It is park time!

If you are ever in Columbus, make sure to stop by the park of roses! The girls love this place as much as we do :)

Weaves finally clicked for Dora!

Moving can be plain exhausting!

We sold our house very quickly and had to move-Isabelle was such a help!

DOGGY BAG?

we have been tackling the dumbell again!

Dora has now gotten to be a big girl and realizes the dumbell isn't going to bite! However, she is also not willing to pick it up off the floor. It has been a very slow process as we have decided to not do adversives- well I decided and Dora concurs. But how cute is this....

Rescue Run

We had a very fun day with a lot of our fur friends and their mommies and daddies! Our good friend Sabine the standard poodle showed her Mommy Darla how to use a digital camera (yeah it sucks being such a bright dog with a rather slow mommy but she is patient!) and took some adorable photos of us.

Also we found out Mommy is a hero! One of our friend's mommies decided to try and eat the pavement. Notice there is a photo of her chin with a bandaid! Thank goodness her doggy is a trained therapy dog. She was later visited by the vet on board!

I love a good action shot, especially when they involve my furry princesses!

Everyone loves cute puppy dog shots!

The above photos were taken at Daddy's work!

Isabelle received her first performance title at our training club's trial. She did absolutely wonderful and the second day we bumped her up offleash! She amazes me all the time. How a dog so cute and so little can be smarter enough to jump up and grab a donut on the chair and me not realize it! Let's just say Belle had her victory reward and dance before we entered the ring!

Belle & Dora raise money for pet promise

It is the yearly pet promise run time. Belle & Dora are raising money and doing a 5K run again! Pet promise is an amazing group that saves all kinds of breeds of dogs and cats. Our good friend Mona is involved and has fostered many pets. Since we have moved to Columbus, we do this rescue run and help raise money for all kinds of puppy dogs that don't have a great home like Belle & Dora! Last year Daddy & Belle ran the 5K while Mommy & Dora walked and then mommy carried Dora a good party of the way (she was only a year old and it was hot!) We then had strawberry ice cream together afterwards!

If you would like to get involved please find information here:

http://rescuerun.com/

If you would like to help rescue please do so here:

http://www.firstgiving.com/belledora

What kind of weirdo takes their dog out in the yard and make them pose for photos?

I swear this is what my neighbors had to be thinking as I was yelling stay and making my husband click the camera!

Belle's & Dora's Rocking Weekend

Isabelle made her first performance debut this weekend at Central Ohio. She scored a 92 and a 94. Not bad for a little fluffy princess! Belle was absolutely dynamite

Dora had her first performance in Novice Obedience, Mommy was so nervous and Dora didn't understand why. She was there to show off! On the heel offlead, when mom did the about turn and stopped and paused so did Dora. Mommy wasn't sure if she qualifed but Dora knew better! When we were clapping for all the dogs taking placements, the judge called a number, and then had to say "havanese" for mom to understand. Dora was ready to rush up and take her bright red second place ribbon! Not bad for our first time in the Obedience ring!

Dora also took her first RAE leg on Sunday! Both the girls celebrated with squeeky smiley face balls, roast beef, and quite a few belly rubs!!!

Way to go Belle & Dora

Pet Apparel with Pizzazz

My dear friend Carolyn is at it again! Taking a lot of her signature artwork and creating wearable works of art!

Not seeing what you want? Send Carolyn an email and she might be able to create a work of art with your furchild! http://carolynangusphotography.com/

If you remember, Carolyn created a work of art making Dora a calendar girl. Dora is Miss March & Miss May! www.lulu.com search for the havanese calendar to order your copy!

How to convince Daddy we need a brother...

There is an adorable havanese puppy that is looking for a home. He was going to be a show dog but he is a little too small. Isabelle knowing that smaller is better can completely understand- hey, you can fit out of fences, run faster, hide in the agility tunnel from Mom when you don't want to listen. Dora- also thinks smaller is better! Smaller dogs are easier to wrestle with, don't have as much hair to brush, and they can be like book ends to cuddle with.

Well, if we can't convince Daddy to let Vinnie come to our home, bring him to yours!
He is an adorable little guy! Take a look at www.cynadohavanese.com and click on Vincent!

Motivation

Last weekend, I went and watched the AKC Agility Nationals. It was absolutely amazing. Watching dogs who are on that day is like a special dance. I was able to see 3 havanese that were absolutely charming and then captivating in the ring. It gave me motivation to truly know that although I don't have agility breeds, we could still be very successful and we have a long way to go! Unfortunelty, I didn't get to see any maltese run... I am not sure if there were some entered or I just missed them.

