Comrades Weekend.... training goes on

As the whole world probably knows by now, 31 May 2015 was the day the Comrades marathon was run. The race started in Durban and ended in Pietermaritzburg. As we live close to the route, we had to leave Hillcrest before 5:30am to go training. I must be honest.... it was the promise of good coffee that got me up and ready to leave home before 5am. 

We enjoyed hot coffee while we waited until the sun came up at 7am. Training in the dark is boring.... at least it wasn't cold. 

The plan was to lay tracks for some of the dogs, including the Munchkin, and to do Search and Rescue training at another venue later in the morning. 

What's up Mom?

I laid a 400 pace track with a left curve, a right curve and a sharp left turn for the Munchkin. There was an article (toy) between the left curve and the right curve. I also put down food every 5-10 paces. The Munchkin battled with the first leg. She looked at me a couple of times as if to say "What's happening Mom? Why am I looking for food on a lead? I want to run and find my toy?" Once she found the first toy and played with it a bit, she settled down and tracked her way to the end of the track. She was so excited to find her favourite toy at the end of the track. Of course that meant a good game of tug and war all the way back to the car.

Settling down to track

Playtime after a successful track

Our victim, Layban, meandering up the hill to hide

Once we had tracked all the dogs that needed to track, we went on our merry way to the Search and Rescue venue. On arrival we let some of the dogs out to play. The Munchkin wasn't allowed to play and was very upset with us. She told us in no uncertain terms what she thought of the fact that she was stuck in a crate while the other dogs were running around and playing

Griffin racing up the hill

Griffin watching Layban hide

 Once the dogs had burnt off some energy, we sent our victim off to hide for Griffin. As it was the first time Griffin was searching for a victim who he didn't know, he was allowed to watch the victim hide.

The Griff found his victim and was rewarded with his favorite toy. I was waiting back at the truck with a very upset Munchkin. She feels she needs to be in the "thick of things" as it were and gets very upset when she is left in a crate to wait her turn.

Lisette and Griffin came back and I was given the search parameters and told to go and find the "lost victims". There were 2 victims lost in the bush. Mmmmm interesting. How am I going to manage this one? There is always only one way - let the Munchkin go and find them. I need to trust her nose. Anyway.. . off we went. The munchkin quickly indicated that she had picked up a scent. No one there? No problem, must be an older scent. Maybe someone spent the night under that tree. Who knows. Off we went again...up the hill, through the long grass that looked like reeds. "Ooh - what's this?" the Munchkin thought. "Another human? Standing out in the middle of the road. He doesn't look lost... .and he doesn't have my toy!!!!! Can't be the right person." And off she went again. No long afterwards she indicated again that she had picked up a scent. Could this be it? Indeed it was. The Munchkin got a "good girl. Let's go" and off we went again. Not long afterwards she indicated again that she'd picked up scent. "Wait!!!! I know this person. Why is the photographer hiding in the bush? But...  he has my toy. Yippeee". She was very excited and had a good game all the way back to the car. For those that know the Munchkin, a good game all the way back to the car consists of her pulling her toy backwards as I walk forwards. I need to hold the 1 end so she can have a good tug without being pulled off my feet and walking forwards at the same time.

More Adventures with the Munchkin - we continue to have fun together

Wow, it's been a hectic couple of months. I have been away on 4 weekend trips over the last 6 months - 3 have been with Electra. In November 2014 we drove up to a game farm between Bela Bela and Thabazimbi. The Munchkin was only 3 months old and our search and rescue training adventure was only starting. That was an epic trip both from the distance we drove to get to the game farm and what we learnt that weekend.

In March 2015 we went to Swinnburne for some high altitude training. While we sat on the side of a mountain watching the clouds gather over the Drakensberg mountains, my son David was setting out on his Grand Traverse of the Drakensberg. He was climbing the chain ladders above Sentinel car park to get up onto the top of the escapement. Of course I did what good mom's do - I pondered (and tried not to worry) how much mist was swirling around him while climbing the chain ladders. The photo shows how much. David was climbing the chain ladder at the top of the photo. I'm not sure who took these photos - it was one of David's hiking partners.

The next photo is of David standing somewhere on top of the Drakensberg escarpment.

Two weeks later, in April I went down to St Bernard's Peak to collect David at the end of his hike. Unfortunately the Munchkin had to stay at home this time - there was no space in the car for her. However, I organised for the lodge owners to phone me when they have lots of snow - we are going to play in the snow. That should be fun, albeit cold.....










