Most of my holidays away from home are the big seasonal family ones; Christmas, Easter, midsummer and Halloween. We pack up clothes to last for a good two weeks, all the dog supplies, my shop inventory and art bits and bobs (because I can't go shutting up shop altogether, and most of my products are fairly easy to lug around the country), and head up north to my grandparents in Rovaniemi. The trip up is long and can be stressful for the dogs, depending on how long it takes to pack up and leave - if they see us packing for most of the morning, it can lead to anxiety, especially on Freija's part. Sometimes we do get away with it, and the eight to nine hour drive is fairly smooth and panic-free.
Upon arrival, there's a lot of excitement both for us people and the pooches. New people, new environment, it all takes some getting used to. Girly girl does sometimes get a bit hyper at this stage and the only thing that'll calm her down is a good long walk and a night of sleep (which is my answer to any kind of problem or ailment whether human or canine, by the way!).
After the initial doggy culture shock, we all calm down and go about our daily routines as normal. Walkies, breakfast, nap, lunch, pee break, nap, walkies, sleep. That's what we base the day around at home and indeed on holiday. Although there may be additions of us people popping out or visitors arriving, it all fits in with the dog schedule.
The one big difference is no dog sports class during the holiday. Since this is such a major part of our week, I do try to think up ways in which to get some practice done on our own. Thankfully one of our new sports is perfect for this: frisbee!
So during our evening walk we diverted to an unused sports pitch near the path, doggy disk in tow (but well hidden, because if Freija had caught a glimpse of it, doing her business would've been categorically out of the question!). There are a few great open areas up here in Lapland, and since there's still snow on the ground we can do a bit of disc throwing without worrying about hurt paws on gravel or swallowed sand. It's quite hard to find a good place to practice otherwise, the only other really sensible type of surface would be an open grass field or an indoor sports hall.
I've only got the one disk, but ideally this kind of practice would include two, since it's a lot easier to gain the dog's attention when you've got a toy of equal value to swap with the one being fetched - I discovered this in flyball class, where a string ball will simply not be good enough to merit swapping for the tennis ball, it has to be an exact replica of that squeaky tennis ball Freija fetches from the box. Anyway, we got up onto the pitch and I got the frisbee out to excite girly girl into fetch-mode, then sent out a roller onto the snow. She goes to fetch it, and as I expected keeps it to herself for a bit of a chew. Since all I had to bargain with was a tug rope toy, I soon gave up on her returning the disk and went to pick it up myself... A grave mistake.
A word to the wise: if you're up in Lapland in April and the snow has just about started to melt, do not chance a walk across an unplowed pitch.
There I was, waist-high in the snow, very stuck and highly uncomfortable. After considerable wriggling, rolling, and heaving with the help of mum, I got out, grabbed the frisbee and we tried again, this time on firmer ground near the side of the pitch. We did get some good throws and fetches in, but oh my dear sweet lord it was difficult. At one point I was thrown flat on my back while Freija was some five to six meters away desperately pawing at the fribee which had turned upside-down (she's not mastered turning it yet). After about twenty minutes to half an hour of falling about and laughing ourselves silly, one soaked but happy terrier, one bruised and battered owner, one amused mother, and one disgruntled spaniel headed off back to grandma's to recover.
So that was our first go at what I've named snow frisbee. Onwards and upwards, eh? ;)
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