Infindigo Finnish Lapphunds

product review - Yumega oil supplement

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000Z

Yumega Essential Omega Oil for Your Dog's Coat and Skin

Available In: 250 ml bottle

Price: £10.69 plus delivery.
You can find it slightly cheaper online but best value is to buy 6 bottles for £59.25 or get a deal at a large dog show like Crufts.

Ingredients: Golden flax oil, starflower oil, vitamin E

Manufacturer: Lintbells

Website: http://www.lintbells.com

What it Claims:

From Lintbells website:
"YUMEGA Dog is a unique blend of natural Omega 3 & 6 oils from coldpressed golden flax and starflower, proven to generally improve dog health, coats and skin.

YUMEGA is proven to:

Reduce excessive dog moulting
Improve dry, flaky skin
Develop the perfect coat

Trusted and recommended by thousands of breeders and vets, Yumega Dog is easy to use and will improve your dog's skin and coat condition in as little as 3-6 weeks."

How it Works:

Flax seeds and starflower (borage) oil are the best known sources of Omega-6, an essential fatty acid which has proven benefits for skin and hair, amongst other health benefits. The primary source of Omega-3 is oily fish, but it is also found in flax seeds.

What I Did:

On the advice of a friend who had great success with Yumega, I bought 6 bottles to use on my 3 dogs. It is administered in their food and introduced slowly at the rate of half a normal dose for the first week. In the end I didn't give any to our Akita, Annie, as she was already on various oil supplements for her joints, so I used 2-and-a-bit bottles in total on 2 dogs over a period of a few weeks after they had finished moulting. For a medium-sized dog, the dosage is 5 - 7.5 ml per day, so one bottle approximately equals a month's supply for one Finnish Lapphund.

Did It Work?

I didn't actually see an enormous difference after using Yumega. Their coats were slightly more shiny, but there was no change in Neka's itchy skin condition. As my dogs get a varied diet rich in fish oil, anyway, it's possible they were already getting much of the benefit that Yumega offers. There are certainly other Lapphund owners who swear by the product for maintaining their dogs' coats. The reviews found online are a similarly mixed bag. The benefits seen probably depend on how much Omega-3 & 6 your dog gets otherwise.

I stopped using the product and gave the remaining bottles away to very grateful friends and raffles.

Summary

Pros - easy to adminster

Cons - a bit pricey at more than £10 per month per dog

Woof Rating: 3 out of 5

five things you should teach your dog

2012-02-09T07:00:00.000Z

Even if you have no intention of ever attending a formal obedience competition, all dogs should be enrolled in obedience classes when they are young, at least. Training your dog is good for you both. Quite apart from the socialisation that your dog receives at such classes, the training increases the bond between the two of you, and it gets your dog in the frame of mind for doing as he's told. If you're inexperienced at training, you learn how to do it, and your dog gets to learn all the basics that he needs in order to be a responsible member of canine and human society.

And even if you have never attended any kind of dog training class, there are some things every dog should do on command. Here are five of them.

1. Your dog should sit, lie down and wait/stay on command. These are basic doggie manners that you will use again and again. The more impatient and fidgety your dog, the more important it is that he will respond to the basics.

Keskiyo learning to stand on command.

2. Every dog should have a reliable recall. Now, I can actually hear the legions of Finnish Lapphund owners howling with mirth as I type this. You see, Lapphunds are renown for finding every person, dog, squirrell (twig, blade of grass, etc, etc) so absolutely captivating that they will leave you waiting until they are good and ready to come back. However, if you ever plan to allow your dog to run freely off-lead, then you must have at least some prospect of getting him to come back to you when you call him. If you are lucky enough to have a greedy, food-motivated dog, then the recall is much easier to train - and much more likely to work in practice, even when there are extreme distractions involved.

3. Every dog is likely to have an injury during its lifetime, whether it is a major one requiring vets and surgery or just a minor one like a skin graze or splinter in the paw. If you - or the vet - are going to be able to find the problem safely and without frightening or further injuring your dog, then he needs to be accustomed to being examined. You should therefore teach your dog to willingly submit to being gently handled from head to toe, in his ears, nose, eyes, mouth, belly, paws, between the toes and the sensitive bits under the tail. You should teach him to accept such intrusions while he is standing, while he is sitting, while he is lying down and to expose his belly for examination too.

4. The instant down is one that I credit with saving Neka's life - perhaps more than once. The ability to get your dog to immediately stop what he's doing, drop to the ground and stay there is a vital skill to keeping your dog safe. It will also possibly keep the local squirrell and cat population safe too, as the very best instant down will even stop your dog in mid-chase.

5. Finally, one great skill for dogs is to have what is known as a soft mouth. This is also known as bite inhibition. Dogs with good bite inhibition will take things from fingers without grabbing and they will hold things in their mouth without biting down hard. It's this capability that means your dog will instantly let go when his teeth encounter human skin. In playing with people, he won't accidentally bite, and in a scuffle with another dog it really will be all noise and fur with no actual damage done. My favorite places to go for all things training, including soft mouth, are Gwen Bailey's Perfect Puppy and and Ian Dunbar. Online, you can get some good Dunbar advice in a free pdf from Dogstar Daily.

Quite apart from anything else, good training ensures you can occasionally get your group of dogs together for a photo opportunity.

L-R: Keksi, Keskiyo, Neka (back), Maija

Already I can think of at least 2 more essential things that every dog should know. I feel a five more things you should teach your dog post coming on...

pup tip - start as you mean to go on

2012-02-08T07:00:00.001Z

Right from the first day in his new home, a puppy should be exposed to the normal daily routine he will be expected to abide by for the future. I always recommend that people take some time off work when they bring their new puppy home. You need time to sort out the house training, do some bonding, spend a few hours puppy-worshipping, get him sleeping all night, do lots of short and fun training sessions, and prepare your puppy to spend time alone.

First Night

A puppy's first night or two away from his mum & littermates will probably be absolutely awful for him - and for his new owners. He will cry and howl and be quite pitiful. There are other methods, but I recommend the tough love approach - keep him awake in the evening so that he's really tired, put him to bed with a few bits of food and some safe toys, and then turn out the lights and go to bed. And put in your earplugs. And don't return to him no matter how heartbreaking his cries.

Ukko at home in his crate during his first week home.

Because you know what happens if you return to him and give in, right? Yes. He will throw a tantrum everytime he wants something, secure in the knowledge that if he barks and howls for long enough, he will eventually get his own way. And he will do the same thing every single night when he goes to bed...

It usually only takes a couple of nights for him to give up and go to sleep. Then once he is happy sleeping at night, if he then wakes up and calls, he almost certainly needs to wee and/or poo. In the interest of his house training, it's then a good idea to drag yourself out of bed and take him out to do his business so he's not forced to do it in his sleeping area. He would rather not soil his bed, but if he has no choice, then he will do so and will thereby learn that it is acceptable to do so in the future.

Alone Time

The other routine your new puppy must learn is to spend time alone. Again, being alone will be all new to him. Each of my puppies gets to spend a few minutes alone as part of my socialisation programme, but that's very different from learning to stay at home while you go to work for a couple of hours.

So, whatever you do, don't wait until the day before you go back to work to start worrying about leaving him. Start the alone routine straightaway on his first morning with you. You take him out for his morning ablutions, give him his breakfast, take him out for more wees & poos, do some playing, more house training, and then when he's tired, put him in his crate with some toys and leave him alone. Get him started on what is going to be his normal morning routine.

Even if you don't work and you plan to spend most of your time with the puppy, he will still need to learn to be left alone, so it's a worthwhile exercise regardless.

Furniture, Chewing, Upstairs

Finally, you need to decide what your adult dog is going to be allowed to do and what he is not going to be allowed to do and then apply those rules to the tiny, adorable puppy. If you don't want your big galoot of a wet dog to lie on the sofa, then don't let the irresistible 8-week-old ball of fluff on the sofa either.

Neka wasn't allowed on the furniture, so she would sleep with her head on our feet. So cute!

And then we decided that having the animals on the furniture was actually ok with us. Just as well.

If you don't want your dog jumping on people, then don't let the tiny puppy jump up either. The same goes for letting the tiny puppy chew your fingers. At first it's quite cute. Then it really isn't. In fact, the same goes for chewing anything. Decide what your puppy is allowed to chew, which rooms he is allowed to use, whether or not he is permitted upstairs, and then enforce the rules rigidly. Rigidly. Don't make exceptions - ever.

Why not? Because the important thing with all matters of successful dog training and raising a well-mannered, well-behaved adult dog is consistency. Do the same thing everytime and demand the same behaviour of your dog all the time and at all occasions. The bottom line is this: your dog will do whatever you teach him to do, and whatever you allow him to do. If you allow him to do something once, he will think he can do it forever. So be careful to only ever let your puppy learn what you want your adult dog to be.

Sounds, easy, doesn't it. Uh huh.

Keksi update

2012-02-07T07:00:00.001Z

Daniel reports that Keksi is enjoying her pregnancy, and is her normal happy, chilled self. Here is the Lady of the Growing Belly relaxing ... in front of the fire? Surely it wasn't lit. At any rate, I'd say she's blooming.

She has been on slightly more food for a week now and has just started daily worming so that the puppies have the best possible start. In a week she will come back down to us to settle in and have her puppies and she will stay until they are weaned.

I've been busy compiling all the stuff we'll be needing like the disposable whelping box, rubber gloves, round-tipped surgical scissors and clean towels. And newspapers? You may recall that I ran out of them last time and had to send out requests to my neighbours for emergency supplies. This time I've got plenty. I'm quite sure it will be plenty. Well, plenty for a normal sized litter, anyway. Daniel is threatening me with 11, though, based on the rapidly expanding girth. Shhh - don't even think it!

Then there is the small matter of cleaning out the puppy room - a mammoth chore each and every time.

In the meantime, I've been told that Keksi performed another expert and impressive bin raid and that Daniel had a hard time retrieving all the bits of ripped up cardboard before she scooped them up. Between the wood and the cardboard, I'm beginning to wonder if she's planning to have a litter of beaver pups.

Not long now and we'll find out. Tiny pointed tails? Or tiny flat tails?

You get an idea of her changing shape from the photo above, but here is a belly update too.

rain or shine

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000Z

Regardless of the weather, your dog needs exercise. If you are lucky enough to have a Finnish Lapphund, then you will find yourself walking in all sorts of disgusting weather. Lappies were bred to work and so they have a lot of energy. That energy needs to be channelled everyday and I have found that the worse the weather, the better the Lapphunds like it. Heavy rain? They scoff at all sorts of rain, sleet and even hail. Wind blowing trees horizontal? They love that! In fact, there is little so likely to bring the puppy out in my dogs than a gale force wind blowing through their coats and up their tails.

Apart, perhaps, from snow. Lots of dogs love the snow, and Lapphunds - appropriately - seem to have a love of snow bred into their genes. There were lots of happy Lappies around the UK over the weekend when there was a large amount of snow dumped over a 24-hour period. Here in Devon we had a tiny sprinkle but then the rain moved in.

Neka enjoying a rare Devon snowfall last winter

Photo: Wendy H Gilmour

Karhu coming over all puppy-ish in the snow with his stick

And if the weather is just too disgusting for much of a walk, then your dog will need entertainment and exercise more than ever. Here, from Dogster are some ways to keep your dog happy and occupied when you can't go outside. Or even if you can, because these games are great fun for you and your dog.

grooming

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000Z

All dogs ~~like~~ need a good brushing from time to time. It helps if your dog also likes to be groomed and you can help this along by gently brushing your puppy a little everyday to get him accustomed to it. With perseverence and a smidgen of luck your dog will grow to enjoy quiet time alone with you to be groomed.

Some dogs need more grooming than others. You might think that a Lapphund, with its long, thick coat, would need agonising hours of brushing, but not so! Their coats are surprisingly easy to maintain - a bath once a year or so (providing they don't roll in something disgustingly smelly, that is), and a good brushing through the thick undercoat down to the skin once a week. Ish.

Young Lappies and dogs with softer coats will need more brushing rather than less. The soft fur around the ears and legs will need regular combing to prevent matting. As the dog matures, the coat becomes coarser and easier to maintain. When they get muddy, just wait for them to dry and the dirt simply falls off. Ideally somewhere easy to clean up rather than the sofa or your prized antique Turkish rug.

Lapphunds don't lose much hair in between moults, but when they do moult once or twice a year, then it can make quite a mess. Your Lappy puppy's first big moult is an experience like no other you will have had. The undercoat comes out in - literally - bagfuls, yet there always seems to be more to be brushed out tomorrow.

Daniel with 13-month-old Kuura after one good brushing session during the boy's 1st big moult. You can see from his woolly coat that there is plenty more to come.

I generally advocate the use of 2 or 3 specific grooming tools. However, after using the same things for several years, I'm now in the market for a couple of new dog brushes, so watch this space for future product reviews.

No discussion of grooming would be complete without mention of trimming the nails. Oh, the trauma! Oh, the drama! It is an event in itself and so warrants a blog post to itself too.

But, until then, the helpful folks at Dummies.com have produced this handy guide to brushing a dog. Keep in mind that an adult Lapphund will have a very thick, long coat and you will need to brush it in very small sections to ensure you don't miss any.

how to take good dog pictures

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000Z

Now you know I know I need this lesson. Animals are tough to capture well in photos. Even the people who do it well admit to taking hundreds to get a few good ones. I take hundreds to get, maybe, one good one. If I have a bit of luck too.

It helps to have a good camera so that you can maximise the lighting, detail and the greater shutter speed of the new DSLRs. I have a good camera. However, I have yet to acquaint myself with the finer points of its operation. I still use it like a point-and-shoot. But, y'know, it's good for that too.

Nylabone on their blog have produced this handy guide to taking good pictures of dogs. There is some great advice in there. There is also some advertising in there (our great Nylabone products, etc). However, if you don't mind the advertising - and I don't because I quite like Nylabone products so I'm happy to do a bit of product promotion on their behalf - then it's well worth a read if you're struggling with your canine model.

It's also well worth a read if you're soon to get a new puppy and that puppy's breeder will be waiting eagerly for photo updates. Just sayin'.

The best advice I can offer for getting photos of dogs is to have friends who are better acquainted with their cameras than you are and who take great photos that you can use.

