11.18.09
Posted in News, Other dogs at 01:07 by nikki
Well, I’m really busy lately with the website, Facebook accounts for our school (two different ones) and I’m happy to say that a remarkable 65 people clicked on as “fans” in one day! The surprising thing is they are almost all living in Iceland and most are not even people we know so we’re looking forward to seeing if any of these clicker fans will sign up for courses in the future. Obviously it was not a bad idea to add a fans page because as I said to Rúnar it will give us an idea of how many people in Iceland actually are interested or already use clickers or are clicker training. There are no other pages on Facebook for clicker training schools or in general here yet so it gives us a bit of an edge. I really want to try to spend the majority of my free time making that fan page interesting for people to keep coming back to visit. I think we need to take our dream a bit seriously because no one can make it come true except us!
Unfortunately this means I have pretty much stopped reading posts on all my different groups on Yahoo. Not enough hours in the day to go through all the emails that come from the lists. I really don’t know how people manage to keep up with so many lists at the same time AND do other things. If specifically asking for comments from me you’ll need to send me a note to tell me where to find the post. I’ve gone through and couldn’t find the post you talked about Val.
I’ve been encouraging Rúnar to take the online Tagteaching course because they accept his KPA CTP title as part of the course because he had to learn a bit about Tagteaching while he was doing it and was assessed for his skills while he was being judged for completion. I on the other hand although I’d love to do the course have found out that it would mean a trip to USA to a course and I really can’t do that, don’t have the health or resources to go on a trip right now. I think however that if Rúnar got his education then since he is going to be taking over the teaching anyway it would be a great addition to our school and we will then be able to teach people in the Tagteach manner more efficiently which would make our courses even more special.
I got back to my book for very short periods the last couple days and I see that I have so much more to write and I want to hurry up and finish it. I had written a couple pages as the “conclusion” a while ago (if I think of something I write it down even though it is not quite in sequence) and I read over those today and thought gee, I really shouldn’t have given up on it because even I thought it wasn’t half bad. 
So the news of the day is that after Rúnar came home today we went to my old town of Bessastadahreppur where Hófi’s beau lives and although they were showing some interest she is still not quite ready. We felt sorry for him the poor guy she was playing with him like a teenager and he kept up with her too amazingly, no doubt he’ll sleep well tonight though. We’ll be going back on Thursday and probably every second day for a while just so we don’t miss it. This also means we have no time in the evenings and poor Rúnar was exhausted tonight and went to bed early. We really have to make sure all these trips aren’t in vain, it’s alot of gas spent driving back and forth so often. I guess since we are not going to change our minds I may as well let the cat out of the bag about who the male is even though I might jinx it. Care to guess who this 12 year old gentleman is? I think most have already figured it out. You can click on the photos to enlarge slightly and don’t forget to use the back arrow to get back to the page. To be fair to both the dogs I will say that neither of them is back in coat yet, as you can see they both look really “naked” and they can look better but I’m posting the photos anyway.
That’s right, I’m linebreeding directly to the O line! Skessu Skolli is the brother of Hófi’s grandmother Skessu Salka. I’m excited about it especially after spending a bit more time with him again tonight and seeing how much of a sweet guy (I knew he was, have known him for years) he is and he still thinks he’s just a youngster. A bit like Frigg you’d never guess their age when you meet them in person. We saw how similar the temperaments of him and Hófi are and his owner and her daughter got some kisses from Hófi and fell for her, like most people do when they meet her. I had been looking at sons of his as well as other related lines that were not as close but I couldn’t find any that I could use. Unfortunately his sons are either dead, neutered or living in other countries so it makes him even more important in my mind when his offspring don’t go any further in breeding. Then I thought well a linebreeding of 8% is really not high and I think that it is the very best way to actually breed directly to the O line instead of thinning it out even more than it already is. A linebreed without the high risk that a closer inbreeding would give, I’m thinking it might just be a good way to strengthen the line. I know I’m going to get dirty looks from the “show breeding crowd” but in my honest opinion…who cares? :Þ
It was so cool when his owner got out a couple of old photo albums and Rúnar got to see the dogs at Thorvaldsstödum and especially his grandmother who I always say Hófi is the spitting image of and well, I wasn’t alone thinking that. Both Rúnar and her owner agreed. Hopefully if it works out we can then get a few good photos of Freyja frá Thorvaldsstödum to put up on the website. (There is one of her on there already on Hófi’s litter page at the bottom I believe it can be accessed through the planned litters link). I honestly thought when I looked at all the older dogs that I remember that I’m glad I decided to use a dog from the “old generation”. That generation is almost all gone already and in my opinion where such different dogs than they are today. I like the old type, I liked the old dogs, I fell in love with the breed because of all those dogs and today I find myself not as smitten by the new type of ISD. Maybe it’s just me but I’m hoping to keep the old dogs alive just a little while longer by using this old guy before he too is gone. Fingers and dewclaws (ALL of them…he is an alspori) crossed that our plans work out.
