Holly the Havanese

I received some nice comments and a couple of emails about the little dog in my guest house table post, so thought I would "introduce" her!

Meet Holly!
 

Holly is a 5 lb purebred Havanese. My daughter came home one day in late fall of 2009 and asked for the 1,047th time if we could get a puppy. One of her friends had a pregnant dog and the puppies would be born in December. She got the usual "no way!" answer from her dad. (If it were up to me, I'd have many dogs.)

Later that evening, I asked her what breed of dog her friend had. When she said "Havanese" I assumed it was a designer dog that was part Maltese or Pekingese. So I googled it. 

The more I read about the Havanese breed, the more I became convinced that it was the breed for us! At this time, we had a 9-year-old miniature Schnauzer named Kramer and one of the reasons we chose his breed was for low shedding and allergies. 

My daughter didn't mention the puppies again after her first inquiry -- but I was hooked. They are not a common breed and relatively unknown. I started sending Hubby all the information I could find about the Havanese. He did agree that they were adorable. I talked about the Havanese every chance I had. He ignored my comments... I changed the computer desktop background to an adorable photo of a Havanese puppy. He changed it back...  

I was ready to give up on this group of puppies but we had decided that when we were ready for a new dog one day, we would definitely get a Havanese.

After a few days of not bombarding hubby with the usual stuff, I brought up the puppies again. To my utter surprise and shock his exact words were "Are all the puppies spoken for?" Bam! I knew we were going to get a puppy!! He doesn't ask something like this without having put a lot of thought into it first. 

So before he could change his mind (not that I would let him), I called and found out more information. They were due about mid-December and so far nobody had dibs on a puppy. I can't remember for sure now, but I think I yelled when I said "we'll take one!" over the phone. I was soooo excited! 

The "catch" : We were not telling our daughter about the puppy until Christmas. Even though the puppy would be a family dog, we were going to wrap up something to announce it at Christmas. Keeping this secret from her was so hard! She mentioned the puppies a few more times, but we told her since she was a senior in high school and going to college in less than a year, we simply were not getting a new dog.

We had to wait about three more weeks for the puppies to be born. Puppy Mom sent me photos the morning after their birth: 3 little boys and 1 little girl.
 

One day old and each puppy weighs about 6 ounces.

On Christmas Eve, K opens a few little gifts. We had wrapped up a book about the Havanese and two little dog bowls and a dog toy. It was in a small, unassuming box. We saved it for last. Watching her open this box and seeing the confusion, the disbelief and ultimately the pure happiness on her face was sooo much fun!

For the next few weeks, we flip-flopped back and forth between the girl puppy or a boy. Kramer was our first boy and we loved him so much. He was so playful and loaded with personality. However, we wanted K to pick the puppy when it was time... Hubby and I did get to visit the puppies a few times -- K was there almost every single day. She loved all of them!


About 5 weeks old and hanging out with their mom



K never did choose a puppy. A puppy chose her...

Her name was chosen because she was born close to Christmas. Her "puppy name" was Noel and her official name is "Holly Noelle."

She came home to live with us the first week of February 2010. We had a big homecoming for her and she adapted to her new home very quickly!

Holly's first day home!

First day home on her "blankie"

She has changed over the last year and has lost most of her coloring and is now almost all white. It's typical of the Havanese. Her brothers, who were so dark as puppies, are now also very light-colored dogs.

Holly and her little boyfriend, Chaco, who lives next door.

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