Mist

HD!14

Just got Mist’s HD (hip dysplasia) results back from the Norwegian Kennel Klubb, and to my great surprise she isn’t completely free
The result is just Mild in her right hip and it is unlikely to cause her any problem. But have to admit I was somewhat shocked especially after the vet who took the X-rays said they looked really good. Ah well, if I wasn’t in NRH I’d never have known (having HD results is a requirement). I don’t really agree with the requirement, since a dog won’t be excluded regardless of result although a diagnosis of a higher degree of HD does mean that the dog’s health has to be reported to the central organisation on an annual basis (I think). In my view, if the dog is fit to work it should be allowed to work. Why spend a significant amount of money to find out that your dog has a condition that may or may not affect its ability to work (most are of course perfectly healthy). A different story, of course, for those who want to breed. But for those of us who have no intention I think it’s an (yet another) expense we could do without.

Wonder if Mist read the results - she ran pathetically slow next to me yesterday evening when I ran with her. Or maybe, as Jon suggested, it’s just she’s used to running with him so it was boring going sooooo sllloooooooowwwwww

Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse

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
* NOT FOUND *

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
* NOT FOUND *

Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, General