August 17th

Freya is my little sweetheart. I've about come to grips with the idea that she might not get much bigger than she is. That pup is all muscle from nose to tail-tip, and all heart. As my most eager puller and enthusiastic runner, she is most definitely top of the list on my team. She is about average Siberian size, but I had hoped she might fill out to close the size of her daddy, Yukon who is really a gentle giant among Siberians normally bred to be a smaller dog breed as far as huskies go (Malamutes and Alaskans are generally bigger). She is the epitome of the 'show' Siberian with her beautiful black and white markings, blue eyes and smile. If she wasn't so shy, she would make an awesome show dog, but I'm pretty sure we are not ready for that yet. It is something to think about on down the line, but for the time being, I'm happy to train her for obedience and for harness.

Yesterday was way too hot and humid for anything but a few forrays out in to the furnace... er summer heat for a run around the yard and a game or two of "chase me". In all of that, after the evening biscuit, I was sitting in the den on the couch when Freya hopped up next to me, with her biscuit that she hadn't eaten. Instead of munching the biscuit, she dropped it in my lap and pushed it towards me with her nose. I picked it up and handed it to her, and she curled up with it for a few moments, then, very deliberately, picked it up and put it back in my lap nudging it with her nose again. She was so sweet, I think she wanted me to have it since she didn't feel like eating it. I pretended to eat it, and put it aside for her later. She did end up eating it before bed, but I thought her gesture was noteworthy.

Sunday, my husband had set out some mouse traps, as we had seen signs. Just before I went to bed, I heard a screeching scrabbling sound from the kitchen, and all the dogs bolted for the cabinet under the sink. Sure enough, one of the traps he had set caught a mouse, but extracting it with the dogs eagerly waiting to protect us from this tiny terror was quite a challenge. I ended up convincing the dogs there were more outside waiting to do us harm, and took them all out while Jim got the mouse taken care of.