Back home from Mauritius

The pic above shows the reality here, at home. The pic below shows how reality looks like for others living 12 hours flight away and having right now about 45°C higher temperature. They complain about heat, we are freezing. We all complain about the weather no matter where we live. Human nature.

I felt happy being on Mauritius and tried to make the best of my free time. I loved swimming in still lagoons, listening to birds intense twitter, admired the marine life of the nearest coral reef and enjoyed the company of my dear friends.

I even took the book about competition psychology with me and studied it thoroughly. Did not have the time to do it at home.

But even if I enjoyed every minute of my vacation I was happy to return home. I missed my kids and my dogs and my hobby. Just few hours after we came home I took part in a training competition in a cold riding hall. It was fun, despite the low temperature as the atmosphere was warmed up of all friendliness from people sharing the same interest. I love being a part of the team!

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 I have to complain about the weather though. I really had hoped for some kind of spring when we returned. Instead we have got delayed winter and a real one! Plenty of snow and freezing cold with temperatures dropping below - 15°C during nights. This is not fun at all, as I cannot train the dogs outside. Luckily I have a warm training hall booked once a week through the whole March. Better than nothing...

But spring is coming soon without doubt! The days are much longer and the sun rays feel warm already. It won´t take a long time now!

Another winter month has passed

Soon the light will return to our neglected part of the world. No complaints about the weather, it could have been much much worse. Of course it depends on what one expects. Those who wanted to have real winter must have been disappointed so far. We had just one cold period, with snow and minus degrees over few days during Januari and the other one started today. But otherwise mild and dog training-friendly weather with too much rain though.

I have taken some winter pictures and I am satisfied. Today I even walked the dogs over a frozen lake but I was not so comfortable with that as I usually am when the weather is really cold.

No special events during the past month. I took a part in a lecture about competing psychology and bought a book which I intend to study during our vacations 2 weeks in Februari. I hope it will work and I will be able to start competing without anxiety in the future.

The only thing worrying me is Rudas constant negative attitude towards the cat. Over two months have passed and I really hoped for some habituation. I cannot see any changes. She still shows a lot of stress while near him and it is almost impossible to reach her to train this behaviour away. She does not hurt him in any way but cannot relax in his presence. Prima is no longer bothered and even shows playing invitations. She follows me outside when I take Xenon for walks and she plays around with her toys. 

Well, while we are away the cat will stay with my son in law and when we come back I will see how it works. If the situation does not change until Ruda will be mated I cannot keep Xenon here. I would not like her to be stressed while she is pregnant. Fortunately all my children are very charmed by this cat so he has a lot of homes to choose between. And he does not mind moving around at all either. But I will miss him terribly!

I hope my next post will be much more colorful. We are going away to Mauritius for our winter holidays and I will certainly take some pictures. Meanwhile Ruda will get some rest from the cat and hopefully change the attitude. Which I do not believe in at all but very strongly hope for!

Last day of 2017, first day of a New Year

Time flies. Christmas holiday is over, a New Year just hours ahead.

Time for reflection over the year that passed and plans for the coming one. I usually don`t give planning much time. I maybe should, but I am kind of a daydreamer.

My youngest son says we should put our goals on the paper, every day. He says it makes the brain focus on the ways to achieve them. I suppose this should be my New Year promise to myself?

About the doggies - they are doing very well.

Prima has become 2 years old. Ruda was recently shown on the annual Swedish Winner Show, she got an EXC, CQ and res-CACIB, but the most important thing is that both have made an extraordinary progress in their obedience training, comparing with last year.

The weather has been kind to us. We have had just single days with snow in December. The others are dark as nights and often rainy. But it means also that the temperature is just above 0 and I can train outside without freezing.

Regarding the training we are working on details and persistence lately, all excercises are learned and clear. Love working with details, hate working with persistance! I know I have to do it as one cannot reward the dogs during an obedience trial but I still don´t have enough of self discipline myself. It is such a joy for me to reward the dogs for well done excercises, it seems I cannot live without it...  

Next year I will have to break out from my comfort zone and compete with both and get reward for the job I had done myself!

The kitten is growing nicely. In the end he´s got a name and is called Xenon. Inside he comes every time I call his name, when we walk outside he is too focused on other things and does not listen. But he does not run away but watches all the small details around him carefully. 

Ruda is still very excited when around him. If Xenon rests she sleeps peacefully but when he is awake she walks ( actually sneaks ) around him. I suppose she would like him to start running so she could chase. But he does not run. He is a very cool cat.

