First snow

After lots of rain the first snow arrived lighting up our dark environment for some days. It´s gone now but I enjoyed its first visit. It always awakes childish joy in me for a while before I get tired of all the annoying sides of the fact. Like for example that snow tends to turn into ice and makes every days training outside difficult or impossible. Or that temperature drops much below my comfort zone.

But first days were wonderful and it was delightful to see the sun after such a long absence. Long walks in beautiful scenery worked well and first training in the hired training hall was nice.

Ruda has been stripped now and is easy to keep dry and clean. I know some Laekenois breeders and owners being against stripping but for me and Ruda this is the best solution. Both during the summer when she swims a lot and during rainy winter when she is about to rot and never dries.

Prima is making progress learning her new exercises for the new obedience class. The best reward for her work is a stick from a forest. Very convenient and cheap toy one would say. But not always safe! Few weeks ago we had to put some stitches under her tongue where a stick had caused a big wound. Just few hours after the treatment she walked in the forest, still unsteady on her feet after anaesthetics, with a stick in her mouth…She will never learn…

Basqas furnishings has become more visible while frozen LOL

She is still here, I do not know when Christine can come and collect her but I hope it will be soon. Better for her to get to know her new family as soon as possible. I know dogs have wonderful ability to adjust to new people and new conditions but I feel sorry for her and guilty about my decision of letting her go…Fortunately she does not know anything about it!

Even Xenon enjoyed first snow. I thought he was not even thinking of going out but he just run around there and was happy as a little puppy!

In the middle of November a new family member arrived to our place. A red tabby Maine Coon kitten called Rost ( rust in English) a happy, brave and social creature that has soon become a whole family sweetheart. And Xenons best pal!

But our joy is being destroyed by the fact that we quickly noticed there was something wrong with little Rost. He has very good appetite and is very playful and does seem to be perfectly well but his belly is swollen and he is too little for his age. There is a terrible, lethal disease among cats that is called FIP. We are afraid he has got it. It is impossible to test directly but the indirect tests seem to confirm it. There is nothing that can be done except to wait and see if this develops. Or hopefully not!

I watch him closely with a heavy heart and really hope he will survive!

The leaves are falling

The fall has arrived. November feels like a longest month of the year! Yet today we have had quite a lot of sunshine and could spend most of the day outside. Hope November will spoil us with many days like this one.

The trial season is over for me this year. I only partly achieved what I had planned, or rather hoped for, but I learned a lot. First of all, and hardly surprising, I learned that I have to stay focused and cool. I have to trust my dog and our training and behave self confident. Then my dogs will perform on top level.

Not even once (of 5 competitions) I got a first prize with Ruda during the season because of my silly mistakes. There was always something missing, once just only few points. During last two trials I remember that one exercise I ruined by giving her a wrong command ( the one I use for Prima) which made her confused and then the next one I ruined because I did not see the ring I was supposed send the dog to. It was dark and the ring was invisible. I hesitated, asked for assistance and when I finally saw it Ruda felt my hesitation and did not start…

The others who competed that evening did not see the ring either but sent their dogs anyway. They said afterwards that the judge could not see it either…Right! She could not as she stood ever far away! Why could´t I think like them? It was Belgian Shepherd Championships and I was extra nervous about it. I did not think at all…But actually it was just another trial only in bad conditions. It was dark, wet and cold. All the other disciplines were carried out during daytime, but obedience and rally obedience was scheduled for the evening. Not fair at all!

I should be happy she managed to be focused through the whole programme despite bad conditions, late evening and nervous handler. She has been a wonderful partner and I hope we can show the world how good we are next year!

Prima got another chance to show how good she is and she made the best of it! Got 283 points of 320 and moved to the next class. I was very satisfied with the result of course but most pleased about her behaviour! She was focused, happy and precised. Just like during our training. There is hope for the future after all!

Now I am training the new exercises with her which makes me so full of joy! I can reward her as much as I wish which has always been the best part of dog training, not only for my dogs but for me as well. But I hope I learned also that I have to train endurance as often as possible!

Now about the third member of the pack, the trouble maker and sweet pie Basqa. I competed with her in start class once, just to see how it goes. Well, she got 147 points out of 200, she has performed all exercises but in low tempo and sometimes I had to give her a second command. She was clearly disturbed by the people who are usually present on the training ground during competition - the judge and the helpers. I did not train her in such conditions but I actually did not plan any starts with her this season. So she was OK anyway.

