MjauDoggyWoggy

IFSS World Championship!

2011-04-16T23:53:00.000+02:00

So.... In a few words - the winter season 2010/2011 has been fantastic! After running in two qualifying sprint races with a line-up of Phoebe, Niklas, Sven and Burka - off we went to the IFSS World Championship! Conveniently this year, it was held here in Norway, at the Hamar Dogsledding Arena. Actually, it was a Championship in three parts - first the Femundløpet was the first ever official Long Distance Wrld.Ch. event in IFSS history! Next out was the Middle Distance and Sprint events at Hamar - which is where we competed... (Third session was Nordic and Sprint here in Oslo at the Holmenkollen ski arena. The Hamar racing was a chance to test the dogs in the 4-dogs Siberian Husky class (lumped into the "Nordic Breed" category) - 8 km * 3 days! I can sum it up by saying - YEAH! 7th place out of 13 teams - best Norwegian team :-) Despite having two new dogs (Niklas and Sven came in December), one dog that was almost dead 9 months earlier (Burka had an immune reaction that made her lose all her red blood cells) - Phoebe was the only "known" entity of the team.. Brothers Niklas and Sven are hard-driving - Niklas showing more confidence, but Sven with a seemingly endless supply of "go-juice"! Of course, Phoebe is screaming to go and certainly a natural leader, but I felt it best to have the girls and boys teamed up - what a team! Gooooooood dogs...
I am VERY happy with a 7th place in the World Championship in the very first race season....! Still need one more dog to make a good 4-dog team, since Burka is not so hard-driving or long-legged; she is an extremely competent MD dog - all her siblings ran on Tore Hunskår's World Championship MD team :-) She is treal hero on my race team, but unfortunately not be used in breeding... Not so, Phoebe! She will be bred to Niklas this summer if everything goes to plan - 0% inbreeding and combining two proven Sprint lines will be interesting.....! Now time to enjoy the spring and coming summer...

Racing season...

2011-01-14T11:05:00.000+01:00

The autumn and early winter has already passed, and I thought to update you on the racing season!
Since the summer we have had a mixed bag of dogs - one sick, one old, one puppy, and one eager healthy, crazy dog. Racing has therefore natually been limited to, well....limited events?! During the autumn I participated in a 2*3km race with one dog (Phoebe) and bike. This was really fun, so when I had the opportunity, I joined a dryland race on the Drammen Horseracing Circuit (Travbane):

Phoebe ran against the Norwegian (and European) elite Nordic disclipline dogs - i.e. her competitors were 40kg Vorsteh dogs and the guys on the bikes were top trained (since they ski with the dog in winter)... We had a GREAT race and after 1.6km only came in 30 seconds behind! Had I been in shape I am sure we would have done better....! Good dog!

Last weekend we went to the Hamar Dog Musher Festival ( Hundekjørefestival) where we entered the sprint four-dog Nordic Breed class - the distance should have been 8km but due to prepping of trails for the upcoming World Championship, the circuit was 6.7km... In front, Phoebe and Sven, wheel dogs were Burka and Niklas. It was a miracle that we started the race - 6 months ago, Burka was almost dead, and she has not recovered fully - she is still thin and in need of conditioning.... However, there is nothing wrong with her enthusiasm, and she has a tendency to "dance around" with eager anticipation - the result of which was less than good! 5 seconds before the start, she had managed to "jump out" of her too-large harness..! With full stress adrenaline and nervouseness I tried to fix it... When we got away 1min 45 s after my race had started, it was still not correct... Anyway - we run along and were caught halfway by next team run by a friend. She passes us, and our speed picks up as we trail her at a distance - result? Total tangle of Burka's harness - I stop twice and anchor up to fix it before it is finally done.. Day 1 we were therefore last, even if the dogs ran very well! Technical problems - "that's racing"! Day 2 went like dream in comparison - borrowed harness and no tangles - we passed two teams on the trails - the Greenland dogs, no problem, but the Siberians of a German musher behaved like "mini crocodiles"... Ah well - we made good time - all in all a very good weekend! HAPPY TRAILS!

Expanded family...

2010-12-19T21:41:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to update you on the dog status;
Since one week back, we have welcomed two new members to our pack of dogs; Trahimus Niklas and Trahimus Sven - two really sweet brothers that we picked up in Sweden. Our friends Sandra and Adam from Huskylyan kennel, where we bought Phoebe, are cutting down on their dog-life... It was with a sad heart that they let their dogs go.... The dogs are purebred racers (sprint-distance) and we will make every effort to give them a good home :-)

Trahimus Niklas in his new home

Trahimus Sven in his former home (picture courtesy of Sandra Olofsson)

Living a dogs life - in the moment!?

2010-12-19T21:24:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes - I KNOW I have not written anything in my blog for ages......! Weird how time sometimes just flies by when we are living in the moment? Since late summer, we have been living a life full of dogs....! Our "little puppy" Joey is growing, growing, growing - in the the video here, taken late in the summer, he had a visit from his brother Sapian - of boy, did they play!

With a quartet of sick dog, old dog, puppy dog, and a full-of-energy dog (Phoebe), out training in the autumn as been less-than-ideal! We have run the Dyck cart on the local streets, up to 8km... In November, my wife and I had a late, late "summer" holiday - safari in Tanzania...! On our return, weather turned very cold and seemed stuck in the -10 - 20 deg C barefrost mode for ever...!

It is now snowing and we are looking forward to training with the sled...

Growing in confidence...

2010-08-08T12:49:00.002+02:00

The half-week that Joey has been in the house have been just wonderful :-) He is such a likeable, cute "little boy" - running around with his tail up, investigating, chasing the cat..... He has been several times down in the run-around kennel with the other dogs, but always under our supervision; Phoebe loves to play and interacts well with him, Burka can sometimes growl at him to put him in his place, and old dude Luke patiently corrects him :-) Just now, Phoebe and Joey and the cat Nexus are all together here on the floor enjoying a good nap after the running around...

The two boys enjoying a moment with Priscila :-)

Adding to the team...

2010-08-06T23:05:00.000+02:00

We have for a couple of days now had the pleaseure to welcome "little Joey" into our expanding dog-family! "Little" Joey is almost 9 weeks young....but has already weighed in at 7.5kg!!! Judging by the size of his paws, he is set to become a BIG Siberian Husky when he grows up! :-)
His parents are both lead dogs from a Norwegian racing kennel, so we have hope for his future as a sled dog.... He has already had a chance to run around with the other three adult dogs in the big kennel space, as well as try to play chase our cat Nexus... Of course, being a baby he still sprinkles our wood floors with an ample dose of "angle water" pee..... Love him to bits! :-)

Extending the living space....!

2010-07-22T21:54:00.001+02:00

In the heat of summer, the dogs generally enjoy a bit of shade and tend to relax...

However, despite the heat and to the detriment of my lower back, but to the gainment of the dogs....the new run-around kennel space is hereby declared as OPEN! :-) Yes, yes - I have slaved away for a while this summer, making holes, driving poles...

So - now the kids can run around a bit, sniff, pee, dig....dig, dig, dig....! They really seem to enjoy the added space and look forward to the opportunity to stretch their legs! Phoebe in particular is full of energy, running back and forth, around and around.... Burka is content to sniff around and run just a little, dig just a little....then sit in the shade... :-) Luke, however...is the DIGGER! He has found some exciting smells it seems, that he really, really, REALLY needs to dig for....hehehe! Enjoy the rest of summer!

Summertime swimming...

2010-07-12T09:13:00.000+02:00

Polar dogs are often shy of water.... I guess naturally so, since getting wet in the freezing arctic cold is the most effective way to end your life....! However, Siberian Huskies are almost "waterproof", and if they have a chance to roll in dry powder snow, they can quickly dry themselves off.... In summer, "water sports" is a great way to exercise despite the hot weather.. Phoebe enjoys swimming around when we go on a quick canoe trip on our local lake. Ahhhh - summer....

Oh....hard summer life...

2010-07-11T11:16:00.000+02:00

The past week has been HOT! Everyone - four-legged and two-legged seem to seek the shade or other ways of cooling down....like spending time in and on the lake!! Next door we have a beautiful lake and since Phoebe has always enjoyed swimming, we decided to buy her a swim-vest so that she can be more comfortable in the water...

She also enjoys sitting in the canoe and watching life float by...literally :-)

On the home front, our chubby boy Nexus has decided he needs to sweat off some of the kitten-fat.... ;-)
He has simply found a perfect spot to rest his chin.... In the safety of daylight and before he has his dinner, we let him out a couple of times per week so that he can run around on the lawn and explore the neighborhood.... It doesn't seem he goes very far, but he clearly enjoys his wider horizons :-)

On the mushing front, we are in R&R mode. The dogs spending lazy days on the top of dog houses, and us humans enjoying the hot summer weather with a barbeque amongst friends!

Winter seems faaaaar away.....

Puppies....

2010-07-05T09:22:00.000+02:00

As you may have noticed, there have been no further news about Phoebe and her planned mating to Vargteam's Zordo.... This is simply because nothing happened! When she arrived at Ole Dag's kennel, she was probably not fully into her cycle yet, and arriving amongst a bunch of hormone-pumped rather domninant bitches probably made her shut down the cycle....! Phoebe is a happy-go-lucky girl, but she is not very dominant (whatever we mean by that....another dicussion altogether). After scouting around we cane across a couple of alternative litters, both of which seem to be excellent! Ulf and Kari Hope at Snørokk Kennel have a beautiful bunch of puppies after two of their main dogs: http://snorokk.wordpress.com/. On the other hand, Trond and Siv have a litter of puppies (http://www.sh-hundespann.com/tuvas_valper_2010.htm), from which Johanne will pick a male... She gave us a tip, that ONE male was left - we talked to them and went down in the car yesterday (they live 1 hour away).... Forgot the camera at home, but I have stolen Johanne Sundby's photo and show it here below.. After seeing the mother and father as well as the puppies crawling all over, we have decided to get a puppy from the litter....! It will be fun to have a small one running around at home... It will be up to Uncle Nexus to teach him how to hunt birds.....or not!? Nexus has made the progression into a (partly) outdoors cat - on Saturday he spent the entire day running around chasing birds without success... It is fun to watch him stalking, and it seems his instincts are strong.... :-)

A Midsummer Night's Dream....

