Fun Times at Talemaker Havanese

Even thought it rained, the crew had a grand time today. There's something about the bounce of the safety cover that brings the excitement out. It also increases the yard. If you have a pool, you should seriously consider one for safety and for fun!

We also had a family visit and the dogs got to play with them. Now how cool is that to have socialization time. But that human mommy had to watch Lola as she is still in heat. That's okay as she likes hugging and sleeping next to Auntie Darlah.

As you can tell, now that Abs heat is over - she's back to her usual self. The brace is behind her and great things are coming her way - a puppy to play with in December and perhaps more puppies.

Tomorrow some of the crew gets to go visit Sebastian at his house. That human daddy better bring the camera as human mommy can't wait to see how much fun they will have.

The point of all of this is - socialize - socialize - socialize. It's really important as it will help your dawg become confident and all he can be!

Testing Your Havanese IQ

Here's Yvonne's Flora and Abigail. I do think that Abigail can fly. This pool cover is something they literally adore as it bounces like a trampoline but its safe. If you have a pool, consider getting one.

Now to have some fun...

How do you find out your Havanese's strengths and weaknesses? How can you assess what they need to work on? And where does your Havanese stand on the overall intelligence spectrum?
Here are some simple tests, suggested by various experts, that you can give your furry friend to find out if its brain is sharper than its bark:

1. Problem Solving
Donaldson suggests that you hide something your Havanese loves -- a toy or ball or treat -- underneath a sofa, and see if it can figure out how to retrieve the object. She says Havanese may go through several strategies, including digging with paws or using snouts.

Score Five points for getting the item with its paws in less than 30 seconds; four points if it uses paws and takes more than 30 seconds; three if it uses paws but fails; two if it uses its head but doesn’t try paws, and one point for dogs that try to use their head but then give up. It gets no points if it does nothing.

2. Learning Rate
How many times do you have to repeat a task with your Havanese before your Havanese masters it? Donaldson recommends a test involving detour taking. You need a fence that your Havanese can see through with a gate open at one end. With you on the other side of the fence, call your Havanese and see whether it can figure out how to get around to the other side.

Score Five points if it goes around the fence in a minute or less; four points if it succeeds right away after you take a few steps in that direction and gesture; three if it succeeds in 30 seconds after the prompts; two if it succeeds between 30-60 seconds after prompts, and one if it succeeds but requires even more prompting and time than that.

3. Social Cues
Coren developed the "smile" test for an Australian TV program to see how smart your dog is at picking up social cues from humans. Start with your Havanese sitting a few yards away from you. Stare at your Havanese's face. Once you make eye contact, count to three and then smile very broadly.

Score Five points for coming to you with its tail wagging; four points for coming part way; three points for standing or rising; two points for moving, and one if your Havanese pays no attention at all.

4. Inference Challenge
A canine version of the shell game. With your Havanese on a leash or in the stay position, use treats and two different bowls set a few feet apart, Donaldson says. Smear the treat on both bowls. Then very dramatically put the treat underneath one bowl. Release your Havanese and see what happens. Repeat this 10 times changing which bowl you put the treat under. Repeat another 10 times without letting your dog see where you're stashing the treat, but DO let the pup see you enthusiastically lift the other bowl up each time.

Score Five points if the dog goes to the correct bowl and gets the treat each time; four points if it masters the first 10 and improves over the course of the second 10; three if the first set is perfect but not the second set; two if the dog improves during the first and second rounds, and one if the dog is initially not very good but improves over the first round and completes the second round by going to the bowl you lifted.

5. Language Comprehension
Coren developed this test to determine how well your dog understands what you are saying. Start with your dog sitting in front of you. Using the tone of voice you use to call your dog's name, call "refrigerator." Try this again, calling "movies."Score Five points if the dog doesn't respond to those words but comes after you call its name; four points if the dog comes the second time you call its name; three if the dog starts to come; two if the dog comes to "movies" but not "refrigerator,” and one if the dog simply doesn't come to any of the calls.

Your Dog's Score
Gifted and Talented (25-31) Consider your Havanese brilliant and then...watch out! Smarter Havanese are often harder to live with because as soon as you teach them new skills, they try to get around following your orders. You may also inadvertently teach them bad behaviors.

