Hava-Dad Daze

Well, to all you Havanese Dads - a wonderful Father's Day. We had the daughter and grand daughters come up early and we took a walk to the park. A man in front of us had a white shepherd that he couldn't control - jumping on him and trying to get at us. We kept our distance.

Can I say - get that dog in obedience class please....

Well our grand daughter Danielle was throwing a ball and Treasure took off on a mad dash to get it.

The dogs ran after her but couldn't catch up. It was getting hot and only the crazy Kat and Treasure seem to keep on going despite the weather so you have to control it.

We recently saw a dog at a dog show that was getting sick from the heat. It happens - so we are really aware. Please note that we are in for a heat wave this week in Toronto. If you do not have air - I have some tips on how to keep your have cool - just ask if you are not aware of how to accomplish this for you and your Havanese.

She just loves being at the park. It usually takes us 10 minutes to get to the park where they run their little legs off and just enjoy the outdoors but she's not the only one.

Kat, Abigail and Fiona just played their hearts out too. It was great to watch. When it gets cooler, we will get the crew out again.

Our Father's day was a good one. The weeds around the pool are halfway out. Shhh..if you saw some of our photos some were a foot high - oh my...okay we have better things to do but I know - it's about time.

Our son who is heading to Iraq is home on furlough and his wife - our daughter-in-law is graduating this coming Sunday. Then we have Wasabi due anytime and oh my - so many moments to create.

We have exciting times ahead...and we hope you do too... Give your Hav a hug and treasure that dad of yours.

Havanese: Do They Have Memories?

Ever wonder what your dog remembers? There used to be a school of thought that dogs lived in the moment and the only way they remember how to do things is from repetitive acts but many scientists have dispelled this thought. Many a Havanese owner have always thought that their pets not only remember people, places and things but are emotionally intelligent as well. I am one of these and I will tell you why.

I can teach a certain set of commands and not use it again for a year or two and suddenly, depending on the dog, they will do it again perfectly on command especially if we had fun with it.

I have a theory on this. I believe that a dog remembers things that put an imprint on them. This is why you hear stories of remembering owners years later.

When our puppies come back for boarding, we find they are highly attracted to the upstairs whelping room and seem confused on why the pen is not up next to my desk. (It's only up when we have puppies. Is it smell? Or did we somehow make an imprint on them that they want to remember? You tell me.

What makes us thoroughly happy is when a puppy goes to a new home and they get very excited to see us and then when their new owners come to retrieve them, they get so excited to see them too.

We are asked over and over - but will he still want to come home after playing with us and our crew? We equate life here as a holiday for the dogs. They have an amazing time but when all is said and done, just like us, there's no place like home.

But then that old memory - imprint thing happens and they come again and get excited for their next visit.

What's the point of all of this? Well - think about creating memories for you and yours. You will be glad you did!

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!