Zurich Ade...Gruetzi Gansingen...

We left Zurich relatively early to go back to the Laubberg as Bibi and Esther were curious to see the place where I live with the wolves. It was another sunny day and we sat down together with Hans for a refreshing 'most' (cider). Then, we went for a nice walk in the forest together with Angelo and Arthos. Although the encounter between the girls and our mustangs was not exactly love on the first sight :-), they very much enjoyed the tranquillity and harmony on our hill and the day ended with a relaxing dinner in a restaurant just next to the Zoo. Martina and I then drove the girls to the airport...this was the end of a great weekend and I will now happily go to sleep...True friendship is among the most beautiful feelings in life...

Zurich, part 2...sweet dreams...

We started the day with a fantastic breakfast buffet at the hotel. Although we could barely move after all we had eaten, we walked to the Zurich lake as it was a beautiful sunny day. There we took a long break on a peer and enjoyed the first beer of the day with our feet in the water watching the ducks and the swans! That’s life! After that, our plan was to go to a mountain where there is a sun terrace overseeing the city but as we walked towards the railway station to catch a train, we got really lazy and decided to go back to ‘our’ beer garden next to the hotel and to just chill. After a while we went back to the hotel to take a long nap. Once we woke up again, Martina decided to stay at the hotel and take it easy and we went out for dinner. As we walked in the streets to find a nice restaurant, we passed by a cocktail lounge where we started of with an aperitif and just opposite the bar, we found a cute little French restaurant where we had a light dinner and some French wine...Back at the hotel, I watched ‘Australia’ until 4 am before I nicely fell asleep. This was the first night without having any hallucinations about sleeping German shepherds in my room: in my caravan, I wake up in the middle of every single night because I hear some noise like sniffling and walking dogs outside. So I sit up in my bed and try to identify the noise. As I get back to sleep again, I am convinced that German shepherds are sleeping on the floor of the caravan and even on my bed and I can clearly see them. I even once explained to myself that they had certainly jumped through the kitchen window which of course is complete nonsense! As I switched on the light the other night, I saw that there were no German shepherds on the floor but just plastic bags. As I am writing this, I heard the noise again and finally solved the big mystery causing me sleepless nights: The wolves who are staying just a few meters away from my caravan, make these noises when they play together...so it was them who I saw in my dreams sleeping in my caravan, not the German shepherds...

Gruetzi Zurich...

I woke up in a good mood as Martina and I would join Bibi and Esther in Zurich today for the weekend. I was really looking forward to it as we both needed to disconnect after an intense month without hardly any time off. We did some work with Angelo and Arthos in the morning and then got ready for the trip. At about 2 pm, Jessica (who works in the office) drove us to the next train station so we could catch a train to Zurich. As we were happily sitting in the train, chatting about our life on the Laubberg, all of a sudden the train went backwards after having stopped for about 10 minutes in a station. This is when we realized that we were going back to where we just came from as we had missed to get out in Zurich!!! We had to go nearly all the way back and then got out at Baden and had to wait for the next train to go back to Zurich again...Well, it seems that Martina and I definitely needed some time off...Once we arrived, we asked our way through to our hotel, the Marriott, which was centrally located, close to the railway station. Esther and Bibi had already warned us that there was a problem with the rooms. We had booked a room for 4 and we got a room with two small beds only! After A LOT of negotiations, we finally got and upgrade to a suite which consisted of two connecting rooms for a relatively reasonable price. The best thing to this suite was the view as we could oversee the whole city with the lake and the mountains in the background. We dropped our luggage and joined Esther and Bibi at a charming beer garden which was right next to the hotel and close to the river. This is when we started to relax in the warm afternoon sun. We ordered some ‘Most’ which is a typical kind of cider and sat there for the rest of the day. We then got ready to go for dinner and went to the old part of town. We were starving and finally found a nice Italian restaurant where we ate so much bread to start with that we could hardly finish our main dishes. It was a funny evening and we couldn’t stop laughing but finally we all got so tired that we walked home and fall asleep very quickly.

Biking day...

Today we had a nother good day! First thing in the morning, we decided to take our mustangs to the village again to get them used to it. Then Andrea, who works as a trainer at Hans's school, joined us for some theory lessons as a prepartion for our first exam that will take place sometime in June. We also worked again with our mustangs to have them sit quietly while we go away. We had to take very small steps as initially, it was not easy for them to understand that they couldn't come with us. At lunch time, Hans put a belt with a leash around me and said that we would now take the mustangs for a bicycle ride. At first, I was a bit worried as I thought that I could easily fall off the bike if the dog does a wrong movement. I equipped myself with 2 jackets and a helmet, especially since we had to go all the way downhill first. It went much better than expected and I am still alive! Martina came with us by car so we could drive back and wouldn't have to climb up the mountain again. Once we were back, we continued with our theory lessons with Andrea and then I took Paulo and Liwa for another bicycle tour (but without a leash). They both love it and Liwa really doesn't get tired at all and it's amazing how she can run with her little legs (it's not the same with long-legged Paulito who has to make a huge effort to keep up...). We stopped to watch the cows which was a big event not only for the dogs but also for the cows who were very curious. Finally, Martina and I went down to the village to have dinner. The restaurant had only once choice (pork with salad) but the good cider they served made up for it!