Thank you to James Henson for this great photo of Maija, puppy-who-was-never-still.

This one is courtesy of Joanne Ross.
L-R: Rauhan, Sulo, Tarkka, Aurinko

This is one of the best photos ever taken of Keskiyo, captured by Jay with our then-brand-new DSLR camera. But I'm not going to say it was a lucky shot.

don't feed the dog

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000Z

Of course I don't mean actually don't feed a dog.

There are some things that dogs should only ever have as occasional treats and there are some things that dogs should never have. The sort of thing that falls into my category of "occasional treats" includes most human food and the Pedigree Jumbone / Dentastix / tripe sticks, etc, sort of canine consumables. By "occasional" I mean no more than once a week. Yes, I'm strict, I know. And when they do get a Dentastix or Jumbone (both of which they love), they only get half of one each. And that's plenty.

As a result of this my dogs are not fat. In fact, they are lean and healthy, even if they do hate me. Perhaps hate is a strong word. Perhaps they just resent living here instead of somewhere with a softer touch for an owner where they might get leftover roast lunch on Sundays, bull's pizzle every morning and a ham sandwich now & again. No such luck in this house!

Usko, age 3.5 months, enjoying a very safe chew - a nylon bone with an edible fake marrow inside that dogs love to eat.

Amongst my list of things that dogs should never have are:

Chocolate - you know that human chocolate is toxic to dogs, right? Dark chocolate or baking chocolate is the worst. Don't let them have it and don't leave it where they can get it. There is a doggie version of chocolate that is safe, but my poor maligned dogs don't even get that. Not because it's poisonous, because it's not, but just because of the horrid ingredients. I'd rather give them a juicy raw bone.

Citrus fruit - Lemons, limes, orange, grapefruit and their juice are all very bad for dogs as their stomach cannot deal with the citric acid.

Grapes & raisins - Both highly poisonous for dogs and, worst case scenario, can cause kidney damage.

Alcohol - Don't think it's funny or cute to let your dog drink beer. Hops can cause seizures and any kind of alcohol can even kill a dog.

Seeds & pits from various fruits - like apricots, cherries, apples, peaches.

Nuts - dogs can choke on nuts; macadamia and walnuts can both cause awful illness.

Photo: Joanne Ross

Tarkka enjoying every Lapphund's favorite treat - a snowball!

Weston beach walk

2012-01-31T07:00:00.000Z

On Sunday we met a bunch of old friends and new friends-to-be with a rather large group of Lappies for a walk at Weston-Super-Mare again. I have to say that I'm pretty unimpressed with the council for charging such extortionate parking fees. Even in the middle of the winter the minimum charge was £2.50 and when we went there in November it was twice that. So I don't think we'll be troubling their lovely beach again with our half dozen cars and twice the number of dogs. There are lots of nice places to walk that don't cost the earth in parking.

The weather was incredibly kind to us, if chilly - the forecast was for cold & wet but we only got the cold. Phew! Even those who were threatened to be homebound by snow managed to make it.

Thanks to Mark Treasure for the great photos, as always. Most of these are his, the poor phone shots 1st & last are mine, as usual. We didn't manage to remember to get a group shot of everyone there, but if my memory serves correctly, we had 12 Finnish Lapphunds and about twice that in people.

That sign beyond which everyone is walking? It says something like: "DANGER beyond this point."
Yup.

Much running & playing.
L-R: Kaija, Miika, Kesa, Taika
It's anyone's guess who is running to catch up in the distance, but my guess is Minna. She is not one to miss out on a good game of chase.

Case in point:
L-R: Minna, Kaija, Taika, Miika

Even Keksi did a little bit of running, but mainly she stayed close to the humans' legs (and pockets full of treats).
L-R: Keskiyo, Keksi

Neka, the eldest in attendance, had a wonderful time, racing around like a dog half her age.

And this tells the story of later that evening. Evidence of a very good day.

pup tip - 1st day & night

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000Z

When you first bring your puppy home, everybody is going to be excited about the new family member and all your friends and neighbours will want to visit. Resist the urge to show off your puppy straight away. Plan for your puppy's first experiences of his new home to be quiet and calm. Give him the opportunity to get to know you and your house, where his things are and what his new routine is going to be without the comfort and security of his mother and siblings.

Keep in mind that it's a big, new, scary world for your puppy; ease him into it. Let him find his feet and feel at home before bringing in the well-wishers and puppy-cuddlers. Once he is feeling secure and at home, then bring on the visitors. Keep numbers down to 2 or 3 at a time, though, so that he is not overwhelmed.

While he is being visited and fussed, be sure not to neglect his toilet training needs and always allow him to get sufficient sleep. He'll be excited and enjoying the fuss, but it's up to you - the parent, as it were! - to enforce quiet time.

Neka at 8 weeks old, a couple of days after arriving.

five ways to help your dog lose weight

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000Z

While recently on the subject of overweight dogs, and assuming your dog's girth is not expanding due to a litter of puppies growing in there, here are some tips for helping your pooch to shed those unhealthy kgs.

Taito looking a bit pudgy

1. Before embarking on a drastic weight-loss programme, visit your vet. Find out what a reasonable and healthy weight is for your dog and make sure your dog is physically able to exercise safely.

2. Start and maintain a regular exercise routine. If your dog is unfit, start small with short, easy walks and build it up gradually. Aim to get your dog on at least one long walk every day. If you have time for two walks, or more, so much the better. Don't let your dog wander along sniffing the ground - put him on a lead and keep up a brisk pace.

3. Look very carefully at what you're feeding your dog and then cut out the treats. All of them. For training, use pieces of kibble taken from your dog's meals (not in addition to his meals). If you must give a treat, give raw vegetables instead of unhealthy high-fat, high-salt store-bought treats. If your dog won't eat raw veggies, then he is not hungry! Give your dog big meaty bones fresh from the butcher - they are very satisfying.

4. Change your dog food. Get rid of the standard brands you can buy in supermarkets. They are full of unhealthy additives and preservatives and generally have too much fat and sometimes even non-edible rubbish! Instead, replace them with high-quality premium dog foods such as those sold in pet shops or veterinary surgeries.

5. Give your dog two or more small meals a day instead of one big one. To slow him down, consider one of the bowls specially designed for dogs who eat too fast. Feed your dog less than the amount recommended on the dog food bag - the aim of those guidelines is to sell more dog food! If your dog is still not losing weight, decrease the amount in his meals by 10%. Add a few raw vegetables to your dog's meals to bulk them up without the extra calories.

Taito looking perfectly fit

For more reading about helping your dog to lose weight, here is an interesting article from the Whole Dog Journal with lots of good advice about what to feed and how.

belly update

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000Z

A little over a week ago I was watching Keksi's belly for changes. There was no sign at all just 7 days ago that she was in whelp. And then, so suddenly, she started to look a bit rounder, just a couple of days before her scan. Now, at day 36/37 after mating, there is a definite swelling of the belly.

The slightly heavier waistline hasn't yet slowed her down on her walks, though. Today she was certainly giving Maija, the original speed freak, a run for her money... so to speak.

don't shoot the dog

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000Z

I've borrowed the title of Karen Pryor's excellent training book in response to the hysterical frenzy whipped up by the public, media and politicans whenever there is a tragedy involving a dog and a person. This week a child was attacked by a dog and, as always, it has led to cries for banning certain dog breeds.

There are a couple of reasons I didn't watch the BBC documentary "Death Row Dogs" last night. I never watch these things because I already have more than enough awful images stuck in my head that I wish I could scratch out. And I also don't watch them because I usually get so angry and frustrated at the sensationalism or the ignorance or the one-sidedness that I start yelling at the television and upsetting my own dogs. And, really, none of us need that - with 4 dogs in the house we generally have more than enough opportunity for noise.

But on this subject I'm with Beverley Cuddy, Editor of Dogs Today magazine. You can read her excellent blog on this subject here.

In the meantime I leave you with an old photo of Neka, aged 11 months, playing with Annie, who was our very own "dangerous dog" Akita. A more gentle, loving and dignified dog you could never hope to meet. Does she look scary here playing? You bet she does. Was she completely reliable around all people, children included? Yes, to our knowledge, she certainly was. Would we ever have left her (or any of our dogs) alone with small children, as Beverley discusses in her blog? No. We definitely would never have done that.

Rauhan & Pippa illustrate the wonderful relationship between dogs & children when carefully supervised

and then...

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000Z

Yesterday's post was written last week. What can I tell you, the commitment to post 5 days a week requires advance planning (kinda like that "spontaneity" I was referring to earlier).

Anyway, shortly after writing that post I was looking closely at Keksi's ever-expanding waistline and thinking to myself that I must be feeding her too much. Then I said to one or two people that if I had to guess, I'd guess yes.

And so on Sunday up the A303 Keksi & I went for her to be scanned by the very helpful Kath. And it's confirmed: we're having puppies! Cue much whooping & dancing. Well, one whoop and a little shuffle, anyway. That's about all the energy I can muster, I'm afraid, regardless of how good the news. Jay was away for a week & I've been taking care of 4 dogs on my own with not enough sleep or time to fit everything in, so there was actually very little in the way of dancing, in truth.

The scan says "five, or at least five", which was the same prognosis as for Keksi's last litter of seven. So the new waiting begins to see how many will arrive. It could actually be fewer than 5 because a bitch can re-absorb foetuses if they are not viable. But I'm remaining confident of the "at least five".

This is what I'm looking foward to in about a month's time - content mum & babies taken 24 hours after their birth last time:

Keksi with the Persikka litter, 1 day old

signs 2

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000Z

A few days ago I was looking for signs that Keksi might be pregnant. The very first sign of pregnancy is often an uncharacteric tendency to slow right down on walks. I saw this with both of Neka's litters, especially the second litter of nine puppies. A couple of weeks after mating, Neka made a dramatic transformation from a running, zooming, light-on-her-feet dasher to a by-my-ankle plodder. The plodding lasted only a couple of days, and I only half-noticed it because the weather was warm and so a bit of slowing wasn't really remarkable.

So, did Keksi display any of this deceleration? Well... the only answer I have to offer is, I don't know. Sorry. She wasn't with me at the time and, frankly, with Keksi anything goes. Daniel reports that on walks she is constantly running around, chasing squirrells, disappearing off and speeding back. In my experience, Keksi is much more of a natural plodder, sticking close by and rarely deigning to break a sweat. These days, enjoying her newly svelte shape, she does actually pick up speed a bit and give the squirrells a worry or two, even when she's walking with me.

But, then, all the Lappies love to engage in a bit of squirrell bothering. Here is Keskiyo looking rather smug at having chased a poor critter up a tree. And if it had been Neka, the photo would have been little more than a blur of Lapphund on 2 legs, mouth wide open as she variously tried to bark the squirrell back down to the ground or, alternatively, to climb up there and get it for herself.

I ask you, does this look like a dog who is slowing down?

That's right, no, it does not. However, I am consoling myself with the fact that the time for slowing down is long past.

And if you're wondering why poor old Neka is on her lead in this video it's because she knows this walk so well that she feels the need to disappear for way too many minutes at a time in search of new adventure whenever we go there. And we go there often.

five things that are not so great about having a dog

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000Z

1. You are often carrying around a bag of poo.

2. All your pockets are stained with dog treats. And your walls/furniture/car with mud.

3. Much of your wardrobe is chosen on the basis of what hides dog hair most effectively.

4. You can forget disappearing off to Paris for a spontaneous romantic break - spontaneity
requires advance planning.

5. You are forced to get fresh air & exercise everyday whether you want it or not
and regardless of the weather.

Wet, muddy Kesä having a drink

trick - sit

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000Z

Here's another first of what I hope will be a regular feature - how to teach a new trick. However, I'm starting small with the basics - it's not a trick, as such, but the most basic thing to teach your dog is to sit on command. I'll get on to the complicated stuff in due course. Like, in the case of young Lapphunds, walking nicely on a lead, for example. Or, say, for another example, the recall.

But, for now the sit.

Aim:         Get your dog's bum on the floor and his nose pointing toward your face, giving you attention.

Use For: Everything! Sitting is the most basic of doggie manners. Use it when he is greeting someone, when he is at the vet, when he is at the kerb waiting to cross the road. When you need some control. Sit, sit, sit. SIT.

Start with a pocketful of tiny treats that your dog loves. Treats should be about the size of the tip of your little finger. Small. And easy to eat.

1. Hold a treat next to your dog's nose (don't let him grab it, obviously...)

2. Slowly move the treat back towards the top of the dog's head, between the ears.
   Don't lift your hand too high - keep it low and near the dog's nose. The aim is to get his nose to
     follow the treat - i.e. pointing up.

3. As your dog's nose points up, his back legs will bend and his bottom will head towards the floor.
   As soon as his bottom touches the floor, say the word "Sit". Immediately give the treat and
   praise him enthusiastically with the words "good sit" and/or "good dog".

Perhaps I'm too ambitious, but I've made a little film to illustrate the method. Making a film fit for public consumption? Difficult. Specialist, even. Filming animals? Very difficult. Very. Filming animals with no help? Even harder than that. Filming animals with no help and with a jealous canine audience barking & kicking up a fuss at the sidelines...? So you shall see. Don't judge me too harshly, my filming technique can only improve!

Of course, Keskiyo already knows how to sit, so a new puppy will take a bit longer to get the hang of it than Keskiyo does in this film.

If it's Not Working

If your dog's nose is following your hand but his back legs are not bending, then you are holding the treat up too high. Keep your hand close to the dog's nose during the whole exercise.

If he keeps scooting backwards rather than bending his legs, don't give the treat and don't react. Just start again. Don't get frustrated, just be calm. If you find yourself getting frustrated at any point when training your dog, stop and try again later.

Don'ts: Don't get angry or impatient. Don't yell or use a harsh voice. Don't push your dog's bottom down.

Tips for Success: Take your time. Be patient. Be quick to give treats and enthusiastic praise. Be generous with the praise and petting. Always reward well while your dog is still learning.

book review - control unleashed*

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000Z

Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog
(c/o Clean Run Productions)

Author: Leslie McDevitt, MLA, CDBC, CPDT

Publisher: Clean Run Productions

ISBN: 978-1-892694-17-1

Pages: 226

Price: £17.50

Classic Quote

“Even if a student and her dog do not perform an exercise perfectly, as long as the dog is looking happy and engaged with his handler, I count that as a win.”

