Maja - the mountaineer dog.

Our peaceful little dog Maja has found her inner wild animal :) We have stayed for some days in a cabin in the mountains in Norway, a paradise for a dog. It's not like Maja has a lack of outdoor activities - we have a big garden in Vilnius where she can walk quite freely, we take her for long walks, and she is out at least 2-3 hours every day. Still, a new world has completely opened up, a world without borders, without limitations, and with endless possibilities. On one side of the cabin we have a big field that is split in two wit a fence - on the other side of the fence there are cows! Every day Maja goes say hi and to sniff her new friends, then she spends some time on the "right" side of the fence, digging in the grass, sniffing new smells, completely occupied and seemingly deaf to all our calls. The cabin itself is in small forest, a heaven to loaf around in, dig a little bit here and there, smell new flowers, berries.. And, on the first day at the cabin, Maja met three weasels. The peeked out from underneath the house, hissing at Maja while Maja was barking at them. Maja would be so tired when she came in, but at once there was an opportunity to go out again, she would be so ready to explore more :)

  

   

   

   

Maja has peed here

Maja is now a quite well travelled dog. Here is quite a rough map - to be updated in the future, hopefully with more countries and more places :)

Travel to Norway - On the ferry..

On the road again...
It is quite a travelling summer for our little dog. Here we are on our way to Norway - driving to Riga, and then taking the ferry from Riga (Maja sitting at the ferry harbour and waiting to go aboard) to Stockholm. This is Maja's first ferry. Being on deck was not the best thing, she tried as best as she could to stay away from the edge and to stay as close to the wall as possible. Underneath our feet was definitely the safest place to sit. But in the cabin she laid down at once, curled up and went to sleep :)

 

   

NANNYING!

 

 

  

WATER TRIUMPH

FINALLY!!!

I had come to a point where I thought it would never happened. That we had tried our best, tricked with sticks and goodies, with kind words and with strict "to me", with carrying, with doing it ourself, with pretending that we were desperately in need of being saved..

But nope....

Our dog just wouldn't swim!

Maja has always been fond of water, but swimming? No way! And now that barrier is broken, and we almost stupidly feel like parents listening to the first words: Did you hear that? Our child SAID something :) And our dog SWAM :D

We have been spending days at a music festival in Neringa, the land spit that lies outside the Lithuanian coastline. Warm and wonderful days, and now and then - luckily, it turned out - a little bit too hot for a furry dog. Some days ago we walked through a forest down to the water and found a fantastic sandy beach, just as if we had landed upon a deserted Caribbean island, where you could walk far into warm water without getting in too deep. So we decided: if any place, then there! If not there, then nowhere. Maja was as always overjoyed to walk out a bit and cool down, so we got into the water with her and carried her out a little bit. As soon as she was let go, she steered straight to land again, with two meters swimming. And then it happened - we threw a stick, and suddenly she swam out to get it.. Not too far, but no feet on the ground, and really swimming! And for the next hour we were walking around in the water, Maja was hunting small fishes (yeah, with her usual horrible hunting skills!), no rush, no stress, but now and then we would throw sticks, and Maja would happily swim out to get them. It was like she suddenly found a new side of herself! And watching her swim is really fun: determined movements, like some slow torpedo, breathing and puffing: puff, puff, puff, prufffffff.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday, Maja :)

Today you are - as far as we know - two years old, and for two years minus three months you have been together with us and brightened our lives. Two dog years makes you a young teenager, and you somehow fit to the description. You are energetic and playful, you love life and friends, and you are somehow a little bit unwilling to listen to your parents. But teenagers are also known - truthfully or not - to be a bit moody and sour, and if there is  ONE thing that you are not, it is moody and sour. Each day is filled with a wagging tail, with high expectations and with joy!
In one way, you haven't grown that big. You are smaller than many other Goldens, and now that we even have slimmed you down a little bit, you are down to 26 kilos or so. On the other hand, it is quite strange to look at pictures from the first days and to see how you fit underneath the kitchen chairs - actually fit with a huge margin :) And thinking about these two (minus three months) years, it is incredible how easy it has been. Sure, we have had our periods with diseases and leg problems and our fair share of worries (some time ago!!) and vet visits. But from first day it felt like the most natural thing in the world to have you, and you have adjusted to us so easily. Wherever we go, you want to follow, but if we need to leave you, you are ok with that. All people we like, you love. If we sleep long, you happily sleep, if we get up early, you do the same.

So - happy birthday, Maja :) Your birthday is celebrated with (not cake, but) pie (chicken, rice and liver - beat THAT) decorated with two candles (oh, and do you DROOL for that pie), and your favorite toys are joining you in celebrating!

 

  

  

THAT RABBIT IS OUR DOG!

Maja has a good and faithful friend in Grotas. He now and then comes with his owner to our place in the morning (excatly in time to see me walk off to work, and Jurgita starts working a bit later), or they meet somewhere in town. Then off for an hour or more of walking and playing. Grotas is maybe the biggest reason why Maja is now healthily down two kilos, and in better shape then ever :) Here are some pictures of the two of them playing..

It is really funny to see - the dog that always runs with open mouth, a huge enthusiastic grin and most of all with flapping rabbit ears, that is Maja. Eternally enthusiastic, eternally happy, eternally playing over the top, eternally puppy... Eternally rabbit :)