9
October
2007
We’ve got access to a disused office (?) building in Sandnes at the moment (before it gets torn down I think), so 9 of us turned up yesterday evening for some ‘environment training’. Despite being late (had been drilling holes in the wall of Helgøs supermarket in Mariero, to fix a box to the wall to collect deposit receipts from the plastic bottle machines, for NRH of course!), it was Mist’s turn almost as soon as we arrived, since the puppies were to be allowed to train while it was still light.
The building is partly carpeted, partly lino-type flooring, with some office furniture in a few of the rooms, but many of the rooms were mostly empty. There must be 6-8 rooms downstairs, and another 6 or so upstairs. It was really interesting to watch a dog search round and round a room, looking up the walls/at the ceiling/under impossibly small pieces of cut carpet, despite it being (to a human!) perfectly obvious that the only place someone could be hiding was behind the door! The scent travels very differently inside a building, where there is no natural airflow, and it can travel up a wall, across the ceiling and descend at the other side of the room - no wonder the dogs find it difficult to locate the ‘bodies’.
Once off the lead, Mist raced into the house, and around the ground floor, straight past Aud hiding behind a big piece of wood (?) leaning against the wall…. her feet were clearly visible, but obviously didn’t smell enough 
Piles of carpet pieces, cardboard tubes that moved, and other rubbish were negotiated carefully, but she showed the same enthusiasm as at ResQ a couple of weeks ago - surely not the same dog that barks and runs away if someone puts a towel over the back of a chair in the kitchen at home 
The excitement of looking for people overcomes those ‘normal’ fears. After much zooming around, she found Kristin hiding in the toilet 
and was rewarded with her favourite toy - a piece of ripped cotton fabric tied on the end of a piece of rope! There’s nothing better than playing tug-of-war with this, and getting to ‘kill’ it!
Then off to find the next - straight past Aud again, and upstairs. We heard her running around up there, so followed her up. When I eventually caught up, she was waiting at the top of the stairs with a look on her face of “What took you so long ?” and off she rushed to check out the upstairs rooms again. She became very frustrated in a small room with lots of shelving/map cupboards and a sink. Kai-Erik told me that Krissi should be in there, but given where Mist had been I couldn’t see where Krissi could possibly be hiding. It turned out that Mist had been just inches away, but hadn’t realised there was someone there. After a lot of sniffing and huffing around, whining, jumping up to see if there was someone in the sink/on the table, sitting at my feet staring up with a “Where are they?” expression, she went back to the first place she’d been, furthest into the room (and darkest) and found Krissi at last. Yippee!
So then back downstairs to find Aud, still with her feet visible. It was clear that Mist knew there was someone nearby in the big room, but the scent was obviously not leading her directly to where Aud was lying. She spent ages sniffing around the walls at the main-door end of the room (where there was absolutely nothing to hide on/under/in!) before eventually practically stumbling across Aud’s boots, and almost jumping in surprise that there was a body attached to them 
It was interesting to see the other, more experienced dogs, also experiencing difficulties and frustration in locating people, and how they ’solved’ it. Poor Clara was absolutely convinced there was someone behind a door in the main room downstairs, scratching at the walls and returning there over and over….. to the extent we started to wonder whether there really was someone/something? there…..
A fun evening! Sadly I think it will be the only NRH environment-training we’ll get to do this autumn, since it will clash 
with an antenatal class Jon + I will go to starting in a fortnight’s time, and I don’t think sending Jon on his own is all that acceptable
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
18
August
2007
18th August - Tjørn
Light wind, dry and quite warm.
Lots of sheep just down the road from the hytte.