About the Author

Leslie McDevitt is a certified dog behaviour consultant and pet dog trainer in Philadelphia, MA, USA. Her behaviour-based articles have been published in the agility periodical, Clean Run, and in Dog Fancy.

Structure

McDevitt is a trainer of agility and often found dogs in her agility classes who were unprepared for working within such a stimulating environment. For reactive dogs who had difficulty concentrating in the agility class setup, she devised a seven-week behaviour modification course as a pre-requisite to agility training. She called that course Control Unleashed (CU), and this book outlines the content of the CU course in week-by-week exercises.

The book is studded with true stories and case studies from her CU experiences and threaded throughout is the story of McDevitt’s progress with her own dog, Snap, to whom the book is dedicated.

Control Unleashed is aimed at:

Students of dog sports or the companion dog owner whose dog has difficulty concentrating or working off lead near other dogs or in exciting situations.
The experienced agility or obedience instructor who reads dogs well and wants to get a handle on dealing with the disruptive dogs in class.

Difficulty concentrating in exciting situations? That sounds like a Lapphund or two to me! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book, which I ordered from the US, but it is now available in the UK.

What is Great About This Book

First of all, it’s a relief to find a dog book with a new approach that really works. It’s a mile from the standard unhelpful advice which runs along the lines of: keep your dog’s attention on you at all times to avoid him focusing elsewhere and then when your dog’s attention does wander, it’s your fault for not being “interesting” enough.

Instead, McDevitt has worked out strategies and games for building up dogs’ confidence, techniques for keeping their excitement at a manageable level, and methods to train your dog to want to focus on you, not because you say so but because he’s no longer distracted by outside stimuli (like other dogs, for example) and because it is a fun game for him to play. It all adds up to a strategy for helping dogs be comfortable around other dogs and other stimuli while remaining focused on his handler and ready to learn.

The CU course is for dogs who cannot think or control their impulses when they’re excited, who need to learn to relax and focus in the presence of their triggers without becoming reactive, and who need to learn to work off-lead in stimulating situations without getting distracted. CU is not an agility course and it is not an obedience course. It’s a behaviour modification course based on the principles of desensitisation and counter-conditioning.

Each class chapter starts with a list of clear aims and new exercises that will be introduced in that class, so you know where you’re headed as you work your way through. The description of each exercise is clear, detailed and mainly easy to follow with lots of helpful advice for what to do if things are going wrong. The case studies are well chosen to illuminate the lessons being taught, and there are plenty of photos that illustrate the points extremely well, even if they are a little small.

The best thing about this book is that the strategies really work! Well, those that I’ve tried thus far, anyway, have been amazingly successful and in a shockingly short period of time. So far, my favourite game is “Look at That!” which is designed to get your dog to glance at his trigger (i.e. scary other dog, for example), then revert his attention immediately back to his handler for a treat. This takes the stress out of looking at a formerly scary thing and turns it into a game that will earn the dog treats. It turns looking at the scary thing into a cue to revert his attention to his handler. Even better, it does so while allowing the dog to check out his environment and reassure himself that there is nothing around him he needs to be worrying about.

I took my reactive, noisy Lapphund, Keskiyö out with clicker and treats in hand and as soon as he focused on another dog and started to bark, I said “Look!” in a suitably pleasant voice and clicked straight away. He knows what a click means, and he turned to me immediately with a confused look on his face as if to say, “You mean you’re going to reward me for barking at that dog? You usually tell me off for barking at other dogs.” We started playing the "Look!" game for clicks and treats with every exciting thing he would normally zoom in on. After only two walks he had already begun to stop stressing and start concentrating on the game.

The trick, of course, is to manage the situation so that the “trigger” doesn’t get too close. But with my dog’s triggers far enough away to keep him under threshold, the results were fast and dramatic.

What’s Not So Great

Unusually for me, I really don’t want to criticise anything about this book. I value its content at least as much as, or more than, any other dog training / behaviour book I’ve ever read. However, there are a lot of issues with the book that the reader will need to be aware of.

First of all, Control Unleashed uses a great deal of jargon – terms from psychology like “reframing” or “conditioned emotional response” and from the world of dog sports, such as “contacts”, “two-on-two-off” and “circle work”. Once you get used to this, it’s fine, but it’s distracting and a bit confusing at first if you’re unfamiliar with the terms.

In addition, although it is not necessary to use clicker training in order to follow the exercises in this book, the descriptions do utilise this type of terminology and procedures. For this reason, the reader would be well advised to brush up on clicker training before tackling Control Unleashed.

My only real complaint with the content of the book is that there are a couple of instances of principles being introduced or mentioned but never fully described or explained. For example, McDevitt puts great emphasis on calming anxious dogs by using massage such as Tellington Touch (TTouch) or a technique called the Protocol for Relaxation. TTouch is given a one-line description with references for further reading. The Protocol for Relaxation, developed by Dr Karen Overall, is introduced in two paragraphs, giving just enough information to make you realise that it will take another whole course or book to learn it separately. Yet it is presented as one of the first crucial tools to the CU approach.

Finally, the major goal of the CU course is to make the handler more aware of her dog, his needs, his triggers, thresholds and responses and to find the right balance of stimulation for her particular dog. This is a highly complex topic with individual requirements and trying to get that from a book is difficult. This is specialist material based on reading your dog to tailor the exercises to his particular requirements. Anyone who is less skilled at reading their dog will struggle with getting the balance right in attempting the exercises.

I found that the exercises and descriptions became more and more complex and difficult to follow as the book went on. Furthermore, some of the more advanced and complicated exercises that give the final touches to bomb-proofing the dog would be difficult to apply in the “real world” outside the class situation.

These problems are not a fault of the book, as such. Rather, they arise as a result of trying to lift a step-by-step book directly out of a fluid and changeable class structure which is managed by an expert in dog training and behaviour.

The solution, of course, would be to take a Control Unleashed course instead of reading the book – and I very much wish I had the opportunity to do so!

Worth Reading?

Definitely. In fact, I think a Control Unleashed type course should be mandatory for most Lappy owners! After all, how many of us haven’t struggled with the over-zealous, barking Lapphund zooming away to say hello instead of paying attention to us? However, in the absence of any CU courses in the UK – or certainly in my neck of the woods – then this book is a must for everyone with a distractable dog.

Summary

Round Up: Excellent plan for teaching control to reactive dogs

Best For: Experienced dog handlers

Woofs: 4/5

*This is an edited version of a review I originally wrote for the Dec 2009 edition of Lappy Tails, the newsletter of the Southern Finnish Lapphund Society. Reviews written specifically for this blog will be shorter & more consise. Probably.

weight watching

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000Z

In spite of their great energy, Lapphunds often have a weight problem. Perhaps it's the fact that they are very greedy eaters. Greeder eaters are easier to train, but more difficult to keep healthy, weight-wise. I've had 1 greedy eater and 1 fussy eater - I never had to worry about the weight of the fussy eater - in fact, it was a struggle to keep him looking in good condition because he was so persnicketty.

Neka, the greedy eater, is kept slim & fit by 2 plain meals a day and a minimum of treats (often raw veggies rather than pieces of sausage).

In Neka's first litter she gave birth to 7 chips off the old block. Greedy little devils every one. And weight watchers, every one. Here are 3 of them with their mum. In this photo they are only 12 months old and in need of diets and she, the smallest of any of them, is only a few weeks away from giving birth to 9 more puppies. Nine!

L-R: Keksi, Neka, Taika, Taito (photo Andrew McCarthy)

These days Taika's and Taito's weight is kept in check by strict diets too. As for Keksi, she struggled longest & hardest with her weight. Then after her own litter of puppies last year, it all dropped off like magic.

There is little more pathetic or sorry-looking than a bitch at 11 or 12 weeks post-whelping. She is skinny and she has lost absolutely all her fur in readiness for a lush new coat. I won't embarrass Keksi by posting a photo of how she looked then. But the good news is that once she shed all that weight, her speed increased dramatically and now she is able to keep slim & fit easily - and she is able to eat more at her meals than ever before.

Of course, she has not been spayed yet. And neutered dogs & bitches have a whole new challenge with weight.

signs

2012-01-16T07:30:00.000Z

It's an interminable wait when you're wondering if your bitch is pregnant. The mating happened a couple of weeks in the past, the scan isn't due until a couple of weeks in the future. You watch your bitch with a keen eye, looking for changes in appearance or behaviour, clues, any little sign that she might be a little different than usual, not her normal self, pregnant.

And so we are doing with Keksi now. For Keksi's last litter, she was at home with Daniel & Jim at this stage and I kept getting reports that she didn't seem different to them. By the time she came to me for her scan a month or so after mating, I was quite confident I saw a little sign - a little ruff of fur sticking out from her sides like a skirt.

At the moment Keksi is staying with us and I have my eyes peeled for that ruff of fur. She is super-fit right now and with very little coat, and I don't know if those 2 elements will cancel each other out: she is slim & fit, so it will be easier to spot any little swelling of the belly, while on the other hand, she has no coat to speak of, so there is no fur to stick out.

Definitely no fur skirt here - check out the curve of her thigh. But if we were looking for shoulder ruffs, we'd be in business.

One sure sign of pregnancy is a sudden voracious appetite. (I'm pretty sure that's true in human females as well as bitches of other species, actually.) Last time around, Daniel reported an astonishing bin raid while Keksi was left alone for 20 minutes.

That was about 20 or 25 days post-mating - approximately where we are now. I certainly have not given her any opportunity to ransack the kitchen while unsupervised, as she has been known to do so even when not pregnant. But for a few days now she has been grabbing every opportunity to frantically hoover up little twigs on her walks and she then proceeds to chew them up like they are gravy bones.

Do I take this as a sign? I'm trying really hard not to. For all I know she is ordinarily a twig nibbler, so I'm keeping a lid on my expectations at this point. From the anecdotes of others, it seems that matings don't work as often as they do, so there is a lot of disappointment involved. It's frustrating not only for me, and people like me, who have spent a lot of time & money preparing for a litter of puppies who don't arrive, but imagine how crushing for those people waiting for their puppy. It's really awful.

So don't you get your hopes up, and I will try to control mine too.

In the meantime, should Keksi don a fur skirt, you'll be the first to know.

five great things about having a dog

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000Z

Here is the first of what I intend to be a regular feature - a list of 5 light-hearted dog-related things.

Today's list comprises 5 great things about having a dog.

A dog is terrific company and having one means you need never be lonely
Having a dog makes sure you get exercise everyday
A dog is there for you without being the least critical or judgemental
Dogs are beautiful to look at (even those who are so-ugly-they're-cute)
When you have a dog you are pretty much guaranteed never to have the worst breath in your house


The perfect companion - Usko & Liz - photo by Ian Dean

one tiny resolution

2012-01-12T06:30:00.000Z

I'm not usually one for new year's resolutions - I believe that if I want to make a change in my life, then I should just get on and do it. However...

When I started this blog in 2008, it's main purpose was to document the development of my second litter of puppies. I read - and still do read - a lot of blogs of all types, and I thought it would be a great way to help the puppies' new families feel part of their lives right from the beginning. In addition, it has proven to be a great archive of the novice's experience of what's involved in breeding dogs. Not to mention a perfect record of my puppies that I refer to again and again.

Since 2008 it has remained pretty much the same. It has had an updated look now and again, but it has primarly been a place for daily posts when I have puppies and occasional posts when I don't. The subject matter has strictly been Infindigo Finnish Lapphunds (and their friends).

For 2012 I have been considering a little resolution - a way to improve the blog. My initial thought was to post only good quality photos. I am inspired daily by the wonderful pictures featured in many of the blogs I like to read, like those Scott Gilmour takes for Thankfifi and Mattias Swenson takes for Fashion Squad. (But I did not know before that he is a co-founder of Blog Lovin. Cool. ) Regular visitors to this blog will know that high quality photos rarely feature here. Just about every post does have a photo (or several), but if anything, I am unfortunately better known for grabbing whatever picture I am lucky enough to capture. That is a shame, but I think is unlikely to change because I'm busy with the dogs & the writing & the et cetera and I do not have a Scott or Mattias who is so interested in photography to assist. And everyone knows that animals are notoriously difficult to photograph. Yes, they are.

So for 2012 I've decided to make a change I actually have some hope of achieving. My aim will be to post 5 days a week, with or without puppies. To that end, the scope of the thing will necessarily need to broaden somewhat to incorporate a wider range of dog-related stuff and not just be about breeding, puppies and the various members of the Infindigo Finnish Lapphund family. After all, I've always tried to make my posts entertaining and I don't see the point in sacrificing quality for quantity.

So while my posts might get a little shorter, I'm going to make a concerted effort to make them more regular too.

And, from the archives, here is today's photo of a couple of adorable puppies at the age of about 5 weeks who missed out on being blogged as babies, as the blog didn't exist in 2007 when they were born.

Taito (left) & his brother Karhu (right)

splat

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000Z

I'm very lucky that I have a phone with a calendar that will ring an alarm to remind me of everything that is meant to be happening in my life. I'm very sensible in that I (usually) record important events in that calendar. Because without it I would remember to do very little, apparently.

On a number of occasions over the holidays my alarm-ing calendar saved me from social disgrace by warning me of a forgotten event in good time to get there. One such event was driving to Bristol to collect Keksi who has come to stay for a little holiday and, in due course, to be scanned for evidence of pregnancy.

Monday morning I was lazing in bed nursing my head cold & feeling miserable when beep went the phone. What now? I thought. Oh. Yes. Another forgotten urgent thing I needed to do. I had just enough time to wash & dress & get my aching bones to Leigh Woods.

I did try to contact some people who live within spitting distance of the area to see if they wanted to meet for a walk, but in my haste I was only partially successful. I did manage to catch Jane & Mark with Mika who live only about 10 minutes from there. By now they may regret that I did catch them just as they were leaving the house for their walk - or at least Jane might.

Leigh Woods is a good place for dog walks and, being conveniently located, we often meet there with various friends & their dogs. I think I'm safe in stating that I have never, ever seen it quite so muddy there.

The weather was not helping.

