Weighed

We weighed Wesha this morning and she is now 11.3kg. I think it is pretty perfect. She is slim and she looks healthy like this. Her coat is also shining more, now that it is getting longer.

Sleeping like a baby in "daddy's" arms

First snow!

When we woke up this morning, everything was white. It was still snowing, but the snow was very wet. I filmed Wesha when she first went out this morning. It was still a bit dark, so the quality of the video isn't too good.

Wesha was a bit hesitant in the snow at first:




But later she really enjoyed it:

Getting back to "normal"

When Wesha came into our home, we moved a lot of things away from the floor. We used to have tons of shoes in the hallway, school bags standing around in the living room, my laptop cable snaking from te table to the floor to the socket, etc.etc.

Slowly but surely, we have started to reintroduce some of those things. At the moment, we can have 2 pairs of wet (it is raining cats and dogs here!) hiking boots in the hallway without Wesha taking them. I have also put my cowboy boots back in the hallway. It took about 3 days before Wesha wouldn't take those anymore.

I had put my laptop on the kitchen counter (on the elevated part, that we don't use as a kitchen top), so that the cable wouldn't be on the floor. But standing at my laptop was starting to hurt my knees, so I have gone back to putting my laptop on the dining table and the cable on the floor. Wesha isn't biting it anymore.

These are little things, that seem so normal and they have become normal again so gradually, that we almost don't notice them. But it is sure nice to be able to sit again while I am on my laptop!

5 months old

Wesha is 5 months old today!

I only remembered after I had bought her a new bed, though. :D

Wesha testing her new "camping" bed:


And with the new vetbed on top it is even more comfortable:


But she often sleeps underneath the table. She likes to tangle herself between the legs of the table and the chairs. Almost looks as if she is strangling herself, but Wesha obviously finds it very comfortable.


Reto tried to read the newspaper while lying on the sofa today, but Wesha needed to express her love for him by licking his ear... so he didn't get far with reading

Wesha got wet again

Discovering a mooring ring together with Lorenzo:


Sniffing to see what is so exciting about it:


Carefully stepping into the water:


Right before she slipped and fell into the water:


Climbing back out of the water:




Wesha first came back on land to shake out the water and then immediately went back:


Watching the leafs floating past:

Curiosity didn't kill this cat

Wesha and Reto were playing with the ball in the garden this morning, when Reto noticed a spectator that Wesha had obviously not noticed yet. I managed to take this pic just before Wesha DID notice and chased it out of our garden.

Way behind!

And suddenly a whole week has gone past.

What happened:
For the first time, Wesha went into her bench to sleep (voluntarily) during the day. We left the bench open and she obviously felt really well in there, she turned onto her back too.

For the first time, Wesha was brave enough to rub noses with a cow. The goats that were standing right next to the cows were too scary still. Hehehe.



Ah... and for the first time, I took her poo to the vet to have it checked on parasites. I don't want to give her chemical things against parasites when she doesn't have them. Her poo was parasite free... so that is one dose of chemicals less for Wesha!

On the Rinerhorn

Today, we went to the mountain Rinerhorn. It was the first time for Wesha to go into a small (max. 6 persons) gondola. The gondolas never stop moving, they just slow down for people to get in or out. Wesha jumped in without any problems (slight hesitation). And during the ride, she seemed fairly relaxed too. No whimpering or barking at all. When we arrived at the mountain station, Reto and the kids got out first, so Wesha just followed them. Again no problem.


On the Rinerhorn, we went for a walk. I tried to take a nice portrait pic of Wesha with mountain tops on the background, but she woudn't sit still long enough. Got this gorgeous pic of her with Lorenzo, though:


Wesha just started to move when I took this pic:


After the walk, we had lunch in the restaurant. Wesha was tired, because she didn't sleep all morning (we were packing and cleaning the apartment; she couldn't find rest) and she fell asleep underneath our table quickly. After lunch, we took the gondola back down again. Wesha got on and off as if she never did anything else.

Tina giving Wesha some water:



At the exit, a kitten was waiting for us. For a second Wesha and the kitten stood nose to nose. Both totally suprised. Then the kitten went back a little and Wesha just wanted to get to it.


Back in the car, and off we went: home.

