December has seen a mixture of rallies, event planning, pre christmas visits & some well earned rest & relaxation. For the first time in 20 years Racheal got a Christmas day off! Its hard working in the animal care sector because pets need care 365 days a year.  With the Pembury rally also cancelled that left more time for training & visiting so the Akna gang got chance to catch up with Coldfeet Sibes & get some practise in at Sherwood Forest. Also going ahead for Jan 1st 2012 is the National Forest Mushing Open Day. It has already proven to be interesting by lots of local mushers & looks to draw some new people along also. really looking forward to working off all those chocolate calories on New Years Day. The ABSA Sherwood rally saw another first place for the all girl eskimo team, that leaves Team Akna with an unbeaten record at the end of 2011 for the new season, lets hope we can keep it up girls for the rest of the seaon into 2012. Happy New Year to everyone, keep an eye on the news pages & in your local paper for stuff that Akna K9 & the dogs are getting up to.

November has been a busy month with events all over the place but bringing home to Akna Heights some more wins! The Akna Peskimo team has been romping home after a win at SHCGB, Delamere Forest night rally in the D2 class, BSHRA, Rendlesham Forest in DF class and AMWA, Forest Of Dean in the AS/FDC class. Also the new addition Kara (Shepherdsway Snow Showers Over Akna) got her qualification for Crufts 2012 at the Working and Pastoral Breeds of Scotland Championship Show. There has been lots of training especially now the colder weather is well on its way! December looks set to be a busy month too and hopefully a quiet christmas all ready for all the exciting things that are going on in 2012. 

October has been a really busy month for the Akna pack. With a very sucessful Doggie Duathlon at the end of September we have been busy training and competing at events. Check out our Akna Achievments page to see our show and working results. Amanda Palmers training weekend in Elvedon Forest, Thetford gave us the chance to work on running some bigger teams ready for Sweden next year. Saturday I took out my potential 6 dog team and Stu and Anne tried out their 6. I also decided to put a wolfdog team together and managed to run an 8 dog team successfully. Quad training is allowed at the new training venue so hopefully over the next couple of months this will be what we do while training for shorter sprint races and weight pull inbetween. Kara has her first show in Scotland in November so fingers crossed for her.

Sunday was a well earned rest day after the hectic week & show yesterday, that's before heading back into hectic week again..... Great start to the week with my first visit of the day & unable to even get into the house. Mya's little boy now has eyes & ears open & is looking around bless him growing up quickly. Off to the vets with Vika as Mya has took a dislike to her in a big way, so much so Vika is sporting another hole in her muzzle! Vika has now got some antibiotics & had a jab & is looking better already. I'm really looking forward to the weekend, I've got my friends from Devon Sarah & Stephen coming to stay with their tribe & Colin & Paula who have their first CED, they have been warned about the CED addiction & its consequences. Its been lovely seeing everyone, lovely buffet with a fantastic contribution from all, some great laughs & the dogs got a good run out at Sherwood too. Sarah made some great coleslaw ;-) Tomorrow the house will be back to normal, so somewhat quieter & then its back to the grind stone for me on Monday.

Food to be ordered, frozen meat to be collected, walks, home visits, dentist & extra dogs to look after this week! Plus preparation for National Working & Pastoral looks like a busy week ahead. Quite a few of the Akna dog owners are working longer hours or are away this week so we get to see quite a few of the fur kids (mostly Vadar's offspring). With my trip to the dentist out of the way after breaking a filling on some Bombay mix i could concentrate on not worrying. Its not my favourite place to be to say the least, I had a long conversation during the early hours of the morning with a Canadian friend & talked about dogs, Canada, work & laughed about all those things too. He wished me luck at the weekend & insisted rather me than him but i must admit showing the dogs doesn't seem to bother me anymore. I used to be quite stressed & upset by it all & the dogs didn't like it either but recently it seems practice does make perfect (well almost). My new handler is proving to be quite good, clearly suffering from how i used to feel though at times but i promised Ann i would do it & i have. My new phone has driven me to distraction this week & after several calls to the tech department its got to be returned, not happy. Well my son finished school today so that's several weeks of a happy, joyful teenager :-) he is staying at home with Mya & Murdoch while i go to the show tomorrow i will leave the others too as i am not driving tomorrow but instead taking a friend that wants to look at some malamutes???? (im saying nothing!) Well NWP what a day, it was great to catch up with Lizzie & the ever comical David & as usual i had a nice bag of goodies to collect from Lizzie. There were a few CED's that were happy to see everyone (shame the owners are not so friendly) my girls were very good & after some practice, trips to the toilet & patient waiting we headed up to the ring. It was a real shame it was indoors but the weather had been awful the whole journey & most of while we were waiting. I got chance to talk to some of the mally gang that i hadn't seen & gave them the chance to jest about CED's & were called in. The girls were very good & I was really pleased that Siku got 1st Post Graduate Bitch & Angel got a 1st in Open Bitch followed by Reserve Best Of Breed & Siku taking Best Of Breed. A really good result for them, they are getting far more confident with it all every time & Siku is really maturing nicely now. The show critique from east of England: "Siku ultra femine CED with balance, outline & good head properties. Fairly tidy mover. Angel who like her sister is ultra femine in stature & balance, clean head lovely eye & expression, arch to neck, fairly firm topline & tail carried high, decent hind quarters shown in good coat" good girls.

