I was going to write September 8th, wow how time is flying…my Dad’s birthday was on the 3rd and I got to write to him on MSN (unfortunately too expensive to call and I don’t have a webcam to talk). Trying to remember more since I lose all sense of time. My late Opa would have had a birthday on the 4th so I remembered him, like I do so many times. Got to talk to my mom on the phone a couple times and she sounds like she is doing well, busy moving though and I’m hoping she will not overdo anything because she ALWAYS does and thinks she can do anything by herself. She said there were some coming to do the moving and to help her but even with the packing I’m thinking she will be overdoing it. But all I can do from here is hope she behaves herself.
We have been busy with the pups and taken them for a few rides in the car into Reykjavík, taken them to visit some family members and also out on the mountain for a very short run. We are going to try to do more over the weekend. It takes at least two hours in the car going to and from Reykjavík so they have been in the car for anywhere from 3-4 hours and they have been wonderful, sleeping most if not all the time and just a bit of whining when they have to do something and we have stopped along the way of course if they needed to go. I will admit this litter is REALLY independent and I’m not used to having to be running after puppies (I know bad training but sometimes it’s a matter of life and death they are so quick!!) in all directions. We’ve had less problems with 5-6 puppies and the grownups at the same time. I wonder if this independence comes from both Hófi and Prins or mostly Prins because Hófi is pretty much close to us when we go for walks although that is partly training I believe. I have noticed with other litters that the pups didn’t want to wonder too far away at all from the time they were small but Raggi and Rún were a bit similar to these guys when it came to the recall. They will need lots of positive reinforcement from their humans I think when it comes to teaching the recall. Although I cannot lie, Patti is a good boy and he pretty much follows us around in new places and stays around my feet alot in the yard as well but that is so he can play with my shoelaces. hehe If Klói is with us they follow him so that’s a good thing.
Prúð seems to be Rúnar’s girl more than mine and Pési was always sticking close to us but has decided to copy the others more and more however his recall is really great at the moment in the yard. In new places not so much. *grin* We need to do lots of work on the recall with all the pups in new places. Hint, hint Scotti you’ll be busy here during your stay.
We still haven’t found the other testicle in Pési so he needs to find a pet home and looks like we will have him around for a bit yet even though he could leave after this coming weekend if we could find a home for him. Strange how we had lots of inquiries for bitches and the people who have called about the pups after the add went onto DIF website are interested in Patti or Prúð. Funny how that works, we think Pési is a real cute teddy bear and thought he would melt the heart of someone for sure. However we haven’t been advertising him for long and mostly because we were waiting for the testicle. Now we think we have to try to find him a home and hopefully if we are lucky it will come down later, fingers crossed.
Here are a few newer photos and the slide show will be put up on Sunday evening.
As for the road crew they are of course STILL working but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, most the work they are doing now is above ground The pictures of the pups above taken sleeping on the deck were during the road work so they don’t seem to be bothered by noise on the other hand I find it quite obvious that they are cautious around certain other things like they are scared silly of the garden hose when we spray the deck or fill their water dish. If there is noise to it then they are curious but when just the water is running then they back up and avoid it. Definitely not of the typical “Töfra” garden hose and water crazy gene pool. Hehe
Today is my nephew’s 20th birthday wow I remember when he was born! Happy Birthday Andrew!
On a different note it would have been my step-father Lennart’s 77 birthday today if he had lived. So I have been thinking about him and at the same time remembering so many loved ones. The anniversary of the death of my Tryggvi Rúnar was on the 28th and I got a phone call from a dear friend who always remembers me on that special day. Thank you, you don’t know how much it means to me that someone remembers my little one who never got a chance to come into this world. It does always seem to be a taboo subject (with most) and we never mention him to anyone but can’t help but wonder how our lives would have been different. He would have been 6 years old, time flies and it’s hard to believe Rúnar and I have been together for that long.
The pups are growing so fast and I’m so happy with how calm and quiet they are and easy to get along with, I can’t help but think that this litter has had the least work ever…although they have been going out to do their business from a very young age (meaning less work cleaning, hehe) that is about the only work with them. They don’t demand attention from us and are content to play amongst themselves if we don’t have time to play with them. They do like to go outside and run around the yard and we try to do that many times during the day as well as today they were chewing bones out on the deck.
The problem is that they aren’t getting as much training or attention as many of our other litters and I feel bad about that. We aren’t really realizing how quickly they are growing and I’m sure that in a couple weeks when they are old enough to leave we will have a rude awakening that man we could have done so much more while they were here. They are getting to the age now though that we can take them out and we are hoping to possibly take them to see their father on the weekend. We did take them with us to the store today and they were great in the car, the only whining was Prúð and she only whines when she needs to do her business so we wondered but couldn’t let her out of the cage so figured she’d just do something in the crate and were prepared for that. But when we got home and let her into the yard the first thing she did was run to a corner of the yard and do her business. Unbelievable that she held it for so long, we were in the car for about and hour and half. They slept most of the time so we both went into the second store. Rúnar was in the car at the first store and said they just slept so we took the chance they’d fall asleep again and sure enough when we came out of the store together they were sound asleep.
