AGILITY!

On Thuesday I met Johanna and Wilson at the dogclub for some training. I was not in the mood for obedience so this day we had some fun on the agility coarse instead.
It was very warm so the dogs got tired easily but really enjoyed it. Yaya was so happy running trough the tunnels and keeping her balance on those obsticles.
Some mixed pictures below.

I also recieved some new pictures of Gaya celebrating midsummer on the westcoast. You can enjoy those pictures further down and in her own photoalbum.
In just less than two weeks I will get to see Gaya and her mum Anna and dad Daniel again. She is the only one of the swedish puppies I haven't seen since they moved away 5 weeks ago. So I am really looking forward to that!
But already tomorrow me and the dogs are paying a visit to Boston and his lovely family in Östersund. My Dad and I are heading off to the north part of Sweden for a week of vacation with hiking, fishing and more. So of course we are stopping on the way up to cuddle with Boston for a while!
So see you guys tomorrow!

MIDSUMMER!

This past weekend I had three days off from work, which I always appreciated. On Midsummer (friday) we spend a lot of time outdoors and luckily survived the rain. We went with Johanna and Wilson to visit their horse Fille.
The dogs got to play and my girls decided that Fille was the most fun to play with... I don't think he found them as amuzing but he is such a good boy and isn't bothered by the dogs running along side him.
I got to ride a little bit aswell and I believe it has been a year since last time... My old "riding" muscles has completely disappeared...
The rest of the evening was spend enjoying very nice food and relaxing! Just as it should be!

On Saturday and Sunday I had two more long days outdoors. On Saturday the dogs got to go swimming in the pond at Kista. After that I drove to Edsviken to try to get the dogs to do some more swimming to wash the brown water from Kista away!
Yaya was the only one in the mood now and she ran back and forth in the water like the lunatic she is! ;o)

On Sunday I acctually got to enjoy a few relaxing hours in the sun myself and in the evening return Wilson to Johanna after this week he has spend with us.
And it was probably just in time since Moa started her season this weekend, of course great timing since we will be living with Johanna and Wilson in Varberg next week... when she will probaly be ready to go inte peak of her heat... Poor Wilson and poor Dando...

But that is how it is with Moa's heats... Never when you want them, always when it is inconvinent! ;o) But what can you do!? Just smile and look forward to next summer when she will be mated and hopefully produce a lovely and healthy litter of new Kadamo puppies!
Well, since she started her heat she was not able to attend the Ridgeback Race at the Greyhound tracks as we had planned. So I do hope for another chance soon! I am sure that Moa will love it since she is absolutely nuts when we practice lure coursing.

And by the way, when talking about lovely Kadamo pups, a few more pictures of some of our darling A-pups below. They have all been to the vets and gotten their 2nd vaccination and on Wednesday the turn 13 weeks old! Time really flies!

PICTURES IN PLENTY AND DANDO'S TOOTH SURGERY

This week I have had Wilson staying with me since Johanna has been away. So we have been to some nice walks around here and also at Gärdet in Stockholm. We have been playing with different kind of dogs like a boxer, a lagotto, a german shepard mix and a Great Dane. We also meet 4 year old ridgeback male Kibraj again at Gärdet who we have meet a few times before.
Some mixed pictures from these walk can be found below.

I have also recieved plenty of pictures of the A-puppies so a selection of that can also be found below. Thank you all for keeping me updated and sending me all the lovely pictures of your darlings!

The one "boring" thing this week was that Dando had to go trough surgery. A few weeks ago I discovered that he had broken off one of his front teeth.
So this Wednesday it was time to get it out. This was the first time I handled a anaesthetic on one of my own animals. I thought I would be more nervous because it was my own dog but I wasn't. I guess I do it all on routine and in that way I don't put emotions in the way of the work I have to do.
But of course he got the special treatment with a lot of extra attention and cuddle all day long by me and my collegues.
Dando has always enjoyed chewing on sticks and roots in the ground which is not at all good for his teeth. On one of the last pictures you can see how worn down they are.

So I do recommend everyone to avoid letting their dogs chew on sticks and of course, try to brush their teeth everyday!