2010-06-28T10:07:00.001+02:00

Phoebe letting everyone know she is excited to run!

Wooooo wooooo wooooo!

We have just passed Midsummer.... Here in the Oslo-area the days are remarkably long... Even if we are not above the Arctic Circle it is *almost* Midnight Sun here: Sunrise around 04:00 - sunset around 23:00..!Since Pagan prehistoric times, the longest (and shortest) day has always been associated with a ritual - in our times that equates to a party! Last weekend we went to the cabin of a friend - 4 humans and 20 dogs in total! We all had a real blast - dogs running short and fast in front of bicycles and ATVs - stopping to wade in streams, drink and cool down... The two-legged group all went to a big local party on the Saturday - real hillbilly style in the forest - rock band, barbeque, wine and beer, laughter, friendship....fun!

The dogs are enoying the summer - loosing their wool, digging cooling earth pits - sleeping on the doghouse roof... We are very happy with our three Siberian Huskies - Phoebe is now a little more than two years young(!), Burka will be two in July, and Luke is heading towards 10 in November....Burka showing her mangy coat :-)

Luke enjoying his cooling earth pit...

Burka has shown herself to be a very eager, well-built girl. She is rather careful and timid with strangers, but is very sweet and loving to her family. Of course, when Phoebe shows too much enthusiasm (read: barks and makes a spectacle of herself), Burka needs to tell her to calm down....! Burka's half-brother and two half-sisters were also at the cabin this weekend. Here is a photo of Juluss - named after the valley where the cabin is situated (Julussdalen). He is extremly eager to run and rather noisy... His sister Nenana is proving to be a possible new leader for Johanne.... :-)

Dogs, and more dogs....

2010-05-12T22:48:00.000+02:00

(Photo from Ole Dag Løvold)

Long time since the last update! We have been busy finishing an excellent winter season - more than 1 meter of sno on our doorstep! Since we have a 3-dog team the pulling power is enough to enjoy sledding, which we can do just next door. We took a long deserved holiday in Brazil at Easter time (see my wife's blog at http://naterradobacaiau.blogspot.com/) This long absence was followed by a business trip or two, ending with the total flight paralysis due to the Islandic volcano exploding.... I was of course stuck a few extra days in London... You bet the dogs (and our cat) were sorely missed!!! Thanks to some of our very good friends, they had a pampered holiday! With spring comes many natural changes - the birds return and start to sing, the leaves start to come out....and the doggy hormones start to flow! Phoebe has finally entered into her overdue period of "heat"...! And this means she will be bred to Vargteam't Zordo - we plan to keep at least two puppies so we can start to build up our small team :-) Phoebe is an intense, slightly overheated dog in the harness, prefering to gallop along like her Swedish-bred sprint parents.... Her dad ran on last year's winning dryland Siberian 4-dog team, and her mother comes from a long-established sprint line, Team Amarox. Zordo on the other hand is a well-shaped, cool and collected long distance lead-dog with all the genes and experience from Ole Dag Løvold's Vargteam kennel. We are both looking forward to seeing the results of this cross....if it "takes"!

New member(s) of the pack :-)

2010-03-04T10:03:00.001+01:00

The last few weeks have been fun! When some of our friends went to India, we looked after three of their Siberian Huskies..... They integrated very well with Luke and Phoebe, and enabled us to enjoy the local trails with the sled :-) A 5-dog team of relatively eager dogs are strong enough to pull our sled with one of us inside as a passenger! We even had a chance to please two families with three kids in total - giving them rides in turn and letting the older ones and adults stand on the runners...

In the past weekend, we went to the Norwegian Siberian Husky meeting where we participated in the informal "recruitment class" race - this was an easy 10km trail. We entered with 5 dogs in the 6-dog class and beat the only other competitor - a young girl running someone else's team of Alaska Huskies :-)

On the way home, we loaded up the car with another sweet girl - Burka. After returning the three dogs we borrowed, we now have Burka on loan to find out if she suits us and the others - so far, very good! She is a careful, super-sweet girl :-) She is of similar build and size to Phoebe, but more "calm and collected" so we hope they will form a dymaic/thinking duo of front-runners for our small team of dogs!

Dog massage!

2010-01-30T21:29:00.000+01:00

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....

2010-01-28T20:24:00.000+01:00

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"

2010-01-15T21:12:00.002+01:00

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...

2010-01-12T19:45:00.000+01:00

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...

2010-01-08T08:59:00.000+01:00

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!

2010-01-04T21:04:00.000+01:00

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!

2010-01-03T16:37:00.000+01:00

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!

Quiet at home...

2009-12-26T22:15:00.000+01:00

We have had a wonderful white Christmas with my parents visiting us for two days. During those two days, as much as 60 cm of fluffy powder snow fell! We literally had to dig our way out :-) Luke and Phoebe are in the mountains with someone we know - they are getting a lot of exercise pulling the sled, but it feels sooooo quiet here without them! Oh well....they will be back here soon enough :-)

Running....

2009-12-20T20:48:00.000+01:00

(Picture of Hans-Christian Ørjestad's dogs)

Today I loaded Luke and Phoebe into the car and set off down the local road to the parking place close to Oslomarka Trekkhundklubb (Oslo Forest Dog Sledding Club). We went with the bike - quite OK surface to run on, and not slippery! Puh! Total distance 10 km, speed between 15 and 25 km/hr. We stopped for a bit at the Club house, and I let Luke and Phoebe run freely inside one of the larger kennels. Nice day out; sunshine, minus 10 degrees C. Back home I finished building the second small dog run, setting up the fences and shovelling gravel... Now I only need to build a couple of houses and I can welcome guests! :-)

False alarm?

2009-12-20T20:39:00.002+01:00

Back to normal....no howling, no apparent heat...

Oooouuw, oooouw!

2009-12-16T20:45:00.002+01:00

Luke spent the day outside alone....howling..... Our neighbour heard him howling on and off, but he stopped when she went outside and said, "NO"! This evening, he has not shown much interest in the romantic way towards Phoebe..... Maybe he realised it was too early and he is just biding his time...!? His howling may also just be because he is unused to being alone!? They will now spend the time chained to their respective house, so we should not have howling at least....

Interesting developments...

2009-12-16T08:12:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I went out for a bikeride again - I was so impressed by their team performance on Monday that I wanted to test two days in a row... Again the kids performed very well - Phoebe is extremely "forward" and Luke can pull you up a hill... His only problem is that sometime he decides to "mark the spot" and that stops everything for a few seconds - oh well, that is no real problem! Getting to the end of the road, we met a guy walking two loose dogs - they "suddenly" appeared out of nowhere in the dark, and startled Phoebe.... Bof, bof.... She stopped, backed away, but Luke good boy got us past - Phoebe is actually afraid of the dark! We got back on track, and only turned around after we hit an icy patch and.....well.....two dogs - two wheels... You figure it out! We went slow, so no problems apart from the chain coming off the cogs. "Quickly get back on your horse", as they say... Back towards home went we, with a minor detour to add on a couple of kilometers. Total maybe 7km (forgot the GPS)?
As we came back to the house and I was getting my shoes off, Luke suddenly decides to mount Phoebe....! WHAT!? Get down! Most of the evening he tried, tried....but Phoebe rejected him...
She only had her last heat 3 months ago, but it is not impossible that she could have been triggered by his arrival to have another! After all, he is The MAN! :-) At night we chained them each to their house to avoid....complications, hoping there was no hanky panky in the night! Today, we left Phoebe inside our house and Luke in the kennel.... We shall see how the situation develops...! Mjau, Voff Voff!

Doggy routines..

2009-12-14T20:50:00.005+01:00

The dogs after a quick run.

Wake up in the morning - meaty soup... Go for a walk, pee, s**t, back in the kennel and bye bye... When I came home today I took the dogs for a spin in front of the bike. There has come a sprinkle of snow, so the local road is less slippery. Short distance - around 5 kms at a good pace. Phoebe RUNS and Luke PULLS when he doesn't stop to mark his spot...

Luke is getting more and more relaxed with us - he is a really sweet dude - calm and happy :-)

He seems to adapt really well also to Nexus - they even layed down on the floor together - Luke cleaning Nexus' fur and Nexus licking Luke on the nose just like he does with Phoebe!

Luke has spent his long life as a kennel dog - he has, shall we say, acquired a.....an odour?! On Saturday we took him into the shower and washed him - NO PROBLEMS! He was calm and accepting, even seemed to enjoy it! Gooood boy, Luke :-) We love him!

Doubling the number of dogs...!

2009-12-08T21:08:00.006+01:00

Oh dear....here we go... We were warned about the Siberian husky sickness.... After finally moving into a house, we have had a chance to build a mini-kennel.... So now we had space for more than one dog...!

Our good friend, Johanne let us inherit her trusted wheel dog Luke. He is now close to nine years young and has raced in many long-distance races such as Finnmarksløpet - lots of experience to match Phoebe's youthful enthusiasm!

They are alreday best of friends except that Phoebe tries to steal all the food...heehe! Oh - and they didn't even need the new house I had built - they moved into Phoebe's "two beedroom house"!

The one thing that Johanne has warned us about with Luke, is his previous history of eating a pet rabbit! Our chubby boy cat Nexus may be at risk, since he is used to running around with Phoebe in safety, whilst Luke might decide to hunt him for real! Well, so far everything is fine! Luke takes direction well - he breaks away when we correct him, and it seems more and more that he ignores Nexus :-) Although Phoebe and Luke sleep outside and spend the day in the kennel, they are inside the house with us in the evening in order to integrate with us :-)

At least now we have two dogs to pull bikes or our sled.... A little slow perhaps, so perhaps we need a couple more....!?

Quo vadis?

2009-10-21T10:37:00.004+02:00

The last weekend before we moved away from the apartment a couple of friends became parents - in the hectic rush to the hospital they had to leave the dog behind, so we took pity on the "little black sausage", Hugo and let him spend the weekend with us :-) It was really nice to have a visitor - Phoebe clearly appreciated the company of another dog! But Nexus....? Well - he decided that Hugo was an object suitable for his "hunting game"....heheheh. He would jump out from behind or from the top of the cardboard boxes that were everywhere and "kill" the poor little Hugo! Of course, Hugo was only mildly curious about Nexus, and showed no fear or anxiousness as a result. What was even more interesting was Phoebe's reaction - if Nexus and Hugo got too "hot" in their encounters, Phoebe would run up to them and "push them aside", just like I imagine a mum will do with her kids or a bitch with her puppies....! :-)

Now that we are installed in the house we will hopefully have a chance to finish the building of our kennel space - perhaps we can then adopt or borrow a couple of dogs....hopefully to make a better sled team than with the little black sausage!? :-)

Home.....at last....!

