Havanese Puppy Training

Here is a photo of the fierce-some twosome - Fiona yawning not ready for the day quite yet. It's 5am in the Talemaker house and Miss Abigail decided it was time for her to 'get busy'. You ask what 'get busy' is? Well it's when she has to go and when she has to go - she has to go but I wanted to sleep in. So, I ignored, went under the covers and she went off the bed and my mind clicked in and said oh oh - she does have to go and she did. Tsk tsk on me and my not wanting to get my rump out of bed as she DID tell me. No, I did not get mad. I said 'no - outside' firmly, took her and her double trouble companion outside and she went again. The person I should be mad at is myself and I am. Miss Abs is pretty good at getting the 'outside' but if you miss the signals - and that's what it often is or you ignore - well then accidents will happen. If you have to go - you have to go.

Remember you can always click on the photos to see a larger version always.

So, as a snowplow went by at 5am with blue light flashing making all sorts of noise plowing streets that didn't need to be plowed as they were already done yesterday (such a waste) and the dawgs started to react to the sound.

I said my 'silly dawg' and they got that this was nothing to send to the pack to faciliate a warning. Notice how Miss Fiona has her eyes up cocked listening to the plow and Shoshi is sniffing her to see what its all about.

Well dear old Abs said now I am awake - let's play and here you can see her at 5am chasing Shoshi - who if you didn't look close enough - looks like a fur ball vs. a Havanese. ROFL People would shake their head if they saw my backyard at 5am. It comes alive.

Then after they came out, Shoshi, Wasabi and Katsuro came down. You didn't think Risa would - did you? Nah she stayed in bed with daddy till after 7am. Such is the life of those that are lucky.

Then it started getting lighter and good old Abs was still full of it (you should see the puppies first thing in the morning - CRAZY pups for sure - maybe I will tape it this weekend.

The moral of this story is the most fun to be had is early in the morning and don't think sleep is better than that. You will have a better trained dawg if you get into that mindset. Can you hear me laughing from here?


More later - and hope your dawg adventures are grand ones!

Havanese Vet Update

We went to the vets seeing the ice storm was coming in - we wanted to keep warm - yeah - at the vets. ROFL.

Miss Abigail got her rabies shot and Miss Fiona got her 2nd shots and goes back in 4 weeks to get her next.

Miss Abigail is now 8lb 4.5 ounces and Miss Fiona is 4lb 7.5 ounces. Remember that Miss Abigail is 2 days younger than the Wasabi crew. Miss Fiona is just 13 weeks last Friday.

Miss Fiona has gained 1lb 6.5 ounces in 5 weeks and Miss Abigail has gained 2lb 2 ounces. They do adore the food that human daddy makes.

No issues with rabies in regards to soreness for the Miss Abs but Fiona is way sore.

She is here giving Miss Abigail the evil eye and yes she has one - ROFL and it says - leave me alone.

I tried putting her in the crate and that was fine but she wants to be with the others. So, we are watching and figure by tomorrow she will be back to her usual feisty self.

More later and have you shoveled paths for your dawgies yet if the snowstorm hit you? We have.

The Best of Friends

Abs and Terra are becoming fast friends. Watch this goofy slideshow to see how they are doing.

Ice Storm Warning & Relationships

Sometimes that male dawg just snuggles with the human mom and us. Human daddy wasn't fast enough with the camera but they were seen nose to nose sleeping just before that.

The relationships in a multi-dawg home is mighty interesting and you can learn a lot from your canines from watching them. Katsuro used to want all the attention to be on him but he has learned that there is enjoyment in building his relationships with the other dawgs and therefore has become a more confident dawg understanding that there is enough love to go all the way around. Besides - nothing like a gal dawg to hang out with. ROFL!

Well they are calling for yet another ice storm and before you say - well we will just stay in - be aware that if your dawg slips the wrong way, they can hurt themselves just like we can hurt ourselves. Tread carefully and until the ice is not on the path of your walk, find fun ways to entertain your dawg inside such as retrieve.

Our son recently tested our dawgs for a paper he is doing for university and we had interesting results. We may try it again to see if the way it unfolds changes with the 2nd time around.

