Liska the beauty queen

Now we've done the show thing too. Actually, Liska did quite well and got a "Very promising" title from the judge, just with a message to me about training her better for the ring. I'm not sure how much time we're gonna use on that, but we have planned some training dates with Anniken and Angel. I really want to bring her to a show arranged by the Belgian Shepherd club in Slovakia, where we can meet more people who are crazy about this never-resting, beautiful breed! We had a great weekend in Nitra though. Me and Liska rented a car together with our good friends Anniken, Mark and Angel. The show went particularly well for Angel, who won a Best Of Breed (BOB) in the standard poodle class. Congratulations, Angel! It was well deserved both of dog and owner. For me, it was a real kick hearing all these wonderful things about Liska from people who really know their stuff. Lots of Belgian shepherd owners came up to us and complimented her exterior and behavior, and I was and still am very proud of my little girl!

Finally some good news!

The vet took a new blood test to check for rabies antibodies in September, and today I got the results back and it's official - Liska has developed antibodies! Sure I can't take her home for Christmas anyway, but this means her body isn't resistant to the vaccination. She'll be able to travel with me to Norway in the summer!

Also, we are getting ready for Nitra this week-end, where Liska is going to sweep everyone off their feet in the dog show we're attending. So tonight, she is going to get the royal treatment. I'm gonna give her a nice bath with her new shampoo, clip her claws and brush her fur until it's as shiny as pure gold... Wish us luck, and cross all your limbs this Saturday!

Sick October nights

Me and Liska have both been really sick tonight, and I'm pretty sure it has something to do with food we ate. But then, come to think of it, we hardly ever eat the same food. Liska isn't allowed to eat food from my table, and I very seldom get so hungry that I need to feast on her ProPlan pellets! Today has been such a weird day for both of us. No long walks, we've just been flat out on the bed both of us until now, when Liska finally got to get out of the house for a run with Halldor. I cross my paws for the success of it. And I'm sure it's going to be fine. Liska absolutely loves him to the point where I almost get jealous! And if she behaves, maybe he can be talked into doing it again..!

The last time I wrote a post here, I was going to tell you about our new puppy friend who moved in with us this autumn - Dagmar. She's a beautiful mixture of Cocker Spaniel and Spitz. A real heart-breaker! Liska is behaving like the ideal big sister towards her. Dagmar is Christina's new dog who's been living in our happy household now for two months. Check out the really sweet picture of her and Liska together from a trip we made a week ago!

Lovely, playful Liska

Magnus shot this really fun video where Liska is trying to attack a toy. Isn't she adorable??

The vaccination nightmare

More than four months ago, I took Liska to the vet to get her the rabies vaccination. Before this weekend I got notice from the lab that she hasn't developed antibodies against the disease, meaning I'm not going to be able to bring her to Norway for Christmas this year.
Luckily, I have to stay in Slovakia most of the time anyway - there's this huge exam in February that I have to study for. What I'm really worried about is the fact that Liska didn't just not have a high enough level of antibodies - she didn't have any at all! I've never heard of such a case before. I guess we'll just have to do the vaccination again (maybe two times now instead of one), and cross our fingers for next summer. I know that most vets in Norway recommend a double vaccination. There seems to be good reason for that.
I do have some good news too, though; I've signed Liska up for her first dog show. I'm not completely sure it's a good thing. The whole idea of putting your dog on show seems a little shallow and not very interesting, but I suppose it's nice to have a go at it, and that's why we're stuffing a car full of Hundeklubben members and taking a road trip to Nitra the first weekend in November. Liska's friend Angel has already won some titles, so she and her owner Anniken is going to teach us all the secrets of the trade! I'm looking forward to going to Nitra, but I must say my mind is more strongly focused on other goals for me and my dog companion - like the day we're gonna win our first agility competition. I can't wait to start training. She's one year old the 10th of January. Guess where we're celebrating it!?

More of a bitch every day!

So it's official - Liska is having her first rutting season as I write. Well, actually she's not quite there yet, as for now she's only leaving a red trace throughout the apartment.
I'm so proud of her though - already such a big girl!
Unfortunately is she not only bleeding, but also showing all the other signs of a bitch having her period. She is constantly stopping to smell every scent we pass, and she's a nightmare to handle compared to her well behaved normal self. Luckily, me and my little brother are taking her away for some days of mountain hiking at the time when she's most fertile. It's going to be a bit difficult to handle here in Martin, seeing as her best dog friend is all-time-horny little Party-Pax.
I've been reading everything I can find online about a dog's reproductive cycle, and have found out some interesting facts:

- Some bitches come into season as often as 4 times a year, while most common is about every 7 months.