Daniel & Jim couldn't stop for long, but while we stood under a tree & chatted briefly we were subjected to torrential rain, gale force wind, hail, thunder & lightning and wet snow. Nice. Not. They very sensibly carried on their way and the rest of us set off for a walk.

We soldiered rather valiantly but didn't exactly have a marathon before retiring to Jane & Mark's to warm up over coffee and cake before heading back home. As we slopped, skid and slipped up one path, Jane suggested we take a bet on who would be the first to fall into the mud. She barely had the words out of her mouth when she landed - splat!

And to think that Jane had been concerned that she had not had time to put on lipstick before leaving the house.

There are no photos of the dogs or us or even Jane's event. I did bring the camera with me, but in that weather it remained safely tucked up in the car. I did, however, manage to get a quick phone pic of Kuura on the snowy day I collected Keksi on the way to Shropshire last month.

Kuura 12 months

Britain's Next Top Canine Model

2012-01-10T08:07:00.002Z

And while I'm on the subject of models...

Karhu, a very fine 4½-year-old brown & tan gent from Neka's first litter, stars in his very own fashion blog. With his pal and writer, Wendy, he features under his stage name "Mr K" in wonderful photos taken by Scott on (just about) every weekday. Occasionally he lets Wendy have posts all to herself because that's just the sort of generous guy that he is.

Shamelessly lifted from www.thankfifi.com

We are very excited that Karhu's blog* has been long-listed by Marie Claire magazine for their Best Fashion Blog award, and now they need lots of votes from supporters of affordable fashion, intelligent, witty writing & dogs. So, please go vote for Thankfifi and make Karhu the star he deserves to be.

Vote here:

VOTE NOW! Best Fashion Blog and Twitter feed

*The small print: Ok, so you knew it was actually Wendy's blog, right?

modelling

2012-01-06T09:30:00.000Z

Lapphunds have appeared as models and/or stars in a few places. Early on in their history in the UK, Neka's and Keskiyo's granny Echo graced the bag of Purina dog food. A few Lappies have appeared on television in one thing or another. Now a Lappy has become the face of a brewery. That's right, I said a brewery - and, not only that, but he's had a drink named for him as well.

During my trip to Shropshire with Keksi I spent some time with Liz, Ian & Usko, although we did take some care to keep Usko & Keksi apart, for obvious reasons. On my departure, they very kindly gifted me with a jar of Liz's wonderful chutney and a couple of bottles of "Usko's Nog", dark ale brewed by The Laughing Lappy Brewery (otherwise known as Ian). The Laughing Lappy Brewery label features a very fetching photo of Usko, the quintessential laughing Lappy.

I don't partake of such things, but it did smell very nice and Jay assures me it was quite delicious. A worthy ale to be promoted by a Lapphund, we say.

And, speaking of models, Keskiyo - who is never one to willingly miss out on anything, least of all a photo session - was wondering why I was bothering to photograph boring old bottles when he was available and a more than willing subject.

happy muddy new year

2012-01-03T11:14:00.011Z

Will it ever stop raining?

It's a struggle to keep the dog towels & beds dry these days. Forget clean. And my floor? Well, let's just say if I hadn't been suffering from such a miserable cold, I would have had the energy to be quite mortified after our new year's day Lappy walk when the group came in for a coffee.

But when you share your house with dogs, you get accustomed to a bit of mud in your life.

Our walk was a small but dedicated group! It was the morning after the night before, after all. I was mighty impressed that the Cornish contingent made it, considering they hadn't got to bed until 3am. Well done! The various others who were thinking they would maybe, just perhaps, come on the walk, ended up staying in bed (the sensible people...?) The rest who were definitely coming all had cancelled for one reason or another, the most dramatic being a backed-up sewage system in their new house. Oh dear, is what I have to say to that. Happy s****y new year indeed.

Our group consisted of myself & Jay with Neka, Keskiyo & Maija; Maria & Mark from Cornwall with Marja; and their houseguests Dee & Patrick from Derbyshire with Karri & Tuula.

Many thanks to Mark Gregory for all the photos.

The least muddy of the paths - but Marja's legs tell the story, & that's after she had cleaned off in the river.

L-R: Patrick, Karri, Tuula, Marja

And before Marja had had a paddle in the river - the blackest of legs on the whitest of Lappies!

L-R: Tuula, Karri, Jay, Marja, Patrick, Neka, Maria, Keskiyo, me, Dee

At this, the halfway point of the walk, just before the river, Maija had already set off on her own customary route straight up the mountain for a quick recce before joining us at the river.

Having a paddle.

L-R: Tuula cleaning her feet under protest, Dee, Maija, Keskiyo, me, Marja full speed just for a change, Neka begging sweets from Maria

Love the gorgeous old stone bridge here! And I've never brought our good camera up here to get a decent shot of it, so I'm even more grateful to Mark & his camera.

A bit cleaner underfoot most of the way back out. This is the meadow full of snowdrops in February & bluebells in May.

Sad to see that the beautiful old dead tree (left) has come down in the storms.

and... repeat

2011-12-22T22:13:00.008Z

On a number of occasions I have commented on what an amazing mother Keksi was to her puppies last year. We were all so proud of how well she did - the actual whelping, the nursing, the cleaning, the general care, the calm demeanor. The girl definitely done good. Not to mention the fact that the puppies turned out to be a pretty sweet natured & gorgeous bunch, as well.

So when I casually broached the subject with Daniel & Jim that they might be willing to allow Keksi to have one more go, they were as enthusiastic as I. Can't say how grateful I am to them for their continuing support & help - not to mention the loan of their sweet girl and the breaking up of their canine family for weeks on end. Oh, yes, and having to endure bitches in season combined with a certain teenage male dog...

And so the crucial moment came around again and this time our rendezvous was with a local boy who lives conveniently just a few hours up the M5 from me. But travelling for mating purposes is never that simple for me, somehow, as you will be aware from my past exploits as reported on this blog. On this occasion I wasn't plagued by strikes like last time, and we weren't under threat of the worst snow storms in absolutely years like I was with Taika's mating trip. However, as I drove north to meet with Jim & collect Keksi, it did indeed start to snow, and it got heavier & heavier. I had visions of a repeat of the awful weather we endured getting to and from France wtih Taika, but luckily the busy little flurry ended and the accumulated snow started to melt pretty much immediately as I waited in the car park of the Air Balloon pub for Jim & Keksi.

Whilst on the subject, I recommend this pub. It's pleasingly picturesque inside & out, it has a very friendly & welcoming landlord, and it's conveniently situated a few minutes off the M5, just south of Cheltenham, more or less on the edge of the Cotswolds. And although we didn't stop to eat, the menu looked very nice too.

So off Keksi & I went to deepest Shropshire to visit Liz, Ian & Usko in between visits to Glenchess & Elaine & Steve Short's delectable Ilolas.

Looking very pleased with himself. And quite right, too.

Having a scamper around.

As a puppy himself, taken in April 2011.

I have been in love with Ilo since first laying eyes on him as a young puppy. Not only is he a beautiful dog with a wonderful coat, color, head & expression, but he has one of those fabulous sweet natures that I so admire.

And no wonder, considering who his parents are. His father is the top winning Danish dog Multi Champion Lapinlumon Elämänilo. His mother is another little Lappy I have liked since first seeing her in Helsinki when Elaine was collecting her. Her name is Ter hakan Uunu Leenu, and she's still a little beauty.

Keksi mainly enjoyed her daily trips to Wyre Forest, rain or shine.

Not to mention being the centre of attention with no competition for cuddles.

And so now we wait. We hope.

another Bo show

2011-11-26T15:41:00.007Z

Not so long ago, Bo and Sisu attended their very first dog show. And they were both quite naughty, as you might expect from puppies at their very first show.

Then Bo attended a few ringcraft sessions with Alan's dad, John, and that made all the difference. By the time of her second show, she wasn't exactly perfect, as such, nor was she standing rock-solid for the judge. However, the contrast was remarkable. I must say that I'm pretty impressed with John for venturing into the sometimes mystifying world of ringcraft, not to mention his coolness under the pressure of his very first show too. A top performance by both of them.

The show in question was the Working and Pastoral Breeds of Scotland show a couple of weeks ago where Karhu was Reserve Best Dog and Bo was Reserve Best Bitch and Best Puppy, in an unfortunately small entry. Here's is Bo & her new pro handler in action.

another day ...

2011-11-15T09:07:00.014Z

... another beach

Not that I'm obsessed or anything.

On Sunday a bunch us within reasonable(ish) distance of Weston-Super-Mare met up for a beach walk. Apparently (but unbeknownst to me until I got home & started sorting photos) I have a bit of a thing for this location at this time of the year, as we did the ve ry same thing last year in November.

My but it was a lot colder then than now! My blog last November is full of frost but we haven't had the least twinkle yet this year. In fact, my brand new winter tires almost melted in Weston on the weekend in the 17 degree weather. We even sat jacketless outside the pub after the walk. Remarkable.

There were a few regulars missing, but it's a busy time of year. We still managed to have 6 or 8 car loads of people & dogs. Many thanks to Mark Treasure for getting some photos (they are the ones which are not iPhone quality).

Looks like Maija has had a mouthful of saltwater. Or just didn't want her photo taken perhaps.

Maija (right) doing her gargoyle impression with her sister Kaija.

You can see what a great day & place it was for a walk, even though we kept having to wrangle the dogs up because of cars on the beach. What's with that, anyway?

Taito & Buddy in background begging for sweets. Maija's brother Rauhan in foreground.

Taito, who (unusually) had no siblings present, on a mission.

Usko taking a break before heading for the hills - or, in this case, the sand dunes - looking for adventure & ending up back on his lead.

Usko's sister Kesa on her own adventure.

There were no family group photos this year but a few group play shots. Although the dogs spend most of their time running together & bundling up in furry balls of game, it's hard to get a useful photo of these activities. Here are a couple.

Not sure who this gang is, but Maija on right. The other 2 probably Buddy (left) & Kaija (middle).

Buddy (left) and an unidentified (but very familiar) someone (right). Perhaps Kaija looking very much like her mum but with better tail!

win

2011-11-02T16:22:00.004Z

Way-hey, whaddeya know - I won a competition. I won a very stylish and cool Duck and Cover Kirkham jacket. To be precise, this stylish & cool jacket. Okay, so it will neither suit nor fit me, but I know a certain someone in need of a stylish jacket who it will both fit & suit... I dare say... We'll make it work.

Yes, you're not wrong - this is indeed a dog blog. So why am I announcing my big win? Well, for one thing it's worth shouting about if only because I don't think I have ever once in my life won something by chance. Truly. The other reason is actually dog-related. No, really. You see, that jacket was being given away by my super-stylish friend and fashion blogger Wendy at thankfifi. And her blog guest stars none other than Karhu, aka Mr K. After all, what's a fashion blog without a fashionably adorable dog?

Considering I've never won a first-out-of-the-hat type competition before, do you suppose my win wasn't absolutely entirely left to chance? For, you see, Karhu actually chose the winning entry. And after umm-ing and ahh-ing a bit, he chose my entry - what a clever dog! Don't miss the cute video of him choosing the winning bone.

beach

2011-10-31T11:12:00.021Z

I never yet met a dog who didn't like going to the beach. For our bunch, it's their favorite place to be, and that's something I have in common with them. It's natural for me, perhaps, as I grew up on an island. Granted, where I grew up it was more breakers crashing onto rocks than waves gently lapping golden sand. However, for me there's something about the quality of air at the coast that just can't be bettered by any mountain, plain, desert or wooded valley. When I'm on the beach, I can think more clearly and I can just breathe better.

A month ago we visited this beach in Fuerteventura. Here it is at dawn. Sigh! I loved the golden light, the pale sky in shades of lavender & blue and the 25º C temperature at 7 am.

A couple of days before that, and at 12 or 14º cooler much more to the dogs' taste, we went to this place - the dog end of Exmouth beach, right here at home in Devon. What you can't tell from the photo is just how windy and chill the weather was, nor how ferocious the surf. But a quite fabulous beach in any weather. The looming red cliffs at this end are spectacular and it makes the whole experience very relaxing as there is no danger whatsoever of the dogs running up onto the road.

Maija having a dig in the sand.

Yesterday we went back again on a very different sort of day, weather-wise. It was unseasonably warm but grey with low mist hanging over the cliffs. Unfortunately none of the photos I took with my phone really worked, but I did get a couple of videos of the dogs having fun.

Maija is always speedy, but Neka gains a few kph and loses a few years at every visit to the beach. There's little I love more than seeing them run flat out across the sand.

Meanwhile, Keskiyo likes to paddle in the waves (dragging me with him) and to hunt down treasures like driftwood, shells and - the greatest prize of all - great flaps of seaweed.

Edit: I had a video of Keskiyo playing with said flap of seaweed, but I could not seem to kill the sound on it and I was way too noisy! In fact, I had no idea my phone recorded audio on the videos. Note to self - shut up when filming.

So what could be better than the beach? I think the only thing that generates as much excitement and joy - in fact, more - is snow. Snow is truly the pinnacle of wonderfulness. For the dogs, that is.

All the long-range forecasts say that they will be in luck this year. SIGH.

finnish lapphund calendar 2012

2011-10-20T11:05:00.015+01:00

The winning photos to feature in next year's SFLS Lappy calendar have been announced and you can see all the photos as well as order your copy here. The front cover of the calendar will feature none other than our sweet Marja, as her photo, taken by me when she was barely 4 weeks old, won the most votes overall.

We were thrilled to win the coveted cover spot! Especially as the calendar gets so many wonderful photos from all over the world entered for the public to vote on. So all the hard work trying to get that photo was worth it in the end.

Last xmas we put up a tree and I kept it there long past it's best-before date until well into the new year. In fact, it only left the premises just in the nick of time to make the last local tree recycling day. While it's true that I love having a fragrant evergreen in the house, my motives for waiting so long were a little more specific. I was determined to get some cute xmas puppy photos. I took hundreds. No really, hundreds. And of the hundreds, approximately two were calendar worthy. Who am I kidding - there was no 'approximately' about it - the calendar worthy numbered actually two. Both photos were of Marja (who was Marilyn in those days) contemplating the tree at close proximity. Here are the 2, with the calendar version top:

You might think that Marja was the only puppy I even attempted to photograph with or near the tree. But no, everyone had a go. One or two puppies could not be trusted to stay securely on the stool without trying to leap off, so there are very few photos of, for instance, Buddy. Or Sisu.