Decided to use the opportunity to have Mist run out to play with a ‘body’ in the presence of lots of sheep. Found a gap in the flock of sheep alongside the road, and Tone sat out in the heather about 20m from the road. The two groups of sheep were about 10m either side of us. Went well at first - Mist ran straight out and wasn’t at all bothered about the sheep being there. Very happy to play with Tone and we tested her a bit by (with long lead on as a precaution) throwing the toy a few metres away in the heather - no problem, she got it and came back. But then the sheep decided they should all be together and one group sprinted ‘en masse’ down the road. At this point I had to hold the lead to prevent her running after them. She’s definitely interested but she doesn’t lunge or whine. She accepts she’s not allowed. Hopefully, with time, and assuming she never gets the chance to chase for real, she will learn that sheep really aren’t interesting and ‘bodies’ are!
We went back to the road, and did the same thing again and despite having shown interest in the sheep when they ran, she was focused on Tone again and went out fine and played.
Later, Tone hid in the big gap under a huge stone behind the hytte. We approached from the hill side and it was clear when Mist got the scent as her tail started wagging 
. She struggled with the terrain and took a long time to find a way down through the rocks/heather/holes! She found an entrance to Tone’s underground hiding place but couldn’t get in there, so continued to work to find another way in. She was frustrated and started whining, and eventually found a way down to the ‘main entrance’. However, she wasn’t brave enough to jump the 40cm down at the entrance - it was dark inside and a bit wet/slippy. Hugo and I went inside too, to try to persuade her to come in, but she still waited whining at the entrance. In the end Tone went to her and lifted her in. Then she was happy to go in and out! Good environment training
I’ve found you, but how do I get in?
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The way in, but a bit scary!
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At the end of the day, after being a ‘body’ for Tone/Isi for two area searches, I decided to test Mist’s interest in human scent in the presence of sheep. I’d hoped to have Tone hide such that she was further away than a group of sheep, and Mist would have to run past the sheep to get to her. I didn’t want the sheep behind Tone, or else I reckoned Mist may well just not stop when she found Tone, but continue to chase the sheep since they would likely start moving away. But the wind wasn’t ideal and was coming almost directly parallel with the road, so we set it up so that Mist and I started right by the big flock of sheep on one side of the road and Tone hid close to the road on the other side, so we zig-zagged back and forth away from the sheep and back towards them, with Mist on the long lead, until she got scent of Tone and then I unclipped her and let her run free to find her. The first go went great - she showed very little interest in all the sheep (although they weren’t moving) but was very focused on finding Tone once she got the scent.
The second go we set up similarly, a little further down the road. The wind direction was such that I needed to go further up the bank on the uphill side of the road (away from the sheep) for Mist to find the scent. She seemed concentrated on the job, so I let her go free as we left the road opposite the sheep…. she had her nose up and I thought she must already have scent of Tone, but then she ran a big curve back to the road and 
directly towards all the sheep! She must have been <10metres from them at their side of the road when I shouted 'No!', heart in mouth....... She stopped, looked at me, I called 'This way!' and turned, and she came racing back :grin: :grin: Phew!! I'm not sure she was actually deliberately running to the sheep - the terrain between us and Tone included a small stream re-entrant and the air movement would have been quite disturbed by the topography, so she may well have had the scent then lost it, and run down the easiest terrain to try to find it again :???: Anyway, it wasn't long before she stopped, nose up and clearly knew that Tone was there…. and ran as fast as the terrain would allow to get her reward. It seemed trying to jump all over and lick Tone’s face was as rewarding as the treats and play Still, I was very pleased with the day - need to try to do as much as possible of this before the sheep go inside for the winter.
