Katerina's Journal

Tug Of War, Water Games And Other Fun

2012-05-20T22:18:00.000+01:00

This time we decided to take the babies and mama to the pond. We (the pups and us) really like to crawl into the woods, off the trail, rather than following the well known path. It´s definitely more fun! :)

So this time, I headed into the thick bush quite shortly after reaching the forest, and I told Toly Rose to "lead us". She is such an independent cute little puppy! I just love giving her the chance to show us what "she´s got" and watch how she solves different situations she faces and how she chooses where to go and how to proceed forward.

We took several stops to play tug of war with some sticks and to see who from the babies has the biggest focus.

Cora seems to be the winner of that one :)

After tug of war, we headed straight for the water of the "First Pond" as we call this little spot beside the trail.

This was another new experience for the kids. After last week´s experience at the creek, the pond was very different - being calm and still, so they decided to try their paws at it a bit more.

Toly Rose was a definite "winner" of the water games. She seemed to especially enjoy it and taking a little bath made her run crazy fast around, before going for another splash.

There she goes! :)

On the way back we also played our favorite hide and seek game. This time both Jachym and I, together with mama Lucky, hid in the bushes alongside the trail. We walked towards home, the kids of course ahead of us, and then we quickly "disappeared" without a word. And we watched and waited.

The three stormed back on the trail towards us, as soon as they found out we are not following them. They passed us in our hideaway, but quickly realized we are not further back and returned. Using their noses and ears, they dove into the bush and - found us! I swear, the biggest reward for them is always the fact that they find you. No need for treats.

Satisfied with themselves and their afternoon game time in the woods, the little huskies jumped into their kennel joyfully and settled down to dream of their next adventure.

Fragile, Yet Strong

2012-05-19T23:26:00.000+01:00

I just had to share this fantastic bloomer. Yes, this is our Christmans Amarilis, which blooms for every single person on the planet during Christmas time. But us.

Being as independent as any other creature around this household, be it dog, cat, flower, tree or a person, our beloved Amarilis surprised us this week with this magic beauty.

I hope this gorgeous flower with the most fascinating color will please us with it´s fragile, yet strong presence for a long time!

Jigsaw Puzzle Friday - Let the Fun (And Weekend) Begin!

2012-05-18T15:06:00.001+01:00

Ok peeps, it´s Friday! You know what to do! :o)

In case you have missed the past puzzles, here is a link to all the previous Jigsaw Puzzle Friday posts.

And a link to our Jigzone Gallery.

Have a great weekend ya all!

Mouse's Diary Entry: "Being Smart Ain´t Easy"

2012-05-18T09:31:00.001+01:00

Alrighty, before some other dog jumps at the opportunity to bark out their thoughts, I am going to call this blog space mine! :)

I am called Mouse since I was a tiny 2,5 months old puppy. In the pedigree, it clearly stands ANUMATI, which is a very suitable and poetic name, because it means moon in some Indian dialect or something, and I think it´s much more noble than Mouse. So, here is the beginning of me - the noble special dog, being called just like an ordinary husky.

on my cloud, erhm, I mean dog bed

Anyhow, I am not going to tell the entire long story of my life, how I was supposed to be racing long distance sled dog and how I, being the super smart (and that one is not out of my head, but my human mom says so) dog, was of course doing so well as a young lead dog talent, until the day the team I led got attacked by a moose and I defended my team mates and my mom by jumping at the moose, but the moose threw me in the air and I simply decided that it was a bit too much and too dangerous. Eventually the humans understood how I felt about this and I became what they call a full time house dog, although I took the time to train and help harness break all my puppies and other young dogs.

as a young race team lead dog, together with my friend Magpie

Yes, I am also a mother (of seven) and this year I became a (young and beautiful) grandmother of two litters, sired by my two handsome sons, who are talented sled dogs. And my daughter is the new lead dog talent around here and I say she´s got all the brains (and looks) from me, so here you go - I made sure the humans have all their sled dog talents and all in my kids so they don´t have to feel sad that I retired from the sport early.

Leading the puppy team, teaching my daughters Snorka and Modra
how to be a sled dog (they are the same color as me)

as a mother

Anyway, I wanted to say that I am very smart and that I drive my humans crazy (and I like to drive them crazy) very often with all sorts of things! :)

Oh no, I do not destroy things, chew furniture or other silly things that other dogs do. That is below my style. I choose to pretend to be deaf and I love to play games, helping to strengthen the humans´ patience and nerves and help to stimulate their brain function.

I heard mom the other day saying how she needs to think out of the box when she works with me!

And this is something I want to talk about. As much as I love being spoiled rotten and lay around all day long on the sofa, and as much as I am called lazy (which is truth into a certain extend), I do love to be active. Or activated. I do love to have that smart brain of mine challenged. Yeah, I know, if I wasn´t a dog, I could´ve entered myself into some TV show for smart people, quizes and such stuff. But because I am a dog, it had to really take me a while to get my hu-mom figure out what really makes me tick. Aaah, us dogs, we have it sometimes hard with those humans!

So yesterday hu-mom took me for a walk to the island. And she forgot to take treats with her. And was lazy to go back get them. Ha - so I am not the only lazy one around here!

Anyway, so she thought for herself, that I will have to go on a leash the whole way.

But once we got behind the gate by the road, she changed her mind and let me off the leash. I darted over the meadow, full speed, right to the lake shore. There were some ducks there in the water and I had to check them out.

Mom called me but I didn´t really wanna go back on the trail, I mean, common it´s so boring to walk on the trail and let all the fun stuff around unchecked.

But mom did something different this time. She didn´t insist on me coming to her and did not keep repeating my name. She just started to walk over the meadow on the other side of the trail!

Now, that was interesting, because the other side of the trail also called for some exploring, so I decided it could be fun to join mom over there.

And what more, she told me what a great dog I was, when I came to her, and told me to go play and explore some more!

And every time I wandered somewhere, nearly out of sight, she just found a more cool place for me to visit and check out. She even led me to spots that she knew I would like, like the little lagoon with the ship wreck where I could walk in the shallow, calm water. You know, I really like water.

yup, I like water

Well, let me tell you, soon enough I was more interested to keep an eye on where hu-mom is and stay closer to her, because she had all these awesome ideas where to go and what fun things to do, that it was more interesting for me than finding my own independent things to do.

How cool was that - nearly an hour of exploring and chasing, and running wild over the mud - field that formed in the bay, crawling over the rocks on the beach, sniffing in the water grass for mice, searching for moose antlers, racing with the flying ducks and playing in the water.

At about the halfway of our adventure, mom stopped and investigated the mud for quite a while so I came to check it out and boy - there were quite fresh bear tracks there! Mom said that I should not run over them, that we´ll come back the next day to take pictures of them, because she didn´t take her camera. But she also said that we should get going and I could feel from her that she wasn´t as relaxed as before we came across these tracks.