However, here are a few outtakes for your amusement.

There were set problems with poorly chosen background colours.

Sisu & Tippi (both still for once!)

Problems with lighting all round - what's atmospheric about a decorated and twinkly-lighted tree in broad daylight? Yet, the vast majority of photos are as well-lit as an operating theatre. Oops.

Ukko

Then there was the issue of getting the puppies to pose. Or just behave. Or even keep still for 2 seconds.

Bo, Marja, Kuura

Ukko, Tippi, Kuura

Buddy, Marja, Kuura

You can see I was going for a multi-coloured selection for most shots.

Is it time to start planning a photo or two to submit for the 2013 calendar? No? Phew!

teeth

2011-09-23T15:30:00.007+01:00

If there's one thing that puppies often struggle with when they're learning show craft, it's letting the judge look at their teeth. Judges examine every part of a dog - including teeth, legs, tails & even boy-bits. So puppies have to be trained & trained & trained to stand quietly and let the judge do so. But it's never that easy.

For one thing, during all that training the puppies will be teething and have very sore mouths. Not a good time to be sticking one's fingers in there, really. Also, it is a big ask for a puppy to stand quietly while a stranger's hands descend onto it's face and fiddles about.

So it's often difficult, and so it has certainly been for the Persikka puppies. Remember Tippi not letting the judge look at her teeth a few weeks ago? Well, Kuura also wouldn't at the last show. Daniel has been putting the work in, though, and here he is proving that it can be done. Sometimes, anyway.

I particularly like Kuura's model stare to camera at the end.

naughty show puppies

2011-09-07T12:39:00.009+01:00

Egad, did I manage to publish a blog post without a photo last time? Huh, sorry about that. I'm sure you all tune in for my entertaining prose rather than photos of cute dogs, but still...

To make up for it, I have permission to publish a video that Alan recorded of Sisu & Bo at their very first outing at the Scottish Kennel Club show in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. Bo is in front being handled by Wendy (of Wendy & Karhu fame) and Sisu is behind her being handled by Kristiina who I must say is looking very able at her own very first show.

From this video you get to see 2 very adorable & funny puppies who are just a bit distracted by all the excitement and just a little eager to get to each other for a game. You get to see just how difficult it can be to show a puppy. You can train & train & train and still this is what happens. Even for the veteran dog show folk, it can be a test. Just ask Wendy.

In this instance Sisu won Best Puppy, but the judge said that she also loved Bo and that she would have placed very well indeed in this competition if only she had allowed the judge to examine her... when you've seen how her siblings act for judges in the ring, it's easy to tell they're all related.

(A small word of warning: turn the volume down! Someone standing near Alan as he recorded the video was enjoying the sound of his or her own voice.)

So this erratic behaviour is something they will grow out of with time & practice. Or at least that's the theory, anyway. I'll get back to you on that.

to qualify or not to qualify

2011-08-30T17:43:00.006+01:00

At the Welsh Kennel Club show a couple of weeks ago, I took both Tippi and Kuura into the ring in an attempt to startle them into distraction by taking them away from their owners and perhaps get them to behave themselves for the judge. That way maybe - just maybe - they might qualify for Crufts 2012.

At their previous shows they were both equally wiggly and uninclined to allow the judge too close. And as for looking at their teeth? Forget it. By taking normally naughty dogs away from their normal handlers, you can often get them to behave well just through the sheer novelty as they are too busy wondering what's going on to play naughty games.

That's how it works in theory, anyway. In practice, it didn't exactly go like that for me at WKC. Tippi moved quite beautifully away from the judge. Alas, that was only because she was determined to leave the ring altogether and go find her brother Tarkka and the rest of the family. As you might imagine, that made returning to the judge just a tad trickier.

She was more or less ok about the judge going over her, though, and did manage to qualify for Crufts by placing 3rd in Puppy Bitch and 2nd in Junior Bitch.

Kuura's turn was somewhat different. He was more than happy to trot around the ring, and he was fine with the judge going over him - even the boy bits. He took exception to showing his teeth - the traditional stumbling block for so many puppies as they venture into the show ring. But the thing that got him disqualified altogether.... that's right, I said disqualified.... was the fact that he had a slight limp.

It was something I didn't notice before going into the ring and once in the ring I blamed his slightly rocky gait on the uneven ground under our feet, as it was quite rough. However, it was obvious to everyone watching that he was actually limping and, indeed, it was obvious to me once I took him out of the ring and saw his movement on flat ground.

The absolute crunch requirement for show dogs is that they are "sound" - i.e. healthy and not limping, dagnabbit, so that was that.

The reason for the limp? He had taken a joyous flying leap from a little height while playing in a garden the day before. This is the reason why breeders bleat on about no stairs, no jumping, no leaping until Lappies are 12 months old. They are heavy for their size and as puppies, before their joints and muscles are fully developed, they can easily hurt themselves. Stopping a Lappy leaping is another matter altogether, of course.

chaos

2011-08-23T11:21:00.015+01:00

Even with no puppies in the house, we've had a busy summer. Perhaps I should specify that we've had no new puppies in the house. We've had a few to visit.

The latest visitors are Taika & Minna who have been here almost 2 weeks and are going back home in a couple of days. That means that we have 5 dogs in total in the house at the moment. And if you wondered how many dogs is too many, then I think my limit is 5. Or possibly 4, actually.

Don't get me wrong - I have really enjoyed being over-run with canines. And these particular 2 are extremely well behaved, so they don't actually cause much more chaos than our normal daily amount. However, once you factor into the equation the fact that Jay has been almost completely incapacitated with a back problem for the whole time, you can see that I've had my work more than cut out for me.

I'm pretty sure there's still one missing... on the way back to the car, and still no Neka...

Quite apart from the walks (during which at least 2 need to be kept on lead for some reason or other), at this time of the year there is the post-walk daily dog de-seeding. It's only a small exaggeration to say that we have as many seeds in our bin as are left in the woods. What we really need at this time of the year is a dog-friendly beach nearby. No seeds.

In July BF (before seeds) we had Buddy for a week and before that Kesa came to stay for a few days.

Kesa & Maija mid-game

An unlikely pair of bookends

In between, the puppies and relatives went to a few dog shows. Apparently every photo we took of Keksi with her offspring at the National Working & Pastoral show was out of focus. Huh.

L-R: Kuura, Keksi, Ukko, Tippi

Yes, those ears, I know. I think the subject of ears deserves its own blog post.

devon nine turn 3

2011-07-31T09:42:00.007+01:00

A very happy birthday to the Devon Nine, who are 3 years old today. Little did I know that quiet morning 3 years ago what a lot of hard work I had ahead of me keeping up with 9 little black puppies who all looked pretty much identical. They were the inspiration for this blog and they were pretty cute too!

Here's how they looked at 6 weeks:

L-R: Kaija, Tarkka, Jaska, Maija

L-R: Maija, Tarkka, Rauhan, Sybil, Inko

And at 5 weeks:

L-R Back: Rauhan, Inko
Front: Viivi, Tarkka, Sybil, Tarmo, Maija

Looking at these photos brings it all back - oh how it rained for the whole 8 weeks they lived here!

Buddy's visit

2011-07-05T13:52:00.012+01:00

The one puppy from Keksi's litter that we hadn't seen since he left us was Buddy (Infindigo Persikka Sonni). A couple of weeks ago he came to visit for a few days and we had fun getting reacquainted with him. He seemed to have a pretty good time, too.

Being a good boy in the house

Running in the woods with granny Neka (left)

Doing a bit of fishing

I was hoping he would get to see his brother Ukko and possibly sister Marja while he was here, but the timing didn't work out that way. Here he is having a game with his uncle Taito instead, who for games is the next best thing to sibling puppies.

In our house, with so many dogs, the play has to be slightly more restrained. But there was plenty of it.

puppies' first show

2011-06-12T15:20:00.014+01:00

So Becca & I set off for the Three Counties show. It was a wonderfully warm, sunny day with a slightly blustery wind. Perfect dog show weather. Never mind that by the time we got into the ring, an enormous black cloud full of rain had swept down the Malvern hills on a ferocious wind and sent dogs, exhibitors and judges scurrying for cover in the sheds and tents with all their various stuff.

Now. Didn't I firmly vow to take the posh camera to this show and properly record Tippi & Ukko's first foray into the showring? Er, yes, I'm pretty sure I did just that very thing in my last post. Well, with no Jay on hand to mind the valuables, I thought it best to leave that particular camera at home. But surely I brought the other, good enough if not very great, camera along, right?

Er... um... enough with all the questions already! Dead battery, yadda yadda yadda. Best we concentrate on the positive. What it comes down to is that I have a few photos of Ukko that Becca took with her camera and a few truly dreadful ones that I took on my phone. Better than nothing? Hmmm, maybe.

Here they are waiting in their crates like a pair of very well behaved puppies before all the excitement of getting brushed and ready for their big debut.

"Don't I know you?"

First up was Ukko's class and I took him in because Becca was positively green with nerves. He did his trot round the ring exceptionally well and was very good indeed about letting the judge go over him. He was even happy to show her his teeth. As for standing, well he wasn't too sure about that, but by the end of the class he was really getting the hang of that too.

Anything for a slice of sausage

While I got Neka ready for the ring, it took surprisingly little persuasion for Becca to take Ukko into the puppy stakes class. He was so well behaved and did her proud on Becca's first ever time in the ring as well.

"Stand. No, not sit. Stand."

In the meantime, Susan was in the ring with Tippi while me and my terrible phone camera were standing further away than ever.

Tippi was a real pro at standing, and she also trotted beautifully around with Susan. Unfortunately she was determined to get at the treats without letting the judge anywhere near her. After the judging I took her around to a few strangers for some practicing and she let them go all over her with no problem at all. It's just a matter of getting her accustomed to the new situation and I'm sure she'll be fine.

Our judge was Mrs J P (Ginty) Gill-Davis and I must say she was so nice with the puppies. Judges tend to vary rather a lot in terms of their patience with - or, in some cases, even interest in - puppies. Mrs Gill-Davis was so patient with them, and very gentle to make their first experience a good one.

So we didn't take away any big prizes from this show, for obvious reasons. The puppies, as you can see, are so very immature - what is known in dog show parlance as "raw". They are skinny, leggy and with very little in the way of coat. However, we had a lovely day and the puppies had fun and games with lots of treats, so there can be little doubt that they considered themselves big winners.

southern counties show

2011-06-08T15:00:00.014+01:00

It was a strange show this year. Strange in the way that it felt so... relaxed, so calm, so relatively quiet. I wasn't the only one who noticed. I think the difference from previous years was down to the change we have had from Rare Breed status to Challenge Certificate qualification. Historically, Southern Counties was always one of those shows where we all dashed from breed ring to rare breed ring to stakes ring and back again. This year, the show layout was different (and better) and on top of that we no longer qualify for Rare Breed classes. So it was all very much less hectic than in the past.

Also different from past shows was the rain we managed to get caught in just after judging. But we can gloss over that bit, as it did remain more or less dry for our actual judging. What happens on the way to packing up the cars is apparently of little concern to the rain gods.

It was Keksi's first show back after her puppies. She doesn't have her full coat back just yet, but what she does have is rather plush. Here she is wondering if she will get the sausages any more quickly if she does maximum head twist & rotation. Funny girl.

Maija was also in attendance and we got her up on the grooming table together with her sister Inko and brothers Tarkka & Rauhan for a family portrait. They are almost never in the same place at the same time, so it was a fabulous opportunity. Unfortunately my rubbish, rubbish, rubbish old camera didn't manage to capture even one of the 3 dozen shots I thought I had taken. That will teach me to leave the posh camera at home. It's in the dog bag already in preparation for next weekend's show.

The grooming tables otherwise getting full use with Rauhan (top) and Tarkka (bottom), who is looking not overly impressed at having his tail area brushed.

For all this brushing, I must say that the Infindigo team looked rather lovely, especially considering how quickly the dogs all seem to be dropping their coats in the current spell of warm weather. Er, with the possible exception of young Usko who, at 15 months old, is at that age where he's in the throes of losing all the lovely coat he has been growing since puppyhood. All this is in preparation for his adult coat which should be coming in over the next few months.

Excellent teamwork from Ian & Usko!
Thanks to Mark Treasure for the pic.

Tarkka looking in splendid form.

And Inko who was the star of the day, winning the Postgrad Bitch class in tough competition. And I heard with my very own ears that Paula & Adam didn't even expect her to qualify for Crufts this year. Egad, they of little faith, whatever next!

In addition to Inko's 1st, Keksi had a 4th & a 5th, Tarkka & Rauhan a 3rd each, and Usko 2nd.

And so next weekend sees the Persikka puppies' show debut. Although Marja won't be there. And Sisu certainly won't be coming down from Scotland. Or Bo. Oh, and Daniel forgot to enter Kuura. However, if the gods see fit, then Becca & I will be there with Ukko and we're hoping to see Tippi and family too. I'm looking forward to a most entertaining day.

visitors & visiting

2011-06-03T19:47:00.020+01:00

If you've dropped in on this blog more than once or twice, then you've probably seen reports about various members of our canine family staying for a visit. Keksi has been here, and Taika, Inko, Minna. Even some of the boys have had a flying visit (when Keskiyo's back was turned, that is). We love to have former puppies coming back now and then - it maintains a nice bond for us with the dogs and a nice bond between the puppies and their family members Neka and Maija. In general, Keskiyo is less interested in visiting family members unless they're girls who are, well, interesting. In a special kind of way. Y'know.

Coming back from Scotland last week, after dropping Taika & Minna off with Jerome, I made a little detour off the M5 to pick up Tippi. It was so wonderful having a puppy in the house again for a few days, and particularly just after seeing her brother Sisu and sister Bo in Scotland. She was a little overwhelmed by the Maija-Neka playing machine at first but soon got the hang of joining in - although she preferred to play with Maija alone.

Maija did teach her to jump onto the sofa as well. It wasn't me - honest! Now, don't tell Susan & Ian because I'm not sure if Tippi is allowed onto the furniture at home. However, she did take rather well to it and even liked to come up in the evening for cuddles. I ask you, who could possibly refuse?