We bought a few more bottles and will now enjoy them outside the caravan...

Mustang miracle...

We spent the whole day with our mustangs. Now that we have established a good relationship with our mustangs which is based on respect and trust, we can take a step forward in the training. We spent the whole morning teaching them the command ‘down’. Even though they had never done it before, after a few hours of training, we now just need to give them a very quick hand sign and they go down like little rockets. It’s amazing! Some dogs don’t reach this level in many years of training but here we go in just one day! At the same time, they also learnt not to get up before we give them another command meaning that they would stay down when we leave even when someone runs past them playing with another dog or in any other conflict situation. In the afternoon, we took the dogs and Hans his eagle 'Ayana' in the trailer and drove to a public area to get them used to other people, dogs, cars etc. They were perfectly well behaved except once, when Angelo barked at two big dogs. Today not only the dogs learnt a lot but also we did and it was a lot of fun at the same time! In the evening I went for a nice walk with Paulo & Liwa and they followed me nicely, like two little lambs...They even sit quietly now and I can go away while they still sit. Once they become completely reliable at this discipline, they can also take the next step in trainig...

Who wins the battle...

Today was filled with private lessons. They all went well and were a lot of fun, except the last one. The client had a German shepherd with whom he had done some police dog training. His problem was that once the dog would catch something, he wouldn’t let go anymore. Hans started working with the dog and as the dog had quite some character, it took him more time and energy than expected. It became a real fight between the 2 of them which was very painful to watch as the German shepherd just wouldn’t give up and Hans would never give up anyways. On top of all, a thunderstorm started but the 2 would keep on going in the rain and the lightening. Once it was over (Hans of course won the battle), Hans and the client started talking and as we had the feeling the lesson was over and we were freezing, hungy and a bit sad, we decided to go to my caravan for a cup of tea. Soon we got a message from Hans asking where we were. Anyways, we both proceeded to take a nap as it was raining non-stop and nothing else was on the agenda. When we saw Hans again for dinner, he was very upset at us and said that we had missed the key point of the previous lesson and also that in such difficult moments he would expect us to be on his side...after a good talk, another delicious dinner and 2 bottles of wine, we quickly became friends again...

Summer time...

Today we took it easy. It was a beautiful sunny day and we reached record temperatures of over 33 degrees. I did my regular routine with our mustangs in the morning while Martina slept over. Since there was nothing on the agenda, I decided to take another ride on my bike to get some croissants and breakfast stuff in the village. When I came back, Martina was up and was cleaning the car and once she was done we had a nice breakfast all together. Then Martina and I returned the car that we had borrowed to go to the seminar on the weekend and when we came back, I decided to go for a long walk with Paulo and Liwa. The 3 of us had a great time walking through the cool forest but on the way back, we had to walk in the sun and we soon started sweating a lot. We got to a river where the dogs happily drank some water and refreshed their paws. After about 2 hours of walking, we got really tired and we stopped in the shade of a big tree in the middle of a field. The 3 of us fell asleep, I don’t know for how long, but I suddenly woke up when Liwa started barking at something. We continued our walk and I was really happy when I finally arrived at home! Although I was looking forward to relax, Hans was already waiting for us to go and pick up his Range Rover that had been repaired in a garage about 1 hr drive away. On the way back, we stopped in town (Brugg) and I could finally buy a Swiss mobile phone. Martina and I did some shopping and had a cool beer in the shade and as always, the day ended with a delicious meal cooked by Hans!

Kastl in Bayern - day 3

Today was the last day of the seminar for people with difficult dogs. The atmosphere was quite different from yesterday as there were dogs showing aggressions towards other dogs or even humans and the whole day was much more turbulent. We finished at 6 pm and are just now on the way back home which will take us about 5 to 6 hours drive. We stopped for a quick dinner which turned out to last for 2 hours and now our plans to reach home at a reasonable time have died...Well, tomorrow we expect a relatively quiet day but let’s see what happens...I can’t wait to see Paulo & Liwa!

Kastl in Bayern - day 2

Today’s seminar took place at Marion’s dog school in Kastl. The setting was marvellous as the school is situated in an old farm house in the middle of juicy green fields and other farms, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was another busy and interesting day with 12 participants and their dogs. Martina and I helped Hans to instruct certain techniques and as always, the participants greatly appreciated what they learnt and were very happy with their first success. It is very nice to look into the dog owner’s sparkling eyes by the end of the day when their dogs finally go off the leash and stick to their owner’s feet like little magnets and observe their owner’s every single movement while most of the dogs had been running away from their owners for years...