After a very long weekend I just about recovered by Wednesday, good job as Tuesday night I sat up talking on the phone to a friend till 2.30am while keeping an eye on Mya. Up at 4am for another check & then rudely awakened at 6am to all the dogs howling, after flying out of bed & downstairs to find Mya panting, shredded newspaper, pooh & wee everywhere it was clear that she had finally started to whelp. I got everyone else fed, out, Brandon off to school & jobs covered. So my day was free to deliver puppies. I had her scanned at 6 1/2 weeks & could see four on the scan so four or five was what i was expecting. 8.20am saw the arrival of the one & only puppy! A grey boy weighing 700g born breech. That was it, after a couple of hours i rang & spoke to the vet's & popped her over for a scan & that was it. She had already passed the afterbirth & nothing else was left. I was shocked to say the least but for whatever reason she obviously absorbed the others leaving one big healthy boy. "Murdoch" as he will be named will be going to live with Gaynor & TJ who already have an Akna dog & a Siberian Husky. Other people who wanted puppies from this mating are disappointed but its worked out perfect. Mya & Murdoch are doing well & that's more important than anything. Thursday was trip two to the vet's for pet passports, Mya wont be able to get hers until the pup is weaned but the rest of the dogs need doing & with the recent change in the DEFRA legislation we wont need to blood test any of the dogs bringing the cost down even further. Vika really made an impression to the head vet who wanted to meet my dogs. They had been talking about Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs & Canadian Eskimo dogs & she had not had the pleasure of meeting either, Vika was fast asleep on the table, slept through her physical examination & her injection. Everyone was good including Maia my friend Tessa's dog who is a Saarloos Wolfhound cross. So with all that done for now it was off home to get the kit ready for running dogs & plans for going to Sherwood & having a really nice meal all of us to sit & catch up & relax. Its been a busy but full week & Saturday it got even better. I was up till late Friday night with two rather wet & muddy Eskimo's to bath & dry ready for the East of England Champ show on Saturday. We arrived at Peterborough show ground & eventually found our spot. I took my friend Anne who had not experienced the delights of dog showing before. There was quite a good turn out for Eskimo dogs & Greenlands with four of each there. We were in the AVNSC Working classes & i had split the girls between classes as my aim was to get a Crufts qualifier for Siku. I managed that with a second place but with Angel took a first in open bitch & then Best AVNSC Bitch, to say i was shocked would be an under statement but i thought they both showed really well & i was made up. Next weekend is National Working & Pastoral at Malvern but is breed classes so looking forward to see how the girls do there under a judge that has actually owned CED's.