Games help to reduce the causes and symptoms of stress and build a strong bond of understanding between your dog and you and simply they are plain fun.

Games you can play with your little one inside are:

1. Fetch (find a hallway where you are at one end and there is no exit except past you and the learning will be faster.

2. Hide the treat. Show them you have it and then hide it. See how quickly they find it. Use the command 'find it' and you can graduate to toys and much more.

3. Soccer - yeah soccer - take a half inflated ball the size of a soccer ball and kick it around. I say half inflated as then your dawg can grasp it in it's teeth. We had a dawg here last summer that pushed a ball all over with it's nose. For some it comes natural - if given an opportunity and others you have to give them the opportunity. This can be a real joy to watch - inside or out.

4. Practice your commands in a really fun way by being upbeat and creating interest. Sit/stay/down etc Be creative with it. If you already know all the basics - well if your dawg does then try leading with a treat in a crazy 8 way through your legs. This is the first step to training them to do all sorts of fun things with you.

5. Agility training - there are cheap weave poles you can use, you can make a teeter totter and even use a hula hoop as a jump plus buy a cheap tunnel.

6. Hide and Seek - yes we had a German shepherd that played this with our youngest son but you can also play it. Just put him in a stay or have someone else hold your dawg and then when you are hidden call the dawg and let him find you. After he knows the game, just hide without the vocal and you can create all sorts of fun.

There's more but start with these and share your own games - please!

Havanese Guilt or Human?

But mommy the stairs are too high - come pick me up and carry me down?

We are all guilty of giving in to what we perceive as inabilities in our little ones but we do them no favours.

The only way to get past anything that your little one is unsure of is to create safe situations where they will try and then applaud them when they do. Once they realize trying creates positive results, then you will get a dawg that tries things that they wouldn't have if coddled. Do not foster insecurity. It will create all sorts of issues.

Sure my stairs are scary as they curve are open and there are many of them but after a few days of ignoring them placing paws down one step at a time and gently pushing her on as a mother would - she now runs the stairs. Use this philosophy with everything.

On another note, not all dawgs are afraid of thunder but there is a significant amount of those that are that I truly believe you should find storm bytes online that you can play in the background. It may drive you crazy but play it softly than tweak it higher over time. By doing so, before the storms hit, your dog will already be familiar with the sound and that's half the battle.

More later...

Havanese Let Down (Video is UPDATED)

Our wild and crazy day video is up now (updated - it was cut off at the end)

It's quiet today. Sure mommy and daddy hears the pitter patter of tiny feet running like the dickens but something about visitors that does our heart and bodies good. It's sort of like a holiday like those humans take - fun and then nice to get back to it and then we start dreaming of the next time.

Well, mommy has the video done of our fun event yesterday.

It's updated as the end was cut off with Sebastian and his human crew. We had so many moments that we had to cut so if Sebastian's mom wants an unedited version - my human mommy will burn it for class next week. It's over 15 minutes long and we had so many moments the camera wasn't out. It's always like that. The Chico video was unrecoverable and we are heartsick. That disk is in the trash now. Got to plan another sleepover. We miss the guy already.

We wonder how Remy's classes are going. We hope the Sassy and Coach and livin' it up and not driving their humans crazy. But hey - such is a dawgs life that fills you with tales you can talk about for years to come.

Here is what we said about the video in the description at YouTube.

Sebastian came to visit after class and found all the nooks and crannies we set up to make our house dawg friendly. Enjoy the antics of this crew and how even a well behaved trained dawg can give you paw vs. listening.

Class is Almost Done

Next week is the last class of fundamentals and this cutie, Sebastian is doing everything perfect. I believe he is going to get the certificate of most improved.

Miss Abs does everything perfect at home - except down - even with enthusiasm but I think she's going to win the prize of most stubborn in class and we haven't figured out why yet.

She's not spooked by the large dogs. She goes and meets and greets with tail wagging. I think daddy needs to stop feeding her at all that day till class. (hint)

Here you can see Sebastian doing down and Nathan decided that he would do stand seeing she is going to have to learn to stay standing. She did do that but as you noticed from her tail, the gal is not happy. She loves the class - and did great till last week and this.

