Tomba's first litter!

Maanantai 25.1.2010 klo 20:18 - Tiina

I promised you some exciting news - We proudly present our Tomba's first upcoming litter (keep your fingers crossed!): Isabis Essy Ehobib and Tomba have been mated last week! We expect puppies in March if everything goes well. Wow, cannot wait...

We visited Turku Int show, Tomba won the champion male class but no further placement. I was quite sure still on Friday night that I won't take him with me, couple of days from mating and he was full of hormones and looking for the bitches from everywhere quite anxiously...But well, he behaved himself quite well in the show, even if there was a bitch in heat quite close to us.

Veteran Numa (Tarujen Jamila) was my joy in Turku, she was BOB -veteran, and finalized our day by being BB-2 in a tough company! Numa totally rules at the age of  10+ years, the judge also said to me that she loves Numa....;)

Our equine baby, Pommi, has started a new business. He is literally moving all the ground around with his front legs, he paws/scrabbles the ground with lots of enthusiasm...maybe some construction sites planned, who knows? His hoofs are not growing fast enough compared to his huge effort to move the ground around himself and therefore we need to fix his hoofs for a while. Funny little stallion, I am not sure that his business idea flies but let's see..I rather see him trotting a hell of a lot of money for me than starting some "earth moving business" :))

I try to update some new photos of growing Pommi and also fix Tomba's offspring page...some day...

New Year

Perjantai 8.1.2010 - Tiina

Happy New Year to all of you! I noticed that I was way too busy before Christmas and I could not even update the blog.

Before Christmas we had two shows and some other dog related activities. In the Finnish Winner 09 show the judge did not like Tomba that much and gave him VG (according to him Tomba has too big eyes and that gives him too hard expression, plus he wanted stronger muzzle). Next day, the Nordic Winner went a bit better, Tomba got EXC and was among the 6 best champion males but that was it. However, I was satisfied for the result, Tomba was relaxed and I was not so tired than I expected (I came back from a work trip to Geneva the night before the shows). I also handled Tilli (Tarujen Thema) again in both shows, she got EXC but was not placed.

Then Tomba participated a very interesting protection dog (IPO/Schutzhund) basic test just before we headed for Egypt for our holiday. The test was organised by Juha Korri, very experienced trainer in IPO. Tomba did more than great, he has very good ability and willingness to work and fight, he bites also quite well but still the instinct to fight is not as high as needed for a IPO dog (which is more than typical for a RR).  I took Tomba to the test for a reason; not to start IPO with him, but to hear how an experienced IPO -trainer sees his capabilities and temperament.

Tomba was fighting well and bit the object also still then when the trainer started to use the soft, leather "whip". That was a very positive surprise, I was almost sure that he lets go when the whip comes closer - but he kept fighting. After the test Tomba was so proud of himself that he carried the toy (the object)  all the way to the car and did not let go easily even when I asked him to jump into the car. Funny little Wombat ;)

Due to the Arctic temperature we have had for ages now our agility is on break until it gets warmer and the snow (which we have more than half a metre) melts down. Now we have few shows planned for the next months, some here and some abroad. Then we will have some other exciting news pretty soon, more details later on!

 

 

Show business

Maanantai 30.11.2009 - Tiina

After the last update we have just lived our everyday, normal life...No big news. Some training, mostly obedience and agility and then relaxing...or I mean the dogs have been relaxing. I have been quite busy with the work and also with Pommi, trying to tell to our little stallion how to behave in the human beings' world...;)

Yesterday was very nice day in Turku international dog show. We (Anne, Maija, Anna, and me) participated with three dogs, I was showing them all. The judge kept me very busy and sweating, she had very harsh line of judgment and still we managed to get absolutely fabulous results! Tomba prepared himself for the show by eating two kilos of horseshit the day before, and also hunting a rabbit with Shakur in the middle of the road, appr. for one km...So he looked like a whale with sore muscles...He was like a nuclear bomb after a long pause from the inside shows, and the judge really noticed him bouncing like a rubberball and giving me his trademark kisses... As the judge said, I have an excellent dog, with an excellent topline, excellent body and movements, but he is a little bit overexcited today....Only little bit??? Well, however we were placed EXC-2 in ch class, and finally BM-3, nice!

Tilli (Tarujen Thema, our Shakur's sister) was as happy as she always is, wagging the tail and just having fun;) This was first time for me showing her, and it went more than well: Tilli nicely EXC-1 in ch class, and finally BB-2 with CACIB (and that CACIB we were chasing!). Thanks Maija for letting me show your funny Tilli!