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening, Airscenting / Overvær
3
August
2007
Thought I would try some ‘obedience’ training in the sheep field….. may as well get started getting Mist used to it being a ‘normal’ training location. So off we set, armed with masses of treats and some favourite toys. Without a ‘helper’ to play the recall game back and forth, I was wondering how enthusiastic she would be - running full-speed is one of the best activities Mist knows Anyway, I put her on her long lead and let it trail on the ground and just wandered about towards and past the sheep. She wasn’t unduly interested unless they looked directly at her. After rewarding with treats for some time, I got the rag-on-a-rope out as a more active reward (far higher value than food), and one of the bloomin’ sheep came trotting over to us. I thought it wanted to join in but no, it stopped less than 2metres away and stamped its foot at us! We were obviously disturbing their peace and quiet
I moved away from the grumpy sheep, and took Mist over the broken wall into the other side of the field, where the ground slopes down and we can usually see lots of sheep without having to go too close to them. I got Mist to sit and walked away - she is learning that Sit means ’sit until I tell you you can move’, so I shouldn’t really need a Stay command, although I do hear myself gently saying ’stay’ or ‘wait’ under my breath as I walk away….. Anyway, to my delight she had no problem in sitting still while I went 20-30m away. I turned and waited a couple more seconds before calling her to me, and she came at top speed without batting an eyelid at the sheep nearby.
I got a bit cocky, and decided I should have proof…..
Stay! (look carefully, Mist is in the middle of the photo )
* NOT FOUND *
Come!
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Well, you get the point!! Yes, she did pass within a few metres of the grazing sheep - no reaction from Mist, the sheep just looked up momentarily
I wrote the other day to some people in SARDA Lakes (S&R association in the Lake District, UK) to ask advice about sheep-proofing. Unlike Norway, their search dog/handler teams have to demonstrate that they are safe with sheep, so I wanted to know how they go about training. It was nice to hear that they do very much what I was planning anyway. Build up a good level of obedience, including in the presence of sheep, and expose the dog lots to being in an area with sheep. Reward for staying close and ignoring the sheep, using a longline to ensure control while still learning. I’m determined to spend as much time as possible while the sheep are outside, and while Mist is young. Fingers crossed it will have the desired effect… watch this space!
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
27
July
2007
Some pics from our ‘environment training’ the other night, followed by meeting Trofast the bloodhound….. another new friend
Mist is quite confident on all sorts of surfaces, but still doesn’t much like being picked up and put on higher surfaces - once she’s up there, though, it’s not a problem. We were lucky to find lots of different things to practice on, in a completely open area with no people around…. except for a couple of guys with remote-controlled cars whizzing around at breakneck speed - even better training for Mist to see fast-moving objects and not chase them
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Another giant friend….. meet Trofast
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Has Trofast really got Mist’s foot in his mouth? 
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-
I’ve told you, lie still, you need a good wash!
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That’s better
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Guess who was tired that evening
Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
21
July
2007
Vigreskogen - warm and dry (at last!), some rain later (after our training session), changeable wind - both direction and strength
The plan today was to teach Mist that it doesn’t matter what it looks like, as long as it smells like a humanbeing! So, off went Sylvelin with a camouflage jervenduk/shelter, Johannes with a mosquito net and Hugo with a green scarf over his head (looking as if he should be carrying a gun as well), to hide in the forest!
Sylvelin sporting the latest in jervenduks…
* NOT FOUND *
Johannes with this season’s favourite……. the mosquito net!
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A few minutes later, Mist and I were called in - all were in place and ready. After a quick attempt at tracking down her bodies* by following the trail along the main path , we set off into the forest in the hope of using air-scenting to find them. The wind was so changeable that it was hard to select the right direction to search - best is at 90degrees to the wind direction. Anyway, after walking almost full circle around Sylvelin, Mist picked up the scent and charged in. No worries that Sylvelin was actually just a strange camouflage-coloured shape on the ground - human scent was enough to get Mist’s bottom wiggling as she climbed all over in an attempt to find a way in I’m not sure Sylvelin needed the two Ikea spider soft-toys as a reward - a lying-down body is reward enough…… the opportunity to lick a face and stick her tongue in an ear is rewarding enough
* NOT FOUND *
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Next was Hugo, on the more vegetated side of the main path. We had to walk almost full circle around him in order for Mist to pick up the scent, but when she did there was no hesitation - she ran wiggling as fast as she could to get to him. He kept the scarf over his face, and didn’t speak to her, but played with the bite-leather - I don’t think Mist’s play was as enthusiastic as when the body is also active and moving, but she was certainly happy to be there and wasn’t phased by the strange appearance.
