Dear Readers, here is a poem about my dog, Ama. It is written in the style of a bush poem. Read more
Ode to Ama – A Bush Ballad
Dear Readers, here is a poem about my dog, Ama. It is written in the style of a bush poem. Read more
WordPress Daily Prompt – Strategy
With the arrival of Summer, dog training classes have shut-down for two months. There are some crazy people who will still train in 40ºC, but I’m not one of them. So rather than reporting on our current progress/strategies, I thought I would share a little tale of my early training exploits with my beautiful Finnish Lapphund girl, Makea. Makea is now five years old and one of three (very noisy) dogs in our household.

In my initial dog training post, I mentioned that Ama, my little Finnish Spitz, had successfully gained her Rally Novice obedience title. At this level, all the exercises are done on-lead. The next level for us, Rally Advanced (RA), is going to be more challenging because the course is conducted off-lead. I think we can do it. I’ve learnt to never underestimate the happy wanderer! But….. at our latest training session, things didn’t go entirely to plan (ie. there was no plan).

Originally posted Nov 23, 2017. Updated Jan 20, 2022.
I’ve been training my two primitive dogs (a Finnish Spitz and a Finnish Lapphund) for a couple of years now. We have had many successes and failures. We’ve had frustration and tears of joy. Just this past week, my little Finkie (short for Finnish Spitz), Ama, achieved her first obedience title (Rally Novice). [Update: this is ancient history now. We are no longer attending classes or participating in dog sports.] Read more
Whoever said dogs give unconditional love, never had a Finnish Lapponian Dog (Finnish Lapphund as we know them in the English-speaking world) or a Finnish Spitz. Anyway, here is my cartoon celebrating unconditional love between (wo)man and dog. The drawing needs work, but you’ll get the general idea. Life is never boring with this pair.