The moral of this story is often people give up when hit with an obstacle but this is the time you should persist and plug on to get past this point and figure it all out. We have no doubt that she will get back to it and soon she will be joining handling classes and we will see how that goes.

Well, we have a video we need to edit and get up of Sebastian visiting us with his human mom and dad for lunch. We hope this one came out. We shall see.
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COMMENTS:
Mark and Maryanne said...
Am I biased or is Sebastian just gorgeous!!
March 1, 2008 5:06 PM
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Nathan & Darlah Potechin said...
Oh, he is a cutie. He's going to make all the gal dawgie's hearts melt.
March 1, 2008 6:32 PM

Havanese Sibling Rivalry or WHAT?!

Oh, gad not another day with all these dawgies - but oh, it is. Miss Abs said, check me out in this video with my best pal, Fiona and her sibling. See how the pups play. Is it sibling rivalry or just plain fun?

If you ever wanted a 2nd Havanese or dare I say three, check out this video before you do.

Mommy had a lot of trouble as she had over 8000 sectors munged on the CD but she managed to recover some and we are trying to recover more. We are missing the Chico portion and another very important part but we are trying. Rewritable cds only last so long folks.

More later - enjoy the video.

Markham Show Videos

Mommy said that I have to really watch these videos so I know how to do this show thang! Catch the Markham Show part 1 here. Then when you are done, come back. Part 2 is NOW uploaded. Hope you like it, learn a thing or two and enjoy this unedited view of the Havanese at the Markham show.

If you want to see a clearer version, visit this site here. Due to YouTube choking all ^%&* night, I uploaded it to my other site that takes video uploads. Just have some patience - let it load and wow clearer version and put it in 200% as it's a clearer version than full page.

You Be the Judge

Oh my gad - aren't I simply .... You be the judge. Post your replies. ROFL

Well, it's just another Havanese day - oh hum and what do they have me watching? Well, look at that TV. We already watched the National Geographic channel and I *like* watching those. They tend to have animals in them and I want to pounce on the bugs, watch intently at those bigger animals and just am curious as all get out. But all those judges on TV and please - no Judge Judy - get that off MY TV. It is my TV now - the humans just don't get that yet.

Still, nothing better than snuggling on the couch and chillin'. I am trying to convince Fiona of that but I think she needs a sledgehammer or wisdom to get that!

Remember you can click on any photo to see a larger version.

Fiona seems to always want to mix things up. You can see her mischievous side as dear old Abs wants to sleep and Abigail keeps yanking on the blanket. She keeps it up and keeps it up till Miss Abs says enough and comes back on the attack - all in fun you know. At this very moment all I can hear is their tiny feet running back and forth over and over non stop. It's a riot.

Then Wasabi has a chewie and Fiona decides SHE wants it so she starts barking at her. Yes, she has suddenly found her voice. She barks, she pounces and Wasabi just eats away and ignores. Oh to be a frustrated Havanese. What can one do?

Not to worry - they all got chewies eventually after that behaviour ceased.

More later>>

&^%$ Havanese Brrrr Cold Out There!

Fiona says - you want me to go out in THIS!?

It's really cold today and its getting colder they say. Be sure to double layer your dogs on a walk, watch for cold feet (lifting paws) and be prepared to carry home if you are midway and the paws are hurting. A shorter walk today is wise. Fiona runs under the ottoman when you mention outside today. What is she trying to tell us when she usually loves going outside? I guess at under 4lbs - well mom it's plain too cold.

Gidget is getting picked up today. We will miss her immensely.

More later>>

After Bath Hanging Out

Gidget had her bath today and I blow dried her and brushed her and she came out amazingly soft and way fluffy. Let's see if it lasts till tomorrow when her mommy Audrey comes and gets her.

She was great to wash. I got the idea that she was enduring it all until I took out the treats and it was if I did something magic. Oh - sure have that blower in my face - just give me those treats and i will forgive ya!

She was the only one I bathed. Still under the weather. We have our son from London coming in tonight. His B-day is tomorrow.

Daddy didn't get to train Miss Abs again - still too sick so hoping tomorrow is it. I can hear Sebastians mom saying - excuses - excuses. You know who rules!

