My 2 Trackers

Alih's BOT cover arrived at the end of last week and he seems to enjoy it. :)

This past weekend James got a chance to perform another blood track (=wild game track). Since it's hunting season for Moose right now, I got a hold of a freakn' Moose leg. Yeah, it's better with a deer leg (trust me!) considering it does not weight half as much. However, Alih and James loved it! ;) Between you and I - I do find it a bit nasty. I'm an animal lover and I would never be able to kill an animal, so it's not the greatest feeling to be walking around with a leg from a dead animal. Yuck!

Anyhow, I laid the track around 6 pm and not until the next day around 11 am did James track - and it went great! It's really motivating to continue, not just for me but for James too. He seems to love it.

I laid a short track for Alih as well, and he did fabulous! The old Tiger knows what he's doing. :)

_________

Alihs BOT täcke kom i slutet på förra veckan och han verkar tycka om det. :)

Under helgen fick James möjlighet att prova på ännu ett viltspår. Eftersom det är älgjakt fick jag tag på ett älgben och jag kan förmedla att det är bättre med rådjursben/klöv, det är aningen lättare att släpa runt på det än ett stort jäkla älgben. ;) Men James & Alih tycke jättemycket om det. :) Nåväl, jag lade spåret runt 18-tiden och först dagen därpå vid 11-tiden fick han gå det. Det gick mycket bra så nu är jag taggad och det verkar James också vara! :)

Lade även ett kortare spår åt Alih och han var superduktig! Den gamla gubben vet vad han sysslar med. :)

A Weekend at Work

Alih, James and I spent the weekend in the country. For James that meant a lot of training which he loves.

Friday - Search Training with instructor. James LOVES it! He's a natural!

Saturday AM - Heavy DW followed by Search. PM - Competition Obedience training on our own.

Sunday AM - Heavy DW followed by Search. PM - James performed his first Blood Track. It went better than expected considering search is his forte. But he did really good and you bet he was happy when he found the deer leg. He carried it all the way back to the car.. lol.

Above are pics from James' DW training. He pulled 3 tires + his chains quite easy, so on Sunday I added a 4th tire and that was no problem. It's a lot of fun to see how much stronger he has become - I guess training pays off after all. ;) After training, James thought it was time to play - with his chains. He pulled and pulled and pulled them across the whole backyard. :)
_______________

Alih, James och jag har spenderat helgen på landet. För James innebar det en massa träning vilket han älskar!

Fredag - privat sökträning med instruktör (körde både uppletande & sök). James ÄLSKAR det här och han är en naturbegåvning. :)

Lördag morgon - Tunga start & stopp följt av sök. Eftermiddag - Lydnad (LK1 moment).

Söndag morgon - Tunga start & stopp följt av sök. Eftermiddag - viltspår. Det var James första viltspår och det gick bättre än förväntat (sök är ju mer hans grej). Men det gick som sagt riktigt bra, han jobbar som alltid för fullt men tyvärr har han inte nosen i backen hela tiden utan huvudet poppar upp en hel del. Men oh well. Så länge han tycker det är kul är det toppen. Tror ni han blev lycklig när han hittade rådjursklöven/benet??.. lol... Han bar det hela vägen tillbaks till bilen. Hihi.. Viltspår kommer vi definitivt att köra igen.

Ovan är några bilder från när James tränar start & stopp. Han drog 3 däck + sina kedjor relativt lätt så på söndagen lade jag till ett 4:e däck. Det var faktiskt inga större problem. Det är otroligt kul och motiverande när man märker att han blivit så mycket starkare. Träning hjälper tydligen! ;) Efter träningen tyckte den blåa rakten att det var dags att leka .. med kedjorna. Han kämpade och drog dem över hela baksidan. lol.

Pictures + Tracking

Above: The baby is "patiently" waiting. When the harness comes on, he knows he's soon set to work.

Above: Cannot get to the forest fast enough - "Come on, lets work!!!"

Above: Here goes...

Above: "Look what I found!!!"

Above: DONE!!! :)

Pics taken by Jennie. Thank you, my friend!

Hard at work

A tough/heavy drag weight walk in the morning and a long track tonight. Our partners for the evening were Jennie and Bamse. In order to slow James down while tracking, I chose to keep his regular leash on instead of the long track lead (otherwise he will track in about a 100 mph). When being so close to him and when slowing him down, I sometimes disturb him in his work but not tonight. Tonight, he was a smoothe operator. ;) Right now Jay is in his typical evening mood – “I’m tired but I’m refusing to settle down”. Awesome! ;)

En tuff/tung drag weight promenad imorse och ett längre spår ikväll tillsammans med Jennie & Bamse. Spåret gick riktigt bra måste jag säga. Jag valde att behålla James vanliga koppel på istället för att koppla på spårlinan, detta för att kunna dämpa honom så att det inte skulle gå i 200 km/timmen. Ibland stör jag honom i arbetet när jag gör så, men inte ikväll. Ikväll var han faktiskt klockren! Just nu är James på sitt typiska kvällshumör – ”jag är trött men jag vägrar att lägga mig”. Härligt! ;)

In the Country

So what have James and I been up to during these days in the country?