And no wonder - as you can see from this rough phone pic, she & Maija have a history of playing on the sofa together.

While she was here I just had to take advantage of the fact that her brother lives only 20 minutes away in Exeter and her sister less than an hour away in Cornwall. So one chilly, damp and windy afternoon I took Tippi and Ukko to visit Marja for a puppy reunion. Getting a good photo was rather tricky. Rather.

And by the time Maria wrangled them into a stranglehold for a group shot, they were utterly covered in puppy slime.

L-R: Marja, Ukko, Tippi

What's a little puppy slime between friends and littermates? That's just the way puppies are when they get together for a play.

And if you're wondering how they got quite so bedraggled...

Marja & Tippi together

Compared to Marja & Ukko

Tippi may well be in charge at home and boss her big brother Tarkka around, but she's definitely a little lady dog and prefers one-on-one games. When things got too hectic with Marja & Ukko (which was more or less the whole time), then she would simply take herself off to raid Marja's toy stash.

When Marja finally got tired, she disappeared under her pew for a... well, a pew.

And when Ukko finally got tired?

That's right - he didn't actually get tired. Or not tired enough to give up, anyway. It was all just too exciting. But he slept very well on the way back home and I'm sure Becca had a nice quiet evening with him too.

This weekend there's a quick trip up the motorway to the Southern Counties show planned. This is the show where we always have a Finnish judge and an excellent turnout. It's also the show where Taito has always won either Best Dog or Reserve Best Dog. This year Taito won't be in attendance, regrettably, as he's away on holiday. However, we'll be having fun anyway.

And when we get back, the puppies will be 6 months old and heading for their own first shows. An interesting summer ahead. Interesting? Well, funny perhaps.

meanwhile

2011-05-29T16:30:00.000+01:00

While we were in Scotland there were yet more family members to meet up with. The Persikka puppies are almost 6 months old already and 2 of the littermates are yapping with a Scottish accent. After the show we all met up at the beach in Elie where Wendy & I went with Karhu during my last visit. Alas, the weather was rather different on this occasion than on that one.

But we didn't let the damp horizontal wind affect our spirits.

L-R: Siblings Sisu & Bo, uncle Karhu, granny Neka, auntie Taika & Minna
People: Kristiina, Rona & Jay

As with all photos like this one, there is plenty of chaos in trying to wrangle everyone into place.

Looks to me like Wendy might have been trying to get everyone's attention with sausages.

The brother & sister Sisu & Bo had a wonderful time racing and playing on the beach. Karhu adopted a little more dignity and simply nicked Bo's tennis ball and played by himself at the water's edge. Later, when we were back on dry land, he gave it a toss to see if there were any takers amongst the younger family members.

Later still, the humans had a well deserved drink at the Ship Inn next to the beach. Karhu was his usual well-behaved self, snoozing under the table. It was Sisu's first time at the beach, and like most unsuspecting puppies, he drank rather more sea water than he should have done and we had rather a lot of mopping up to do on the pub floor when all the water came back up. Here he is looking a bit green around the gills. Poor puppy!

In the meantime, Karhu & Bo look smugly on.

No, she's not actually bigger than Karhu, it's just the camera angle. But just look at the size of her paws! You can see they're related.

and on the way home

2011-05-27T17:33:00.009+01:00

After a flying Scottish visit, we took off back down the motorway, pausing along the way to visit Minna's sister Lana who we haven't seen in the fur since she left home a year ago.

Her family had only just returned from holiday the day before, so our timing could not be better. They might have had other ideas, I suppose, considering the 8-hour coach journey they described it taking to get home. Yeesh. So perhaps not exactly perfect timing for everyone, but I'm not complaining.

There was time and (almost enough) energy for a little stroll in the rain so that the family could all get re-acquainted. Even Lana's big sister Ellie liked everyone else, although you wouldn't necessarily guess so from this photo.

L-R: Ellie, Minna, Lana, Taika, Neka

The sisters together

You can see a family resemblance, for sure, although Lana looks more like her brother Kallio and other sister Kesa. However, most of all she looks just like her dad, Lapinlumon Albmi.

After waving farewell to Lana and family, we scooted on down south to retrieve Maija and return Taika & Minna. But we couldn't come home empty handed of visitors, so you see there are yet more stories to come.

Minna & Taika head north

2011-05-25T17:20:00.030+01:00

Last week Jay & I packed up the car and drove the 500 miles to Scotland with 3 dogs. Neka came with us, Keskiyo was at his hotel and we swapped Maija for Taika & Minna. Somehow I don't think Maija was complaining as she gets to sleep on the bed when she visits there.

3 generations of girls heading off in the back of the car
L-R: Minna, Taika, Neka

About two-thirds of the way we stopped at Penrith in Cumbria, a town I've never visited before. A more charming and beautiful town I have never seen. It's a place that seems to try really hard and it gets everything right. For one thing, the town centre is stuffed full of lovely buildings like this one.

And there is nary a chain store in sight. No Boots, no New Look, no McDonalds. Just lots and lots of beautifully presented independent shops, restaurants and pubs. How refreshing! And I must say they were all looking rather wonderfully prosperous too.

Needless to say, while in the neighbourhood we also had a great walk in the sunshine and the wind - after all, Cumbria is nothing if not walking country. Unfortunately there were a few too many sheep around to let the dogs off lead, but they had a nice time anyway.

Pause for a drink in the stream

When we finally made it all the way to Glasgow we stayed with Wendy & Scott and had a great visit. It was particularly good to finally see Karhu & his "twin" sister Taika together in the same room. As Wendy said, peas in a pod. Indeed they are.

(Photo: Wendy Hunter Gilmour)

At the show, Karhu qualified for Crufts and Minna, at her first ever show, and barely comprehending the "stand" command, won her class and also qualified. Neka was just about as naughty in the ring as she ever has been - barking, jumping, playing the clown. She's 7 years old. That makes her a veteran in dog show parlance. Someone really ought to tell her.

Minna chilling before going into the ring at SKC...

(Many thanks to Evelyn Miekle for this photo)

... and chilling at the pub after her triumph.

This is a dog whose easy, relaxed character is matched only by that of her mother. And possibly her uncles & aunties as well. I must say I was surprised by how well behaved she was when she stayed with us the few days before we left for Scotland. At 14 months, she's still really quite a baby, but she just slotted right into the family routine and we didn't have a minute of trouble or concern with her.

Er, apart from the deep and abiding (and rather worrisome) mutual affection she shared with Keskiyo, that is. He even let her steal his toys.

When she got to Scotland, let's just say she wasn't quite so accommodating with Karhu. Lest her family think she's just a softie who can't stick up for herself, fear not - she had no trouble whatsoever keeping her uncle firmly under her paw. She claimed all his toys and even his window seat and kept him in line with a brief, simple bright white "smile".

family reunion

2011-05-16T13:40:00.017+01:00

Yesterday we drove up to High Littleton in Somerset to meet a bunch of other Lappy folk for a walk in Greyfield Wood. We've been there before and yet somehow I always manage to get a little lost when trying to find it. I was amazed when the other people who came - and who had not been there before - all found it quite readily. Especially as the directions were wrong. Who wrote the directions? Uh huh.

Don't ask me what the moral of that story is.

Anyway, we had a fantastic turnout of 12 Lapphunds, at least twice that number of people, and one honorary Lapphund in the form of Toby. Missing from this photo is said honorary Lapphund and one ornery little madam off to the right who didn't squidge in close in time for this particular shot.

Dogs, L-R: Marja, Keskiyo, Maija, Neka, Kaija, Usko, Taika, Minna, Ben, Seppo, Miika

What was particularly nice for us was that, in addition to our own 3 dogs, of the 12 Lappies were at least one member of every litter of puppies we've ever had. Later at the pub (which, needless to say, we had no trouble finding), We tried to get a few family shots but had to make do with just a couple.

You might remember Marja who was the Marilyn of the last litter. She's 5 months old now, still platinum blonde, very little and super sweet. She wasn't too sure about getting out of her car when she first arrived at the walk. I don't suppose she has seen so many dogs in one place at once time - let alone 11 Lapphunds all in one place. Then granny Neka spotted her and started to bark with excitement. When Marja heard her and recognised her, that was it - she was off and utterly fearless from that moment on.

Trying to keep up with the big dogs

Scrambling up the water fall

Pause for a treat or two

It's pretty tiring stuff for puppies, but there was plenty of time for recovering at the pub later.

Marja's sister Tippi is coming to stay next week and I can't wait to get the 2 girls together for a play date. Check back - there should be plenty of news over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, here is Taika and a selection of her kids.

L-R: Kesä, Taika, Minna, Usko

visits 2

2011-04-11T13:21:00.000+01:00

We were thrilled when Daniel & Jim drove the long 3 hours to visit us on Saturday and we had a great day. No camera carrying was involved, but we did manage to spend 3 or 4 lazy hours in the sun in the back garden while the dogs deafened the neighbourhood - I mean, played together - so we did get one or two photos.

One or two hundred, that is. It's taken me a while to sort them, as there were more than a few that perfectly captured empty space, disappearing bottoms or the blur of fast-moving dogs. The promise of treats usually brings a bit of order for a nanosecond.

Ismo, Keksi, Kuura

As with all puppies, Kuura had more than a passing interest in the pond and the squillions of tadpoles wriggling away through the weed.

All the puppies do it. Once. Fall in, that is, and sure enough, Kuura had his splash too but bounced back wet, weed-covered and with a mouthful of things we'd rather not know about.

Don't even ask what he has in his mouth.

Then he and Maija had some rough and tumble playing which involved digging in the old rotten stump and rolling in the dirt. Great fun, but what a mess. Every puppy's favorite kind of play involves getting dirty, apparently.

Stunning, even when muddy. And one-eared.

Eventually, he was tired out sufficiently to have a snooze under the table while the humans had a G&T or 2. I assure you the sun was over the yard arm by then. More or less.

Sleepy boy.

visits

2011-04-09T07:29:00.016+01:00

See, this is the part I really love. Well, to be honest, there are lots of parts I love about dogs and breeding puppies. There are parts that are not so great too. But visiting with the furry fruits of our labours and their families is right up there with puppy cuddling and watching them learning to pounce.

Last weekend was the very first championship breed show. Only 3 Infindigos were in attendance and Usko won his class. Inko and Rauhan were both booted out. The judge was definitely going for the big handsome dogs instead of the little handsome dogs.

The night before the show we stayed with Liz & Ian & Usko and apparently Usko's normally rather good behaviour all went out the window when we were around. He was excited to see us. Very. And everytime. Isn't that sweet? I just love it that the puppies always know us and are so happy to see us.

Not to mention another reunion with granny Neka. For her part, she stormed into the garden, had a quick hello with the pup and then promptly illustrated to Liz & Ian all the flaws in their fence. I hope Usko wasn't paying attention because his fence has always been perfectly adequate for him.

The week before that we had a walk in the spring sunshine with Becca, Ben & Ukko along the canal to the Double Locks in Exeter. There was another sweet reunion between granny & puppy.

There was a bit of speed practice, always so important for a 4-month-old puppy.

And then he was off trying to keep up with Maija. Next time they see each other, I guess he'll keep up with her easily. And then some.

Finally, a bit of ringcraft training before heading back. Becca has done an excellent job of training him, especially considering she's never been in the show ring herself. In fact, to my knowledge she has ever only been to one show.

He trots.

He stands.

He even shows his teeth.

Today in some more glorious spring sunshine, Daniel, Jim, Ismo, Keksi & Kuura are all coming for a visit. Perhaps I can talk Jay into carrying the camera on today's walk too.

strange phenomenon

2011-03-25T06:00:00.001Z

And did I mention irritating? Very, very irritating.

For a week or 10 days after Crufts Keskiyo was absolutely convinced that Neka was in season. More than just the trying-it-on-to-see-if-it-flies that he attempts from time to time, this was full-on, whiny, bug-eyed & panting certainty that she was up for it.

To be fair, there was someone in the neighbourhood in season, which Keskiyo always knows all about. But for some reason he was determined that it was Neka.

So, was it Neka? Definitely not. Neka was spayed 2 years ago. Here's an interesting thing, though: if she had not been spayed, then she definitely would have been in season after Crufts. How do I know this? Because she was always in season just after Crufts. In fact one year I think we might even have missed going altogether because she was in season during Crufts.

How did he know?

Like I said, strange.

However, it's true that Maija and her littermates were the result of a tryst between Neka & Keskiyo during one of those Crufts seasons. I suppose it's possible that there is some springtime smell he might associate with having his jollies with Neka, and then with a bitch in season nearby, you can see how he might get confused.

So, strange but interesting too.

And, man, he was driving us crazy! Now he's over it. Finally.

And speaking of Maija's littermates & Crufts, we all take a couple of days to recover from that event each year. It's equally draining for dogs & humans alike. Here's Inko illustrating how we were all feeling the next day.

crufts 2011

2011-03-13T14:39:00.034Z

Team Infindigo*
L-R: Paula & Inko, Emma & Rauhan, Liz & Usko, Karhu & Wendy, Taito with Matilda & Emma
Missing in action: Tarkka & Jo who unfortunately had already taken off by the time we got organised into the group shot.

So it's all done and dusted for Finnish Lapphunds at Crufts 2011 and now we start working towards next year. I want to thank the human members of Team Infindigo for getting their dogs qualified to attend and then for bringing them looking so spectacular. I think this is the first year yet that everyone turned up in good coat! Usually someone or other is moulting or in season or both. This year everyone was looking in tiptop condition and I was thrilled with all of them.

Quite apart from the good looks, in a breed where some males can be very stroppy indeed with other males, and at the sort of event where the stress levels can also cause some bitches to be very snappy with other bitches, the temperment of this bunch is truly second to none. I couldn't be more proud of them.

For the first year I brought no dogs with me as Neka and Keskiyo were both bred by the Crufts judge so were ineligible. Somehow I still managed to bring as much stuff with me as if I had 3 dogs in tow, but it was great to be able to relax and enjoy the day. I'm usually so distracted by my own dogs that I don't get to see much of what's going on.