* NOT FOUND *
Last was Johannes and since we didn’t know exactly where he was I wanted to make sure we didn’t pass too close, so walked quite a way towards the end of the path (towards the road) before turning to go at right angles to and across the main path. Before we got to the path, Mist suddenly lifted her head and raced off into the trees. Johannes must have been 40m or so from us and she didn’t hesitate to go and check out the scent once she had it. Great! Another fun training session
* NOT FOUND *
We left after lunch (2ish), as I’ve run out of dogfood, and the shop was only open until 3! Afterwards we went to the sheep field and did some anti-sheep training again. It’s quite annoying that whenever we stay still, there’s always at least one sheep that is inquisitive enough to want to come right up to us. I want them to keep their distance as a) it would allow Mist to concentrate on me and b) that’s what normal sheep do , or else they run away. We managed to get away from the most friendly bunch and found a place where we were looking downhill towards lots of sheep with one or two within 20m. At that distance Mist was happy to play - when they come closer, she clearly feels she needs to concentrate on the sheep instead. I don’t think she’s either scared of them, nor that she wants to chase necessarily, but is unsure of what to do so needs to watch them. Hopefully, I’ll manage to train the sheep to accept our presence without bothering us, at the same time as training Mist to accept their presence
The other challenge is keeping Mist from eating her own body weight in sheep poo The best method is to run around, so she follows me and doesn’t have time to stop and eat. I had planned to just have her sit quietly and reward her for staying put and not going towards the sheep, but it doesn’t work - she can’t concentrate on me when there’s sheep poo within reaching distance, and even squeezy cheese is struggling to compete. Maybe I need to fill a squeezy cheese tube with sheep poo instead 
Still, despite all this - she is being exposed to sheep and without the opportunity to chase (she’s on a 5m lead which I let trail on the ground), so I’m hoping it must be doing some good. Hugo advised me to get someone else to help out, and let Mist play with them, so she learns that people + sheep = fun games with people. Even recall training between Jon and me would probably work, as she loves running between us.
I drove round to the farm again, to ask permission to have her loose in a field with sheep (I’m assuming they own those sheep, and that they have some idea about dogs since they have a number of border collies themselves), but there was noone home again. It’s July!
* body = figurant = hiding person….. figurant sounds great in Norwegian, odd in English but previously I couldn’t think of anything better. Having just been looking at the SARDA (UK Search and Rescue Dog Association) website, I’ve decided the English version ‘body’, while a bit macabre sounding, is marginally better and will have to do…
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening, Airscenting / Overvær
16
July
2007
Well, Hønefoss anyway! It certainly felt like we’d travelled to the Far East and back. Jon had two orienteering races in Hønefoss and Larvik on Friday/Saturday and asked me if I wanted to go along and have a long weekend away. The sweetener was that Thule lives in Larvik and we could go to visit I agreed, without any idea where Hønefoss is - I thought Larvik was a long way (6+hours)…… Hønefoss is even further!
We drove to Setesdal on Thursday evening and stayed overnight at Flateland Camping - a really nice spot in fantastic surroundings. It was a pity really that we weren’t staying longer. Mist wagged her way around the campsite - people’s voices alone are enough to make her very happy She stood for ages staring at a tent, her tail doing 270degrees in delight, presumably waiting for the voices to materialise into real people - sadly it didn’t happen and we had to carry on on our evening stroll.