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11.09.09
Posted in Dog Walks, News, Other dogs at 03:45 by nikki
Well, the weekend is over already and it always seems like we get nothing done, however as many may have seen Rúnar has been busy with the website. He’s added the index page for me to this one so that it’s “nicer” when you first visit the link. Then he is working hard at the whole thing starting pretty much over in Dreamweaver. The site was in Frontpage and it seems when they did something to the server not too long ago it no longer likes to accept the page updates from us. We´re hoping Dreamweaver will work instead but it will take awhile because Rúnar is still learning how to use it and to tell you the truth I don’t want Rúnar to spend all his time on the website, I’d rather he help train or walk the dogs or do something for himself or the “school”.
Wow, you guys are going to town on your comments. hehehe Thanks for the feedback guys. Don’t know if I will manage to address them all but I love to read them. I will say Laura that we have been offering private lessons and that is how we got together the first class we held. We had thought of just offering private lessons but a couple people wanted to learn together, we were lucky enough to be able to use their house once or twice and they didn’t mind an extra student and their dog coming along. We haven’t advertised and I think it’s hard at the moment because Christmas is coming and no one wants to go to a dog training class when they are getting ready for that. At least here in Iceland Christmas is a really big deal and unfortunately people spend way too much money too so don’t have any extra for lessons.
Rúnar wants to train our own dogs a bit before we hold more courses. I agree, we have pretty much let our dogs sit on a “shelf” for awhile and it’s really unfair to them. Each day we spend a few minutes training make the dogs so happy and that makes us happy too! So in the spirit of that when our friend Brynhildur called on Saturday and said she was going for a walk with her dog Sunnusteins Sif and would we like to bring Klói for some photos we decided we couldn’t pass up that opportunity. Klói and Sif have gone for walks together before, they really seem to like each others company. We packed Klói, Hófi and Frigg in the car and met her on the mountain lava fields. She got some great photos, and we got a few while the battery was working. Unfortunately when we wanted to take photos of Frigg and Hófi the batteries were dead so no photos of the girls. Brynhildur took a few and maybe we can post them here soon. The moss is so thick there it’s like carpeting, very uneven and lumpy and the strange thing is that it seemed to help my back a bit. I felt no pain while we were walking on the “carpet” and up the hills (almost fell a couple times when I lost my balance but my back was fine) but when we got to the car and stood still to talk for a few minutes the stupid back started up again.
I had gone to the store on Friday, not that big a store but it is a bit of a walk, took us about half an hour and when I got to the counter I could hardly stand. I swear the time I can stand or walk without it locking or horrible pain keeps getting shorter and shorter. I lay on the couch that evening and tried to rest. Rúnar was his adorable self and made our Friday night gluten free pizza, I made a mistake of drinking some Pepsi with it and well I have figured out that I just can’t drink caffeine and especially not Coke or Pepsi could be the other junk in there too, high glucose corn syrop. I try to stay away from junk food but I do cheat off and on and each time I do I promise myself to learn a lesson from it but I’m a stickler for punishment obviously. I have a stupid sweet tooth that doesn’t listen to reason. I couldn’t sleep at all on Friday night, don’t know why, caffeine plus my usual insomnia maybe besides my mind and brain going a mile a minute trying to figure out what male dog to use on Hófi. It looks like Frigg is starting her heat so the others will all follow very soon. I tell you I go in circles and just can’t seem to find the right dog. Well, Klói is her NEXT beau and so I need an unrelated one for this litter that will mix well with Klói’s line in future. I might have gotten an hour or two of sleep before Frigg woke me to go outside and that was going on 10. Rúnar got to sleep in which is unusual so I’m glad he got a few extra hours. Many may have noticed that I updated in the wee hours of the morning (around 6 or 7 I think) and I hadn’t been to bed. I really have insomnia a lot lately, I should write my book when that happens but no I tend to hang out on the computer and waste time. Friday I decided to waste time on the updates and maybe some didn’t realize there were actually two updates at the same time! The reason for that was I had alot on my mind as usual, hehehe No actually I wanted to separate the two things with tags and thought they were unrelated. I’m wondering if I should use the date as the title to make it easier to see when I’ve added something especially for those who don’t check every day?