The crown for the whole day was Anne's Numa (Tarujen Jamila) in a veteran class. Numa has a special place in my heart, being one of the reasons I have RRs: I fell in love with Numa, and our first RR Masa was her son. Numa is also a grandma to our Shakur. Numa has not been easy to show, and I was not waiting any success. The judge loved Numa's suberb condition, her fantastic movements and decided to put her not only to BOB veteran, but also BB-1 and finally BOB! BOS was the handsome Tarujen Samir, so Anne as a breeder had a good day. Wow, way to go Numa, 10.5 years old and still going more than strong! Then we headed for the BIS -veteran show, where there were appr. 40-50 dogs. Numa was showing herself so well, and she was picked up among the 8 best veterans.  No placing in a group 6, but Numa managed to carry herself so well still in a group ring. Thanks Anne also for letting me have fun with Numa!

What a day, even if Liisa was worried about "us veteran bitches (me and Numa) to be able to run in two big rings", after a lot of sweating and running we were tired but the happiest ever! It is so touching when the veterans show their best, nothing is so moving. And Liisa, you were almost right, I felt like a veteran bitch myself, running out of breathe and sweating like a pig ;)

Everyday life

Maanantai 21.9.2009 klo 10:32 - Tiina

We have been getting back to our normal everyday life. Nothing special has happened, life goes on as usually...

Boys participated the lure coursing trial in Mustiala in mid-August. Shakur did a great job again, got CQ and was placed as 6th. Tomba then really shined ;) Firstly, he totally got tired in a halfway of the quite long and demanding track. Then, in the finals he lost the lure, stopped looking for it and then decided to chase the ATV/quad... How dumb can a RR male be? ;)

Then we have trained some search, some obedience and agility. Tomba has gone a bit forward in agility, but I have still quite much to learn to manage to do the timings right etc.

Shakur's sister Hulda (Tarujen Tukae Kwa) stayed with us for a week (Anna and Jari were having their honeymoon meanwhile) and they had lots of fun, running and playing around. And they killed a little mouse all three together and afterwards I found it on our yard - they were licking and sucking it, I guess it tasted good...poor mouse.

Yesterday our boys participated the RR lure coursing championship trial in Hämeenkyrö. Unfortunately I could not go there due to work related reasons, but Anna and Jari (thanks guys!) took them both with their 3 RR girls. Shakur missed her mom so much that he could not concentrate at all on running, and then his running partner decided to drop out. Shakur continued but he was very insecure and did not manage to get into the finals. After last trial's performance I did not expect a lot from Tomba..But he was a positive surprise, ran the whole track, got into the finals and got 436 points being 9th out of 20 RRs. He was the second best male (lost one point to the best male;), it seemed to be more bitches' track than males' ... But however I am happy!

Holiday & celebration!

Perjantai 14.8.2009 klo 21:58 - Tiina

Wow, last time I wrote that the time does not fly...Strange, after being 3 weeks on vacation now it has done that more than fast! Lots of happenings to be updated.

First on Nellu and the foal, Pommi. Well, Nellu was not pregnanta and so she was not carrying the next winner of Prix d'Amerique. The vet found an infection in Nellu's womb. She got some medication and now she's been inseminated again. Next ultrasound will be next week, we keep our fingers crossed that now everything is ok! She also got some fungus in her skin, and I have been washing her and the foal with some medical liquid to get rid of the uggly infection. Pommi "the Stallion" is doing more than great, he is growing fast and acts like a big boy already ;) He jumps on his mom, lifts up his upper lip etc. Funny little guy. We have started practising of being alone without mom (10 minutes at a time)  and it has gone very well for his age, 2 months. I am very proud of our little future Derby Winner! I should update his photos also, he is such a cutie.

Then the dogs...Tomba the Wombat participated Mikkeli Int Show on 26th July, and still the night before I thought that maybe it is not worth driving all the way to Mikkeli to hunt for the needed CACIB because there were quite many RRs participating the show. Well luckily we went there; Tomba BM2 after handsome Zorro who was BM1 and we got the CACIB we still needed from Finland! Anna and RR-Hulda decided to come to cheer us and we had a nice trip. Thanks Anna for the great company!