Well, I guess we do as it surely is not us in this condition. Usually we care but beyond brushing, throwing the ball around and snuggles - we are napping and trying to get rid of this whatever that has visited us.

I found some 'no more stain' stuff that is actually supposed to remove all stains but not up to trying it out. Will let you know.

That's all for now, folks.

Havanese Bonding

Friends often blend together like they were placed on a canvas with one brush.

Miss Abs says - Terra - I know Shoshi used to be your best pal but you have to admit, I have found your heart and at the very least, you make a great pillow.

Gidget goes home tomorrow and she will get bathed later today.

I am not up to it but her mommy is off on another trip and I want her to look fresh - not like the cat dragged her under the deck - ooops that's Wasabi who did THAT! Oh, you say Gidget doesn't need dragging? Well, then you would be right!

Fiona is playing her climbing games and trying to get Gidget to come chase her. Fiona is an interesting thang as she tends to have this teasing personality. She hides under ottomans, on top of couches - any place high or under things to get her in a stance to pounce.

Then after she pounces, she gnaws. Gidget is saying - what is that gnat on my leg and what does SHE think she is trying to do?

There's nothing like Havanese and how they play with other Havanese but that doesn't proclude them from deaking out a retriever or two. It's half the fun of life - is it not?

Remember you can always click on any photos in this blog to see a larger version.

Creating Our Own Havanese Fun

Well, if the humans are going to act sick around this place then we have to make our own fun. To top it off, the human mom was trying to transfer the video and she got an obscure error saying part of the video is munged. Fun. When she is feeling better, she will see if we can find a work around. The human is so frustrated but no energy nor is she feeling well enough to do anything about it. Sorry.

The crew is continuing to play and have a roaoring grand time despite the ill humans.

More tomorrow....

Havanese Dawg Day Letdown

It's a Havanese Dawg Day letdown. The humans are sick. First it was that kid that snuggles and plays with us Jonathan and then that human Dad Nathan who couldn't come to the dawg show. Then mommy is feeling chills and will be crawling into the couch with us so we don't D-I-S-T-U-R-B daddy. Then that other kid who watches these shows with animals so I can go crazy watching them is complaining about feeling cold.

Where does that leave us? No excitement today - guests have all left except that precious Gidget - just snuggles, and eating and playing out back. Video much later - sorry.

Chicadoro Visit At Talemakers

Videos, Show Photos Coming Tomorrow. Just a Few Pix From Our Weekend.

Wild & Fun Weekend

Hey, I am Mags. My mommy Yvonne and daddy Alex decided to drag me to visit my mommy, Risa and the rest of the mad house at the Talemaker abode.

Here I am, sitting, waiting and wanting to EAT! It is time, you know!

The visit was fun as one of my daughter's, who flew the nest a couple of weeks ago hangs out there - Fiona.

Below you can see one of my babies hanging out with my house sister, Lola and that fickle Katsuro from the Talemaker crew who tends to think all the gals are his.

Here's part of the crew that was here this weekend with me. This is Gigi, the puppy that has not left the nest yet and thinks my pillow is now hers. Yes, she is the sister to Fiona. She's a pistol just like Fiona. The humans around here just adore watching the two. I am glad I can add to their comic relief. Always anything for those crazy humans that pamper us silly.

This weekend, Katsuro was rather smitten with Lola - who you can see in this photo.

Then Wasabi's young'n Chico, after that human mommy gave him a brush (doesn't he look so fluffy?) - well he just kept mixing it up with Miss Abs.

These two are two days different in age and actually half siblings. (same sire). He was sort of smitten with the Abs much like the Katsuro was with that hot suff Cuban Lola. ROFL!

Gidget is having a roaring grand time this week and is enjoying the crowd and when she has enough, she goes up to bed and finds a comfie pillow. Here you can see her saying - well is it all gone? She's becoming quite the eater - oh no!

She adored seeing the Mags and Lola and Britney. Flora had to stay at a friends as she was in that thing the humans call heat where the male dawgs lose their minds - and Katsuro - well he needs his. Can you imagine how silly of a dawg he would be without it?