SHOWING, TRACKING AND PUPPYCLASS IN THE RAIN...

We have had a very wet and rainy weekend. It ended on Sunday at the RR-Specialty Show at Årsta Slott. Johanna and me took Moa, Wilson and Yaya and headed there around 8 am. It was the first time that I was going to use my newly bought tent.
So after putting it up (which goes easy!!!) we got ourselves comfortable inside. Unfortunately the ground was already soaked after the last week of rain but at least we had a roof over our heads.
Wilson was first out in the ring making his debute in Intermediate class, since he just turned 15 months old. He did not appreciate the rain and I think he had is eyes closed most of the time in the ring... ;o)
I saw him running with them closed when we were making our way around the ring... silly dog. Despite this the judge liked what she saw and placed him 2nd with CQ.

So after a very long wait we entered Best Male. After some more running we were picked out in the Top 5 and the judge started to place the dogs. All of a sudden it was only me and Wilson and the intermediateclass winner left and she placed us the same way. So Wilson became 2nd BEST MALE! (His critque will be added to his showpage shortly.)

Happy about that I entered a large juniorclass with Yaya. She was a bit more alert when running than Wilson was and she placed 5th/Reserv with Honours Prize.

Her critique:
"Bra storlek av utmärkt typ. Vackert balanserat huvud med mörka vackra ögon. Korrekt bett. Fina öron. Bra hals, rygg, aningen brant kors. Väl markerat förbröst. Korrekt ridge. Tillräckligt bröstdjup för åldern. Vacker helhet i stående. Rör sig med bra steg."

Another wait before it was time for Moa to enter the ring. She was also in a great mood despite the rain and great to run with today. She didn't really appreciate standing in the rain but she is my brave girl as does it anyway.
Moa won the Workingclass with CQ!

Her critique:
"Tik av utmärkt storlek och typ. Huvud som kunde ha kraftfullare nosparti. Korrekt bett. Fina öron. Mycket bra hals och rygg. Något rak överarm. Korrekt ridge. Markerat förbröst. Tillräckligt bröstdjup. Bra bakbensvinklar. Rör sig med ett bra steg."

After this we hid in our tent for a few more hours before it was time for Best Bitch. There we were unfortunately not placed (only Championbitches and winner of Openclass was picked out for Top 5.) At 5th place was Moa's grandmother and Dando's mother SUCH Evergraces Gorgeous Princess Leia. She is a happy 10 year old who also became BOS Veteran! At 3rd place was CH Rex Ventors Isola, Moas Mum. Congratulations Anna!

So around 5 pm after about 8 hours at the rainy show we were heading back home. I had plans with some friends so I only had time to go home, change clothes, brush my hair, feed the dogs and take off again. I spend the rest of the evening relaxing at the movie theater in great company. Thank you guys, let's do it again soon!

But if we back up until Saturday we had yet another day in the rain. First I had the last puppyclass before our summerbreak and we did a very brave attempt on stacking all the puppies, with mixed results... I have a few fingers less left but at least the puppies were happy! Almost to happy! Their tales are going wild on the stacked photos... ;o)
It was only Chanel and Gaya from our Swedish puppies who wasn't there, so of course both of you and Myy and Jenna from abroad was missed by the rest of us.
But the other 8 puppies had a nice time despite the rain that started to come more and more the longer the day went on.
See the new individual pictures of the puppies HERE.

After the puppyclass I took all four dogs and drove to Norrtälje to meet fieldtracking judge Kenneth Floge. I was a bit unsure about going since it had been raining a lot lately, but by now it was to late to call it off.
When we arrived in the evening the judge told me that this might be difficult for the dogs. He also had one track out of the four that was a real hard one so he told me to choose which dog I wanted to track that one...
(No one I thought...)
Anyway we started off with Dando who did a decent job in the rain and he recieved a 2nd prize which I guess is ok considering the circumstances.
After him it was Wilson's turn he had a bit more difficult. He did it all though and got a 3rd prize today. After him it was Yaya's turn and she was the best dog today getting a 1st prize.
The last and the most difficult track was laid over huge fields of grass up to our waists, and this Moa got to go. She did a great job according to me working her way trough the whole thing. In the end you could tell that she was tired because she was whining a little bit.
She only got a 3rd prize but I am very proud of the work she did anyway.

