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.

"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.

We had friends staying over last night. Syyti was thrilled as he had chance to play long and hard with one of his favourite "girlfriends", Noppa the Finnish Lapphund. These two ran around in the garden and a few times to the field behind our house. Today, we went for a walk in the forest and fields covered with fresh snow. When we returned home, Syyti continued his flirtation and most of the time he behavied like a gentleman.

Kiss me once kiss me twice,
come on pretty baby kiss me.
- Mick Smiley -

On Thursday I took Syyti for his first "official" obedience class. A half-an-hour session was fun for both of us. Afterwards, Syyti played with one of his "classmate", an eight months old Border Terrier.

Syyti had a lot of new experiences during the Mayday weekend. On Saturday we first met his "granny" Pirkko and "aunt" Maija at Haukipudas market place. There were a crowd and log of noise but gradually Syyti got used to them. Later, when we went to Muhos to see the motorcycle parade, he was not at all frightened by the roar of the bikes, nor the crowd.


On Sunday, we were visited by Noppa the Finnish Lapphund and her family. Syyti and Noppa rallied around the yard and the house for a couple of hours, and besides playing, Syyti got a chance to practise big boys games ;) Noppa got tired first, but after she left, Syyti slept through the afternoon and night. More visitors like this, please.

It was about to time for Syyti to meet some new dog friends. Saku, who's a bichon frise mix was a bit cautious, but Rölli, a young Tibetan Terrier, played with Syyti so furiously that my camera couldn't follow... Finally, Syyti fell asleep, but only to gather strength for the next session.