Hiding

I have been staying at home today and yesterday. That's how me and Bella roll when we're home alone:

Sunday Run

Me and Bella took the family out earlier this afternoon. Unfortunately we were late and missed most of the daylight, it starts getting dark after four.

The road (which is actually a riding path) is covered in solid ice. We tried to keep out of the road but did a short stunt on the road because the lighting was better for the camera.

I'm limping now after this but it was well worth it. The weather was super. Bella is also playing dead in the sofa but then again, it's nothing new!

Camera Woes - Part II

I had to buy another replacement memory card for my camera yesterday. I finally gave up searching and admitted to myself I had lost the other one I bought before ever being able to use it. I was being stubborn about giving up the search because my last memory of the card was when I decided I should insert it into the camera to not lose it... d'oh.

So I bought a new one and decided to not just think smart but act smart and now the new one is inside the camera. Yay!

I need to go out soon and snap some pictures of Bella. She's now safe to let loose in our normal area just outside the city. 3 minute drive from our home.

Lazy Bones and Dog Fences

Last 2-3 weeks have been uneventful at the household. Bella has been in heat and the first several days she looked pretty much like she was dead.

I don't like this time of year.

My mobility has been getting worse as well so this has been an awkward time for both of us. We've been a pair of couch-potatoes.

However she's been coming into her own the past few days and it's actually helping my own spirits as well. Yesterday I took a trip to one of the new dog fences that was built about two weeks ago. It's very close to my place of work so I figured that since I only work a few hours a day I could take Bella with me and allow her to run free on our way back home. At least until she's definitely past her fertile phase and I can let her loose in our usual spots.

Now, I work in a very urban area and the city decided a dog fence was perfectly placed on a rather small patch of grass surrounded by big traffic lanes. This is what me and Bella found:

A dog park - Reykjavík style!

It's not a very good photo but apart from the terrible half-muddy ground there is a pretty big gap under the fence. This was one of the smaller gaps. Bella could have left the fence pretty much everywhere along the entire length of the fence. Much larger dogs than my Border Terrier don't need an iron will to escape.
And right outside this gap in the picture is a street with rather heavy traffic on most days. There's traffic just a short distance from anywhere outside this fence.

So my terrior-in-heat didn't get to stretch her legs much inside this fence. I was really excited to see these small dog parks get built in the hopes of a dog friendlier city. This effort just fails on so many levels.

So in the meantime until I can turn Bella loose outside a fence we are working on our contraband-peppermint scent skills at home. Bella is doing well but now the handler needs more knowledge.

Twilight Tracking

Me and my son went to lay some tracks for Bella tonight before it got dark. I took some videos and totally forgot to turn the camera correctly but I did remember to turn the flash on. I have been buying a lot of reflective gear for the winter so Bella is almost invisible due to reflective light in the video.

I laid out three short tracks but the second two had some turns in them. The video below is from track number two. I'm pleased with how she worked that one.

Track three was a bit of a mess, I forgot where exactly I had left it and was distracted from trying to record Bella tracking it, Bella got distracted as well and started marking (the peemail kind!). I stopped my attempts of recording and started fresh from the start with my full attention. I don't think Bella went the right way but she ended in the right spot so it wasn't a failure. But it taught me that perhaps it's better to focus on the job at hand.

Yesterday I downloaded a book on tracking, Making Scents of Tracking by Deborah R. Davis. I don't actually know much about this kind of work but would like to know a lot more. Finding books proved a little tough as I don't really know what exactly I was looking for and some I found that looked somewhat promising didn't get very good reviews. I'll see if this one sheds some light on the sport.

More Camera Woes

The memory card for my camera broke and they are so ridiculously expensive in Iceland that I will rather order one from abroad.

I was rather sad as I missed a nice photo opportunity when me and Bella met two Labradors two days ago. We don't often meet other dogs as Bella can get insanely insecure but this meeting went well in gorgeous camera perfect weather.

However I had to leave after a while as the dogs were getting more and more aggressive about sniffing Bella which was clearly starting to freak her out. It confirmed my suspicion that she's due to go into heat soon. Which got me thinking if I should go ahead early next year and have her spayed. I wasn't going to even if I had decided I didn't want to breed her but not being able to let her loose for almost two months a year is a lot of time spent not playing frisbee.

That Evil Ribbon

Normally I am very respectful of the fact that my Bella is a dog who prefers not to be handled. We have a good thing going on where she doesn't mess with anyone in the home and in turn I make sure she gets to be free from harassment.

The only downside for Bella is that I sometimes can't contain myself. I sometimes pick her up just to hear that unevitable heave of sigh. I hug her just to get the exact same reaction. Yeah, Bella's not the cuddly little lapdog type. That's perfectly fine with me.

Then sometimes I take a step further. Not always intentionally. The other day was one of those days where my poor Border Terrier got more than she bargained for when me and son found a ribbon. It was an innocent enough idea putting it on. We didn't expect the huge reaction we got!

Going away, throwing herself down and 'yawning' - "What is this torture decvie??"

"I've lost a piece of my soul"

Waiting and hoping

"I only look like I'm fine with this since this is my blind side."

"I really hate my life right now"

"I'm going to lie here in a bad mood until this horrible thing has been removed"

I removed the ribbon after taking these photos, I don't really enjoy making her get this upset unless I really need to. But her huge expressions do put a smile on my face, when it's over something as harmless as a ribbon.