2009-10-19T07:58:00.003+02:00

After a long silence on the blogging front....we are back! Rather, "we have moved on"! Since Thursday Thursday last week, we have been living in our new house in the forest southeast of Oslo. The location is perfect for those of us who enjoy the "great outdoors". There are paths and tracks in the nearby forest, including an active group of dog sledders maintaining a small network of trails... Down the road from us, there are several kennels, and we are ourselves preparing a corner of our land for a small run-around kennel area. Nearby is a lake called "The Long One" (Langen) - this is a shallow, narrow lake that stretches for more than 10 kms North-South direction. During summer, we have our own small place to tie up a boat or our canoe (no engines allowed), and during autumn and winter, the lake can be used for ice skating and even pre-snowseason dog sledding! We hope to park our canoe there - Phoebe likes to come along - after an impatient 10 minutes she will in and swim for a bit before we drag her inside again...

We already feel quite at home in our new house, even if we are surround by cardboard boxes and outdated facilities (we will replace the kitchen). In the morning of Friday and Saturday we had visitors in the front garden - a group of two roe deer and a lone roebuck....! Nice to see them, but they tend to eat the flowers.... L8R :-)

Change of status....

2009-08-15T18:32:00.008+02:00

In the lazy days of summer, there have been several possible life-changing events in the MjauDoggyWoggy household.... First of all, our "little boy" Nexus has had a trip "to buy ice cream" (also known as - going to the vet)....! He is now 15 months of age and has had ample time to "go through the change" of puberty.... To avoid any potential for unwanted kittens the vet removed his "crown jewels" the other day - is there no other discreet way to say that he has lost his balls!? Nexus is still the same however - after a groggy, spaced-out evening he is back to his good old self; "Prrrrr, prrrrrr - food? Prrrrr, prrrrr - scratch me under my chin, behind my ears; Prrrrr prrrrr - "trot trot" - let me chase my sister (Phoebe) and kill mummy's (Priscila's) foot under the carpet....!!" :-)

The other piece of news worth mentioning is that the household will move from the very nice apartment into an even nicer house! Our new adress will be "enter the forest and turn right by the 2nd big pine tree"..... We will have a house bigger than we need, but the bonus is that there is a big piece of land (2500 sqm) with a corner perfect for constructing a small run-around kennel area....! It is soon about time for Phoebe to "move out" and perhaps establish herself with a much older man.....!? Actually - we are hoping to adopt a mature, experienced sled dog that can teach Phoebe so much more than we humans ever could - who knows, maybe there might be puppies in her future too!?

The good thing with our new location is that there are several other dog mushers in the neighbourhood, including people we know, and that there are prepared sled tracks in the forest next door... We might even have a chance to take up some rock climbing too, since a great cliff is located within walking distance from the house (Fjell - where some of the hard routes and boulders were put up in the good old sport climbing pioneering days...)

Days are already colder, so we hope that Phoebe can get some proper autumn training this year...

Summer days....

2009-06-13T19:45:00.004+02:00

In the "off season", it is important to keep our 4-legged friends activated....

Our little boy Nexus is easy....give him his food, a nice pillow or blanket to sleep on....let him chase the red dot of the laser pointer(!) and he is happy as can be :-)

Phoebe needs more variety and challenge if she is not to get bored and start chewing up parts of the house.... This week when I was away in Germany for a conference, she destroyed my sunglasses!! So - some of the "games" we can do in the summer heat - interval training on the lawn pulling a toboggan (akebrett) loaded with some weights! A really good way to build muscles without risking overheating when running longer distances.. Se the video here:

http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/86/Phoebe_pulling_weights_-_part_2

Priscila and I are going on our annual summer holiday next weekend - 2 weeks in Spain driving around and enjoying everything from good food, wine, to old castles, beaches...

We had to go downtown to buy a guidebook today (Saturday) - Phoebe came along with her "backpack" on and helped us carry some small things - to cool off we let her jump into one of the fountains on the harbour front - she enjoys water! Dips her head under, snaps her jaws at the spurting water, jumping around....and cools down in the process!

I hope you all have a nice few summer weeks!

Phoebe at the Norwegian Siberian Husky Club exhibition

2009-06-03T21:44:00.003+02:00

Last weekend we went to the Norwegian Siberian Husky Club exhibition to show Phoebe in front of a judge - entering the "junior class" since our girl is just one year old :-) Ahead of time, we had practiced a bit of trotting around in a circuit, but this seems to be a something that we need to work on *a lot* more...... She tends to jump around, turn to look at the dog behind, or start to gallop - her favourite "full speed ahead mode"! However, on the day she behaved reasonably, and after the judgement was awarded a 2nd prize blue ribbon - this means she is a "good example of the breed", but that she has some "imperfections"..... Generally, she was deemed to lack maturity in build and musculation, and that she was still very "puppy-like" - Yup! That's our little girl! All in a all, we really enjoyed the weekend - weather was a balmy 24 deg C.... Luckily she enjoys swimming as an activity and was able to cool down in the local lake - see the video of her being lead into the water by one of the attending "junior mushers": http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/83/Phoebe_swimming

For those whom are interested, here is a loose translation of Phoebe's "judgement":
"54 cm. Good type, feminine head. Good nose and bite. Good neck and back. Still somewhat undeveloped chest. Should be better angled cross(?), hip and knee as well as upper arm. Moves with a short front reach - adequate posterior movement. Good fur quality. Good temperament. Still very puppyish."

Sunday walk in the forest

2009-05-25T22:17:00.003+02:00

Photo of Phoebe and Juluss - Resting in the shade on a hot day.

Last Sunday we went for a nice walk in the forest with our friend Johanne. She brought her sonn-to-retire racing dog Luke (8 year old male), and her two cute three month old puppies - Juluss (male) and Nenena (female). They are after "Racer", an excellent lead dog from Hans-Christian Ørjestad's kennel. Priscila walked with Juluss - he shows EXTREME "forwardness", wanting to be in front of everyone and driving up the pace..... CERTAINLY a future lead dog! Just like his mother, he complains in a loud voice if the pace is too slow or he is not allowed to be in front.....heheh - see the video here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/82/Little_Juluss_going_ahead

Digging, digging, digging...mud, mud - oh glorious mud!

2009-05-21T17:04:00.005+02:00

Since all the "white stuff" has gone for this season- digging has been redirected towards the "black stuff"...hehehe. Out with the bike today, we stopped at our "watering hole" for Phoebe to drink and cool down..... In the microsecond she was standing still, I tried to take a photo of her after the healthy mud bath...... :-)

Mjau, mjau! Happy Birthday Nexus!!!

2009-05-14T22:40:00.004+02:00

Today (14th May) our little boy ("Lillegutt") celebrated his 1st Birthday!!! MJAAAAAAAAU!? Extra meat, extra fish, scratch under the chin.... He is the most loveable cat ever! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHOEBE!!!!

2009-05-13T21:41:00.004+02:00

Our little girl Phoebe is 1 year old today!! Time has gone so quickly.....they grow up so fast..... She had an extra portion of meat and some dry fish snacks today as a treat :-)

Springtime is here!!!

2009-05-04T13:18:00.003+02:00

Time has passed....soooo quickly!! I apologise for the prolonged silence.....

What has happened since the previous post? One last nice sledtrip in the evening with Johanne... Phoebe now has a total of 30 kms as a lead dog, and doing very well so it would seem! Easter holiday was spent dogless, touring around Scotland with some friends of ours. Very nice! Leaving one of the many castles, we met a couple out walking their pair of Irish Wolfhounds...huuuuuuuuge dogs! They (the humans) had alread got bitten by the "husky sickness", having spent 1 week dogsledding in Finland, and had been over in Alaska this year to see the Iditarod... The man was already planning to add some Alaska or Siberian huskies to his household.....

See some pictures from the trip in Priscila's site:

http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/99

http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/100

http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/101

So - what was Phoebe and Nexus up to in the meantime?! They stayed at a dog and cat hotel....5* it would seem, since Phoebe was relutcant to leave when I went to pick her up! She enjoys the place, since she is allowed to run around with other dogs inside a large fenced area....FREEEEEEEEEEEDOM (of a sort...)!

All the nice lovely snow has gone and green grass and budding leaves have come to replace it... Time to take out the bike again! Phoebe impresses me with her eagerness to run... She has become an adept single-lead dog, and seems to enjoy the speed of low-resistance bike wheels rolling...

Coming of spring....?

2009-03-16T22:25:00.005+01:00

After a (near) record amount of snow this winter, the last few weeks have brought balmy temperatures and the beginnings of snowmelt.... There is still more than enough snow in the forest and mountains, but close to town we feel the sap rising...birds singing, sunlight...

Last weekend we had beautiful Sunday weather, and we took Phoebe to the local kindergarden where she could freely around and practice her newfound passion for.....digging! Check out the videos here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/80/Phoebe_running_off_leash
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/81/Phoebe_digging_in_the_snow

Happy trails! :-)

Phoebe's debut as race leader...

