And here's Surrey who lives right here in Coburg

Surry and her cat friends.

I guess they played pretty hard.

And her is another George baby

I think they call her Rita. Blush, blush

Merry Christmas from our pets.

This is a George daughter, can you tell?

Flynn's new haircut.

Merry Christmas to All

Charo loves her new home with Merci

Look at what was rated the top dog food for 2015

Top Dog Food

From Judy

Fro Judy Higgs:

  On Friday, Sonrisas Classical Enchantment, Elsa was shown for the first time, 6 months and 1 day, at Chesapeake Kennel Club of Maryland, where she received BOS, and winners bitch from Judge Polly D. Smith and a Owner handler Group 2 from Judge Alfred Ferruggiaro in a competitive Toy Group. She showed beautifully and received lovely comments from both judges. On Saturday she received BOW and best Owner handler, she again showed like she had been showing for a long time.

Wow, what a weekend so far.

Out in Yuma, Arizona, Darin Freitag, in his and Bo's fist time in the breed competition, Bo was Reserve Winners Male at six months and a day.

The in the opposite end of the country, Judy Higgs, won a OwnerHandler group two with Bo's sister, Elsa.

 And closer to home, big 1/2 brother to these two, Xochi, earned his Novice title in Rally.

Things to do for a new puppy

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2015/11/16/new-puppy-arrival-preparations.aspx?e_cid=20151116Z1_PetsNL_art_1&utm_source=petsnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20151116Z1&et_cid=DM90509&et_rid=1218584040

Chica's hitting the bottle again.

This is Chica from our last litter (EB's sister).  

From an email sent by "Patricia McConnell"

Let’s Talk: Six Tips for a Perfect Recall! 

Is there anything more wonderful than watching your dog run joyfully toward you? All you have to do is say a quiet word, and Queenie stops what she is doing, turns on a dime and runs with eyes shining toward you. Best. Thing. Ever.

Of course, that doesn’t always happen. Is there anything more annoying than being late for a meeting and having Queenie refuse to come back into the house, no matter how desperately you call and clap?

In order to produce more of the former, and less of the latter, here are my six favorite tips for teaching a dog to come, every time you call. You can read more details in the six-week training programs described in The Puppy Primer and Family Friendly Dog Training.

1. It’s a circus trick! Dogs don’t tell one another to stop what they are doing and come when called, so think of this as a trick that you are teaching your dog. Recalls have nothing to do with “dominance,” but they have everything to do with a dog learning it’s fun to come when called.

2. Decide on your cue. Pick one word or phrase, and don’t do jazz riffs on it. “Jasper, come!” works fine, but use a different word if your dog has learned to ignore “come.” My favorite cue is actually not a word, it’s handclaps. They carry well over a distance, are good at getting a dog’s attention, and are less apt to be used in the wrong context.

3. Set up Success. Teaching recalls isn’t like teaching a sit or lie down. Dogs do those on their own, you’re just asking them to do it on cue. But teaching a dog to stop what it is doing, ignore all interesting things, and run to you is an entirely new concept to a canine. That means you need to start when your dog can’t lose—call “come” when your dog is coming to you anyway. Call “come” when you know your dog isn’t distracted by something else. Call “come” when your dog is close by. Repeat easy recalls, often only one at a time, fifteen times a day. Gradually build up to more difficult recalls, being very conservative about how much you expect of your dog (especially during adolescence!).

4. Reinforce generously. Think of it this way: You are competing with the environment, and you’d better have some impressive ammunition. Think your corn-based, dry treats are better than rolling in a dead fish? Ha! Don't mess around here. Figure out what your dog loves more than anything in the world, whether it’s pieces of real chicken or playing tug games, and reinforce your dog every time she comes when called. My favorite reinforcement for sporting dogs is to run away from them as they run toward me. Wheee… dogs love to chase! After several yards of a good run they still get chicken or a chance to play their favorite game. Yay—Double dipping!

5. Don’t pollute the cue. This is perhaps the hardest aspect of teaching a solid recall. If your recently-bathed dog takes off after a squirrel in the back yard and is heading for a mud puddle, don’t bother calling come unless you are 99% confident it will work. Put your hand over your mouth, run closer to your dog, show your dog a treat, and call come when your chance of success is much higher. It’s painfully easy to teach a dog to ignore a cue, so don’t use it when you can’t have some control over your dog’s behavior.

