Today I took Loki’s Mom along for a run along the snowmobile trails.
They were tearing around in the snow for a good half hour before I had a chance to take any pictures of them.
The light was all but good since it’s overcast – but that is on the other hand a good sign. It won’t be that cold tomorrow when I’m to drive 500 km to spend Christmas with my brother and sister and their families.
… so instead of having Loki in the car while I went to run some errands, I left him at home for about 45 minutes. Normally I’d put him in the pen when I leave him like this, but I was in a hurry…
Not a good idea. At all.
He also demolished a pen and a small wooden cup that was sitting on my desk… Good thing we have old keyboards at work I can raid for a replacement key!
If the weather is the same tomorrow he’ll be toughing it out in the car while I go shopping!
(Actually, I have no reason to complain. This is the first time he’s protested like this – probably because he’s under-stimulated. It’s not easy giving him the right exercise in temperatures like this!)
I knew even before I got out of bed that the temperature had dipped down. My joints give me no rest when the barometric pressure keeps on changing, but this morning I felt fine. The temperature was around -12 Celcius and after watching 60 Minutes I headed out.
This was taken about 12.30 PM on the shady side of a mountain close to town and the snow does have that blue tinge by then.
Sometimes Loki reminds me of a monkey, wanting to climb higher and higher all the time.
… is what Loki did today. After walking the 2,5 km ski-trail, I didn’t put him on the leash soon enough – so when we got down to the parking lot he took off. Not far, but across an intersection to say Hi to our counsellor and her boyfriend. Why does things like this always happen when you’ve been bold enough to boast about something???
When my parents renovated Moms family home back in the 60’s, they found this old shoe in the attic. It sat in a glass cabinet for years, but disappeared when my parents divorced in the late 70’s. When Mom died in 2004 and I was sorting through her belongings, I found it in a box with odds and ends that I’m sure hadn’t been opened during the preceding 30 years…
I also put it in a cabinet and when I moved last summer, it ended up in another box – until the other day when I came across it again.
Now I’ve shown it for my last remaining uncle and he’s sure it was made by my Grandpa for one of the girls in the family. They are hand made with the heel fastened with wooden pegs and they were probably made some time during the late 1920’s. My Uncle is sure of that, since he remembered how the men were carrying gunny sacks with sawdust up the ladder to insulate the attic when the house was built in 1932. After that no one had any reason to get in there as there was barely room to crawl around on your stomach. The style was very common in all of Northern Sweden and is decidedly Sami in origin. They look very stiff and uncomfortable but in reality shoes like these were very soft and supple. Almost like walking barefoot, according to my Uncle.
Laurie from Dog Hair in my Coffee asked yesterday how I could let Loki and his dad off the leashes and let them run loose. Well… Where should I start?
First of all, I’ve almost always lived close to areas where it was/is possible to let a dog run loose. Around town we have places like the tiny lake I wrote about yesterday (close to Boulder Ridge I’ve mentioned a number of times) . There’s also dead-end roads leading to cottages, the shooting range and sandpits – not to mention miles and mailes of prepared trails. During winter we have no less than 10 km of prepared trails that can be used both for skiing and walking – in the summertime oodles more.
Secondly, both Loki and his dad (Raikko) have been trained to be off leash from a young age. They are both fine walking WITH a leash, which is the way we do it in the morning and at lunch and I don’t always let him off in the evening, even if I’d like to. He sure is a lot easier to deal with after he’s had a chance to expend some energy on romping around.
Like now tonight. My BFF has a 12 week-old puppy (Zorro) - a real tough little number . They played together for about an hour earlier this evening and Loki has barely moved since we got home.
Herding dogs are - generally – easy to train. They want to keep track of their herd – and for the lack of sheep or reindeer to boss around – they’ll keep track of their master or mistress. That’s something to work with when training. I started Loki off the leash from our first walk together – and except for a few times when the walk has become longer than I had planned, I’ve never lost him even out of my sight. Raikko is a slightly different matter… He has some hunting instincts that has made him take off a few times, but he’s never been gone for more than maybe 10 minutes and that was when he was chasing after a moose… Come to think of it -T- who was also his son would often do that – set off after some reindeer that he chased until he felt they were safely outside his territory and then come back, prancing with pride!
BTW. The one thing I’ve never tried is obedience training in class. My uncle and cousin who were both reindeer herders taught me how to deal with dogs and since they both had well-behaved dogs, I figured that was enough. For dogowners who live in cities I’m sure it may be the saving grace – but living as I do I think I can spend my money on other things.
My arm is beginning to ache, so I’d better quit abusing it. And yes – it did remind me of a scaly lizard when the cast came off!
12 days of hoofing it everywhere was probably good for me in a lot of ways – not the least of which is keeping me humble – but it sure was nice to take the car today and drive to Boulder Ridge!
Loki has loved the walk to and from work all this week (I had a friend park my car at work on Monday, so Loki has had his “home away from home” as usual) -but his delight at getting to run free was obvious. Now he’s snoring at my feet.
All Saints this weekend – I might visit my Aunt and her family if the weather holds tomorrow, because I can drive again!
I have to admit something. I haven’t been very diligent in training Loki…. Reason being that he really hasn’t required all that much of it.
Being one-handed has, however, made it clear to me how important it is to have control over your dog. Today I taught him how to walk without a leash on my left-hand side and to stay and sit whenever a car was approaching from either direction. He doesn’t score 100% yet, but he sure learns fast. When we got home and he wanted to go out on the veranda, he sat down so I could put his leash on – without me telling him to do so!
Not bad, when something good comes out of a stupid accident!
…has many faces and this is one of my favourites.
The first ice under the setting sun and as an added extra – a dog checking out what will soon be a wide expanse to run over. Raikko is fearless on ice and I have to admit that this is not a sign of superior intelligence in a dog. They can actually rip out their claws if they get caught in a tiny crack on that shiny surface.
This week is also shaping up to become “one of those” where the surprises are more rule than exception. We’re beginning to see the contours of the new administrative organisation, but since we don’t know much more than that, it feels very much like the old saying about “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” The work must be done so during the day it’s easy to keep busy – but I’ve started waking up way too early in the morning. I’ve actually thought of taking Loki for a late-night walk in an effort to stay up longer… The trouble is though, that I zonk out before 10PM almost no matter what I do!
Back to the title – walking in surroundings like this goes a long way towards keeping – or even restoring – sanity!
This was Loki 3 months ago…
… and this is what he looks like now…
Isn’t he handsome?
We got a good 6-8 cm overnight. I’m to drive some 450 km today on roads that may be very slick under the snow. 
This is Loki’s first encounter with snow and it took him a few minutes to get off the porch, but once he got the hang of it he was off like a bullet.
Do I think this will stay? I hope not!
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