Our latest adventure was a trip to a cattle farm just outside Standerton. I was visiting very close friends. Early Sunday morning we went for a long walk through the farm. The Munchkin flushed a rabbit, quail, guinea fowl, longclaws, pipits and various other small brown birds. I was very pleased to see that she didn't chase any game. I know she doesn't when we are working but it was good to see that she isn't really interested in chasing them when we are out walking. She did decide that it might be a good idea to investigate a cow at close range. Fortunately it didn't take long before she realised that it might not be a wise idea. So.....off she ran again. There are a couple of very big, beautiful Beefmaster/Bonsmara cross bulls on the farm. We gave them a wide berth.....

 I sat on a thick branch of a dead tree overlooking this dam. I enjoyed the view and the Munchkin played with sticks in the dam....

The question that most people might be asking is, what has happened to the search and rescue training? The trips away to different parts of the country are a very important part of her training. She needs to be comfortable in any environment, in any part of South Africa, and even possibly the world. So, one of the aims of our trips away are to expose her to all the different environments in our country. We still do our normal SAR training a couple of times a week but that is a story for another time.

In conclusion it should be noted that trips to the beach are considered part of our daily lives. We are fortunate to live just outside Durban.

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High Altitude training - visiting the Drakensberg for the first time

The Munchkin, Griffin, Lisette and I took a slow meander up to Harrismith - we had arranged to meet some friends from Johannesburg and deliver some patchwork quilts, bags and t-shirts to them. In another life we co-own a company called TwigaDudu and hand-dye fabric for patchwork quilts, duvet covers, curtaining etc.

The original reason for the trip to Harrismith was to take my son David and his companions up to the Sentinel car park to start the Grand Traverse (GT). For those not familiar with the GT, it's an epic trek across the top of the Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa. The hikers start at the Sentinal Car Park in the North, climb up the chain ladders at Mont Aux Sources and descend either at Bushman's Nek or St Bernard's Peak, 13 - 15 days later. Most of this hike is spent at altitudes of over 3000 metres above sea level.

Enough about the GT...I'm running out of breath just thinking about it. We were only about 1740 metres above sea level and it is a lot harder to run and breathe than it is at sea level (on the Durban beaches).

Our SAR training aim for this weekend was to do some easy finds and get the puppies used to running and playing in different environments and at different altitudes. I also wanted to drive up over Oliviershoek Pass to see what state the road is in and how easy it is to travel along the R74. The road up the pass itself is in good condition. It's just the section that runs past the Sterkfontein Dam that is in terrible condition. There are 2 30 minute stop-go controls as half the road has been dug up. There are no contractors working on the road. All in all, it's a good route to take if you have time, want to enjoy the scenery and are wanting to avoid van Reenen's Pass.

Looking from above Swinburne towards van Reenen's Pass

Back to the puppies and the purpose of this post.... On Saturday afternoon we took the puppies up the mountain overlooking the Riverview Country Inn and looking towards van Reenen's Pass (see the photo for the stunning view). They loved running through the grass and playing with each other. So many new smells and things to look at. Griffin chased butterflies at the top of the hill/mountain - I'm not sure what it is.

On Sunday morning early we did some fun searches. Lisette hid for the Munchkin and I hid for Griffin. We let the dogs see us hide each time. All in all the training session was a success. The puppies found us and loved working. It's safe to say that we had great fun and THE MUNCHKIN is back. Watch out world - HERE WE COME....

Walking up the side of the mountain. It's a lot easier running/walking at sea level on the beach than up in the mountains.

Griffin, standing next to Lisette, working out out where to find more butterflies to chase

Puppies running through the grass above the tiny village of Swinburne

The Munchkin is tired - its hard work having so much fun

More fun to be had after a short rest. 

We also practised loads of recalls and the puppies came back to us . 

Running down the mountain side toward Lisette. 

Ooh - what can we smell in this bush.

Mom I'm tired but I want to play some more (the Munckin was rolling in the grass under my legs)

Here I was being an over-anxious Mom. David was climbing the chain ladders up the Amphitheater and I was concerned about the level of cloud cover over the Drakensberg as he was climbing. Fortunately the whole party got up safely. The chain ladders can be treacherous in bad weather.  

Looking over Swinburne toward van Reenen's Pass. Watching the cloud cover.

Back in action....

