Axel Munthe - San Michele

Noone has ever written more beautifully or wisely about dogs than the Swedish doctor and writer Axel Munthe in his book The Story of San Michele:

To become a good dog-doctor it is necessary to love dogs, but it is also necessary to understand them — the same as with us, with the difference that it is easier to understand a dog than a man and easier to love him. Never forget that the mentality of one dog is totally different from that of another. The sharp wit that sparkles in the quick eye of a fox-terrier, for instance, reflects a mental activity totally different from the serene wisdom which shines in the calm eye of a St. Bernard or an old sheep-dog. The intelligence of dogs is proverbial, but there is a great difference of degree, already apparent in the puppies as soon as they open their eyes. There are even stupid dogs, though the percentage is much smaller than in man. On the whole it is easy to understand the dog and to learn to read his thoughts. The dog cannot dissimulate, cannot deceive, cannot lie because he cannot speak. The dog is a saint. He is straightforward and honest by nature. If in exceptional cases there appear in a dog some stigmas of hereditary sin traceable to his wild ancestors, who had to rely on cunning in their fight for existence, these stigmas will disappear when his experience has taught him that he can rely upon straight and just dealings from us. If these stigmas should remain in a dog who is well treated, these cases are extremely rare, this dog is not normal, he is suffering from moral insanity and should be given a painless death. A dog gladly admits the superiority of his master over himself, accepts his judgment as final, but, contrary to what many dog-lovers believe, he does not consider himself as a slave. His submission is voluntary and he expects his own small rights to be respected. He looks upon his master as his king, almost as his god, he expects his god to be severe if need be, but he expects him to be just. He knows that his god can read his thoughts and he knows it is no good to try to conceal them. Can he read the thoughts of his god? Most certainly he can. The Society for Psychical Research may say what they like, but telepathy between man and man has so far not been proved. But telepathy between dog and man has been proved over and over again. The dog can read his master's thoughts, can understand his varying moods, and foretell his decisions. He knows by instinct when he is not wanted, lies quite still for hours when his king is hard at work as kings often are, or at least ought to be. But when his king is sad and worried he knows that his time has come and he creeps- up and lays his head on his lap. Don't worry! Never mind if they all abandon you, I am here to replace all your friends and to fight all your enemies! Come along and let us go for a walk and forget all about it!

A dog can be taught to do almost anything with friendly encouragement, patience and a biscuit
when he has learned his lesson with right good will. Never lose your temper or use violence of any sort. Corporal punishment inflicted on an intelligent dog is an indignity which reflects upon his master. It is besides a psychological error. This being said, let me add that naughty puppies as well as very small children before the age of reason, but not after, are quite welcome to a little spanking now and then when too recalcitrant to learn the fundamental rules of good manners. Personally, I have never taught my dogs any sort of tricks, although I admit that many dogs, their lesson once learned, take great pleasure in showing off their tricks. To perform in a circus is quite another matter and a degradation to an intelligent dog. Anyhow these performing dogs are as a rule well looked after on account of the money they bring in and are infinitely better off than their wretched wild comrades in the menagerie.


When a dog is ill, he will submit to almost anything, even a painful operation, if it is explained to him in a kind but firm voice that it must be done and why it must be done. Never coax a sick dog to eat, he often does so only to oblige you, even if his instinct warns him to abstain from food, which is as often as not his salvation. Don't worry, dogs like very small children can be without food for several days without further inconvenience. A dog can stand pain with great courage, but of course he likes you to tell him how sorry you are for him. Maybe it will be a comfort to some dog-lovers to be told that I do believe that on the whole their sensitiveness to pain is less acute than we think. Never
disturb a sick dog when not absolutely necessary. As often as not your untimely interference only distracts nature in her effort to assist him to get well. All animals wish to be left alone when they are ill and also when they are about to die.


Alas! the life of a dog is so short and there are none of us who have not been in mourning for a lost friend. Your first impulse and your first words after you have laid him to rest under a tree in the park, are that you never, never wish to have another dog; no other dog could ever replace him, no other dog could ever be to you what he has been. You are mistaken. It is not a dog we love, it is the dog. They are all more or less the same, they are all ready to love you and be loved by you. They are all representatives of the most lovable and, morally speaking, most perfect creation of God. 

