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!?