Kastl in Bayern -day 1

Today we drove to Kastl, somewhere in Bayern, for a weekend seminar. The hotel turns out to be integrated with the butcher and you can smell the meat in every corner of the place. Especially for Caro (another trainee), who is vegetarian, this was a rather unpleasant surprise. Then we found out that one room was missing and that Martina and I had to share a room. We were not too unhappy as this place is slightly scary. It is rather dirty, old fashioned and we found a giant ant scrawling out of our mattress...

Once we settled in, we had to prepare the evening seminar which was taking place in the same hotel. 36 people joined and the talks went on until 11:30 pm. We then sat outside and enjoyed a bottle of red wine before we happily went to bed.

Liwa, the suicide dog...

Today was a public holiday and we finally had a day off. When I got up in the morning, I took the dogs for a walk with my bicycle. Liwa kept on running in front of the bike with plenty of energy and I had to make sure not to roll over her and Paulo was walking like a snail behind me. Looking at their anatomy, you would expect it to be the other way around!
Then I decided to clean their kennel which hadn’t been cleaned for years. Hans joined in and we spend the rest of the morning scrubbing until we looked like a pile of mud ourselves. At least, Paulo & Liwa have a wonderful home now. As Paulo & Liwa had been with us, there weren’t much white spots left on them and I took them both to the special dog shower which even includes a dog hair dryer. Once they were clean, I also cleaned Sirius, one of Hans’s dogs and then I still had to clean my caravan, refill water etc...Once all this was done, my day off was nearly over and I hadn’t relaxed for a minute. Then Hans started cooking our dinner, a wonderful duck with vegetables. While he was cooking, he started to take out one dog after the other and we finally had a pack of 6 shepherds and among them Paulo & Liwa running in the fields. It was interesting to observe them, especially as there were 5 dominant males among the 8 dogs and Liwa who currently is in heat. Everything went well, and they would sort things out among them, until Hans closed the dogs together with Martina and I in a fenced area and left. I could feel how Liwa increasingly got insecure and would hide behind me. All of a sudden, all the males would jump onto her and she would run and try to escape. As they were starting to attack her she was squeaking so loud that it would break my heart and I just managed to get her out of the attack on time. She got a couple of scratches but nothing serious and I carried her back into the caravan. It was only after a few minutes when Hans came back from the kitchen and I told him about what happened that I started crying due to the previous shock. Hans said that this was normal and that it will happen to her a couple of times until she learns how to behave in a pack. As I was worried that she would now be scared of the other dogs, he told me to take her out of the caravan and let her run around together with a few of the other dogs. First she would hide but then I was happy to see that she would quickly become comfortable again and mingle.
That night not only Liwa learnt her lesson but also I got to understand that I have to become less protective of her and let go...If I want to establish a proper relationship with Liwa, I cannot feel sorry for her as she has to go though certain situations on her own...

In the meantime, Paulo made friends with Angelo and they happily ran around for the rest of the evening! Hans said that Paulo did a great job adapting to the pack.

Difficult dogs...

Today was the last day of the seminar for difficult dogs. We drove to an area where we could confront the dogs with walking people, bicycles, cats, other dogs etc. during the walk. This time, I joined with Liwa who was quite insecure but followed me nicely all the time. However, at the end of the walk, when we arrived at the parking, she escaped and jumped into the first car she could find!
In the afternoon, there was an incident on the training ground which was quite tough for everybody and one person even cried (I was happy to have my sun glasses on as I had watery eyes too). A young German shepherd who had already bitten a person before, wouldn’t cooperate with his owner at all. So Hans at this point saw no other option but to discipline him. So when the dog would jump onto him or not jump into his box or misbehave in any way, Hans would just hold him tight on the leash. Hans wouldn’t really do much and remain very calm but the dog was fighting so much against this that he would strangle himself. This would go on and on until the dog finally gave up and cooperated. Hans said that it should never come so far but that in certain cases, there is no other way. If you don’t discipline the dog, then he will discipline us and keep on biting and scratching. Dogs don’t evaluate things, they just act and it is only by acting ourselves that the dog will respect us.
When the seminar was finished, we thought that we were done for the day but we found out that we still had another lesson with a hunter and his dog in the village. I took Paulo with me as I wanted to spend some time with him too. Once this was over, it was so late that we decided to stop in the village for a nice steak and a few glasses of wine...

Hechtsprung...

