Summer getting closer

It's the exam period. That's my excuse both for not writing anything for a while, and for actually writing something now!
Vojak has grown a lot, and is currently discovering the wonderful world of puberty. Which means that if he's not either horny, overexcited or just stubborn - he's probably asleep! Actually, to be honest, he's not that bad. He just started to absolutely love the smell of female dogs in their heat, and he is trying to push the limits a bit to see what we'll allow him to do... Yesterday as I came home from uni, I found him chilling out on the sofa with a pack of dog snacks that he'd teared apart. That's what I call a teenager!

Kosice has been attacked by bad weather the last weeks. We've had beautiful summer mornings that have turned into an inferno of rain and thunder by mid day, and I've lost count on how many times we've been woken up during the night by thunder shrells.
Vojak loves being out in the rain, and we have the forest nearby, we've been up there a lot training him to search for and scare up pheasants. Of course, we don't hunt or anything, so it's just because we like to explore the wildlife, and pheasants are such grand birds!

I said before that I'd like to see him swim before summer, but the river is still so flooded and the current so strong that I'm glad he's not jumping in when we go to the park. We want his first real swim to be as pleasant as possible, so that he'll be encouraged to do it again and again...

This week we're taking the antibody titer test to see if he's developed enough antibodies agains rabies virus to be able to come with me to Norway when I leave in a couple of weeks. Probably all will go well, but we had a problem with Liska who never developed any antibodies, and somewhere inside I'm scared it's going to repeat itself with Vojak. So everybody; fingers crossed tomorrow!!

BbZZzzzzzzz.....

That sound is all it takes these days for Vojak to go completely berserk! He was bit by a bumblebee one of the first days of spring, and it must have made a serious impression on our baby boy, who before that had never even seen a fly before. If you want to disturb his concentration, the bumblebee sound is all it takes. That is what happens, I guess, if you're born and raised during winter season. The spring with all it's life can be pretty scary!

But not everything about the spring scares the little one. There have been such waterfall here lately, that the normally shallow river was flooding when we went to the park today. Vojak usually always jumps into the water to play and cool off after a walk, and so he splashed out in it today. Only he didn't take the high water into account, and he looked quite surprised when he had to swim a few strokes to get back on land! I would have thought that would keep him far away from the river for the rest of the walk, but no...he was very eager to get back in, and very curious as to what these currents in the water were. The currents were harsh today, so I didn't let him get in a second time, but I'm looking forward to going swimming with him when the water is calmer.

Me and Halldor have recently been trying to get Vojak to open doors in the flat. Currently it's not going that well, and seeing the flat the other day when we'd been gone a couple of hours I'm thinking that might be a good thing. Vojak has gotten so big that when he stands on his back legs he can reach a lot of forbidden things in the shelves of our living room. Napkins, blankets, wedding invites and books are no longer safe, and today while cleaning I made sure to put the most important things one shelf up to protect them from the little monster. We'll see how long it lasts...

Vojak tracking Kristin

Here is a video of Vojak searching for Halldor's sister, Kristin, who hid in the bushes.
Kari and Kristin stayed here for four days, and there are some really cute pictures from their time here with us and Vojak in the "Pictures" site.

Puppies...they grow up so fast...

Me and Vojak just came home from a couple of hours in the park and at school. Vojak got on the weight again down at the clinic, and this time it stopped at 14.4 kilos. He's becoming a big boy, and all too fast!
In the park he had his first close encounter with the river. I went in as far as my wellies allowed me, and after first looking at me for a while, his eyes clearly saying: "I knew it. Mum's finally gone crazy!", he came running after to see what was going on. He loved it, and went mad after - just ran around and jumped in the air!