She said we won´t go through the thick brush on the way back and she also said to herself "let your dog´s behavior be your indication". I have no idea what that means, but she watched me more closely and when I hesitated before entering a certain spot, she chose to go another way. Hmm, what a different behavior on her side. But in her mind, I sensed her thinking different thoughts. She said that we are living in the wilderness and that we can´t ignore the fact we have wildlife as our closest neighbors. And that we have to know how to co-exist with them, which means not only tolerating and not distracting them, but also being cautious and learn from the nature and listen to it.

Well, I think we huskies do that all the time and I am really glad that our very own humans try to learn from us what we have to say about all that, instead of trying to make us become someone else.

Anyhow, as you can see, I did not chose to fill my blogging space with things purely about my boring life, which was actually my first idea. I could write about how spoiled and mischievous and lazy I am and what a prima-dona I am and how I get so jealous when there are puppies and other dogs coming in the house all the time and all. I chose to be the smart dog I am and to tell you how my wonderful day went yesterday, but also how I totally loved mom´s approach to the walk we made, how she rewarded me with things that were far more interesting for me than treats, and how I helped her to be the guide when bear was likely nearby.

And because I chose to write about this instead of being selfish, I got a chance to write another Diary Entry some time again!

Have a great day and take your dog for a nice walk full of fun and games and surprises, I KNOW they´ll love it!

Your Mouse. (the smart dog - just so you know ;-))

Poor Man's Enchiladas

2012-05-17T14:38:00.001+01:00

Ok, if you are rich, you can also read this! :)

The reason I named this recipe Poor Man´s Enchiladas is simple - we were out of ingredients. In fact, our fridge had a hungry empty stomach and all we had were a few left overs of this and that.

You may ask where is the problem and wonder if we are really that lazy to go get some groceries.

With 25 miles each way of a rough, dirt forest road and the lifestyle we live, grocery shopping whenever we feel like it is a luxury we do not have. Actually, this makes us think more and plan meals and shopping, and be creative! :)

So, after inspecting and evaluating what we have, and really really wanting to make something Mexican as it was Cinco de Mayo that day, I assembled these simple Poor Man´s Enchiladas :)

And they were great!

For 2 persons I used:

1 large chicken breast
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 a can of corn (about 200g)
1 small onion
Mexican Food Spice Mix (from Dollarstore) - use whatever amount you find right and you can use any spice mix suitable for enchiladas, tortillas, or other Mexican food)
a chunk of cheese (I had a leftover piece, normally I would use chedar, but remember - this a poor man´s/leftover recipe :))

On two tea spoons of oil, I softened the onion diced in tiny pieces, then added diced chicken, bell pepper and corn, properly spicing it up. This is done very quick.

You can use store bought tortillas, but here´s how Jachym (the bake master in our house) makes ours:

2 cups spelt flour (you can use wheat if you want, we just try to avoid wheat flour as much as we can)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup warm water

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add olive oil and stir well. Put in warm water 1 table spoon at a time until dough can be gathered into a ball. Add more water if needed one spoon at a time. Knead on floured surface 15-20 times. Let dough rest for 15 minutes, then divide into 10-12 equal portions and shape into balls. On floured surface roll out ball from center into a circle. Roast on ungreased pan over medium-high heat on each side about 30 seconds or until puffy. We usually leave them in the oven to keep them warm.

As you see on pictures - they don´t need to be perfectly round-shaped, so don´t be too hard on yourself! :)

Fill each tortilla with the meat and vegetable mixture, roll them and place them side by side in a baking ceramic dish.

Sprinkle them with whatever cheese and amount of cheese you have available. I also sprinkled a bit of the spice mix over.

Since the ingredients are all cooked and ready, you don´t need to bake it in the oven for long, or on high. Just enough to melt the cheese and warm up the tortillas. And add that lovely crispy edge to them :)

Woala! And serve.

You can make pretty much any meal even with little ingredients. Just use your imagination and don´t give up! :)

Happy Sweet Sixteen Ceeshiak!

2012-05-16T22:25:00.000+01:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SPECIAL BOY CEESHIAK

who celebrates his 16th Birthday today!

picture taken last May, when we visited our family
and Ceeshiak celebrated his 15th birthday.

Ceeshiak aka Ceeshu or Ceeshi, lives his fairy tale retirement life of luxury with my mom and dad in Czech Republic.

He still chases their three cats away from food dishes and enjoys weekends spent in the country side, where they travel almost every week.

Thank you mom and dad for giving Ceeshiu such a wonderful, loving, well deserved retirement home after his sled dog career.

In May 2010, Ceeshiak had a malignant tumor removed from his thigh muscle. He´s been living a happy, healthy life since then. We wish nothing less to this brave, tough guy, than happy, healthy life, that he´s always lived to the fullest!

We´re so proud of you, buddy!

On behalf of your entire pack and family up North, loads of Love

Exploring The Creek

2012-05-16T11:31:00.001+01:00

Few days ago we took the Love puppies aka Cora, Finn and Toly-Rose, and of course their mom Lucky, for a trip. Not that we drove a car somewhere, but our usual puppy walks are around half an hour long. This time we headed out into a new direction for the munchkins and explored a bit for an hour and a half.

The goal was to reach the nearby creek, by conquering the melting snow and getting over many obstacles such as rotting trees, laying across the path, which once used to be a narrow power line, now abandoned, grown over by thick brush at places and visited mostly by deer and our other wild neighbors.

First, a little warm up at the garden :)

Then a little practice of jumping over dead trees and other stuff, on the meadow.

And into the wild! :)

The rotting trees where highly appreciated by the kids. They loved jumping and running back and forth, so we stopped for a while, taking pictures, shooting a short video and mainly "practicing" a little with the little guys. Who knows, maybe one day they might try their paws at agility....:)

They seem quite skilled jumpers for sure! :)

Our little Miss Wild & Crazy Cora. After jumping over obstacles, she decided it was time to SIT ON TOP of obstacles :) She´s such a smart, crazy girl. Her zest for life is so infectious!

And a bit of obedience practice. What can be a better environment, full of distractions, than the wild woods that surround us?

The deeper we got into the thick forest and neared the creek, the more remaining snow we found. And the kids of course loved it, using it for some wild and free, full speed running.

The creek was very busy, rushing it´s waters down the hill toward the Vattudalen lake.

It was a completely new experience for the little ones, open and running water wasn´t something they would know during their first three months of live, being born in the middle of winter.

At first glance, they were surprised, but very curious, although cautious. Smart babies!

It was cool to see them how they interact with this new "thing". They watched us carefully, and did what they saw us doing. A complete trust. When Jachym jumped over to the other side, Finn went immediately, without hesitation after him. Soon they will be running through the water and jumping back and forth :)

It´s amazing seeing them trust us and follow us as their pack leaders. They are strongly bonded to humans and take every new experience with an awesome stride.