Of the 11 who qualified in 2010, 6 attended. First up was Usko and Ian, taking 2nd place in Special Puppy Dog. You would never guess from the professional looking performance in these photos, but there was the teensiest bit of tail chasing involved. Luckily Ian's blushes were spared because Usko was far from the most badly behaved puppy in attendance, as he shared the class with a pair of puppies who are affectionately renown for their metaphorical devil horns.

The puppy classes at Crufts are always entertaining for the spectators. Something about the big event, inexperience and youthful exuberance gets the better of them everytime. Not to mention a nerve or two affecting the handler.

Apologies to Ian for managing to chop his head off in every single good photo of Usko. Oops.

The young pro.

"Anything interesting going on over there?"

Job very nicely done.

Next came the Postgraduate Dog class featuring the brothers Tarkka and Rauhan where both boys placed in a big class; Tarkka in Reserve and Rauhan bagging 2nd. I'm so grateful to Emma for asking me to handle Rauhan for her as I love the opportunity to show "my" dogs.

Tarkka on the move.

"How good was I!?"

Rauhan's rock-solid show stand. Didn't 2-yr-old Dorothy do an excellent job of training him!

I didn't get any very good photos of him moving, but many terrific standing shots.

Then the older pair of brothers came next - Taito took 3rd in Limit Dog and Karhu VHC (5th) in Open Dog up against no less than 3 European top-winning multi-champions and the top-winning dog in the UK for 2010.

Taito a bit too intent on checking out the floor for dropped treats.

Out-of-practice showdog happily sitting around on the job.

But we got there in the end.

There they go. I was a bit distracted from watching Karhu by Wendy's gorgeous trousers.

Being examined.

Last up was Inko who was accidentally entered into 2 large classes but managed to do well in both of them, coming Reserve (4th) in Postgraduate Bitch and VHC (5th) in Limit Bitch.

Paying a bit too much attention to Paula but with quite gorgeous movement nonetheless.

In the tradition of her mum's show style, having a little something to say.

Showing her trademark spectacular tail.

And so Usko, Rauhan & Taito have all qualified for Crufts 2012. Now that Finnish Lapphunds have Challenge Certificates on offer (i.e. can become Champions and are no longer considered a Rare Breed), qualifying for Crufts will be more difficult than ever as only a small proportion of shows are now qualifiers. As a result, it's likely that Crufts 2012 will have a pretty small entry - shame.

*Thanks are also due to the behind-the-scenes members of the team - Andrew and Scott - who tirelessly took so many of these great photos.

growing up puppies

2011-03-05T08:52:00.009Z

In only a week the Tuisku puppies will be one year old and no longer puppies at all. I've had some updates here and there - and it is perhaps needless to say that we got to see one or two of them when the last bunch were receiving visitors.

Minna and Taika just a tad muddy after a walk during their visit.

Usko also came to visit and we had a bit of a challenge to get him calm enough for a photo as he was rather excited to be here seeing us & his granny Neka.

Kallio had his first ever bath.

Lana went skiing in Scotland with sis Ellie & the rest of the family.

"You can't catch me!"

While Kesa enjoyed the snow down south.

look how big

2011-02-28T13:45:00.013Z

Before February leaves us I must get one pupdate in. In 12 hours the puppies will be 12 weeks old and well into the housetraining, puppy classes and learning how to get all the members of the household doing their bidding.

Here are a few photos I have been sent (or nicked from blogs, Facebook, etc). First the girls:

Tippi in the garden practicing her show stand while preparing to get muddy.

Bo with ears up already.

Marja munching moss.

Ukko chilling out & practicing being cute.

Sisu looking innocent - but I don't think we're fooled, are we?

Kuura enjoying a cigar in the garden.

And if you're wondering where the photos of Buddy are, a broken camera is to blame. I'm still holding out hope for one or two.

what's up

2011-02-25T13:46:00.007Z

You may well wonder what I've been doing that is so important that I have little time for updating the blog. Apart from catching up on the work that I missed while the puppies were here, that is. Well, I've been clearing the decks in a rather big way. 2 cats, 3 (often 4) dogs, and 4 litters of puppies have had their toll on the living room carpet (cream, yet!) and so this was always going to be the winter of replacing the carpet with something more practical. Something less absorbent. Less inclined to attract and display mud quite so willingly.

All new flooring is quite an upheaval, involving putting all the furniture... somewhere, moving the piano and the ludicrously heavy television. So while facing that kind of turmoil I thought I might as well paint the walls too so that they will be more in keeping with the new wood floor. And while I was at it, having had quite enough of living in squalor, I decided to make a bid for something a little more minimalist.

The result is an enormous amount of stuff leaving via the front door the past 2 weeks. And up the stairs. One of the things we are banishing from the living room is the massive CD collection. Between us we have, er, a rather large number of them. So we're now in the process of transferring them into iTunes and onto the iPods and then out the door. Anyone want to buy some used CDs? Perhaps I should take them to a carboot sale or something. On one of those free weekends I don't seem to have.

Anyway, I've been busy. Needless to say, ever-helpful - not to mention nosey and willful - Neka has been "helping".

She just had to see what was behind the piano.
Answer: wet paint.

slap

2011-02-21T18:07:00.016Z

I have had just the right number of admonishments on my recent lack of attention to this, my beloved blog, to get me back to the keyboard. So, not an actual slap. More the metaphorical kind.

The puppies are just about 11 weeks old now and all well and truly settled into their new homes. That's true even of Marja (The Puppy Formerly Known as Marilyn), who didn't go to her new home until she was almost 10 weeks old and her family returned from their holiday.

This is where I would normally post a photo of her with her new family as they set off from here. But for the first time in all the puppies who have left here, I don't have a photo. I distinctly remember taking some but apparently I accidentally deleted them from the camera at some point. Don't ask me how, because I have no idea. Put it down to the puppy-parting trauma. Instead, here's Mark being taken on a tour of the new garden for the first time.

We have kept puppies for a couple of extra weeks before - in fact, this has usually been to accommodate previously planned family holidays - but it always worked out a bit easier to manage in the past. It is one thing to say goodbye to the puppies when they are one of a bunch, going off to their new homes one after the other. It's not easy, as such, but it's normal, expected, part of the natural order of things. It's another thing entirely to keep one longer than everyone else, have her slot into your routine and start going for walks with the big dogs and all that. A completely different story.

Taito from our first litter, stayed until he was 9 weeks old and then as he was leaving, his brother Torvi returned for a week, having been in his new home a fortnight already. So there was plenty of distraction to keep us from getting to attached to one or the other. Emma tells me that Rauhan stayed a bit longer than his littermates too, but I have no recollection of that - I dare say I was rather befuddled by the raising of the litter of 9. At any rate, we kept Maija from that litter, so again she provided a welcome distraction from all the goodbyes. From Taika's litter, Minna was the last to go, but she went only a couple of days after Usko, so it was just routine farewells somewhat extended. Parting with Marja was very difficult. Very. I really don't recommend it.

In the week before she left we had a play date with her brother Ukko.

And now she's very happy being spoiled by Maria & Mark. Well, spoiled by Mark and properly trained by Maria. Here she is spreading her toys around, taking over her new house.

I do have plenty of updates on everyone and will get to another post with them just as soon as ... well, let's just say that I still have a lot on my plate even with the puppies away.

please sign - save our forests

2011-02-01T14:07:00.003Z

A brief interlude from puppies & work to plead with all my readers: please click on this link and sign the petition:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests#petition

One of the forests targeted for selling off to private ownership is the place we walk our dogs 4 or 5 times a week. If you know and love Haldon Forest in Devon or Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, for example, and you want them to remain open access, please sign this petition. It's going to be submitted tonight in advance of an initial vote by MPs tomorrow.

Even if these forests mean nothing to you personally, please support the cause of all forest lovers, walkers and dogs in the UK - click the link and sign the petition anyway. If you want, you can use my postcode: TQ12 6TZ

Thank you!

three, two, one

2011-01-30T17:29:00.013Z

Buddy (Kicker, aka Sonni) has now settled in with Nick & Rachel back in the ancestral homeland. No, not Finland - Surrey. Both Granny Neka and Keksi's sire Kimmi come from Surrey. It's a real hotbed of Lappies.

Here are the excited trio getting ready to hit the road. I can imagine that Buddy is quite looking forward to his future trips in that campervan.

Then Tippi (Honey) left with Susan & Ian and a rather excited Tarkka. This was the only photo in which he wasn't on 2 legs trying to say hello to his new little sister.

And the penultimate one to leave, Kuura, with Daniel & Jim. Mum Keksi and housemate Ismo were both a tad too excited to pose for photos.

Hopefully we'll have settling in photos of those 3 tomorrow. In the meantime, here is Sisu at home in his snazzy new bed.

And for more news of Sisu - and to see his rather nice show stand! - hop over to his new blog:
http://sisu-fetter.blogspot.com/

While back at the ranch, we are left with one little white one. Marja will be with us for a couple more weeks because her new family will be taking a holiday before the sleepless nights and house training duties.

seven, six, five, four

2011-01-28T19:02:00.008Z

The inevitable has happened. The puppies are almost 8 weeks old and one by one are setting off on their new adventures, going to their new homes in time to spend the weekend with their excited new families.

The first to go was Bo (Budgie) in the wee small hours of the morning for her trek to Scotland with Alan and his dad. Rona played it smart and waited at home for the puppy to be delivered. Smart!

And here she is settling right into her new favorite spot.

Then Ukko (Kuusi) set off for the short trip up the road to Exeter with Becca and her mum. I did tell him before he left that his new home was furnished with white (white!) sofas. You should have heard him laugh.

Looking pretty tiny in his new crate.

Next was Sisu (Vee), following his sister alllll the way up to Scotland with Kristiina and Eric. They haven't even arrived home yet, so we'll have to wait for pics of him settling in.

Sisu will have a new name as well because apparently "Sisu" is a kennel name somewhere so it was refused by the Kennel Club. Second choice is Saimaa, so hopefully we'll be luckier with that one. He'll still be called Sisu, though.

7 weeks old

2011-01-25T17:33:00.021Z

It's been a busy time but the puppies are doing what puppies tend to do: they are growing up. Getting more demanding as they learn about housetraining and more noisy as they learn just how hard they can bite each other's ears before all hell breaks loose.

They are also getting very fluffy and their ears are starting to come up. In fact, Marja (Marilyn) had one ear up and one ear down today, so hers are just about up all the way.

Since the last update who goes where has all been settled, and so we know for sure who's who. We still don't know if the Kennel Club will approve the names, but we live in hope.

And speaking of names ... I do know better than to settle on Finnish puppy names without first consulting my Finnish friends. Yes, of course I do. So, did I consult any of my Finnish friends before agreeing the pups' new families choice of names? Er, no.

Apparently one or two names might be a little amusing in Finnish. We can live with that.

Kuura (Junior)

Kuura means "frost" and is part of his sire's name.

Bo (Budgie)

Bo is not a Finnish girl's name - and don't believe the online naming sites if they tell you so. It's a Swedish boy's name. But we don't mind, she's still Bo to us.

Sonni (Kicker)

Sonni means "bull" but this one is not a bit stubborn or clumsy. At home he'll be called Buddy.

Tippi (Honey)

Tippi is a Swedish name, but it's also a Finnish word meaning "tip" as in to tip a waiter. Any waiter would be lucky!

Marja (Marilyn)

Marja means "berry".

Ukko (Kuusi)

Ukko is the Finnish god of the sky and the natural world.

Sisu (Vee)

Sisu means "perseverance". Aptly named puppy. That's all I'm saying.

eine kleine nachtmusik

2011-01-24T21:00:00.002Z

(Well, sort of.)

Whoops! I've been away a whole week? Sorry about that, but I guess I've just been too busy to blog. Now that's busy!

For one thing, they've decided they would quite like to be housetrained, please. And, so, its squawks all round each time they need to answer the call of nature.

The puppies have been on their various socialising activities; trips to the pet shop and the post office for cuddles with all the cars, lorries, motorbikes, mobility scooters and pushchairs along the way. And, of course, no puppy should be without a bit of music in their life. The camera wasn't around when they first heard Jay playing guitar, but we did manage to catch the moment when they first heard him playing piano. Here they are enjoying a bit of Beethoven (not actually Mozart).

And later the 7-week photos. Yes, 7 weeks. Already.

6 weeks old

2011-01-18T13:47:00.019Z

The puppies now have names, and I have written to the Kennel Club to register them. Usually litters can be registered online which is much quicker and more convenient. However, when using a sire from outside the UK, we have to send the KC all that dog's health and home registration information, so the process takes a little longer and must be done the old fashioned way. Hopefully they will approve all the names chosen by the puppies' new owners-to-be.

Having said the puppies have names, as I write I still don't know which name will be given to Marilyn and Honey. Later today that little mystery should be solved once and for all! Can I just say I'm glad I'm not the one who has to choose.

Junior - Infindigo Persikka Kuura

As with his nickname, he has been named after his father, Kuuraturkki. 'Kuura' is Finnish for 'frost', a fitting name for a boy who looks like his coat is frost-tipped.

Budgie - Infindigo Persikka Bo

'Bo' is a Finnish girl's name, and this little puppy almost responds to it already.

Kicker - Infindigo Persikka Sonni

'Sonni' is Finnish for 'bull' in honour of this chunky little guy's stance much of the time as he stomps and hops all around the pen.

Honey & Marilyn

Infindigo Persikka Tippi
&
Infindigo Persikka Marja

'Tippi' is a Swedish girl's nickname
'Marja' is a Finnish girl's name

But I'll have to get back to you on which name applies to which girl.

Kuusi - Infindigo Persikka Ukko

'Ukko' is the Finnish god of the sky, weather, harvest and all natural things. You may recall there was an 'Usko' from my last litter so I can see some confusion in my future. Just for a change.

Vee - Infindigo Persikka Sisu

'Sisu' is Finnish for 'perseverence', 'go' or 'guts'.
His new family are about to find out just how appropriate that name is for this plucky little guy.

big bad world

2011-01-13T06:00:00.000Z

Yesterday I made a flippant remark about taking a puppy to the pet shop when I went to pick up some food. However, in a few days I'll be doing exactly that.

Everyone who has had an Infindigo puppy (or attended my puppy class) will recognise the socialisation refrain. As far as I'm concerned it is the single most important thing you can do for your dog. (I used to say that it is the 2nd most important thing they need after food - but let's face it, as long as there are cats, sheep and horses in the world to leave poo lying around, dogs will never starve to death. Yuck.)

