11.29.09
Posted in News at 22:22 by nikki
We had our first class yesterday (4 hour lecture) and it went really well. A great group of people that will be training with us the next 5 weeks. They seemed to enjoy the info and a couple of the guys took Rúnar aside (they took a smoke break) and said they had learnt so much they didn’t know already just from the few hours with us. That certainly makes us happy to hear. Now the whole course is still left with all the exercises and meeting the dogs, that will be so much fun. We had two chihuahua’s for our guinea pigs in show and tell and they were awesome. Everyone was amazed at how quickly we could get them to target an item, one was a mouse mat and the other a target stick. We also had their owner as a guinea pig in Genabacab. I always love to start my courses off with a short demonstration with that game. It’s really amazing for people unfamiliar with clicker training to see the results in a few minutes.
We played a timing game with them with a tennis ball and Rúnar did that, they were laughing so hard when he tricked them a few times. One lady said “this is great Saturday entertainment” which was good to hear because before the course started she was talking about how the weather outside was so good that it was a shame to spend the day inside instead of walking the dogs. Totally forgot to take photos except for a couple of that game. Of course I was the one training the guinea pigs so I couldn’t take photos of that!
We got the raw food again but Klói still refuses to eat. Poor guy he is so thin, I can’t wait for the girls to all stop this heat stuff. At the moment it looks like Birta is the last one, she is ready now but the rest seem to be just about over.
So it was a long hard day and we came back home and ate and then grabbed Hófi and took one more trip into town last night before we decided to call it quits. We wanted to be able to say we tried our best. We had a 15 minute tie between Skolli and Hófi on Friday evening and are hoping that we were lucky enough that this one single mating with tie will be successful, but only time will tell. Such an old dog you never know, fingers crossed. She only had one tie last time with Dreki and it resulted in puppies so now we wait.
They both have clear eyes, Hófi has A hips and Skolli has B. Both are red short hair, Hófi has double dewclaws on back and Skolli has double dewclaws on all four legs (alspori) and is one of the few living members of the “original” O family (the family groups that Pieter Oliehoek created in his study). Hófi’s grandmother is Skolli’s littermate sister so also the O line and Hófi also has the M line in her, B and in terms of “new blood for Iceland” she also has some Norwegian blood. We think that if we get puppies that most or all are already spoken for in this litter.
Klói and Skella are just experts in this mating game by now and the longest tie they have had of the many was 30 minutes and we are trying to let that be sufficient but to calm Klói down we decided to let them “play” a bit more tonight, he’s been so antsy today and whining. She must be just about finished by now, he’s still humping her but it’s more in fun now that before. I think he is whining more because of his mother but since he is “allowed” to play with Skella he takes what he can get. We have watched them from inside the house laughing tonight because it’s such a game with them now. No tie today but they had alot of fun in the snow.
Klói and Skella both have clear eyes and A hips. Klói is a medium coat wheaten and most likely carries black tri, Skella is of course as can be seen from her photos a long hair. Both have double dewclaws and Klói’s are very strong, hence his name.
The dogs woke me up early this morning as usual and when I let them out it was snowing, then I went back to sleep and shortly after Rúnar got up with the dogs and I got to sleep a little bit longer. Sure needed it! When I got up Rúnar said, have you looked outside and I said yes there was a little bit of snow this morning (hardly covered the ground). Then I looked out and went WOW, the snow was so deep that the dogs have it up to their bellies in spots. Apparently it had snowed non-stop all morning. Beautiful soft and fluffy snow. No doubt it will be gone soon but it’s fun while it lasts and it makes it feel a bit more like Christmas so that’s good. I find it hard to believe there are only a few weeks until Christmas. Turned on the advent lights today, boy time flies.
We had to go into Selfoss to get potatoes today and we are not happy with the fact that they didn’t clear the roads. They are already horribly filled with deep packed snow and it’s getting very bumpy and uneven to drive over, you could see where the family size cars had scraped the bottom on the snow that was in the middle of the road. If we get a little bit of rain then that is going to be treacherous, even if we get a good freeze or continued snow there is no way they are going to be able to totally clear the roads now that the snow is so packed that it’s already shining and thick from all the traffic. I don’t think saving money is always a good idea when it comes down to safety.
It was so funny when they went out, Skella went out first and wanted Klói to come out with her. She couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t let him. So Hófi got to come out with her and the two of them played together.
I guess that’s about all for now. I really have to get working on my sweater, so little left to do but I made a mistake sewing it together the other day and have to take it apart and do it over. Have to get writing some Xmas cards too. Rúnar’s busy with the stuff for the course and wants me to help him too so there’s no rest for the wicked as they say.