With this tracking results Yaya has made it all the way to 2nd place at "Viltspårslistan 2009" which is the list of the Top 10 ridgebacks in Sweden in Fieldtracking! Not bad! Wilson is also placed within the Top 10.

OBEDIENCE!

On Monday after work I met up with Johanna and Wilson and Peter, Java and Caliber for some obedience training. Johanna and Wilson didn't have time to stay long but Peter did so we spend a nice 2½ hours outdoors with the dogs.
With Dando I am trying to get my act together and start for real to train for obedienceclass 2. I know he will be able to do it if I just put some effort in training him.
So hopefully I will have the energy for that soon...

With Yaya and Moa I am trying to teach them all the things for obedienceclass 1. It's the same with them, they are both good and if I just put that extra bit of work into it I will probably be able to compete with them to.
The hard thing with obedience is that if you want to compete you really need to work hard to get the dogs to do everything perfectly under te pressure on a competition without a single treat or encouragement... (during the test/competition itself). And with a ridgeback that is not easy. All my dogs are obedient and I am happy with them in our everyday life.
But then there is this little competitive person inside of me who just would like to take them to the next level...
But, we will see how that goes. I don't feel pressured with time so we will just take it as it comes!

After I had trained my dogs I went with Peter to watch Caliber search for tiny pieces of rubber in the woods. He is a german shepard owned by Försvarsmakten and he is such a great dog! I couldn't believe how he could find the tiny pieces hidden in the grass, without him I would never have found them myself.
Java also got to go a track that I had laid for her earlier and even thoug Peter didn't think she did a great job I do! She always does Peter!

Peter was kind enough to take a lot of pictures of me and the dogs training, thank you for that!

PUPPYCLASS!

Yesterday we had our second puppyclass and it was great to meet them all again. This time we also had Shila and Charlie there which I haven't seen since they moved away. The puppies got to play with eachother and also with my adult dogs which was very appreciated. Some of them needed to be told off when being to wild... ;o) But they all listened, well, at least after a while! Right Dando!?
The exercises went very well and I am so proud over all of you! Owners and puppies!

Below are some pictures of the puppies working and of course from them playing.

In the evening I left the dogs at home and went for a really lovely dinner with my collegues from work. It was such a nice evening and it wasn't until the end that I started to worry about what my girls would have been upto alone at home...
But it for once ;o) wasn't to bad. Only some pieces of my shoe in the living room, but that's the same shoe as they always chew on so it is "ok".
The dogs are pretty much always with me wherever I go so I am trying to leave them on their own more and more now so Yaya aswell gets used to it without breaking so much stuff when I am gone...
And they are getting better... My problem is that my girls are VERY attached to me and get's a bit upset when they can't be with me...
Of course nice to be loved but it makes things more difficult for example when they have to be left alone. So, for you puppybyers reading this!!! Don't forget to practice this!!! Very important!

Anyway. This past Monday the ridgeback club was arranging a Lure coursing practice where people could come and try it out with their ridgebacks. So after I had picked up the new couch me and Johanna headed over there with the dogs.
Moa was of course going to race and also Wilson. When we where there I decided to also let Dando have go. He has done it once but a long time ago and he did run about half, then stopped, then ran a little bit more and then stopped...
He has been a lot more eager when watching Moa lately so I thoght that maybee now he will run the whole lap. But he didn't... He did start off well but the muzzle bothers him to much. I am still proud of him!
Wilson also did a great job for his second time ever running the whole thing.
Moa my little nutcase was screaming out loud when the other dogs was racing so eager to go herself... Once she almost pulled me onto the field...
So I have had a very sore shoulder for a few days this week after that! Anyway she was very happy to run and afterwards I was happy to leave! ;o) Trying to keep three dogs calm isn't easy near a LC-field. I had to tie them around a pole and just hold one dog at a time!

Well, that'sit for today. The sun is shining outside so I should get ready to leave the house and walk the dogs! Have a lovely Sunday!

SWIMMING IN THE MUD!