Next we headed for Iisalmi Int show on 1st of August. Who is so crazy than decides to drive 600 km to a dog show, just to chase CACIBs??? I thought I need some serious evaluation of my mental health, but luckily Jonna, owner of Maissi (Ikimba Yaba Moyo) was as crazy to join my trip. So, on Friday afternoon we started to drive to Iisalmi and then finally got to our camping site. We rented a little cottage with bunk beds. After drinking a bottle of sparkling strawberry wine (Fresita) it was time to go to bed- although we were gossiping many hours and telling SOOO stupid stories ever....Laura Tähkä and the pink handle included;) Jonna, thanks for the good laughs in the morning ;)! Well, on the show scene my expectations were not that high. And then Tomba was the only RR to get an excellent critique, and automatically BM1 and BOB - and received CACIB again! The judge really liked Tomba, and also another very famous and experienced female judge came to tell me how gorgeous male RR I have ;) Nice words, thank you judges. The only VERY annoying thing was that Maissi did not got her CACIB what we were after...Well, thanks for the very best company Jonna got over it...hah hah:) The final celebration of the day was Tomba's BIG-4 placement, it was worth driving the long way, although I managed to hurt my finger badly while waiting the group finals to begin. I can tell you that it is not nice to show your dog when a nylon leash burnt a big piece of your finger away...quite a challenge to smile to the judge. Thanks Jonna and Maissi for the hilarious company, and Laura Tähkä and The Foundation (and many others) for cheering us up!

After an active dog life me and Mikko headed to see Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour in Helsinki. Wow, 85 000 people together and we got very good places appr. 20m from the stage. Unbelieavable visual experience, and it was great too see Madonna live - once in a lifetime experiences.

Then on 8th of August we visited Mäntyharju all breed show, Tomba got an excellent critique and was BM2. After that we spend nice couple of days in the lake Saimaa and visited my uncle's cottage on a beautiful island. Dogs were running, eating blueberries and swimming. We were BBQing, drinking beer and fishing. What a relaxation!

Now my anxiety is getting bigger and bigger: back to work on Monday. NOOOOO! Luckily we will go to Mustiala tomorrow and spend a nice day in lure coursing trial. Both dogs will participate and hopefully they will run in a decent way - no shortcuts etc.

A short holiday of 3 weeks but a Madonna -like holiday: lot of celebration and having a good time in a good company. Thanks guys!

 

Still working....

Perjantai 17.7.2009 klo 14:21 - Tiina

It seems that the time does not fly as I expected...anyway, still one week to go before summer holiday. A looong week....

Our agility training is on summer break and otherwise we have been less active with the dogs. Some obedience training and of course swimming. Next activities will be playing with our favourite RR-trio, Frida, Tilda and Hulda tomorrow. And after watching the dogs playing and running the human representatives of this gang will check out the nightlife in Helsinki! Watch out Helsinki, here we come!

Nellu-mare was inseminated on Tuesday (the sire is Magnificent Rodney), and now Nellu and Pommi-baby are back at home stable. Nellu's next foal won't be for us, but for her owner Heidi who really wants to have Nellu's foal after last summer's foal Vindi died suddenly at the age of 6 months. Hopefully everything goes well and Heidi will be a happy owner of a foal next summer! Pommi is growing so fast, he is already a big boy (at least he thinks so) because he is eating the grass and oat, not only milk...;)

Tomba's show life will be continuing in Mikkeli Int show on 26th July. Next updates after that.

Thank god it's weekend...

Dog shows

Maanantai 6.7.2009 - Tiina

Last weeks have gone very fast - I have been just fascinated by our little colt, Pommi. He is growing much faster than the dogs do ;)

This weekend went even faster (if possible). Yesterday (Saturday) I handled Tarujen Simba in Tuusula all breed show very successfully: Simba was BM-1 and BOB and finally after couple of hours of waiting BIG-2! Wow, thanks Mari again for letting me handle your Simba!

Today it was our Tomba's turn to participate the Hyvinkää all breed show. And our good luck continued, Tomba BM-1 and BOB!!! Way to go me and Tomba ;) BOS was beautiful Australian import Zimbalooba Ikimba Mtilda who also received her second CAC. Congratulations to Marianne for Matilda's success, our Aussies ruled big time! ;) I could not thank Tomba's breeders enough for this wonderful dog!

This coming Friday or Saturday "our" horses Nellu and Pommi will go back to Koivulan Hevostila where Pommi was born. Nellu will be inseminated again and it will be nice to hear professional opinion of our 4 weeks old foal and how he has been growing.

Still 3 weeks of work before summer holiday...:(

Well, hopefully time flies as it so often does.

 

Our little colt was born!

Maanantai 15.6.2009 klo 15:31 - Tiina

Early Sunday morning 02:20 Nellu -mare gave birth to a beautiful and long-legged colt! Everything went well, except that the foal could not stand up instantly and he needed to be fed during the first few hours. Now he is up and eating by himself. He is called Pommi (The Bomb) and later on his registered name will tell you why...;) Pommi is the first and only foal in Finland out of his gorgeous French sire Oiseau de Feux.

