Three eventful weeks

I discovered today that it's been three weeks since my last blog entry. It's also been three weeks since I started working after a wonderfully long vacation. Coincidence? I think not.

The weekdays are busy - Elbereth and I start the day at six o'clock with a 30-60 minutes walk in the woods. Since Sebastian started school again ten days ago, she has been alone four to six hours a day. That seems to go very well, no accidents, no refurnishing needed - she is just very happy when we come home. Sebastian takes her out in the yard to play when he comes home at two p.m. Then Tom and I take her for a walk or training session at night. Last week we started training class again, this time we go on Mondays. Then Thursdays we go to the local dog club where Elbereth has befriended Frost, a German Shepherd who is her junior by only two weeks. Those two can't really see why they should have to sit nicely and behave well around the other dogs when they could have played all night. :-)

Two weeks ago we had overnight visitors and Elbereth behaved well towards little Martha as long as she stayed put on the floor. When we all thought that this would work very well, Martha crawled over to the window to pound at it, and Elbereth started barking. This is one of our present challenges - Elbereth barks at people, cars and of course at scary objects like garbage cans, plastic bags etc.

9 days ago Elbereth went to the vet's to have her upper two baby canine teeth pulled out as the permanent ones didn't push them out. I really didn't appreciate that experience, but it went very well and her teeth are now in the places they should be. A day without food also helped us getting her feeding under control. We used to leave her food out for long periods as she never ate much. Now she cleans her bowl immediately and gets fed twice a day.

The only food challenge left is to find the one food that will keep her attention at all times and under all conditions when training. For a while I thought that sticky cat food with gravy was the answer, but last week proved me wrong - maybe I'll have to go to training with stinking tuna fish in my pockets?

Sebastian and Elbereth are still best friends and playmates.

A beautiful day at the coast

Yesterday we spent at the coast. It has been five weeks since Elbereth last went on the boat and it was considerably more difficult for Tom Ivar to carry her on board this time as she is both a lot heavier and larger.

She enjoyed being on the boat and this time we went on shore on a small island and spent most of the day there, bathing and exploring. Elbereth was allowed to run free until a family with small children arrived. They were carrying huge, scary stuff - bathing toys - and Elbereth ran up to them and barked her displeasure. This resulted in her being on the leash for the rest of the day.

My camera is working again and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

August and blueberries

What a wonderful day. The morning bore tidings of fall with its low temperatures, but the sky was clear and the sun soon warmed the air. It turned into a glorious summer day, much appreciated after all the rain the last weeks.

Tom, Elbereth and I went on a hike in the woods at eleven and it turned out to be Elbereth's longest walk so far. We were out for more than three hours. Most of the time she was allowed to run free without a leash. She enjoys running from the path into tall grasses and heather, but at the end she was obviously tired - more from lack of sleep than anything else.

The blueberries are ripe now and as Tom and I pick and eat, Elbereth shows an interest. She has been offered berries and has taken them, but I can't tell if she swallows or just looses them.

As my camera has stopped working, there will be no new pictures for a while, the picture below is from July 17th

Birthday girl

Elbereth is four months old today. We have celebrated with two long walks in the forest, one with me in the morning which included a swim and one with Tom and me in the evening when she was allowed to run free for about half an hour. Then she was served ground beef with yoghurt for her birthday dinner. She finished it all- which is unusual, she rarely cleans out her food bowl.

Elbereth enjoys to chew at dried muscles. They last her a long time, and when she is through chewing for some time she stores the muscle in one of the sofas or armchairs where she retrieves it later when she needs to chew some more.

She also tries to bury treasures she finds - like old, worn socks - in blankets or under pillows when indoors. Outdoors she digs holes for food she doesn't feel like eating at the moment. Watching her shuffling soil over fresh chicken bits is not very inspiring for the one trying to train her.

Growing, teething and swimming whenever possible

A couple of days ago I discovered the first "missing" tooth in Elbereth's mouth, but she must obviously have lost a few before that. And now it seems that there are new teeth every day. Yesterday we were worried that two of the new front teeth in her lower jaw seemed to emerge behind the old ones, but today Tom managed to pull the old ones out while playing with her.

She doesn't seem to be chewing or biting more than usual and I am happy to say that the scratches I now have on my body are not from her teeth, but from Xyzzy's claws.

Elbereth has now outgrown her first car cage. Here she is after her last trip in the old cage. Sunday we installed her new one - which presently is a bit on the roomy side.

The young dog and the sea

Yesterday Elbereth went to sea. We all, cats excepted, went down to Mågerø in Vestfold with Tom's mom to visit my parents who spend hot summer days at their boat there.

Elbereth settled easily on deck and slept most of the day at our feet. Occasionally she sat on Tom Ivar's lap and stared at the waves and passing boats. No barking! When we achored up at three-four meters deep to go swimming for the boats platform, Elbereth wanted to join us. She was obviously not aware that there would be no ground underneath when stepping into the water, and went totally under for the first time ever. Then she swam a few strokes before being hoisted on to the platform again and was very happy to be dried off.

Hot days, a new cat and new siblings

The last couple of weeks have been hot. Elbereth prefers to stay indoors and sleep most of the day, except for the occasional plunge into the garden pool where she drinks and wades at the same time. It is too shallow for her to swim and the water stays very cold, but on the hottest days she bends down to get her chest wet. And then she runs back to the house, attacks her towels and insists on getting rubbed dry.

A week ago we inhereted Xyzzy, a fourteen year old female cat, from a friend of Tom Ivar's who died recently. Due to unfortunate circumstances, she was operated on before Tom found out where she was and could tell the vet that she already was neutered - thirteen years ago. Now all we have to do is to get Xyzzy well, and then get the three cats and Elbereth used to each other.

Last saturday new half-siblings of Elbereth was born in Germany, four males and two females. Leon is the father and Smilla the mother. Congratulations!!! One the males will go to live with Leon's family.