Last Sunday it was very warm aswell so I decieded to take the dogs for a swim. Since I don't wanted to go where there would be a lot of people I went to the big fields where I usually walk the dogs. It is a stream running trough there and also a "manmade" little pond aswell.
The dogs really enjoyed cooling off even though the water got more and more grey with them playing in it...

After a nice time there we went home and I had to hose the dogs with water outside to get them a little bit cleaner....

On Monday afterwork I drove to Uppsala with my Dad to get my new couch. Since I bought it second hand I wanted to clean all the pillow covers before starting to use it so that I spend my Thuesday morning doing. I had put all the pillows on my old couch and suddenly I couldn't find Yaya anywhere... After a short search around my apartment I discovered her right in between all the pillows!

The couch has been accepted by all familymembers very quickly and is now feeling at home here with us! ;o)

I have also recieved a bunch of new pictures of our lovely girl Gaya! Check them out below!

Now I got to go to get ready to meet a bunch of my beautiful puppies again!

AS GREAT AS A DAY CAN BE!

When I got up in the morning the sun was already shining and that is always a good start of the day. I was a bit nervous for the tracks since I knew it would be very dry and warm for the dogs but I shouldn't have worried. They both did such good jobs.
So after our lovely start of they day with our two new Swedish Fieldtracking Champions we decided to let the dogs go for a run and swim before we headed back to Stockholm.
So we drove furter up in the woods and let the dogs out for a while. And they sure enjoyed it! Running around in the hills of sand, into the water and back into the sand!
They looked so clean when we were ready to go home...

After a quick stop at home to leave the dogs I went back out into the lovely summer weather to meet a bunch of my darling puppies and their owners for our first puppyclass.
It was great to see all of you again! Your puppies are the sweetest (I know I might be a little bit partial...).
It was very warm today so we had a relaxed first time with a lot of talking and not to much activities for the little onces. But everyone worked well and I look forward to next weekend when I will see you all again!

After the puppyclass I drove home and got my dogs to take them for a walk. (After I had cleaned up the mess the girls had done..,. like the plastic bag they had shreded, and my shoes that they had spread out, and my handbag that they had emptied and the chewinggum that they had stolen...)

Well, now we are taking off to my sister Emma's house where Johanna and Wilson are babysitting our niece Clara. So us girls and the dogs will spend a nice evening with take-out food to celebrate our new Champions!

MORE PUPPYPICTURES!

Today after work I met up with Karolin and Vidar (Mr Blue) for a walk on the fields in Kista. It was so great to see him again! Of course you to Karolin! But little Vidar is such a darling and it was great to get some time to cuddle him again!
My dogs had a nice time playing in the water and sand along the stream and was pretty much grey afterwards... That's when you wonder why you decided to get dog number two... and dog number three...

Tomorrow we will start the puppyclass and I can't wait to meet you all again!!!

Some mixed pictures of Vidar below. Also a few pictures of Buster (Darkgreen), Shila (Pink), Jenna (Red) and Dayo (Lightgreen) that I have recieved from their owners! Thank you all!

LURE COURSING PREMIERE AND PUPPY PICTURES!

Yesterday after work I picked up Johanna and Wilson and drove to Täby. There the "vinthundsklubb" has lure coursing practise. Wilson got to try his first lure course and did a great job running the whole thing! I was impressed because he hadn't show that much intererst in the lure while watching before his run.
After him it was Moa's turn. And she knows what's going to happen a long time before she even gets out of the car... She did a great run and you can tell she has done it before because she tries to predict how the lure will turn so she can cut the corners and try to catch it!
We also had time for a nice long walk in the woods there waiting for our turn. So my tired dogs were all over my couch when we got home!

I have recieved some more lovely photos of the puppies in their new homes. Below are pictures of Vidar (Mr Blue), Dayo (Mr Lightgreen), Myy (Ms Darkpink), Ramoz (Mr Lightblue), Jenna (Mr Red) and Leya (Ms Brown). Enjoy!

GREETINGS FROM THE PUPPIES IN THEIR NEW HOMES!

