Today we went to Leangen Travbane to participate in our very first dog show with Theo! I felt a tad bit ambitious when I entered us for a NKK show as our first – but you have to start somewhere, right? The weather turned out to be perfect, and even though we forgot the most important thing (which, according to Theo, is the chicken), we had a great time! Theo placed 1. kval, 3. konk. I have no idea what these rankings are called in English, but first he was awarded with a red ribbon (1st place quality) which took us to the next round, and there he was awarded a yellow ribbon and 3rd place in Junior which I think is the Norwegian equivalent to the American Novice.

Young dog with very nice outline. Needs time to mature but has good quality. Lovely dark eye. Skull needs to fill. Well placed ears. Very good bone and feet. Top line is good. Excellent coat for the age. Lovely profile gait. A little weak in front.

Judge: Mr. Stephen Seymore

We’re both really happy about his critiques, and proud of both him and ourselves, so now we’re planning to attend the next show in late August! It was so nice seeing Heidi again, and of course her gorgeous dogs – and meeting Vanja too. Now we’ll just have to keep training! I was a little worried that Theo would find the whole ordeal stressful and scary, but it didn’t take long before it looked like he’d done it a hundred times before. So confident and relaxed, just taking in all the new impressions. Such a sweetheart!

I’ve gotten so much nice feedback from people today, praising us and Theo, and I really appreciate it. Thank you all! Who would have thought I’d be bitten by the show bug.. again?

I had a terrific day yesterday! Monica came to visit us and brought Zita and Lizzi along as usual. There’s no doubt Theo enjoys their visits just as much as we do. He spent the whole day playing with Lizzi, poking her, teasing her and following her everywhere. He did everything he could possibly think of to make her play with him. Zita spent most of the time beside Øyvind in the sofa, just watching the two younger maniacs. Lizzi must have a ton of patience for keeping up with Theo and his constant nagging for attention. So cute! He kept nudging her with his nose and paw throughout the whole visit, and he was so disappointed when she decided she needed a little break. When Lizzi was acting as bait (or more like his prize, if you’d ask him) he even managed to jump up on the sofa all by himself, and he’s never done that before! This kind of interaction is so valuable for Theo. It’s stimulating and social, and it’s truly amazing to see all the ways he communicate with the two other dogs – or mostly Lizzi – ways we don’t see from the small encounters he has with other dogs on his walks.

Monica is taking him while we’re in Paris, and I’m very happy and grateful for knowing that he’s in very good hands while we are away. I think he’ll have the best time together with her family! We’re both going to miss him like crazy, but it helps a lot to know that he’s well taken care of. And I’m sure he’s going to learn lots of new stuff during these two weeks at “summer camp”.

Friday was a stressful day, although it applied mostly to me I think. Theo had an important appointment with the veterinarian to have his last two baby teeth removed. I’m aware that some people might look upon us as “bad dog owners” for not having all his teeth pulled at the age of 4 months, but I’m still trusting that nature has its ways and that animals would survive perfectly well without constant human interference. I’m not a very big fan of sedating animals without having a really good reason, so I decided to wait as long as possible to see if his last two teeth would fall out by themselves. We’ve kept a close eye on his teeth and bite to avoid doing any damage.

Theo was thoroughly checked by the vet, and there was nothing wrong with his teeth even though we hadn’t gone all hysterical over his two remaining baby teeth. He was also micro chipped, and everything else was all good. The vet had one remark, and that was concerning Theo’s tail. He took an x-ray and found that one of his vertebral discs had not developed normally. It was much smaller than the others, and kind of triangular shaped. This abnormality causes his tail to have a little bend about five centimeters from the base, preventing it to settle all the way over his back like it should. We were told it would be best to avoid breeding Theo, since he’s born with the “flaw” and this might be a genetic problem – there’s no way of knowing for certain. I don’t know what this condition is called, or if it even has a name, but as long as Theo’s not troubled by it I don’t really care.

June 27th, 2010 – shot with an iPhone 3GS

I was very uncomfortable leaving Theo at the vets, but when Øyvind was able to sit with him until he was fully sedated I felt a little better. I know from my experience having grown up with all kinds of smaller animals around me that they don’t always do well with anesthetics, and it’s heartbreaking to see them laying there all helpless while sedated. When they were safely back home Theo spent several hours in his carrier, snarling every time we came too close. I guess he felt extremely vulnerable. I told Øyvind to ask the vet if there was something in particular we had to pay attention to while he was coming to himself – I remember the vet instructing me to keep the cats warm at all times while coming out of the anasthetics, but he was told to just leave him alone until he was awake enough to come to us by himself. So he just lay in his carrier, moving around a little, trying to hold his head up. When he was a little more awake he tried to walk across the floor, looking like a drunkard, and he was clearly cold. I felt so sorry for him that I decided to keep him on my lap for a while, and after a good ten minutes he stopped shivering and fell back asleep in my arms. It took a few more hours more before he was fully back to being his old self again, but then he ate, drank and played with his toys as usual.

All-in-all everything went well, but I hope we don’t have to anesthetize him again anytime soon. His baby teeth are gone, he’s got a nice bite, he’s healthy, and his tail isn’t bothering him. Thank you so much to Strinda Smådyrklinikk, for making the experience as pleasant as possible. The next thing on our agenda is the NKK Dog Show next weekend, where we’ll be attending for the very first time. Please wish us luck!

June 21st, 2010 – shot with an iPhone 3GS

When words become obsolete..

May 17th is Constitution Day in Norway, a day when people in general dress up in their traditional outfits – or bunad – and participate in parades all over the country. I’m not big on the whole bunad ordeal, the parades, or anything associated with May 17th really. Feel free to call me unpatriotic, I don’t care. Ever since my mom borrowed a bunad for children when I was about six years old, I’ve hated the hideous thing – unless someone else is wearing it. I clearly remember crying my heart out because it made me look like a tiny old lady, or at least I thought so. Therefore, no bunad for me. Ever. No sirree. I’ve spent the day indoors, together with my two boys Øyvind and Theo, dressed in baggy sweatpants and a worn-out top – and I feel pretty content by doing so.

We tried taking some new pictures of Theo, but it turned out to be a difficult task with all the surrounding – and to him very exciting – noise. Poor Theo, he didn’t like all the flags that people insist on hanging everywhere, and I think he felt quite intimidated by their waving. This one photo turned out to be pretty nice, even though he’s unfortunately looking away from the camera. Since it’s shot outdoors it shows his true colors, and you can also see how his coat is developing. He has still got a long way to go until it’s fully developed, but he’s getting there!

I hope you’ve had a nice May 17th, no matter how you chose to spend it.

May 17th 2010 – 36 weeks, 2200 grams

Photo © Øyvind H. 2010