6. Teach a “Flying Stop”. It’s one thing to call a dog who is sniffing in the leaves, but it’s another altogether to ask a dog running directly away from you to 1) stop, 2) turn and 3) run back to you. That’s three distinct behaviors, which might be why I’ve found it most successful to teach a “flying stop,” and use it before calling a dog back. Granted it’s easier with some dogs rather than others, but the basics are simple: Teach your dog to stop to a specific cue, when he’s only a foot or so in front of you. (I use “Whoa!”). Just as in training a recall, reinforce liberally when your dog stops, and set up successes in the first few months of training. Gradually increase the difficulty level, never hesitating to go backward if necessary.

Mostly importantly, think of your dog as a student going through grades one through sixteen. It’s your job to start her in kindergarten, and not throw her into graduate school before she knows how to read.

Best of luck to all of you who are working on that perfect recall. Picture me smiling along with you when Prince or Princess comes a running!

Look, Dad, I cleaned out the toy box for you.

Good boy, Federico!

For Cindy, Mike and Merci - Charo as a puppy

Tongue Out Tuesday

On FaceBook the Havanese people have started a tradition of tongue pictures.  Here's my contribution of George and his daughter Dunka.  Anyone have more?

George's last run of the weekend. :-)

Here's George:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeHRqfsC0w

Holloween Pictures

Here's Zipper, Elsa and Autumn (in that order):  Autumn is a George daughter, and Elsa is EB's sister from our last litter.  Zipper is a Classical dog (Bea Sawka)

Autumn, Zipper, and Elsa

Sonrisas Laughing Jay now called Bobo checking into the spa in New York City while his owner attends a business function

Sometimes I wish I could live the lives my Havanese do.  Bobo doesn't look all that impressed but I know in five minutes he be as happy as can be.

Sioux Lookout Sunset

I've been in Sioux Lookout for the last 11 days.  Looking forward to getting home, but wish my daughter's family could come with me.  This is a picture from out of their front window.  The weather has been beautiful.

Happy Birthday to the Thanksgiving litter.

Here is Flynn from the last litter wish his big sister, Dunka a happy birthday

Merci's top knot looked beautiful when she left the groomers

That means it's Riley's birthday too.

Happy Birthday to Sonrisas Baba O'Riley -CGN -PCD- CD- RN-RA- AGN- AGNJ- AGI- AGIJ and 2 legs in Novice Intermediate obedience.

Happy Birthday to the George - Willow litter

They are three years old now.  This is Margarita  who looks just like her dad, don't you think.  I wish we could rent our farm in Roslin for the day so we could have the puppy picnics again.  I love seeing the dogs as they mature and grow.

New style of halter

Since my guys seem to choke on the harness leads I've bought them I think I will try these when we get to Florida:


http://chokefree.com/

I'll let you know what I think of them.  The come in both leather and mesh.

George's JWW runs

George's last agility run - Jumpers with Weaves

Wonderful, interesting dog owners

One of the wonderful things about dog breeding is that I meet such a wide group of people with such a variety of skills and talents.  Here is Elsa's owner counting the arrival and migration of Hawks.  In a good day they may have 5 to 7 thousand according to Judy Higgs.  Elsa is  under the chair on the right and the pink is her new stroller which Judy won at the U.S. National Specialty.

Sonrisas Classical Enchanted - Elsa

That little black and white spot in this beautiful garden  is Elsa.

Flynn and Jack from the last litter

 Flynn, isn't he cute!

Jack, doesn't he look satisfied with his treasure.

George

George got his novice titles while I was using a scooter.  Last winter, I knew I couldn't go any further with him on a scooter so  I tried running with him and I'm still paying the price for that.  Other than buying a $30,000 wheelchair which would allow for the speed and turning radius I need for agility, I had to find another solution because he is too good not to take him as far as he can go.   And then I met Liz Fortna Rowe of  Buddington Cavaliers this spring.  In this one summer George had gone from Novice level in Canada and the U.S to Masters Level in both countries.  His running time has almost tripled.  I will still do the training along with Liz, but she is running him in the trials.  To say that I am pleased with the results is an understatement.  Now on to training Charo and EB (the new puppy from my last litter).  

They will  all compete in Rally as well where George is at the Excellent level.  It's so much fun.   I wish all  my puppy people had time to train in this type of obedience.  It makes for wonderful dogs.

Surry, and my favorite childhood book.

Surrey loves to read it looks like, or maybe she's modelling for the next edition?

Here's another Finder game. Where's Flynn

It sort of reminds me of myself at night, surrounded by dogs.

When to Neuter or Spay

Health Risks of early neuter/spay and more.

Elsa with her new family.

