Some News

Okay, I'm done with all the melodrama for now. Let's just say I had a bad week.

Bella has false pregnancy but it seems a fairly mild case as the only side effect I notice is that she lactates and I believe another symptom was that for a few days she was peeing unusually little, like once every 24 hours. I was driving myself mad taking her out almost like a puppy and watching her for a sign of any illness.

However she seems just fine now (it's not fully over). I'm watching out for whatever but she's pretty much her normal happy self. Maybe even a little more playful than usual for some reason.

We finally finished building the deck and painted it so now I suddenly have more time to relax. So I decided to use leftover timber to improve the jumps I built over a year ago. Now I've got one sturdy jump that goes up to 55cm or so.

I've been focusing on finding ways to engage Bella more in training and have been reading and watching a ton of stuff to help us break through the rut we got into earlier in the summer. We're doing touch training (nose touching hand) and it was easy as pie for her to learn the gist of the game in one session. Now I'm focusing on having fun building on it. I already see the huge benefit of it doing heeling.
I am also trying yet again to use toys as rewards. After my research I'm less frustrated about it though. I'm just glad for times such as today when she jumped for me in order to chase a ball.

Anyway, what riled me up last week was that we did look at a 4 year old German Shepherd that was up for adoption. We were fully committed to the adoption but then then I don't know what happened. The owner was super super busy and kept postponing things until we just didn't want to participate in it and dropped out of the deal.
I was pretty gutted because I've secretly been wanting another dog and was scouting for suitable matches amidst all the Border Collie mixes available. That's when things got really weird all of the sudden we ended up at a German Shepherd breeder's home. Although it happened very quickly I had been thinking about it for a very long time so it wasn't really too difficult to make the decision to get a puppy. Yes, a GSD puppy.

We're picking our little girl up tomorrow afternoon after her vet check and puppy shots, yippee!

Back and Forth

Last weekend was wonderful, we finally got some sun and it meant staying out as much as possible. On Friday morning me and Bella took two short tracks and since the weather was so good we went on a walk where she could be off leash.

 

I did the track to decide whether to sign up for the tracking test on 7th July. I thought it might be alright to go with the sole purpose of seeing how it would go. Another part of me wanted to be ready/was scared. I ended up deciding not to and wasn't too bothered.

 

Today I went and laid a rather complicated track, I meant to do a longer fairly simple one but I found such a nice spot with tall trees that I had to do all sorts of turns. It went well and Bella is already getting very good at marking with the method I eventually chose.

 

Then came the kicker. After I come home I check my facebook and the first thing I see is a notice that the sign-up date for the tracking test was pushed back until July 1st. Cue the start of yet another rollercoaster of what I want to do!

If I enter it won't be because I know we will pass for certain but rather as a test and seeing where we stand. I have until July 1st to make up my mind.

Last Few Days

Last weekend me and the whole family went to a cabin we've been to many times before. We were hoping to get some sun and mild weather but spring in Iceland has been aborted so we got rain, lots of wind and cold weather.

In general it was a good excuse to be lazy. I did lay one track for her and it was excellent, except I jumped the gun a bit and forgot to give her plenty enough time to pee before putting the harness on. Once the harness was on she was just running around trying to find the start of the scent and when she found it she got her moment of zen and decided to pee on it. Pure handler mistake there!

I really need to start working on teaching her to mark objects when tracking. I am just torn between whether to teach her to  pick it up -which I just recently knew was allowed- or sit/lay down. I had started teaching her to sit down when doing the peppermint detection training but haven't gone very far with it as I had to throw my idea of using balls into the ocean. She's not toy driven. at. all. It had turned into her seeing the ball go down, then instead of trying to get the ball and sniff where the scent was she just stood back and stared at me, except she sometimes sat down because she knew that had something to do with it. Stalemate!