This last week has been a busy week as usual for Akna K9. Lola has been over to stay for a couple of days with her litter brother & its been great to see that she has really settled in well in her new home. Vika had her second injection Tuesday morning & spent the morning out with me in the van. I carried her on one of the dog walks through the fields & along the road & she clearly wasn't fazed by any of it. My lounge currently looks like a vet bed shop but the piles are going down quickly as everyone pops by to collect. I've got some really nice stuff for the van & for Mya. Mya is looking pregnant & after food all the time but i don't think she will be having a big litter. This coming weekend I am away at Hollowell Steam & my friends wedding so i have Sadie baby sitting Mya just in case but she is not due till early next week. Vika is a real character, she is constantly inside someones mouth at the minute, giving it the cute submissive puppy look to try & get her own way. Every dog gets greeted by her hanging off of their throat & some of the human visitors get the same Vika greeting too....well not the throat but teeth are present on sleeves, arms or trousers. We arrived at Hollowell friday evening in van convoy & after some technical issues shall we say we were taken to our pitch & set up camp. Vans all parked under the tree's, marquee erected & then a relax with some food & a cold cider, perfect. Saturday was scorchio god only knows what the temperature was but the first demo went down really well, the dogs worked really hard & we offered a display of fun canicross, bikejoring, scootering & dry land mushing using the rigs. My friend Greg came with his siberians to help us out & after the demo's we gave some scooter & rig rides which went down well once we could prise some volunteers out of their seats! I left around lunch to get back to Leicester to go to work & attend the wedding which was really nice. I then headed back to Hollowell for the evening to find everyone quite relaxed & the dogs all happy with cooler temperatures. Off to the fair for some fun with the gang saw some hilarious moments with lots of "Cockchafer" bugs, a large flying beetle that's completely harmless (Melolontha). Brandon had an incident on one of the fair rides where one landed on his leg & was screaming like a girl trying to escape & another that he batted away that nearly landed in the yawning, open mouth of one of the guys working on the fair! Sundays demo's were great again & we had a lot more volunteers & then back home to Leicester Sunday evening luckily to a fat Mya but no puppies, pheewww.

Lola, the re-home spent a weekend initially & then last week with her prospective new parents & I am so pleased to say that Lola will be going to live with her litter brother Kobi here in Leicester. Its brilliant news, Lola & her brother get on so well & she has been very well behaved for her new mum & dad. I love a happy ending & it means I will get to see so much of her as I sometimes look after Kobi. The cages have been dropped off to be painted now, so off to work. Steady day in the rain again....when will this rain stop? Got a litter of Newfoundland puppies to microchip for a friend later. Meat to fetch & dogs to walk. Weds I had a behaviour visit & that was interesting. I enjoy trying to get to the bottom of problems & issues & its a great feeling when you hit the nail on the head & the dog improves with your advice. Thur I have Lola & Kobi coming to stay for a couple of days while parents go to a wedding (quite a few of those recently) they will go home on Sunday. The cages are all collected & loaded back in the van to be re-installed (they look AMAZING) I am so pleased with how good they look. We have managed a couple of great runs with the dogs this week. A long run on rigs & a short run on bikes with lots of turns. They are still keen & able to run in the rain even though it seems humid. Yesterday was still raining so the dogs were happy chilling inside & I had a hen do to prepare for. With an 80's theme in mind I opted for a rather fetching Boy George outfit & sat and plaited all my own hair to match, it looked good. Today still feeling a little delicate after the party the weather has improved, brilliant sunshine & blue skies & hot temps means the dogs are still chilling but catching some rays too. My dogs enjoy sunbathing as much as rolling in the snow i think. Mya is looking more & more pregnant bless her. I gave her & some of the others who still have coat to drop a good comb yesterday but she is finding it hot today & is laying in the shade.

Sunday after arriving home the day was spent relaxing or eating. The weather has been pretty awful so the dogs are not keen to venture outside anyway. Monday was busy with all the normal work, walks & a visit to my friend Diane who was scanning Mya. Well my suspicions were confirmed Mya & Jerry are having babies! I am really happy with this for several reasons, Mya's previous owner was one of my good friends & she passed away in very sad circumstances; however we had made plans if things worked out to do this & so we have. I have some wonderful owners waiting for the fur babies so fingers crossed. Dates according to my working out will be the 4th of July, independence day! Well Vika had her first injection this week & it went well. I had the food delivery & distributed everyone's food out & training class went well again. One of my friends Nina has just arrived back from her travels. She has been in Africa helping her sister with the Tilinanu Orphanage. This has been an ongoing project for sometime now, giving local girls a safe place to live & learn. Click HERE to learn more about Tilinanu or for more information on how to help or get involved. Well I've got a friends wedding on Saturday so that will be something nice as I will get to catch up with other friends too. The new van has been back & then loaded up with the raw state metal cages to drop off. Its all coming together slowly but surely.  