The big dog

Two times these last days I have heard how huuuge Stella is. It is funny, because when you think about it, she is not much higher - maybe just a couple of centimeters - than Maja, and just a couple of kilos heavier, and Maja seems like such a ballerina dog. But it is something about the size of her bones, the blocky head, the ox-like character, and the kadump-kadump-kadump-kadump-kadump way that she moves :)

Welcome home

I just came home after being away for a little while, and when I walked up the driveway, I saw Maja and Stella on the other side of the lawn, maybe 60-70 meters away from me. Just a tiny, tiny, tiny little whistle, and then Maja turned immediately and came running as fast as she could to me.. Is there any better way of being welcomed home? :)

DAYS IN THE SUN

The absolute nightmare

This summer I experienced one of my absolute nightmares with the dogs, something that in the back of my mind thought could happen, but I was not prepared for it there and then...

We were having a nice walk close to the river not so far away from us.. This is a really bushy area, but it is just across the river for an inhabited area. Both Maja and Stella had taking a small dip, we were all full of joy, it was a nice day, and with no people around, Maja and Stella was walking free. Stelle was quite far up ahead and really not listening to me at all, while Maja was about 30 meters to my left, running through high grass, wag wag wag wag wag, and really not very much paying attention to anything. That's our Maja, happily and easily distracted... Luckily, I was watching her right then.. Running along, wag wag wag wag..

Now there is a dog tail wagging...

Now there is nothing...

No tail, no dog.. Nothing. And all in a matter of a split second. There wasn't even much of a sound, no barking or whining or yelping, just some muffled THUD.
And after half a second of thinking "Maja, always doing something strange," two seconds of thinking nothing at all, one second of denying it, I knew:  water pipe.....

So I ran, closer and closer, and no dog, and I saw the round concrete hole, tube, about one and a half meter in diameter only when I was half a meter away from it. Good lord: how deep is it? What is down at the bottom? Water? Sewage? Rubbish? Good lord, I was scared.

Looking over the edge. Fearing the worst. And down there was Maja. What luck. No water, no sewage. Two thin steel pipes sticking up, that Maja SOMEHOW had missed. If not, it could have been lights out. And not too deep, maybe two and a half - three meters.

Oh, brave little Maja. No barking or crying until I threw myself on the ground and stretched as far as I could down into the whole. As far as I could without tipping over and going head first down myself. Off.. Then Maja started crying and climbed as high up on the concrete wall  with her front legs as she could. I just managed to get hold of the skin on her shoulders and hauled her up, dirty and shaking (both of us) but unharmed. Weird, she is 30 kilos, and I didn't think about it for a second. Dirty, but unharmed :)

And then suddenly there was another dog there. Stella had been far ahead, and right before Maja fell, I tried to call for her. Neh, no reaction. Now suddenly - maybe because Maja had been crying - she was right by my side and gave Maja a really good sniffing examination. Oh, nothing is better than a sister to support you :) Checked and reported O.K, and at once two dog tails were wagging high, as if nothing had happened, and off they went, side by side.. :)

Fun

"Well, one of you must have told, 'cause now half the barn demands to sleep in my bed.

Fear

During this summer, we discovered one more of Stella's fears, and this time a bit more serious: Hot Air Balloons! We see them quite often from where we live - four, five, six balloons that take off close to where we live, and quite often they pass right over our house. Sometimes we wonder if Stella's eyes are totally well, but she can spot a hot air balloon at any distance. And she HATES them!

At first we found it a little bit cute - our dog was defending our yard, but slowly we understood that she is genuinely afraid of them. She ran away two time while walking with Jurgita, luckily in places where the chance of getting hit by a car was pretty small.

One of our lessons coincided with a balloon "take off", so our dog teacher took us there. Stella knew immediately that she was in for trouble, the first thing she reacts to is the sound of the fans and the burners, and she so! wanted to get away from there. We sat down 50 meters away, tried to pay no attention to the balloons. Maja - as usual - really did not pay ANY attention to the ballons :)

Stella was definitely scared and was really shaking all over, but she kept her pose; she was lying down, watching the balloons fill and take off. She didn't growl, didn't bark, didn't try to run away. If I have ever seen a dog facing it's fears, it was then. Even the dog trainer found it impressive - she was scared, but she is so mentally strong.

Did it help? No. Probably - for some reason - she will always be afraid of balloons, but maybe it will be easier for her to face them, and hopefully we can make her not run from us if a balloon flies over us.