2009-02-23T20:06:00.003+01:00

Last weekend, Priscila and I loaded up the car with the sled, Phoebe and 3 excellent sled dogs from Hans Christian Ørjestad (aka. "The King"). We are eternally grateful that he would lend us Kaisa, Foxy and Krølløre - three of his top-class and experienced Siberians. THANK YOU! After a looooong drive through minor blizzard conditions and slippery roads, we arrived at Grimsbu Camping in Folldalen, an eldorado for dog sledding where the Norwegian Siberian Husky Cllub had their annual winter meeting.... Setting out our stake-out chain (made that same day), the dogs were given a well-deserved meal :-) Typical of a lone house dog, Phoebe is a relatively picky eater at home - on the stake-out however, she eats...well, like a dog?! No problem with her appetite, an essential trait in a working dog. See a video of the dogs here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/79/Siberian_huskies_eating_at_stake-out

On Friday, after the end of the official races, Priscila and I teamed up our 4 dogs, running Phoebe with Krølløre as wheel dogs, and Kaisa+Foxy up front. We did a practice run of the 10 km sprint circuit that I would race the next day - halfway through we switched places - Priscila and I - and Krølløre and Phoebe - so....for the last couple of kilometers Phoebe ran in lead for the first time in her life...! No problem :-) Seeing that Kaisa is a grand old lady of 11 yrs, I borrowed another dog (Hera) from fellow Siberian musher Lars - teaming up Hera and Phoebe in front with Krølløre and Foxy as wheel dogs, we set out on Saturday to compete in the informal recruitment race - 10kms sprint with up to 6 dogs. Apart from losing 1 min or so to Phoebe's desire to play with Hera, she performed really, really well for being in lead! 10 kms went by in a respectable time (37 mins or so) and we arrived in goal without any mishaps - gooooooood dogs... A really good learning experience for all of us! :-)

Training at Johanne's cabin...

2009-02-16T22:21:00.006+01:00

This week Johanne was away working in Africa and I went to her cabin with Kjetil whom helps train her dogs. With Phoebe we had 10 dogs... I drove us there with 4 dogs in cages in the car and the remaining 6 in the dog-trailer. On the way we picked up her car from the repair-shop and one of her sleds from the "Dog musher shop" in Elverum. We had true "arctic winter" conditions with nighttime temperatures down to -25 degrees C.... Quite some debut for Phoebe's first nights to sleep outside in a dog house!!! She didn't seem worse for wear - bright and active at the morning feeding / watering time. We gave all the dogs extra food over the weekend for them to generate enough heat - "fuelling the oven" so to speak, something we had to do for us too.... When arriving at the cabin, all the plastic water storage bottles were frozen solid!!! We lit a fire in the fireplace and started melting snow on the electric stove.... Falling asleep in my sleeping bag on the sofa I was in the end warm and cozy.... :-)
At 5 in the morning, I had the pleasure (truly!) of being woken by the dog pack howling! I believe I heard an "out-of-tune" voice that perhaps was Phoebe - anyway, it is a wonderful thing to hear - I just love the dog concerts :-)

On Saturday we went out for a looooooong run - Phoebe teaming up with 4 of Johanne's experienced dogs on a run that was 34.2kms according to the GPS!! No wonder she had a great appetite when we came home, and that she went to sleep like an angel in her house....! Sunday was a shorter run of 19kms before we packed up and drove home to Oslo in the queue of cars to deliver them all back at Johanne's kennel.... It was nice to sleep in our own beds for a change - Phoebe outside our bedroom door and myself next to Priscila in our comfy bed :-)

See a video of the Saturday run here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/78/Phoebe_running_long_distance

Distance sled training and cross country skiing!

2009-02-08T19:27:00.002+01:00

Photo of Denvildra Teqno - Phoebe's father (photo by Sandra Olofsson - Huskylyan kennel).

On Friday, Phoebe and I went out with Johanne and her dogs - I ran Phoebe alone in the middle of a 5-dog team - a total of 20 kms. Really nice run in the quiet evening - we didn't get back until 23:45 (quarter to midnight).... We tried to visit a friend of Johanne, breaking trail in deep snow to reach his cabin, but we missed it by a couple of 100 meters - anyway, we don't think he was there... Phoebe is running very smoothly in the team, and seems very happy to be doing her "real job" - pulling a sled! One day soon I shall have to try her up front with an experienced leader alongside......

In the last days we have received 30-40 cms of snow here in the Oslo area - really nice!! Today Priscila and I introduced our friend Rodrigo to the pleaseure of Cross Country skiing - he is very fit (marathon runner) and has a natural talent for sports.... We did a smooth 7.5 kms on his FIRST ever outing! Of course, I had Phoebe in front pulling :-)
See a couple of videos here:
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/74/Priscila_and_our_friend_Rodrigo_skiing
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/75/Fiskebein_Fishbone_uphill_cross_country
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/76/Downhill_on_cross_country_skis
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/77/Rodrigo_going_down_the_hill...

Phoebe's debut as a long-distance dog...!

2009-01-25T20:54:00.003+01:00

Voff!? This weekend we went to Johanne's cabin to run our new sled..... Johanne was very kind in giving us a "helping hand", lending us dogs to match Phoebe with and give her a real initiation into the art of running....! We did a quick run on Friday when we arrived, giving Phoebe and some of Johanne's dogs a short stretch of the legs... On Saturday, I ran a string of 4 dogs, Racer (from Hans Christian) and Kobuq (Johanne's) up front, with Phoebe and Spock forming the wheel-dig pair. It was a great feeling running the new sled, and observing how Phoebe ran. She was mostly very concentrated and seemed to be enjoying herself very much! Priscila is perhaps the up-and-coming (only one?!) Brasilian dog musher!? She ran another set of 4 dogs with Johanne's sprint sled - expertly controlling the situation even when the sled tipped over!!! Johanne had another 4 dogs and her friend Egil had a string of 7 Alaska huskies.... Boy were we glad he took the job of leading all the teams in the beginning...! There was a LOT of snow, so his team broke trail for all of us :-) Thanks Egil! The total distance run was around 27 kms with a break midway - pretty good going for Phoebe the novice long-distance dog!!! On Staturday evening we joined the local dog musher neighours for a dinner party - what a party! Good food, good drink and good fun for all :-)

Phoebe really enjoyed her initiation to distance running - her tug-line was mostly tight and despite being tired at the end, she kept running...and pulling - gooooood girl!
She also seemed to fit in very well with Johanne's dogs, all of which behaved themselved very well around her! Perhaps she is eyeing them up as potential mates for the future?! Needless to say, her "boyfriend" Bardus was happy to see her :-) Woof, woof!

See a couple of videos from the weekend here:
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/71/Siberian_husky_dogsledding
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/72/Dogs_talking...
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/73/8-dog_Siberian_husky_team_setting_off...

Not to forget "chubby boy" Nexus! He had the treatment befitting a King during the weekend, when my mother looked after him! I believe he has charmed his way into her heart......miiiiiiijau!?

Snow, snow, snow!

2009-01-22T13:48:00.003+01:00

Last weekend we went to Trysil to do some alpine skiing for the first time this winter - Priscila, Paula, Rodrigo and Patricia - we all enjoyed playing in the white stuff!
We bought a cheap "akrebrett" (toboggan?) that the kids use to slide down the hills... Phoebe was hooked up in front and.....she pulled!! See the video from this week that I took at home - by the shaking of the camera, you should realise that I was running to keep up!
http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/69

Priscila really enjoyed it - it has given us a preview taste the dogsledding.... We are going to Johanne's cabin this weekend, bringing the new sled and borrowing a set of dogs :-)

Holiday, party and growing up!

2009-01-13T22:09:00.007+01:00

Priscila and I went to Brasil over the Xmas and New Year holidays - the first time since she moved 1.5 yrs ago! It was very good to see family again, but since most people were travelling, we didn't see as many friends as we wanted.... My parents came over, and we - Priscila, her mum Zo, my mum and dad and me, all went to a beautiful island "Ilha Grande"...

The word on the beach is that a new World Champion surfer was born......NOT! Great fun at least!

The main event of our trip was the delayed celebration of our wedding - a great party was had by all - a modest (by Brazilian standards) 150 guests! See the pictures on Priscila's website here: http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/95
http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/96

As for the animals.... They had a nice stay in a "dog and cat hotel" - Nexus emerging as a larger cat after 3 weeks of what must have been a food orgy! :-) And little Phoebe......is not so "little" anymore! She had her first menstrual cycle - as I write this, she is in the last week of the cycle... At least it seems most of her "PMS" attidue has relaxed a bit....nothing destroyed here in the apartment of note the last few days....heheh! She is now 8 months old - weighs 16 kg.

We are looking forward to the return of winter, and will hopefully have a debut with the new sled in the weekend in little more than one week..... We shall see......!

MjauVoff!

"Running with the pack"...

2008-12-14T11:18:00.003+01:00

On Thursday this week, I took Phoebe with me to visit Johanne. We had agreed to take out a small 6-dog team on a training run that evening. Zorro and Racer (from Hans-Christian) in the lead. Phoebe was attached to the sled with her elastic leash and left to run alongside (not pulling). It was obvious that she wanted to be in the team and she strained to go ahead - the elastic pulled her back and in a second we had run over her!!! She wasn't hit by the runners, just pushed down in the snow by the toboggan-plate. She emerged happily on the other side, no worse for wear!!! With a bit of rearranging, we kept going - she still ran happily along until her harness started to completely disintigrate! We left her to run loose and she could now approach all the dogs - frequently running in the middle of the team alongside the main towline.... A total of 15km run, fairly moderate pace run without any hickups - we stopped if we spotted anyone - I went forward to pull the dogs aside and hold them. Even at 20:30 - 22:00 in the dark evening we met 3 skiers! In January when we come back from our trip to Brasil, our "new" sled will be waiting for us!!!! I have bought a secondhand mid-distance alu-sled that weighs 14kg - with Phoebe and 3 borrowed dogs it will give us a chance to experience the pleasures of dogsledding :-) Can't wait!!

Work, rest and play....fight!?

2008-12-14T10:53:00.005+01:00

In the week since we came back from the mountains, time has gone by so very, very fast! Come to think about it, time has gone by since Phoebe arrived in our home in July.... Here a picture of her when she was 2 months old.As you can see, we love her to bits! These last few weeks, she has been quite naughty, chewing on various items of the household - a basket full of pieces of soap; the zipper of Priscila's winter coat (ruining it!); a load of my socks; etc.... She now spends alot of time sniffing at the pee of other dogs and is very careful marking her own passage..... All her sisters in Sweden are reported to have their first period, so we are expecting it any day, now!