JANUARY 1st, 2018

First day of a new year. Like every other day of the year but I am extremly happy we made it through yet another New Year´s Eve. I hate that madness with the fireworks that almost blow away the roof of our house. I think about the animals, not only our pets but all of them sharing the space around and wonder who the hell gives us the right to destroy their life more than we already do? An for what reason?

Every year I hope the Government of this animal loving country would ban this stupid trdition and forbid the fireworks, but nothing happens! They just boast they have the best animal welfare laws in the world and at the same time allow to abuse the animals, both pets and wild, in the name of a stupid game! And my hope that people would understand, have empathy and choose silent celebration by themselves is gone now...It´s getting worse every year...

I live outside town, at a border of a huge National Park with lots of wilde life. We have 3 horse stables in the neighbourhood, many people living here have dogs and cats, there are not many houses. Yet it was just an inferno this year at midnight! And still, though it is late afternoon, the single explosions are heard. My dogs aren´t afraid normally but this time I saw they were disturbed and sought the close contact with me to feel safe. And we were inside, protected by the thick walls and shut windows. Where can the wild animals find a safe shelter? We have taken their environment, why can´t we treat them with respect? I am so upset! So upset I can´t think of anything else!

First snow and a new family member

Just few days after I entered my last post the very first snow for the year covered the ground and was washed away by the rain two days later. I enjoyed the beauty of the pure white world around me as I knew it would quickly disappear. For once the weather forecast was right.

Much more exciting thing happened over a week ago. Our house has been invided, at least in the eyes of the dogs, by a wonderful creature, a Maine Coon kitten without a name yet. Kraken is his official name but the whole family decided it was not appropiate name for such a sweet fellow.

The dogs have shown lots of interest in the new family member. Too much in my opinion. Especially Ruda. Border is calm. I am sure she would help in case Ruda would get a chance to chase the cat but otherwise she just stays out of the trouble. Ruda is excited, follows the cat and waits for him to run away. Spends a lot of time watching him. But the cat is super cool and does not run. Just in the contrary- he is more and more curious and seeking the contact. Coming close to Ruda and touching her with his huge paws. And then she stands still, totally paralyzed. I suppose it is going to take long time before I can trust her. If ever. It´s like a cat-hating spirit of Beerta is still dwelling in Ruda´s body! But I have to try, I missed having cat around so much!

The house has been divided into two parts, though the Cat can always jump over to the dog side. I have to watch them when we are at home. But it is worth it. We have the whole winter ahead before the kitten will be allowed to go outside. I hope the dogs will get used to him by then. 

In the meantime I´m trying to have some kind of life now even if the strongest urge is to dig a hole under the ground and hibernate. Not much quality in my life right now because of the cold and rain and darkness and depression trying to get hold of one. But I know I will survive until sprintime. I always do. Getting out as much as I can to train and walk the dogs and admire the beauty around. Playing with the cat. Trying to find positive sides in everything. They are there, I know.

Winter getting closer

November has been pretty mild so far. Some sunny days, some rainy, lots of cold nights but still no snow. Happy about that. 

We are able to train outside still but the sessions are shorter as I freeze constantly. Sometimes I have the oppotunity to use a drill-hall near my house, sometimes I train details inside and in this way we plan to defy the disadvatage of living so far North. Later, when the snow comes, the only way would be to hire a dog training hall, which is quite expensive in the long run.

November is usually a dull month, but this year it offered an adventure I would never forget. Some time has passed since then but I still shiver when I think about it. I was asked by my friend Christel to take care of Compis, future father of my planned litter, over a weekend. The dog has known me from the time he was just a puppy and as we sometimes train together he is comfortable with my dogs as well. I thought it was such a nice opportunity to get to know him better so I agreed with joy. He was left at our job and followed me home without problems. He jumped out from the car and entered the house by himself, got some treats, begged for food at dinner and acted better than expected. Until it was time to go out for a walk. I usually let my dogs out first to avoid crowding at the door. We have a very good fence around the property, so I let them go together with Compis. When I went outside I could not see him. I called but he did not come. I tried to tempt him with very good treats, all in vein. I saw him trotting around soundless like a shadow probably testing the possibilities to run away but he did not find any. Just when I decided that the best thing is to leave him alone I saw him crawl under the gate and disappear behind it. I never thought he could make it, being such a big dog! I thought I would die at that moment. I tried to run to the house but my legs were very weak. Once inside I called Christel. She was some 550 km away but said she would come. We did not have a choice. He was looking for her. She came in the middle of the night, walked around the area to leave a message to him, slept few hours and we walked and called few hours in the morning. He came back. Was litterally waiting for us outside the gate, the very same he crawled under. Can´t remember what I was feeling then though I remember I cried and laughed at the same time. What a relief! 