Anyway, we had a wonderful walk, I felt so much better when we got home but again needed to rest because I was so tired. Lucky me, my friend called yesterday morning and said she had to cancel our session of massage and I was happy because then I got to sleep really late. I slept (or more like lay in bed wishing I could sleep) half the day and Rúnar did the housework and took care of the dogs.
I’m going to try something Rúnar said would work, putting thumbnails that will enlarge if you click on them. I tried it on preview and it seems to work so here goes…enjoy! Unfortunately the photos don’t come out too big when you click on them, I had already compressed them to ease with download for those with land line. Maybe I don’t have to compress photos anymore, it looks like they get compressed as soon as I upload them into the blog. So anyway, with the photos I tried two different ways this time. The first you click on the photo once and it opens but then you have to use the back arrow back to the gallery since it opens in the same window (no setting to do it differently). The second was opening an attachment page where you can put comments and I thought that might be nice and so I have it that way. If you want to see the photo slightly bigger and without comments you can click on it again from that page. Although again you have to use the back arrow when you want to go back to the gallery. Haven’t figured out if there is a way to open in a new window or go directly to the next photo, I don’t think there is. Maybe Rúnar can help me today after work and I can fix it. If I change anything with the gallery I’ll fix the text about it here as well. Might be I’ll remove the comments part too, don’t know if it means we’ll get more spam, have to make sure it’s “safe” that way with the photos.
As always a day spent in the company of a dear friend is all the medicine I need. It was a great walk and the dogs slept so well afterwards. When we came home Rúnar took Birta and Skella out to the lighthouse for a nice walk and I made supper. Great day. Can’t say today was eventful, like I said I slept most the day and walked around dizzy the rest of it. Tomorrow’s (or should I say “today” – hehe I forgot the time again) a new day and I am bound and bent I’m going to knit a bit to finish my sweater for Xmas, I only have one sleeve and the collar left to do. Must keep away from the computer for once…Facebook is one hard habit to break, worst addition I think there is. I’m gonna try for one day or maybe just half a day. HA, wish me luck.
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11.07.09
Posted in News, Other dogs at 03:54 by nikki
Funny how the weeks seem to fly by and the weekends even faster. I guess I’m getting old, hard to believe it’s already November again. I’ve been trying to deny it but that is not an option anymore everyone around us in getting ready for Christmas.
On the subject of how time flies I was thinking how happy I am that Rúnar finished his schooling at the Karen Pryor Academy this summer, he had thought of waiting. If he had of there is no telling whether he would have actually been able to go. He’s been watching the adds for the Clicker Expo and we so want to go to the next one. Oh well, we can continue to play the Lottery. I’m hopeful we can do some great things with his knowledge and credentials but we can’t find a way to start holding regular classes, we so need a facility to train in. We got a little sad feeling when we drove past his mother’s old house today and someone else was living there. If I was 15 years younger no doubt I’d be holding classes in any nook or cranny we could find even in a parking garage like many traditional trainers here are doing. We have heard of so many people intending to, already started courses in other countries, or asking where to learn dog training abroad so they can teach. Many times these are young people with their first dog and full of enthusiasm. Oh I remember those days! We’ve steered a few to learn clicker training instead of traditional training methods but it makes me think that before we know it Iceland will be filled with dog trainers of all different methods as well as clicker trainers and while the latter would be a great thing I’m a bit sad that if we don’t get started then the market might be gone. I see so much potential for classes of all kinds today but without a place to teach we’re pretty much stuck. I so wish I still lived in my house in Bessastadahreppur it was huge and had a nice big tiled garage that we trained our hunting dogs in with pigeons.