Wow..... time flies when you are having fun. The Munchkin has been back at training for several weeks and I'm only writing about it now. 

We took the puppies out to the Grass Farm at Cato Ridge and played with them. Our first point of order for the day was to do some search and rescue training with both dogs. Lisette hid at the edge of the reeds while the Munchkin watched - she found Lisette easily. Then we decided we would be clever - well, not so clever in hindsight. Lisette hid again and I took the Munchkin further up so she could search across the wind. She disappeared into the reeds. I couldn't see her, just heard her bells jangling as she tried to get through the reeds.  I then decided I needed to zig zag across the wind - all good in theory except that the reeds were taller than I am (and I'm not short). How on earth I expected to be able to walk through the reeds, let alone see the Munchkin at the same time, no one will ever be able to fathom. It was  a comedy of errors - I fell over into a bramble bush, the Munchkin jumped onto me from the back and pushed me over after that etc. She got very frustrated and started crying. However, we persevered and Electra eventually found Lisette. Talk about doing things the hard way. There is actually a bank around the reeds and you can walk the whole way around the big bed of reeds. If we had walked around the bed of reeds, the Munchkin would have found her victim easily (and I wouldn't be pulling bramble thorns out of my hands etc). We've learnt and won't be making that mistake again. 

It was actually Griffin that showed me that running on the bank around the reeds to find people is a good idea. He found Lisette very easily by running along the bank and darting into the reeds just in front of her. 

When the SAR part of the training was done, we did some recalls and some play drive, and a horrible down stay. Poor Munchkin..... it's not fun having to lie down quietly when there is lots of exciting stuff to explore.

In these photos the Munchkin and I are playing with her ball. Ouch, my fingers aren't fast enough :)

The Munchkin and Griffin lying down quietly. As you can see Griffin managed to tangle his lead round his head - he was being a silly :) The Griff has grown so fast that he is now known as "Jack the Giant". 

After all the hard work lying down quietly, the puppies went for a long walk. Guess what, they found a really smelly muddy dam. What's new? The Munchkin has a reputation for diving into any dam. And when Griffin is with her, well.... I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. Needless to say we have learnt to keep towels in the car to dry puppies with

Tired, wet, smelly puppies :)

In conclusion a fun day was had by all. The Grass Farm is an amazing training venue.

The following photos are of the next day - Sunday morning when we went to Pipeline beach, Amanzimtoti. The sea is not quite as calm as it is at some of the Durban beaches. I'm slightly relieved they didn't swim out or try and body surf in the big waves. The Munchkin jumps over the small waves and is learning to body surf back to the beach. These waves were just a tad to big for my liking.

The Munchkin is improving!!!!!

The Munchkin is getting better. The medication is horrible - she is sometimes rather miserable after she has been given it but we have to persevere otherwise the parasites will never die. We have also given her Bravecto so will hopefully avoid a recurrence of the dreaded tick bite fever (or Biliay for that matter). She still gets tired easily and sleeps a lot. The good news is that she was bouncing like the Electric Munchkin this morning, true to her name.

While we wait for the course of medication to finish we have been doing fun stuff like swimming in the sea and walking over and under obstacles etc. She even got to walk out on the new Fishing Pier near Snake Park Beach, Durban yesterday evening. The sea was rough but not washing over the pier. I was also amazed at how noisy the waves were. She wasn't bothered at all. In fact, my biggest problem would have been stopping her from jumping into the sea. Fortunately she is level headed and worked out for herself that it wasn't a good idea to try and jump off the pier. She is a water baby and loves water. I suspect she also has a healthy respect for crashing waves. Here is a photo of the Munchkin on the pier. You can see how rough the sea was. We stopped and watched the waves just in front of the fishermen.

When we had finished watching the waves, and talking to the fishermen (the Munchkin is such a beautiful dog, she attracts visitors), we wandered off to the beautiful gardens with water features and steps up and down. She walked up and down steps and around the water features. She posed for photos in front of a beautiful wall.... Doesn't she look beautiful?

Unfortunately, after this, it was time to go home.....

Tick Bite Fever......

The Munchkin is sick.... she has tick bite fever (Ehrlichiosis). Poor Munchkin. She was not eating last week and very tired. A Munchkin that doesn't eat or play and just sleeps all day? Mmmm - something's wrong. What to do? To cut a long story short, I took the Munchkin to the vet last Saturday morning, diagnosed and Prescribed 21 days of  a Doxycycline derivative. As an aside, some of the people training with the Munchkin and I have since been diagnosed with tick bite fever.