Elsa is now down in Maryland with Judy Higgs  and her crew.  The Havanese on the right is a George baby by the name of Autumn and in the back is her male dog, Zipper.  Elsa hopes to live up to her big sister's show career.

This is George's Jumpers with weaves AKC Open Competition.

He's leaving Thursday for the U.S. hoping to finish his Excellent Titles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRX2ltFp34k

Feeding Only Dry Kibble is not a good thing

SO IS IT A GOOD THING TO ONLY OFFER YOUR PET DRIED KIBBLE? 

Not according to ongoing research it isn’t, especially with today’s cancer rates being 1 in 2 dogs!

In a 2005 study conducted at Purdue University on Scottish Terriers, the results showed that adding fresh vegetables to dry commercial kibble actually prevented and/or slowed down the development of transitional cell carcinoma (aka bladder cancer)!

In the study, dogs ate a diet of dry commercial pet food, while some got an assortment of vegetables added to the mix at least 3 times per week.

When the study was concluded, according to the researchers, they weren’t really shocked by the results. 

Here’s what they found:

Dogs that ate any green leafy vegetables, like broccoli, had reduced the risk of developing bladder cancer by 90% and the dogs that consumed any yellow – orange vegetables like carrots reduced the risk by 70%! 

Seriously! A lousy carrot helped smash the potential of cancer.

I wish I hadn't lost most of my puppies email addresses

From the Journal of American  Veterinary Medical Association

"After adjustment for age, weight, neuter status, and coat color, there was an inverse association between consumption of vegetables at least 3 times/wk (OR, 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.62) and risk of developing TCC. For individual vegetable types, the risk of developing TCC was inversely associated with consumption of green leafy vegetables (OR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.97) and yellow-orange vegetables (OR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.70). Consumption of cruciferous vegetables was not significantly associated with a similar reduction in risk of developing TCC (OR, 0.22; CI, 0.04 to 1.11). The power of the study to detect a 50% reduction in TCC risk associated with daily vitamin supplementation was considered low (25%)."

Bone Broth

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/reasons-your-dog-love-bone-broth/

I use this as a basis for many of our human meals too.

Puppy available

This puppy was bred by Terri Fudge in Ajax.   The dam is Accent-Sonrisas I Got a Secret (SeeSee) and the sire is Laurelgate's Inferno - Dante pictured below.  They have had BAER and liver testing plus all the usual puppy vet checks.  She is show quality if there is anyone interested in showing her.

terri@amistosahavanese.ca

SeeSee is out of our George (CH Sonrisas George R Us) and Dante is out of  JJ (Sonrisas Picture Perfect Jpeg)

Best advice I've seen on house training a puppy

Just in time for our litter:

http://www.canineminded.com/housebreaking-dog-step-step-process/

These look promising:

http://chokefree.com/index.html

I will order one when we are in Florida, but the design seems to make sense.

For those that cut their dogs' nails

http://mybrownnewfies.com/2015/08/19/the-secret-grey-dot-inside-a-dogs-black-nail/

Puppies and agility or any type of physical activity

This is written by a Gordon Setter person, but it's just as true for the Havanese.

Puppies and physical activity

Agility and Puppies

Dunca is starting to accept this irritating little creature.

Dunca is beginning  to accept Flynn who is taking up too much of her spotlight time.

 

The flying Dumbos

Dumbo was my favorite story and music as a child so this is a very loving title and aptly describes the Havanese ear look when running.

Remember the crows singing "Have you ever seen an Elephant fly?"  Well the Havanese sure do.

This Toonie and Penny

 

Flynn just might grow up to like the water.

Alfie's Story

Little Fynn went to his forever home where he now lives with his new sister, Dunka, from the Thanksgiving litter four years ago.

Find Merci.

I love it when a dog's color fits into the landscaping of the house.  Merci was part of the Thanksgiving litter from a few years ago and now lives in Missouri.

Find the dog contest.

We  could  make a book of this:   Where's Merci?

Introducing Sonrisas Mi Chica Ronita (Chica nee Merida)

Chica hasn't had a single accident since she has been in her new home.  Isn't she smart!

George with all the ribbons he won two weeks ago.

Willard is not the runner, he is a George Holder.  :-)

First two puppies to go home - Merida and Anna

Wonderful first night at their new owners homes.  Here's a picture of Sophie (nee Anna) with her big brother Theo.  Theo is also a Lusa puppy.

Puppies Available

Hiccup is show quality with a fabulous temperament for any home.

Rapunzel is also show quality and would make a fabulous agility dog.

Flynn is the most loving dog