This was the second day of the 3 day seminar for difficult dogs. We started the day with a long walk in the forest. All dogs were off the leash and were not allowed to go more than 3 meters away from their owner. We walked extremely slow and were not allowed to talk as we had to focus 100% on every movement our dog would do. I walked with Angelo and most of the time, next to Hans who would showed me how to interpret each of Angelo’s movements and how to adapt my walk and react in a way that Angelo would reliably stick to me. I learnt a lot but it is hard to imagine how much energy it takes to maintain this high level of concentration during this 2 ½ h walk. Once we were back and discussed the walk it was already lunch time and I went to my caravan with the objective to relax just for a few minutes. I woke up 3 hours later (only because my caravan felt like a sauna in the afternoon heat) and had missed the afternoon part of the seminar. When Hans saw me, he smiled and asked me to take Angelo out again so we could catch up on what I had missed. We went to see the goats with the objective to teach Angelo not to run after them. Well, of course he did and then Hans told me how to do the famous ‘Hechtsprung’. When you see that the dog is about to run away or is already running, you have to go after him with high speed, jump on him, grab him, put him down, and hold him on the ground until he gives up. It wouldn’t be such a challenge with a small dog like Liwa or even such a gentle dog like Paulo but with a Malingo, bread to catch criminals, it is a completely different story! Hans made me jump as many times as it took for me to get it right. The first time, I jumped right onto a stone instead of the dog (I have a little souvenir on my knee), the second time, I was not strong enough to hold him on the ground and he escaped (so Angelo won the ‘battle’) and the third time I was happy when Hans said that I got better...Now, at last, I was completely awake!
Hans, Martina, Carmen (she had done the training with Hans a few years ago and joined us for a couple of days with her young German shepherd) and I ended the day with a fantastic pasta meal by chef cook Hans! Carmen told us all the stories about Hans’s military training style a few years back and warned us about what is to come...

Salzburg...

This weekend we went to a 2 day dog fair in Salzburg! Martina (who is from Salzburg) and I decided to leave the day before as Martina wanted to visit friends & family and I wanted to see the city. We left at 3 pm on Thursday looking forward to a nice dinner in Salzburg. Well, after about 2 hours drive, a red light in Martina's car indicated that the airbags were disactivated. Altough I would have continued the trip, Martina was very worried and we decided to stop at a mechanic. Everything was already closed but then we drove by a VW place where the manager was just leaving. He brought us to the mechanic and we started by all having a coffee together. After a few more coffees, 2 hours later!!!! we continued our trip...with activated airbags....When we finally arrived, it was so late that we just went straight to bed. We stayed at a very cute Austrian style boutique hotel which happened to be just next to Martina's parents house, in the country side.

The next day, we enjoyed a very nice and relaxing morning in Salzburg. The sun was shining and we had a champagne brunch on a terrace overseeing the old town. In the afternoon we had to go to the fair to prepare everything for the next day and then we had a nice barbeque at Martina's parents house. Austrian food is fabulous and people are really friendly...I immediately connected with the place and I will put it on my list for 'best places to live'...

The fair itself was quite hectic: there were barking dogs with their stressed owners everywhere and soon we were missing our 'Laubberg' where everything is so idyllic and quiet...Of course, Hans's show was a success and then we worked with many people who came to our stand and had problems with their dogs. Altough the fair was closing at 5 pm, we would never leave before 7 pm, then would have dinner at the hotel altogether and finally enjoy our soft beds...

When we came back home at night, we saw a littel baby fox (about 3 weeks old) just outside the caravan and followed it by car into the forest. It's soo cute! Then I picked up Paulo & Liwa from the office and all three of us had a big snuggle session in the caravan until we fall asleep...

Ciao Angelo...

Waking up today was tough after spending all weekend at the dog fair and driving back for 6 hours last evening! Anyways, we started with our 7 am 'Mustang' routine, had a nice breakfast with fresh eggs and croissants (which I bought in the village where I went BY CAR this time) and the 3-day seminar for 'difficult dogs' started. After lunch (pizza again!) Hans suggested that we participate in the seminar with our mustangs. Things went well untill we had to take them off the leash and go for a walk outside with the whole group. I could feel from the beginning that Angelo was waiting for the slightest motivation to run away and I was desperately trying to keep him close. And while I was not sure of myself and lost concentration for a second, there it already happened: he saw his brother and both decided to go for a quite energetic run in the fields before we could react...Hans said that we had to run after them in order to have the last word but hey, there was no way we could follow and we completely lost control! For the first time, Hans was not happy with me! The lesson is that if you don't believe in yourself 100%, the dog will feel it, don't take you seriously and take advantage...dogs don't compromise! They take a yes for a yes and a no for no and anything in between is applied stupidity (as Hans formulates it). Well, altough I was angry at myself, I for the first time really got the message...

Fitness First...

