Mist

Back in business0

Is it really so many months since I last wrote here?
Have put it off and put it off, each time thinking ‘there’s no way I can catch up with all that’s gone on since we were in the UK’! No, not a chance, so will just have to make do with a few lines on the last few months and carry on from there.

The trip north
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So, after the UK we travelled in the campervan back through Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and back into Norway… and continued this time north, and further north…. and further…. until we got to Tromsø. We had weeks of hot sunny weather which was both a blessing and a chore at times. A 6-month old baby who doesn’t sleep well at the best of times is even more difficult when it’s 30degrees until 10p.m.! Still, there can’t be many people who have seen so much of Norway in a single trip, without a drop of rain for weeks. Pictures here and here.

Then a week in Helligskogen (towards the Swedish border) for a week of NRH training. Mist and I were in a ‘beginner’ group which was a lot of fun. No pressure of assessment or anything like that, just lots of training, chatting, meeting new people and dogs…. During the week we did a little rundering, longer tracking trails than we’d tried before, tracking behind other dogs, area search, article search and some bits and pieces (including sending her over a small lake to a figurant - yes, she swam!). I was really pleased with her performance - no sign that she’d been on holiday for the previous 2 months! Pics here.

After the course, Thomas and I flew back from Tromsø to Stavanger while Jon and Mist drove back. Funnily enough, Mist hasn’t been so keen to get in the car since that Still, it was the sensible thing to do - it would have taken a long time to get back with Thomas on board.

Since being back, we’ve adjusted to ‘normal’ life…. having more than a few square metres of space to live in (and clean!). Thomas has got mobile (our timing was good - it would have been a very different trip if he’d been able to crawl) and Mist is not impressed. We have to be vigilant to prevent him getting to her or else he grabs hold and she has shown her teeth a couple of times now. Hopefully as he gets older, they will both learn to treat each other with respect but for now it’s our job to keep control. Thomas has started at barnehage/nursery, I’ve started work part-time in a new job (economist) and Mist has started spending full days home alone. So far, so good. Work-days are full-on and busy but we’re managing and glad I took this gentle (part-time) start back to work.

Having achieved a fairly reliable bark indication with Mist by the summer, I have now gone right back to square one and have started with the Swedish bitt method - a ‘bit’ dangling from her collar that she should pick up and hold/bring to me when she finds someone. The reason was that the SARDA shuttling bark indication is not an approved method in NRH and although the rules could change in 2010 (next revision), it’s too late for me if I want to qualify that year. So, back to the drawing board and quite a challenge as Mist isn’t the world’s best at holding tight onto things in her mouth. Ah well, more on that later no doubt.

Otherwise training is going well. On and off we’ve been training lots of obedience - assessment is on the 6th December. Watch this space!

Meeting the family in Denmark
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Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, General

Socialising in the forest1

After meeting and greeting the NRH crowd in the car park at Sviland, Mist had a ’socialising circle’ (well triangle actually, there were only 3 figurants) in the forest. Paul, KristinT and KristinM sat about 10-15m apart in the open forest over the stream, and in turn called Mist and rewarded her with toys and treats. After a couple of goes, Paul called her then ran away and crouched down. She set off towards him when he called, stopped up when he started running, then sprinted after him. She’s certainly not shy

It’s great to see how toy-motivated she is already, and keen to play regardless who’s on the other end of the toy. At the moment, I’m using rags tied to a piece of rope, or bite-leather. She loves chasing and pouncing on them. At home I’m working on getting her to bring toys back and swap - I’m sure later (being a BC) she’ll love to chase a ball or other toy. She’s learning ‘takk’ (Norwegian ‘thankyou’) as a drop command…. this time, I’ve decided it will be easier than having to ask people to talk to her in English

Posted: General

First SAR training - aged 9 weeks0

Today, Mist attended her very first NRH (Norske Redningshunder / Search & Rescue) training. Of course, at this age there is no training as such, but lots of socialising and teaching a pup that people are great fun. After a somewhat hot car journey of about half an hour, we arrived at Vigreskogen near Nærbø and little madam was set free. There is no doubt that she loves people, and is already quite confident in approaching strangers - all good news for a SAR puppy. She is also very toy-oriented and quite happy to play with a new person as well as familiar people, which is also a great sign for so young a pup. Today Kai-Erik and Kristin were Mist’s first ever ‘figurants’ (the ‘lost’ person - I’m going to struggle translating all these Norwegian words which don’t have a direct English equivalent ) - they ran away across the grass with a toy and Mist was allowed to run after them and then play. No hesitation

Kai-Erik….. Mist’s first figurant
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Just as much fun was meeting Frode’s new GSD puppy, Helle. She’s just one week older than Mist, and although twice the size, they got on like a house on fire. They played for ages on the grass, in the sun - there’s no wonder Mist slept the whole way home and most of the afternoon too
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(thanks to KristinT for this excellent pic)

And for good measure, Mist got to meet one of the ‘big boys’
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Posted: General