A short update on all of us!

It's not only Elisabeth living with Liska anymore. She found the love of her life, got engaged, and after Christmas Halldor moved in and "adopted" Liska.
The weather here has been great the last couple of weeks - we've been up to our knees in powder snow. Liska loves playing in the snow, with the snow and even under the snow. Her favorite winter game is when we hide the ball and she gets to search for it through the snow. When she finally get the scent and finds it she's the happiest girl in the world!

When it comes to diet, it's all working out as expected. She's gained the weight she needs, and her coat and build looks great! We're very satisfied with her, and with BARF - and she's more than satisfied with the food she gets these days. Chicken necks and wings proved to be delicacies - and veggies are not that bad either once you get a bit of offal blended in with them.

Some weeks ago, we thought we had a flea infestation at our feet. Nasty stuff... Both Liska and Dagmar scratched themselves like crazy, and soon the humans fell victim to the great Placebo effect and started scatching away as well...after a while all our self-provided red scratch marks made it look like there had actually been biting activity! (Now that's just sick...) After shampooing the dogs with an anti-parasite shampoo we got rid of the pest, if there ever was one. The humans were, no doubt, hardest to turn over. We still feel like scratching from time to time, just to make sure!

Little miss Carnivore

Happy new year!! This Christmas, Liska has been staying in Martin without her mother - at the sweetest kennel ever. She stayed there together with Dagmar, my friends 5 months old mixed-breed puppy, and apparently they both had a really good time there. The only downside to it was that Liska, once again, stopped eating her dog food. I've been trying a lot of different food brands lately - all of them are quite popular the first day or two, but then gradually go out of interest. I got her back skinny as ever a week ago, but luckily happy and healthy in every other way.
I have, for some time now, considered feeding her the B.A.R.F diet, based on raw meat, bones and vegetables. When I got her back from her kennel holidays, I decided to go for it - all the way. For one week now, all she has eaten is chicken necks and backs, vegetable purees and organ meat from different animals. I have been feeding her according to a nutrition plan that I got from an experienced B.A.R.F-er in Norway, and so far I'm very satisfied. She has put on quite some weight just during this week, and looks a lot more healthy - and this food does not seem to go out of interest either (knock on wood..!). Once she got the hang of chewing bones properly, she's been all over her food the moment I serve it to her. The most eager supporters of the B.A.R.F diet promise me a dog with a healthy weight, full and shiny fur and good appetite!
I am not yet experienced enough to recommend the diet to others, but I will keep you posted, and in the mean time I cross my fingers for success.

And, by the way, Liska rounded the magical 12 months yesterday, and is finally ready to start her agility training. We are looking forward to a spring time at the track!

She is also, right now, at her 2nd rutting season - meaning she's been acting the flirtatious bitch of the flock for a week or two. She got her season while at the kennel, meaning the girl watching her and Dagmar had to put her own male dog on a leash a lot of the time. I'm really satisfied, however, that Liska's still very obedient even though her hormones are running wild, making it possible for me to let her run the fields without her leash on - even with all the horny dogs of Martin just a stone throw away!

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!