A couple of weeks ago we had my mother and two sisters visiting. We had a wonderful time, and Vojak grew very fond of his grandma and his aunties Karen Kristine and Maria! He did not have one boring second while they were in the house, and since he's not really used to getting mine and Halldor's full attention at all times, he actually slept longer than we did in the mornings. How great is that!?
Unfortunately, they didn't stay more than a short week, and I think Vojak really felt that they left a hole when they went back to Norway.

Vojak has lost some teeth, and gained some new ones since I last wrote, and I find it really fascinating to try and get a hold of those he loses to investigate how they look. He hasn't lost his canines yet, and they are small, so he looks really cute with his new, big incisors!I collect the teeth I find or help out of his mouth in a small cup, and I think I collected 6 out of 12, which I think is fairly good work, seeing as I never found a single one of Liska's teeth when she was a baby...
He also got up one pair of molars in his upper jaw, and one in the lower. They are massive! He really looks like a carnivore with those, I'll tell you that.

It's easy to see him developing these days, it all goes so fast. What I like the most is the way he understands more every day. He's good at remembering names - his favourite ones except mine and Halldor's being Belle and Chucha, his best friends in the dog world. Whenever I say one of their names, he runs for the door totally alert and ready to go play!He's also interested in all else that moves around him, and he can sit on the balcony for as long as it takes me to hang out the laundry and just watch people in the street, or birds singing in the trees outside. Totally enchanted.
The biggest problem with training him right now is his eagerness to go play with every dog we meet. We've been experimenting with super-treats and fun toys for every time he chooses to stay with us instead of running out to play, and it seems to be working according to plan. He is almost as crazy about food as he is about playing, and you can see how hard it sometimes is for him to decide, although in the end he somehow jumps to the right conclusion...well, most of the time anyway!

Dogs hate to be given baths, don't they?

At least, that's what experience raising 3 dogs have taught me. But with Vojak that's all turned upside down! He loves to be bathed. He loves attacking and drinking the water sprinkle from the shower, and he loves the warm water on his feet. And more than anything he loves the squeeky shoe he's only allowed to play with in the bathtub. It's amazing to have a puppy where the trouble is not getting him into the tub, but rather to pick him up and get him out of there again! Just watch him playing with Halldor as he's getting his bath a couple of weeks ago. It's a good thing he doesn't have anything against the tub, because he has to be in there quite a lot these days. The snow is half a meter deep outside and Vojak gets his stomach and thighs full of snowballs every time we are out playing. These, of course, have to be removed with a good spash of warm water after every round of playing outside...
Vojak got his rabies vaccine last week, and he'll be ready for Norway in July, which we're very happy about! We also got a general check-up at the clinic, and Vojak is a bundle of health. He weighs 10 kilos as of yesterday, and is gaining weight by the week. No wonder really, we never saw a dog so happy to see the food be put on the ground. He eats it up so fast it's like it was never there - and then he looks at us with those eyes, like saying: "Wasn't there more!?"
For now, we're giving him Royal Canin Maxi Babydog food, and although we've heard some criticism about their products lately, I have to say Vojak's doing wonderful on it. I don't know what to believe when it comes to pet food quality, everyone seems to have an opinion and I reckon the best thing to do is just feed them what you already do if they seem happy and healthy on it. At least that's a whole lot better than changing fodder every time there's a new number one in some review!

We've had a couple of days in Martin, where we used to live, so that Vojak could meet some of Liska's old buddies. Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend a lot of time with everyone. Vojak got bitten by a Staffordshire puppy, a really cute girl with razor sharp teeth. It was unprovoced and quite scary, although he bled for just a moment and then ran on, happy as before. Mothers will be mothers, and I felt my heart in my throat as I registered what had happened. Luckily, Anniken was fast to take control of the situation, and it never got serious due to her reacting so quickly. We stayed with Anniken and Angel for two nights, and the two dogs got along really well. We're looking forward to play with them again next time, as well as we're looking forward to Vojak getting better aquainted with the rest of the Dog club dogs. I'm sure he'll be having a lot of fun with Pax, Kira and Ariel too in the future!