Isabelle is taking some time of from agility and we are going to concentrate on obedience and rally. In agility, she has really not understood the concept of teamwork. I have to figure out how to be more clear to her. But she is having more fun in the obedience ring. It is amazing when you put faith in your dog, what she is capable of. When you doubt your dog, they really do read this in your body language. I recently had an attention class and at the end of the class we take our dog offleash and walk. I was pretty nervous since Belle finds everything to be amusing and interesting. I did it with confidence and by all means, it made me look silly! Isabelle heeled like she has been doing it forever!

Dora on the other hand, is working on weave poles. We have been concentrating on fast and fun weave poles and enterances. This has been a work in progess but is going along nicely. Now I just have to convince Dora she doesn't need the wires!

Well have a Happy Easter!

Isabelle adds another duty

If saving the world from the evil squirrels wasn't a full time job in itself. Isabelle has calmed down enough to add therapy dog to her duties. She is officially a TDI dog now!

We are looking into local venues for Belle to visit on a regular basis

If Dora hitting the obedience Circuit wasn't enough....

Isabelle Brown is making her first Rally debut with her Daddy! Look for them in the ring in April! I hope Isabelle does Jim proud and then he is bit by the performance bug! That would expand our training budget a lot further, let alone our showing budget!!!

I am not sure who I am going to be cheering on the loudest!

Our little girl is sure growing up! Go Dora Go!!!!

She is now officially entered in her first obedience trial. We are okay if either of us NQ's as we are both very green. Over the next month, we truly are going to train like crazy. So I don't do a left about turn during the heel and Dora doesnt down on a sit. She truly doesn't understand why there has to be two people working one dog. If the judget walked around with his own companion, she would be a lot happier!

Getting ready for Spring Trials

Next month are the two local trials in Columbus. Boy, do we have work to do! Last year, Dora did extremely well finishing 3 Rally titles! This year, Dora is going to do a few RAE legs (that is the highest Rally title there is!) and probably a CD leg. We have a lot of work with Stand for Exam and heeling still. Worst case scenario, we go in the ring too early and NQ. Dora tends to sit on the SFE when she gets nervous and the ring does bring a lot of nerves! I have truly realized heeling is something you ALWAYS are working on! But she is so smart, she picks things up rather quickly. I have learned to change my footwork to que Dora better.

Isabelle is also going to make her trial debut! We worked last night and did pretty well offleash. I was proofing her to not run over and bark at the judge. When Belle is offleash, she often thinks it is social time. She wants to visit with everyone. When she ran to my pretend judge- he yelled "go to your mommy" and she came running! I was very happy with her heeling. She is really starting to understand not just with mom but we are a team in the ring. I am still working on Belle's Daddy to show her in Rally Novice. I even offered to match her bow to his outfit ;)

We will also probably look for some summer trials that are only an hour or two away. It will be nice to have them playing in the Rally ring together so both can trial together.

Dora adds another wall fixture

My training club Columbus All Breed had their annual party. We took home a nice plaque with Dora's CGC, RN, RA, RE title attached. It was a pretty special event. I was there with a good friend that I started in puppy class with. Margaret is mom to Gizmo a black pug. We started in class together. Our girls are about 2 weeks apart in age so they have grown up together.

Havanese Rescue Inc has NEW MAGNETIC bumper stickers!

Help stop puppy mills!
Sport one of these on your car!
Visit www.havaneserescue.com

Dora is retackling the teeter!

We have kind of went back in our agility training and Dora is relearning a fun teeter. This has been in the works after lots of advice. We are keeping the teeter happy, a choice, and something not to be scared of, or acted sissy about! If you have any advice don't hesitate to tell us!

Tonight went well as I took really good garlicy Chicken. When I forgot how much garlic I used and placed it in my mouth, I wasn't into it but Dora was. She walked down the teeter while it was on two tables! I was very proud!

A week of playing in the snow

well for Dora at least! She loves the snow and training was canceled a few nights this week. Belle has daddy so wrapped around her finger that he went out and made trails for her so she could also play in the backyard.

Letter from God- An adorable post going around the internet! Warning get tissue first!

Letter from GOD

A little girl named Meredith had a 14 year old dog named Abbey, who died
last month (8/23).

This story is told by her mom.

The day after Abbey died, my 4 year old daughter, Meredith, was crying and
talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a
letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.

She dictated and I wrote:

"Dear God,

Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey? She died yesterday and
is in heaven. We miss her very much. We are happy that You let us have her
as our dog even though she got sick.

She likes to play with balls and swim before she got sick. I am sending some
pictures of her so that when you see her in heaven you will know she is our
special dog. But I really do miss her.

Love,
Meredith Claire

p.s.: Mommy wrote this for me after I told her the words.

We put the letter in an envelope with 2 pictures of Abbey, and addressed it to
God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Mer stuck some stamps on
the front (because, as she said, it may take lots of stamps to get a letter
all the way to heaven) and that afternoon I let her drop it into the letter
box at the post office.

For a few days, she would ask if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her
that I thought He had.