Our camping hytte - home for the night. Fortunately it was a relatively luxurious one, with a separate sleeping room (!) so we didn’t have to share our room with Mist, who likes to growl at and throw her toys around in the middle of the night
* NOT FOUND *
On Friday we continued to Hønefoss, where Jon ran his race in the afternoon. Mist and I stayed in the carparking area where a trotting pony was training up and down - great socialisation for her….. after the pony passed a few times, she just sat and watched without trying to run out after it. Good start We wandered down to the assembly area to watch Jon finish and I was impressed with how relatively calm Mist stayed with kids running round and people all over the place. She couldn’t contain herself, though, when Jon finally came over, sweating and dirty after his race - just how Mist loves him best
After the race we drove to Sandefjord and stayed in another campsite, in a room in a shared building - it was somewhat less well cared for (read clean!) than the previous night, and Mist had to sleep in our room, but it did the job. The following morning we carried on to Larvik, just a short drive down the coast. We found the forest that I had been to when I took Thule to Larvik back in May, and did a couple of short tracking exercises with Mist (60+m, visual cue only from a distance, 2-3min wait-time, Jon at the end), before I went for a run. I chose to run around the lake we’d walked to (but not around) with Thule and her new owners - selecting a circular route, with no short cuts, and with a time limit based on the time Jon needed to be at his race start is quite strong motivation to keep running. I don’t think I’ve run that fast for that long in quite a few months!!
Jon’s race was a sprint distance race, based in Larvik centre. I left Mist in the car and walked up to watch him start, but managed to miss him finishing (he was quicker than he’d said he’d be ), then after a quick shower, he and I walked back into the centre from the car, with Mist, to collect his map. Heavy rain makes the traffic quite noisy and really excites Mist. I carried her the short distance where we were right by the main road, as she’s beginning to show typical border collie interest in chasing traffic Something to work on - but not in a strange town in pouring rain, with another 3hour drive to follow! Just before driving further, we stopped by at Thule’s new home. Her new owners were away for the weekend, but their son was dog-sitting so we were able to see Thule and Chico. She looked different for some reason - darker and more ‘adult’ , and didn’t recognise us at first…. but it’s only a good thing that she is so clearly settled and at home in her new home She still remembered what ‘Bang!’ means, when I said it quietly when noone else was listening and she rolled over on her back
* NOT FOUND *
Saturday night we stayed in Birkeland at Kai-Erik and Kristin’s hytte. We were glad he walked down to the road to meet us, as they would have had to be quite complicated instructions to explain how to get to their hytte, which is furthest into the forest, up a tractor-track (at best!) and single-track. But what a fantastic place! Jon and I now want to buy a hytte! Kai-Erik’s springer spaniel Umi was great with Mist - very playful and patient both indoors and out. It was funny watching Mist chase after him, squeaking at him to ‘Wait for me!’
Puppy or crocodile?
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Uh, just cool it! Remember I’m bigger than you…
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Wait for me!
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Ok, I’m waiting…
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Contemplating…
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Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening, Tracking / Spor
8
July
2007
Sunday morning soon became almost Sunday afternoon before we actually did anything! The weather was miserable - grey and raining. But Sunday is a day off, with no commitments, so we had to make the most of it. Jon and I drove to Alsvik to go running/orienteering. Mist got half an hour playing in the forest first. We did lots of recall practice between the two of us - she loves racing back and forth. The hard thing is getting her to stop - food is mostly not worth stopping for (maybe for squeezy cheese), but a bite-leather or rope ball is worth a quick play! And we took turns to hide behind rocks or trees while Mist was held out of sight, then with a small sound cue (clapping or calling) she was allowed to hunt them out. She thinks it’s great fun!
With Mist back in the car, Jon set off to run home (a slightly circuitous route, of course ) and I took the Tur-O map and ran off to collect a few orienteering points for the NRH O-Cup. It wasn’t long before I realised I’d forgotten to take a pen/pencil to write the codes down so had to make do with a stick and mud….. needless to say, there wasn’t enough space to write too many with this method, so that was my excuse for only doing half the ‘course’ and returning to the car, soaking wet from long grass, bogs, streams and rain, after ~50minutes. Still, it was nice to be out - fingers crossed for improving weather….
