Tuesday, December 23, 2008


As luck would have it both Opal and Ali have come into heat at the same time, and much earlier than expected. Considering the weather here, and in Seattle, I will not being flying to Washington any time soon, so it looks as though Opal's litter will be the one and only litter this spring. Providing that there are no more storms next week we will go ahead with the planned Opal/Cosmo breeding which means that the puppies will arrive in early March. After that Opal will have at least a year of R n R.

Friday, December 19, 2008


We had a bittersweet visit today with Deb Mumbie and Shadow. Deb adopted Shadow from us over six years ago because, while Shadow and Mojo were the best of friends, Shadow could not cope with multiple dogs in the house and especially puppies. Deb had a two year old Sheltie by the name of Roy at the time, and it turned out to be the perfect place for Shadow and close enough that we could visit. Those of you who have been to our picnics recognize Shadow as the honorary Havanese at each of our picnics. Shadow had multiple agility and obedience titles and loved it when he had a job to do, but disliked the noise and confusion of litters and multiple dogs. Shadow will be thirteen on December 18, but this will be his last Christmas. Even though he still looks like a two year old, he has become incontinent, his liver is barely functioning and his heart is enlarged. Prior to this he has not had a sick day. He will be assisted cross the Rainbow Bridge between Christmas and New Years. I feel that I have been so blessed by the wonderful dogs who have shared their lives with me and the wonderful people who have adopted some of them. Thank you for helping me say goodbye. These pictures were taken this morning.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Cole

Cole is now happily with his new owner and we are waiting for pictures from all our new puppy owners.

We will be having another litter which will probably be arriving in April. If you would like to know more about our breeding program please visit my website at:

Sonrisas Havanese

Health is our priority and if you would like more information please feel free to call us at 905-372-4183

Hav joy,

Rita Thomas
Sonrisas Havanese

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Cole

This is Cole who is now available. The new owners were very upset but Gramma who lives with them from time to time could not cope with a dog in the house. He is a wonderful, loving little guy with lots of kisses ready for everyone.

This litter, including Cole, have had BAER testing, liver testing and all have passed with flying colours. All my dogs are throughly health tested. If you would like more information please call 905-372-4183.

Hav joy,
Rita
http://www.sonrisashavanese.ca

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Crates and Food

They really do like their crate. All six of them are in there.

They are such neat eaters. Usually the puppies are walking and crawling through the bowl.





Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Puppies Four and a half weeks

We're going to have to expand the space now that there are getting bigger and playing with the other dogs a bit.  We've just started them on a small amount of regular food which we will increase every couple of days.  Their teeth are coming in now,  so pretty soon mom may not enjoy feeding them quite as much.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Four Weeks Today and Aunt Mini

Here is Mini with Deanna (on her) and Lusa next to her.
They are beginning to play a bit more so should be able to get some good video. Opal is such a good mom that as soon as they wake up she feeds them and then they want to go back to sleep.



Here is what they do most of the time!








Sunday, October 12, 2008

The boys


Somebody's missing, do you know who?  I know, I accidentally deleted his picture, I'll put it back tomorrow.

The girls






Here are the girls, do you know who's who?
















Saturday, October 4, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Puppies - 16 Days

Here's Garnett!

Here's Eddie!




Here's Cole!


Here's Nannie




Here's Lusa !


Here's Deanna!













































Monday, September 29, 2008

Sonrisas Havanese

Sept 29, day 13 and two of the puppies have their eyes open - Nannie and Garnett. I'm sure the rest will following in the next day or two.

I'll try to get a picture of Nannie and Granett sometime today.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sonrisas Puppies

Twelve days and all have doubled their birth weights.  Their eyes should be opening soon and then their ears.  Right now they can't hear but within the next week they will begin  to react to sounds.


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

What size will they be?

So can we tell what size they will be from their weights now? I wish! No, even at eight weeks we can only have an informed guess but they often surprise us. Eddie looks like he is going to be the biggest and Lusa the smallest but it'll be interesting to see how they turn out.

Hav joy,
Rita

Wow! Are they putting on weight

Pictures will be up later this evening but here are their weights.
  1. Deanna 264 g - 9.3
  2. Lusa 258 g - 9.06
  3. Nannie 282 g - 9.9
  4. Cole 284 g - 10
  5. Eddie 292 g - 10.3
  6. Garnett 294 g - 10.33

Eddie, Granett and Cole have all their pigment in and the others are about 95 percent. They should double their birthweight by ten days or on Friday but I think they'll be there before then. Opal is a wonderful mom.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The puppies are growing

The weights for today are:
1. Deanna - 210 grams/7.4 oz (rounded off)
2. Lusa - 216 grams/7.6 oz (rounded off)
3. Nannie - 220 grams/7.8 oz (rounded off)
4. Cole - 210 grams/7.4(rounded off)
5. Eddie - 238 grams/8.4(rounded off)
6. Garnett - 232 grams/8.2 (rounded off)

Friday, September 19, 2008

The result of the Prodigal Summer - or how I named this litter

They main characters from the book Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver are

Eddie Bondo
Deanna Wolfe

Lusa Maluf Landowski
Cole Widener

Garnett Walker
Nannie Rawley

Since I don't know the personalities of the puppies as yet, girl one will be Deanna Wolfe; girl two will be Lusa Maluf Landowski; and girl three Nannie Rawley.