- Bitches actually have a clitoris too - so much for mating instincts...

- Although I knew this from personal experience with my family's last dog; it's actually not very uncommon that a bitch who runs free and has the chance, ends up giving birth to puppies of several fathers in the same litter!

The reproductive cycle of a dog is divided into proestrus, estrus, diestrus and anestrus. Proestrus is the time when the ova matures in the ovaries, and estrogen levels rise. Estrus is the period when the estrogen levels are at the peak, and the mature ova are released from the ovaries. This is the period in which the bitch has the desire to mate, and the chance of getting pregnant. Diestrus is either a period of pregnancy, or just a period between estrus and anestrus for the non-pregnant bitch. Either way, progesteron levels will rise, and some non-pregnant individuals may experience pseudo-pregnancy. The pseudo-pregnant bitch may produce milk, make nests, be super-cuddly and gain quite a lot of weight. The last period, the anestrus, is the reproductive resting period.
It's going to be quite interesting to see the different phases in Liska. It's really such a miracle, how the body works these things out!

Back on track

So we're back in Martin. Liska has grown a lot, and suddenly looks more like a dog than the little puppy she was when I left for Norway a month ago. It's just like everything is falling into place when we're together again. Martin and the apartment is just how we left it, except there are few Norwegians left in the city, and we've been having a new roomie for this last week - Maria from Madrid, also a member of the famous dog club, just without her own dog for the time being. But overall, we're already getting into our normal everyday routines.

I don't think I lie if I say Liska's been having a great summer. She's spent her holidays in Zabovresky with her mother, her sister and the rest of the Nobby Rock kennel. But although we've both had our share of fun this summer while being away from one another, nothing beats seeing each other again! And she's still just the same little girl I left a month ago, only a size bigger. And a bit more brutal when playing with her doggie friends. And a bit more confident.

Today we've spent most of the day in Skanzen, barbequeing with the coolest dogs and people in Martin. Liska is still not very fond of swimming or taking baths in the river, unless we're at just the right place. I really want her to be a water-loving dog, so I hope that in time she'll be right there with me...and I'll keep you all posted on how it goes!

Liska the flying hero

Settling down

We've been living with Christina and Zalomon for some weeks now. Liska had a bit of trouble settling down at first - her potty training was suddenly not what it had been and we've had to clean up a couple of puddles here and there. Now it seems as though she finally feels fully at home here, and she's back to her old rythms.
Maybe a bit too much of that home-feeling though. She's gotten quite fond of chewing stuff to pieces. The other day, she got hold of a box full of tissues that she ripped apart and decorated the entire living room with. Quite a sight, according to Christina...luckily I wasn't there.
She also likes to carry our shoes around the house. I've found mine in her crate, under the living room table and below the sink in the bathroom to mention some.

My mother and my youngest sister, Maria, have been visiting. We had a great time, and Liska and Maria are now the best of friends. My mother, apparently, is not that trustworthy...it took Liska days to let her handle her.

Oh. I wish I knew a vet who spoke english. I have been finding bumps under Liska's skin on several places, especially along the neckline. Does anyone know what it might be? My local vet in Martin tells me Liska has got acne, but I'm not sure I believe her. She did nothing more than feel them and tried to stick a needle in one of them (unsuccessfully, because Liska wouldn't stay still).

Moving out, doggy style!

Yeah...me and Liska are on the move again.
The luckiest thing (for us, that is...) happened the other day, when our good friends Christina and Zalomon suddenly had a room for rent and invited us to come and live with them in their big, lovely flat.
We've been hanging out there quite a lot lately, and we are looking so much forward to settling down there - dogs and people.
Liska and Zalomon are really good together, and so far I can easily say the same about me and Christina, although we have not known each other long.

Today, I've been training with Liska. She is really good at walking side now, and I'm eager to learn her all sorts of things. Easier now too, when summer has come and we stay outside for many, many hours every day.

The weird ways of puppies...

