A tribute to Katsura

On Friday, Katsura from Talemaker Havanese crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Kat would have been 15 in July. He was a beautiful champion show dog who produced beautiful puppies. Spicy is one of many pups who lost their canine dad. We are terribly sad. Those of you who have followed my blog over the years know that Talemakers are an extended part of our family. Darlah paid a wonderful tribute to Kat on her blog. Nathan also wrote a beautiful message. Below is an excerpt of his tribute to Katsura which I found very moving:

"We all learn at some point in our lives to deal with death. The world is falling apart around us with a global Pandemic and here we are mourning the loss of a dog, our Katsura. For those that are not dog people, stop reading now. You won’t understand our grief. I’m writing this to our Talemaker families and to everyone that shares their lives with a dog as a beloved member of their family. 
Yesterday afternoon we did the last good thing we could do for the dog that has been a part of our lives for so many years. We put him down. Writing, you cannot tell that tears are falling from my eyes as I type. You can but imagine (if you’ve been there yourselves) the pain and grief Darlah and I felt as we cradled him on his last journey at our side. This was our Kat".   

Kat was a great swimmer and I believe the first of the Talemaker Havanese to ever dive into a swimming pool. When Russell and I read his bio yesterday, we laughed at the following "Fun Tidbit" of Katsura: "he loves car rides and flirting with the girls. When the girls talk him into it, none of them can catch him at the classic Run Like Hell game except Spicy". Now we know where she learned to be such a pistol, from her canine dad.  I include some wonderful photos of Katsura, thank you Darlah for those.  Spicy sure got her good looks from her daddy. Rest in Peace beautiful Katsura.

All is good with us. Since my last blog, a lot has happened in Quebec in terms of COVID-19. All gyms closed, restaurants were asked to work at 50% capacity, schools closed, all until end of March. As of midnight tonight, these measures are extended to May 1 at least and new ones have been added.  No family gatherings, inside or outside. Restaurants are to close completely except for take-out and delivery. All hair/beauty salons, malls will close. This is just a summary of what was announced today. A big shout-out to our Premier, Francois Legault. His restrictions are difficult, some would say extreme, but will make a difference in the end. Bravo Monsieur Legault!

On the gym front, starting tomorrow, my fitness studio will provide 4 in-home video workouts per week. I also have access to the ones provided by Orange Theory. I actually did one yesterday and I got a good sweat. No equipment required other than soup cans for weight. I also use our pooches as weights for my plank and hip bridge. Creativity has no end. We have been going for walks and have actually seen more people walking. Kind of nice.

Bottom line, we must do our part if we want to contain and eliminate this virus. The nice weather is around the corner, so we can all be outdoors more and enjoy it. Not sure to what extent gardening centres will be open, time will tell I guess.

That's my blog for today. I wish you all a great week. As for us, we will continue to get used to the "new normal". Be safe, practice social distance and wash your hands!

Katsura...what a handsome fellow he was! R.I.P.

Kat contemplating his jump into the pool!

Tail up as a rudder...Katsura swimming to his human daddy.

Kat was the champion at diving into the pool but only
after Nathan was in the water...smart boy.

Kat in first gear on a 'run like hell' chase. Only Spicy is
faster!

Spicy was pleased to provide additional weight for
my hip bridge during a recent workout.

Cooper pitched in by adding his weight to my plank...
thanks Coop.