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.

Stick Eating Havanese

What do you do about a dog that eats everything she gets her mouth on?

Correct, correct, correct - is all you can do.

Treasure knows better but finds a stick and tries to hide. Yep - they actually have that thought process - how can I get what I want despite them saying no.

But if you keep at it - it eventually sinks in and they get past that chewing - teething stage.

Treasure is in the midst of losing teeth.

Today she had a toilet paper holder - the cardboard paper insert and Fiona is hot after her. Such fun!

Now to add to this story – she intimidated Terra out of her bed as she wants big beds – the bigger the better.

She is surely missing the pups but making the best of the adults.

Tomorrow - shots at vets.

Happy New Year's Eve

Here's the crew - well almost the crew. (minus Whitney our old lady retriever and we also had Oreo before he went home and Louis who goes home tonight.)

They are waiting to usher in the New Year.

I try to have fun with the camera and dogs our our passion. I went outside first - sat at the end of the deck and waiting for the crew to come running out towards me all to capture the money shot of Treasure flying in the air, pumping for all she was worth to catch up to the rest of the crew.

Here, Treasure playing catch up.

It's moments like these that make my heart beat a tad faster and my mouth curl up in a smile as I realize what life is truly about!

From the home of Talemaker Havanese to yours, we wish you the very best new year!

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.

Multiple Havanese Feeding

We have another food hound in the house. She is fully prepared to eat her own food and then run right over and eat everyone else's. She has no qualms about shimmying up to someone's bowl, checking out what the competition has and going in for the grab. She'll even try to intimidate them off their own food bowl. And our little Treasure is just 3 months old.

With only one dog, it's a piece of cake but with more than one, you can't just leave the bowl down especially if one will try and eat it all.

Treasure has style with her food - or shall I say everyone else's food. She thinks life is better in the next bowl, always. It doesn't matter if she is eating the same exact thing - it's a statement of her perception of her own position in the pack and as of right now, she thinks Risa and Kat are the only two above her and that includes the two Golden Retrievers. So if she decides she wants your food the proper response in her mind is to back off and let her have it.

She tends to look around, checks out if anyone is noticing what she is doing - including us, then she goes in for the kill and depending on what dog, she may or may not get away with it until we interfere and put her back at her bowl.

Ah, the food experience of the young and fearless.

Havanese Fears: Slow Conditioning

Have you ever seen your puppy look at something and hesitate or give you a look as if they are concerned about that inanimate object? Puppies do go through fear stages and when they do not understand something, it's important that you do not coddle them or validate their concerns. Instead, you should help them realize there is nothing to worry about. How can you do that?

As you can see, Treasure noticed a piece of tissue paper under the door and couldn't figure out what it was. She kept looking at it with a 'what is it' stance and backing up - then going forward. How did we handle it? Well, I use keywords and say it in almost a baby talk voice. They don't 'get' it at first but after you do it with several items, they get that those keywords means there is nothing to worry about. Of course this also means that you have a correct relationship with your little one where they TRUST you. Without trust, none of this works.

I use the words, 'silly girl' and I put their paw on it or pull it out and examine it - whatever it takes. By doing this consistently instead of saying - oh poor thing - snuggling her and or laughing about it, you have helped in the slow conditioning process. You have helped your little one develop their coping skills. This is critical. It will give your dog a base of coping skills to work from in the future.

Fears are simply not understanding what something or someone is capable of.

When a pup whines as it fears walking up and down the stairs, their canine mom often guides them down almost in a pushing them up or down fashion as if to say, 'get on with it'. They don't say - poor thing. They do not coddle and when we humanize it, we see this as mean but in reality, it is the best thing she can do. She teaches her pup that there is nothing to be concerned about by getting it to face its fears and get on with it.

If you continue this method, your Havanese may still react to something strange but will recover much faster. Once coping skills are in place, the rest falls into place. You may even find that a hesitant Havanese by nature will be more adventurous when using this method.

All it takes is love, patience and guidance to help your Havanese become all they can be. It's worth it!

Tomorrow we will talk about puppy bites, chewing and all that fun stuff.

PS: I should tell you, Treasure was seen running too fast for a photo - just like a banshee with that blue tissue paper in her mouth and Havanese do love toilet paper and paper. I never saw a dog rip paper into bits so fast and so many little pieces as the Havanese.

TIP: If you are experiencing high winds, get your little one outside and have some fun with it. This way they won't fear the wind the next time. We had the crew out having a roaring grand time despite the rain. Personally, I love wind like this.