Wesha in Davos

We have been in Davos for a couple of days now. Our first short holiday with Wesha. We especially came here to let Wesha get used to the apartment. Every winter, we stay in this apartment for 3 weeks (1 week in December and 2 end Feb/early March). The apartment block is old and when all the apartments are occupied, it can get pretty loud in here.

We wanted Wesha to get used to some of the normal sounds (the elevator cloinking, people on the stairs, tv from the neighbors etc), while there aren't too many apartments occupied. I was afraid Wesha would bark a lot, because of all the unfamiliar sounds. But she is doing really well. An advantage is, that we are on the second floor, and she doesn't have to "guard" so much here. And the elevator cloinking doesn't seem to bother her one bit. She also rides the elevator (not a smooth ride at all!) without any problems. There are two other dogs in the building and when Wesha hears them bark, she will bark too, but that is logical.

It is a very small apartment and the four of us are around Wesha all the time, and I think that is why she adjusted so quickly. I really think she feels at home here. At night, she sleeps in the transport box, that we took out of the car and up to the apartment. She does sleep in the same room (living room) as Reto and me. And in the morning, when we let her out of the transport box, she is allowed on our bed. That is a real treat!


We have gone for a couple of lovely walks. Of course no longer than half an hour at the time. The country side is a lot rougher than in and around our village. Wesha enjoys running around and climbing on stones here. We crossed a bridge today, that consisted of metal roster. Wesha didn't have any problem with it. I wanted a picture of it, but she was moving too fast, so I told her to sit.

Back at Hayowenta's

We visited Nicole (our breeder) yesterday. Wesha was of course enthusiastic as always. Her mother Dazhitaa was happy, but quickly showed that Wesha was overdoing it. And she soon retreated to another room. She did return to the living room later and then got on the couch with Reto and Lorenzo for some TLC. Great-great-grandma Duscha was more patient than I had expected. But after a while she also had enough of Wesha's invitations to play. When she had clearly declined those invitations, Wesha kept barking at her. Little pig-headed doggy we have!

Wesha and Duscha in the garden:


We didn't stay long, because we were on our way to Davos and Nicole also had other things to do. But it was nice to see Nicole, Dazhitaa and Duscha again. And to show off Wesha, of course!

Lots of news

To start off with the best: Wesha went swimming today! Reto took her for a walk along the Rhine and she was very interested in the leafs that were floating past. So she went into the water, swam a little bit out and then back and climbed back on land (not at the same spot, because of the current). What a shame that I wasn't there to witness this first voluntary swim (and to take pictures)!!

I found a tooth from Wesha yesterday. She has been teething for a while and this is the first tooth that I have found. The gaps in her gums are filling up with new teeth very quickly. I am surprised how well she has been eating her bones during this period of teething.


Possibly connected to teething: her right ear was folded again Saturday and Sunday. Massaging it didn't show any effect anymore. So yesterday, we tried a different way of taping it. This doesn't bother Wesha at all. She doesn't scratch at it. We hope this will correct the folded ear. We will leave it on for another couple of days and then see how it goes without tape.


In December, we are planning to go to the Christmas show of the Swiss Retriever Club. Angi and Weta will be there too. And hopefully more siblings.

Tomorrow, we are going to Davos for a couple of days. On the way, we will pay a quick visit to Nicole. I am curious how Wesha will react on seeing her mother Dazhitaa and her great great grandmother Duscha again. I think it will be fun!

From one of our walks yesterday:

2 Tollers on a population of 1'700! (plus more "this and that")

Yesterday, another Toller came to live in our village! Cordula and her family picked up their 10 week old Nituna.

Wesha, Tina and I went to visit her this afternoon. What a cute little thing Nituna is! She is probably not small at all, but compared to Wesha, she is! It is hard to remember Wesha being that small. Wesha was of course VERY enthusiastic and a bit too wild in the beginning. Nituna first hid under the bed, but soon she came out to play with Wesha. I took a few pictures, but they are not very good. The small camera is just to slow (I knew that...), I will take my DSLR next time.