Sunday we went off to the local open show at Ashfordby, not a very good result for us being 2nd out of two in both classes! Angel does look a mess as she has molted all her coat so has nothing. Siku on the other hand is looking lovely & by all accounts moved well. However I did ask the judge why he placed as he did and apparently in his opinion Siku is too long & not wedged in the head plus she has no bone! Angel has decided that Vika is her new play thing, the two of them seem to be getting on really well. Angel is probably the last pack member that I would put as a soft touch with an 8 week old puppy but she has been fantastic. I think maybe Angel may have a future for having her own litter one day after all. Thursday was the vet clinic booked out early morning for passports. Angel & Siku made a big deal with their needles & screamed the clinic down but soon forgot once the vet got food out. Darwin & Carlisle were very good & were happy boys as usual, Jerry & Jade were the best behaved & laid down nice & calm for their health check's needles & treats. That's the first group done, 4 weeks time & its back for more rabies shots for the others and blood tests for those just done, fingers crossed. Work is busy at the moment I have decided to let Lola, Jade's litter sister available for a home & already have had a very interested party contact me. Lola has been here a couple of weeks now & has been very good. Will update on Lola's progress later. Saturday was an early start off to Ireland to drop Vika's brother off to his new mum. Driving to Holyhead, Wales Jackie & I realised that I had not quite looked at the time correctly & the ferry we were booked to go on we missed by 10 minutes. However the next ferry was leaving in 20 minutes so we got on that one. The ferry crossings both ways were smooth, it was an easy trip from southern to northern Ireland & when we eventually found a nice place to eat back in Dublin we had an amazing meal & a celebratory glass of Bulmers. Next week we should find out if Mya is actually pregnant, Vika is off to the vets & hopefully running the dogs if the humidity falls.

This week has been busy to say the least but productive! The silver mercedes van has gone to the garage to be made nice & shiny & then to be sold while the new mercedes is at the shop being measured for all the new cages. So just left with the little van! Dog training was very good on Wed evening, obedience class was mostly sled dog type dogs & they all behaved very well. Thur night we went over to a possible new training/running venue to check out the trails & area. various household items have been sold or sorted & Sat a trip to Tadcaster to collect a passenger rig from Ged & Mandy. It was nice to catch up with people you don't see until rally season & after a cuppa & some rather nice cakes we secured it to the roof of the Astra & brought it home. This will be very useful, especially training the dogs for the expedition to Swedish Lapland next March. Tomorrow the "sqo's" are off to an open show in Melton Mowbray & the weather has been glorious this latter part of the week so should be a nice day. The new arrival "Vika" has been into everything, full of beans but a happy little thing that brings the Csv part of the household to 4 now. Well passports to start this week too so off with the first 6 dogs to get their rabies shots. Well off to continue with home improvments.

Welcome to the Akna blog page, something new to keep you all updated & informed. The past few weeks have seen many changes & busy times for me & the Akna pack. Home improvements, van improvements & life improvements too. The dogs have had some time off from training, well reduced time shall we say but still doing more than most this time of year. Daily dog walks keep a group out am or pm so lots of free running to stretch those muscles & keep fitness up. Today we were at Hoveringham near Nottingham doing a demonstration. It was well supported, thank you. Everyone turned up with picnic food, including Gaynor's famous chicken, Stu's Indian goodies, Gaz as usual with a spectacular array of well presented food (including salad much to TJ's disgust), dips & crisps & mum made cakes (yum). Vadar was impressed that Gaz had cooked the meat & was happy to indulge in sausages while the rest of the canine crew ate rabbit ice lollies! Sabre my GSD did me proud today in the agility demo, completing the whole course without a hiccup & still full of energy. Brandon did brilliant as usual with Mya doing off lead agility & Gerry with Rufus turned up at the last minute which was a lovely surprise. Cheyenne, Siku, Angel, Dak, Vadar, Will, Tokala & Austin did amazing after the demo's pulling people around on scooters & rigs. Jerry & Jess got to help in the Terrier racing & chased the lure a few times then returning off lead for more. After the demo we all headed over to my husky friends Karl & Tracy for a chat, drink & cake. It was lovely to see them & their dogs while 16 dogs slept in the close in the vans, quiet as mice. Saying our goodbyes we headed back, going our separate ways, dropping dogs & mothers off & then back home to sort out doggie dinners, hot bath & updates on the computer. This gave me the BSHRA dates for this season to add to my diary. I wish I had the other organisations dates/venues so we have something to plan for, oh well. Off to bed, exciting day tomorrow. Day off from work, man coming to pick up a TV & a special delivery from my friend Andre.