Talviloma

We've had a nice week at home with the dog and a welcome break from work. It was nice to have so much free time to do things with her and I think she's enjoyed spending a lot of time with her "pack".

In the beginning of the week we got her a long line to start practising being off the leash without running up to all dogs and people in the near vicinity. That has worked out better than we imagined. She thinks she's off the leash and runs around and sniffs etc until she spots a dog or a person approaching. Just when she starts to take off we yank her back and she just seems very surprised, "what, I can't go?". Then all we need to tell her after a while is "ei menne", don't go. She wasn't too interested in a large group of kids skiing on the ice but she can't really resist other dogs. The first time we used the line she broke the ring attaching the line to her harness clean off when charging after another dog. The first time Tuomo used it she completely floored him. Now we know how strong she really is:) It seems to be working though and hopefully she'll be able to walk off leash in the future. The ice is such a great spot for training though since it's completely open and she can spot a dog from miles away. We actually met another flattie when walking on the ice one day, a liver coloured one! I have never seen one of those before, they are quite rare. It was lovely to see a mirror image of our dog, the same body language and eagerness.

We also took her to the local pet supply shop for the first time. It was a good training activity for her and she went a bit nuts in the beginning, wanting to say hi to everyone, pick her own bones and generally run havoc in the shop. Luckily the shop assistants thought she was a cutie and didn't mind. I guess they are used to doggie whirlwinds in their shop daily:) We went there to pick up a skiing harness for her and later that afternoon we went out skiing on the ice. At first she was just very excited and didn't know what we wanted her to do, she was mostly jumping around, up and down. Then I went off ahead of them and she got it and started chasing after me! She seemed to really enjoy it. After a while we swapped and I went with her. I have never been so fast on a pair of skis, that's for sure. When both of us were going flat out we were really flying:) It was great and I can't wait to go again. She was completely exhausted after one lap around the lake and plopped into her basket as soon as we got home. Only thing we need to practise is the stopping. All of a sudden she would decide she needed to pee and would stop dead in her tracks...we'll that's not too easy on a pair of skis when you're going full steam ahead:)

We also went for a really long walk with Irene and Barney. It's lovely close to where they live, there's even this tiny island where the dogs can run around freely like idiots:) And they did. She was so tired after this walk that I had to wake her up the next morning to take her out. She wasn't even interested in any longer walkies until well after lunch:) A truly broken doggie:) Hopefully the weather will get a bit colder next week, I can't wait to get on my skis with her again, yay!