11.26.09
Fingers crossed
So the past few days, travel, travel, travel and no results. Hardly time to breath and I’m starting to feel the stress. Filling up the gas tank multiple times hasn’t helped our mood either but we are sincerely hoping that what “appeared” to be an extremely short tie yesterday was sufficient. It was pitch black outside and we could see the mating but not in great detail as you can imagine…hehe but there were more than one witness to the “possible tie”. Today it seems there was little to no interest and we think that Hófi is about finished her season and so we’re going to keep an eye on her and possibly stop by on our way to the eye test on Friday but otherwise I guess our chances are pretty much up this time. Fingers crossed and we are going to wait and see, we are not without a little bit of hope at least because he sure did try his best. I’ve had litters without a tie before and so I never take it for granted. I also never give up on one dog and go to another just for that very reason so although we possibly could have gone to a “second choice” male we opted not to and if we don’t get puppies this time we are determined to try again and possibly because there might be a legitimate excuse of arthritis (it’s not as if they didn’t have “chemistry”) we might even do AI for the first time in my career but for now I’m not going to think about it. We are going to be positive and so we are not losing hope for a litter in January.
On the other side of town (our backyard…hehe) we have had a successful mating and tie between Klói and Skella today and a short tie yesterday. I guess now we can sit and wait on that as well and cross dewclaws. Maybe there’ll be another breeding tomorrow yet because they are still very much in love it seems . I do see Klói’s interest dimming just a little bit and he seems more interested in his mom so looks like it’s her time to wear the denim pants. 
What else is new, can’t even remember what I’ve already mentioned and I might repeat myself. Clicker course starting on Saturday so we are hoping to get a bit of preparation done tomorrow evening (or is it today already…jikes!!!) because we decided to give up on trying with Hófi. We were driving to town every day for the last 3 days and a couple times before that so it meant no time for anything else whatsoever. The interest was very strong the first two times and less tonight, Hófi even started to lay down which is not like her at all. We’ve hardly had time to eat or feed the dogs, it’s been horrible how much time it eats up just the traveling. Oh it’s going to be so great to only have to go to the store in Selfoss tomorrow and then have the rest of the night off! Rúnar looks exhausted to say the least, I think he measured 200 km he had driven (including to work and back) in two days. That is crazy!
Had some sad news and it came as a shock, I opened my email and was told that a fellow breeder in Sweden had died suddenly on I was told Monday morning but possibly it was Sunday night. I didn’t know her extremely well but know her partner very well, he was on the board with me in Norway. This lady bred so many dogs for so many years under the kennel name Ullälvas, that her breeding kennel is a large part of the Swedish population. She was a very active lady in all things that concerned the breed and I remember meeting her a few times at dog shows in Norway when she traveled to take part. I talked to her a bit during the years, a few calls when she asked me about colour genetics and remember she called me when I had my first litter and wanted a dog, unfortunately I didn’t have one for her then. It seems so unbelievable whenever anyone dies but some times it really takes you by surprise when it is someone that is so well known. I find that as the years go by it seems more and more people I know or have met are passing on. Now I know what my Nana meant when she talked about how she kept losing friends. I didn’t think I was THAT old yet but of course we never know and age has nothing to do with it unfortunately and I must admit that many of my best friends are older than I am. On top of that loss to the ISD community I got another email today telling me that a wonderful dog we met while living in Norway died three weeks ago. He was around the same age as Frigg if I remember correctly and his owner is very sad, he was so much a part of her life.
My thoughts go out to the families and to my friends. To talk about the two deaths in the same paragraph may seem strange and some may say it was just a dog but to me both losses will leave such sorrow and many memories in the minds of those who knew them and loved them. Rest in peace Snorre Spirit and Lillemor.