There might be some puppies after all !😂

We were trying to understand his behaviour. The only explanation I could think of was the fact that our boys, who he does not know, were outside when I let the dogs out. Maybe he felt the sudden urge to reunite with his owner then? Rather than face the unknown people? Anyway the most important thing was that he was back! Like most missing dogs he came back to the very same place where he disappeared from. But this time his mom was there. He knew that, he is a tracking dog!

Well, I hope life will save me from this kind of surprices, even when they end well. I admire Christel and her wonderful calm attitude. I am grateful to everyone who offered help but first of all I am fascinated by the complexity of dogs behaviour!

Holiday memories

The picture above will be my strongest memory of our fall vacation in Poland. Maybe because I never expected that Ruda , a Laekenois, would enjoy herding so much and Prima, a Border Collie would rather watch from the distance than get involved. My dogs wil never stop surprising me!

But lets go back to the beginning of our journey.

Instead of flying we took a ferry to Poland. Partly because we had the dogs with us, partly because it was much easier to move around in our own car.

The first stop was made on the Baltic sea coast on the Polish side. I love the wide, sandy beaches, completely empty at this time of year. The weather wasn´t the best but I had dreamed of streching my legs after the long night in a little cabin on the boat. We had a very nice walk.

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A clear difference between an always raised Belgian Shepherd and an always lowered Border Collie

Our next activity was a 5 days long herding training at Pastuszkowo, a farm with sheep, goats, sheepdogs and other animals owned by a passionate young woman who left a noisy big-city life and made a brave move to the countryside. A beautiful and peaceful place where all the daily struggles would be forgotten and every single moment enojoyed immensly.

While working with the dogs, talking to all the wonderful people I met and just sitting and watching the others I was contaminated with desire to run away from my current life and find such a place for myself.

I was very proud of Ruda, acting like a herding dog already on the very first day and puzzled about Prima, not showing any interest before the very last day. Maybe she just needs more time? I hope I can give her another chance some day!

We rented a big and comfortable room with a kitchen in a nearest village. A cosy and quiet place surrounded by open fields where we could take long walks. I even managed to train some obedience on the lawn in front of the house.

Eventually we even got some sunny evenings. Not often but I was not upset about the weather. We had wonderful time anyway. The countryside was beautiful and woods full of mushrooms, some of them real beauties!

The next goal was to drive to the south of Poland, where I come from originally, and visit family and friends. 

I must praise my dogs. Always quiet, friendly and well behaved anywhere we go. They stay where I ask them to stay, they put up with all these people petting them all the time and sleep under tables in restaurants, totally unseen. I really cannot understand how on earth I managed to make them like that!

In my hometown there was time for walks in the mountains, some training and lots of visits to different places. And both girls decided to start their season exactly the same day!  If I did not plan the litter with Ruda I might have been annoyed by the fact that it was at least 2 weeks earlier than expected. But this time I was just happy. The panties were purchased and we managed to keep the floors clean.

Now there is a silent hope for an early season next year so the puppies will be born in the beginning of summer!

We even managed to visit Cracow and walk around the Old Town where my dogs were treated as some kind of tourist attraction.🙂 Both American and Russian tourists stopped to make pics with them!

After few sunny days in Wadowice and Cracow there was time to move on to Warsaw, our last stop.

The weather changed to rainy and we did not see much of the sun until we left Poland. While in Warsaw I lived in a rented appartment in a quiet area near a wonderful forest where we could walk for hours.

Some parts of the forest were magical!

But getting the dogs clean after such walks was a nightmare! I used clean water from the ditches to rinse off the dirt and towels I had with me. Somehow we managed to leave the place fairy clean anyway. It´s so important to show the landlords that they can rent a flat to people travelling with dogs without taking too much of a risk!

I met a friend training obedience in Warsaw, went for a long walk with her and her dogs. We hoped for some training together but it was raining heavily. Hopefully she will come and visit us next summer! Hopefully the weather will be on our side then!

So after few days of family visits and fighting against mud and dirt we headed back home. We saw full moon on the ferry and hoped for a change in weather on the other side of the sea. But no, this must be such a fall that makes even the mushrooms rot!

 We get sun glimpses sometimes of course but otherwise it just rains and rains and rains. The only joy for the eye are the bright colors of the falling leaves. All water depots are filled properly so I really hope the raining will cease soon!