This dog is really giving me a hard time! She ruins our walks by jumping on us and making so much noise I just want to murder her instantly! BUT! She is getting so much better on the training ground! She is so sweet and cosy! BUT! When she is around children I cannot trust her! Not even with my granddaughter though she grew up with her! And she growls and barks at some people and strange dogs….BUT! I can easily break her bad behaviour by asking for her attention so she is not an idiot!

I do not really know what I should do with this one. I had decided for letting her go to another family some time ago. But I am not sure anymore…Nothing happened during the first 6 weeks I had an ad on the homepage of our Belgian Shepherd Club. Last two weeks I answered many mails and had some telephone conversation with people who were interested. I refused those who had small children. In the end there were 2 possible matches available when Christine Bouchat from kennel d’Eroudur contacted me saying she would like to have her. She would place her with a good family and another Laekenois in Belgium and eventually use her for breeding. She saw her when we were in Holland and liked her…

So what do I do now? I tried to scare Christine away telling her Basqa was not good for breeding and they would have to collect her personally but Christine is not so easy to change when she decides something. Well then. I cannot refuse her, she is a biggest breeder and very dedicated. And she is my friend. And I do believe Basqa has some qualities that should be passed to next generation. And when I asked Christel, Compis owner, she agreed as well. So now everything is settled. As soon as Christines puppies leave she and her husband will come and stay here for few days to get to know Basqa. And then take her with them…

Last night I had a terrible dream about Basqa running away from her new home and disappearing. Like another dog, Robin, that Christine placed in Germany. I could not sleep so well afterwards… And today she was a star during obedience training! I am full of mix feelings, deep inside I do not want to let her go but then she does something that shows how difficult it will be to keep her here. Both for me and the dogs…

So my mind is divided into two parts and my heart broken into two pieces. She is my baby after all!

The trial season has begun

The summer is over, days are getting shorter and colder. Perfect time for intensive training as both me and the dogs are a bit affected by high temperatures. We have been very active lately and I thought the time was ripe to test our skills in obedience trials. I have started twice already with both dogs.

First out was Prima. The dog that in training shows both power and speed was difficult to recognise. We competed twice in class 2 and did not get enough points to be able to proceed to the next class. On the first trial because of her making a mistake and on the second trial because of my mistake. Mistakes happen sometimes and that´s not worrying me though she was very well prepared. What concerns me much more is her attitude. There is no joy and no engagement in her performance. She carries out her exercises but with an attitude of a beaten dog. I have a feeling that most of all this dog, that loves to perform with me, wants to leave the ground…

I am trying to understand why she acts like this. There might be a possibility that she knows that on trial she will not get the rewards. I don’t really believe in this theory because last time we competed was a year ago. She cannot remember that. Unfortunately the only theory I believe in is that her behaviour is the response to my stress. She is a very sensitive dog. And I am always stressed when I compete. Sometimes more and sometimes less but some anxiety is and always will be there. I cannot help it and I cannot prepare her for that as I am never stressed in training situation…

Well, we will see if I find a method of making her finding joy when working with a stressed handler or do I have to give up competing with her???

Then we have Ruda. Two competitions in class 3. Both times she gets 0 points for 2 exercises. One of them her favourite. But with Ruda I do not have any doubts that it will get better. Class 3 is rather complicated, a long programme and many small details a dog can miss. But she tries her best all the time! She is with me, she is active, she is dedicated! We are a team and it feels so right! I think I´m not even so stressed anymore!

So with her I have hope. She is a bit uncertain in one exercise but I think she will be perfect in no time.

Thankfully I have a friend to train with, Anne with Border Collie Alvin in the same class but much more experienced. We try to train together a couple of times every week and she has always some ideas of what can be done to tackle the difficulties we have. So grateful for that!

The plan is to compete soon again with Ruda and enter a double competition with both dogs in the middle of October.

Little Basqa, although very speedy in every day activities is rather slow in obedience exercises when there are other people around. Though she is well prepared for the beginner class she needs some more training with different disturbances before I can compete with her. We have been training mostly alone and I focused mostly on older dogs so I plan to do a little more advanced training with her when I finish competing for this year.

My life is very simple but rather full of activities right now. I work only occasionally nowadays which means I have more time for the dogs. I could do more but my spine limits my possibilities. And then there is a big house to take care of and the family life requires some care as well. I wish I was younger LOL!

The only unusual thing we did lately was a journey to the West Coast to meet Primas breeder and some other Border Collie owners. Wonderful time spent with nice people at a beautiful place! I hope I can make it again next year!

Here at home we had first frost last night. Some of my veggies couldn’t cope with that very well. We still have beans and squash out there in the garden. The plum trees are full of fruit this year. Have to deal with that before winter comes. I hope though it will take long time before it gets really cold. At least until the trial season is over!