All puppies has now left and I'm all alone... Well not really. Dando, Moa, Yaya and also Wilson a few hours here and there doesn't really make you feel lonely!
But is is very calm and quiet here... and I haven't decided if I enjoy that or not yet... Of course you get A LOT more done now but well, don't know if that is a good thing either! ;o)

Ms Red flew to Germany today and her flight went very well. She has now settled in at her new home. It was nice to keep her here a couple of extra days and she got to come along out to the woods with me and the rest of the dogs.
A few pictures from her last days with us below.

Also some lovely greetings from her in Germany, from Myy in Finland, from Leya in Älta, from Boston in Östersund and from Charlie in Sandviken below!

Thank you all for the lovely pictures and for keeping me informed on how you are getting along! Keep the pictures coming!

WALKING ON THE FIELDS AND IN THE WOODS

Earlier this week I nipped out with the big dogs when all the puppies were a sleep. We went to the woods to let the dogs stretch out for a while. We started off on the big fields and continued our walk in the woods. It is a very good exercise wood because it has a lot of fallen over trees and big rocks that the dogs can jum up on, over or balance on.
This time I had my camera with me but the quality of the pictures isn't the best... It was to dark in the woods. But at least you get to see that we were having fun!

EVENTFUL WEEKEND!

On Friday afternoon Johanna, me, Yaya and Wilson headed towards Kristinehamn. We were going to spend the night there at a friends lovely cottage and have a nice relaxing evening with BBQ and so on and then continue to Skara and the dogshow in Larv on Saturday.
But on the way there right outside Hummelsta our plans was unfortunately changed... The traffic slows down from 90 to 70 and to 50 very fast and cars ahead of us had stopped... The car behind us did unfortunately not recognize this in time and drove straight into the back of our car...
Both Johanna, me and the dogs were ok but of course a bit shaky. The poor man in the car behind us was probably the one feeling worst. So shaky and in chock...
The police came and after a long wait both our cars were toed away and our dad came and picked us up. Since we were feeling ok we got a rented car for our dad to drive home in and Johanna, me and the dogs continued our journey in his car, but now more than 4 hours delayed.
So we arrived in Kristinehamn around 1 am so it was pretty much straight to bed and up early again for the last drive donw to the show.
At the show we got to hurry since Wilson was first out in Juniorclass, this time competing against 5 others. He did well and finished 2nd with Championquality.
In the Best Male finals it was 15 (!) dogs and he was unfortunately not placed.

Wilson's critique:
" Typical masculine head, correct bite, correct topline, a bit long in loin, good bones, feet, correct coat and ridge. Moves free, would like more temperament."

After Wilson it was time for Yaya in juniorclass. They where 6 I think and Yaya also placed nicely 2nd. When it was time for the Best Bitch class it was also a very very big class with 14 dogs I think! Yaya was placed as 4th Best bitch which I am very happy and pleased about in this stiff competition!

Yaya's critique:
"Very elegant bitch. Nice head and expression. Compact body. Need to develope in chest. Good bones, feet, correct colour and ridge. Moves free."

So after some shopping (it was Yaya's birthday and of course she deserved a few new toys and something nice to eat we started our journey back home.
We got back quite late after several short stops on the way and it was very nice to be back home. After a little nap together with the puppies I got to bed and had a good nights rest! I am so glad the puppies let me sleep until I woke by myself this morning!
I can't believe it is only a week and a half left now before they move... They are all so lovely and cuddly and I will miss them so much! I think you easliy forget about all the poo that they produce because all their lovely sides just makes up for it!

Plenty of pictures from the show below and new pictures of the puppies from the 6th and 7th week HERE.

FIELDTRACKING FOR THE GROWN UPS!

This morning me and Johanna left for the woods and this time all four dogs got to come along to track. We met up with judge Leif Henriksson who Dando passed his aptitude test for 4 years ago. Today it was time for Yaya's and Wilson's first attempt on openclass fieldtracks and Dando's and Moa's comeback!
I wasn't sure if Yaya would be ready since we haven't had that much time for practice because of the puppies. But I still thought it would be a good activity for her so I decided to give it a go.