Yesterday, for Labor Day, we took the kids to Peoria to a natural
history museum.
When we got back, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front
porch.

Curious, I went to look at it. It had a white card on the front and said "To:
Meredith" in an unfamiliar hand.

Meredith took it in and opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, 'When a
Pet Dies'. Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to
God, in its opened envelope. On the opposite page, one of the pictures of
Abbey was tapped under the words "For Meredith."

We turned to the back cover, and there was the other picture of Abbey, and
this handwritten note on pink paper:

"Dear Meredith,

I know that you will be happy to know that Abbey arrived safely and soundly
in Heaven! Having the pictures you sent to me was such a big help. I
recognized
Abbey right away.

You know, Meredith, she isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me--just
like she stays in your heart--young and running and playing. Abbey
loved being your
dog, you know. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any
pockets! -- So I can't keep your beautiful letter. I am sending it to you
with the pictures so that you will have this book to keep and remember
Abbey.

One of my angels is taking care of this for me. I hope the little book
helps.

Thank you for the beautiful letter. Thank your mother for sending it. What
a wonderful mother you have! I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the
way, I am in heaven and wherever there is love.

Love, God, and the special angel who wrote this after God told her the
words.

We have a new Good Girl

Isabelle earned her CGC- Canine Good Citizen this morning. She proved she was a good little girl. With Belle, I was nervous she was a little to friendly! She can be known to demand attention and do whatever she needs to do to earn it! Well I was very happy and so were the tester. Belle was great and now we have a new title to add to her name!

To learn more about the AKC & CGC visit www.akc.org

Belle & Dora's Daddy accepted a new job

We will be moving to LA this fall or late summer. Belle and Dora will become "California Girls" maybe making their movie debuts!



We are going to get to expand our friend's list and find a new training club. With all this snow, I am sure the little maltese will be happy in LA! We might need to keep this move a secret from the snow hound Dora though!

We may be moving!

We are looking all around the country on where to relocate. We are thinking warmer as Isabelle would sure like that idea! Dora doesn't want to warm though- around 80F, Dora start panting and doesn't like to go for as long of walks (imagine that she comes from Cuba???) We would also like the area to be dog friendly- I would love to have another training facility close by.

I found Fetch pet care in columbus. I didn't want to kennel the dogs as Isabelle has some huge anxieties. If you are interested-we seemed to have found a great pet sitter that stays over night at our home!

Dora turns 2 !!!!

Wow, our little puppy sure has grown up fast! Dora turned 2 on January 27th. It feels like she just came home! We decided to celebrate her birthday with training friends and have human cake and liver cookies (Dora's request!) Isabelle was a bit upset when Dora received a present and she didn't so she decided to just take Dora's. One of the best parts of having obedience dogs is getting them to sit for photos with birthday hats on. If the ribbons and tricks weren't enough Thanks to everyone who was able to attend. We had a great time!

For all photos of the event click here

Current Training

Belle is currently taking time off from obedience training and focusing on solely learning attention. Isabelle is probably the most distracted dog in the world Being only a few inches of the ground, she has to combat heeling with cool things on the ground, people who may want to pet her, dogs that she can beat up, and most important food! If Belle sees someone treat their dog, she assumes they meant it to go to her!!! So we are taking an attention class.

Belle just finished a class on weave poles. This class really helps the dog speed up through the poles, enter the poles from all angles, and love the poles. This has really helped Belle look at this agility obstacle in a different light. I am going to also start working Dora with these new training practices.

Dora & Belle are both taking a regular agility class at this point. We have had a bit of a winter break but are now back into it!

Dora is also taking an offlead control class as her heeling offlead needs some work. We would like to really concentrate on obedience but Mommy isnt practicing enough with her! Hopefully life will start going smoother and start to change.

Dora adds R.E. to the end of her name!

This weekend we went up to E. Lansing to play in the ring. Dora's grandparents live there and she was able to play with her Uncle Fred (shih tzu) and Cousin T.J. (whippet). The first day, we left the ring both feeling good and we ended up with an 83... kind of an ouch! However, it was a hard course with a very difficult scoring judge. I kind of agreed with her though. Well there were a lot of NQ's and 70s and Dora ended up taking Second place. With our big shiny red ribbon, the next day, we were both off. I think as a Novice Handler I made the mistake of letting Dora play all day with her sister, cousin, and uncle. We went into the ring in the afternoon and Dora was barely moving. She was concentrating on everyone but me. Thank goodness she did most of the exercises and the honor dog. We finished our Excellent Title all under 23 months of age! Way to go Dora.

We will likely be taking a break, eventually doing the RAE with trials near us but focusing on the obedience and agility ring for a bit!

Dora finishes her R.A.

