30
June
2007
Despite the day starting with heavy rain, it turned out sunny and warm 
. Sadly for me, no wind though…. 
So, since this meant I couldn’t start airscenting with Mist, I decided to try tracking instead. After lots of discussion about pros and cons of different approaches to a puppy’s first go at tracking, I decided I’d first try the version with least ‘encouragement’ (in the form of her seeing the person set off or using treats in each footstep). My reasoning was that if she saw someone disappear into the forest, she may well get herself so wound up (especially as she’d be on a lead/longline which she’s not 100% comfortable with yet) that she’d just sprint off where she saw them, and given the open forest and the fact that person wouldn’t be far away (we only work with a very short trail to begin with), she may well find them accidentally.
So off set Ronny, while I watched to see exactly where he went, and where he would hide at the end of the trail. All prepared, I fetched Mist and took her into the forest and approached the trail at 90degrees. She didn’t react in the slightest as we crossed Ronny’s trail, but no big surprise - the forest is full of interesting smells and sights, and she’s in her element checking them all out! After crossing back and forth a few times, she got more and more irritated by the longline attached to her harness (which she’s also not totally used to yet), and was finding more and more other things to do - chew tree roots, pick up sticks, pine cones, rubbish….. 
that I decided to call it a day on that attempt. I called Ronny out from his hiding place - at which point Mist was beside herself that there was someone in the forest - yippee
We set up attempt #2 a little differently. Without interacting with Mist as he set off, Ronny walked off into the forest and I made sure she could only see where he went for the first few metres - not too difficult when eyelevel is so close to the ground 
She did not want to wait at all! I tried to reward her for looking up at me instead of bouncing around trying to escape to find Ronny, but there wasn’t much chance since her attention was very definitely on him and where on earth he had gone! Eventually he was ready and we could set off. As expected she raced off to where she last saw him and then looked around confused. I let her have a few metres of line, but no more, and she weaved back and forth, stopping often to look to see if she could see him. She didn’t track continuously, nor carefully, but her nose was down at ground level where he’d walked a part of the time, which was good. The last couple of metres, she saw him and bounded over
We did the same thing again, and she was desperate to follow him immediately. This time, she definitely had her nose down a lot more. The trail was only about 15m - ideal for starters since it’s important she succeeds relatively quickly while she’s learning the ropes.
We then took Daisy (Ronny’s 6month BC) for her go, followed by a well-earned lunchbreak
After lunch, Ronny and I repeated the same procedure for Mist. This time she whined when he went out of sight, but sat and looked at me a lot more than before so I got to reward her for it. She was very keen to get started though. This time, Ronny hung up tape at 5-10m intervals so I could see exactly where he’d gone. This meant I could tell much more accurately whether she was on track or not. It was really exciting to see her really work this time - nose down most of the time, not as much weaving and uncertainty, and definitely right on track a big part of the time. Woohoo I forced myself to stop there - always important to stop on a high, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better
Another two short trails for Ronny and Daisy and we were done. We used some of the extra time we had to wander around and play in the old gravel quarry and in the stream there. There’s lots of odd things down there - old tyres, a big road cone (scary!), other rubbish, so good environment training. Mist loved running along the stream especially when I splashed around in my wellies 
With her back in the car, I joined the ‘rundering’ group for the last handler/dog team, John with his rottweiler Odin - I was ‘figurant’ once for Odin….. it was nice to be part of a ‘real’ training group again, even if only for a few minutes It’s a long time (February) since I was training regularly with Thule.
Posted: Tracking / Spor
29
June
2007
couldn’t resist this one….. curled up on the decking outside the kitchen door in the evening sun…..
* NOT FOUND *
Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse
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!
* NOT FOUND *
Come on…. play with me!
* NOT FOUND *
Ouch! There’s a small bear sitting on me 
* NOT FOUND *
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
27
June
2007
Given that I don’t need any more convincing that Mist is extremely sociable and will love to find people, and given that there was very little wind (so not suitable for air-scenting for a beginner), we started ‘rundering’ training tonight with ‘figurants’ running out into the (open) forest and then stopping and sitting/squatting down partially visible. I held, or tried to hold, Mist with my hands around her chest/shoulders rather than on the lead, as she would have had a tantrum if restrained by her collar. She was completely wild, desperate to escape and go after the disappearing person. And when let loose, ran as fast as her little legs could possibly carry her to get to them On the second go, she didn’t find Kristin immediately so circled round back to me. I took a small step forward, ’supporting’ her to go out into the forest again, and she skidded to a halt in the pine needles in front of me and raced back out to try again. It took her a while to find Kristin, and I don’t think she’s using her nose very much if at all yet, but she found her and was very happy to chase the bite-leather. I’ve taught her a ‘drop’ command - decided it was the most important given that she growled at me on day2 for trying to take a bone from her. (And it’s the only command she knows at the moment….. ’sit’ is getting there!) I think it’s important for anyone playing with her to be able to stop the game whenever they want, especially when she starts getting wound up and growling. When she lets go, the game starts again, so she’s perfectly happy with the whole arrangement To end the game, I use a treat - it works but there’s no doubt that toys are much higher-value than food, no matter what I try!
Anyway, we had 5 goes with 4 different figurants and she was still crazy keen when we finished. She was also super-keen to stay and play with the next dog (6-month old BC Daisy) -sorry Ronny… My training colleagues were very kind and let me go home without staying to help with training all their dogs, as I have a review meeting all day tomorrow, for which I have quite a lot of pre-reading to do… Didn’t fancy staying up late to do it - I need to stay awake tomorrow.