So Yaya was first out and she impressed us all with her tracking scills. During her track we met a moose who walked by and this didn't bother my girl the slightest. She just walked on tracking all the way to the end. The gunshot test she also passed without a twinch! Her amazing tracking scills and focus impressed the judge who gave her a 1st price and Honours Prize aswell! What a start for her in the woods!

Next out was Wilson and he also tracked beautifully and passing his gunshot test. He was rewarded a 1st prize aswell. Congratulations to you sis!

Third dog out was Dando who hasn't done an openclass track in 2 years time!!! With him it felt like a Sunday walk. He walked most of the track straight on in good speed and he also recieved a 1st price.

Last dog was Moa my other little princess who hasn't tracked an openclass track in over a year. She just as Yaya impressed the judge. She had two roadcrossings which she tracked over without any problems. The judge said it shows that she is a good trackingdog. He said she tracked the whole track without a mistake and handle the difficult parts with eeze.

His favourite of the day was still Yaya since she wasn't disturbed by the moose and tracked so well with this being her first openclass track.

THAT'S WHAT I CALL A DEBUT!

Today I showed Yaya for the first time at an official show. We went to the Int. Show Lilla Stockholm and 55 ridgebacks was entered for judge Åke Cronander, Sweden. I was as always nervous since it was 11 juniorbitches in Yaya's class. But somehow she managed to win this with Championquality so we got to enter the Best Bitch class.
And believe me I had no expectations for this since I knew that there where other lovely looking classwinning bitches hoping for the CAC.
So when I was moved to number one for the last lap of running I litterly had butterflies in my belly! And the judge ended up placing us as winners! Can you believe that?! At her debut show as 11 months old she ends up as Best Bitch also gaining her first CAC! (The CACIB is unfortunately passed on since Yaya is a junior...)
So back into the ring to meet the winning male Rex Ventors Pegasus and Yaya did it again and took it all! Best of Breed! My little princess!
I am sooooo happy and want to thank every single one of you who came up to me and hugged and congratulated me! You all made me sort of realise what my little girl had just accomplished! Thank you! It warmed my heart!

After a few hours at home resting with chocolate cake and cuddletime with the puppies together with Sandra and Jocke (who has the puppies dad Bosco) I went back to the show for the Group finals. Again, no expectations since it was 12 dogs in the group but it is still always nice to enter the Big ring with your own dog!
So of course I was HAPPY when Yaya and I was picked out in the first cut and Top 7 by judge Manola Poggesi, Italy. And then two others where cut and we were left in the Top 5... and finally placed as number 4!!!

I am so happy to have the privilege to own this lovely little girl! THANK you Anne at kennel Tarujen (again... ;o) ) for giving this amazing girl to me! I am sure she is making you just as proud as she is me!
This will be an unforgetable start of her official showcareer and I hope it will continue the same way as it started! :o)

Yaya and me meeting the judge with the BOB ribbon ready for us!

Yaya BOB with judge Åke Cronander

Yaya BOB and BOS was Rex Ventors Pegasus

Me and Yaya in the Big ring and the Group finals!

Yaya has been picked out for the Top 7 out of 12 dogs.

Nervous waiting to hear our names called out!

Yaya and me placed amazingly as BIG-4, look at that big ribbon!

BIRTHDAY AND SUNNY WALK!

Yesterday we had another nice walk in the warm sun. It really feels like spring! And both me and the dogs love it! The dogs isn't as muddy when we come back from our walks which I appreciate very much!
Wilson has gotten to tag along on our walks this week and him and Yaya always runs around playing, mostly with one of them with a stick in their mouth and the other one chasing after!

Yesterday was my sister Emmas Birthday so me and Yaya went their for dinner in the evening. Yaya got to spend some time with Clara, my 8 months old niece.
Clara has just figured out that she loves dogs and gets so excited when the dogs are around. She entertained us all trough dinner making funny faces and all the weird noices that she knows!

Some mixed pictures from yesterday below.

Yaya and Wilson

Wilson has stolen Yaya's stick

And of course he needs to show it off!

Moa flying!

Wilson comes flying right after

Yaya catching a fly instead of posing for the camera

Yaya and Clara getting to know eachother

Clara wanting to give Yaya a kiss

Sweet little Clara entertaining us during dinner

Clara waving Bye-Bye for this time