This weekend, me and Liska went to Ola in Zilina for Liska's first sleep-over away from home. Of course, it was not all that scary seeing as I was there all the time. She got a fair bit of travelling practise, which she really needs, and she went crazy in Ola's collection of old plastic bottles while me and Ola played GameCube. Fun for the whole family..!
For some strange reason though, she really didn't like the stairway up to the flat Ola lives in on the 4th floor. She was even shaking, and this fear that I couldn't work out, even drove her to pee inside a couple of times. She's been housebroken for weeks, and I was afraid she'd see the convenience and start peeing on my carpet once we got home again. Luckily, she hasn't even thought of anything like it since we got here this morning.

Being in Zilina with her, made me realize how wise it was to not get a dog to live with us there. Martin may be a city too (well, more of a town really..), but Zilina has almost no green lungs. It's either shopping districts or traffic wherever you turn your head.

I bet Liska's glad to be home again, running the fields and all. It's easy to see she's able to tire out a lot better here. While being inside, she mostly just lies flat out on the floor. No bottle-chasing here...

Home alone

I just want to brag about how good my puppy is..
Today she was home all by herself for 2 hours while I went to school!
And nothing was torn apart when I got home either!
I was so worried she'd cry and bark. (She's not really much of a barker, but we have 2 havaneses living upstairs from us who answer back to her when she cries, and then we've got it going!)

I mean - I've been away before just for practise.

I've gone to the Chinese restaurant to get take-away, been to the shop...things like that - things that usually take up to half an hour. At first, she'd start crying the moment I went out the door and then just go on and on until I came back. Now there's just a little cry, then I hear her walking around a little, then silent. But she has never managed as long as this without sounds of protest before.

I was so proud of her that I went to the carpet-shop and bought her a really good, soft and solid carpet for her crate. Now she's been playing in there for half an hour, rearranging it in her own way.

My playful girl

Liska just loves to play - especially when I take her to the forest and let her run wild!
Lately, I've started to take her for walks together with some friends and their dogs. Zalomon is a handsome and really well-mannered collie, and Angel is the most beautiful poodle ever to be seen!

I think it's really good for Liska to hang out with other big dogs. That is, after all, what she'll be too in a few months!
She's grown so brave over the last weeks, and she tries to tease these two older dogs as much as they tolerate. They seem to know she's just a baby, and treat her really well. The first couple of times we met Salomon, Liska would draw back and not even go over to smell him. Now she's really comfy around both him and Angel! I think that's just great:)

Liska likes to play rough - but mostly with dogs her own size or less. And even better - the old and grumpy dogs we meet out on the street. Teasing them seems to be a favourite! Maybe it's the snarling she finds tempting..?

Not only does she like to play around with other dogs - she can have a lot of fun just on her own. Just watch this:

Karen Kristine was here

The most amazing two weeks of Liska's life so far, I daresay!
Karen Kristine is my little sister, and she is fantastic with dogs...and kids...well, she's generally just fantastic!

Those two weeks, we were the three top girls of Slovakia. No one had as much fun and play as we did.
Liska cried when Keigy had to leave for Norway again. Let's just hope she doesn't wait too long before she comes to visit our happy little household again:)

I put out some pictures from when sis was here.

As amazing as Liska may be, she is not a great fan of shopping...maybe due to the fact that she's not one of those handbag "dogs" you often see people carry around the mall. Me and Karen Kristine on the other hand, felt the urge to spend some money (why have them if you're not going to use them, right!?), and Liska was tearing Ola's place apart for some hours while we shopped till we literally dropped:D

Ola actually put a video on YouTube on her crazy behaviour..you should watch it. She's so darn cute!

My choice

Getting a dog is really hard; with all those lovely breeds to choose from it's not easy to pick out the one that would be just right for me!

I burned a lot of lazy hours in front of the computer and with my nose buried in dog books before deciding to take a Tervueren into my household - but I have yet to regret it for even a second!
Liska is everything I was looking for; a lovely, soft and hairy exterior, a quick and eager learner and an amazingly playful best friend! And when she grows just a little older, we'll spend our weekends at this great agility-track I just stumbeled over the other day.

I want a dog that is able to go for long walks, or run beside my bike on the way to new adventures.
I want a dog that can easily spend a week mountain hiking without getting exhausted.
An intelligent dog that can be trained to do almost anything.
A dog that is more about playing, working and running than cuddling and grooming.

There's no doubt I found the love of my life in Liska :)
Thank you, Nobby Rock!