A bit nostalgic today, must be the weather and the fact that I’m feeling “under the weather”. I have been freezing to the bone all day in the house (it’s usually around 23-25 degrees C in here!), Rúnar said it’s not cold in here. I don’t have a fever thank goodness but just want to snuggle under my comforter. You know when it gets cold like this I really wouldn’t mind snow because it lifts the spirits to see that nice white fluff and how happy the dogs get. Apparently there is ice on the roads all over the place, alot of accidents and cars off the roads last night. But not where we live so there’s a positive note. If you’re gonna have icy roads than at least have snow to make them pretty. Hope the roads are clear for travel on Sunday since we have to drive a bit into the interior of the south. I heard there is snow in Canada at my friend’s house. Lucky dogs.
We haven’t taken any photos of the dogs for cards or anything, JIKES maybe we won’t be sending cards this year either. We ended up not sending any last year, or just one or two were sent to the immediate family and friends. I never realize Christmas is coming until the day or two before when I can’t help but feel it in the air. If I remember correctly though there is only a week or two to get packages out to places like North America from here if you want them there on time. Here I had planned to make socks for my nieces and send them a package for once but typical me I procrastinated until it’s too late to get started on that project. 
Unless I just put my mind to it and do nothing else for a few weeks.
Was going to start writing again and was really intent my writer’s block had ended but the days go by so fast that I don’t get anything done. I had lost all interest in my book since July when I had a bit of a breakdown and Skella had taken the wind out of my sails with being a bit difficult to rehabilitate but I was on my own for that first critical time after she came to us but with patience (hard to muster up sometimes) she has been slowly improving since Rúnar is here to help so I know I have to get back to the book and just learn from this summer and this new dog who was obviously sent to me for a reason (like all my dogs).
It’s getting so dark early, by the time Rúnar gets home at 4:30 it’s almost black out. Always puts us in the mood for Christmas when the darkness comes. That and I love to see the Northern Lights so love to keep an eye out for them in the evenings. There were Christmas decorations for sale at the grocery store today, they weren’t there last week so we went window shopping, that’s the most economical way. Hehe We said before we went in the store that we ONLY needed the bare essentials, milk, toppings for our gluten free pizza a’la Rúnar that we always have on Fridays, cheese, hotdogs, the dogs need their training treats you know, but came out with two bags full. I’m not a good shopper I need to do like I used to and only have cash on me so that if I get to the cash register and don’t have enough then I have to embarrass myself by putting stuff back. It’s not a positive way to correct bad behaviour but it seemed to work back then. LOL Only problem is though that from week to week here the prices have doubled. I got some organic grape juice because I have read it has cold fighting properties and I want to nip it in the bud if I’m getting a cold. I don’t want to jinx anything but I haven’t actually gotten a cold or flu for years, I try to take natural healing foods when I feel I need them. I think I might count on them a bit too much sometimes you see I’ve been out in the yard with the dogs without my coat on lately. Just gonna be a minute I say to myself but end up playing with them and staying out too long. Silly me.
Oh I must share a couple photos I got from my friend Brynhildur at Reykjadals Kennel. She was out with the dogs and got a couple great photos of Töfra Hólmfrídur Hrifla (which is a difficult thing to do, hehe) so I really want to share. It’s always neat to see her grey undercoat through the black in the wind, her grandmother Hófi also had that. I’ve heard from some Finnish Lapphund breeders that it’s a sign the dog carries the cream gene or the dilution possibly. It would be interesting to investigate that better in our breed (it’s such a rare colour in our dogs!) since I do know that her offspring have given cream and that Hófi Sr was a cream carrier from her father. Frigg also has a greyish red undercoat but what also interests me is that Frigg has lighter eyerims than nose pigment (a slightly lighter shade that almost looks dark brown compared to her black nose) and so does little Hófi who has also given cream. I wonder if there is any research on that?
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