Dog massage!

Today we all went off to the first day of our Beginner Class in Dog Massage....! Two full days of initiation - arriving at the registration with our two furry Siberian Husky friends, we find ourselves together with a Bichon Frise, English Setter and an Aussie Cattledog! Really nice! Only minor problem was that Phoebe was so agitated and needing to run around and investigate.... She wouldn't calm down, let alone shut up! Oh well - we sent her back to the cage in the car and let good old Luke steal the show.... He just ADORES to be touched! Massage, massage, massage....belly up, ears back :-) Coming home, we went straight off to run with the Kickspark on the lake - a nice 8 km run at a good tempo - around 24 km/h outbound and 15 km/h homewards.... Relaxed, injure free dogs! Happy trails!

Breakdown....

Went for a nice run on Langen Lake with the two dogs in front of the Kickspark - around 5.5 km at around 22 km/h on the outwards leg and 18 km/h on the return - Phoebe keeps a good pace! The only problem was that the nuts and bolts keeping one strut attached to the Kickspark ski had come loose! We kind of "limped" back to the car - luckily the trail was easy :-)

"Two Mouse Run or Hunting With the Pack"

Have you read the book called "Winterdance" by Gary Poulson!?  He has a hilarious description of training in the autumn and encountering skunks with his team...:!  A "battle" ensues and his dogs come away the worse.....smelling like....well, a rotten skunk!  Tonight we went for a really good run with the Kicksled with Phoebe and Luke in front - about 6.5km in total in the dark.  We turned back after a snack of "fat sausage" from Kjøttnils.  Energy restored we headed homewards - when we were on the way, Phoebe suddenly JUMPED into the deep powder snow on the side of the trail....!  What!?  A small black, scurrying mouse! She caught it - killed it - and in the confusion, Luke had the front part chewed off and down his throat!  Phoebe chewed up the rest.....Back on the trail, we were back at the car in no time, when Phoebe AGAIN pulled off to the side....ANOTHER MOUSE! This time, Luke had his bit, but Phoebe just sniffed it....licked it....and decided to ROLL ON IT!..... Smelly camouflage...?! Thank god it was not a two skunk-run, only a two MOUSE-run! Happy Trails!

Scared of heights...

The other day when Phoebe and Luke came to the office with me, I noticed a major difference between them...  Phoebe is always ready to go - little or no hesitation - into the glass-wall lift/elevator. Cross the "skywalk" into to our offices - no problems!  Riding the lift down, Luke actually had to lay down on the floor! I guess this is alot to do with practicing from a young age - Phoebe has been coming to the office - on and off - since she was 10 weeks old! She went in a lift at 9 weeks' age... What IS funny, is that she is quite scared of shadows in the dark! She went barking scared at seeing some balloons some months back....funny girl...!

Out and about...

We have had a looooong period of -20 deg C or thereabouts.  Our Siberian Husky friends, however, are genetically adapted to survive the extreme cold of Siberia... Phoebe was an "indoor dog" until only very recently, but when Luke arrived we housed them both outsied in the kennel.  This has gone very well except their incessant war, trying to claim the big house... Phoebe has an attitude of "It is mine, then mine, and if anything is left over, it is mine", that applies to food, toys, dog houses, attention....
Since Luke and Phoebe came back from their Xmas and New Year holiday in the mountains, we have paid extra attention to Luke especially, aiming to form stronger bonds with him.  He just LOVES to be scratched on the belly :-) A couple of days ago he even took the initiative to play with a toy ball - really good sign that he is relaxing! The last couple of nights, they have also slept indoors with us and yesterday they came with me to the office (see picture).  Well behaved, charming everyone there! MjauVoof!?

New toy!

During the holidays, we took delivery of a new toy... a "kickbike"!  Attached the two dogs to it tonight and went for a quick run....! A bit scary without a break - will install a "scootermat" sledbreak...

Fun, fun, fun!

Happy New Year!

The New Year is upon us :-)

We had a really nice dinner with our friends Paula and Rodrigo before going down to Aker Brygge to see the fireworks at midnight..!  Since our dogs are away on holiday in the mountains, we had to invite some subtitutes!  We had friends over for dinner and Johanne brought Tanana and Ravna with her two cute puppies! They are really friendly, outgoing, sociable - two healthy Siberian Huskies!

Luke and Phoebe are coming home tonight....at last! Happy New Year!