Here is our most beautiful foal ever:

 

 

After the last blog writing we have been here and there with the dogs. In our RR Clubs "Monttu Speeding" race the dogs were running 150m after the lure. There were quite a lot of RRS, around 70 dogs present. Tomba was on 25th place and Shakur with his long legs was 4th!

On 23rd of May they were in Hyvinkää Lure Coursing trial, and that went more than well. The track was very long, heavy and quite slippery.  In the first round Tomba took a quite obscure shortcut but managed still get into the finals. He was placed 8th out of 12 dogs with CQ. Shakur was just great in both rounds. He ended up in third place with CQ! Way to go Tupac Shakur again! Tomba also found the love of his life, Jonna´s bitch "Maissi", Ikimba Yaba Moyo totally made him loose his mind ;) Tomba even licked the grass where Maissi was walking, nice...

Next day I presented Tarujen Simba in Aptus Int Show in Helsinki, and we definitely got what we were after; he got his last needed CAC to finalize his FI CH title! Thanks Mari for letting me show your gorgeous boy!

On 30.5. we were at the ruin track again with a group of RRs. It was very sunny day and Shakur was a bit lame and lazy. Tomba did a great job again, he had one person even hiding in a tree and after a hard thinking he found him too...with a little help of cracking branches...;) What was the best thing of the whole day was that after 3 years of trying to get Tomba to bark, now he did it while waiting for our turn! Yippee, that's a good start!

And finally, on the first weekend of June we headed towards Estonian Winner Show in Tallinn, with Aulikki and Janette. We had a luxury "Zen" -hotel room in Hotel Uniquestay Mihkli with a jaccuzzi and stuff. Not a bad way to start your trip...At the show Tomba was placed EXC-3 in Champion Class, and no placement in BM -ring. But our dear RR friend Frida was with us (Anna and Jari were celebrating their friends' wedding meanwhile) and what a way to some back to showrings after a huge herniated disc surgery only 6 months ago: Frida was placed BB-2 with res-CACIB which will be confirmed to CACIB! This means that Frida also finalized her CIB title finally! Thanks Anna for trusting Frida with us, she is so easy to travel with. I guess Tomba also thanks for female company ;)

Now we concentrate on taking care of our little stallion, Pommi. Next dog related happenings will be showing Simba again in Tuusula All Breed Show 4.7. and then Tomba in Hyvinkää All Breed Show the next day.

Lure Coursing

Keskiviikko 20.5.2009 klo 15:19 - Tiina

Last Saturday we had our first lure coursing trials in Mustiala. There were 8 RRs and I was a bit nervous because our boys had never ran with a muzzle or in pairs as they do in trials. Luckily both got a nice pair to run with; Shakur was running with a bitch Ikimba Abeni, "Ada" and Tomba with our friend Hulda (Tarujen Tukae Kwa). Both did a great job and managed to get into finals, even if the track was very challenging.

In the finals they ran even better and finally our first LC trial ever ended with nice results: Shakur 4th with 406 points (202+204) and CAC Quality Price (QP) and Tomba 2nd with 429 points (210+219) and CAC QP! It was a superb day for Tarujen dogs, 4 Tarujen dogs within 6 finalists!

And most importantly, we had such a nice day with some crazy RR people, thanks Anna and Jari, Elina and Jonna for such a fun! ;) Also congrats to Ada for winning the race!

This coming Thursday we will have our RR Clubs Monttu speeding day and on Saturday the boys will start in Hyvinkää LC trial (12 RRs). Keep your thumbs up!

 

 

It's a rainy day, hallelujah

Lauantai 9.5.2009

Awful weather, and crazy me decided to drive all the way to Ruovesi group show (outdoors) despite the 8 degrees and raining - in other words pouring... 

Thank god my sister Henna was kind enough to join me so I picked her up from Tampere. Tomba did great in the show even if the weather was killing us. I knew that the judge taking the group would not like Tomba so much, and plus the raining got even worse. The dogs were just shivering and the handlers also. No placement in group, but happy to have BOB and the funniest company ever - thanks Henna and nice to have you back here in southern Finland!

Ruins and swimming

Tiistai 5.5.2009

The First of May and the puking husband is now forgotten and we are back on track ;)

On Saturday we spent a nice day at the ruins of Hepeko (Helsinki SAR -dogs). Sun was shining and a group of firemen training among us made the day even more interesting...All the beginner RRs were very brave and they first got to know the ruins and crawled under the ground to see the different hides. We then had a basic, quite easy exercise for each dog, having 4 persons hidden. They all managed to do quite a good job and they even surprised their owners for being so brave and independent! Our Shakur made me also so happy, he concentrated quite well. In the afternoon we had our regular training group, and the dogs were again very good! They were so excited to be there after a while (almost 2 years). Our Tomba did better than great; I was totally stunned by his enthusiasm, he worked better than ever before! Way to go my Wombat!