Well, I made my way home. I had to dictate this to the Talemaker human to post. A gal needs to do what a gal needs to do and after all this socializing - well I need my beauty sleep. I will hand the reins of this blogging stuff back to the Talemaker crew. Till next time.

Hoping the video comes tomorrow. The human daddy at Talemakers is way sick and the human mommy has to do Oscar stuff - till tomorrow!

Havanese Sleep Over

Oh my - lots of dawgies - lots of fun - is the day almost over?

They say I can go to sleep now with HOW MANY DAWGS?

More tomorrow on how that goes.

Crazy Dawg House

Well, our day is continuing and Chico is over having a grand time. He's a bit smitten with Miss Abs. He just seems to truly adore her. Oh no - hehehehe.

We are trying to figure out if he is as large as Coach or smaller or? hard to tell when they are both not at the same location. We did weigh Miss Fiona and her sister and they were 3lb 8ounces. We also weighed Miss Abs and she weighed in at 7lbs 10 ounces. What was Sassy, John?

It's nice to see they can come for a sleepover and just have everything work out - fun, play, cuddles. What more could you want?

I missed the dawg show today but Yvonne and Alex went. I will be going with Nathan tomorrow. Tonight we are off to eat out. Maybe sleep after that!

We went to class with Miss Abs. Well, Miss Abs was tired, stubborn and that dear old half brother of hers - Sebastian just showed her up. Tsk tsk - no excuses next week as there won't be the lots of dawgs visiting.

I have a video to do (tomorrow night) but guests are visiting so I am falling way behind. It's a crazy dawg house.

More later...with the adventures of the Talemaker and Chicadoro crew.

COMMENTS:
Mark and Maryanne said...
Admit it, Sebastian just stole all the brains in the family! Sebastian thinks that being tired is a lame excuse...
February 23, 2008 9:27 PM
Nathan & Darlah Potechin said...
Well Sebastian...a gal gets to do what a gal gets to do and all of you boy dawgs have to follow. HAHA - Ok - you won THIS time!
February 24, 2008 2:48 PM

Fun Havanese Day

This duo is fast becoming the best of pals. They sit in a bed under my desk a number of times just to be with each other. It will be interesting how things unfold when Fiona's sister comes to visit for the weekend.

Well, we are off to the Markham dog show. I am going to try to take video. Couldn't find the tripod. I have to wake Dennis up as he is watching the dogs.

Will get lots of photos of this crazy dawg house and the fun adventurous weekend. Oh and Chico is also coming this weekend - wow - fun!

More later>>

Havanese Ball of Fun

This fine early morning, Gidget, Abs and Fiona joining in had the hair flying all around and went on for over an hour. Can anyone ever do aerobics that long without thinking - is this OVER and wow we are still having a ton of fun! I think not. Perhaps we need to learn from the dawgs.

Now I know why Gidget likes to sleep in like our Risa - she needs the energy to deal with the puppy duo. They are relentless in play and then they drop. I should have had a video camera going but I promise - I will when Yvonne's crew is here - it will be a dawgie crazy house indeed!

Our son Dennis is going to watch the crew while we eat out and the verdict is out on if he will ever be the same. We will fill you in. How many dawgies will there be? 13 - 14 or? hahahahahaha

The duo is making a plan on how best to deak Gidget out. Will they succeed or won't they? It's amazing how their minds think and how good they are at finding solutions and making that 'interesting' plan.

More later as the day develops. The point of all this is enjoy those special Havanese moments.

We are thinking of the Sassy and Coach duo and what fun they are formulating. Amazing having Havanese pals - I tell you - for the humans and the dawgies alike!

Havanese Learn From Others

Dawgs often pick up on habits of another that lives or plays with them. Fiona was the back of the couch dawg always and here Miss Abs has found her way to the high side.

Hopefully they learn 'good' habits vs. the ones you don't want or you will be correcting both.

We had our practice session with commands. What have you done today? Just a simple sit or stay or come or? Something...will make a difference.

Havanese Need a Job

Here Fiona is trying her live Havanese Furminator job on Whitney. She thinks her job in life is to eat hair? Argh...Whitney's hair, my hair - anyone's hair. We are working on that but Whitney is so passive, she doesn't mind a bit.