On the other hand, our little boy Nexus has started to "boss around" the house - the little boy is getting balls! He will be "neutered", but will be allowed to mature properly first.... Given his newfound "ballsiness", he has started to confront Phoebe! He walks straight up to her and gives her a punch on the nose!!!! Yesterday, he really bit into her and chased her around - this ended up with Phoebe trying to defend herself as best she could, giving off a panicky, wailing, "oooowww, ooowww"!!!! She was truly afraid! After I separated them, Nexus came back to confront her - Phoebe was so afraid that she turned her head away and snuck off into the corner!! POOR LITTLE GIRL!!! For those who know her, Phoebe is a happy, easy-going girl who shows little dominance. On the other hand, she likes to give a little verbal argument before giving in :-) HEHEHE - as I was writing this, there was a huuuge noisy racket going on - Nexus had been investigating a plastic bag.... Somehow the hole of the handle got trapped on him and he took off like a rocket trying to "escape it"!!! After running the length of the apartment it broke away - Nexus is now hiding under the bed...afraid that the plastic bag will try to attack him again!!! HEHEHEHE - here is a photo after the event.. Nexus wearing his "plastic bag skirt"...

Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting on Snow!

2008-12-09T21:25:00.005+01:00

What a weekend! The Norwegian Siberian Husky Club had their Autumn meeting on snow last weekend.... Priscila, Phoebe and I drove up there on Friday and installed ourselves in the big cabin up on the mountain plateau (Syningen, between Gol and Hemsedal). Maybe 30 people and 200(?!) dogs were gathered to celebrate the return of winter!!! Phoebe had a new experience, sleeping on a straw bedding in her cage in the car..... During the daytime when not otherwise occupied, she was chained to the tow-hook of the car and just hanging around. In other words, she was adjusting to the typical life of the sled dog on tour! Saturday we borrowed Bardus from Johanne and teamed up the two - connected to me on X-country skis, towing Priscila behind me!! The GPS recorded a top-speed 24 km/hr - achieved running the first downhill from the cabin!!! When the two playful puppies were not otherwise occupied (read: playing in the snow like crazy), we averaged around 10-12 km/hr - NOT BAD FOR A 7 and 9 months' old Siberian dog team!
See a video of them both looking expectantly towards the "big boys" passing by in a sled-team!

Later that day, Phoebe was set in a 4-dog team pulling a wooden sled. In the beginning she didn't quite understand what was going on, but soon caught on a started seriously pulling! GOOOOOOD GIRL! The trip was far too short, but all in all we did 8.9km that day (skis+sled).
Sunday was absolutely stunning - blue skies, no wind, nice temperature (-8 deg C?). Because I had a bad back that day, we declined to borrow another dog and just went out with Phoebe... A very nice cross-country trip where we all got some more exercise - total length of 5km.
We all agreed that it had been a perfect weekend - good weather, wonderful dogs, nice people, food and wine... We have already booked space for the Winter Meeting in February :-)

The days go by....

2008-11-26T20:37:00.005+01:00

Since last I wrote my blog, Priscila and I have spent 1 week in Paris and München - the kids were placed in a kennel and suffered not at all! Both were very glad to see us again, but I am sure they had a lot of attention - the girl at the desk said...."oh, they both have such great personalities....!" Phoebe and Nexus are going back there over the Christmas and New Year period when we go to Brasil to celebrate our (late) wedding party!

"This bed ain't big enough for the both of us......!"
Lately we have found Phoebe more and more often on our bed and on top of the sofa - sometimes jumping up straight in front of us and 11 times in a row just the other day!
As a revenge, Priscila jumped into Phoebe's bed with her.....!
This morning, her leash slipped out of my hand and she took off into the small forest like a rocket! I spent 10 minutes following her, trying not to go to fast because that just makes her go into "YouCan'tCatchMe" playmode...ah well!

We might simply have a preview of her "teenage antics"....!? She is now 6 1/2 months old and she could have her first menstrual cycle anytime soon....!

On the training front, I try to get out a couple of times per week with the bike (yes....the snow is almost gone, just a thin sugarcoating to make us dream). We do up to 3-5 km with her pulling ahead - average speed maybe of 10km/hr! - that is including all the full stops to sniff....! We do about 15-20km/hr when she is in the mood :-) In a couple of weeks we are going to the Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting on Snow - should be a chance for Phoebe to try out gently in a sled-team. We also plan to borrow a second dog to go skikjøring.....

On the cat-front, Nexus is as cool as ever...... The single week at the kennel seemed to make him grow even more "round bellied"...! He is known affectionately as "Chubby Boy".. Take a look at Nexus lazily fighting the camera: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/66/Nexus_fighting_the_camera

Winter is back......!

2008-11-06T19:10:00.005+01:00

Hi dear friends!

Since I last was able to post, I have spent a week on business in the USA. OF COURSE, during my absence,it SNOWED!!!! 20 cms of fluffy powder snow...... Phoebe went totally mad with joy, running around "snuffling" her nose down into the white stuff, jumping around...The picture above is taken when Priscila is talking to me on the other side of the Atlantic...

Priscila and Zo had a fun-filled day with her... There was still snow when I came back - even now, one week later it covers the big green lawn area nearby with a snowy/icy layer.Of course - daddy (me) decided to have some fun too, so yesterday I put her in the harness and went out with my cross country skis! She ran like a rocket, with me trying to steer right and left to avoid the worst bare patches.....hehehe. If ever I was worried that she would be spooked by the noise of skis (or sleds) sliding across the snow.....nah, no way! After Phoebe lost interest and stopped to sniff around the lamp posts, I put her on the collar and walked abit... We met several other dogs, including her namesake Phoebe! Yes - there is a girl with 2 Siberian huskies living close by - we met her for the first time yesterday. This weekened Priscila and I are going to Paris and München for one week holiday....which means that I will have to drive tomorrow evening to deliver the 2 kids at the cat and dog hotel......! They will be fine....(I keep telling myself) - MJAUVOFF :-)

Autumn sunshine...

2008-10-20T11:44:00.004+02:00

Three out of four of the precious women in life - Mother-in-law Isolete, my sweet wife Priscila and Phoebe (my own mother Angela not present)

Phoebe enjoying a few UV-rays on a beautiful October day!

Phoebe showing off her "wild-type" wolf-like colours.

Yesterday we had a long walk in the Frognerpark enjoying the beautiful autumn sunshine...! Even if we associate polar dogs with snow and wind, there can be no question that they (like us!) enjoy the magic light that comes with changing seasons...the autmn crisp and clear, winter blue(s) and dark light, brilliant spring sunshine on snow and the endless summer days...

October is certainly one of my favourite months - when I go out on the grass in the morning with Phoebe we enjoy the first real frost on the grass and the nostril- and lung-clearing crispness to the air...aaaaaah!

Sex, Drugs and Rock&Roll....!?

2008-10-16T08:32:00.006+02:00

Or rather - in the animal world; Water, Food and Sex (procreation)! Since Phoebe is still too young to start thinking about having puppies, and she gets enough water from us....that leaves FOOD! Our little girl is in danger of becoming picky about eating - ai ai. Once in a while she just seems too bored to finish her meal.....at least her own! We have now caught her many times "red-handed" (or is that pink/red-tounged?!) whilst she clears little Nexus food bowl! His food is sitting on a shelf and she is just able to reach it...! I believe she is hoarding the food - she certainly does not suffer any shortage in our household - but sometimes she simply decides to steal what she can and if Nexus even approaches her bowl she will chase him away and start eating... She could be trying to "dominate" Nexus...simply because she can! I have cut back on her rations slightly, and will leave her only 15 minutes or so to eat up before I remove the bowl. She is served sometimes before, sometimes after Nexus, and his food is moved to a "safe" location as soon as he stops eating! Phoebe is now finishing her food....even licking out her bowl - heh :-) She now weighs in at 14kg and has just passed 5 months of age...

Oh - the other day we decided to give Nexus a raw egg - we had seen a cat in Turkey in June trying to lick / eat the sticky eggwhite and we thought it was soooo funny! Nexus had his egg mixed and ate some....before Phoebe came to take possession....! See for yourselves: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/65/Phoebe_eating_raw_egg
Mjau - voff!

Phoebe pulling HARD :-)

2008-10-12T10:19:00.004+02:00

Wooo voof!?
On the last Tuesday walk I talked to Line (a local Siberian Husky musher) about training a single dog like Phoebe into becoming a good sleddog... First off - sled dogs are "born to run", but NOT born to become GOOD sled dogs...
The "danger" of being a single dog in a household is that there are no real standards to compare oneself to. A typical mistake is to use a Nome-harness when going for a "sniffsniffpeeshitwalkingaround-walk" and think that he or she is getting some "pulling training". I firmly believe there should be a separation between working and resting/free time, and walking around in a "non-work" mode whilst wearing a harness and pulling just a little sends the wrong mixed signals. Similarly - when on a bicycle with your dog, it is all too easy to let it "just run along", even if it is with the harness, and the aim is to cover distance... DON'T pedal like crazy all the time - slow down, even put on the breaks and let the dog feel how it is to REALLY pull something...at any speed... This also becomes important in shaping and evaluating the "honesty" of the dog. The dog should work hard, even if she is tired and close to exhaustion! Siberian Huskys have a reputation for only giving 80%, saving the last reserve for survival situations - an excellent quality for a polar dog, but perhaps the reason why many (most) long-distance racers choose to run Alaska Husky dogs.

In the endless debate of "Nature vs. Nurture (influence of genes vs. environment) - I am a firm believer of both - a sled dog is born AND trained - enjoy the Saturday afternoon video of Phoebe: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/64/Phoebe_pulling_hard

MJAU VOFF!

Phoebe's "twin" sister!

2008-10-08T08:30:00.004+02:00

As Phoebe now grows more into her adult fur, her colouring becomes more distinct, showing a nice black tone above her white and brownish-red and white hairs... Back in Sweden her sisters are growing nicely - Elektra is a beautiful and happy bitch.....and she is Phoebe's "twin"!!!!