There is a possibility that some of the photos or slide shows aren’t able to be viewed anymore on the blog itself but Rúnar has fixed the website so that if you go to puppies “now” you will be able to go to the links of slide shows per week. Because of the trouble with the blog he’s put the stuff on the website itself which is much better anyway.
I wanted to post a few stack photos though that were not in the slide show. So here they are at six weeks old. It seems at this time that Pési is still looking for a home. Pési appears to be getting lighter eyebrows, it will be interesting to see his adult colouring. Patti is a gorgeous red and Prúð is a red as well but a little lighter shade, could also be because Patti is the shorthair that his colour is more pronounced.
Patti Prins
Pési Prúði Grámúli
Perla Prúð
That’s about all I can think of at the moment. We are preparing to start new clicker courses in November when Rúnar gets back from the ISIC meeting in Finland (he will be taking Patti with him to his owner). So I believe it’s the first weekend in November and the course will be slightly longer than it has been, ending in the middle of December. Hopefully we can have both a beginner’s course and our first advanced course. That will be fun and interesting to see how it develops.
It’s been a strange week to say the least. Have had the hardest time getting onto the blog, for a few days it was impossible and even Rúnar’s admin codes didn’t work, he thinks someone might have broken into it. Don’t know why people would do that?! Anyway, because he’s the genius he is he managed to work on the problem for a few days and fix it and hopefully it’s back to normal now.
As many may have noticed he has also been working very hard on the new website and it’s starting to take shape. I’m so thankful for the work he is putting into that. I think for now to get back onto the website you need to push the “back” button, not sure how we will have the blog in future. Still trying to figure it out.
September is always a hard month for me due to a few family losses in the past but last Wednesday we had yet another loss. My aunt Janeen in Canada passed on suddenly from some complications of an infection. I had been thinking of all the loved ones I’ve lost and they had been “appearing to me” in my dreams and my thoughts during the days before her passing. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of all the years I’ve missed being near my loved ones and I can’t but be angry and sad at how far away we all live from each other. I have so many fond memories of my aunt from when I was a kid and I am trying to bring them to mind so I can remember her, it must be over 20 years since I actually saw her or at least it feels that way. Needless to say I’ve been a bit uninspired for the longest time and I keep wanting to get back to writing but feel like a balloon with the air let out, after losing Skella, one of the puppies, Birta not having a litter that we were hoping for along with all the other losses both past and present at this time of year. I think I should be a bear and just hibernate for the winter.
The road work is still going strong, I thought they would be done long ago but no now they are right beside my bedroom window. Doh!
It’s been so cold lately, now the raining has begun and the extreme winds…yes I think winter is officially started and I’m so not happy about that, been spending lots of time under the comforter on the couch in between letting the pups outside and freezing my butt off. I must be honest though this litter has been so much luckier than the past few litters in terms of the weather, they have at least been able to be outside in half decent weather off and on.
I will say though that I did have a couple good moments this past week and that is hearing my mom’s voice a couple times and talking to my dad on MSN. My mom is moving next month and I so wish I could be there to help her pack and move, I can’t even remember how many homes she has lived in over the years that I have never seen and the same I guess for her and me. Oddly enough she is moving back into the same apartment she lived in years ago when my Nana was still alive. She never saw any of the places I have lived here in Iceland, oddly enough she did see one of the places I lived in Norway. How funny that she was only ever able to visit me there even though I only lived there a few years but that was when my late step-father went back to visit his family in Sweden shortly before he died. I was also glad to hear this week that my sister is doing well, she is moving soon too into a slightly larger place and is really happy these days so that is wonderful news. As usual my weekend has been filled with rest and relaxation because Rúnar is such a sweetheart and helps me out on weekends, letting me sleep half the day and doing chores, caring for the pups, making supper and even baked a gluten free chocolate cake for me. I don’t know what I did to deserve him honestly!
Here are a few photos from the last few days at least. We were going to take some stack photos tonight but it will have to wait until tomorrow evening. I will try to post them right away rather than wait a week! Here are a few photos from the past couple days, starting with a few of Perla Prúð.
Then a few of the boys both together and each on their own.
Time for more photos! Rúnar took a bunch of extremely nice photos of the pups outside today so they will be included in the slide show of photos from the past week. It’s a pretty long slide show so hope you enjoy!
Hard to believe they are already 5 weeks old. We haven’t even advertised that we have probably one male puppy available. Time is flying so fast. Since most on our waiting list wanted females it meant that we could only satisfy one of them and the one that wanted a male. We really hope we can find a home here in Iceland for the one (not sure which one it will be yet). It is funny how people tend to want females more than males but I generally like males better, no heat to worry about and a more stable temperament when it comes to the flow of hormones. But then I guess each dog is different, at least the male dogs I have or have owned have been so wonderful that I often say if I wasn’t breeding I’d just want to own a male dog.