We went for a longer drag weight walk with Jennie & Bamse.
We tracked with Jennie & Bamse (Jay did really good!)
We went for another drag weight walk by ourselves.
We went for a bicycle ride (well, I rode the bike while Jay ran).
We have gone for several forest walks (along with Alih).
We just came back in from an hour & a half long walk.

Now, if this is what James and I have been doing, what has Alih been up to? Well, after Jennie & Bamse left yesterday, I received a text message from Team Hazelhill stating that they would be BBQ by a lake and that we were welcome to stop by. Alih and I decided it sounded like a nice idea, so we left James at home and headed for the forest. Alih had a blast hanging out with their Rottie, Gonzo! Other than that, Alih has done a lot of napping. ;)

Pics from these last days will be posted tomorrow.
__________
Så vad har James och jag sysselsatt oss med under våra dagar på landet?

Vi har gått på en lång drag weight promenad med Jennie & Bamse
Vi har spårat med Jennie & Bamse (det gick riktigt bra för James faktiskt!)
Vi har gått på en drag weight promenad till, bara James och jag.
Vi har cyklat, ja jag har cyklat och James har sprungit bredvid. ;)
Vi har tagit flera skogspromenader tillsammans med Alih.
Vi kom precis in från en promenad på cirka milen.

Om nu detta är vad James och jag har gjort, vad har då Alih gjort? Jo igår, precis efter att Jennie och Bamse hade åkt, fick jag ett SMS från Team Hazelhill där det stod att de skulle vara vid en sjö och grilla. Alih tyckte det lät som en kul grej, så vi bestämde oss för att åka dit (vi lämnade James hemma). Väl vid sjön blev det lekstuga för Alih. Han fick nämligen leka med deras rottis Gonzo och de hade jättekul tillsammans! Annars har Alih sussat och snarkat en hel del. ;)

Bilder från de senaste dagarna kommer imorgon.

Tracking & Obedience on Boxing Day

Nothing much has happened today other than having been out with the dogs in the forest again. I laid 1 track and my dad laid 2 tracks. When we came back from the walk, Jay and I did some obedience training. Considering the obedience training has been on hold for awhile, I have to say he did really well. I used his tug-of war-toy as a motivator the whole time though (a little cheating). His position may not have been the best at all times, but overall, he did great.

Someone asked me if I always speak English to the dogs, and I do. We do. However, when it comes to obedience training, I made a conscious decision to use Swedish commands with James, considering we live in Sweden and we only train with Swedes. Other than that, James is a native English speaker just like Alih even though Jay was born in Sweden. :) You should hear how it sounds at training sometimes - commands in Swedish and everything else in English. A real nice, confusing mix. It's called SWINGLISH. lol.

James and I came back home a short while ago. We went back out to the forest and did all 3 tracks. My plan was to bring Alih along for one track but I ended up leaving him at home since he was deep asleep when we left. Hihi… Jay took the first 2 tracks quite easy, but on the last track he got lost for a short while. This was one of the tracks my dad had laid, so I did not know myself where the track was… I had to trust James to do his work and eventually he found his toy. It’s real easy to start interfering when they track, but the best thing is to let them do their own thing… ‘cause they will find the end in due time.

My mom actually filmed James and I as we did obedience, unfortunately we used Mr. L's camera and he left the cord at home so I cannot download it. :( Oh well. Maybe another time.

Time to eat (like we haven't eaten enough during this Xmas Holiday!!!) ;)

Working on Xmas Day

A pic of Jay from yesterday - Dec 24, 2008

James had a busy Xmas Day. Mr. L and I took the dogs for a walk in the forest this morning. They were both running around acting crazy, having a fabulous time. Even old man Alih was in the mood for some play time. ;) I also laid 2 tracks. Mr. L had to hold on to the dogs as they badly wanted to follow me. :). After the walk we dropped Alih off and took Jay for a long drag weight walk. Having him pull a chain is excellent training.

When we came home my dad brought out an old dog sleigh we have. Jay began by pulling my dad, and after a few pulls, I forced my mom to get in to the sleigh too… So Jayness was pulling both my mom and dad at the same time. :) It was a sight, believe me! hihi.. James had to work hard to get the sleigh going, but once it was in motion it was not particularly heavy for him. Even Alih got to pull the sleigh a little bit, obviously with no weight but he loves to work or he will easily feel left out. I don’t blame the old Tiger. ;) He was so proud as he walked around with the sleigh.. hihi… I doubt he even felt it behind him but proud he was. :)

After the “WP session” my parents, Jay and I went back to out to the forest where I had Jay do the 2 tracks. Alih & Mr. L stayed at home. They are both old and get tired easily. hahahaha...

