Monday, 7th of August,  2006  

Manuel 4 months today!!!

Yup our "little guy" , is now 4 months old and we "celebrated" that by "handing him over to strangers" from 0700 till 1600. Manuel has officially started attending dog day-care ! 0700 this morning we came to Jägersro hunddagis and was greeted by Jessica who is a girl that gave a supercalm and mature impression. Manuel's box is close to the entrance and I guess he didn't really understand that he would be spending some hours there. He was a bit unhappy, but very calm. We left realitivly fast. A long godbye will not improve the situation.

At 1600 we came back and were very curious of how it had been. When we entered the building we could see him lying camly on his rug, awake, looking out through the grill. He wasn't hysterically happy, but happy he was. It looked as if he had thought that the situation had been OK, at least.

The owner Lisa was there and told us that he had been nice and calm and when inside he had been sleeping or resting, and no accidents had occurred inside. The had taken him for short walks every three hours but generally just not made too much fuss, enabling him to get used to the environment. According to law dogs heavier than 40 kilos must have a bigger box (he has like half a horse-box which I feel is more than enough, since he is not active when there) and Lisa was a bit worried about that. I replied that probably he would manage to stay below 40 kilos. But we agreed upon that we could discuss this again in a few months and if needed try too book a larger box for him. She had four of those boxes but all where currently occupied. On the way to the car he made his business on a small patch of grass, and then, and then...he headed back towards the entrance!!!! (so I guess he did not detest it)-OK it doe hurt one's ego a bit... even though it is a good thing!

At home, he went directly to the bathroom and fell asleep. Tomorrow I have the day off, so he can rest. Micke went shopping in the evening and brought home.....lamb!!! Manuel loves lamb (so do I). There is a littel doggie who nicely sits, on his butt, waiting whilst some pieces of lamb is getting ready in the micro-wave oven. After having finished all of his food just because it was tasting lamb (broth). I decided he could not have more, since he had eaten the same amount of food tonight as he usually does in two meals. 

In the evening he was still very full of energy and I had to leave for a few hours. He did not want to be left alone in his playpen and barked. I just had to decide to be late, so that Micke could come home. Bad timing by me. . /Charlotte

Tuesday, the 8th of August,  2006  

Golden Retrievers everywhere

who was 1 year plus, and it went fine too, even though we had to put some what, control on Bailey since he was so happy, so happy but bigger than Manuel. We do not want Manuel having to cope with being handlet too roughly it is not good for him (physically and mentallyy). All went fine.

Then Manuel was alone at home for 1,5 hours and it went just fine! I met a very very sleepy dog when I came home, and he hardly wanted to go out for making his business. In the afternoon we sat on the grass outside the church nearby, under a tree just watching people passing by. Guess who came by? Lisa! Playtime again, and then home for food, and a nap in the bathroom.

Wednesday, the 9th of August,  2006   

Second day at the day-care

Then something wonderful happened. Manuel walked to the door and really showed he wanted to go out! Of course we obeyed immediately.

Thursday, the 10th of August,  2006 

Full schedule

At our second morning-walk we met Tin-tin. They are almost the same age. They played, and one can alreday now see that this wont last for so many months ahead. Two male dogs, soone teen-agers... 

Hm Akita = mole (someone has told me)

In the evening we went to a training class for puppies. We are already training the commands that she showed us so that is good, then we can concentrate on strengthen the % of succeed rate along with other puppies "disturbing" him. We mostly attend since we have heard it is very important to let him learn the social rules of the dog-world early if we want to make him to function the way we want.

The puppies where at the same age, but it felt like Manuel had come much further both physically and mentally than the other breeds. I wild guess is that the Akita still has some of the "wild behaviour" - which could be having to be more capable - early. This could be totally wrong, but this is how it felt. It was wonderful watching all these different breeds, all puppies. Dachshound, schnauzer, Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Soft coated Wheaton terrier and then, and Akita. 

In the evening two mounted policemen came down the road. Manuel was on the balcony (second floor) and barked at them. We had to bring him inside - and now we know it is time for some gettingusedtohorse-training. He could go with me to Sven (the hairdresser in the house) he has horses. Of course he should be able to interact with other species that live close to human, especially horses since they have been a huge part of my life. 

Friday, the 11th of August,  2006 

Just another day

Manuel joined me at the masseur's. He was laying on the floor watching us and was just great. Then we took a walk to the church and met Laika (German Shepard bitch) and Etze (I think that was his name - Rhodesian Ridgeback) and a third dog who's name I did not get. All three of them, young socially inexperienced youngsters, but it all went very very fine! But we know that this probably won't be the case when Manuel becomes sexually mature. Manuel played there, he played back home in the yard, and he also played in the flat - zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Saturday, the 12th of August,  2006 

At Jeppe's

In the afternoon we went to The Jepps Stridh school for dog-owners. It was raining cats and dogs (funny expression in this context) so we started with theori. Jeppe said one or two things that made me think about how "clear" you are or not, and when praising a dog, knowing exactly what you actually are praising.

When outside in the field Jeppe clearly wanted to check out the humans, and also have a good idea of the mentality of each and every dog (hrm human) enabling him to know how to act. I will let Micke write about the actual training, since he was the handler this time. In the evening I was alone at home with Manuel and we took it easy, but he seemed totally unaffected from today's adventure. I think he is getting more and more used to being in different environments./Charlotte

I must admit I was a bit nervous before the first class at Jeppe Stridh's dog-owners' school. The first exercise was to walk around four cones - which can seem easy, but with twenty dogs close to you and all others watching you, your pulse does increase and Manuel was very interested in the other dogs. It will take some time to get used to the way the instructors are communicating with the humans (not the dogs). It is very straight forward, and concrete,  and when thinking about it one understands it is a way of showing us humans the situation from a dog-perspective.

There were all kinds of breeds, from the smallest to the tallest. Puppies and adult dogs. Since this was the first time, focus was a lot on practical issues such as, who brings coffe, what leash to use, where to find the bins for dog-poo and so forth. We have nine tough classes ahead of us. /Micke

Sunday, the 13th of August,  2006 

Full of joy

Me and Manuel went to Torup and skipped around (we do not take actual walks, he is far too young for that. He wasn't a good boy - he was a marvelous boy!!! This was one of those days when one has bubbles of joy inside since it went so great! He stopped when I asked him to, even if in the middle of a leap of gallop. I took a chanse and let him keep on running further than I could see him (I saw the end of the long rope, attached to the harness)  - and he stopped to wait for me when I was out of sight!

When I came around the corner he was standing there, looking at me. What have I done to deserve this? Remind me of this day when me and Manuel are having a bad day in the future. In the evening he played off leash with Laika which made him really really tired. /Micke