Clever Canine (18-25) On the higher end of the intellectual spectrum, these are good listeners who will likely perform tricks well at parties or in obedience class.

Sharp, But Slow (10-18) You will find them trainable -- even if it takes numerous repetitions to master a skill.

Doggie Dropout (Less than 10) Let's hope that you selected your Havanese for its beauty as opposed to its brains, but since anyone can have an off day, give your furry pal a good pat on the head, and maybe try the tests again at a later date.

This test is for fun and your Havanese could be simply bored with it all!

Heat & Not That Outside Kind

Oh here I am before THAT human Mommy brushed and combed me out. We have Yvonne's four while she enjoys that hot Florida sun so she has this list on her desk and she checks each of our names off after we are done as if she can't remember. Maybe she can't and it's her OLD age setting in.

Mommy put these funny pants on me as I am supposed to be over my heat and tested me with that crazy boy Kat. Usually when I am done, I growl at him but I didn't so back we are behind closed doors even though all signs point to no heat for me or Abigail. Mommy thinks best to be safe.

We have these doors all over the house. Mommy yells out and daddy puts that boy away and we shuffle back and forth. It's crazy times. But when we get outside in this balmy weather, we run all over that pool cover and have a roaring grand time.

Hope you are enjoying the weather. We are slowly getting better - and it's about time.

PS: See why you want to get your dawg spayed or neutered? Who wants to go through this twice a year unless you have to.

Crazy Talemaker Havanese Times

This is one of our visitors who will be here till around December 8th. This is Downsey. I just brushed her up and she shook her head. She's just like her sister Fiona. We have Downsey, Flora, Lola and Maggie setting up their shingle here and enjoying the landscape.

That part isn't crazy - well maybe for some of you but we also have Kat home and 3 gals still in heat and one we are hoping is preggie - Wasabi - that is. You don't want to know what a boy is like when gals are in heat and he has to be kept away. Like I said - crazy times.

We are starting to get better around here - not whole yet but can finally see some progress. Four weeks of congestion is a bit much but we survived the specialty - I think.

Oh and we are adding a new addition on December 12th. Wasabi - of pregnant is due December 24th. Yvonne comes back around the 8th. Gidget also visits during that time for 3 weeks.

Full house and here's a photo of our new addition. We are watching her change by the moment.

Highlights: Abs/Fiona/Nathan

It's harder than you think. Where's that tail? Gad - do they have to make those banging sounds - X doesn't like it.

More Photos later...still sick but getting better and Yvonne's dogs are coming here for a month - are we excited or WHAT!

Friday Highlights All Breed Trillium

A Bit of This and That

Kirsten, it was great meeting you and your family. Thank you for introducing yourself.

As always it was great to see Karyn and Scott.

We met so many great people that at times it was a blur. I finished taking antibiotics this morning and I was much better than Darlah who really is recovering from double pneumonia and insisted on working the show.

We had the pleasure of Sweetpea and Holly Ashley staying with us for a few days. They were up from Florida for the show. They did very well indeed and I believe enjoyed themselves throughout. We certainly enjoyed their company.

Yvonne stayed at our home from Thursday to Sunday with her four Havanese. So we had a full house of dogs and people. The only light missing was our little boy, Kat!

Wasabi and Abigail are coming to the end of their heat. Lola just went into heat. Kat got banished to Yvonne's place while the girls got to stay here. It was immediately apparent to me how much he is the center of our household and of all the dogs. It just wasn't the same without him and we miss him terribly. He'll be back on Wednesday. It is the first time he has been away from home without one of us in over two years.

Anyway, a bit about the show ... I knew I was in trouble the second we walked into the building on Friday as Fiona’s tail went down. Those that follow along with Darlah's posts know that her tail never goes down. It either had something to do with the bright lights, cement floors and echoes, noise, a combination of all of the above or maybe even Fiona is about to go into her first heat. With Abigail in her first heat right now, Wasabi, who we bred, also in heat, it can set off Fiona. Anyway, Fiona was not her usual spitfire self which really sucks at the specialty because I am, as always, so very proud of her and wanted her to show everyone how special she is even with my still learning handling skills on the other end of the lead. That was not to be. Usually she is entirely focused on me, oblivious to anything else. Not this weekend. She was constantly looking around to make sure no large monsters were creeping up on her. She went to sleep as soon as we got home and slept like a rock. This is so unlike her. Saturday and Sunday she was not much better. It just wasn’t her. She did win 4th and then 3rd in her class Friday and Sunday and they were very large classes. Abigail placed 4th but showed only one day. There were over 40 Havanese both days and I think 62 on Saturday.