As I am slowly getting used to this new rhythm of life, I thought about how to start doing some regular work out with my brand new mountain bike which I hadn’t used once yet. Since I live on top of a hill, I decided to get up at 5 am instead of 6 am to drive all the way down hill to the village and buy some freshly baked croissants (I needed some kind of motivation). Well, I thought that this was a good idea until I started to climb up the mountain again...once back on the ‘Laubberg’, I was completely exhausted. On top of all, I was running out of time and I had 5 minutes to take a shower before our 2 hour training session with our ‘mustangs’ started. Then Hans tied me up to a 10 meter leash together with my dog and I had to start running in 20 m wide circles. Hans kept on screaming: run, run faster, run...and it would go on and on for a long time...After 2 hours I could finally have a quick bite of my croissant (which cost me a lot of energy) and the 9 am seminar started. We spent the whole day outdoors, and the seminar ended at about 5 pm when we once again, we had to take out the mustangs...in between, we also cleaned the kennels at lunch time (since we ran out of time in the morning because of so much running) and I walked Paulo & Liwa. Well, this was quite of a work-out and I am not quite sure about going on a biking adventure again tomorrow...

Aratanka day 2...

Today we did a lot of exercises to teach the dog how to sit quietly even when the owner goes away, another dog crosses or there is a lot of noise. Liwa did a great job and would sit quietly except when Hans would pass by and make a lot of scary noises with a bottle full of stones. Then all the dogs would be confronted with Pipo the fox and would have to sit quietly while the fox would sniffle all over them (except Liwa as she was terrified of getting close to the fox!).

As for my early morning training with Angelo, I could see that we both made some progress. He wouldn't bite the leash and my fingers anymore, would follow me without a leash and I could even play with him while throwing a piece of a hose away and having him bring it back, have him spit it out and sit again quietly next to me. We are slowly but surely making friends...

Aratanka...

Aratanka...

Aratanka is a 3-day course to learn how to establish an honest and authentic relationship with your dog. It is with fairness, trust and respect on both sides that one finds an harmonious level of communication. This is something that Hans learnt from living with wild animals, mostly wolves (he lived with them for 1 year in Canada) who were his teacher.

This is difficult to explain as the point is to experience it but I will describe the first exercise: I would look at my dog from a distance while someone would hold him. Once I memorized this picture, I would close my eyes and Hans would blindfold me. Then the person holding the dog would take the dog somewhere else. Hans would then press a few so called ‘energy points’ on my body and I would have to stretch out my arm which would act like an antenna to search for the dog. Once I would find the dog I would have to make a sign and Hans would hold my arm in the direction where I was pointing and I could then open my eyes and see if I had found my dog or not. Amazingly enough, I had pointed exactly into the right direction. While I was searching with my ‘antenna’ I could clearly feel heat and some pressure in my wrist, where one of the energy points is located, when I was pointing into the dog’s direction. The important thing was just to ‘feel’ it and not to start thinking where the dog might be. When we did it a second time, I got confused; My arm would go around and around and sometimes I could feel the heat but it kept on moving. When I finally pointed into a direction and gave Hans a sign, I found out that I was pointing into a buzzard’s direction who was flying in circles just above us. Hans explained that those birds’s energy was much stronger than the dog’s and that this was the reason I pointed at him. Also Martina ended up pointing at the bird. Well, this should give you an idea on what I learnt today...I now decided to take it easy and am chilling in the caravan...Although we physically haven’t done much today, using your ‘mental energy’ is even more tiring as we are not used to this anymore, always relying on our rational thinking instead...

A day with the birds...

Today we picked up Hans's daughter, Thanaya, who lives with her mum near the Austrian border. We went to a park where there are falcons, eagles, etc. to see the show they have. We spend the whole day watching the birds, playing with Thanaya (who is 6 years old), sitting in the sun and eating ice cream. Liwa was with us too and quite excited about all these new impressions. She was even a bit scared and intimidated and felt most comfortable sitting in the car. Well, now it's late again and I am sooooo tired...after a 2 1/2 h drive back. Now I still have to clean my caravan which looks like the forest from the inside. And tomorrow a new week starts already....

Magical moments...

Last night, after another delicious meal (Hans and Andrea had cooked a huge salmon with wild rice), we decided to go for a full moon walk in the forest together with Angelo, Artos, Amani and Amigo. The 4 young brothers looked like wild wolves in the moonlight when they were running in the fields...a truly pure, wild and energetic moment! When Amani (the ruler of the pack and therefore Hans’s dog!) and my Angelo (the wildest of the pack after Amani) finally disappeared in the forest (against all rules of our current training), Hans just stood there and said with a smile: ‘Now, Sonja, they are gone...but I love them...

We ended up going to bed a 1 am just to get up 4 hours later to again join our wild friends. At 9 am we assisted Hans with an exam that people here take to ensure that they have a 100% stable, well-trained and safe dog. This exam is endorsed by the Swiss Government (Die Schweizer Halterpruefung) and Hans is the founder and official examiner. It was interesting to see as I will have to pass this exam with one of my dogs at the end my 6-months stay (Hans suggested to train with Liwa for this). Well, nobody passed the exam today! It is a challenge as in the exam the dogs need to sit quietly while you go away out of their sight and then face a number of confrontations such as passing dogs, running people etc., immediately stop and go down when one gives the command only once while they are running fast, heal perfectly with and without a leash etc. Basically, you need to have complete control over your dog...and more!