Now I would like to go back to training as soon as the girls are over their season which should be very soon! I do not dream about sunshine but I hate to be soaked with water!

The fall has come

Time flies inexorably. The fall has come with rains, colors changing from green to yellow and red and lots of mushrooms in the forest. Days are getting shorter.

I do not panic yet. It is the very best training season of the year. The temperature is just right both for me and the dogs and there are a lot of activities at the dog clubs after the summer break.

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Some exciting things have taken place. First av all Ruda completed her mental test and did not show fear for gunshot. I knew she was "shot proof" but it is always more complicated in real as the shots come in the end of the test. Belgians have rather reactive nervous system which gets really aroused during the whole test. And then, after a lot of scary experiences the four shots come from a very short distance. I myself jumped up though I knew they were coming. I think I must have the nerves of a Belgian Shepherd. Ruda looked at the man shooting wondering why he did so much fuss. She was rather puzzled.

But the test was also the last thing we needed for breeding. And now it´s done! And the breeding plans are made for next year!

Next exciting event was a very first competition with Prima. I was fed up with training for the lowest class. My worst nightmare was retieving of the object. Not because Prima has any problems with retrieving but the way it is carried out. In the lowest class the wooden dumbbell is placed on the ground between the handler and the dog. The dog is supposed to run quickly, pick it up and continue running to bring it to the handler. I have been training hundreds of times. If I focused on speed she wouldn´t be able to pick up the dumbbell properly, risking dropping it, if I trained the clean gripping she would be slow. That´s why my only ambition was to get enough points to move to the next class where retrieving is much, much easier for my dog. And so we did! Prima got 180,5 points ( of 200 possible) which was more than enough. I am very proud of her!

But I am not proud of myself and I did not feel happy with the result. Actually I was completely drained of all feelings. I was so nervous during the trial I thought I would faint. And this is such a pity! My dogs are so well prepared before I enter any competition that I just should walk in there and enjoy the moment! But I cannot! The only thing I feel is death anxiety with my legs shaking and my heart beating hard and my brain totally absent. I am more ballast than a help to them! And yes, I have been trying to work on it for a long time now and some competition were better than others and I thought I was over it, but now I do not know anything anymore and I just want to quit!

Of course I know I will continue because training dogs is the best part of my life and I do not give up so easily but I just have to find a way to skip this terrible anxiety that poison the competitions for me. I train for the results and the only way of knowing how good we are is to compete...

With Prima being quite ready for class 1 and Ruda for class 2 I suppose I will have to enter another competition soon. I can wait until spring though...

Maybe my state of mind has something to do with being extremely worn out. I need to rest from my demanding work so next week we are leaving to Poland for 2,5 weeks long vacation. The dogs are going with us and the first thing being planned is the 5 days herding course for both Prima and Ruda. 

Whatever it will bring it will be a new experience for all of us and a wonderful relief from every day distress for me!

Wonderful summer continues

Another month has passed. I read people around the country have been complaining about the weather for being too rainy and too cold. Here around Stockholm we had sun, lots of sun, so much sun that we were desperate to get some rain. We had to water our plants in the garden every second day. And they have been growing like crazy. We have all the veggies we need and lots of berries, all organic and tasty. The rain came this weekend and it was very welcome.

Yesterday I took Ruda and Prima to the annual Begian Shepherd Club show. Ruda got excellent but not CQ, the judge wanted her to have more furnishings on the head. I was a bit upset about the judge who´s only criteria was the amount hair on the dog´s face and I mean it was much more important than any other qualities like body structure and the shape of the head. It felt like a bad joke!

I expect the judges at the specialty would at least read the breed standard!

This is Rudas critique.

Anyway I had a nice time with other Laekenois owners and managed to train some obedience with Christel and Compis after the show. In my opinion Compis should have won the best male title. But he also had too little hair on the head...

Vajert Compis Cracker

I believe he will be a very good match for my Ruda though.

With or without face furnishings!

Otherwise nothing special happens. The summer is about enjoying every moment of the best time of the year. To feel alive and free! 

We go for long walks in the forest, we swim as much as we can and see after Orca as her owners are on vacation.

I take care of the garden and consume a lot of fresh veggies.

We try to train every day. When it is too hot I go to the nearest club on early mornings. Even a short training is better than nothing. We are getting more and more flow in our sessions. I enjoy it and so do the dogs. I think I have to start thinking about competitions soon!

But first of all I just live the life and enjoy the company of my dogs, being outside most of the time and the beauty of the nature around. Life is good!