going to eat Treasure up but this is not true. For those that know the dogs or know body language - you would realize that nothing but faces and Treasure getting the better of Terra goes on here.

Treasure is a puppy and is relentless with her play. She is seen many times hanging off Terra's hair and Terra gives her that grr but its not a grr that says leave me alone but a grrr in play.

Shoshi does something similar but hers almost sounds like a mixture of a purr and a growl together.

Next to Abigail, Terra seems to be Treasure's best pal. Perhaps that is due to the reality that she was born in a house (Rockhurst) that has a golden as well.

Can a dog distinguish between breeds? Yes! Due to our Golden's, our dogs gravitate to other Golden's. It's interesting to see their comfort level with a strange dog if its a golden. With others, they take the time, read the body language and meet and greet. All of this happens in a minute or two but it is a process they go through. They tend to skip this process with a golden.

Take the time to open up your dog's world to larger but safe and friendly dogs. It will help them to become more balanced.

Socializing the Talemaker Havanese

Our son Joseph was in from the navy and came by for a quick hello. It's his anniversary so he came into town to see his wife. We get that but it was great that he got to come by - say hello to the dogs and socialize them.

He's not here all that often so it's as if a stranger is coming to the dogs. The dogs warm up to him fast.

Joseph is a HUGE dog fan and his wife is getting there. She wants small like our Havanese - he wants large. Where did we go wrong?

But still he was rather smitten with the Treasure as you can see. He was also teaching her shakedown and she was placating him.

It's important to get your dogs to see all sorts of people. When taking them out, carry extra treats and have others feed your little one. Look for opportunities to expose your dogs to all sorts of sounds. people and other dogs/cats etc.

It's like dieting/exercise. You have to wrap your head around it and do it or nothing changes.

Well - off to handling tonight with Yvonne and crew. Should be fun!

Socializing Your Havanese

Has your Havanese started to shake, yawn and/or growl when it was in a situation it is not used to? Perhaps it was meeting a strange dog or going to a new place or getting into a car. These are only a few ways that tell you that your dog hasn't figured out how to cope with a given situation.

Do not jump to the conclusion that there is anything wrong with your Havanese.

Coping skills either come easily or most likely through slow conditioning. That well behaved dog doesn't happen magically. From the moment a pup is mobile, the canine mom is showing her little ones how the world works.

How can you turn this around? Do you even have to worry about it?

Anything that is not corrected can escalate. But slow conditioning, positive training and showing your Havanese how to gain its coping skills will help with a number of situations in the future.

Now one would think with all the dogs we have and those that visit, socialization is unnecessary. That is not true. So we do obedience classes, train and take trips even when not buying anything to Petsmart - to Global - wherever and in the spring we will be hiking in hopes that we will meet others.

Socialization can make all the difference in the world. get out - say hello to people and bring your little one.

Oh and you single guys - Havanese are amazing 'chick magnets' hahahaha

Havanese Treasure Trouble AGAIN!

Let's see - Treasure has climbed over a gate - yep climbed over not once but several times. She's opened kitchen cabinets to throw pasta around. She looks at things and troubleshoots. What she wants is what she wants. Her name is Treasure and we do treasure her but it should have been Trouble - hahahaha

Here she is playing with Fiona's sister Coco.

We are off to class tonight and after missing a week - we hope we don't have too much to catch up on. We shall see.

We were lucky enough to have Coach and Sassy over with their owner John and that was a delight. It's been way too long. Wish the outdoor pix came out but hey the memories are in our head and that Fiona - well she just LOVED John. Usually she's not overly friendly - friendly yes but not overly and she was with John. He must have passed her - he's a real dog person test.

Well, we are dead here from shoveling out snow paths in the yard but its worth it to watch the dogs running in them.

Beth bought Abigail a pair of long johns and that will be coming in the mail. We will be a stylin' and saving her blowing coat hair stage she is in.

More later.>>

Class, Practice and Visitors

Off to class again tonight and I have to get this thing called practice in but we have had a way crazy house - lots of visiting dogs.

Today, Shoshi and Risa are getting cut down and they are bound to look WAY different. One thing about haircuts, they always grow out.

In case you do not realize - we are in a deep freeze and that means your little ones shouldn't be going out for walks longer than 5 minutes. You can tell when its too much as they will lift their paws for relief. Get them up and inside then.
Here at Talemaker Havanese we are hoping this cold weather is a thing of the past soon.

What's Life Without a Little Havanese Play?

There are moments like this that make me realize how amazing our golden Terra is with our Havanese, Treasure. Terra started out playing with Shoshi when she was only a couple of pounds and she was a solid 45 lbs. Today she is heavier but just as gentle. Big dog retriever, little Havanese - a Treasure indeed!

Quiet Times at Talemaker Havanese

It's getting quiet around here. We are down to 1 extra dog and come a week from Monday - we will be down to just our own. How will we ever get by. ROFL

Treasure went out and visited Jazzy today and we heard that this went rather well. Treasure is starting her socialization process. Perhaps we will take her out to a dog store tomorrow to get more exposure. It's really important to do slow exposures like this and not to coddle - just praise when they relax. They will soon get that relaxing is a positive thing. Seems Treasure has that part figured out thus far without but that doesn't mean you stop the socialization.
We didn't get much sleep last night so guess what went out the window? Most of Treasure's training such as heeling. The thing about training is it is important to do it daily but sometimes life gets in the way.

I am also back to doing Tony Horton's P90x yet again and the dogs are joining me and Treasure thinks this jumping around is an opportunity to jump with me, on me and bark. yikes. So, we are trying to get that curbed.