On Monday I crashed something awful, I barely got out of bed without getting ridiculously dizzy and whatnot. It took me two more days to snap out of it and yesterday I was next to normal, just in time to watch an Obedience competition. It offered Bronze grading and Obedience I. I am aiming to do a tracking test next fall and have been considering if I should give the Bronze obedience test a try. I spoke to a trainer there (and a Border Terrier owner!) and she was encouraging me to give it a go.
What cripples me the most is the fear of Bella running away from me during testing. Memories of me chasing her around the agility arena still haunt me. Since I'm on maternity leave this summer that it's an excellent opportunity for me to train her in areas with distractions and see where it gets us. I know she can do this, we just need to work hard.

First Day of Summer

Somebody decided to make an annual holiday in April in Iceland to celebrate that summer has arrived. When me and Bella went out tracking today it snowed.

The track I laid was the longest one yet and went both up and down a fairly steep slope. The tracking from Bella was really good. She started out with her high speed but did slow down about halfway through and worked at a steady pace all the way to the end. I was super proud, especially since she's in heat and has been feeling a little under the weather.

'I'm what??'

In between Bella sleeping and sleeping more, we are also practicing with a method of marking. It involved buying tennis balls and making a 'scent box' from an unused flower pot and cardboard.

I bought these Kong AirDog balls which were bouncy and squeaky. I have always had better luck using treats to motivate Bella but wanted to try a toy this time. She has already 'killed' one of the balls and she wasn't even trying! It still bounces so we can use it but I had hoped that they would survived more than a dog's bite.

Anyhow!

The trick is to put the highly desired ball into a place where it's impossible to reach without help. Inside the box is the smell I want Bella to associate with the ball in time. So what I'm trying to teach her in the long run is that when she finds the smell she will sit down because sitting down when she finds the smell means fun/ball.

'I need monkey fingers.'

I like the theory and believe it can work but I am still on the fence whether I can use a ball to get where I want. I'd rather try not to involve treats if I can help it. I wanted to see Bella be more eager to stick her nose into the box to get the ball but after the second time of trying she knew she couldn't get the ball and just stood there waiting for something to happen. I'm trying to wait for her to get close to the box and stick her nose in before I tell her to sit and wait and then play.

Spring is in the Air

Some days are just perfect in their simplicity. My fiancé kicked me out of the house today and told me to go let Bella loose. So I did.

This winter has been ridiculously mild and now that spring is in the air being outside is so refreshing. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with us, Bella was running around like a racehorse. I even found some logs from trees that had been culled and made a small jump for her.

I honestly don't really feel like my physical health is improving much but I don't feel a lot of pain while I am outside. It's like a hangover that haunts me in the days after but at least I can enjoy moving while it hasn't caught up with me.

I may have a push factor in trying to keep going out despite the pain that follows, I asked around yesterday and there's a possibility that a tracking course will be held later this spring. I think it would be fun to be able to get out there and learn from experienced handlers. I just need to be able to deal with the walking a course like that mandates.

March Finally Arrived... And Is Now Gone

I haven't written anything since last year. The main reason being that I was borderline depressed in January and February from being stuck to using crutches to go from one room to the other in my apartment. I don't know why Bella didn't get unhinged during all this time spent with me but she truly is an amazing individual.

However, I finally had my little girl on March 20th, 11 days ago. We're both doing well and it's a great relief that this pregnancy is finished. I've told my fiancé that from now on I'm only adding more dogs to the family.

Little one likes to sleep which is a blessing. Now the enormous task of recovering awaits me but I am thankful to have Bella's lone eye to help me keep mine on the prize.

It's only been a few days but already I can walk fairly normally around the apartment and get things done again. Going out for short walks takes me a few steps back but I think I need to do it anyway to eventually be able to recover.

So here's to hoping this summer will be an active one for me and Bella!

Looking Ahead

I was a little upset last night after agility and feeling disheartened. Today I put my thinking hat back on and after reading something I realised I'm not the only one who has experienced this kind of behaviour. I believe I need to take a few steps back and focus on breaking the toxic mindset that the agility is creating. I believe this is more of an overstimulated dog problem rather than an obedience problem.

I am going to work on our problem from that angle for now and see if I can gather some more information on strategies to break the habit.