On the way back, I let Jachym with Lucky (this time on the leash most of the way, as we have a deer couple hanging around) and the kids go ahead, and hid quite some distance off the path, behind a large fallen spruce. Then I called them up. It was the first time I let them go so far away from me and first time I hid myself so far and well. It was a great game, it took the kids quite a while to find me. At first they were quite confused when they heard me call them but had no traces of me when they kept running back on the path. Cora got my scent first and the moment she "switched her nose ON", she dove down the hill, the correct direction, straight towards my hiding spot.
Toly Rose followed closely from another direction and poor little Finn passed all three of us and took him a while to spot us. The happier he was when he finally spotted "mom". :)

Lucky is an expert in finding me in the woods, and she always gets super excited when we unite, dancing around and swirling. But today we were afraid she could take off after the deer nearby.

I also told Toly to "lead" us out of the hideway back onto the path, as she is quite the little explorer. She is so cool, finding paths and clearings and is an independent gal. So different from Cora, but definitely very interesting character as well.
And she did lead us back onto the path, in a quite clever, well thought out way!

When we hit a nice sunny, drier spot, we took a little break. The kids immediately settled for games such as finding sticks, cones and other treasures, chewing them and wrestling over them.

Now the plan is to do more leash training so we can take them further and for trips across the road. Stay tuned for their next adventures! :)

Some Of The Most Common Myths Within The Sled Dog World

2012-05-15T12:59:00.000+01:00

In my 20+ years of living, training and racing with sled dogs, I have met many different dog mushers and heard and seen many different methods and philosophies regarding feeding, training, and taking care of sled dogs.

Many of these methods and beliefs did not make sense to me when I was a beginner, and truth to be told, they make even less sense to me now, after years of experience.

I just never could quite figure out why would one wanna believe in something that clearly does not benefit the dogs, their health, happiness or performance.

After trying different methods, usually choosing a natural approach to my dogs, based on common sense and intuition mostly, and after following and learning from professional, dedicated and successful mushers, seeing them doing often the exact opposite of the beliefs that never seemed to make sense to me, I realized that there are simply many myths and misconceptions and many folks who chose to believe in them without trying doing something else.

So I have decided to write about a few of the most common myths and why they are myths.

1. If you train your dog as a sled dog, he should not be doing anything else (other activities)

The opposite is the truth. The wider range of activities you engage your dog(s) in, the better. The dogs will benefit tremendously from different experiences, and from doing different things with their team mates, their pack and – you.

It helps to create a stronger, tighter bond, which is the key for success and harmony.

The dogs will be more relaxed and less stressed not only with each other, but also with different situations they will learn about during those different activities. If they go for regular walks where they can meet other dogs (of other shapes, colors and sizes), they will be more social and won´t get surprised when they meet such a dog on the race/training trail. If they meet horses or other animals, people, traffic, same thing.

Different activities can help build the dog’s confidence. This can be extremely important with dogs who are born a bit timid or are shy for different reasons. Activities such as agility or hiking trips through various terrain are ideal for confidence building.

Clicker training can tremendously help strengthening the bond between you and the dogs, and will teach them self control (which is another crucial aspect for a sled dog, especially living in a larger pack), self awareness, and will broaden their „horizons“. I can report an amazing development of a sled dog, who, since puppyhood had been trained with clicker and introduced to multiple activities. The more, the better!

2. If you want your dogs to perform better and run faster, you should not let them run loose around, but keep them in kennels.

Everyone who does some kind of sport knows, that every athlete - human, equine or canine, will benefit tremendously from different stretching methods. That stretching will help against lactic acid build up in the muscles after a workout, that without moving, warming up and stretching before and after any kind of performance, the body is much more prone to injuries our muscles will get stiff and further exercise will be painful.

Relaxed body with loosened up muscles will allow the athlete run faster for a longer period of time and thus increase performance, instead the opposite believed in this myth, that the dogs will be short of energy, if they are let out to stretch, run, play and warm up. Regular free movement, playing and natural stretching will help increase performance, help maintain the muscles in top condition and make the dogs happier too!

Top world class mushers, either in sprint or distance racing sphere know this and let their dogs out of their pens or tethers, to run and play around the dog yard, where the dogs do a natural „active“ stretching, naturally warming themselves up for the upcoming performance, be it a training run or a race.

It is equally as important to do so after their work, so they can loosen up and stretch out the bodies that worked for many hours, or performed at the top speed, preventing the lactic acid build up in their muscles and very importantly – preventing stiffening. Another important factor is that after a performance (especially after an extra tough one), if one´s planning a day off for the canine athletes, this day should not be spent just laying around in their houses, but a short, effective active stretching (and the best form is to let them run around loose and play) is in place. Many dedicated mushers also perform “passive stretching” and massage on their dogs and often get a professional chiropractor visit their kennel and work with their A-team before and after big races.

It of course all makes sense: Just try to sit all day long in the office, and then, without any warm up, go directly for a 5km run, then get back to your office chair. How does it feel?

Some mushers do not let their dogs run and play and naturally stretch out not because they are lazy, but out of fear that their animal athletes can sustain an injury, such as strains, sprains, fractures, etc. I have experienced this similarity among horse people. Fearing their show jumping or dressage horses will hurt themselves before a competition, many owners and riders won´t let the horses out in a corral or pasture, or even for a trail ride in the nature. But the truth is, that beside this being quite unethical (maintaining an artificial life for the racing animal, who is first and foremost an animal and needs to have contact with nature), horses and dogs that are being “protected” like this are the ones most prone to injuries.

The opportunity to walk and run over all sorts of natural obstacles and experiencing different terrain roughness helps their coordination, strengthens their ligaments and muscles and thus makes them tougher and less prone to injuries.

Yes, injuries do happen, weather it is on a race or training trail, or at home in the dog yard or on a walk. Dogs are animals, mushing is a natural sport and “things” can happen. But we have to realize that we are working with live beings and their quality of life, health and happiness are our top priority. They are not a treasured sports equipment that helps us get yet another medal, but treasured friends and partners whom we should respect and provide what they need, to our best ability and possibilities.

3. Taking sled dogs for walks will destroy them as sled and pulling dogs

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I´ve ever heard. Dogs are not stupid. Since they can learn that leash and walk are not work (and can be taught to not pull on a collar), they also know when it´s about pulling and work. They get so over excited about their upcoming run, once they are hooked up in the team, that their natural instincts take over and all they wanna do is run and pull. You can never take out the desire for this passion they are born with, away from them, by taking them for walks or doing other activities. My dogs run perfectly loose on dog shows on tiny string leashes, which they could break in two whenever they desire. They can come on call, when I call them out of a group of 20, in which they play. They know self control is in order, when their dinner is coming and they sit patiently waiting for their portion. But the minute we put a harness on them and start hooking up, they get crazy. The excitement of what they love, what they were genetically coded for, takes over. They will never lose it by doing other things or being taken on walks.

Again, same as in myth nr.1 and 2, these statements are often made by lazy people, not entirely dedicated to their dogs and their needs. It is so much easier to just let the dogs sit in their kennel all their life, and take them out only for a training run or for a race.