She also climbs up, balances on the big dawg's backs and has a roaring grand time.

If you can think of another JOB we can give her that is more productive, let us know but until then, we will be correcting, doing more training today and getting the lil' one to be a star.

We all need to have some goal in life and eating hair - well it can't be THAT!

Here the duo is sitting under my desk in the bed together. I thought they would curl up and sleep - nah...

They are a pitter patter duo of real trouble. Oh No! More later.>>

Talemaker Havanese Memories

Coach Came to Visit

Coach came to visit and as you can see if you click on this photo, Fiona was checking him out from the safety of the bed with Whitney. Heh and then they were playing soon after.

Coach was antsy to get home as he has a forever surprise that we will announce as soon as we have a photo.

It was great to see the guy but he certainly has bonded to John and perked up when a certain name was mentioned.

Thanks...nice!! More later!

Havanese are Smart

Well, I just started training with Fiona. Nathan is off doing Miss Abs. Miss Abs is doing everything perfectly but always needs these training sessions to reinforce. All puppies do no matter how good they 'get' it.

I got Fiona to finish perfectly and I mean perfectly and it only took me 1 time to get it across. I then asked her to sit - she sat. I then asked her to go down and tried to trick her into that position. No way...another alpha want to be - oh no! Then I did come and she only got that for a short distance but she got it and then did heeling and she did it till Miss Abs tried to get her treat.

Now I was so impressed at how fast Fiona was picking things up that I tried a number of commands just to test her but really you should be only introducing one command at a time, getting that down pat and moving on.

Now if only Miss Fiona had all her shots - well she would shake things up in class. hehehehehe

It's going to be fun training these two. They are too smart for their own good.

Well Coach comes tonight so can't wait till we see him and get some new photos. can't wait!

Dangerous Places for Havanese

Fiona makes it a habit to try to get as close as possible to me and seeing that I work at my desk, she plops herself up on a wheel but dangerous if you don't realize so I found a solution.

I placed a rubber maid box that we store dog toys in and placed it under my desk with a bed on top and placed Fiona in it. You will also notice that I have a gate running next to my desk to protect the cords to my computer. Although most of them are up in a wired weaved holder that keeps them off the floor, some still remain so with teething pups - guess this is the smartest way to go although it looks like - hehe...

We had company over yesterday - our grand kids, our son Joe from Japan, his new wife, daughter and her hubby and all those dawgs.

Here is our youngest grand daughter Danielle with Abigail. She just adores the dawgs and she can be so enthusiastic that sometimes the dawgs don't know what to think but this didn't even bother Miss Abigail or Fiona. They loved the attention.

This Friday we have Yvonne and her dawgs coming for a visit so we are going down to a smaller bed (moving the bed back for the weekend). They are coming in to visit, go out to eat with us and go to the Markham show. We are going to even have Fiona's sister as Yvonne still has one small and simply gorgeous gal left. The colours that are coming in on her are simply GORGEOUS. It will be fun to see the two together.

We are also getting a sleepover with Chico and in the midst of this, Nathan will be doing Abs class without me so he will be seeing Sebastian and I won't.

Tonight we get to see Coach and his dad. What exciting times and in among this - we have to train Abs and Fiona. Got to find the time...that elusive thing that we all think we don't have enough of.

More later....

Training Creates an Amazing Bond

So What's Your Motivation?
Well, each of us can think up a million excuses why we shouldn't but by training your dog, you will create a bond like none other. Your dog will listen to you, be well behaved and your friends will be in awe at how smart your dog is. Everyone loves a well behaved dog. It's really worth it to invest the time as what you get back will make you truly proud and give you a relationship with your dog that is strong and if allowed - amazing!

Dogs are failthful. They give their hearts to you and Havanese are natural people pleasers. Use that natural ability to have fun with it and you will like the results as long as you are relatively consistent with it.

We started training the pups and started trianing the older ones and even though it had been a long time since they had a daily regiment of five or ten minutes here and there of a refresher, it was amazing how good they still are in responding to hand and voice commands.

You should find ways to introduce all learned commands into daily living and that way you reinforce the commands throughout their lives.