In the evening, I took Mist up to the sheep field again. I let Mist go loose as soon as we got into the field, and I ran away so she’d follow me. She was definitely not as cautious about the sheep this time. When she moved towards them, I called and ran away, and rewarded her for following with a quick game. However, this time the sheep were even more inquisitive too. I could hardly chase them away (that would only encourage Mist to do the same), so I just stood and watched while one slowly walked right up to Mist. I stood close enough that if it decided to butt her, I could step in. No such problem, though. Mist put her ears right back and licked the sheep’s nose The sheep just stood there - not particularly impressed, but sufficiently bemused to stay put . In the end, I just walked away and called Mist, showing her a toy. Fortunately the sheep didn’t follow. It will be interesting to see Mist’s reaction next time. I must go back to the farm and ask permission, as it’s not actually allowed to have a dog off-lead at the moment! But I’d love to be able to continue to walk up there often….. and do some simple ‘training’ so she learns to ignore sheep altogether. Maybe some tracking…….. but the trail-layer would definitely have to avoid the freshest sheep-poo or Mist would be far too distracted
Posted: Orienteering / Orientering, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
5
July
2007
Environment training today consisted of visiting Sola ‘town centre’ on the way to work, and then a short walk/play in the field with sheep near our house. I still need to sort a few technical issues out to get the photos on the PC from the sheep-experience, but both experiences went very well.
Sola town centre is no buzzing metropolis, but there are plenty of shops with signs and stalls out in front, people walking around with bags, crutches, baby buggies, bikes etc., cars, motorbikes….. oh, and lots of litter to snuffle through and select the tastiest bits . It was a good opportunity to go somewhere with people who didn’t respond to Mist’s wagging tail, wiggling bottom and ‘oh, go on, come over and stroke me.. I’m soooo cute’ expression. I think it’s great that she is so sociable, but she needs to learn that not everyone wants to greet her. One man did come rushing over and practically threw himself at her, squatting down with his face at Mist level, letting her lick his face/neck and stroking her, then picking her up and cuddling her….. all without saying anything other than ‘what’s her name?’ to me . Good job Mist is such a people-oriented pup….. he would have been super-threatening to a timid puppy… I didn’t say anything, since it’s actually good for her to get used to strange people, strange settings, and knowing that it wouldn’t upset her I just let it happen.
The only thing she really reacted to (apart from her own reflection in the shop windows, which she always has a good wag at ) was a noisy motorbike. She was startled by it, then just watched it carefully as it passed. Fortunately it pulled up, and we were then able to go and investigate it - hmmph, not so exciting after all .
I finally did what I’ve planned for ages, but hadn’t got round to (read: plucked up courage to ….. was a bit concerned about my ability to understand/be understood by Rogaland farmer ) and drove round to the farm which, I assume, owns all the sheep on the hill behind our house. They have a number of border collies, so I’m hoping they train them and can offer some advice about getting Mist used to sheep (not with any view to learn to herd, but more to learn they’re nothing exciting). After all that, there was noone there :neutral:. So I drove up the road in Skaarlia and took Mist into the field anyway and let her wander around off-lead. At her age, a) she’s not bold enough to chase the sheep and b) she’s not fast enough that I can’t grab her if I need to. The biggest problem was that she just wanted to eat sheep-poo The sheep weren’t concerned about her in the slightest - it is a popular place and they must be very used to people (and dogs) walking through. We just wandered around and I tried to convince Mist that squeezy cheese was better than sheep-poo . She wasn’t overly interested in the sheep, but neither did she want to play very much. Still, the treats went down fine, so she was rewarded for just staying calm and looking at me. We did a few sits an lie-downs too
Some of the sheep even approached us, which wasn’t really in my plan. I don’t want Mist to be frightened by them (I don’t think) as it could turn her defensive and encourage her to chase them to get them to go away…. I just stepped in between and the sheep backed off. On the way back down to the car, this didn’t work and the first sheep stamped a foot at me, and the one behind stamped both front feet very determinedly. At this stage I thought it was best just to pick Mist up and leave. We’d been in the field about 15minutes and she had happily wandered past plenty of others - no need to undo it at the end.
