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 :)

A ritual sacrifice of winter

When I came home from an opera performance tonight, the house was quite in a disarray. The concert that met me when I opened the outer door was as usual, but I noticed immediately when I opened the inner door that something had gone wrong. We hadn't left Maja for more than three-four hours or so alone, and we had had a good two-three hour walk earlier in the day, so we had no reason to believe that there was too much pent up energy. But the floor was covered with smaller and bigger pieces of fabric.. Smaller and bigger torn-apart pieces of... my gloves and caps. Properly ripped, chewed and dismembered, never to be used again. One of Maja's favorite games is to try to steal my glove and run away with it, but I didn't think it would go this far - on the other hand: My bad, I had left them inside the house. A stern glance, and some stern words was all that was needed to reduce Maja's height to half - she went immediately creeping into a far corner and looked at me as if I had beaten her, and then she came crawling to my feet to beg for mercy.

I wonder when they understand that they have done something wrong? Is it only the voice and my behavior that makes her understand that  something is wrong. Does she understand - I think she does - what is wrong? And if so - does she "think" about it - in her dog way - when she does it: This is wrong, but it is just too much fun?

Anyway: after a while things calmed down, we went out for the evening pee, Maja again asked for forgiveness (very submissive). Then some quality time on the floor with combing and massage, and now she is sleeping so heavily on the sofa beside me. The bad is over, everything is back to how it should me.

And after all: it is raining heavily tonight. So much snow has disappeared the last days. It is quite some time since I wrote on this blog that spring is here. Since then, winter has returned several times with a vengeance, but this time I am absolutely sure that it is defeated. So, maybe Maja's killing of my winter gloves and winter cap was the final ritual sacrifice of the winter :)

First time at dog exhibition

On Sunday we took Maja to her very first dog exhibition :) Not to participate in any competition, of course, as she doesn't have any documents, but just to watch. We were discussion the different possible "scenarios" before we went - Maja is the sweetest dog, but she goes sometimes nuts when she meets other dogs. With a small, strange laughter we were discussing the possibility of us being thrown out; of Maja creating a total mayhem among otherwise well behaving, disciplined dogs :) Another possibility would be that when she would see so many dogs, she would just give up..

And it went beyond all my expectations. Dogs, dogs, dogs everywhere. Small ones, big ones, brown, white, yellow, long hair, short hair.. And best of all: loads and loads and loads of other golden retrievers. And Maja really behaved nicely! A little pulling at the leash, of course, but who wouldn't expect that. But I really think she was amazed - who would ever think that so many dogs even exist :D

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