Permalink
11.27.09
Posted in News at 00:45 by nikki
One of the perks of having friends in both Canada and USA is that I get to wish Happy Thanksgiving twice! 
Hope everyone enjoyed pigging out and has lots to be thankful for during the past year.
I downloaded some photos from my camera tonight and found a couple from our visit to Skolli. Here he is with his happy face, he’s so sweet always looks like he is so happy. Then a photo of Hófi meeting Skolli’s 2 1/2 yr old daughter Þórdunu Norðan Héla.
Klói and Skella decided they were going to do a repeat of yesterday and this time they tied for 30 minutes plus a bit which got boring quickly and Skella really didn’t want to stand still for that long. I’ve decided I’m going to give them a break or should I say give myself a break, hehe since I always end up trying to hold her still and it’s hard work. One of the disadvantages of using a larger bitch with a same size or slightly smaller male, she has the power to pull him where ever she wants to. Poor guy. Last photo is of them both sound asleep shortly after their hard work. I got a few photos of “proof” but I thought it wasn’t so nice to include those. LOL
We went to the store to get the things for the course but when we got back home both Rúnar and I decided we were just going to take it easy and watch TV so I’m working on printing, punching holes in and putting the lessons in the folders now before I go to bed. I have an idea tomorrow will just fly by and I don’t want to have to do all the preparations at the last minute on Saturday morning really early because we have to be in Reykjavík before 11:30 or so.
I had a wonderful visit on skype with a friend last night, it’s awesome how small the world is when you can use such technology. Rúnar set it up for me last night because I haven’t used it since my old computer gave up on me years ago, maybe I might be lucky enough to hear from my sister sometime if she has skype. I had a great visit on the phone today with another friend. A grandpuppy of mine became a Champion last weekend in Canada, a big Congratulations to Greenstone Ada and her owner Valerie. I don’t have a photo so maybe I’ll post one at a later date.
I swear it’s getting so hard to keep up with all the news abroad and to tell you how forgetful I am I’ll say that today is Hófi’s birthday and I forgot until late this evening. She hasn’t been eating well the last couple days and we are out of raw food (that’s the reason) and don’t know when we will be able to afford some more, maybe at the end of the month (hopefully, must remember Rúnar is going to be on unpaid leave at work). So she is not overly happy with the dry and neither is Klói but I think he just isn’t eating because he’s whining about the girls and has no appetite. Seems today Birta is giving off a wonderful aroma too, just can’t wait for this madness to end. Hehehe Whose idea was it to keep a male dog! Well, I guess it was mine but I wouldn’t give him up for anything!
Permalink
11.26.09
Posted in News at 02:48 by nikki
So the past few days, travel, travel, travel and no results. Hardly time to breath and I’m starting to feel the stress. Filling up the gas tank multiple times hasn’t helped our mood either but we are sincerely hoping that what “appeared” to be an extremely short tie yesterday was sufficient. It was pitch black outside and we could see the mating but not in great detail as you can imagine…hehe but there were more than one witness to the “possible tie”. Today it seems there was little to no interest and we think that Hófi is about finished her season and so we’re going to keep an eye on her and possibly stop by on our way to the eye test on Friday but otherwise I guess our chances are pretty much up this time. Fingers crossed and we are going to wait and see, we are not without a little bit of hope at least because he sure did try his best. I’ve had litters without a tie before and so I never take it for granted. I also never give up on one dog and go to another just for that very reason so although we possibly could have gone to a “second choice” male we opted not to and if we don’t get puppies this time we are determined to try again and possibly because there might be a legitimate excuse of arthritis (it’s not as if they didn’t have “chemistry”) we might even do AI for the first time in my career but for now I’m not going to think about it. We are going to be positive and so we are not losing hope for a litter in January.
On the other side of town (our backyard…hehe) we have had a successful mating and tie between Klói and Skella today and a short tie yesterday. I guess now we can sit and wait on that as well and cross dewclaws. Maybe there’ll be another breeding tomorrow yet because they are still very much in love it seems . I do see Klói’s interest dimming just a little bit and he seems more interested in his mom so looks like it’s her time to wear the denim pants.