4. Sled dogs don´t make good pets/house dogs

I was quite upset when I read this in a newspaper article once. It was in connection with re-homing sled dogs from a kennel that no longer wanted/or could have them. I have also heard this from a few dog drivers, who were reluctant to make the effort to search for new homes for their retired dogs or dogs that did not fit in their team. This is very disturbing thing to say. Why? Because retired sled dogs actually can made wonderful pets!

There are hundreds of former Iditarod, or world championship sprint dogs, or dogs who worked their entire lives giving rides to tourists, who are placed each year to new homes, and together with their new owners live happy, harmonic lives.

Dogs retired from the work in dog team are often much less destructive than a puppy or an adolescent husky. They are grateful for the possibility of more comfortable life, for the possibility to sleep on the sofa, while waiting for the human to come back from work, and don´t pull the life out of you, when you take them for a walk, ski or bicycle trip.

They are social dogs, who spent their lives among other dogs, and usually adapt fast and well to the new life as a companion, even in households with other pets or small children. It is all about trying it out, talking to the dog´s previous owner about the dog´s mentality, personality, temperament and preferences, and choosing the right dog for the right home. You can always find the suitable former sled dog that will fit in your life and will make a wonderful pet. And the same way you can find a suitable, responsible and loving forever home for your retired four legged friend. You just need to give it a try.

I am preparing another article about the myths and misconceptions among sled dog breeders and buyers, regarding acquiring of adult or older dogs, about when the puppies should leave for their new homes, etc. Stay tuned! J

And finally, myth nr.5: If you want your sled dogs to be healthy, they should not be eating raw meat

I was shocked to hear this opinion from mushers, whom I thought were serious in this sport. The most common reason for this misconception seams to be the fear of bacteria in meat. Raw meat is a natural diet for the canine family for thousands of years and their organisms are perfectly „designed“ to utilize meat and all the important essential nutrients it contains. Sled dogs are the canine athletes who need loads of calories to perform at their best ability and potential, and to stay healthy throughout their entire life. Kibble (commercial dry food), no matter how advanced and specially designed for working dogs, is not enough and meat needs to be the essential part of the healthy diet for these dogs.

Be it the exhilarating spring racing or the extreme „ultra marathon“ long distance racing, pulling heavy sleds with tourists or on expeditions, sled dogs need meat and preferably raw. Raw form of meat provides the essential enzymes, which are destroyed by the cooking process and are not present in commercial dry food (unless added after the baking process, which only a very few brands do – unfortunately, none of them is available in Europe).

Dogs that run the longest race on Earth – the Iditarod could never complete those 1700km in severe weather and conditions, if they were only on commercial pet food.

Even the best dry foods contain more carbohydrates than dogs really need (and that high performing dogs can utilize as energy source). Sled dog´s body will use energy mainly from fats that need to an integral, essential part of their diet, supplemented in form of meats, fish and oils. This is supported by long time sled dog nutrition and performance studies performed by world´s best dog intuitionalists and veterinarians. All this is explained in detail in these two excellent articles: Is High Fat The Key To Winning Back-to-Back Distance Races? by Donna Marlor and
Rendering Sense Into Feeding Fat by Arleigh Reynolds, PhD., DVM.

It is a well known fact, that dogs fed naturally live longer, healthier lives with less skin problems, sensitive stomachs and other issues, so typical in these „modern times“.

Many dogs with serious health conditions and diseases such as cancer, liver or kidney failure, strive and improve on natural diet, consisting partially of raw meat with specific natural supplements.

I could write about nutrition and myths connected to it, forever. But it is a topic for some other time J

Free Giveaway For All Dog Enthusiasts

2012-05-12T11:43:00.003+01:00

Here´s a super easy chance for you to win cool prizes:

All you need to do is "like" Katerina´s Journal on Facebook, and share and recommend the page to your friends, to help to grow the "likes" to 500.

When our Facebook page reaches 500 "likes", we will draw 6 random winners among all the 500, eligible to win one of the following prizes:

1. Gift Card from Nordic Husky Farm E-Shop in the value of 100:-SEK (about 10EUR or 15USD)

2. Collar for your dog (you can choose between red and black pattern)

3. 10% Discount for purchase of any handcrafted item from Kipp d´Amundsen Art & Design

4. Suggested Individual Feeding Program for 1 dog with useful information about natural and holistic feeding

5. 100g package of Kelp natural organic supplement for pets

6. 10pack of safety plastic neckline snaps

So, all you need to win one of these great prizes is to spread the word about our blog and help our Facebook page grow to 500 likes! :)

The draw of prize winners will be made within 7 days since our page reaches 500 likes, and the winners will be announced on Katerina´s Journal Facebook page, here on the blog and winners will be contacted in a private message on Facebook.

Good luck!

Jigsaw Puzzle Friday

2012-05-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

It´s Friday - play away! :-)

This one´s quite easy, for a change :) Featuring Tolly Rose (one of the "Love" litter puppies) on yesterday´s walk.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Trails,

Good Morning World!

2012-05-11T07:30:00.000+01:00

Goooood Mornin´, World!

Hope you all have a great Friday and remember - The world always looks brighter from behind a smile!

The Raw Beauty Of Nordic Spring

2012-05-10T14:56:00.001+01:00

Hi folks, long time no see. But before I keep you all posted about all the latest happenings here, let me take you along for a walk we made the other day with the house girls Babeli and Mouse.

Pretty Mouse

Floating miniature "iceberg"

Our beaches are like the North itself - rough :)

Mouse really likes to pound the fresh, clear water in search for "whoknowswhat"

I love shipwrecks, they are so photogenic

One of the first bloomers. Hurray!

Pretty...

... and prettier :)

Light And Soft Cake With Berries and Fruits

2012-05-08T00:43:00.001+01:00

In my Friday post I promised to share the recipe for the lovely cake Jachym made me.

It´s really easy and fast to make, very light, fruity and - oh so good! :)

So, here it is:

Cake:
2 cups spelt flour
3/4 cup sugar (we use brown, but you can also use birch sugar, stevia or agave syrup)
2,5tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil

Blend well and bake in cake form for 40 minutes in preheated oven on 180°C (356F)

Decorating:
apricot jam (we use mom´s home made)
fresh or frozen raspberries
half a banana
handful of lingon berries or cranberries
3 tbl spoons blueberry jam (home made is best)
10g jelly powder (we use the one from Dr.Oetker)

Let cool the cake down, then take out of the form. Cut it horizontally in the middle and spread the Apricot jam between the two parts. Put the cake back together. Spread raspberries evenly over the top.

Mix 3 table spoons of blueberry jam with 2 spoons of sugar and water, so it makes 250ml of liquid (or how much is written to be used, on the jelly package) and blend well with the jelly powder. While stirring, let it boil for 1 minute.

Set aside from the cooker and let it cool, while stiring it from time to time.

When the jelly mix starts to get thicker, start spreading it evenly over the top of the cake and the raspberries.

You can then decorate the top with bananas, cranberries (they bring a special contrast to the sweet taste of bananas and the rest of the cake), or any other fruit you want or have at home.