Photo by Sandra Olofsson

Sandra - I hope that Phoebe can meet her sister to see how they differ in personality! See more pictures of Elektra here: http://galleri.huskylyan.com/#17.0
If she is anywhere close to Phoebe (Amber) in personality I am SURE she will be a good sleddog when she grows up - Vooooo voooo voff! :-)

Siberian Husky Club Autumn Meeting

2008-10-06T21:42:00.003+02:00

Voooooooo vooooo voff! Last weekend we went up to Skramstadseter in the mountains east of Lillehammer - we were attending our first Norwegian Siberian Husky Club meeting! There were lots and lots of dogs, maybe as many as 100!? Phoebe had a great time "mixing it up with the big boys"...... Of course she was very happy to meet her "boyfriend" Bardus - Johannes GIANT puppy ;-) On Saturday there was a sprint race - since Phoebe is still a bit too young, I borrowed a dog from the Huskyville kennel - Ingvild and Torbjørn were very kind to let me have Romulus. I tested him in front of the bike and he PULLED! We were lined up and off we went on the first stretch of the 2.2 km circuit.... Just as we came up to the first curve, Romulus sat to have a s**t....! When he was done, he wanted to run back to the start area where "daddy" was standing..... hehehe! With some help from Didrik we got going in the right direction at least.... A slow trot later we came to turn into the last homestretch..... Ingvild was standing there as a track guide and OF COURSE Romulus wanted to stop and hang around with "mummy"! After a bit of dragging from a helper as well as pulling from my side we sort of started going.... We got passed by 2 competitors on their bikes and THEN Romulus got the point and started running after them....like he was on fire! Ah well - poor boy - he has never run as single lead and never in front of a bike. This just goes to show that sleddog pulling is a matter of trust - man and dog - and that "practice makes perfect". Obviously some dogs are "born to pull", but this does not mean they will be able to do everything we ask of them....certainly if they have not had previous training!! Of course....next year I will put Phoebe in front of the bike....and improve on our LAST PLACE! Even some people running with a dog were faster than us....hehehe!

The weekend was the first taste of frost, ice and snow....that eventually turned into mud - OH GLORIOUS MUD! The good thing was that Phoebe had her first taste of the white stuff.....vooof voooooof!!! She was also an example for the other dogs - standing quietly on the cabin porch the whole day - wagging her tail at strangers - humans and 4-legged ones :-) See more pictures in Priscila's Multiply (she took most photos): http://prikoh.multiply.com/photos/album/90

Pulling again...

2008-09-30T21:29:00.003+02:00

A picture of Priscila and Phoebe on the beach at Bogstad Lake last Sunday... Phoebe digging...for gold!?

After work today I went out with Phoebe to get rid of some of her energy that she normally accumulates during the day at home... I took out the bike and this time we didn't have Priscila as a "lead dog" to keep pace and avoid distractions...! It went, however, surprisingly well, and according to the GPS we had a top-speed of 21 km/hr :-) The run was quick and without any real workload for her, but great fun! See the video here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/63/After_work_bike_run

Voff - mjau!?

First time PULLING

2008-09-21T16:57:00.003+02:00

Hi again!

At last - another blog entry! The past few weeks have been hectic on the work-front.

I missed a chance to train Johanne's dogs together with her handler, Kjetil but I am sure there will be more chances! I had recently orderede a "contraption" to connect a dog to the bike...and today was the first time we tried it! Priscila and I went out on the local lawn (Merradalen) and cycled back and forth. I pedalled most of the time so that Phoebe did not take a large strain. Her muscles, bones, joint and sinews are not ready for it yet....even if her mind seems to be!

See the video here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/61

We are all looking forward to winter! Woooooooo voff! :-)

Dinner at Johanne's place

2008-09-09T09:55:00.003+02:00

Last Sunday, after the Hakadal Sled Racing Club's Seminar, I went to Johanne's place for dinner together with a bunch of dog mushers. Guest of honour was Czech Siberian Husky musher Jana. Last winter she participated in her first Finnmarksløpet race in Northern Norway thanks to organisational help she received from Johanne, Hans Christian (The King) and others. She is going back this winter... Johanne has also signed up for the race thanks to the prompting from her handler, Kjetil. Last winter she dropped out of the race close to the finish because of several coinciding factors including sick dogs! Lets hope this winters trip does not dig so hard into her wallet as the last, when her car had a total break-down on the way up...
Read about the race at their official website: http://www.finnmarkslopet.no/
After the dinner Johanne's 5-month old (young!) puppy Bardus came inside to run around with Phoebe. This is their second encounter and as before, it started with high-energy running around before they finally settled down... They LIKE each other! See a video of them here (a bit dark...) http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/60/Phoebe_and_Bardus_playing
Voff, voff :-)

Animal friendship :-)

2008-09-08T21:27:00.003+02:00

Did you see the "Playfight" video of Phoebe and Nexus going at it during their evening play session?! This weekend, Phoebe was so sleepy that in the end she didn't even have energy to participate in the "play bite and box the nose" games! As you can see from this video: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/59/Animal_love

Nexus was climbing on top of Phoebe, licking her and generally expressing his love for "big sister", Phoebe - MjauVoff! :-)

Nexus update :-)

2008-09-03T12:26:00.003+02:00

Mjau?
Here is the promised update on Nexus and his experience with the shower...
Remember that Nexus needed a shower after overturning the bucket containing our Klippfisk?! Well.... We gave him his first shower ever, gently washing him with a special cat shampoo... He was TOTALLY CALM during the experience.... It even seemed like he enjoyed the feeling of the warm water :-) Needles to say, cats look hilarious when wet - next time we need to be ready with the camera to document it - instead I have inserted a cool photo of him that Priscila took - he is happily zzzzleeping on the keyboard of her computer, having the warm air of the CPU cooling fan tickle his belly with a soft, hot caress.... Miiiiiiiiijua :-)

Food, food - oh, glorious food!

2008-08-31T15:26:00.005+02:00

Mjau Woooof!
Cats and dogs are....animals! Oh yeah!? Instincts rule - water, food, sex - in that order...
BUT - there is so much else! Playfulness - moodiness - boredom - joy - affection and tenderness.... All of these aspects come to light when you spend enough time with your furry friends - they are so GREAT to be with :-) They have their little moments - like today - Priscila and I are watering out a piece of "Klippfisk" (Bacalhau - salt-dried cod) to have for dinner.... Overnight it was sitting in a bucket inside our shower cabinet, away from the animals....
This morning, we changed the water and Priscila left it on the kitchen bench.....ai ai! A little later, whilst I was outside with Phoebe, Nexus had managed to overturn the bucket, getting a drenching of "fishy water".....!!! RIGHT! Thats IT :-) Into the shower with him....(more on that later)... Priscila and I sit down to watch a TV show on her computer when I suddenly say, "Mmmm, what is that noise?" "What noise?!" AI AI AI AI - Nexus has "fished out" the pieces of fish from the bucket (God knows how, they are almost as big as himself)... He is sitting happily on the kitchen bench, nibbling on one of the pieces of fish...!!!! I had seen Phoebe trotting along happily between the kitchen and veranda, and I therefore went after her to see what had happened to the other piece! We found her licking her lips and we thought that the game was up....or rather, the fish was lost...! I opened up the roof of her house to find the piece of fish hidden away for later....!!!??? I guess she was not hungry enough....heheheh...
Oh well......kids are kids.... They now seem to have formed a perfect team - Nexus climbing onto the "higher ground" and Phoebe picking up the "manna from heaven" :-) Priscila and I WILL have our bacalhau dinner tonight...... (rinsed in buckets of water and coocked in the oven should be safe....hihihi) - Later!

On tour with the Siberian Husky Club

2008-08-27T17:17:00.002+02:00

Every Tuesday, the local Oslo area part of the Siberian Husky Club goes for a walk in the forest.
This was the first time since summer that Priscila and I went together for this walk. I borrowed a young dog from Ingvild Jørgensen (of Rodeløkka Kennel), Priscila "strapped" Phoebe to her through an old climbing harness....The walk in total was 7 km with a break at approximately half way. On the walk was also Line Løw (Kennel Huskyville) with 2 puppies - 11 weeks Dolly and 6 months Snøgg. At the break, Phoebe and Dolly played like crazy! Dolly seems very dominant and tried to "put Phoebe in her place", something she did manage quiet well! They are very closely matched in size despite the age difference (Phoebe 15 weeks). When Dolly became more tired, Phoebe gained the advantage slightly because of her longer back and ability to turn Dolly over....! See this video of them playing - http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/58/Phoebe_and_Dolly
Because of the muddy weather, you can bet they got DIRTY!!! VOOOOF! :-)

Playfight!

2008-08-26T13:50:00.003+02:00

Nexus and Phoebe are getting good at playfighting together! This picture is taken of them in the evening during their "evening playfight session" - you will notice in the video (http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/57/Playfight) that they are quite slow and half-hearted about it.... It had already been a long day!! Miiiiiiiiijau, voooooof! :-)

A day in the forest...

2008-08-25T13:56:00.008+02:00

Yesterday we went for a long walk in the forest - the sun was shining, blue skies and quiet hot!

We drove the car to Sørkedalen School where we planned to start our walk. As we pulled off the main road, we spotted my mum walking along in the same direction! It turns out she had planned to walk the same route as us, packing 4 kgs in her backpack and wearing mountain boots in preparation for her hiking trip at the end of this week...!

We walked 5kms uphill stopping at the 3km mark at Finnerud where we drank water and had a quick snack - onwards up the paths to Kobberhaughytta (Copper Mound Cabin). Here we stopped for another snack and drink of water before we walked on the road downhill again to the car.... On the road back out of the Sørkedalen (Sørke Valley) we saw my dad on his bike! It turns out he had ALSO been in the same parts - in fact he had tried to call me whilst resting at the Sørkedalen Shop and Cafe... Priscila and Phoebe are getting indoctrinated with the Norwegian "Out on a trip, never a sour face" (ut på tur, aldri sur!) mentality...

When we came home, Phoebe had a nice dinner and promptly fell asleep like a sack of potatoes! 10kms is quite a trip for a little girl! Looking forward to many more nice trips with the family in the future! MjauVoff :-)

Priscila and mum posing for the camera - Phoebe hides in the bushes....!

Phoebe sniffing out the blueberry bushes

Phoebe and me outside Kobberhaughytta cabin (Copper Mound Cabin)

Sniffing around...

2008-08-21T18:13:00.002+02:00

Phoebe looking for something to eat....!? (on top of her dog house)

Phoebe posing for anatomy study...

2008-08-21T17:49:00.002+02:00

Hi again! After more than a week with a bad stomach, Phoebe is now "back in business"!
Yesterday was her first day at the Puppy Kindergarden - she was reeeeeeeally excited about learning "sit", following the nice tasty, smelly fishball and generally hanging out with the other "kids" !!! :-) She was the only example of a sled dog there, but there were several different "birdhunting dogs" (fuglehund), as well as a "elk hunting dog" - this reflects the Norwegian interest for hunting...! Since Phoebe will grow up to be a working sled dog anatomy is important - I took a photo of her on top of the doghouse for an anatomical study. I am pretty "green" in this area but perhaps Hans Christian (the King) would have a comment or two!?
We shall see - I guess she needs to grow a fair bit more before we can tell - MjauVoff! :-)

Sleepy head!?