Dora took hte R.A. by storm placing twice of the three legs. So far no NQ's and a pretty picture to end it off! Her heeling has really started to come together. We do need to work on attention and we both need to become more confident. Not bad considering she is still under age 2 and we are both novice.

Dora's first R.A. leg!!!

Dora competed for her first Rally Advanced leg this weekend. I was pretty nervous as this new activity is completely offleash. Lots of room to run off and go play with the other puppies. She did excellent! Mommy actually messed up her foot work! We ended up taking third place coming away with a pretty ribbon and a nice toy! Dora ended up sharing steak with me afterwards to celebrate! Way to go Dora!!! Mommy was very very proud of you!

Havanese Rescue

We had our first rescue dog who Belle and Dora helped come along. He was quite darling and a lover right from coming into our home. He just needed to learn some manners-both doggy and human. All dogs deserve to have a home and Belle and Dora wanted him to have one too!!! He ended up finding a great home near us and we hope to keep in contact. If you ever find yourself looking for a dog visit www.petfinder.com as there are all kinds of dogs. Looking for a havanese visit www.havaneserescue.com as we personally know some great dogs who need homes there!

Belle doing agility !?$%

We got the post card in the mail. Isabelle can sign up for Agility I. In order to take the class, she actually has to listen to Mommy and pass a small obedience test!!! I had no question about Dora's abiity to do this 2 months ago. Now Isabelle is either totally on, or totally Isabelle. My good friend Mona always says "oh, come on, Isabelle is a good dog!" then she witnesses Isabelle act like a total nut. Isabelle seems to have major issues with dogs playing fighting, or simply being dogs. She also has issues with human's ignoring her. For instance, stand for exam is quickly followed with "hey buddy keep petting" which comes out "ROW WOW WOW!" really loud!

But we are going to get practicing for the test at the end of this month. Keep her on her toes and maybe a bit of rescue remedy and lack of food come test day!

Last month, I decided Isabelle is ready for Rally Novice. I took her to our usual friday night practice course. I took her off lead and kept small treats in my hand. I thought the fact of knowing Mommy had treats in her hand would be enough. We quickly got through the first 7 signs, Isabelle was totally on. In fact, she got so bored that after the halt, down, walk around, she added a roll over (that is totally belle!) Well then she got bored and realized the treats weren't coming and she darted out the baby gates (she jumps through the holes) and attacked a sheltie that must have been giving her funny looks! Not cute.... Mom immediately placed her butt in the crate after a firm correction! The thing is she loves going to the training center and socializing, playing, and training but the ADD quickly comes out!

Dora Quits Obedience & wants to Fly in Agility

So last night we did an Obedience Run through. Basically Dora quit on me. She decided to have no part of it. This was after recently being told to suck it up and enter Dora into competition. We get into the ring and she quits before getting in. So I have came to the conclusion, we will take a break from any idea of competition in formal obedience. Mommy's little girl gets to decide whether she wants swim lessons or piano lessons!

On the other hand, she had her first agility test. This was to test into the next level of agility class. She excelled. Never doing the chute on her own, she plowed through it. I was in shock and so proud. I wanted to quit right there and break out treats! But knowing that was 1 obstacle, we went on through the course... she refused the dog walk. She has never refused that before! Go figure, she thinks it is too easy. Well we are loving agility and she acts more confident with tail up and running like a mad dog! We are all over agility!

Two Toy dogs and Jump Heights!

Since we are doing a few activities at once and I have 2 toy dogs, it can get confusing when a trainer asks me "what is your jump height!" Just a reminder post....

Agility:
10" & under=8"
over 10" & under 14"=12"

Rally:
under 15"=8"


Obedience:
less 12 1/2"= 8"
12 1/2" to 15"=10"

One more little sticky note to carry around!

Dora is as graceful as her mommy!

This week, it was too hot to go outside so we didn't do agility (over 100F) but worked indoors on the jumps. I realized that Dora needs to do a jump to compete in Rally Advanced next month! So I was jumping her and an agility friend came in and told me I need to teach Dora how to jump correctly. He said that she doesnt know how to jump right? Basically she jumps all the jumps like she is doing a long jump.

I would imagine a lot of people have issues with this and here were some great recommendations from my havsreadsigns yahoo group:

1. Julie Daniel's agility book teaches jumps
2. www.flyingdogpress.com
There are tons of articles and an entire series on jumping. It starts off with the article titled "Why Flufy can't go Hup"
3. online subscription to clean run magazine
www.agilityaction.com

After looking at a few online articles and recommendations, I really liekd the idea of training the dog to jump. That sounds daunting at first (good luck trying to grab Dora and teaching her to go over a jump). However let her teach herself. Placing a few jumps only about 18 inches apart from each other so she has to go up and over, up and over, up and over. She will get a muscle memory from doing this and teach herself.

We still have to work on this as this week was a family vacation up to Michigan with the dogs!