Will Sunday be a skip day or first week down. Tomorrow will tell. Maybe I will do doggie yoga with Treasure. If so, I will try to do it late enough so Nathan can take photos to show you how you can exercise and have fun with the dawgs!

More tomorrow!

Havanese in Action

This actually should be titled, it pays to get a DSLR - even an entry level one like my Canon Rebel XSI.

I think it was Rick Sammon, a professional photographer and instructor who said you have to take photos of something you are passionate about but he also said you have to get of your backyard to get interesting photos.

I guess he didn't ever have a couple of Havanese in his backyard or he would change his mind.

The action that you can capture will get you wondering how you ever survived with a point and shoot.

Oh, you can use a Canon Rebel XSI as a point and shoot but you would be missing all that creativity that goes into capturing your passion and the dogs are our passion.

Even my telephoto lens that I got when I bought the package can capture shots like this.

I am rather new at this capturing dog business with anything but a point and shoot.

I have to admit, the crew here makes it easy as they are always having moments you go wow - look at that.

That Abigail was chasing Shoshi by the tail and loving it - both of them, actually. What is quite special about this is when we acquired Shoshi way back when, she was a timid dog that hid under a chair when we did obedience training but not anymore.

The pack has been great for her and she even tells the others off when they should be told off where before she would tolerate it.

This was her today introducing play and then getting Abigail to chase her and then when she was done, our guest Mystery also chased her and so did our guest - who is going home today - Benny. They were having a rip roaring time outside today.

People wonder why we do this - and now you know - the smiles - the memories and its plain worth it for what they give to you.

Till tomorrow...

Buy yourself a Canon Rebel XSI - hehhehehe

It's a Cold Day Out

Today we were lucky enough to have two visitors come and we have Mystery visiting us.

It's been a truly fun house here lately. Just when we think we are getting down to just our own, another comes to visit.

Benny goes home tomorrow. Then we will be down to 1 visitor for a couple of weeks and it's fine with us.

Well, we had some sad news. Yvonne's old lady Britney lived a full life to a ripe old age of 14 and this weekend, her life, as we know it came to an end. Anyone who knew her remembers her smitten with Kat - a tad too much women for him and playing with the pups. Our life is richer for having a little Britney in our lives.

Our heart goes out to our dear friends, Alex and Yvonne. Thank you for sharing her with us!

Winter Stylin'

We just received a photo of Coach and Sassy winter stylin' . Now this photo brought a smile to my face and that's a good thing lately!

John tells us that Coach is a big goofy guy and Sassy is 10 times smarter than him. I imagine that means sassy deaks him out. I hear they laugh and laugh with these two.

Nice to hear!

Well, we came back from the vets to find that Whitney is in great health despite her age. Terra has something going on with her back that we suspected was her hips instead and Treasure is now sore from her shots and Shoshi didn't even flinch from her shots. One never knows.

It was a long day - off to watch TV and veg and have fun in the snow tomorrow. Hope you do too.

Havanese Relationships

Do some Havanese like other Havanese more than another? Just like people, I would say yes. They show it in various ways - getting excited about a certain dog that comes over to stay. That doesn't mean they won't play with all but there's something extra special at times.

Rufus, our visitor that went home today really connected with Treasure where he would stare at her in bed and get extra close to her watching her sleep. It was interesting to watch night after night.

Oreo and Louis goes home tomorrow and Benny on the 4th.

Then Treasure will have to connect with her pack mates and us. heh

Watching our visitors and our pack reacts makes for interesting times. You learn so much and so do pups that come to visit. By the time Rufus and Oreo is heading home, they have learned to successfully play and interact in a pack. That's a good thing and then they too will be confident and excited about that next time.

Havanese & Holidays

With the hectic lifestyle we all experience around the holidays, it is important to take a breath and get in touch with your furry pal Havanese. They are what helps you realize what life is about. They have a wild abandonment in their play and they get you to find your laughter - if allowed.

They also look downright funny with those snowballs but if you are like me - it's not fun to deal with them. So, take a moment and put a coat on them when the weather is filled with wet, heavy snow and you will be glad you did.

Did you know some Havanese watch TV? Put on the pet channel and turn the sound off and watch as some react to that animal running across the screen. Not all will but some do. It's enough to make you realize as the quality of the TVs increase - so do their abilities to watch.

Havanese Rule

We are having a family argument - extended family about Boxers ruling but we think Havanese rule and they don't drool like Boxers. Little Fiona thinks she rules the house but that's another story.

Here Fiona is standing on the recliner's arm watching everyone. As you may or may not be aware, Havanese like to sit, sleep and yep stand on high spots. Fiona is so confident in it that she does a one arm stance.

Our Treasure continues to live up to her name. She is seen taken on all the pups all by herself and even Abigail who thinks Treasure is the best okay thing she has seen for quite awhile. Perhaps it is due to her being new and she doesn't back down.

She seems to already think she is ALL that!

We had Yvonne's crew here overnight due to the storms. You should have seen them all go for a couch dive right on Nathan where I was left with just Downsey. What was THAT about? Usually it's an equal opportunity thing around here but maybe it was due to the reality that I had a brush in my hand. It couldn't be that - could it? hehehe

We had a whopping - guess how many dogs here yesterday. (We just got a new higher gate for our front door as Wasabi and Kat like to jump the smaller one and this one has a door)

It was fun but now it's watch TV, get warm and chill. Hope you have a great night if you celebrate Xmas. Enjoy and don't forget the furry ones in the bus-y-ness of it all.

Catch you all tomorrow!!