Recall is one of the most important things you can teach your puppy. We start teaching them the puppy call very early on so it is ingrained into their minds long before they go to their new homes. If they ever get off leash, the puppy call can save their lives. #puppytraining #hillsidehavanese
They got the “cinnamon rolls” open. That was a fun enrichment activity. The Starbuck’s litter is now in their new homes. #hillsidehavanese #dogenrichment
These are on sale at Costco this week. My dogs love stuffed toys, but they will destroy them pretty quickly. Kong stuffed toys usually last a little longer than most. #hillsidehavanese #dogtoys
Let’s get back to the fun stuff, puppies!! I got this cinnamon roll pan for enrichment. The epic fail part was leaving the “pan” part of it in the playpen. Leaving the tag on it didn’t help either. They became focused on the pan instead of the cinnamon rolls with the kibble enveloped inside. Once they got the cinnamon rolls out of the pan, they were able to focus on the task at hand. These pups are in their new homes now. #hillsidehavanese
Update on my mom. First off, thank you for all of the heartfelt well wishes for my sweet mama. She is doing amazing now. The doctors were amazed at how well she was getting around right after surgery. Our biggest challenge has been her dementia. As many of you know who have had a loved one inflicted with this horrible disease, any change in environment can make the situation much worse. At one point in the hospital, she didn’t recognize me. That was difficult. We couldn’t keep her in the rehab center as she just wasn’t having it, so my dad brought her home after one night there. It has been challenging for her to remember to use her walker, but so far she is continuing to get stronger daily. I think we are on the upswing now and I can breathe a sigh of relief. Thank you for your patience in getting back to some of your messages. I’m back home now and getting back to my regular schedule. 💕
Can’t you just see the love? It’s the simple things in life, the moments like this that mean so much!
The piggy is always a hit with the pups! Adding new sounds and motion for their daily experience. #hillsidehavanese #puppies #puppiesofFacebook #havanese
Sometimes it is hard to do what I do. There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes that we don’t show on a daily basis, like laundry, so much laundry!! I have gone through many washing machines since I started doing this. The amount of cleaning is crazy. Worrying about the pups and trying to choose the very best homes for them. Judgements from certain groups of people and there are a lot of them. And the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do or I wouldn’t do it, but there is a lot more to it than puppy kisses and playtime. My “why” is the smiles on the kid’s and parent’s faces when they see the puppy for the first time. It’s knowing that this puppy is going to bring so much joy to this family. Unfortunately, some will say it’s for the money. I used to work 3 days a week as a dental hygienist. In those 3 days, I made way more than I do now. After all of my expenses for food, health testing, enrichment, vet bills, registration, and supplies, supplies, supplies, there really isn’t much left. It is also 24/7. My husband doesn’t like to leave our dogs with a dog sitter, so vacations are few and far between. But my “why”! There’s just not much in life that can beat my “why”! 💗
We introduce the pups to a new experience daily. It may be something small like a new toy or large like car rides. This is all part of the socialization phase that lasts until they are 12 weeks old. The piano mat is yet another new surface and of course adding in the sound. They were all on the mat and curious about the sound, but we had to remove it fairly quickly because they thought it would be fun to tear it up. 😂 #hillsidehavanese #havanesepuppies
Leaves,sticks and chase. Oh my, what fun! Notice how Chai tries to jump off the back of the slide onto Mocha and Mocha moves out of the way. 😂 Hillside Havanese
Car rides are a multi step process. We start out when they are pretty young by putting them in the car and turning the engine on while feeding them yogurt. Then we will go part way down our lane and turn back. Eventually, we take them around our area and into town. The white on the crate is from the yogurt. These guys settled shortly after the video. I have found that driving styles and different cars make a difference in their experiences with the car rides. When my husband drives, he tends to stop and start abruptly, making some of them car sick. When my kids come home, I use their cars and they hardly ever get sick. My car is older and doesn’t drive as smoothly, so it takes longer for them to get used to it. Taking them before they have a full stomach and after a play session so they are tired also helps. By following these steps, we have very few pups that get car sick. Of course there are exceptions, but it is rare.
Their favorite toys at this age are the snake and the pink monkey. They love the sound the snake makes and the monkey is fun to play tug with. They are great for sensory and are easily carried around. As they get a little older, these toys would not last long though.