A couple photos for those who can’t watch the slide show. These are my favourites from today and yesterday! The first one is of the two boys, then of Patti. Hófi and Prúð beating up on the boys (like mother like daughter) and again Prúð beating up her brother Pési. The rest of the photos taken today are in the slide show and no doubt there will be a whole bunch of new photos taken this week since they are changing so much every day.
It would appear that Pési stole the show completely as all the photos below are of him. hehe They are just too good not to share though.
I was in bed most the day so missed all this outside play. It is so nice to have Rúnar home on weekends and get to be lazy and recuperate after the week. It’s so cold out it feels like winter is here already and I have been sneezing and freezing all weekend, shivering under the comforter. It’s been 3°C in the evenings and I think that we will soon be getting frost at night if we haven’t already, at least it feels that way. Not looking forward to that at all.
I must share another photo that I meant to put up a little awhile ago when I got it of our beautiful Tásla Björg in Denmark. Right underneath her a photo taken today of Birta just because I think she looks pretty good these days. I so love the way Björg looks like Birta, just a bit bigger ears and slightly longer legs. Maybe I’ll get a photo of her standing soon to share, she looks great and is doing well with the horses. She is an awesome mixture of Klói and Skella and I’m so happy with her. Her eyes just captivate me they are so gorgeous but they did as a puppy too! One of Birta and Klói’s faults is slightly less almond shaped eyes even though they have the beautiful dark eyes, so I couldn’t be happier with Björg’s correct almond shaped eyes.
Another little angel that I have recent photos of is Tumi Arnór, he lives in Akureyri. He is the only puppy out of Klói living in Iceland and one of if I remember correctly 3 out of Skella that live here. It would appear he is his father’s son in every way but has his mom’s cute habit of taking extra good care of his toys and carrying them around.
From what I hear things are going great with Tinni in Canada as well so we are happy.
Sorry about not updating…I’ve been a bit sick so I’m going to just add the slide show now that was supposed to be posted last Sunday which Rúnar just finished putting together for me. Oops. I know this is not like me, I’ve so not been keeping up with the website lately. I used to update daily when I had litters and I’m so sorry to the puppies hopeful owners that I am not doing more to keep you involved with their growth.They are such good puppies that we hardly know they are around so I can’t even blame the puppies for making us work hard. Extremely calm and quiet pups that are actually keeping me a little bit busy letting them outside to do their business at all hours because believe it or not they don’t want to have to do their business inside and Pési especially has been letting us know since before he could walk properly that he needed to go so we were able to put him on paper but now he doesn’t even want to go on the paper, he just wants outside even waking me in the night to be able to go out. I’m both proud of them but at the same time thinking aren’t they starting all this a bit too early.
Because I heard some are not able to view the slide show here are a few photos as well in a form I hope you are able to view them. These ones are taken today instead of from last week since it’s almost the weekend already and a new slide show will be up soon. So these are new for those who are also able to view the slide show above!
Don’t know if people are able to see the difference between them, we find them all so different from each other but just in case here is a little explanation of who is who. Prúð is a lighter colour red with black mask, long hair, Patti is a deep red with lighter pigment (grey), foxy face (looks a lot like Hófi) and short harsher coat, Pési is the puppy with white in his face also a long hair and a lighter shade of red.
Prúð
Patti
Pési
Here is one of them all from today! From left: Prúð, Pési and Patti
They are doing really well at hand targeting, they sit when they want attention or want out and they are so good at just playing amongst themselves and keeping busy so we don’t hear much whining (the only time is when they need to go out) and no barking, hopefully it will stay that way over the next few weeks and into the future. No doubt the craziness will all start next week. Hehe They all have such fun characters and hard to pick between them. We are very happy with these puppies.
I promise to update no later than the weekend! They are so quick to grow up that’s it’s unbelievable. The weeks are flying past! We might have one of the boys still available but hope to find a home in Iceland for him and not sure yet which it will be.
I almost forgot speaking of being pleased with puppies, I had talked about putting up a photo I got recently of one of Skella’s puppies. Her boy Töfra Tryggur Aron living in Austria is the spitting image of his mother and brings tears to my eyes missing her when I see his photo. I wish I could just go and hug him to bits, hopefully his owner will do that for me as well as the owners of all of Skella and Klói’s beautiful puppies and our other puppies of course, we often think of ALL of them.
We have added some new videos to our YouTube channel for those interested just follow the link to the right of the page under training.
Although I cannot lie, Patti is a good boy and he pretty much follows us around in new places and stays around my feet alot in the yard as well but that is so he can play with my shoelaces. hehe If Klói is with us they follow him so that’s a good thing.
Needless to say I’ve been a bit uninspired for the longest time and I keep wanting to get back to writing but feel like a balloon with the air let out, after losing Skella, one of the puppies, Birta not having a litter that we were hoping for along with all the other losses both past and present at this time of year. I think I should be a bear and just hibernate for the winter.