Today was fun though, I went into Ikea after work and bought some storage shelves -to create jumps! I am not fully finished yet but so far I really like them. I bought enough for 2 jumps but I may get more pieces and go up to 4 jumps.

With the snow gone me and Bella should be able to have a little fun out in our yard! I now have jumps and a weave. I also have a cheapo Ikea tunnel but it's rather lightweight and sometimes spooks my small hearted Bella.

November Goal

December is less than four hours away and so the November numbers are final.

51.43 km and almost all by bike. My goal was 60 km which would have been easy if not for my extended stay in Berlin and the pests I've been dealing with. I'm gutted I didn't make the goal because it is easy to make the numbers by bike!

I will go from there and pledge 100 km for December! That's on average 3.2 km per day. If I bike to work that's 20 km in one day so I would only need to do that five times to fulfill my goal.

The main challenge will be to figure out how to exercise Bella well enough now that I know I will be starting daytime work next Monday. Better use the next two days and the weekend well to get a good headstart!

Biking and Tracking

A week into November and me and Bella have already covered 18 km so far. A good start to our 50 km goal!

My fiancé overslept this morning so instead of him taking baby Magnus to daycare we split up and I biked him to destination. Bella was pulling the trailer like a husky, she's amazing.

I took her with me again when I returned to pick Magnus up and my fiancé was with me this time around. We're giving alternate routes a go, in the morning run I found out just how much traffic there is in the area. I did consider leaving Bella at home but she had planted herself in front of the front door so how could I? She ran like a champ although we did go a lot slower on the way back, she was running low on gas!

We were both feeling pretty cozy after that and thinking nice thoughts of the sofa when I remembered I had made an appointment after noon. Yes all the biking had happened before noon, 8 km in one day. I scheduled meeting my cousin because she was going to teach me how to track with Bella. She has two dogs and has trained them both for tracking, she has done considerable search and rescue training with them.

I really enjoyed this, even if there was a storm approaching and pouring down rain. We laid in total three short sausage laden tracks for Bella and I really enjoyed seeing her improve with each one. I have spent a long time wondering how to teach a dog to track and now I am starting to understand.

Seeing the trained dogs work was interesting as well, for the younger bitch she laid a track for her to follow and with the older one she asked me to head to the trees nearby and lie down. What amazed me was that she explained pretty much how the dog would go before finding me. She looked like such a pro, she ran downwind and when she caught a whiff of me she ran almost straight towards me and when she saw me, ran off to let my cousin know and together they came back.

Seeing people work their dogs is not a common thing but it is actually one of my favorite type of dog-watching. I like beautiful dogs but more than that I enjoy seeing a dog in the 'workzone'. A dog who is happy as a clam having a job to do.

I wanted to take my camera with me but because of the awful weather I didn't want to risk it. Thus, I only have camera phones of Bella! Maybe next time.

Birthday and My Monthly Goals

Today's my birthday. As I get older the less faff I want to surround this yearly event. Yet there is always this childlike feeling when my birthday approaches. It is nice to be remembered, just as it is to be forgotten. Thanks to Facebook, those who do forget tend to get lost in the flood of those reminded. I cherish the calls and texts most.

I took Bella and baby out for a walk. It's my shift break so I like to use the few hours of daylight available. Unfortunately Iceland has reached the time of year where normal daytime work means people go to work when it's dark and come home when it's dark, missing out on the only hours of daylight. Exercise in daylight is so much more invigorating.

The walk was refreshing, we managed 2.7 km which is a nice start to reaching our November goal. In October I aimed for 30 km tracked (final count: 32.27 km) and with the bikes in action again I've upped the goal for 50 km in November. That's only 1.7 km per day, nothing extraordinary when I set it up like this.

I can't stop appreciating how far I've come. I took the ability to exercise for granted before my pregnancy and now I have a whole new outlook on how important it is to keep physically fit and enjoy the time spent outdoors. Biking to work, running an agility course with the dog, walking in a snowstorm... I still feel some aching now and then but it's stopped disabling me from doing most of the things I love and enjoy.