Raven Runner - new family member

Back from the USA! And our family has grown by one kitten, a beautiful Pixie Bob named Raven Runner, Raven for short. In Swedish this sounds like 'räven' and our beautiful bird of prey is at once cat, bird, and fox. Isn't language a wonderful thing!

Raven is very verbal, very funny, and always in motion. He drinks water from the tap (OK., a bottle will do as well), sleeps in eiderdown, and would eat chicken and rabbit only if given half a chance. He tried to sample my food but was taught that no one messes with Mingus, not even a bobcatlookalike.

On Mountain Time

 

Too busy having fun; so no updates for a while until we have a report from the Big Sky Field Trial Club's Montana Open Shooting Dog Championship in Circle, August 17-23.

Setters in Blue

Maximus is growing at an alarming rate - can you tell who's who in this picture? He'll soon be taller than me, Mingus, and he's definitely got a very finely honed bird finding instinct. Too bad he's mostly finding crows and magpies, but this morning he did discover a pheasant in the reeds before I caught his scent. Maximus suddenly went all quiet, froze, fixing his attention on the bird, and our human responded mirroring his pose, honoring his moment. There we stood, transfixed by the god of setting hounds, happy, the pheasant all quiet too. Then a movement broke the spell and the bird flew off in a flurry of feathers.
Tomorrow we'll be at Långtora where pheasants are aplenty, and Maximus will be taught how to raise birds on command, crouch until told to fetch the game, and how to make best use of the wind. Ah, the pleasures of puppyhood!

Setters modeling Cheny & Friends collars

Aren't we magnificent? Our human found us these smart and very comfortable collars, handmade in Germany by Cheny & Friends. Maximus will need to grow and fill out a bit but my collar fits snugly, made-to-measure as it is.

Birthday Setter

three-year-old with toys

       

Enter Maximus

Today is Valentine's Day and it is indeed a day of love! I have a new friend, setter puppy Maximus has joined our pack. He is still young, but already true to his breed - yesterday we went for a long walk across the snow clad fields, and Maximus kept up with us. Snow- and ice crystals coated his fur and clogged his feet, but he just curled up in the snow like a little fox and bit off the snowballs, then continued running with us. My human picked him up at one point to carry him, but Maximus wriggled and made it very clear that he wanted to run with us. That's the spirit!

Back home he collapsed and was dead to the world, but I know we'll have lots of fun. My human thinks of herself as a runner, and I'm far too polite to let on that I can outrun her without half trying (but then again she only has two legs where I have four). So Maximus' presence is welcome, and I'm sure he's going to grow into an amazing bird hunter, following my example.

Setter on ice

Ah, what a lovely Sunday morning! Early morning walk round the block followed by cheese bun at Gateaux, and then when the sun was making patterns on the floor, we went for a walk on the ice.

Grandma came along, so I was on my best behavior (she cannot run as fast as I and i made a point of returning to her regularly to make sure she's all right).

Ah, but how I ran! Across the ice, making the snow veer around me, and on the sound of the whistle I was slipping and sliding before I came to a halt. A piece of sausage came my way - "Off you go!" and then the two familiar sounds calling me back, more slipping and sliding, another piece of sausage. This is fun, one of my favorite games. At first we were alone on the ice, but then more and more people, most of them with dogs, appeared, and I had a chat with my hero Nelson and with Nova, and a lovely cafe latte colored saluki bitch - she loves to run just like I do, and is a new resident here, what happiness!