Everything your puppy experiences as a youngster will have an impact on the rest of his life, and so it is our responsibility to make sure they are exposed to as many safe and safely scary things as possible before they are 12 weeks old and beyond. The point is to teach them that although the world may well be a big scary place, it's not a big bad place. Socialisation teaches puppies to be confident, happy and brave, at ease in new situations and adaptable in the future.

The puppy pack that goes home with each of my puppies includes a sheet on socialisation - there's plenty of work to be done by the new owners. But the socialisation started right here when the puppies were born, and since they have moved downstairs the experiences have ramped up.

It started with daily handling by myself and Jay, being put in a cardboard box each day, when they were old enough, standing on the carpet, on a towel, on newspaper, on cardboard. They moved downstairs and suddenly there were lots of people to meet and be handled by, many new noises and many new experiences. For one thing, they get a daily visit into the garden pen, weather permitting. They get to play with - and on or in - wide range of things like cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, noisy things, slippery things, movable things.

They also get an increasingly thunderous daily dose of both the Crash Bang Wallop CD and its cousin, Clix. These desensitisation CDs have similar but different sounds for a broad range of experience for the puppies. The former has a particularly amusing (and irritating) section on laughing, crying and screaming - babies and adults. Clix seems to have a lot more banging & gunfire, but dogs in Devon get to hear plenty of that anyway since it seems people around here never get tired of killing things.

In addition to all the people and sounds, by the time these puppies are 7 weeks old they will have had 2 trips down the High Street being carried by me & Jay. This exposes them to a wide range of traffic in the form of cars, lorries, buses and motorbikes. On the way they get to visit the friendly folks in the post office, bakery and pet shop. It's a walk that takes 25-30 minutes, round-trip, without a puppy. With a puppy it takes an hour or more.

Also by that time, each puppy will have had a few minutes alone in the indoor pen and the outdoor pen, starting at one minute and building up to 5 minutes. Each one will have had a walk (being carried) down the park just as the primary school lets out for the day, getting to sniff and touch things along the way - branches & leaves, tree bark, hanging ivy, etc. And each one will have spent some time in the car both just sitting quietly and with the engine running but not moving.

When they are 7 weeks old they will travel in a group to the vet to have their eye test. Some puppies suffer with travel sickness, some don't. With this bunch, I'm guessing only one or two will be sick. We'll see.

For today, a selection of puppies acquainting themselves with the toys.

Kicker pauses from the job of killing the tug rope to pose for the camera

Budgie getting to grips with the bone. It's fascinating the way these tiny new puppies hold & chew bones exactly like their adult counterparts.

Kicker again - this time with the pheasant - while his littermates have a snooze. I particularly like the bottom with feet in the air behind him.

It's a mystery why Vee thinks the hard rubber hoop makes a good pillow.

dining out

2011-01-12T08:33:00.008Z

My day starts at 6 or thereabouts. (If you don't count the increasingly tedious insistence by Keksi that she get a trip out to the garden at 3 am, that is.)

First up for me is preparing the puppies' breakfast. While that's soaking to soften it a little I take the big dogs out. Then, weather permitting, the puppies go into the garden pen and have their breakfast, leaving the indoor pen empty for cleaning. At this time of year it's completely dark, so one thing these guys won't be is afraid of the dark.

Puppies come back in, have a little play and then conk out to sleep for an hour or so and big dogs get their breakfast. In the meantime I deal with the dishwasher & clothes washer and make sure I've got a steady stream of clean, dry vet beds.

Then I finally get my coffee at about 8 am, have a shower and get a little work done, if I'm lucky.

After my shower today I need a trip to the pet shop because I ran out of big dog food last night. Perhaps I'll take a puppy with me.

And for you, a couple of little films Jay took when the puppies went into their outdoor pen for the very first time a couple of days ago to have lunch. They are surprisingly brave about it all. There's plenty of wagging tails and a bit of playing & pouncing - by Vee & Honey, in particular.

In the second video look out for a cute moment of nose-to-nose action between Neka outside the pen and Budgie inside.

While they're uploading I'll be doing some invoices so that I can swing by the post office to send some orders when I go out for dog food. Multi-tasking is my friend.

5 weeks old

2011-01-11T14:38:00.017Z

Two days ago the puppies started to get really fluffy. It was all of a sudden - went to bed at night and they were same as always, got up the next morning and it was like someone had stuck them in the fridge overnight - fluffy, puffy puppy coats. Like when Keskiyo has been out running in the cold wind or snow and he increases by about a third again his usual width in coat.

Super fluffy means super cute photo subjects this morning, and I usually get this week's pics outside for better quality colour. No such luck this time around, and not even because it's raining. It has, in fact, stopped raining briefly but my puppy wrangler has gone away for a week and so we had to get the camera out quick before he left at the crack of dawn.

And as it has rarely stopped raining for the past 7 days, the puppies have only spent about 10 minutes outside - they had lunch al fresco yesterday and came back in quick after I had cleaned the indoor pen and before they got too soaked by the persistent drizzle.

Long-standing followers of this blog will know that there is another exciting event that usually takes place at the 5-week mark: the puppies' names are revealed. Again, that is not happening this time because we still just don't know who is going where.

I know, I know, you don't have to tell me.

I know for sure where 3 of them are going but it's still either/or for the remaining 4. To be very clear: all of these puppies are most definitely spoken for and have homes, but this time we're determined to make final decisions about who goes where when they are 6 weeks old. Hopefully by then I'll know who is the absolute naughtiest one to send to ... oh, I had better not say!

Just kidding! Actually, all these puppies are relatively quiet and well behaved so far. One puppy in particular (who shall go unidentified) was getting rather too large for his/her paws for a couple of days. And no wonder - absolutely everyone who came to visit the puppies immediately went for this one, picked him/her up and commenced cuddles. It makes sense, they recognised this puppy after all. However, so much attention can make little Lapphunds a bit demanding and so it must be carefully rationed. It took two days of ignoring this puppy completely when he/she kicked up a fuss for attention before normal good behaviour resumed.

And let that be a lesson to Lapphund puppy owners! These pups do tend to generate a lot of attention from people. A lot. And so the canny owner is careful to discourage demanding behaviour. After all, Lapphunds already grow up secure in the knowledge that they are something pretty special.

Junior

Budgie

Kicker

Honey

Marilyn

Kuusi

Vee

poll result

2011-01-10T11:38:00.000Z

Yes, of course it was Honey first out of the box, followed by Vee. And he was the first (and the second, third, fourth AND fifth) out of the downstairs pen, too.

whoosh

2011-01-08T06:24:00.016Z

The days - and the weeks - are zipping by. I am swamped in soiled newspaper and sticky soaked puppy kibble & other stuff I'd rather not analyse. I'm suffering from sleep deprivation and I'm way behind with all my various work projects. Next week Jay will be otherwise occupied in another country leaving me to cope by myself with the 4 adult dogs and 7 babies. And work, musn't forget that. Oh, and I have a new term of puppy classes to teach starting in a few days too.

But the fat little wagging tails and puppy kisses on the nose make it all worthwhile. Well, all apart from the sleep deprivation, maybe. But that's not the puppies' fault.

They still haven't been out to see the big outdoor world, but I'm going to try to put that right very soon. If it ever stops raining.

In the meantime I've officially run out of newspaper and will now have to resort to buying some for the gang to wee on that I will then bundle up and put in the bin. I could make a joke about wasteful and frivolous frittering away of one's own money, and methods by which to do so, but I'll resist the temptation. Today I'll throw myself on the mercy of my neighbours and send a plea out for their discarded papers. But I do wonder whether this age of all the news all the time readily available online at any moment is doing away with daily newspapers. There certainly doesn't seem to be as many of them around as there used to be.

And with all that, here it is the 8th of January - well after xmas, well past 12th night, even (whenever that is, but I'm pretty sure it's past), and perilously close to the very last day our local composting group will take discarded trees. And where is our tree? Still up, still decorated - well, apart from the one casualty that came to grief thanks to a passing wagging tail. I have been determined to get some adorable-puppy-under-the-tree photos. So we try. And try some more. What chance the xmas tree will still be in situ in July? Oh, wait a minute, I have 7 eager new puppy owners who'll be knocking down my door in a few weeks so I'd better get on with the photos, then.

Oh, you want an example. Ok, but it ain't great. It might have been cute ... if it had been in focus ... and if the light had been something-or-othered.

Vee tucked into the wreath.

And a selection of adorable-puppy-not-under-the-tree, but at least in focus. Er, more in focus.

First of all, Honey meets Maija ...

... who invites her for a game ... although Honey doesn't look too impressed ...

... and after getting a whack on the head, perhaps she was right!

Meanwhile, back in the pen, the pheasant is the favoured toy-du-jour.

Budgie spots it first and after carrying it all around the pen and giving it a few good shakes to make sure it's quite dead, she settles down for a chew on its feet.

Junior is the most gentle & polite of the litter, but he eventually gets his turn when everyone else is asleep. After getting a good grip on it, he gives it a mighty whack with his paw. (Hmm, wonder where he learned that, Maija?)

Other puppies make do with other toys (while Honey has the pheasant).

4 weeks weights

2011-01-05T14:22:00.010Z

These puppies are so blessed to have a mum like Keksi. She has been faultless from the beginning and made my job really so much easier.

Not quite as easy now, mind you, in the middle of winter when in all my past (spring & summer) litters, the puppies would have been spending quite a bit of each day outside by this age. Not so this year. I didn't think it would be possible, but we might run out of newspaper.

Not only do the pups have a wonderful mother, but they are also blessed to have in their lives the dog who taught Keksi everything she knows - Granny Neka. She is enjoying herself so very much with the puppies - helping Keksi clean up and playing with them. They can only learn wonderful things from their fabulous granny, and so I'm delighted to let her join in.

Neka makes me proud everyday, but never more so than when we have puppies in the house. (And, to be fair, she also regularly gives me cause to huff in frustration.) Where Keksi can't just hang out in the pen to play without getting set upon by a bunch of furry little vampires, granny can and does spend lots of time in there entertaining the troops - and occasionally stealing their toys.

"Is that a bottom that needs attention?"

Maija looks on with a bit of envy. She doesn't dare enter the pen, although it looks like fun.

And so to the weights - as always, you can click on the image for a bigger, clearer view.

If there's one thing the weight graph shows, it's how good Marilyn is at eating real food. She was the first to tuck straight in and she sees the bottom of every plate. Such a food junkie should be very easy to train in her future life.

4 weeks old

2011-01-04T18:29:00.015Z

Oh my, I really cannot fathom where the past month has flown. And it's not like we had anything like the sort of busy holiday that most people have. Puppies was pretty much all we did, apart from the occasional festive tipple with a friend or two. Just now and again, you understand.

Nevertheless, somehow the puppies have grown from tiny undistinguished mammals, through wiggling guinea pigs, then little dogs until now they are identifiably little Finnish Lapphunds. Their tails go up when they walk, they are growing more fluffy by the day, they are chunky little imps and they are learning to yap. Yes, well, some things come a little too naturally.

Here come the 4-week-old photos. Unfortunately we ran out of time this morning when the light was good, so these were taken in the evening with a flash. Not ideal, but - alas - the best we could manage today. As you will see, these puppies are no better at standing nicely for the camera than any of our litters before them.

Junior

Budgie

Kicker

Honey

Marilyn

Kuusi

Vee

pup in the box

2011-01-03T20:15:00.009Z

... or out of the box, as the case may be.

A day earlier than scheduled, today the puppies moved from the whelping box in their dedicated room to the big pen downstairs. The reason? These advanced and most gregarious of puppies decided it was time to leave the whelping box behind - regardless of what we thought.

The night before, we heard a squawk and thump, which usually means a puppy has scrambled up to hang over the lip of the box and then tumbled back in. On this occasion, said puppy tumbled out rather than back in. That puppy was quickly followed the next morning by a second puppy who climbed up and, with a squeak, made the break for freedom.

One of the first 2 was female and one was male. But who was first?

Poll at the top right - you only have until about midnight on Wednesday to vote. And in the meantime, tomorrow is the 4-week photos and weight update. Already? Wow.

To entertain you for now, here is a minute & a half of the excitement when they first moved into the big pen. There's yapping, howling, running, skidding, weeing, wagging & playing. Enjoy!

happy new year

2011-01-01T09:54:00.010Z

I had to post an update on the date 1-1-11, so happy new year to all our followers from the 2 people and 11 Finnish Lapphunds currently residing here at Infindigo!

I feel a bit sorry for the puppies around this time in their development. They're just not cute enough. Kidding!

The reason I feel sorry for them is because they're going through the pain and discomfort of teething. In the daytime while they are playing they are chewing each other's faces and paws, and even their own paws. In the evening when they get over-tired and are trying to settle to sleep, they get very, very noisy. They are obviously in some pain and cannot seem to get comfortable. They lie down and then suddenly jump up whining and pace around the box for a bit. Poor little things. I always look forward to this phase passing.

It's a phase that puppy-owners everywhere will recognise. These little guys will go through the same thing again - only worse - in a few months as the adult teeth start to come through. It's a trying time for puppy and owner, but at least they can get some satisfaction through chewing. With these tiny ones you can only hope the pain isn't too bad as they don't really have the faculties for useful chewing yet - they're just learning to chew by practicing on each other.

Junior taking a bite out of Kuusi while Kicker watches quietly at the back.

Marilyn trying to fit Honey's entire head in her mouth.

Budgie gearing up to chomp Kicker's nose - and check out the tiny teeth!

Vee getting one over on Kuusi.

And, finally, proof that the play is sometimes quiet - at least until mum turns up and stirs everyone up again.

Stay tuned - I've been collect tiny-new-puppy-teeth photos.

morning

2010-12-29T10:33:00.004Z

I managed to get a very short video this morning showing the gang in all their rampaging glory. You get a bit of running around, a bit of face chewing & punching, some growling & barking, perhaps a yawn or two, a little whine & howl, some scratching & wagging.

Oh, and Budgie having a go at climbing out of the box. She wasn't the first to try, though. This is the sign that it will soon be time to move downstairs.

This little frenzy is the morning ritual prior to breakfast & a morning of mainly napping.