Wonderful summertime

It´s raining. And it makes me happy. It makes my plants happy. We have been waiting for rain quite a while. Let it rain, I am tired of hot sunny days as I cannot train the dogs then. I just hope it will stop raining in time. In this country raining might last for weeks and then it´s not fun anymore . But right now it´s just what we all need.

We eat lots of our own veggies, spend most of the time outside and thrive. I enjoy the company of my summer guest Ala, my cousin and best friend. I even use her as a helper on a dog training ground! Though she comes from Warsaw and does not speak Swedish she has learned a lot of commands and is very helpful.

I still have to do a lot of training before I feel safe to start in the highest class but the progress has been made. I even decided to let a very clever trainer to try us out and make the judgement. It will be very interesting to see how Ruda copes with this long and difficult programme.

Yesterday we even went to the local dog show and a respectful judge gave her an Exc, CQ and BOB. And she really enjoyed the show as it was outside, she was really alert and her ears were up all the time! Very positive experience for a dog which does not really like to show herself, especially indoors.

I showed Basqa as well. She just got a VG as she is not mature enough ( well, she cannot be being just 14 months old, can she?). I entered her in Junior class and she should be judged as junior, should´t she? She has got a very nice critique though and behaved well except the part the judge wanted to see her teeth. She kept her lips tightly closed and backed so in the end I had to show her teeth myself. We have to train on that daily!

Otherwise she is as she is. Very sweet and very annoying alternately. Possessive, noisy, soft and cuddly. Her training shows slow progress as she has to focus on so many things around her! I have X-rayed her hips and elbows and they are excellent so now it would be best time to find her a new home, but so difficult to announce her! I plan to do this every day but would I ever?

Prima has been nice to Ruda lately. No aggressive behaviour. They both were in season so maybe that would explain their warm feelings for each other.

She is well prepared for start in class 2 and I hope one competition will be enough to get the access to the highest class. But, of course, anything can happen on a trial. I plan to enter her on Sept 8th.

Otherwise her life is happy and simple. A little wooden stick, a pine cone or a ball and somebody who would throw it away is everything she needs.

Basqas little friend Merlin is growing. They really enjoy being together. The only one disapproving is Xenon the Cat, sitting in the bushes and watching them play with disgust. I think he needs a playmate, I have to get another Maine Coon maybe?

Xenon has got a haircut and enjoys it immensely. No more small sticks, leaves and seeds stuck in his coat and no more tangles! I think we will take off his coat every summer. He looks like a lion and certainly feels so!

That’s about everything for now. Time for a short walk in the woods with our oldie Orca, that has been staying at our place for about 3 weeks. She is 12,5 years old and still doing quite well.

After Midsummer

Hard to believe I wrote my last post over a month ago! I always suspected somebody steals summertime from me but now I’m almost certain!

Where do I start? I suppose I should begin at Belgian Speciality where my girls did very well. The first day, with Rui Monteiro who judged, Ruda got an Exc and Basqa an Exc CQ. On second day with Emanuele Boriero judging, Ruda got an Exc. CQ and Basqa an Exc. I never thought the little one would do so well!

Both days were spent in nice company of other Laekenois lovers and warm atmosphere despite quite chilly and windy weather. It was so nice to meet Rui and talk to him for a while!

I did not have time to make pics but I managed to take a blurry shot of flying Basqa after the show.

What happened between the show and our journey to Holland I cannot recall. Nothing special, I suppose. Working in the garden, training and swimming, that´s what we were doing. Occasionally even taking care of a friends puppy, a Samoyed, who became a very good friend of Basqa. I didn’t know there was a gentle part in her until I saw her playing with this pup! I discover more and more parts of her that I really like!

The next highlight of June was our journey to Holland. My youngest son was travelling with me and I enjoyed his company. We changed at the wheel as well, it was a long drive! The girls behaved very well.

We have visited an old friend of mine who moved to Scania. She showed us some beautiful places. I would mind living there! The climate is much better for outdoor activities and growing the vegetables. Almost no snow during wintertime. Europe is much closer. The dialect they talk almost impossible to understand LOL But I would learn quickly! I always do!

Next morning we took a ferry to Rostock and drove through Germany. As usual it was a nightmare! Lots of accidents and traffic jams between Hamburg and Bremen prolonged 6 hours driving to 8,5 hours but finally we arrived to our tiny house we rented for 3 nights. Wonderful quiet place with a big river nearby situated between green fields. A place where You can watch sunset every day. I never see sunset here. We have trees and big rocks everywhere!

Next two days just disapeared. The dog show which, because of bad weather, was held inside in a low and cramped building with barking and whining dogs, would not be a hit if it wasn´t for all Dutch friends I met!