What else is new, can’t even remember what I’ve already mentioned and I might repeat myself. Clicker course starting on Saturday so we are hoping to get a bit of preparation done tomorrow evening (or is it today already…jikes!!!) because we decided to give up on trying with Hófi. We were driving to town every day for the last 3 days and a couple times before that so it meant no time for anything else whatsoever. The interest was very strong the first two times and less tonight, Hófi even started to lay down which is not like her at all. We’ve hardly had time to eat or feed the dogs, it’s been horrible how much time it eats up just the traveling. Oh it’s going to be so great to only have to go to the store in Selfoss tomorrow and then have the rest of the night off! Rúnar looks exhausted to say the least, I think he measured 200 km he had driven (including to work and back) in two days. That is crazy!
Had some sad news and it came as a shock, I opened my email and was told that a fellow breeder in Sweden had died suddenly on I was told Monday morning but possibly it was Sunday night. I didn’t know her extremely well but know her partner very well, he was on the board with me in Norway. This lady bred so many dogs for so many years under the kennel name Ullälvas, that her breeding kennel is a large part of the Swedish population. She was a very active lady in all things that concerned the breed and I remember meeting her a few times at dog shows in Norway when she traveled to take part. I talked to her a bit during the years, a few calls when she asked me about colour genetics and remember she called me when I had my first litter and wanted a dog, unfortunately I didn’t have one for her then. It seems so unbelievable whenever anyone dies but some times it really takes you by surprise when it is someone that is so well known. I find that as the years go by it seems more and more people I know or have met are passing on. Now I know what my Nana meant when she talked about how she kept losing friends. I didn’t think I was THAT old yet but of course we never know and age has nothing to do with it unfortunately and I must admit that many of my best friends are older than I am. On top of that loss to the ISD community I got another email today telling me that a wonderful dog we met while living in Norway died three weeks ago. He was around the same age as Frigg if I remember correctly and his owner is very sad, he was so much a part of her life.
My thoughts go out to the families and to my friends. To talk about the two deaths in the same paragraph may seem strange and some may say it was just a dog but to me both losses will leave such sorrow and many memories in the minds of those who knew them and loved them. Rest in peace Snorre Spirit and Lillemor.
Permalink
11.24.09
Posted in News at 00:25 by nikki
We went into town and had a meeting about the clicker course, we made a date and will start next Saturday with about 6 students which we think is plenty if we want to give some personal attention to everyone. Now it’s going to be lots of driving and busy times ahead.
After the meeting we took Hófi to see Skolli and as we predicted he was totally smitten with her today. Just because we had thought all day yesterday about if we should take her then or not. He tried and tried and tried but there was a bit of umph missing and we don’t know if it’s because of his arthritis in his back legs or if she is just not quite ready. It is SO cold outside and he didn’t want to do anything inside just outside so no wonder his legs would hurt. So instead of taking the chance we have decided to try again tomorrow after work. I tell you this is the most tiring season I’ve ever had with my girls. I’m totally exhausted and I think Rúnar is too. Hehehe Of course it’s not their fault, some trips to town were to be able to do other things at the same time, like the meetings, shopping etc. Now we’ll be there tomorrow and possibly then depending on what happens maybe on Thursday again and then we have to be in town for the eye test on Friday evening and Saturday early we have our course starting and it will be 4-6 hours plus the two hour traveling time. Gee I don’t want to think about how tired we will be at the end of this week.
We made the mistake of stopping and grabbing a bite to eat at KFC/Taco Bell on the way home. I can’t remember the last time we bought junk food but I do know that any time we do we say to ourselves after-wards we won’t be doing that again! We are beggars for punishment that’s for sure. I know I’m gonna have stiff joints tomorrow because I cheated on the gluten. Rúnar was SO tired when we got home that he fed the dogs, checked his email and went straight to bed. I wish I could just lay down and fall asleep. Insomnia is a pain.
I’ve been spending alot of time watching Kathy Sdao again. I LOVE her advanced clicker training video and it always gets me in the right mind set for starting new courses. I’ve had it for years now and can watch it over and over and over again without getting bored. I love how scientific she is but at the same time she uses so many examples from daily life that it is just so entertaining to listen to her.
Permalink
11.23.09
Posted in News at 01:43 by nikki
Well, nothing much to talk about. We haven’t been home much at all, but no matings have taken place yet. We did have an awesome visit with one of our students who couldn’t make it to the last class awhile ago and was sick and we made an appointment to see her on Saturday when we were in town with Hófi (and Frigg). So we brought the last lessons for her and helped her a bit with the ones we had finished.
