Pulling again...

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

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

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 :-)

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 :-)

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!

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

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! :-)