On Saturday Fiona and Abigail won Best in Brace. I believe this was an event enjoyed by all. I was in the ring and trying to get Fiona to relax while Abigail was trying to jump on Fiona’s head. Keep in mind that when in brace they are supposed to walk demurely, like synchronized twins, calmly and properly. Normally when Abigail jumps on Fiona to play Fiona will immediately jump right back and off they’d rock and roll. But Fiona was having none of it. So when we were in stack position waiting for Deb’s Brace I tried to quietly pick up Fiona and place her on the inside instead of on the outside so I could be closer to her. I was hoping not too many people would notice I was swapping their positions. The swap worked so when we continued walking they were actually pretty good together. I suspect though, from the laughter from the crowd in the background, that everyone in the place saw me swap the dogs.

It was great meeting so many people from across the country. As this was the national specialty held once each year in a different city, this was the first chance Darlah and I had to meet so many of the national breed club members. We had the chance to discuss a lot of things that are of interest and importance to us and should be important to any responsible breeder such as health testing. The Havanese Fanciers of Canada sponsored and ran a BAER clinic on Friday so that anyone that wanted could bring their dogs for this once in a lifetime hearing test requirement. By the end of the day I think the Doctor tested 28 dogs, most being Havanese. Yvonne spent most of the day being the receptionist for the Doctor. I filled in for a few hours. At one point the next dog to arrive was a Bull Terrier. Oh my. If you are not familiar with the breed they are massively muscled, a real powerful breed. Naturally the dog was a total sweetheart. At one point one Havanese puppy got away and went running off into the hotel lobby. Freedom at last she thought. I finally walked her down at the end of a long hotel corridor. Never a dull moment.
HAVANESE RULE!
Nathan

Brace Win & Much Fun

We had a grand time at the show meeting new people and renewing relationships.

We even had the bonus of seeing some of our dog or puppy people and Liz and Sylvie and Sebastian's mom and dad, and Kirsten and family, and Anne and the kids with Colin stuck outside with Louis who they wouldn't let into the show (his puppy cut must have given him away as a non competitor) ;-) and on and on and on.

It was great fun even with double pneumonia. (Darlah has been sick for going on a month. Naturally she has not stopped or barely slowed down but she really is slowly getting better.)

The best part was Nathan's win on the brace as it was almost comedy in action but the gals actually performed quite well with no practice but the other team didn't have much either. (The other team had the Best of Winners winner and Award of Merit winner so no slouches you understand.) Abs was in her first heat and at Yvonne's until the Thursday night before the show and by the time she got back, well who had time to practice two dogs walking in sync. But Nathan knew the dogs, switched in mid-action as he knew Abigail now had to be on the outside and it all ended strong other than Abs deciding - hey maybe I can pounce on Fiona a little here. The claps were wonderful. Deb and her pair was wonderful and Delilah - Abs sister, won really big all weekend and so did many of the Rockhurst dogs. Abs came in 3rd in her class, Fiona 4th and 3rd twice in her class and bottom line - it was fun but anything and everything was going wrong. It was like a comedy of errors starting with me being so sick, people thought I was mad. That was just me with a brain in so much fog I couldn't think straight but I wanted to be there to support the crew and enjoy and we did.

To all the winners - Norm and Cheryl's tears over Magical Mandy winning Best in Breed at the National Specialty and retiring - well priceless - all of it. I will let Nathan fill you in on the funny moments and we promise you photos but 8 DVDs worth - yeouch.

More later...or more from Nathan.

Another Day at a Show

Only Fiona is going to the show today and then we have a very late night. We will fill you in on everything with great pics and much more when we return.

Also, we are awaiting to see if Wasabi is pregnant. Now how cool is that? If she is she will be delivering around Christmas. Cross your fingers as we will once again have a ton of videos of the fun times we have with pups.

PS: we also have a true treasure joining us on December 12th. More about that later!