I’ve been so tired from all the traveling and now the weekend is already over and I missed it. Rúnar went to his sister’s for her son’s birthday today but I stayed at home and tried to rest a little. Woke up with a sore throat but it disappeared again tonight. Rúnar will be working from 7 in the mornings this week so I think it’s a good idea to get to bed because I always wake up when he is leaving, the dogs always need “attention” when he leaves so they don’t bark too much. I always go back to sleep but that’s mainly because I only sleep a few hours a night. Speaking of that Birta woke me up puking last night and I wonder is there any one else who has a female who pukes once or twice during her heat. It seems as if she always does that about the time we would expect ovulation. Maybe it’s coincidence, probably just wondered.
I just felt like crap today and still do, no doubt all the running around so I’m hoping to get a bit of rest tomorrow while Rúnar is at work. Don’t know how that is possible though with a house full of bitches in heat and Klói allowed to mate one but not the others. And he doesn’t agree with our choice.
Klói is going bonkers for Hófi these past couple days but could care less about Skella however she is “humping” him silly and practically beating him senseless trying to get his attention. Hehehe She actually got him so angry this morning that HE told HER off. We’re sure she must be ready by the way she is acting but he begs to differ. Klói is such a goon, he will jump up on her to shut her up for a few minutes and then he’ll want to come back in to see Hófi. Skella pushes him around with her front legs and jumps on him, humps him, knocks him over she is so strong, they will do the dance on back legs and then she has her crazy antics fit and throws him across the lawn, she can’t stand still unless he is on her back then she freezes. So he figured out a great trick, he will pretend he is going to mate her, he’ll stand with his front legs on her back (over her back from one side) which makes her settle down for a little bit and then when she figures out he is just tricking her she goes all bonkers again. We really feel sorry for Klói as he will give us this strange “help me” face when she is getting too pushy. It’s funny to watch and hard to explain, he knows how to find the right spot and he’ll make his way around but will sniff and then show no interest.
We have decided that if Klói doesn’t want to mate her then she is not ready or he is not meant to (maybe there is some smell that is turning him off, could be she is having a strange heat it happens to some bitches)…you know that fate thing. We’re just taking it as it comes, not stressing about it, if it happens then it happens, if not then oh well. He has mated her before at her last season so it’s not as if he thinks he isn’t allowed because we intentionally let the two of them out together all the time on their own so the others won’t bother them. Birta gets so pissed off when she sees the two of them playing and runs between them to stop them. She is so smart it’s funny, she often uses the same tactics to stop rough play or if she thinks the others are getting out of line. Calming signals. It’s not as if Klói doesn’t know how either. She lost the puppies last time so maybe she is just not meant to have a litter and Rúnar and I are believers in letting nature take it’s course. Call us crazy but I guess part of it is that we are both thinking that a litter is so much work. We think Klói and Skella look amazing together and they could create the sweetest puppies with lots of character and brains so we hope they might have a couple puppies but time will tell. We will not use insemination either so if Hófi and Skolli don’t mate this time then we will try again next time if he’s still around but we won’t force a mating. If it doesn’t work out then it wasn’t meant to be, timing in our life or maybe something else but it has so often been proven to me that I don’t really have control of events no matter how much I think I do. I’m hoping the puppy buyers understand and I’m sure that whatever happens is for the best.
Have a new litter of grandpupppies in USA and I’m excited about that so I’ll post a link to the breeder’s site when I get around to it and when they put up some news. Congratulations to Rassie, Donna, Terry, Kelikátur, Scotti and Chris.
Back into Reykjavík as soon as Rúnar gets home tomorrow, we had thought of going today but there was the birthday party and she had been there Saturday with NO interest hardly at all so we thought it would be a waste of time and we may as well wait one day. So I’ll have to make sure I’m ready to leave the minute he walks in. We have to be in town at 5:30 to be able to meet the owner’s of the doggie daycare about our course that we are starting next weekend. Then we have to go see Skolli again so it’ll be another late night, poor Rúnar. We’re hoping that Klói is right about her timing but when we visited Skolli on Saturday Klói thought she was interesting and Skolli didn’t. He had much more interest in her the very first visit we took her to him (just to see him not intending to mate) and that’s why we had continued to take her every second day so as not to miss what appeared to be the interest that Skolli showed her. He is an experienced male and in other matings has never shown interest until they were ready to mate. That’s also why we didn’t quite trust Klói’s judgement, I tend to think that different males have different preferences to whether they will breed a bit early, right on time or a bit late. As long as puppies result than I think the male dog should have the chance to pick his moment if it’s possible. I realize with long distance litters that is not always an option but to us a couple hours is not long distance, we’ve traveled quite a bit farther than that with a bitch to a rare line male. Although I will admit that I hate all the traveling and will be so glad with these heats are over, puppies or no puppies.
Permalink
« Previous entries Next Page » Next Page »