2008-08-20T10:04:00.003+02:00

Miiiiiiiiiijau....... Cats are known to sleep a great number of hours every day.... Priscila enjoys a good afternoon nap before we have dinner, and this time I caught Nexus and her napping together....! Wake up, wake up! Mjau Voff :-)

Nexus enjoying a good scratch :-)

2008-08-15T18:58:00.003+02:00

Mjau? Nexus, like all cats, enjoy their morning "toalette" - after dipping his paw in the waterbowl he cleans his face - next on the list comes a nice scratch behind his ear....ahhhhh, what could be better!? Mjau mjau! :-)

Priscila and the kids :-)

2008-08-14T18:36:00.002+02:00

Finally we managed to get the 2 kids together in one place for more than a second... So here is the first family portrait! MjauVoff! :-)

Nexus stretching out

2008-08-13T22:23:00.002+02:00

Nexus is not only the King of Furniture (climbing onto the sofa, chairs, tables...), but has started to claim a large stake of the floor space! Here he is stretching out on the floor, staring into the camera lens....hehe :-) Miiiiijau!?

Not quite perfect harmony...

2008-08-12T21:48:00.003+02:00

Phoebe and Nexus seem to be getting along quite well! Nexus drinks from her water bowl while she stands next to him eating.... They are now able to stay within close proximity without any fuss - that is until Nexus suddenly remembers to hiss and Phoebe barks to play!

Animal planet :-)

Phoebe on tour with the Siberian Husky Club

2008-08-11T11:31:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I took Phoebe out for an extended walk with the Oslo-region group of the Norwegian Siberian Husky Club - she finally got to mix it up with the "big boys" (mostly female dogs actually!) She was soooooo excited to meet everyone, licking their faces, playfully interacting, submitting... On the walk from Sognsvann to Ullevålseter she kept pace with the adults and even tried to stay out in front.... A potential leader!!?? :-) I turned back slightly over halfway to Ullevålseter and walked back down to Sognsvann with Kathinka whom had with her Naledi and Emilie - two beautiful females. Also on the walk were Ingvild of Rodeløkka Kennel and Line of Huskyville Kennel - a very nice walk! Phoebe and I are looking forwards to the Tuesday walks that we will join :-)

Nexus warming up :-)

2008-08-11T11:27:00.003+02:00

Our little boy Nexus is now happily walking around the house - "looking for trouble"! As I write this, he is playfully biting my trouser leg and approaching nose to nose with Phoebe... If only Phoebe would leave his toys alone! This video: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/55 was recorded of him playing with his toy before Phoebe got hold of it and dragged it into her bed to chew it to bits...heheh!
He is now eating well, using the catbox in the bathroom and generally walking around trying to establish the new world order in the house...i.e. HE is the KING...Phoebe a mere "peasent" to look down on from up high.....!

Nexus!

2008-08-09T19:00:00.003+02:00

MIIIIIIIIJAU!

Today we picked up our little boy, Nexus! He is one day younger than Phoebe - a silver tabby British Shorthair cat! He is sooooooo friendly and loveable :-) When we came home, I went for an extended walk with Phoebe so that he could explore the house in peace and quiet. After one hour I came back and we had a "meet and greet" session between the "brother and sister"! Phoebe was desperate to play and displayed all the "proper" dog signals - friendly bark, lie down on front feet, jump back and forwards again... What could Nexus care about all that!? He just went "hhhhzzzzzzzzzzzz, miiiiiiiiiiijau!" and arched his back... He even made a noise like a spitting cobra to scare the strange creature off. During all this Priscila and I kept careful watch on the two in case something should happen - as it was, there was not any physical contact between them and Phoebe soon realised that Nexus didn't want to play.

Now Phoebe is sleeping on the floor next to me in the office and Nexus is in the living room charming my wife and her friend to bits - he is simply the most charming cat ever!

Mona - thank you for giving us the privilege of knowing Nexus in our life :-)

Julussdalen - Johanne's cabin

2008-08-09T18:40:00.005+02:00

Our friend Johanne kindly lent us her cabin in the *middle* of the forest for the weekend - thank you!! It is situated in the depths of the Fir pine forests of central south-east Norway.

The landscape is covered in soft moss on top of sandy earth - I have very fond memories of this type of forest from my childhood when we rented a small red loggers' cabin....

Phoebe enjoyed the soft feel of the moss - rolling around or just sitting blissfully enjoying the sensation.....ahhhh, what a dog's life!

She is also becoming much more energetic when pulling in the harness....! I was inspired by seeing the neighbour on a pushbike being pulled by one of his Alaskan Huskies - looked like great fun!! It is just a little bit too early yet...next summer should be OK.

We went home early so that we could pick up our little boy - Nexus! More on him later...

First time in harness....

2008-08-07T21:50:00.006+02:00

It is about time Phoebe got a feeling for pulling in a harness.....

After all, she is already 3 months old! It is too early for actual pulling, but Johanne has kindly lent us a "puppy harness" so that she can get a good feeling for leaning into it to pull...

Today on our evening "walk" she actually got the hang of it, leaning into and pulling through the harness... That is, until her attention was caught by a jogger....a leaf....a......!?

Gooooood girl! :-)

Growing up!

2008-08-06T21:27:00.007+02:00

We know how it is with kids....
The time they spend with us is all with a final goal of independence!

To encourage and teach Phoebe these things, her 2-legged mum and dad have provided her with a new house!! YES - she now has a house on our veranda...and boy, it is huuuuge!
Actually - it is so big that we are already dreading the day we have to move it...
I now alternate with giving her food there and in the kitchen - she has already settled down there to take a few naps...

Mjau - voff! :-)

Going to the vet....

2008-08-05T18:28:00.003+02:00

Today we went to the veterinarian to get Phoebe's booster vaccine shot. She (the vet) was very nice - we chatted for a good bit about drug development (which I do) and her interests in behavioural science (which I also share from my PhD days as a neuropharmacologist)...
Whilst Phoebe was distracted by some goodies that was thrown on the floor the vaccine shot was given - she didn't even blink, just kept on happily eating!
The vet commented that Phoebe seemed to be in perfect health....gooooood girl :-)

I got to put her on the electronic scales - turns out my guesstimate was quite off!
She now weighs 6.7 kgs - up from 4.1kg when we picked her up in Sweden...!
It will be interesting to see at what weight she finally ends up - Siberian Husky bitches typically end up at 16-22kgs as adults. No matter what - her "power-to-weight" ratio will be excellent, I am sure!

Jeg fant, jeg fant...! (I found....I found...!)

2008-08-05T14:07:00.004+02:00

This morning at approximatly 10:00 I struck gold!
Or rather...Phoebe managed to pass the gold ear ring out with her faeces without further incidence...phew! Transit time was 14 hours...
Cleaned up the ring but don't have any disinfectant in the house.... Wonder if the neighbour wants it back!? He said he would boil it....eeehh....whether or not he uses it ever again is a different matter.....!

Naughty girl....

2008-08-05T08:31:00.005+02:00

Yesterday on the way out for our evening walk we stopped on the front lawn to chat to a neighbour. They have a 11 month (young!) dog, full of energy and "jump up and down" enthusiasm..... He stayed on the veranda whilst his "dad" talked to me and Phoebe...

He was crouching down and she was standing up to give him a small "love bite" on his ear...

WOOOPS! There she did it....SWALLOWED HIS SMALL EAR RING!

Oh boy..... How embarrasing.... He said, "no problem", I said, "I will look for it tomorrow as she goes....." Mmmm - I think it might be lost forever, and hopefully it will not cause her any digestive troubles! Ach - KIDS!!! :-)

Later today we are going to the Veterinarian for her routine 12-week boost vaccination.....

Have a dog-filled (=fun-filled) day!

Anders

"A Walk In the Park....!"

2008-08-04T08:09:00.006+02:00

Hi friends.

My wife's friend from Brazil, Silvia, is here to visit us. Yesterday we went for a nice walk in Frognerparken / Vigelandsparken - Priscila, Silvia, Phoebe and me.

First we passed via the "dog play yard" - dog owners from all over Oslo gather there to let their dogs run around (or is it to run amok!?). It was a bit early for Phoebe to hang out with the leashless dogs, so we walked on into the actual Vigeland Sculpture Park. This was also very good training for her, as she met thousands of people. She now knows that we do not stop and sniff / greet / say hi to everyone on our way....! Even so, everyone who saw her and are remotely interested in dogs would comment on her good looks :-)

We certainly made the day for a young Norwegian girl whom had her picture taken with Phoebe, as well as a young Dutch girl whom had recently bought a Siberian Husky cuddly toy, and now got to meet one IN REAL LIFE!
Perhaps some future recruits to the SH community!?

At one end of the park we stopped for a few minutes whilst the (human) girls took some pictures - suddenly someone called me in English... Rememeber that I went to Edinburgh for a business trip recently!? Well - Warren one of my business associates did mention that he was going to Oslo to visit his brother.....and there they were!!! What a small world! Introductions were made amongst the 2-legged ones, and Phoebe was wagging her tail to meet the new people...!

All in all - a very good Sunday was had by all!

Anders

Playing around....!

2008-08-01T22:15:00.003+02:00

Tonight Priscila, Phoebe and I went out for our evening walk - on the way Phoebe met a Jack Russel terrier that she has seen before... This time they played very well together :-) A little further on we met a MINI dog - a Danish-Swedish Farmhound (Dansk-Svensk Gårdshund). See the race club website: http://www.rdsg.no/

Milla (as she is called) is soooo cute - she and Phoebe spent 30 minutes RUNNING around whilst playing.... I am very glad for her since she now needs more dog-oriented socialisation. We will attend the "puppy kindergarden" at the Oslo Dog School beginning on 18th August and we will be regular attendees at the Siberian Husky Club Tuesday walks so she should get plenty of socialising!

Tomorrow we are picking up my wife's friend Silvia at the airport - it will be Phoebe's second trip to Oslo Airport Gardermoen arrivals hall :-)

Mind games....