All my dogs behaved super well though they did not like all that mess at all.

Both got just VG, Ruda because of her missing tooth ( the judge did not accept a veterinary certificate that all other judges accepted before!!!) and Basqa because she was not mature enough ( though she was entered in Junior class???). No, it was not my day, but luckily I wasn´t there for show only!

Everything else was just perfect! The people, the dogs, the gossip and friendly atmosphere! And I personally met both of Alexandras males, Sonny and Monty, that could possibly sire Rudas next litter and I liked them a lot!

The Laekenfun day was just as nice and we even got sunshine the whole day! I was so occupied talking to people, looking at dogs and just enjoying to be there that I missed to make pics. I took one of Rudas family, the one in the middle is her mother.

The journey home went very smooth. I already miss my Dutch friends! Some day I will make this journey again!

And back home there was time to celebrate Midsummer! One of the most celebrated holidays in Sweden, the longest day of a year.

I don’t really get why I should be so happy about days getting shorter but at least we are free from work some extra days and drive to the countryside where we meet our best friends.

Our main occupation will be eating too much, drinking too much, walking in those beautiful forests and swimming in the lake nearby. I usually drive to the nearest dog club or soccer field and train obedience with my dogs. I have friends in the nearest village that make a very nice company. They own a Border Collie from the same breeder and train obedience with their dogs. I really enjoy meeting them!

It´s always so good to have nice company!

Otherwise we walked, played in water and enjoyed beautiful weather. There would be no black clouds in the sky if not those terrible little gnats existed. They just waited for opportunity to eat us up, especially after the sunset. But we survived, we always do somehow.

I discovered that Basqa likes water almost as much as her mother!

Running free in the forest must be many dogs dream. It requres some dose of self control with so many wild animals around. I´m happy I can trust them!

It has been about 35 years since I was invited to this place for the very first time. Some years we would spend every weekend there during summetime. We don’t own the cottage but our best friends allow us to use it whenever we want. There are places I cherish a lot. Holy places for me. This is one of them. It´s such a long time and not so many changes. The forest would disappear at some places, the new one would grow high. New roads would be built. But otherwise everything is as it used to be. The place where one can charge the batteries, find balance and peace. The best place on Earth!

Explosion in green

Would like to stop the time now! My favourite time of a year! So grateful to be able to watch the life reawaken after winter hibernation again!

This is a busy time for me. I am trying to get all the veggies growing in the garden and in the greenhouse that was rebuilt after the storm that made a huge tree fall down and smash the old one.

May 2nd in the countryside

It has been cold and dry beginning of May, we have had many nights with temperatures below 0° C and the plants are a bit late but I still hope they will recover now. Yesterday we had 26° C and today the longed for rain arrived at last.

We opened the swimming season yesterday as well. Prima, Ruda and myself jumped in our lake without hesitation but Basqa stayed on the shore and cried. I tried to persuade her to jump in but she would not. In the end I just took her on leash and then she followed in without struggle. She is a good swimmer.

Last weekend we were in the coutryside at my sisters cottage and Basqa run in the sea without problems. But swimming is a different thing. Hopefully she understands now how nice it can be when days are hot.

Otherwise we train obedience quite often nowadays as I do not have to go to work so often. I still have to fight against pain in my back though so I am not able to do as much as I would like to…

But, of course we are making progress and the dogs are clever. Even Basqa, though I need to find a way to improve her speed.

I have to start training for competition now with all 3 dogs. I have to stop rewarding them all the time. This is my biggest challenge as a trainer, I am a reward-addict! As long as the dogs are in lower classes where the programme is short there is no problem. But in higher classes they have to be prepared for longer work without rewards, otherwise they will feel frustrated. They will quickly understand that competitions mean lack of rewards and their motivation will drop.

I intend to spend the whole summer working on it as well as details. Every day!

The other day I was playing with my camera trying to take so called studio photos of my dogs. Here is result of it.

My sisters Dandie was here as well. She lost her eye recently due to glaucoma but she seems to be happy anyway. I like her photo most.

Basqas ears are enormous! I am not so disturb of them in real, as her head is big too but on the pics I see nothing but ears! It will be so interesting to get to know what judges think of her. I have entered her to 3 Belgian Specialty shows, a double on 30/31st of May and a on June 15th in Holland.

I am planning to attend the annual Laeken Fun Day in the Netherlands this year and meet all the fans of the breed and old friends I have made during the years of sharing the same passion. I really look forward to meeting them all and will enjoy seeing so many Laekenois gathered at the same place!