As you see, not difficult at all, with some healthy ingredients and on the budget. What impresses me is the fact, that Jachym invented something like this just right on the spot (in the kitchen) without any research or inspiration. Just "I wanna bake something nice today", and it was done. I am one lucky, spoiled woman! :)

Surgery Helps Dogs With Wheezers

2012-05-06T10:47:00.000+01:00

This is an excellent article (and news).

It´s been written two years ago and circulated among some of my Facebook friends - mostly sled dog enthusiasts.

But because "wheezers" (medical term: Congenital Laryngeal Paralysis, or CLP for short) is a serious health condition that many dogs and dog breeds suffer from (and can actually die from), I believe it´s always good to spread this info more.

While in my neck of the woods (and many other areas) a surgery like this one is a utopia unfortunately, I still believe that it will eventually become more common and spread internationally.

Please note also the mention of research - if you have a dog with wheezers, you are most welcome to participate in this research by providing information for statistical purposes.

Here´s the full article by Joseph Robertia:

https://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/wheeze-no-more-%E2%80%94-surgery-helps-sled-dogs-owners-breathe-easier/

Our Celebration Of Cinco De Mayo

2012-05-05T12:02:00.000+01:00

This is not an April Fool´s joke. First of all, it´s not April. And secondly, where would we get so much snow to dump, as a joke.

Yup, this is our real, May 5th weather. And it´s snowing and blowing as I am typing.

Few minutes ago, I watched the fox boy from the kitchen window. From his expression and body language he was not happy. His feet must´ve felt cold and wet, as he lifted them unpleasantly. He trotted along the road, then made a brisk jump at a group of birds and, disgusted he didn´t catch anything, he turned his head in different directions, thinking of his next move. He seemed hungry and his ears were wide spread and low, a sign of him hating the wet snow dumping on his head. He looked depressed for a moment, pounding the snow with his front paw, then sniffing the ground, wondering where the mice have gone. Hope he´ll find some leftovers from the dog food we threw behind the fence.

It´s not just us, it´s the animals in the woods who are also getting tired of the winter and long for the warmth of the sun rays and the green grass and fat rodents.

But I do not want to sound all depressed here. At least it´s not freezing. There´s always something to do to occupy the mind and something to celebrate.

So, although we are not Mexican, nor American, we decided that today is the perfect occasion to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. I know, funny way with all the snow, but what the heck.

Here´s how it looks at our place right now:

And this is how it will look tonight:

Or maybe not. But for sure, there will be some Cinco De Mayo Food. I mean, just look at those different kinds of delicious thingies one can make!!!

Do you have any favorite recipe you can share? I LOVE Mexican food. Hola. Ay caramba. Adios.

I need s-u-n-s-h-i-n-e !!! I am going mad. Over and out.

Have a great weekend and Feliz Cinco De Mayo!

The Odds And Ends Of An Ordinary Friday (And The Week Wrap Up)

2012-05-04T19:26:00.001+01:00

Ok, this is looking like a heck of a lot of junk assembled together extremely randomly!

Believe me, it all has a common sense (or at least in my crazy head), just let me explain :)

I first wanted to write about motivation. Then I thought I´d share a new recipe Jachym came up with. Then there is the announcement. Loads of stuff. So I thought to put it all in one big chunky post. So here you go:

Firstly, I think we all could always use a bit of a motivation and inspiration. Something to warm up our hearts and remind us we are loved and that things will be alright, when we feel down.

I have received a lot of encouragement and kind words on the blog lately so here´s my little giving back.

I love this quote and I very much agree with it through the been there done that way :)

Believe me, this is so very true - there´s always a way back up, and when it comes to dog mushing - oh, well, this counts double - just try it out sometime - after the fall, you´ll be still moving - and amazingly fast! :)

My week´s been busy (now that I wrote it, I actually wonder when it ever wasn´t busy), and one of the things that kept me busy was finally finishing and uploading the Katerina´s Journal Facebook Page. So now you can also follow the blog through Facebook. If you wanna do that, the simplest way is too click on the Facebook logo on the top right sidebar. Or here.

Thank you for all the thumbs up and encouragement and feedback you sent me regarding the blog and the FB page! I hope the page will make it easier and more organized for you to not miss out on the most recent blog post links, photos, useful tips, contests and more fun stuff, especially if you´re not signed up to follow the blog or to receive email updates.

Now, another notable thing that happened this week was our handsome young Sherwood´s birthday. I already posted our happy birthday wishes to the boy, but thought to share this as a highlight of the week :) Unfortunately, we had no doggy cake for him, but we plan on giving him some extra treats this weekend, when we often have a Pig Ear Sunday or other similar "candy" day for the kids.

Anyway, this leads me to a cool great idea I just read about on a cool, great blog of fellow blogger Pam and her dog Oskar (or actually Oskar and his human mom Pam) at Pet Blogs United.

They have a "Photo of the day" thingie on their blog and everyone who is their blog buddy and member of PBU can send in their beloved pet´s picture, which will be featured. So if you want your furry beauties to become "famous" and if you wanna meet more pet bloggers, pay them a visit.

Also, don´t forget to check out our latest Online Jigsaw Puzzle I posted earlier today!

And, I´m gonna wrap it up with something sweet and delicious my darling made as a surprise for me today. Doesn´t it look lovely? It tastes splendid. Just what I´ve been craving lately - light, fruity kind of cake or dessert. Jachym agreed (not as enthusiastically as making it) to write down the recipe, so I´ll share it with you in one of the next posts. It´s so simple and tasty, I´m sure you´re gonna love it!

And that´s about it for the highlights of my week. How about yours?

Wishing you all a wonderful Friday and remember, wherever you are:

Happy Trails and Stay Safe!

Love

It´s Jigsaw Puzzle Friday!

2012-05-04T12:04:00.000+01:00

Good morning!

Ok, in some parts of the world it´s actually noon, somewhere you guys are just reaching out for your first cup of coffee and somewhere it´s bed time.

How should I know.

Actually, there is one thing I know for sure. It´s Friday. My calendar says so and it also shouts at me with big red letters that it´s maintenance day.

Which means cleaning up and tidying at the dog kennel, which is my favorite part ´cause I get to spend the time with the furry kids.

It also means cleaning the house, which is my not-so-favorite part, ´cause, well, I get to spend it with the germs. And germs are not dogs. But enough with the nonsense.

It´s Friday and that means the second Jigsaw Puzzle Friday edition on my blog. I was thrilled by all your interest and nice comments and mostly I am so glad you had fun. Although a few folks complained on Facebook, that they got nothing else done. Hi hi. Don´t mean to sound mischievous!

So here is my next puzzle for you. It features Lucky and her babies (aka the Love Litter) taking a nap. Maybe we all should take a nice nap. After all, it´s Friday :)

More puzzles can be found in our own Kipp d´Amundsen Online Jigsaw Puzzle Gallery.

Let me know which one is your favorite and how long it took you to play this one. If you sign in, you can actually challenge me, or Jachym or any of your buddies, for a record time.