While we wait for the Munchkin to finish her medication, here are some more photos of her as a puppy. We need our daily Munchkin photo fix.

Did I ever mention that the Munchkin has to help sweep the floor. She loves a broom. This photo is of her watching the broom that Thoko is holding, It's hard to believe that she was once a baby puppy.

The next photo is of the Munchkin at the last training session. It's hard to believe she was already sick here......

The good news is that the Munchkin is on the mend. She will soon be back to doing what she loves best, playing...... 

It's Playtime Mom!!!!!!

Back to the beginning... or at least a few weeks after the time the Munchkin came to live with us.She loves playing. Her favourite game is finding people. This first photo is of her after a busy day. It was one of the first times we took her out to play.

The next photos are of her actually working aka playing. I hid behind a bush with my camera for one find and then I stood behind her as she raced off to find the lost "victim". The Munchkin doesn't do anything slowly so it's quite difficult to catch her on camera.

She was still watching the "victim" run away and hide. As soon as she sees the person run away she starts yapping and crying - "I want to play Mom". "Why must I wait?" All these questions.

Electra is being rewarded with a game with her favourite toy for finding Lisette.













In the following photos she comes racing round a bush to find where I was hiding. She's so proud of herself when she finds her victim...

She's running back to the car after finding me. She actually went through a stage of not wanting to play with a toy after she found her "victim". Just finding the victim was a reward enough.

She has advanced quite quickly from finds where she sees the victim leaving and hiding. Then we discovered she is trailing the victim - not air scenting. So we are working on that.... more about that in another post. 

Meet Griffin AKA "The Gwiff"

Griffin is a Malinois boy who is 4 weeks or so younger than the Munchkin and is also a search and rescue puppy in training. His mother arrived in South Africa pregnant. Unofficially he is an imported puppy but, because he was actually born on South African soil, he is considered a South African puppy. Who cares? He is an awesome puppy and, for all practical purposes, the Munchkin's partner in crime.

The following photos were taken by my son Ben last Saturday morning when we were out training near a small town in KwaZulu-Natal called Eston. Don't the purple flowers look pretty around him?

The following photos are of Griffin finding his handler when he was about 12 weeks old. It's all a big game rewarded by his favourite toy and a game of tug and war afterwards. What fun....

A tough training day

Before I start.. the photos spread out in this post are of a much younger Munchkin searching for me in much shorter grass. Why post these photos you ask? Well... every post about the Munchkin needs photos of the Munchkin. :)

Back to the story.... the Munchkin worked hard yesterday afternoon. It was a hot, albeit windy day and Robyn from the Gauteng K9 SARA unit was visiting us for training. We trained on a piece of ground on the side of a hill. The wind was blowing straight up the hill. This is going to be easy, I thought..... We sent "the victim" in to hide - I didn't pay much attention....why pay attention when we have trained on this ground previously and the Munchkin always finds her victims. What is the old saying - "Pride cometh
before a fall". The end of the story is that the Munchkin found her victims but we had to work very hard to find them and I realised how much I have to work and learn. Back to the story, before I get too side tracked....

While I was waiting for the victim to finish "losing" himself, I worked though a search pattern in my head, noted the way the wind was blowing etc. But, because I was being "watched", I was nervous. How silly.... but I only realised that later.

The Munchkin and I went into the grass to look for the victim and, wow it was tall and thick with brambles, black jacks and Khaki bush. There were also big holes that were hidden by the grass. Thoughts of snakes hiding in the grass went rushing through my head but... what can you do? At times I to see the Munchkin.  I could just hear her bells jingling. I also assumed that the victim was hiding on top of the hill in the Blue Gum Trees not at the bottom of the hill where the Munchkin found him.

When the Munchkin indicated that she had picked up the scent of the "victim" at the bottom of the hill, I thought "no ways - it can't be". What is rule no 1? Always trust your dog. Anyway, to cut this long story short (there is another story)...... The victim soon popped out of the bush with the Munchkin hanging onto her favourite toy. Well done Munchkin!!!!!!





Robyn then proceeded to "crit" the exercise. Wow, my mind was blown away with how much I learnt just with her watching us work. It's going to take a while to absorb everything she said.

We then sent another "victim" into to lose himself... but that is a story for next time....