The boys have been training with 3 puppy dummies lately. This is actually due to Alfie. Eddie is very good in picking up dummies but for some reason Alfie has not been that interested in dummies.

In the local Gundog training couple of weeks ago, I was so proud of Eddie. He did so well!
Unfortunately Alfie just run past the dummies and did not even try to pick them up.

Then I though of getting the puppy dummies so that Alfie would get more interest for dummies and it has been working quite well. Puppy dummies are quite convenient for me to use. Normal dummies would be too big for this kind of ad hoc training.

Even when I’m working at home I can have a dummy on the table and I sometimes give it for Alfie to carry a moment. This has paid off.

Today when going for a walk to the forest I let the boys see me throwing two dummies (I had them on leash when doing that) and then we went off for a walk. Eddie normally runs further away from me than Alfie and therefore  was back in the estate earlier and found one of the dummies first. Then he went on and picked up the other one as well. This made Alfie so interested that I put Eddie on the leash and threw a dummy to Alfie. I was so happy to pick it up and giving it to me. I did that again and he did well again. Then I did one more for Eddie.

This exercise should improve their memory (at least Eddies since he remembered).

Finley will be 12 months old in July & our walks are getting longer & more fun.  With the acquisition of a mountain bike I am planning to cycle round the forests while the bad boys run, jump leap & roll in yuck!

We needed to find a way of carrying the bike on the car & I think we have a tow ball solution.  This will mean that Baxter will have more opportunities to get this filthy.

Tony is now on his way back to UK. Before he left we went for a nice walk in the forest with the boys. This was  about 5km since I did not put the Sports Tracker on from the beginning.

Photos below

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Eddie had a nice 18km (12 miles) cycling tour yesterday. Alfie stayed in since I was with couple of people and did not want to cause too much hassle with two dogs.

Tony has been very busy with the forest work and my plot looks so much different now. I wish I had taken some photos before and after Tony’s visit since it has made so much diffefence.

Saturday we went to the Lahti international dog show and Tony saw some ski jumps.

Tony is about to leave soon back to UK.

B – “Where did you go last night?”

F – “Silver KCGC training.”

B – “The problem I have with this training & exams is that it doesn’t cover any of my specialist skills.”

F – “Oh, what are these specialist skills?”

B – “Retrieving, swimming & dancing, of course.”

F – “Ah, yes I remember.  So you are trying to tell me you may need a few attempts!”

B – “Well, maybe”

The weather in Finland has been just beautuful since I came back. Powder snow & sunshine.

The boys love it too, of course.

Tomorrow we will go to the X-ray (hip & elbows) + check patella’s. The result will be official and recorded to the boys. Keep your fingers crossed that they are as heathy as possible!