I don’t plan to do too much more with such clear ‘encouragement’, since it’s easy for a BC to learn to use sight more than we would like. So, hopefully there will be some wind next time so we can try air-scenting… Fingers crossed
Posted: Rundering
26
June
2007
Well, it’s been quite a weekend! My parents came to stay for 5 days and we went to Hovden for a few days in a hytte there. I wasn’t quite sure how Mist would cope with it all - would it set her toilet training back? Would she lose all sense of routine? How would she deal with being left alone in a new place?
Well, I needn’t have worried. We had one small accident in the whole weekend - and that was just overexcitement at greeting my dad after being asleep for quite a while (I’m normally quite careful not to ‘greet’ her until after she’s been outside - if she’s ‘bursting’ to go, then the excitement can cause her to burst ). She settled great in the hytte - we set up her green fence in the corner by the fireplace so there wasn’t much worth chewing (she did try the slate just in case:roll: ).
* NOT FOUND *
She loved the cool temperature of the hearth, and spent a lot of time curled up on it sleeping, despite having a comfortable bed available Right outside the door was fantastic playing terrain, complete with ticks and smelly brown bog She had her first ’swim’ of sorts, when she fell in a small, but deep, stream. She clawed her way out (I was ready to help, but she managed fine), completely red-brown from the dirty water, and went straight back to have another look. She seems to be quite a water-baby…
* NOT FOUND *
This was by the river in Hovden when we went to watch Jon orienteering (there was a World Cup race plus the Norwegian O-Festival this weekend). Mist got a good run around before being left in the car - where she settled great and slept until we got back. At the World Cup event, she came with us to the main spectator area for a short visit and was just a mass of wagging tail and wiggling bum, with the excitement of seeing sooooo many people She hardly flinched when we walked past the loudspeaker (and boy, it was loud! 
), and was generally just interested in everything without showing any concern/fear.
On Sunday I noticed that one of her ears has started to stand up! Looks as if she will likely have ears like her mum and dad - both pricked….. we will see. It’s quite funny with one up, one down. Will have to try to get a picture…..
Her puppy-biting seems to be worse - perhaps it’s just that her jaws are stronger (should be with all the chewing she does ). I tolerate a little, but there are certain times, particularly early morning and late evening, when she can be just too much. Then she either gets a toy provided while I stroke her, or she’s put in her pen with toy/bone to take it out on that instead. Hopefully it is something that, with a little help, she will grow out of. Fortunately she is very toy-oriented so it isn’t too difficult to redirect the teeth to a toy instead.
The hytte….. top right in the picture (nearest to the water )
* NOT FOUND *
Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse
18
June
2007
Congratulations on passing the Orienteering test I’m surprised there was anyone in a fit state to ‘assess’ after the party the night before
Posted: Congratulations / Gratulerer
17
June
2007
There’s not much opportunity for running/cycling with a young puppy to look after, so I took the chance today to get out in the hills a bit…. Drove to the Lundekvam orienteering area (near Vårlivarden) and took Mist out in the grassy/heathery area near the carpark. There were sheep nearby but not visible, but they’d left plenty of (tasty ) evidence for Mist. Given a chance, she’d have eaten her own weight in sheep **** We wandered around, changing direction to keep her attention, playing now and again. I’ve started using a whistle for recall so we practiced once or twice and she got to play with the bite-leather as a reward - a definite favourite.
Then on the way back to the car, she managed to fall head first into a dark brown smelly bog . Not content with having half her face and shoulder a darker shade of brown, she looked at me a little surprised….. and set off to run the length of the bog clearly having the time of her life.
I then ‘ran’….. in a sense - this is Rogaland terrain we’re talking about, and once off paths, it’s mostly boulder field and thick (painful) juniper bushes, bog or crags! - for about 1 1/4hrs and collected a few orienteering posts, presumably the same ones Tone got a few days ago. Although it wasn’t hot today, it was still, warm and damp and the midgies were out in force….. not a time/place to be hanging around in one spot. There are 3 posts I haven’t got in the Lundekvam map, having been there a few weeks ago from the Hommersåk side too, and I suspect there will still be 3 I haven’t got at the end of the ’season’. Of course they’re the furthest away from the parking options and I’m not sure if I can be bothered - will have to see if I run out of other options….. I doubt it
* NOT FOUND *
Trying out a mudpack
Posted: Orienteering / Orientering
16
June
2007
Despite her being completely convinced that we would not manage to ‘trick’ her, we did
Tone and Isi qualified in March and it has taken until now to find a suitable date (and means of surprising her ) But today, while Tone was up at Gravdal training tracking and putting out orienteering posts for a test tomorrow), and believing that the ‘other’ group were at Vigreskogen training rundering…… a group got into her flat and decorated it ready for a party! When she finally came home, she was suitably surprised to find 14 people in her flat….. and she thought she could spend a relaxing evening on the sofa
Gotcha Tone
Posted: SAR / Ettersøkstrening
15
June
2007
We spent 5 hours at Sviland today! Johannes (and Lucky) was to take both A-qualification Tracking and Rundering (structured search) and Aud would take Tracking Re-qualification (she qualified with Odin in 2005 and so this year has to re-qualify) having passed Rundering re-qual a few weeks ago.
Ghita and I met at Sviland at 1530 and Mist got to go for a walk in the forest with her two dogs, Australian Shepherd Dewie and Tervueren Kharma. Mist was in her element - two friendly grownup dogs to (try to) chase around the forest
Ghita and I laid out the trails for the Tracking tests, then stayed around to time the tracking later on. As more and more people arrived - organisers, assessors, ‘bodies’ for the search test - so the number of dogs careering round the carpark area increased. Great socialising opportunity for little Mist, who just loves the chance to run around with the ‘big dogs’ - she has also discovered she fits under cars if she needs a break
And afterwards……..
Congratulations to Johannes for successfully passing his A-Tracking test
Posted: Congratulations / Gratulerer
13
June
2007
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