Write me. I love reading your comments.

Have fun and happy Friday!

The First Messenger Of Spring Helps Fight Cough And Cold

2012-05-03T14:58:00.000+01:00

The spring is here! My camera caught these little guys along the road on the way from town the other day!

They are always the very first flowers that pop up in our area, announcing the arrival of spring.

In most places, they grow in March, when the snow is gone, our area sees them usually at the end of April.

They are tiny, and look fragile, but they in fact are amazingly strong. Just think about it - pushing through the still partially frozen ground to get on the surface. Blooming in the cold weather, often getting still snowed over or bitten by the morning frost. They are tiny, but incredibly tough little flowers.

And did you know they also have a medical use?

Their name is Coltsfoot (official latin name is Tussilago Farfara).

The use of Coltsfoot in natural medicine is mainly for treating coughs and colds, but also asthma and they make a great mask for oily or inflamated skin.

You can pick and use the flowers and leafs. Always make sure to pick them on a sunny day, when the contained healing properties are the strongest. Also, make sure to pick the flowers dry (around or shortly after noon is ideal, when the dew or frost is gone).

Coltsfoot can be used in the following forms:

Infusion - against cough and cold or flu
Infusion can be used as tea, herbal bath or for inhalation.
Tincture - to treat chronic cough and asthma
Tincture is used in form of drops in a glas of water, that you sip.
Syrup - helps to moisturize during dry coughYou can drink syrup directly (use a spoon full at a time) or added to water or other drink.

Here is how you can make a home made herbal tincture. It is incredibly simple and cheap!

Please note that the video shows an example tincture of a different herb for a different health issue than the cold and coughs I am writing about in this post. What´s important are the steps and technology.

If it´s already late for this flower where you live, or if you live in a city, with no possibility to pick and dry it yourself, you can buy organic Coltsfoot at Mountain Rose Herbs, which I highly recommend due to their service, eco-friendliness and approach to nature and health.

Isn´t it fascinating how Mother Nature has everything planned out and organized so well? In spring, we have tendencies of getting coughs and colds (often as a result of changing weather and also of the body´s natural detoxification and cleaning process), and just like that, one of the very first spring flowers comes up. And to no surprise, it has the healing powers to help cure the cough and the cold.

Happy Trails and Loads of Health!

Happy Birthday Sherwood!

2012-05-02T19:13:00.001+01:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Dear Sherwood, Happy Birthday To You! :)

Love, Your Hu-Mom

Five Basic Gymnastic And Stretching Exercises

2012-05-02T15:48:00.000+01:00

For today´s post from the Massage & Stretching topic, I chose to show you the few basic gymnastic and stretching exercises we do with the dogs.

The great thing about them is that they are very easy to do and learn to do, and they are not time consuming at all.

I ideally exercise with the dogs while letting them run loose and play in the yard, and during the training and race season, we have so called Recovery Days for that.

As you will see on the pictures below, it is possible to combine 2 in 1 and get fun and purpose out of it at the same time :) The dogs usually love the attention.

The basic exercises I am going to talk about, have a few purposes at once:

1. Diagnostic

2. Exercising and Maintaining Flexibility

3. Bonding

4. Pre and Post Performance Warm Up

I will explain how these points work, as I take you through the five exercise examples.

This is the first one I recommend to begin with, after the dog(s) has been moving for a few minutes (running, playing). I call it PAWS UP :

You can begin simply and naturally, just like Star and I show on the picture above. The target is to get the dog to get on his/her hind feet and lift his front up. You can lure the dog to jump with his front paws on an elevated object (chair, tree, wall, your chest, etc.).

You can also use a treat (I use regular kibble) and lure the dog to lift his front or jump for it, as pictured below.

Be careful, if the dog appears stiff, is older, has problems with his wrists and joints, do not do the jumping in the air part.

Ideally, it should look like this:

Once the dog has his feet on your chest, you can continue higher, by taking his paws in your hands and elevating them higher, up to your shoulders, like this:

You can stand or sit, depending how tall you are comparing to the dog.

Inuk is showing a nice Paws Up stretch on this picture:

The purpose of this exercise is to get the dog to make an easy overall active stretch of his body, his hind and front legs (mainly muscles on his thighs and shoulders), hips, back muscles, spine and abdomen.

It´s an exercise that doesn´t require much effort on either side (the dog nor the owner) and doesn´t put the dog into an awkward position, which he doesn´t trust or understand.

Through Paws Up you achieve a warm up, important before performance or after performance, to avoid stiffening of muscles, you exercise flexibility of the dog (this is especially important in aging dogs who don´t have as much physical activity anymore, to keep them flexible), and as a bonus, you are bonding with your canine friend, who usually loves this.

The next exercise is actually a series of gymnastic flexibility exercises, focused mainly on the neck and head. We call them simply RIGHT FLEX, LEFT FLEX, HEAD UP and HEAD DOWN.

These are basically bending exercises and their purpose is not only a flexibility stretching, but diagnostic as well.

Before you start practicing with your dog(s), please very careful and look for any signs of discomfort, while you work with the dog. Working dogs and sled dogs in particular are prone to neck injuries. It can be from all the jerking on the gangline, as they work attached to the main line by neckline, clipped to their collar. It isn´t uncommon for sled dogs to get tangled or hit a small tree when the team travels through a thick forest on a narrow trail. A running partner who dips for snow or water can cause many jerks along the run. The neck absorbs a lot of stress and the injuries don´t have to be huge, but can still cause stiffness and discomfort and if this is not being regularly treated and taken care of, it may cause the dog to become very stiff and limited in motion in a higher age.

So, here HuggyBear demonstrates the Right Flex, in several stages. It is really important to go from state to stage slowly, step by step.

Using a treat, let the dog stand straight on a solid surface and lure him to flex his head (neck) to one side. The Right Flex actually stretches the muscles and ligaments on the dog´s left side.

Here, HuggyBear is about midway towards his right thigh. You can stay in this position for a while, before continuing further.

A healthy, flexible dog should have no problem whatsoever to touch his thigh with his nose. You can also lower your hand towards the dog´s hind paw and get him to touch it as well. This can be taught with clicker as a trick and can make it really easy to work with the dog on his active stretching exercises.

And for a complete picture - Left Flex (bending to the dog´s right, stretching his left side).

Always make sure the dog doesn´t show any signs of discomfort at a certain stage.

So for example if he flexes fine up till midway from touching his thigh, but at this point starts showing discomfort, unwillingness to flex further or simply seems to not be able to flex any further, do not force him to flex more. Instead, go back to the beginning position with head forward and do the flexes again, only up to the problem point. The dog may just be stiff in his neck and body and if you continue patiently repeating these exercises on daily basis (or even twice a day), he should start showing signs of improvement eventually. If he still has a problem with his flexibility at a certain point and on a certain side (for example, flexing to the right is easier for him than to the left), he may be out of balance, which can be improved by gymnastic and stretching exercises, but he may also need a good, experienced certified dog chiropractor/physiotherapist.

