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!!

And then there were two

(Genesis: "And then there were three" 1978 )

And then there were two dogs. One little ballerina and one big ox :)
It doesn't feel so long time ago that we didn't think about having ONE dog. Not so long time ago we had no thought of getting number two, and even when we agreed to foster Stella, we didn't have any (expressed) plan to get a second dog permanently.

One and a half month ago or so we had to make a decision if to keep her or not, and the choice was easy when we looked at Maja and Stella together; the Dynamic Duo, the Golden Gang, the inseparable pack. They belong together and Stella belongs together with us :)

This is old news (sorry - I have been away for a while), but here are some NEW news: We wrote earlier that we had found out a bit about Stella's history. Finding her name was an important part of the puzzle! And Stella even has a pedigree! She is now a registered dog, and we have her family tree! She is the proud daughter and grand-daughter of a lot of award-winning dogs.

Her full name is "STELLA GOLDEN RIVER".
Now, isn't that nice?

WAGGING DAYS

Up until now, we have had a blog with the address "majadog". Even if the name of the blog was "Golden Days", it didn't feel completely fair, now that the blog belongs to more than Maja. So, I switched address and name. Welcome to "Wagging days" :) Maja and Stella are happily wagging their way through the days, and so are their parents. Hopefully we'll make the blog wag a little together with us.

THE GANG

It has been a month or so since last time I posted any post, and it has been one of the most busy months of my life; working 170%, being quite active as a freelance musicer, and having two dogs. At the same time, it has been one of the nicest months I have had, seeing Stella grow into a loving and totally confident dog, getting healthy and putting on weight, and watching Maja and Stella become best friends, best sisters, and really a GANG. They share everything; our house, love and affection, beds, goodies, toys, trips. Where one goes, the other one follows, where one runs - now Maja first, now Stella - the other one runs after. It is great fun to see them go for walks together; they really look like an invincible gang; full of joy, full of confidence: step out of our way, here we come :)

Hell

This is where Stella came from:
http://www.pifas.info/galerija-3/lt/

Friends in the car

  

   

First long car trip for Stella :) 
While Maja is first one into the car, Stella is a bit more hesitating - it is all very new and a little bit scary. But as you can see, they managed very nicely :)