After a short while, I had to take Wesha on the leash, so that Nituna could "explore" her a bit more. Nituna is not shy or scared, so I think she will be a good playing partner for Wesha soon. When I let Wesha off the leash again and she chased Nituna into a corner, Nituna growled and snapped and Wesha got that message and first left her alone and later approached Nituna a lot more careful.
Cordula and I are looking forward to future walks and play-visits!



MORE "THIS AND THAT"

Wesha's eye is a lot better. Not totally healed yet, but much better.

We went to the young dog course this morning (man, 08.30 hrs is EARLY on a Sunday!!!) and Wesha did really well again. She enjoyed the play and the exercises. When we come home, Wesha is always full of energy. So before she can fall asleep, we play a bit with her.

I bought Wesha a new harness yesterday. She already had a newer one, one size bigger than the one we got from Nicole (Nituna is using that one now, until she outgrows it and then we'll get it back). But the other day, Wesha had been playing in a muddy field and her harness was so dirty, that I had to wash it. And then realized that we didn't have a back up! So That is taken care of now. She has a silver one with black paws on it and the new one is (very) blue.

The other day, I walked along the Rhine with Wesha. She likes the water and sniffs it, bites it and tries to breath it too, I think. But she never goes in further than her belly. I don't think she will be swimming before next summer. I do hope that she will come into the water when I am swimming. I would love to swim together with Wesha.


On our afternoon walk yesterday, we came across a dead hedgehog. Wesha found it very interesting and sniffed for a while. But she didn't try to eat it (to my relief).

Visiting Viva

Wesha has an ugly infected eye. The vet had already warned me that that could happen when the corner teeth are about to break through. So I guess that is about to happen. She keeps the eye almost closed at times. I am cleaning it a couple of times a day with chamomile tea and I hope it will soon be better.

Today, we visited my MIL again. Her dog Viva still doesn't like Wesha much. Viva was rejected by her mother at 7 weeks old and then bought by my MIL. She is has missed a lot of the important socializing with other pups/dogs. For her to have a fidgety young dog like Wesha around is pretty stressful. Viva loves playing with people, but she cannot play with other dogs. And Wesha, well she just wants to play so badly. She won't stop "inviting" Viva. After a while she starts barking at Viva and won't stop.




When we arrived we took Viva and Wesha for a walk. That went fairly well. Viva was just walking and Wesha was running around, coming back to Viva time and again. Viva would growl at her and flash her teeth. Wesha would run a wider circle around Viva until she forgot again and would get too close. They once sniffed at the same spot and that was very peaceful:



While we were having lunch, we tried to keep Wesha under the table with a bull's pizzle to chew, but she couldn't find peace and kept barking. So we put Wesha in the transport box in the car. She fell asleep there.

After lunch, we took them to a small field next to the house, were Wesha enjoyed the grapes that my BIL grows there. :D

Reto's mum had some grapes too:

You live, you learn

On World Animal Day, I had bought a big bag of dried paunch (I hope that is the correct word for "1st stomach"? - "Pansen" in German) for Wesha. I had read that dogs really love them. I had also heard that they smell pretty strongly. However, I didn't realise HOW strongly they smell... - may I say: STINK!

Yesterday, we wanted to put Wesha in her bench, so that we could do the vacuum cleaning. So I decided to give her a piece of the dried paunch. Oh boy... THAT was a mistake. Wesha was chewing on it quite enthusiastically... but slowly the smell became stronger. And after a short while, our whole living room/kitchen were smelling like cow shit! Opening windows didn't really help, so we decided that Wesha should eat it in the garden. But Wesha always has to give up her chewy things when she leaves the bench... so she didn't want to come out. It was too funny! We opened the bench and the doors to the garden (right opposite from the bench) and then stepped back and after a while Wesha ran into the garden with the paunch.

By then the whole house was stinking. And after Wesha had finished chewing/eating it, she was smelling STRONGLY herself! We decided to give her yoghurt instead of her normal meat meal, in hope that it would neutralize the smell. It did help, luckily.

So the big bag of dried paunch is stored in a plastic bag in the shed in our garden. I doubt Wesha will ever chew on one again. I am seriously considering donating that bag to the animal shelter of Schaffhausen.

Reto and I did get a good laugh out of this lesson. And a nose full of cow shit smell.

More for the eyes

Reto tried to measure Wesha's height... needless to say that he failed. He estimates her at about 42cm.