Books for Havanese Owners

While the puppies continue to grow and explore their ever expanding worlds I thought I’d offer up some suggested reading material.

My list of books is always expanding.

1. My latest purchase was “From Nose to Tail” by Noel Hynds and Suzanne McKay, written in collaboration with the Havanese Fanciers of Canada. If you are going to keep your puppy in a full coat this book is a must! If you are going to keep him in a puppy cut this is a great book to show your groomer and to help you maintain your puppy’s coat. Here is the link to order the book online: http://www.havanesefanciers.com/nosetotailbook/

 2. Another helpful book is “The Joyous Havanese” by Kitty Braund. Kitty is considered one of the foremost authorities on the Havanese breed. She was kind enough to allow me to be Phoebe’s human! Phoebe is from Kitty’s last litter before she retired from breeding at the young age of almost 90! “Joyous Havanese” is available from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

 3. “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats” is a long title for a book that has been one of my bibles as a dog owner. When I don’t have 16 puppies running around I cook several recipes from this book for my dogs. Generally I will feed them a mix of 1/2 top quality kibble and 1/2 Dr. Pitcairn’s recipes. He also covers a number of health-related issues, all from a holistic perspective.

4. If you are interested in natural nutrition for your dogs another reference is “Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats” by Kymythy R. Schultze. It just offers another perspective on the subject.

And then, if you enjoy reading you might pick up one of Elizabeth Marshal Thomas’s books. She has written several about animals but her two dog titles are wonderful. “The Social Life of Dogs” and “The Hidden Life of Dogs” both helped me understand my canine friends much better.

Lots of Helpers

The wonderful thing about my breeding program is all the helpers I have. With sixteen to keep track of, it is almost a necessity. Plus the pups get used to all kinds of voices, smells and sensations. Wonderful for socializing. Alex and Michael came over yesterday to help me name our Independence Day pups. Here are some photos.

Alex bottle feeding Blaze

Michael napping with Sparky

Phoebe’s pups…6 girls on the left; 2 boys on the right

This is our modified English Shepherd whelping box. It is large enough for mother and daughter to share. I just added a few bumpers in the middle. It will be good for about two more weeks. Things change quickly in this world of puppies!

So Many Puppies–So Little Time

My days are filled with changing towels, changing newsprint (I use the clean newsprint that U-Haul sells as packing paper), feeding and bathing the grown-ups. I LOVE IT!

Daughter Jenny nursing one of our preemies

All the puppies are growing by leaps and bounds. I am still bottle feeding Maxi’s two little ones and Phoebe’s two smallest ones though they are not nearly the size of Maxi’s preemies. It just gives them an edge since they often lose out to the bigger pups at the teats.

Don’t you wonder what is going through his little mind?

Two of Maxi’s pups eyes have opened partially. They are the largest pup with the full white blaze and the littlest pup with the forked blaze. The rest should be open in the next day or so. Generally their ears open about the same time so the sensory input for these little guys is huge this week.

Maxi has pretty much got the hang of this part now.

Today was manicure day for Maxi’s pups. They are two weeks old now (can you believe it?) and by gently handling their paws and getting them used to the clip-clip-clip…this process will be much less traumatic for them as adults. I use a human baby nail scissors at this stage. Their nails are tiny and they are also very sharp so I know Maxi will be very grateful!

Just think. Next week I get to trim 64 paws! I better keep the whole morning open.

Phoebe’s pups at five days old…so much stronger than Maxi’s thanks to their later arrival.

How sweet are these babies?