2 Notes
ONE MONTH
I have been in Norway for one month and one day and been working for one month exactly. My arms have a myriad of small scars and new scratches, my back aches every day and just today I was punched in the balls by a dog.
And I’ve loved almost every minute of my time here (not the ball-punching bit).
I was thrown in at the deep end, really. Paul and I had one session with Trine before we were left to do the training ourselves, and it’s been the same with every other task; she tells us what needs to be done, in some cases includes the how as well, then just leaves us to do it. I really like that approach as I believe it is a much better environment to learn in.
In the first week I learnt where all the huskies were in the dogyard (as in “Tomma is in that kennel”), but after another week I could recognise most of the dogs and now it’s something I don’t even think about. Which leads me nicely onto some arbitrary awards for the dogs:
Most Annoying Bark - Chappe
It sounds like someone is slowly murdering her, a cross between a howl of pain and discomfort and a forlorn bark.
Most Annoying Dog - Ake and Ailo
It’s a tie! For much the same reasons; they both continuously jump at you/on you, they twist and jump around when you are trying to unclip them from their chain or from the line and they just rub me the wrong way.
Worst Dog to Put In a Team - Kyrre
He loves the training, but hates having a harness put on or being taken from his kennel which is really annoying. He just shies away from you when you’re trying to slip the harness over his head and that is very frustrating.
My Favourite Dog (At the Moment) - Sampo
He’s pretty well behaved (which is really all you can ask for) and he’s a cutie too. I just really like him at the moment.
Best Dog to Put In a Team - Ull
Once you have that harness over his head, he will pretty much put his legs in all by himself, it’s such a pleasure to clip him into the team.
I’m just making these up as I go along, and I can’t really think of any other categories at the moment, but if you want to ask me anything about the dogs, please don’t hesitate.
In other news, I now have a beard (I haven’t shaved my face since I got here) and a mohawk (I have shaved my head).