It is funny, though, to see the difference between Maja and Stella. Stella is not afraid of any dog, but some other things might make her a bit nervous. Maja can sometimes be a bit scared by charging dogs, but things?? Balloons? Which balloons? :)

Stella: The compulsive bather

We don't know very much about Stella's background, so we don't know how much she was swimming, or if she ever did it at all before she came to us, but her relationship with water is a really funny one :)

Nida is really the right place to start swimming practice. It is usually quite warm when we are there in the summer and the water is really shallow, so you can walk quite far out. Last year it was Maja who had her big breakthrough, and Stella had her first swims this summer. But, while Maja has become quite fond of swimming - and definitely if you throw a stick - Stella hasn't really become a swimmer. She has become a BATHER :D

Whenever there is a river or a lake, Stella has to run in, at least once.She goes exactly deep enough for the  the water to cover her, but if the water is not deep enough, she'll crouch to get all the way in. 10 seconds like that, and she is finished. Totally happy and satisfied. Maybe one more dip before we come home, and a new dip tomorrow. Never a single day without a proper bath :)

Warm Spring Day - I'll get that stick!!

Spring

Everything goes so fast. Just when you thought that spring has just arrived, it is gone, and you wonder how you actually spent it or enjoyed it. Luckily, with a big garden, we have spent quite a bit of time outdoors, cutting grass, removing some bushes and trees, and cleaning. And we do spend a lot of time outside with the dogs. But you always find out too late that you didn't - either because you didn't have time or because you didn't think about it - spend enough time just lying in the grass, staring at the blooming trees.. And suddenly it is almost too late. Today - seemingly within minutes - the plum tree lost its white flowers, while the apple tree - which until yesterday was only green - exploded with flowers. It is so amazingly beautiful, and you wish it could stay there forever. At least for one more day, because I have so many things today that I cannot enjoy it, that will have to wait until tomorrow.. and tomorrow.. and tomorrow..

Right now I just want to plaster this blog page with apple tree flowers. Then I am sure that I can come back here tomorrow to look at them :)

Stella is afraid of

Stella is afraid of three things only:

1 - The vacuum cleaner
2 - the grass cutter
3 - the neighbors little white cat

LOL

(PS: Maja basically doesn't care!)

Morning has broken

If I should point out just one thing about dogs - the very best thing, it wouldn't be the love, the friendship or the loyalty, even if these things exist in abundance.

It would be the mornings :)

How every morning is full of joy. How they happily run out the door every morning, expecting the day to be full of happiness, full of plays, full of interesting things to see and sniff. Everything feelw fresh and somehow new, like you see it for the first time - in short, it is the best day EVER, because it is today!

And as I walk behind them, watching two golden tails wag and wag and wag, I feel so grateful for this; that every day they give me this wonderful gift: a fantastic start of the best day ever :)

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

LESSONS TO LEARN !

Yesterday we went to our first dog classes :)

It felt like a huge thing for us - we have been talking about it for a while, and now we finally got in touch with a dog trainer. We have such good dogs, but they are probably good more because... well... they just ARE, and not so much because we have done everything right. And also, after we got dog number two, it became more apparent that it would be good to have a LITTLE bit more control. Especially when we go for off-leash walks, it can be really tricky to call them - they basically go wherever they want, come whenever they want, and expect us to be there :)

And so we went... And, yep, there are things to learn :) The dog trainer was great - really good with the dogs, very energetic, very clear, very interesting! So - what was the most important lesson?? That we are not enough interesting for the dogs!! That somewhat felt like a small punch in the stomach. Yes, the dogs are happy and safe, they are physically well trained, we go for long walks every day. But, especially when it comes to Maja, we don't play with her enough. And it is true: we don't spend much time playing with the dogs.. The trainer spent some time playing tug-of-war with Maja, really physical and really loud. Wow, it was so clear how much fun Maja had, and I really felt bad there and then - it was like we had taken something away from her.

So - these are our tasks.
- We have to get a little bit more unpredictable, so the dogs will expect something nice, they just shouldn't know what!

- When we go for walks, we have to take a chance and leave them behind. No waiting, no cuddling when they finally decide to catch up. We go, and the dogs will have to find out themselves that they have to pay attention. If we stop to wait, we start walking again immediately when the dogs come.

- Names are for positive feedback only.. (Yeah, it has been a little bit too much of the; MAJA, COME HERE).

- And playing! Especially with Maja. Not much, just some few minutes, but then really intense and really loud.