Boy one will be Cole Widener; boy two Eddie Bondo and boy three Garnett Walker.

Yes, I know I changed the order, but boy two just looks like Eddie more than the other two in my head, and boy three looks like Garnett because of his mustache. No logic there either because Garnett Walker doesn't have a mustache in the book. That's the fun of writing a book, or naming a litter: we can make the world the way we want it.

If you are interested in Ms. Kingsolver's novel here is an opinion piece about it:

http://www.thebookhaven.net/Z_Prodigal_Summer.html

I loved the book and I love her writing.

Hav joy,
Rita

New exercises start today

Today we start the puppy stimulation exercises. To read why we do this click on this website:

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html

We'll, of course, take pictures while we're doing this.

Hav joy,
Rita

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

They're here!


Here they are with weights and sex - the three girls were born first and then the three boys. You see, these boys are already polite and well trained!

Mom and Pups

Here's the fabulous six! Three boys and three girls. When we weight them again I'll post individual pictures and weights. All are nursing well and very vigorous! In fact they all came out squirming and hunting for food. A couple were yelling their little heads off.


Well here's mom, still wet from her bath but very proud of herself as you can see by the smile!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Puppies, puppies, puppies

The puppies are here - three boys and three girls. Will post pictures in the morning!

Puppies, puppies, puppies

Opal's temperature this morning is 98.3

It looks like we will have puppies sometime within the next twenty-four hours!

I just had to crawl through about five feet of bushes because Opal decided she was going to go in the corner by the deck ( thank heavens the underneath side ito the deck is fenced off) where she was very, very busy digging her den. I've given her a pile of blankets to dig in, but she wants dirt!


To go to see more about Opal go to :
http://www.sonrisashavanese.ca

Hav joy,
Rita

Monday, September 15, 2008

Opal's and Cosmo's litter

Her temperature is dropping, it looks like Wednesday at the latest.

Opal's and Cosmo's litter

Opal's temperature yesterday was 100.1 and 99.8 This morning it was 99.8 Usually, but now always the female dog's temperature will drop about one degree or more, twenty-four hours before labour begins. I really don't expect the litter until Wednesday at the earliest and possibly as late as Saturday. We will keep everyone posted!

In the mean time enjoy Cosmo as a puppy directly below and Opal below that -

Opal's temperature yesterday was 100.1 and 99.8
This morning it was 99.8

Usually, but now always the female dog's temperature will drop about one degree or more, twenty-four hours before labour begins. I really don't expect the litter until Wednesday at the earliest and possibly as late as Saturday. We will keep everyone posted!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Sunday, July 13, 2008

New Puppies

Yvonne's new puppies are here:

http://chicadorohavanese.blogspot.com/

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Mojo again!


Here's Mojo doing the hot sunny day version of agility - lying in the shade of the tunnel.

Thanks Julie for taking such a beautiful picture.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

New Puppies


These new puppies (or maybe little Holsteins) were born in Port Ludlow, Washington under the direction of breeder Bill Burns and the proud parents are:

Ch Sonrisas Lady at BG (Rita) and Can/Amer CH Play it Again Sam (Sammy)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Sound of Music

Here is Willard's cousin trying out for the part of Maria in the Sound of Music. What fun to watch someone you know.

http://www.cbc.ca/maria/bio.php?id=8

Therapy Dog BBQ



Here's our St. John's Therapy dog Mojo with his new haircut. There's also a picture from the St. John's picnic where the Mo and Willard were asked to pose for a picture. Mojo looks a little confused since he usually flies over the dog walk.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Willard and the Mo enjoy agility!

Willard and the Mo are really getting it together for agility. Watch this video and see how much Willard has inproved in just a few weeks.



Sunday, April 20, 2008

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Guelph Dog Show

Here are the Havanese from the Guelph Dog Show - have fun and you play the judge.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=M_gundKufqs

Email me for the results:

rita@sonrisashavanese.ca

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Our Newest member of the clan

Introducing!!!

BG's Salix Lapponum ---- aka Willow
You can't see it in the photos but her head is mainly brown very much like her mother's.