One of our dogs Sparky (big, 7 years old male) has a fairly large problem with neck flexibility on both sides. When I started to do these exercises with my dogs, I found out he really struggles with bending his neck. When I helped him to flex further than he seemed willing to, he screamed in pain. After analyzing what seems to have caused this problem, I clearly recalled his two accidents that happened a few years back. In both cases, Sparky, running in wheel position, in a tight curve went one way, while the rest of the team the other way, with a tree in between. In both cases I managed to lower the impact by hitting the brakes (once on sled, once on atv). In one case Sparky´s neckline rope broke. I have switched to safety neckline snaps since then (I will write about using these and other safety equipment in one of my next posts), and we have been fortunate that both situations ended up the way they did. But clearly, they caused him neck injury, which we would not have found out about, if we wouldn´t do these gymanstic and stretching exercises. Now we know that when an oportunity arrives, we will have Sparky looked at and treated by a professional sled dog chiropractor.

He is fine, he works like a horse but his neck stiffness caused by the old injury would start increasing without treatment and could cause him trouble at the higher age.

Sparky´s story is a typical example of how important diagnostic role the gymnastic and stretching exercises play.

The last two exercises are:

Head Up, stretching the bottom part of the neck. You can go further up and back, I just didn´t get a better picture of more stretched head.

And Head Down, bending the head down toward the front feet, then between them and as far back as possible, exactly as shown on the pictures below. The dog stretches not only his back part of neck, but also his back. This is an excellent exercise, mainly for the older dogs.

You can repeat all the exercises two or three times each time you work with the dog. You can even do a morning and evening session, if necessary.

So, these are the five basic, simple exercises you can easily learn and perform at home, to improve the flexibility of your dogs, to warm them up before and after physical performance and to detect a problem or injury.

By doing gymnastics and stretching with your dog(s) regularly, you constantly learn to know their bodies better. This helps to notice any difference, problem or change in the dog´s body (for example due to injury or illness) that may occur. It is a known fact that people who truly live with their dogs have such well trained eyes and through knowing their dogs really well, are able to determine a problem very fast, which helps to treat and cure it in time.

Besides, bonding, spending the time together and doing some other type of activity is a wonderful bonus and natural tool to strengthening your relationship.

The First Free Giveaway Winners Announcement

2012-04-30T22:07:00.000+01:00

First of all - Thank You and a Big Welcome to all of the new blog followers and to all who participated in my blog´s First Free Giveaway!

I am happy to announce, that Katerina´s Journal has 10 new members as of this past weekend and I hope you all will enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

And because we have ten new followers, it means there are two winners (one from each five signed up).

As you can see, I took my duty and responsibility of the winners draw very seriously! :)

I have a few witnesses - if Jachym, Mouse, Babeli, Mio, Pippi and Ronja count. Actually, Ronja was outside, searching for some mice. But the rest was here, surrounding me as I was cutting up piece of paper and writing names of all the new followers. They were making sure I don´t cheat or leave someone behind.

All the names were put in a nice little useful bag from Scrabble game tiles (oh, how inventive I am!), and then Jachym picked one from each five put in.

So, with no further due, let me announce the winners of my very first free giveaway:

Dewclaw and Melanie Hannam. Congratulations!

I will try to contact you directly, but if in the meantime you get to read this post, please get back to me by email (kippsiberians@kokeshnet.com) or send me a message on Facebook. Don´t forget to state your email address and mainly - let me know what prize have you chosen from the three possibilities, offered. See the previous post for the options.

Thanks for playing and stay tuned for the next contest!

Happy Trails,

Juniper's Diary Entry: "One Little Spice Girl's Confessions"

2012-04-30T12:37:00.000+01:00

My name is Juniper (aka Juni) and I am a Spice Girl.

Besides being a Spice Girl (meaning me and my siblings were named after spices, and I am a girl), I am almost 8 months old husky puppy and an adorable, sweet soul (at least that´s what I am often told).

My humans tell me I will soon be learning to become a sled dog, which sounds interesting, although I have no idea what that means. Yet.

So, in the meantime, while waiting for this apparently big thing, I try to be the best in what I can do so far. Being cute. See how well I do that?

Visiting the house and doing the in-house play/learn/bond/train sessions is one of my most favorite things. I just can´t wait till it´s my turn every time.

Why do I love these sessions?

I get the humans all just for myself. I can chase that crazy and strange ball, which gives me kibble when I chase it hard enough. I get a click and cookie for every trick I make. And receive loads of belly rubs and words which I don´t understand, but they sound nice and warming!

Now, don´t you agree those things are so worth loving?

I also like to think I am special and loved and charming, because I have a very cool human auntie, who lives very far in a place called Nevada, and the humans say she is my sponsor. Whatever it means. All I know is that she thinks I´m cute and she supports me and my buddies and her name sounds lovely - Kirstie. I like that.

So, this is what is going on in my puppy life right now.

I almost forgot to say that I have two sisters and one brother and the human mom (the one who smells like dog cookies) says, that they will be writing their diary entries sometime too, as well as all the other big and small dogs of the kennel.

And the human dad (the one who always carries some electronic device in his hand) says, that because we are not going to get 60 Google accounts so that all of us can post here, our Dog Diary Entries will be signed by the human mom.

Gotta sign off and go play. Much puppy love, Your Juni.

Oat Porridge With Apples and Cinnamon

2012-04-30T07:30:00.000+01:00

Unless we are in a hurry, we love to cook a warm, tasty and healthy breakfast. And with my metabolic disorder and problems with sugar management, I have managed to develop breakfasts that combine the tastiness, warmth, healthiness and lower GI factor together.

Porridges from all sorts of grains and seeds, combined with different nuts, spices and fruits have become very popular in our house, not only for Jachym and me, but also among our handlers crew members. In winter months, it is nearly impossible to imagine our breakfast table without a porridge. One can last and be active "on them" for a fairly long time, without the quick sugar peak up and down, caused by other, carb based foods.

What I love about them is that they are easy to make, delicious, nutritious, healthy, cost effective and easy to variate.

This version from oat flakes as the only grain, with apples and cinnamon is one of the top favorites around here.

Ingredients:

1,5 cups oat flakes

1 tbs of flax seed

Pinch of salt

1/2l water

100ml milk

1 half sized red apple

1 tsp ground cinnamon

brown sugar (for myself I use birch sugar or Agave syrup. You can also use Stevia powder).

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Directions:

In a smaller to medium sized pot bring water to boil and add salt. Then add milk. Watch that it doesn´t "run" out of the pot.

Add oat flakes and stir. Let boil and turn the heat to 50%. After about 5 minutes add the flex seed, stir again and keep boiling until flakes form a porridge.

In the meantime, slice the apple, get rid of the middle and cut it up into small cubes or chunks.

Add the apple into the porridge, stir properly and leave on the stove until apple softens.

Add cinnamon and stir for the last time.

Once apple pieces are soft, the porridge is ready to serve.

Put it in bowls, sprinkle over with sugar to your liking and add a bit more cinnamon for the nice look and aroma.