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
1
July
2007
I’m not managing to do much exercise since getting Mist, but couldn’t resist the lovely weather today, so took Mist in the car to Dale and after 20-30minutes wandering in the forest, we did some ‘lead training’ on the football pitch (I’d actually forgotten her lead, so it was a piece of cord/string I had in the car ). Then I made sure the car was in a spot that would stay shaded for the next hour or two, and went for a 1 1/4 hour run/orienteering. Most of the posts weren’t far from paths, and the paths at Dale are mostly nice and not too rocky, so the running was a lot easier than my last orienteering at Lundekvam. Running through the open forest with the warm smell of pine was lovely . I need to try to get out each Sunday while Mist is too small to do proper walks.
On the way home we stopped off at Aspervik and wandered to see the boats, including a trip out along the floating pontoon. Lots of squeezy cheese as encouragement and Mist was quite happy The noise of some of the boats rubbing against the tyres at the side was of interest, and a bit too scary to go right up to check out…… maybe next time.
Have started teaching Mist to lie down, by tapping two fingers on the floor. Most of the time she slides backwards from a sit, into a lying position…… if she’s in ‘crocodile mood’ she pounces on my fingers and grabs them with her teeth She does try both sit and lie down now to get my attention.
I have also started teaching ‘targeting’ with my finger. I hold my first finger out and when she touches it with her nose I click and reward. It’s an easy thing to train at the same time as other things, since it doesn’t involve any voice command and is very simple. It means I can get her to move into places I want. Unfortunate that my arm isn’t long enough to ‘point’ right at the back of her crate when I want her to go in and she’s not so sure I’m trying to get her to go in without seeing me throw a treat in - she still gets the treat - it’s either in there already, or I give her it immediately she goes in - but I don’t want her to learn to refuse unless she sees it first!
Posted: Orienteering / Orientering, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
29
June
2007
Thought I’d let Mist let off some steam, so I arranged with Kristin to meet up at Sola Strand hotel, by the beach, to go for a walk/play with her two groenendahls. When we arrived, it turned out her brother and his new Newfoundland pup were joining us too - FUN!
Despite being the smallest, and ending up completely covered in sand and rain, from being bowled over by the bigger pups, Mist had a great time - and really took to the Newfoundland, even when she sat on Mist to stop her running away
The gang!
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Come on…. play with me!
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Ouch! There’s a small bear sitting on me
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Maybe I can escape this way?
* NOT FOUND *
The last couple of days haven’t been too exciting for Mist. I had to be in the office more than normal on Thursday for a review/meeting so she spent a lot of time in the car. She’s quite settled in her crate in there - she always has something to chew, and most often something to eat too. I make sure she gets chance to get out for the toilet ad to stretch her legs every couple of hours, but she’s happy to go back in (there is always something tasty waiting at the back of the crate). A friend kindly took her out a couple of times during the day, and when I had a break I took her out in the field next to the office and had a run around and play. We met two workmen in top-to-toe bright orange waterproofs and big gloves - she wasn’t bothered in the slightest, just ran straight up, wagging tail and wiggling bum, and asked for her tummy to be tickled!
On the way home on Thursday we stopped at the vets (just to make an appointment) and went to meet the horses in the field nextdoor. The fence didn’t reach to the ground and Mist could walk into the field - I didn’t let her go more than a couple of steps, but then one of the horses saw us and came wandering over. Mist hid behind my legs momentarily then pushed her way between them to see what this enormous head belonged to. I wish I’d had the camera - it was a real picture. Mist with her ears back and trying to lick the horse’s nose. The horse just snuffled a bit and carried on grazing. I fed Mist treats while the horse stayed close by, and she was only distracted when a dog came out of the vets and its owners wanted to meet Mist (the dog wasn’t bothered ).
Need to find more opportunities to go busier places - but will probably wait another week or two until her vaccinations are complete and I don’t need to worry about other dogs. Most places it’s not really a problem and the benefits of socialisation outweigh the dangers of infectious disease, but kennel cough is apparently rife in the area at the moment, so need to be careful….
Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
