Sunday, August 20, 2017
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Shaping Memories
We're well passed three months now. At this age, Zerline reminds me a lot about Kenzo. We first got him home when he was about the age Zerline is now.
Thursday, August 3, 2017
The Wild Bunch
Today I tried to take a walk alone with Tilde. Being just the two of us would allow for a longer walk and, with all the time which goes into puppy Zerline, she would appreciate some alone quality time with me.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Hovawart TV: Zerline The Surfer
It was an impressive sight for Zerline. The first time we went to the beach she dared to go up all the way to the shoreline to have a closer look at all that boiling water and listen to the waves roar.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Hovawart TV: Digging A Team
When you dig as a team you can get deeper and move more sand when you work together. Trying to own the pit won't give any progress, and practicing dry breaststroke swims in it won't either. To dig, in itself, is the goal. Tilde seems to get that. But can she teach puppy Zerline to dig in the same direction?
Monday, July 24, 2017
Report From Puppy World
We are almost through the first month of puppy-hood in the blink of an eye. Zerline is 11 weeks old today. She has done a lot of growing. Her legs in particular seem to explode and lift her still fragile body higher and higher up into the air.
Friday, July 21, 2017
Conversations With A Hovawart #4: The Union
"Can we have a word?"
Zerline looked serious. Those big brown puppy eyes told me she had something important to share. I laid down my camera and reporters notebook, both overheated from puppy adventures, to give her my full attention.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
"Dit Is Een Goed Stel, Hoor"
It's a sentence each Dutch person recognizes. Spoken by the sports commentator Theo Reitsma as he observed the Dutch national soccer team celebrate their win in the final of the European Soccer Cup in 1988. There is nothing profound about it. It simply means "This is a good team, for sure."
Monday, July 17, 2017
Summer Socialization With A Twist
In the middle of Summer all the rentals are occupied. Although I enjoy the emptiness of the West-coast during Winter, the tourists bring a special vacation atmosphere with them I have come to appreciate. People are happy and wear smiles, they have time and are not busy, or try their best not to be.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Bold and Bolder
It was the moment I had been waiting for. The moment in which I could witness Tilde and Zerline to truly connect. To find each other, enjoy each other's company while forging a bond on the road that leads to a true friendship.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Rediscovering Beauty
The rapidly swelling buzz of hundreds of bird wings made me look up in the air. A flock of Starlings made a fly-over that low, I could have touched them if I would have reached my hand out. Tilde took a sprint after them. Jumping, barking, like a crazed jack-in-a-box. Zerline, who was sitting down, looked up in amazement. Her gaze followed the birds until they disappeared over the horizon. She was mesmerized.
Monday, July 10, 2017
Breaking: Copenhagen Is Secured
Zerline took one look around the premises and knew it. This new place they call her home wasn't up to Hovawart standards at all. It was lacking some essential features. How could she keep her family safe in a place with so many gaping security holes. Zerline wasted no time. There was Hovawart-work to do!
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Tilde, Meet Zerline. Zerline, Meet The Wild Thing
The sight of Tilde coming around the corner caught Zerline's eye and immediately aroused her curiosity. She quickly trotted forward to meet that dog, who must have looked a lot like her mother Amber to her.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Goodbye Rules, Welcome Grandparents
Tilde seems to know that once a year, when the grandparents make the long trip to Denmark for a visit, it signals the return of a window of opportunity in which everything once again is allowed. It will mean a short break from her mature life, maybe even a return to puppy-hood. For her, and just maybe, for all the involved too.
Monday, June 26, 2017
Countdown To Zerline, Eight More Days
Atie sent me this photo of Zerline getting acquainted with the transport bag which will bring her from Holland to Denmark. The photo captured a moment which stood out from all the other cute puppy photos I received during the last couple of weeks. The photo captured Zerline making a symbolic first step on her path which will lead to us. It signaled how close we are to having her here. How close we are for everything to become real.
Monday, June 19, 2017
The Paradise Of Senses
I am thoroughly enjoying some of our last hikes in which it will be just Tilde and me before Zerline will join our family. Tilde has become such a great hike buddy over time. We're such a good team now, both on the threshold of the next chapter, holding a new adventure for us all.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Feeling Involved, Puppy Buyer 2.0
Since the puppies were born, I get up at the for me unholy hour of 6:30 am, to turn on the computer and check out Atie's daily blog update about the puppies hoping for a glimpse of Zerline before I even make coffee.
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Monday, June 5, 2017
Visiting The Puppies
Zerline "uit de Groetpolder" |
After one and a half year of searching, waiting, and hoping, the day was finally there. I was about to lay my eyes on our new aspiring family member for the first time. Tilde's upcoming little sister.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Conversations With A Hovawart #3: Mission Puppy
The line seems to have died. "Hello Tilde, are you there?"
After a long pause, Tilde answers. "It depends... Remind me again, what place are you visiting today in your attempts to ignore me?"
Monday, May 22, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Snake Encounters, A Narrow Escape
Nobody got hurt and Tilde is fine.
Our latest encounter with a viper, the only venomous snake in Denmark, almost went terribly wrong. I hadn't noticed the snake until it already was too late. It was warming itself in the morning sun, still sluggish, and didn't move out of our way in time, what it normally would have done.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Having Fun Is Not Optional
Last Saturday, Emil was our guest. It was a lot to take in for him, being away from his "mom" and caretaker, Dina, for a whole day.
Monday, May 15, 2017
Running The Wet Gauntlet
One moment you're playing with your toy in the surf, imaginary rescuing it from drowning, just to cruelly throw it back and rescue it again. Suddenly you hear a rumbling sound approach and you realize you lowered your guard, carried away by all the fun you're having.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Conversations With A Hovawart #2: Phone Home
I am on my way home from a trip to Århus in the North of Denmark and decide to phone home, anxious to hear if Tilde is behaving.
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