Once this was done, for the rest of the day we worked with a group of people and their dogs to follow-up on the progress they had made with training their dogs.

Once everybody was gone, I could finally join Paulo & Liwa and we went for a walk together with Christine (another trainee) and her fox lady (her dog just looks like a fox). Liwa now goes off the leash as she perfectly heals. Just when we were quite far, a thunderstorm started and we got COMPLETELY wet. It was a wonderfully refreshing feeling after a warm day at work and ‘cleaned’ my mind...

Now I am sitting in my caravan after a hot shower wearing an aloe vera mask as my face is burnt (and even my ears!!)and with vaseline on my lips which are swollen thanks to a passionate kiss from Angelo. With my red face, my swollen lips, my wet hear and my farmer style clothes full of mud, dog hair and fox shit (as Liwa rolls in it every day!), I look into the mirror and scare myself! But hey, I am truly happy and the dogs don’t seem to bother too much!

Hans just called as dinner is ready...huge juicy steaks...well, I am definitely not losing any weight at this rhythm...but our cosy and interesting dinners are definitely worth a few extra pounds...adding volume to my new look...Suhail, get ready!

Just back from dinner and as every dinner, this was a unique experience once again: All of a sudden all the dogs started a howling concert. Hans started hauling too and encouraged us (Martina and I) to join in as well. At first we felt a bit intimidated as we never howled before (as you might expect) and when we first tried, we of course felt ridiculous and we wouldn’t get any response from the dogs. Hans explained that only a ‘true’ howl that comes from the very inside will get to the dogs. And indeed, I could feel that in the few seconds that I would finally let go and just live the moment without thinking about what I was doing and why, my howling would come through. In the dark, Hans walked us to the wolves. First he entered the fenced area howling in a certain way and then he asked us to come in and howl too. Soon the wolves joined our concert and I lived one of the most intense and truthful moments in my life...howling is indeed liberating...try it!

As tomorrow is Sunday and I haven’t had 5 minutes off since my arrival last Friday, I was planning to sleep long and chill out...However, the plan has changed as Hans invited us to go to the zoo together with his 6 year old daugther Tanahya. Martina (another trainee) and I first thanked him for the invitation saying that we were planning to do some training and learn some of the theoretical stuff but he insisted that we would certainly learn and enjoy more by joining him and Tanahya in the zoo...as a compromise, he even suggested to leave at 7 am instead of 6 am...Also, I should take Liwa so we could do a demonstration to the people in the zoo...I am pretty sure that I will have some interesting stuff to write about when I am back from the zoo tomorrow...

Back to school days...

Today was a relatively relaxing day. After we worked with our newly adpoted dogs for 2 hours in the morning, we started our first theory lessons with Andrea. Once this was done, we all decided to go shopping for some food in Germany. Hans bought a huge salmon for our dinner which he is now preparing as I write. Ok, that's it for today...I am not a good writer when starving!

Bonding with Angelo...

As agreed the day before, we all met at 7 am at the dog’s kennel. Angelo was more awake than I was which had the immediate effect that he would run past me with 100 km/h. It was not easy to keep him under control and it was clear that there was no solid relationship between us as for now...

At 9 am the seminar about how to have dogs run in a circle just like horses (I don’t know the English word for this but in German it’s ‘longieren’) started and took the whole day.

Then Hans and Andrea (the other trainer) cooked dinner for us as they love to cook and are pretty good at it too. We sat outside over a delicious meal and watched the sunset over the valley...As Hans always makes sure that we eat enough, I felt like going for a digestive walk in the twilight and thought that it would be a good opportunity to take Angelo along to bond with him. Also Hans thought that it was a great idea and added that I should definitely go without a leash. So Angelo and I started walking through the nearby forest and surprisingly enough Angelo behaved like a lamb!!! Even when I met Andrea with her own dog on the way back (this had been set up by Hans!!), he would follow me. Once I put Angelo back into his kennel, I quickly took Paulo and Liwa for a good-night walk. As I came back, everybody was out with their dogs for a spontaneous training session (although it was already 10 pm!!) and Hans took over Paulo and Liwa. He showed me how to walk them on the leash by holding them both just with one finger. Even though there were all these other dogs present, they both followed very quietly. Liwa immediately got the message and would nicely sit behind me like the best behaved dog on earth. Even Hans was impressed how quickly she would pick things up and said that she is a really cool dog. Paulo wouldn’t stop scratching himself as he always tends to do in tricky situations. Hans explained that dogs had different ways of releasing stress and that this was clearly one of them. So poor Paulo didn’t take it in such a cool way...However, he is now happily sleeping in my bed and seems completely relaxed!

Well, now it is really late again and although I can’t wait for the next day to start, I fear that I won’t get enough sleep...

baby steps...