Easter time

Last day of Easter holiday is almost over. As usual it started with a dog training session out in our club and will be finished with long walk in the woods. Exactly as I like it. In the meantime there was a lot of creative work in the garden as we have been spoiled with wonderful weather this year. The dogs, of course are a bit bored when i dig in the soil so I have to play with them from time to time. I am still healing after my spine surgery so I am not in the top condition yet but I do my best. My biggest physical problem has been solved so now I just hope for quick recovery.

Basqa has become a big girl now as she is in her first season. I really hope she is going to change afterwards and become a bit more manageable and mature. She is giving both me and grown up dogs a hard time, stealing everything they own, maybe except food, jumping and barking, pulling their hair and showing she is in charge. Disobeying me when I try to stop her. And they are completely submissive to her. Prima allows every toy she plays with be taken away from her and Ruda doesn´t even want to play. When she does she will be attcked by Prima and bitten. There was another fight just few days ago in such a situation. And I am becoming quite desperate. I am thinking about letting Basqa go. I just need to find a good home for her. I would like to X-ray her hips & elbows and for that I’ll have to wait until she is one year old. She would be a dream as a single dog for an active owner or in a pack with dogs that can show her where the boundaries are. She acts just like a spoiled child, manipulating and terrorizing.

Here with Primas belongings…

Of course I would rather keep her as I am emotionally attached to her and I see her qualities but I do not know how I can make it work. Neither for me nor my older dogs. The balance in the pack is gone…

One of the few occasions when Prima can keep her toy for herself

Ruda is being set aside. Prima can play with Basqa but every time Ruda tries to join them she will be chased away. The result is that Ruda does not leave my side. She seems to be stressed and uncertain. The only fun she has is with me. Maybe that´s why she is so engaged while training obedience? Really a dream dog to train! The only quality time she has left, maybe except sneaking at the cat? I feel really bad about it…

My shadow

We will see if I find a solution. Some bitches change dramatically after their first season. I hope Basqa does and in right direction. What I see now is that she tries to dominate her mother by, for example growling at her when she is cuddled by me. I put a stop to it but will she learn???I do not believe in punishment so I do not know what to do really, have never been in such a situation. Let´s hope for the best! It´s easier when spring is here!

It seems the spring is here

I don´t know how long it will stay but spring is here!

The snow disappears quickly now when the temperature raises to above 10° during daytime, last few days in a row. Training outside has been possible for a couple of weeks now. I have to look for flat surfaces in parks or soccer fields, sometimes even on golf fields in the neighbourhood. It is going to take time before our ordinary training surface at the dog clubs aroud here will be free from ice and dry.

But most important thing is returning of the light.

I need some positive happenings now as I feel I have had some backlash in my life lately.

First of all my back has become much worse over last few months and I suffer from severe pain both in my spine an legs. The laminectomy is planned on April 8th and I really hope that will bring me back to normal activity after I am healed. I am not able to walk the dogs more than what´s absolutely necessary and every step I take is a fight, despite the painkillers. I try to train as much as I can but it´s not so joyful as usually and I think my dogs can sense it.

The second backlash is the mating I attempted to carry out between Ruda and a boy called Skoll, a nice, happy, playfull Laekenois, a half brother of Compis. I was very happy Skolls owner allowed me to use him. I tested progesteron on Ruda and it was perfect for mating, I went to meet the boy and he did not show any interest in Ruda at all!!! He was just playing around with sticks and bathing in the lake and try to make her join him. And she wasn´t interested either. This was strange! Maybe the season she was in, only 3 months after the last one wasn´t a real one despite high progesterone value?

I was looking forward to this spring litter so much and I felt so disappointed! But what can be done? I can only wait to next spring. This will be the very last time I´ll try to have puppies with Ruda. I will also have more time to look for other males. The risk of getting a shorthaired Laekenois like Basqa from the combination with Skoll is the same as with Compis. Maybe I shall find a hairy male with nice, stable character?

Basqa has got some longer harsh hair lately. And she stopped growing at 62 cm which is a maximum for a bitch. I like her looks a lot but I do not think she can get a price at a show. Her body is perfect, she moves beautifully but the coat just isn´t there, especially furnishing.

We will see what happens on Belgian Specialty, a 2 days show at the end of May. I have the intention of showing both Ruda and Basqa and I am very curious about the judges opinion. Both are very familliar with Belgian Shepherds and Rui is a Laekenois breeder as well. Even if we do not bring home any titles it will be nice to get a fair description.

Have to start some show training with the wild youngster tomorrow! I suppose it will take sometime before I can run after the surgery…. Well, I will deal with it when time comes. Now it´s time to enjoy every day of this early spring, winter has not said the last word yet!