signs 2

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.