On Sunday the boys were running at the stable again, and after that we met Ronja (Harjaselän Lappuliisa) quickly. At the dog spa we had fun: Anna and Jari had all three bitches with them, and our boys were happy ;) Shakur swims well and calmly, although I still need to push him to the pool. Here you can see him swimming:

 

Tomba is getting closer to "normal swimming" ;) and he seems to like it so much that I only need to say "swimming" and he goes to the pool. First I need to show you "the giant leap" he tooks everytime he starts:)

 

 But now he is getting better:

 

 

Tomorrow obedience training, on Thursday agility (yippee!) and on Saturday we will head towards Ruovesi to a group show 4/6.

"May Day"

Perjantai 1.5.2009 klo 23:07 - Tiina

What a nice way of celebrating the First of May: we have a real carneval at home, because Mikko is having a stomach flue and throwing up...:) Meanwhile we have relaxed with the dogs, and we have been eating way too much pizza and ice cream (nice way to spend your time when your husband is puking) and just been outside doing some work at our yard. Tomorrow we gonna have fun at the ruins (Hepeko's SAR -track) with other RRs. Let's see how many persons we will find there hiding...More updates after tomorrow and after Sunday when we go again to the Dog Spa..Hope to have some photos of our Wombat "swimming" and from the ruins also!

Here Tomba relaxing in our yard:

 

 

 

Active week

Tiistai 28.4.2009 - Tiina

Wow, we were more than active with the dogs last week...On Tuesday we had a search training with Tomba. This time Tomba wanted just to run around the woods and have some fun; and of course we had our first time in a new group, and they saw a RR for the first time doing search - or running around like a crazy ;) Mom was very proud of her dog which she said to be quite reliable searcher already...

On Wednesday we had some obedience, which went quite well this time. Only stand during heel was in a very early stage. Tomba stayed quite nicely down and heel was very nice. Lots of training and there we go! On Friday the boys were having fun at the stables, eating horse shit and chasing each other by the river. We spent Saturday with our friends in Vermo following Finlandia trotting race - nice horses, and me and Anna decided to buy quite many of them ;) (Mikko and Jari did not agree on that, wonder why?)

On Sunday morning we headed towards lure coursing in Paloheinä, and both of the boys were doing a great job. Tomba ran perfectly, and Shakur did better this time (no bitches around so he could concentrate on running;). Hopefully they will as well in competitions also.

We finalized our week of dog sports by going to the dog spa again on Sunday night. This time Tomba tried to swim properly, at least he tried..;0 He did much better job than a week ago, but it would be still much easier for him without taking a huge giant leap and then trying to swim under the water....;)) Maybe I should give him a surf board, isn´t it much more Australian way of doing it?....

Swimming

Sunnuntai 19.4.2009 - Tiina

Today we went to Hyvinkää Dog Spa with Anna & Jari and their RR -bitches Tilda and Frida (Hulda stayed at home this time) and a tiny border terrier Hulda. This was our boys' first time at a dog spa and it was quite an interesting experience...;) 

Shakur trained swimming couple of times last summer in Lake Saimaa, and he was quite good swimmer- today the start was a bit hard, even if he had a life jacket on. He tried to climb out of the pool but luckily the instructor showed him the right direction to go. After couple of pool lengths he suddenly realized the technique and the last round went nicely and even without the life jacket. Next time he will be on "professional side" , way to go Tupac Shakur!

But our Tomba the Wombat ;) We were laughing our asses off, because last summer Tomba did not have any clue how to swim , and situation haven't changed! He was almost standing on his back feet, splashing the water with the front feet and swimming around as a looney;) Thank god for the life jacket... Well, even if Tomba's technique was quite lost, after couple of rounds he started to realize it. The first few metres he was quite busy and splashing the water a lot, but then he calmed down and managed to do it quite properly. The last round he swam without the life jacket, and that went much better! So next time Tomba will start from the beginners side, but without a jacket.  Quite an improvement, and they both seemed to like it!

Next Sunday our water beasts will be in action again ;) 

 

Beginning

Keskiviikko 15.4.2009 - Tiina

Wow, I finally (after 6 years of "hard thinking" ;) managed to start doing homesite for my dogs...! Hopefully it will look like a proper site one day...