Today was an interesting day! In the morning we had a client with a young Ridgeback who had issues with other dogs. So Hans asked us to take our own dogs along for a joint walk. He suggested I take Liwa. All dogs were pretty well trained and would heal. Liwa, of course, was running around like a wild rat trying to play with every single dog. So Hans started his famous 'hose technique' with her: each time she would go further then 3 meters away from me, he would throw a 30 cm long piece of a yellow hose into Liwa's legs. Once he threw it at her, all I had to do was to make a lound 'sssshhh' noise and then immediately reward her (just by stroking her). This had a huge effect on her and within minutes she wouldn't even dream of going away and would stick to my feet like a magnet. In case she would cross the 3 meter zone, I just had to 'sssh' her and immediately she would jump back onto my feet. Amazing!

In the afternoon, all trainees (we are 3 now) would be given a new dog from Hans. They are 1 year old male dogs (all brothers) from Hans's own breed the 'Malingo'. So far they had been living together as a pack in a fenced outside area. They are all reserved for differnt owners and now is the time for them to get trained. Hans said that it would be important for us to train a dog that we don't know at all and who is still 'raw'. As they will be our 'own' dogs for now we have to take full responsiblity for them: we need to clean their crates, feed them, brush them etc. We will train them 3 hours a day for the next 3 weeks and training will start at 7 am daily!!!

My new dog's name is 'Angelo' and he is quite luck, not because I will be training on him, but because his future owner is the 5th richest man in Switzerland who travels the world with his luxury yacht and will take Angelo along. Since he is a beauty surgeon, I might get a favor from him as his dog's trainer....you never know :-)

Anyways, it might all sound great but when Hans and I took him out of his kennel, it felt like I had a wild mustang on the leash!!! I was barely strong enough to hold him. We walked to the training field where Hans closed me and Angelo into a very small fenced area. Once inside there, I was first scard that the dog might eat me alive! However, I had to put him off the leash and start to train him how to sit quietly and to always stick to me. This would need a lot of concentration and dominance from my side as this is a strong male dog, bread to be a hard working police dog. I could notice that the dog would immediately loose respect if I was insecure just for a tiny second. With this kind of dog you cannot be hesitant or soft as he needs to understand who is the boss and you have to be strong: if he jumps against the door when you are trying to enter the fenced area, you have to bang the door against him so that he learns to sit quietly when you enter. If he starts jumping onto you, you need to kick him with your knee, if he doesn't sit after you gave the command once, you have to pinch him in the butt. And if you get scared or hesitate for a moment, you run the risk to get hit back by the dog. The aim is to establish a relationship with him that is based on respect and trust. To gain his trust, every time you would punish him you would also reward him by stroking him for a minute or so right away. The dog quickly understood 'the game' and we could already see a good result (not without Hans's help, I must admit).

As for Paulo and Liwa, Hans suggested that I start training them once I got the experience from my training with Angelo. For now, we will take them out from time to time to do easy excerises like I did with Liwa this morning. This way they will slowly get aqcuainted with their new world...and so will I!

Long day...

Today we started training sessions at 08:45 and stopped at 20:45 (12 hours!) with a 10 minute lunch break when I had to quickly swallow my pasta that was left over from yesterday's lunch. I am now frozen, hungry, tired and my head is ready to explode! Today I was allowed to take Paulo for a first training session to teach him to sit quietly. Among German sheperds and pit bulls etc. Paulo looked like an alien! Well, the outcome is that we have A LOT to learn! Right now I have no energy left for ANYTHING and I will go back to the caravan and relax...

no more alien...

I woke up feeling refreshed and energetic and somehow over night my 'alienhood' had ended...I suspect that the very open and sincere conversation that I had had with Hans over a barbeque the night before must have helped and that my soul had finally landed in Gansingen an rejoined my body...Or maybe it was thanks to the mystic howling concert of the wolves when Hans and I went to see them in the moonlight.

As always it has been a busy day. We had 3 training lessons with different clients and it was the first official school day. So I met two more girls who are doing the course at the same time and we all connected well. Once 'work' was over, Hans gave me his pick up truck and I crossed over to the German border to go shopping for tonight's barbeque (I haven't eaten so much meat in my live!!). Hans is a real 'chef' and prepared the food (I didn't really feel welcome in the kitchen which doesn't bother me too much :-)) and I have now to hurry and join him for dinner. More tomorrow...

Open doors...

Today the dog school opened its doors to the public. Around 40 people came accompanied by their dogs from many different parts in Switzerland and Germany. We first showed everybody around: the puppy house where Hans breeds his own breed called 'Malingo', the training areas and the different animals. Then Hans picked one of the guest's dogs for a demonstration of his training which happend to be a moderately aggressive Rottweiler. This basically took up the whole morning and we then proceeded to a nice barbeque in the garden. In the afternoon, Hans showed 2 of his police dogs as examples of a successful training. Then everybody got their dogs and they were all told to sit quietly while the owners would go away and each dog would sit about 2 meters away from another dog and surprisingly all dogs remained seated until the owners got back to them.

