Holy Christmas

It is Christmas :) Christmas, with all the wonderful things that come with it - good food, cakes and cookies, candles, decorated trees, gifts.. But the nicest thing of all is to be together with family. This year we are celebrating with Jurgita's parents - a part of Maja's "extended family". And Maja loves it: We are out a couple of hours every day, the rest of the time we are relaxing indoors. For Maja it is heaven on earth - everyone is collected more or less in the same room, no need to check where someone is, nothing to worry about, just relax and enjoy long, joyous, calm evenings in front of the fire place :)

The Armani Dog

I wish I was there to see this :)
Jurgita was out walking in town with Maja the other day. Maja loves these walks - it's a lot of things to sniff, a lot of people around, maybe even some compliments and some scratches to get. And there are lots of huge shop windows to look at and to see reflections in. This time she stopped by an Armani shop (sic) to look at either her own reflection or something in the window. Amazingly; the women working in the shop saw Maja through the window and fell so for her that she invited Maja and Jurgita in to the shop to cuddle Maja and show her to her colleagues. So, while the woman and Jurgita was talking, Maja was walking around and sniffing Armani shoes. Now.. I dare to bet a LOT that she is the only dog in Vilnius that has ever done THAT :D

And who says dogs and cats can't get along?

Just had to show you all this. It's not Maja, but I am sure she wouldn't mind a cat :)

A dead mouse

Me and Maja were out walking in the weekend when she suddenly fell behind a bit. I didn't pay very much attention to it - it was a "free" walk in nature, so she ran around as she wanted to herself. But suddenly I heard her bark - not the "boff-ing" that she usually makes, but some very high yelping. When I came to her, she was standing totally transfixed, staring at a dead mouse. I could see that mouses hole in the ground, and it seemed like it was a little bit dug, so maybe Maja had dug it up and caught her? Even so, she was really not happy about her catch; this was not at all things were supposed to be like. The mouse was supposed to breathe, and run, and play, not lie like that, not moving. I tried to call Maja to come, but she kept on staring and very carefully sniffing. When I pulled her away, she followed me for some steps, and then went back again. When I finally made her come, she was really not in the mood for any playing or wagging at all - she seemed quite upset, and it took me a minute or two and a snack to make her the usually happy dog.

Off, little naive Maja :) Really not a hunter and really not very used to the harsh realities of life..

Patience

Jurgita has been ill for some days, and had to stay at home with high fever. I managed to work from home a couple of days, but still I am tied to the chair somehow. All this time Maja has been the most patient dog :) Usually she is VERY eager to get up and out, but these days she has been so calm. I think she gets it: it is not because she is lazy that mummy doesn't get up and out, but because she is ill. And in that case - it is best to stay close to the bed and be a good companion. Such a good dog :) 

In general, she is so calm at home - usually she gets around 2 hours of walk every day, and some running and sniffing around in the garden. She is so full of joy and energy when we walk! And at home - so

The joy of reunion

More posts to come in the weekend, but in the meantime I cannot help but posting this video of an American soldier coming home from Afghanistan and meeting his dog again:

Have a look at the original Youtube-site to read his comments, it is worth it - they are thoughtful and touching. 

But - this is approximately what meets us every day when Maja has been alone for some hours and we come home :)