2008-07-31T20:05:00.002+02:00

Have you ever tried to play the "Chinese Box" games (or similar things)? Mind games, or puzzles are a great way to keep the brain in shape....and they have them for dogs too!!!
Phoebe was introduced to her mind game toy yesterday....Oh boy was she excited to sniff out the hidden goodies! She is still on the "beginner level", but that is fine for now :-)
See the cute video of her solving the puzzle here: http://prikoh.multiply.com/video/item/14/Brinquedo_da_Phoebe?replies_read=2

For examples of other dog puzzles, check out the selection on YouTube - Nina Ottoson is the designer of the game we have;
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nina+Ottosson&search_type=&aq=f

They say that 30 minutes of "mind games" makes the dogs tired just like they would have run around for 1 hour...! And it is a good tiredness - varied stimuli - physical and mental is a key to good doggy development :-)

Enjoy!

Challenging the house rules...

2008-07-30T16:39:00.004+02:00

Here again!

House rules.... NO jumping on the sofa...NO jumping on the bed....do NOT bite people....NO stealing of shoes, socks, NO chewing of furniture etc etc... Come on - are we asking too much!? :-)

It makes me laugh out loud every day now that I catch Phoebe happily yapping, hanging out in the sofa or on the bed chewing one of my socks :-) It is the exact behaviour that one should expect of a puppy her age - challenging the rules! A stern NO, a pointed finger, and if needed, pushing her off the sofa is what is needed now. Do NOT let her get away with it or she will sense the "weak soul" and think that if it was OK once, then perhaps, maybe it IS allowed!?

We just LOVE her to death - being stern does not mean she does not get a lot of cuddles and praise when she behaves.... She can now even perform "sit", "lay down" and "stay" quite well!

Oh - and between all of the above....food and sleep are still high on the list!

Later!

Growing...

2008-07-27T08:09:00.005+02:00

Tried to weigh Phoebe this morning - I cradled her in my arms and checked the combined reading, then let her go and did my own... We only have an analouge set of scales, so it is rather inaccurate. My guesstimate of her weight is a little over 5kg - when we picked her up she was 4.1kg, so she is putting on weight nicely! She has recently been dewormed, and in a little more than 1 week, she will receive her booster vaccine injections - this should cover her until next summer.

First "wilderness" experience!

2008-07-26T15:14:00.010+02:00

Hi dear friends!

We just got back home after our overnight camping trip in the forest. Drove the car to "Østmarksetra" and walked 5 km to Hauktjern lake. On the way there we had to stop and cool down in a lake....! Even at 17:00 in the early evening it was 30+ deg C! Phoebe jumped in the water without hesitation, so I guess her experience jumping out of the canoe has not upset her too much! After a sweaty walk we arrived at our chosen campsite.

Hauktjern is a popular rock climbing area in the forests east of Oslo where I have camped many times before. It was not surprising that we had a group of people with 3 other tents for company. A quiet evening was enjoyed by all, including sharing a couple of bottles of wine between us. Phoebe got a lot of attention and fell asleep content by the small fire...

Eating and drinking certainly was not a problem for her on the trip - she got to use her new collapsible canvas food and water bag that I had bought for her in Edinburgh.

It does seem like her legs are getting longer every day now - she certainly set a good pace on our walk...that is, when she wasn't distracted by a jogger...butterfly...leaf....!

Walking home today was hot, even in the morning, so we had several more "pit stops" to drink and wade in the water along the way.

A thoroughly enjoyable camping trip was had by all - a shame though that Priscila could not join us, but I am sure she was enjoying her trip to Frankfurt to meet her friend Silvia :-)
Until next time - enjoy the summer!

Home and away...

2008-07-25T08:55:00.002+02:00

Hi again!

This week I had to go to Edinburgh from Tuesday until Thursday on a business trip. My dad looked after our little Phoebe during the daytime, and Priscila had her all to herself in the evenings....! It went very well according to them both - even so, it was hard to be away from her.... Yesterday, Priscila went straight from work the airport to fly to Frankfurt to visit a friend, and my dad went off to collect his visa at the Indian Embassy..
You can imagine that both Phoebe and I "wagged our tails" when I opened the door yesterday evening and we saw each other again!

On our evening walks we met 2 dogs - the neighbour whom used to have Huksies was out with her son's dog that she was looking after. Phoebe actually wanted to play, but the other bitch was "in heat" and acting a little grumpy...! Later we met the Am Staff (Pitbull) dog again. This time there was a lot of wagging of tails and sniffing, and the owner gave Phoebe some dog snacks that she LOVED!

Tonight we are taking the backpack, tent and fishing rod to spend the night in the forest - there is always a first time for everything annd Phoebe needs to get used to sleeping outdoors as well as in her comfy cot....

Have an excellent weekend!

Another day at the office...

2008-07-21T17:38:00.002+02:00

After lunch we went to visit Priscila and her boss, Karin at the National Hospital. Karin used to own a Siberian Husky and was sooooooooo curious to meet Phoebe! We have a fellow, dog-loving ally there - she said that on occasion Phoebe may sit in her office, but I would rather not impose - after all, they are in the forensic medicine institute and work under "clean conditions" when they are in the labs. Anyway - it is nice to know that Phoebe has friends!

After visiting Priscila's colleagues, it was time for Phoebe's first trip with me to my office in the Science Park here in Oslo. We only spent a couple of hours there, but she had the chance to say "woof" to a couple of colleagues and a small, fluffy, white haired "exotic dog" (can't remember the name of the race..). She settled down really well in the cage that was placed underneath my office desk, and promptly fell asleep :-)

At home, Priscila had a nice pre-dinner play session with her - see the video here:

http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/54/Priscila_and_Phoebe_playing_the_living_room

Enjoy!

Grrrrrowling at dogs and outdoor pursuits...

2008-07-19T21:17:00.007+02:00

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr - voff!

Believe it or not...Phoebe is a brave little girl....at least when she has my legs to hide between....! On our walk yesterday evening she met a large, muscular, male Am Staff (American Staffordshire) - also known as "Pitbull"....! He was gentle enough, peeing and scratching his feet in the grass to show that he was "the MAN"... Phoebe just stared at him and started going, "grrrrrrrrrrrr, voff, boff!!" She is simply saying - "I don't want to play - do not annoy me....." Cool girl :-) When Priscila tried to put her toy "Porquhino" dog in front of her, she started growling at it! That is until she realised she was not alive.... hehehehe

Today Priscila, Phoebe and our friend Rodrigo went to Sørkedalselven to try to assemble our Ally canoe properply for the first time.... It went surprisingly well compared to our last aborted attempt.... Phoebe was running around in the grass, and she even came with us in the canoe for a short paddle.... She was very curious to look at the water passing by until she decided to jump out...! We rescued her out of the water again..she shook herself off, but soon shivered with the chill... All wet and miserable we paddled back and after drying her with my t-shirt I put her in the cage in the back of the car where she could relax abit... A very eventful day for all!

Thanks to our friend Rodrigo for the help in assembling the canoe! Thanks amigo!!

See a couple of videos here:

http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/52

http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/53

L8R!

Eating well, running around, visiting...

2008-07-17T20:50:00.003+02:00

Me again :-)

After a few days of reluctant eating, we bought Vom and Hundemat (type 25) wet dog feed (contains chicken, beef intestines/internal organs, salmon and added vitamins). You bet her appetite kicked in with a taste of real meat added to her dry food pellets! Yum, yum!
Her activity level seems to have improved (maybe my imagination), and she has been busy exploring the neighbourhood. Yesterday she went for a run around on the lawn with her mum, Priscila - it is all Priscila can do to outrun her... Phoebe will certainly be a fast dog :-)
See the video of them here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/50

Today we all went to visit the kennel of Johanne Sundby, one of the more experienced Siberian Husky racers in Norway. She has given us a lot of good advice and support along the way to aquiring our dog - many thanks to her! She has been lucky to receive a puppy from Hans-Christian Ørjestad (aka "The King"). With parents in the elite of Siberian racing, "little" Bardus is bound to have a good future as a sleddog. I was very happy to see that they got along very well together, despite the fact that 3-month old Bardus is much bigger than 9-week old Phoebe.... Did I mention MUCH bigger!? Phoebe is a careful "foxy" little lady in comparison - doesn't mean she can't try to steal his food! See a video of them here: http://andersf.multiply.com/video/item/51

See you soon!

Forging ahead into a new world...

2008-07-15T13:14:00.003+02:00

Voff!?

Its me- Phoebe again...
Did someone ever tell you that Siberian (and Alaskans for that matter) Huskies are extremely adaptable!? After only the 2nd day here at her new home with us, she has slept quietly all thorough the night (except for a pee-break at 05:00 in the morning...)

Yesterday she went for a long walk and said hello to 6 older children, 5 adults (including 2 of them in electric wheelchairs) and the caretaker out with his petrol-powered lawnmower! If a little sceptical and frightened a first, some encouragement can turn her from shaking with fear into a little girl wagging her tail and licking the hand of the person greeting her - thats our little good girl! We also went through an automatic door and took the lift 2 floors to get into my mothers apartment... Once there she drank some water and promply fell asleep on our feet whilst we sat at the computer where I helped out with some computer "expert advice".

Voff, voff - I am going to run fast and pull a sled when I grow up! Aren't I?!
See you soon :-)

Phoebe enjoying the grass...

2008-07-14T16:58:00.001+02:00

Here again!
Just wanted to show you all a picture of our beloved Phoebe enjoying the grass outside where we live here at Hovseter... Everyone who meets her praise her good looks.... What do you think!? Fishing for complements on her behalf!? Me!?
MjauVoff!

Animal Planet.....READY, STEADY, GO!

2008-07-14T14:36:00.001+02:00

Hi dear friends!

Time for a quick entry in my new BLOG..... From the title of the blog, you may guess that the subject is related to....Mjau, Voff - animals! My wife and I have started adding members to our family...

First off is Phoebe - our Siberian Husky bitch.... She is such a sweet girl, and if all goes well, a potential sled dog leader - at least both her parents run as lead, and given good nurturing, there is a possibilty! We shall see what the future brings :-)

At the moment, sleeping, eating, peeing, s******* and exploring the world by smell, touch and sound is what interests her.... More later - time to take her for a quick walk outside.