Rilla has been staying in Vänttilä for a couple of weeks now as her folks are in South Africa. She has showed that she's got potential for a miner's dog, or at least for a mining engineer's dog ;) She has been exploring precious stones (or bones...) by digging pits in the garden. She's also proven to be good in finding organic resources - such as horse manure - under the ground. And she has also tested (read: tasted) her findings...



Syyti and Rilla are best friends and they would run around and play continously if allowed. Syyti has also taught Rilla some not-so-nice habits of him; barking at passers-by and running after them.

Winter was long and cold, but finally it's spring and pastures are green. Yesterday, Syyti met with sheep first time since last autumn.

Syyti had a chance to learn herding with a qualified shepherd. I am myself still recovering after an operation, and therefore I cannot hold the leash, let alone handle the dog with sheep around. Minna, our trainer, kindly handled Syyti herself. The first round was not that good but Syyti improved for the second round, as you can see here:



I held the video camera and was quite amazed by Syyti's performance. To the extent, that when Minna asked whether Syyti is related to Coh "Nahrof the Cohort", I couldn't figure it out and said no... Well Coh is actually Syyti's grandsire and Minna thinks that Syyti reminds his grandpa a lot, he even has same style in herding. I couldn't find a video clip of Coh herding, but here is a photo of him herding in Georgia, US.

"Hi, I'm Rilla the Drama Queen. Beware of the woman behind the camera, she's evil; she tried to rip my paws off with paper towels when we came in. I tried to scream and bite her but she just didn't let me go... sniff. I took my revenge by peeing under her desk."

Rilla aka Borderiinan Hippityttö is Sepe's cousin-once-removed, and she is owned by my cousin (not removed), Mari.

Today, it is Syyti's birthday. Syyti did not celebrate his birthday in any special way, but it was a fun day for him, anyway, as he went for a skiing trip with Pasi. Here is a video shot by Pasi (with his "hat camera") during a similar skiing trip a couple of weeks ago.



Exactly one year ago, Syyti was the firstborn puppy in the litter of five, given birth by Willa and sired by Pixi. Greetings to Mommy and Daddy, as well as to all the siblings: Kinna, Iina, Nappi, and Kloppi with their families. And special thanks to Miia, the breeder of the pack! The youngest member of our family have proved to be just what we wished for...