Last week was amazing! It included a few ten kilometer long walks in the snow with my dog Koda. He's such a trooper and regardless of his small size he doesn't seem to get tired at all. Also, I'm addicted to Sportstracker, I really am! Try it if you haven't already, the free version works just fine! It motivates to push harder to achieve better results. To me it's almost like having personal trainer Chris Powell in my pocket.

We now have snow here! Everything is covered in white and looks pretty and inviting! 

Without proper winter gear it would be almost impossible to enjoy the outdoors. I've been extremely thankful for my winter boots, especially. I bought them a few years back, on sale and they've been worth every euro and more! I wish they'd still manufacture them! They're like warm, light, comfortable winter sneakers turned into boots - so functional! 

 

I love my neighborhood: its atmosphere and warm people. On Friday after my dance class I felt really good both physically and mentally. I went to the grocery store and ended up carrying four plastic bags full of groceries back home. I was sweating! Nobody held the door for me, people just rushed by pushing and shoving. It was crowded in the tram, it had been snowing all day and traffic was insane. The trams were packed. Some of my groceries got squashed by people standing next to me. I really didn't feel like letting all this ruin my day. 

I got home, got out and grabbed a shovel. It was rather small but hey, so am I. Besides, at this point it didn't even matter. As I mentioned, it had been snowing all day. Cars on my street, on any street, were covered in snow. First I thought I'd dig someone's car up, but I couldn't make up my mind on which one. If I'd choose one, I'd have to dig them all up, in all sense of fairness. There was an empty parking space, well not completely empty, just covered in snow. Imagine driving home from work after a terrible, long day thinking how on Earth will you find an empty parking space. Instead of having to shovel your way into the square, you could have a grin on your face for the rest of the evening feeling lucky. It took me forty minutes and gave me a warm feeling and a great workout! I was so excited I would've wanted to do some more shoveling today but to my disappointment, due to the drop in temperature, the snow was too hard and icy. All this excitement and I don't even own a car.

The past few weeks have been interesting regarding my dance classes: burn marks and bruises have appeared all over my body not to mention the muscle tension. I've been collecting bruises from each class like it was their loyalty program. I'm so focused I don't even notice them until after class. In both coreographies, hiphop and contemporary dance, there's some kneeling, I don't just fall flat on my face although it might seem like it based on the photo. 

The great thing about my contemporary class is that there's two weeks until the Christmas show and I'm feeling confident! It's a very satisfying feeling. Two more weeks time to practice and at this point it's starting to feel comfortable, my own. What a great job from Katja Putkonen! She's extremely talented and inspiring as a dancer, but most importantly, as a teacher. I feel priveleged as a student. She chose this song called Butterfly, by Rajaton for our coreography:

Koirat ja kissat kaipaavat liikunnan lisäksi aivojumppaa, eli aktivointia. Etenkin ongelmakoirille suositellaan aktivointia useita lyhyitä kertoja päivässä. Hyväkuntoista (ja varsinkin isoa) koiraa on pidemmän päälle mahdotonta väsyttää pelkällä liikunnalla.

Aktivointi voi olla vaikkapa uusien temppujen opettamista ja tavaroiden tai ruoan etsimistä. Agilityssä koira saa samalla sekä liikuntaa että aktivointia. Aina ei kuitenkaan ole aikaa lähteä matkan päähän harrastuksiin. Kaikki koirat eivät tule toisten koirien kanssa toimeen, jolloin agility ei ehkä ole mahdollista kuin omalla aidatulla pihalla.

Tässä on englanninkielinen artikkeli aiheeseen liittyen!

Ostimme koirallemme Kodalle tällaisen Nina Ottossonin aktivointipelin. Nämä ovat mainioita, kun haluat koirasi tottuvan puuhastelemaan omissa oloissa ja saavan siitä positiivisia kokemuksia. Älä kuitenkaan jätä koiraasi täysin valvomatta tämän tyyppisen lelun kanssa, jossa on irtoavia osia. Sarjaan kuuluu useita erilaisia pelejä, tämä Dog & Cat Brick on helpoimmasta päästä. Kannattaa aloittaa tällaisella helpolla, jottei koirasi menetä mielenkiintoa tehtävän ollessa liian haasteellinen.

Koda yritti aluksi kovasti hakea huomiota vinkuen pelilaudan vieressä tyyppisesti: "En mä osaa, tuu auttamaan!". Tämä vaatii omistajalta hermoja ja kärsivällisyyttä. Korvatulpat olisivat olleet myös kätevät tähän alkuvaiheeseen. Laitoimme pelilaudan luukkuihin raakaa lihaa, jotta tuoksu olisi mahdollisimman vastustamaton ja houkuttelisi koiraa käyttämään aivojaan. Emme kiinnittäneet vinkumiseen minkäänlaista huomiota, emme edes katsoneet koiraa. Hetken kuluttua Koda huomasi, ettei tämä taktiikka toiminut ja alkoi suhtautua hyväntuoksuisiin luukkuihin uudella tavalla. Vahingossa saatuaan yhden luunmuotoisista muovikappaleista paikoiltaan, homma lähti rullaamaan. Kun Koda tyhjensi pelilaudan kaikki luukut ammattilaisen ottein, aloimme täyttää luukkuja hieman arkisemmilla herkuilla (kuivatulla peuralla). Tämä Dog & Cat Brick alkaa jo olemaan liian helppo Kodalle, joten hakusessa onkin nyt jotain astetta haastavampaa.

Koda demonstroi:

Kovalla käytöllä ovat myös olleet erilaiset kongit, joihin voi piilottaa herkkuja. Itse kongin voi myös piilottaa ja opettaa koiran etsimään sen.

Our dog Koda had difficulties playing on his own as a puppy. He demanded attention all the time. We wanted him to learn to play and have fun on his own in order to teach him to be more independent. These activating toys have become very useful. 

Activating a dog is very important, our best friends need brain work daily. Physical exercise is vital but in order to get a more obedient, happy dog, activating too,  is a must.

Here's a very interesting article on the subject, check it out!