It is weird - after spending so many hours watching dog programs on TV and talking about bad dog owners, the finger was now pointing at us :D But that is great - we now have a trainer we like, tasks to do.. I think it will be good fun, both for the dogs and us :)

WAGGING EASTER

Easter came, wagged, and left.. It really was some beautiful days, warm and nice. Sunday was so warm that if it hadn't been for the fact that I had a concert on Monday, I would have taken a swim :)

It is starting to get green everywhere, lawns are green and during the last couple of days, trees have been sprouting leaves like crazy. It is this sharp, sharp green colour that you can only see these days. Somehow, the older I get, the more I appreciate exactly these few days, where everything is new and fresh.

The girls are enjoying spring, too. We were again talking about it; how fantastic it must feel for Stella to be able to roam around freely, to sniff and experience everything she wants to.

Maja has not forgotten her swimming skills from last summer, and is happily taking a swim now and then :) Besides from her duck hunt a couple of weeks ago, Stella is not into swimming - she loves walking in water, it just doesn't seem like she has found a good reason for WHY she would swim yet :)

So - here are some pictures of the dynamic easter duo; checking out water and the scent of some mysterious animals that have been there before them.

Easter.... ehmmm.... bunnies???

 This has to be the most adorable pictures of Easter Bunnies that I have seen in my life :)
 http://mogley-adogslife.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-ready-for-easter.html

Photo models

 

Aren't these nice portrait pictures? :)
They are taken by a good friend of us, Gabija Jakimaviciute 

Reunion coming up

Just found out today that they are planning a reunion in May of all the dogs that were rescued from Trakai in October; the group that Stella and Rio - the German Shepherd that I wrote about in an earlier post - came from. I am so excited about it that I can hardly wait :) It seems like all the dogs are in good shape and living good lives, and it will be so good to see them as happy dogs, as I have seen most of them only in pictures from October, and there they look like living skeletons. And it will be interesting to see how they will react to meeting each other. Oh, come May :)

Good luck, Rio

Rio is a German shepherd that was saved from the same place as Stella. Up until now he has been living with a foster family that must have taken so good care of him :) This is a picture of Rio before and after.
Both pictures belong to Pifas' website. Please visit them and - if you somehow can - support them! They do a fantastic job!

Now it is time for Rio to find a permanent home, and who could read his CV without smiling:

"I am in Rio. My name is nice and clear - just like I am. I am a very simple dog that can be described in a few words: quiet, friendly and cute. I do not require long walks and outdoor games the whole day. A small walk and a little playing from time to time is enough for me, so if you, my future host, don't want to be very active with me with me every day, that's ok. I do not want to appear demanding or needy, but I have a special request for my future family. I can not live in the yard. I find a common language not only with human beings but also animals, apparently because of my calm and peaceful manner."

Good luck, Rio. We hope you'll find a home where you'll never have to sleep outside, where you get all the care and loving that you deserve. Your new owners will be so lucky to have a dog like you :)

The Three Signs of Spring

There are Three Signs of Spring, and I saw them all today: Pussy willows, liverleafs and me cleaning my bike :)

Spring and swimming

Spring is coming. It is hereby declared and official. True - it should have been here a long time ago in Vilnius, and, true, it is not very warm, but it is definitely here. All the snow has disappeared - maybe a long time ago, but I just came back from the northern part of Norway, where there is still plenty! - and birds are singing. A combination of spring and Sunday is the best thing there is; enough time to load the car, drive to some good place and go for an extra long walk. Trakai is one of our favorite places, so Trakai it was. There is a long path around the Trakai lake, plenty of grass to run on, water to check out, other dogs around houses surrounding the lake. In short - a heaven for dogs. Both Stella and Maja had their first swim for the season - for all we know, it could be Stella's VERY first swim. She is a hunter, oh yes: there were some strange squeaking ducks close to the shore, so she immediately got into hunting mode, crawled towards the water and ATTACKED. The ducks were of course far to fast for her, but I think she was pretty happy anyway. Maja was satisfied with hunting a stick that we threw into the water. Yeah, that is a difference we have noticed: Stella is a hunter (!!). Maja is no hunter, if you don't count the mouse she killed last summer (!!!). Maja is our little thief, joyfully (and not hidden at all) borrowing what others have gathered :D It was a wonderful walk, both for dogs and people. May we have many like that one in the next weeks and months :)

BEFORE AND AFTER

The before pictures were taken by Pifas - the animal welfare organisation that saved Stella - in mid-autumn 2010. You HAVE to believe me - it really is the same dog!!