Now, everybody has left and I am again exhausted and will go for a relaxing walk with Paulo & Liwa.

For now I am quite overwhelmed with everything and need some time to get into into the rythm of this completely new way of life...There are moments I feel like a little alien and not quite like myself, unsecure...I am surprised since I am surrounded by everything I like: friendly people, nature and lots of dogs...But still, my inner voice tells me: 'Come on, Sonja, get yourself together, make an effort, don't act so weird...' I don't even know how to behave in front of Paulo & Liwa anymore as I become more and more aware of all the mistakes I am doing in handling them...I know that the moment I will start the training with them, not only their but also my life will change...We are not talking about a technical training to start with but with an attitude of life...I know, it's difficult to understand, hence my confusion...change always kicks you out of your comfort zone and this is what I was looking for...

Early bird...

At 5 am Hans gives me a wake-up call. Not remembering where I am, all I can feel is something wet and stinky right next to me...yes, Liwa had a little accident...So waking up was not as idyllic as falling asleep! Although I am rather asleep than awake, I somehow get ready for a day in the very east of Switzerland where Hans is giving a seminar titled ‘Mensch – Hund Beziehung’ (human – dog relationship). We had 12 participants with 13 dogs and after a theoretical introduction in the hotel, we would go outside to do all kind of exercises with the dogs. The exercises turned out to be so efficient that by mid-day every single dog learnt how to sit quietly until he is told not to sit anymore and to walk next to his owner without a leash. Everybody was very happy with the results and the day ended successfully.

Hans, his young police dog Sirius and I then drove back. In the meantime, we got a message from Andrea who takes care of all the animals at the dog school that Liwa had escaped from her enclosure and was found trembling and waiting in front of my caravan and that even Paulo had tried to jump the fence. When I came back, they had both been tied up inside the dog school to prevent them from escaping again and to protect them from the rain and the cold as they are not used to it. I took them for a long walk in the rain and after a long cleaning procedure, let them into my caravan where they fall asleep immediately. And now, it is time for me to go to sleep too as tomorrow the school opens its doors to the public and Hans will for sure be waiting for me at 5 am (on a Sunday!!!)...

Bye-bye Abu Dhabi...

The day had finally come for me to put Paulo & Liwa into their respective crates and to close my overweight suitcases to catch our flight to Zurich. Even though I had previously embarked on many adventures to much more exotic and weird countries such as Ghana or Russia on my own not knowing what to expect, I must admit that I was more nervous than ever to take this flight. Not only that my dream would suddenly turn into reality but also that I had to leave my love and life in Abu Dhabi behind for a while...Also, I was worried to encounter any problems checking-in the dogs, especially as Paulo had to fly cargo and I had never travelled with them before. And most importantly, I was terrified of the moment when it came to say good-bye to Suhail at the airport...

Well, in the end everything went well and before I realize I am at Zurich airport at 6:25 am. I easily spotted Liwa at the luggage counter as she started a loud squeaking concert once she saw me coming. Hans’s brother was expecting me outside with his daughter and together we went to the cargo area to collect Paulo. First we were informed that due to the public holiday we would have to come back the next day but when they saw my face they quickly changed their mind and after another 1 ½ of bureaucratic procedures, Paulo could finally leave his crate and for the first time breathe the pure Swiss air.

After a 30 minute drive we arrived at our final destination and Paulo & Liwa happily inspected their new home. Hans was busy with a seminar and invited me to join but I decided to first take care of the dogs, empty my suitcases, get acquainted with my new caravan and get rid of my stomach ache and headache that I had carried all the way from Dubai.

When I woke up from my nap in the early afternoon, I for the first time realized how beautiful the place is. The sun was shining nice and warm and I was surrounded by cherry blossoms, colourful fields, juicy green trees and a marvellous view onto the idyllic village of Gansingen. Together with Paulo & Liwa I started walking on a path above my caravan and just like in a dream I discovered one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. It was an endless field covered in yellow flowers offering a breathtaking view into the valley. In the middle there was a huge beautiful tree and I sat down on a bench underneath. Paulo & Liwa started to run around like crazy. The grass was so high that Liwa had to jump like a rabbit to get forward and would constantly loose orientation, would then stretch so you would see her little head peeking out of the grass just to spot Paulo and start her mad jumps again. Paulo, the magical dog, just looked amazing with the long white and feathery coat covering his royal and graceful body galloping in the middle of a yellow sea of flowers. When we got back onto the path, the dogs where both completely yellow, just like the flowers. They looked like they had participated in the festival of colours in India. This moment was indeed magical and the perfect proof that my dream had started...

Once back home, I participated in the last part of the seminar before ending the evening with a delicious welcome barbeque outside Hans’s caravan. I then spent my first night in my caravan, sleeping like a newborn accompanied by a powerful thunderstorm and two dogs keeping me warm. Poor Liwa ended up trembling out of fear and hid under the covers...