You can also serve it together with peach jam (oh, lucky me, I have my stock from mom´s fantastic home made apricot jam, they don´t grow here, so I would have no chance). The combination of apricots, cinnamon and apple is fabulous.

You can also add raisins, which I would recommend to add into the porridge at the same time as the apple.

Good Appetite!

Top 10 Lessons My Dogs Taught Me

2012-04-29T12:46:00.000+01:00

Many articles have been written on this topic, but I am going to write from a slightly different perspective. Perspective of someone, who lives over twenty years with siberian huskies.

Some people (and believe me, those are the ones, who either never shared a daily life with a siberian, or who just never took the journey into this unique dog´s soul) say siberians are stubborn, stupid, wild, aggressive, not to be trusted and otherwise uneasy to train.

While the first and last may be true, I would use a better way to describe them - they are natural, highly intelligent and thus challenging.

But today I am not writing about the character of this breed, but about what valuable life lessons these dogs gave and keep giving me on literally daily basis.

I am sure that I could come up with a zillion more lessons my dogs give me every single day, of course, but let´s just break it down to the top 10 today:

1. To read one´s body language (be it a dog, another animal or person)

Living and interfering with the dogs every day, and watching how they communicate within the pack, with us humans, how they react to different weather, wildlife, how they solve situations on the trail, how they rest, eat, recover, play - all that and much more taught me to get to know them and understand them better, and to learn how to communicate without words, if one only opens their eyes, ears and heart.

2. A strong sense of empathy
(ok, I´ve always been an emphatic person, but I mastered it)

3. To be creative and inventive (read: not to be boring, employ my mind to come up with ways to break or spice up a boring routine)

Because if I wouldn't open my mind and become creative and inventive, I would have no success with teaching, training, communicating and cooperating with these smart animals. No way! Thinking out of the box is one of the keys to getting their interest and engaging them into a successful and healthy relationship.

4.To be patient

And to learn to take things more easy, to understand that a great result depends on a great amount of hard work and that adding bit of sense of humor is a necessity. Working and communicating with live creatures requires patience and understanding that not everything will always work out as planned, that many situations and obstacles pop up to be solved and overcome first.

5. To think one step ahead

Through their intelligence, they definitely constantly challenge me to be smarter, to always be one step ahead if I want to achieve something. Which leads, hand in hand to the next point.

6. To be smarter

They actually taught me how to engage my brain in finding fun and motivating ways for them to enjoy and want to do what I want them to do. To finding solutions, rather than breaking down and giving up.

7. To learn to listen

To what they have to say, what is it that they want, what makes them tick - believe me, this is a key to A) understanding better your dogs and B) to creating a better, stronger relationship, based on healthy mutual respect and harmony.

8. To be more responsible and cautious

9. To be (mentally and physically) tougher

To work with huskies and their natural, smart character requires one to be mentally tough. You have to know what you want from your dogs, what your goal is (be it teaching them a few tricks, potty training, obedience competitions, loose running, sprint racing, agility competing, long distance racing - you name it). That´s when many of the points above come in handy. And they all together made me become mentally tougher too. Naturally, in my case, working with a large group of dogs and training and racing sled dog teams makes one physically tougher as well. And when I see my weaknesses, I long for improvements within myself and thus constantly work on becoming tougher, both physically and mentally. This sport and lifestyle and sharing life with a pack of huskies is a great opportunity for such growth.

10. To be less selfish

I believe that anyone who TRULY loves their canine companions and learns about empathy, also learns to be less selfish. If you understand your dogs and their nature, you have good chances of becoming less selfish in many ways. You learn to want what´s best for them, although it sometimes means it´s not necessarily the best for you. Be it in terms of reflecting on your ambitions versus their health and capabilities, or your need to keep them by your side, although they would be happier living a different life (perhaps with someone else), or the difficult learning that it´s time to give them peace and let them go when their suffering of long illness or pain associated with old age arrive, although you don´t want to part.

And of course, at the end and beginning of it all, they taught me About Unconditional Love.

There are many angles, which my dogs taught me to look from, reflect on and use to look inside myself.

The fascinating thing about it all is, that this is actually an ongoing, never ending learning curve and an incredible journey.

I can truly and honestly from the bottom of my heart say that I am a person who could not live without my dogs, and that I am a better person because of them.

What fascinates me is that all the lessons my dogs taught me are beneficial in many different perspectives.

My relationship and bond with them is constantly growing. We have a mutual language that we understand. Not only the human or dog language, but something of our own that we have developed together as a communication tool.

Those top 10 lessons are valuable in my daily life in general. In communication and cooperation with other people, giving me different perspective and again, powerful and natural tools for reaching out and saying, meaning, asking for and getting what I want.

In general, it makes me think out of the box about difficult decisions, life situations or various solutions.

Yes, my dogs are my non-judgmental mentors, my motivation and inspiration, my cheerleaders, my passion and truly my best friends.

I deeply admire, respect and love them.

Playful Saturday and First FREE Giveaway

2012-04-28T14:10:00.000+01:00

Since I have decided to make this blog more than just a diary from my life, and more than just the news from our kennel, I believe you guys, who pay us a visit and read my ramblings, should have a bit more fun besides being entertained by reading my posts.

Yesterday I started the Katerina´s Journal´s very first and own Jigsaw Puzzle Friday and it looks like a few poor folks among my Facebook friends went to bed real late last night. :)

So, just for clarification - I am, in NO way responsible for anyone loosing their job! :) Thankfully, it won´t happen as these will be Jigsaw Puzzle Fridays and no boss can blame ya for not paying so much attention to your work on such a day. Right?!

Anyhow, I am working on creating a schedule for regular topics/posts that will appear here for example every week, every month or a specific day, holiday, etc. And while doing that, I will of course include contests, polls and fun stuff with (hopefully) meaningful prizes for you to win.

Wanna play? How about I give you Katerina´s Journal First FREE Giveaway today?!

You don´t need to do anything. Well, almost anything. Just look at the top of the right sidebar, find the "Followers" panel and sign in to follow this blog by clicking on "Join this site".

From every five new followers, I will draw one winner, who can choose one from these three FREE prizes:

1. Gift Card from Nordic Husky Farm E-Shop in the value of 100:-SEK (about 10Euro or 15USD)

gift card applies to any products in the shop

2. Coupon for 10% Purchase Discount on any item from
Kipp d´Amundsen Art & Design

example of items you can choose from

3. Voucher for FREE Suggested Individual Feeding Program
for one dog

this is just an illustrative picture

To be fair - as of writing this post, there are 51 existing followers. So the count starts from the 52nd one on. The giveaway ends on Monday noon (that is 12:00 CET), another words it will last two full days.

Rules: There are no rules. Be nice. Call your mother. Visit your neighbor. Don´t scream at your kids. Whatever. Just kidding.

Hope you´ll enjoy it and if you have any questions, just drop me a message (FB will work) or comment below.

Oh yes, and please - feel free to repost and share with your friends.