This is a worthwhile journey to take and all it takes is 5 to 10 minutes a day and one on one bonding time with your Havanese.

Take a class and learn all sorts of tricks to get your Havanese to do what you need them to and follow along here and watch our journey with our pups.

Here's what we are doing with our Havanese pups. What are you doing?

Inside Havanese Puppy Play

All we hear these days is the pitter patter of tiny feet scurrying around the floor - 2 havanese puppies - 1 adult in full play saying catch me, hiding and pouncing. Such fun. Everyone needs more than one havanese. Follow their adventure at http://talemakerhavanese.com

Havanese Quote of the Day

"Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he/she's owned a Havanese.

A havanese can show you more honest affection with a flick of his/her tail than a man/woman can gather through a lifetime of handshakes."

Treasure the moments. They will come back to you ten fold.

Havanese Wet Affect

They want me to go outside in all of this wet, cold stuff they call rain - do my business and then they expect me to see with this hairdo? It's an ice skating wet land of water pools out there and its D-I-R-T-Y.

The only saving grace is mommy won't wash us till it snows as she doesn't want to be spinning her wheels, so to speak cleaning over and over again.

It's a dawg day here for sure. Wet blankies, wet floors, wet hair and we all got together and decided to make sure mommy knew it by snuggling with her. It must be L-O-V-E or she would have been .... well we don't want to think about it.

Me, I just adore to muck it up. The wetter, the dirtier - the better and I am teaching the youngsters to do the same - tsk tsk. Well, we are dawgs and we do deserve to have SOME fun - you know! At least I am not heading under the deck for now doing the muddy shimmy. Those humans just adore me when I do THAT!

Well, I am not sure if I ever saw rain quite like this. I tried to hibernate in the pool house as the walkways that they shovelled was filled with rain that - well I almost had to swim in some of the pockets. They forget, I am a little gal. It's okay, it got me to practice my doggie paddle.

Now to get some zzzzz's in after all that work. It's a dawg day for sure or so they tell me. Do you know that I make all sorts of sounds when I sleep. Then I have the humans trained to carry me down off the top of the sofa whenever I want - ahhhh life is good!

I tell you what - the house is filled with wimps. I want to stay out all day and all they want to do is come in, get under the blankies and get dried.

Mommy even took me out on a lead and I heeled PURR-FECT-LEE! Of course when I saw a puddle, I couldn't help myself. I mean puddles are for jumping in - are they not?

Happy Family Day tomorrow. We have this thing called grandchildren coming by. I wonder what that is.

Talemaker Havanese Secrets

Hey - okay I am no longer the youngest one. I was for a week but now that FI-OH-NO is. I have been teaching her all sorts of fun things like eating wood from in front of the fireplace (human mom and dad spoil the fun though) to eating all sorts of frozen plants in the back. I simply need more frozen things to chew on. Mommy and Daddy clean up the poo and cover the pee spots every single time so we don't even get to sniff. I tell you - they are joining the OCD group of dog care. ROFL! I better hide now or that mommy will brush and comb me. Seeing we are dealing with icy rain, why bother, mom. I just adore getting sopping wet so you can spin your wheels drying dawgs and cleaning us up.

What To Get the Dog That Has Everything?
Okay, I am NOT a Havanese but hey I can be brushed less and so what if I shed. I am big, friendly and a huge sap. I try to play with the little ones and they don't get it but lately that FIONA and ABIGAIL climb up my body and they try to lick my face. What is THAT about? I like these long-haired type but shhh don't tell those humans. I know - they got them ALL for me. But what is this thang about them getting to sleep on the back of the couch or on top of a chair. Huh...what type of equality is that? It doesn't matter that I am slightly larger and I may hang over. Heck, you should see me travelin' in the car where I sit my rump in the seats and hang my paws on the window rest. Can a Havanese do THAT?

More later as we deal with freezing rain, crazy playing outside (which we did), Just imagine us looking as if we are starved when mommy and daddy have Chinese food.

We are missing the Sass and hoping she's having a grand adventure with Coach. Train, train, train today daddy...Miss Abs..and now let's start with Miss Fiona - the Ever-ready battery. Good luck!

More later...