Jay has not tracked in a long time so the tracks were fairly short. He didn't stay exactly in the track but he did really good, especially the 2nd track. He was dead on and found the ball I had hidden in the end in no time. What I also noticed was that he didn’t track fully as fast as he usually does, I guess he was somewhat tired after the walks & the WP training which was good ‘cause it made him more meticulous. I will most likely lay some more tracks tomorrow.. some longer ones, and I will also have Alih come along to track.

My young & wild baby has been pooped for the rest of the day... went for a walk this evening and it's starting to get a little cold (- 8 degrees Celsius = 17 degrees Fahrenheit) so his cover had to come on. Alih is always hot no matter what so he thinks James looks like a lady with that "thing" on. lol.

Guess what we did yesterday?

We went to visit Marina at Kennel Needful Thing's and her 8 very beautiful puppies. We also got to say hi to James' gorgeous Daddy and the other beautiful dogs she has. I fell in love with one puppy, he was like Ferdinand. One look, and I was sold... OMG he was so damn cute! And you must know by now that I'm in love with James' dad, and he's the father of these puppies (yup, so the puppies were James' half-siblings). hihi...I want my little Ferdinad, I want him, I want him!!! :)

I have pics of the puppies but I don't have a cord for downloading them to the computer right now. We are in the country and I don't have my computer with me... well, I wonder why! The damn computer could burn up any minute so I will need to buy a new...

This morning we took the dogs to the lake. Yeah it is getting a bit cold but James does not mind.. he throws himself in the water and like always, prefers to stay in the water forever. :) On the way to the lake we stopped and laid 2 tracks, so on the way home the boys got to do some tracking. I had laid a long track for James this time, and he was very fast (as always) and even though he gets off track every now-and-then he gets to the end ... in a short amount of time too. :) After James, it was Alih's turn and he did a lot better compared to the last time, but he still wasn't as good as he can be... But come on, the boy is old and as an old man he prefers not to be told what to do, but rather do whatever he feels like. :)

Ooooooh, I have to show you pics of the puppies.. and of Mr. Ferdinand. You would melt just like me...promise!

Training Day

Today, James has had to work for a living. hihihi... The day started with swimming for the pooches. However, on our way to the lake we stopped and laid 4 tracks (2 tracks for each dog) so the tracks could settle for awhile.

I’m sure everybody knows about Michael Phelps, the 23-year old American swimmer who beat the Olympic record by winning a total of 8 gold medals. I recently learned that he has the ADD-disorder, and I was like… Holy Moly, James has ADD too and he loves to swim. Too bad there are no Olympic Games for dogs though! hihihi

On our way back from the lake we stopped and did the tracks. James started and this was his first track in months. He lost the track a few times but got back on it pretty fast. After this it was Alih’s turn, and he was not on target either, which he usually is…He stopped a few times and sniffed around in smaller circles before hitting the track again.

The 2nd track for James went excellent though (I’m very happy!!) As always, Jay tracks very fast which usually makes him a bit careless, but this track was both fast and on target. My Cute Baby … yum! The 2nd track went better for Alih as well, but he was not as good as he normally is. Alih, compared to James, is slow but a very meticulous and thorough tracker. Oh well, next time he’ll do better.

Back at home the dogs were tired after all the swimming and tracking. In the afternoon Jay and I did some obedience inside as I was not in the mood to go outside (crappy weather). Took both dogs for a walk in the evening and when we came back, Jay and I went for a bicycle ride. This was the first time that I took him for a real ride… still not very far.. but far enough to have the boy work. I could tell he wanted to run fast as heck, like the mad boy he is, and I let him a couple of times. I think he liked it a lot… still, gotta take it easy until the hips and elbows are X-rayed. Now, I have 2 content dogs that are passed out with their tummies full of food. :)

Below: Jay is starting his track and on the 2nd pic he's coming back happy as can be with the sock in his mouth.


Below: Another pic of the baby rushing back to show his bro and Dad how good he was. And he is not ready to give me the sock just yet. :)


Below: Alih is beginning his track, and coming back with a sock in his mouth too. He cannot wait to tear it apart in order to get to the yummy hot dog that's hiding inside. :)



ps. You like my outfit? LOL. Some serious rain boots, man ... Mr L. was like - "you really fit in here in the country when you look like that". :)

Tracking Class Completed

James and I came back from our last session of his tracking class a while ago. And we got this nice diploma to prove we have completed the course. =)

Our instructor had laid 2 tracks for us upon arrival. The tracks were not straight but rather winding, and the terrain was much tougher too this last time. James really had to work to find the end, but he did it! Jay's problem is that he gets too eager, thus gets a bit sloppy and actually unfocused. But I got some great advice on how to keep working with him so he can learn to get more thorough.

Back home I did some obedience training with him in the garage, and he is really good. He's extremely alert. We have our last session of our obedience class on Tuesday. However, I think I am going to take one or two private lessons with our instructor during the summer too. Jay really got potential considering his eagerness to work, so a little extra help here and there could totally set us off in the right direction. My Baby Blue is so yummy I could eat him! =)