Yatzie wishes friends and family in Sweden, Holland, France and all over the world a Happy New Year 2011!  

For Yatzie's new year we wish... well - you all know what!

Even though Yatzie has been showing many signs of pregnancy no puppies were seen in the ultra sound. She is pseudo pregnant. What a disappointment for her, for us and for everyone who was looking forward to this litter. Nature wanted differently. I have cried many tears... I wish I could have brought all of you happier news for the New Year. Of course I will give Yatzie a new chance in the next heat in June. We just have to get used to the fact that there will be many more days of waiting and hoping... Yatzie is so sweet and cuddely, more than ever, in this state of hers, and we enjoy her tremendously. You are the best Yatzie, we love you and cross our fingers for you for the next time!

On Christmas Day we went for an adventurous sleigh ride. We had so much fun! Yatzie running up and down the slopes, after the sleigh, steeling our gloves as always and digging deep in the snow. Winter is great!

The same video twice in different formats - see what works for you.

In Sweden Christmas Eve is the day when well behaving kids and dogs get their Christmas gifts. Being such a good dog Yatzie got more gifts than all the kids -  from the good hearted kids! The favourite was grandpas reindeer sausage that Yatzie picked out amongst all the other gifts. The problem was that it was actually for grandpa - Yatzie did not learn to read yet...

Yatzie knew who Santa Claus was behind the mask - a dear family member (psst, do not tell the children) and could not stop kissing til Santa almost fell in the stairs!

Below same video in two different formats - see what works best for you.

Yatzie wishes all her friends a very Merry Christmas!

-18 degrees this morning! Cold even for a viking woman! But Yatzie with her thick, long coat does not mind. She rolls around in the snow like always! Early this morming, while Yatzie was still sleeping (she is very morning lazy!), I saw two deers in the forest by our house. Later on Yatzie and I went walking over there and Yatzie found the place where the deers had been sleeping during the night. She was very excited, and sniffed and dug in there. Then rushed over the hills to look around for them but they were long gone...

Yatzie's results Älvsjö International Dog Show: Quality 1, Comp 1, Cert Quality, BTKL 4, Reserv CACIB. Description: Good size, excellent type, feminine head, good dark eyes, could have stronger beard in her face, good ears, correct neck, balanced angles front and back, normal movements, good fur, nice temperament.

Congratulations Yatzie! I understood that the judge really liked Yatzie but was reluctant to her wavy head, which I am used to. He even told me afterwards: Could you not cut the fur on her head differently to give it a stronger appearance? I said Yatzie has a lot of the older blood lines in her where the curls are more open and wavy. And after all the Barbet must be presented in a natural, rustic way. Or next time maybe I should use my curler and some mousse on her head? :-)

There were many families visiting the exhibition that were interested in the Barbet, asking a lot of questions. Yatzie was more tired than normally and went to lie down in her cage a lot. To me it is a a good sign! I am starting to believe that she is really expecting...

Thanks Ola for the pictures!

Yatzie is fast asleep on her favourite doggy bed, dreaming about the down hill snow racing she just experienced with mini-mom Anna. Lots of snow on the empty, hilly golf course. Though it was 10 o'clock at night the snow made it seem so light, even the cloudy sky was in light colours. She needs her beauty sleep because tomorrow, Saturday, we are going to the international dog show in Älvsjö. Keep your fingers crossed for Yatzie!

This evening when walking Yatzie she showed me that she wanted to say hello to her granma and granpa. So we did. The thing is they spoil her like they spoil their other grand children, and Yatzie knows it. This time grandpa Per-Arne went all the way down to the freezer in the cellar and pulled out a frozen reindeer bone for Yatzie. On my mother's side we have our roots in Lappland. Every fall my parents buy a whole reindeer from friends who are Lapps and own many reindeers. When jointing it some of the left over bones are kept in the freezer for the four legged family member who absolutely loves it! We had to leave quickly so Yatzie brought the bone in her mouth all the way to the car and there she happily chewed on it. What a dessert!

See how he is smiling! Silas, Yatzie's golden neighbour in Danderyd, is madly in love with Yatzie. We have not told him about Django, he could not bear it. Silas is like a little boy, so playful, kind and sweet. But when it comes to Yatzies bones when he visits her at home - he steals them! A mischievous little boy he is! Despite Silas mom Willemien's help it was impossible to get a nice photo of Silas and Yatzie together. They would not sit still, Yatzie got bored, or the black and white combination caused exposure problems. A big mess, terrible photos, but I love his smile!

This weekend Yatzie, Isa and Smilla visited the peninsula Bogesund, north of Stockholm, for a walk in the deep snow. We were surprised to find that there were skaters on the ice already, since around the city the ice is not yet strong enough. So we went for the first walk on ice this winter. Always a little scary the first days... but there were a lot of people around and we walked on safe paths. The dogs followed each other on excursions here and there. Little Smilla, who is a mix of dachshund and jack russel, did so well despite the snow. When she got cold she was warmed up inside Angela's jacket.

On the 13th of December every year we Swedes celebrate Saint Lucia. In schools, churches, shopping centres, companies - everywhere there are processions with girls and boys dressed up in white gowns, candles in their hands, singing songs about Advent and Christmas. This year Anna, Yatzie's mini-mom, was the Lucia in her school Kevingeskolan. It was a fantastic performance. Yatzie did not do quite as well as Lucia I am afraid...

Time to shower Yatzie. Three hours it took me to brush her this time! Her fur is so long now, more than 10 cm. Then shampooing and woops, the teddybear shrunk a few sizes! Yatzie enjoys the massage she gets when shampooing her, but she really dislikes the rinsing part, especially on her face. But she still obeys the command "gå till duschen" - go to the shower - and patiently waits for me to finnish. The drying off seems to be the best reward - she loves that! And one needs a few towels to get the water out. Then she dries totally over the night. In the mornings she gets a lot of cuddles - she is so soft and smells so good!

Today Yatzie came along to the city of Stockholm to do some Christmas shopping with me and mini-mom Anna. Yatzie is so relaxed in the underground, even when it is packed with people. She learned to travel on public transports when she was a puppy, accompanying me to my office in the city every day. We had lunch at NK, the only shopping mall in Stockholm where dogs are allowed everywhere - as well as the most exclusive one which is a perfectly natural combination! Yatzie behaved well in the shops, lied down and waited patiently. Reward - a nice bite of the ice-cream on top of Annas brownie!

Bought myself an early Christmas gift - a 50 mm Nikon lens for portraits. Anna tried it out on Yatzie on the way home - see the results below! Well done Anna!

Sweet memories. One day Yatzie and Django went to visit a real French market with everything you could think of being sold. The animals and the food was of course the most interesting for the two. Hope you enjoy the movie!

Today I made healthy liver goodies for Yatzie. Boiled the raw liver, cut it into small pieces and then dried it in the oven. I am trying to be very careful about what I feed Yatzie with, now that i expect she is expecting. Extra iron is needed.

Yatzie was very interested and of course tempted... it is almost a torture to be surrounded by that fantastic smell and unable to get to it. When Yatzie was a puppy she once tried to steal a piece of meat from the kitchen counter. I caught her in the act and told her it was not allowed. Since then she never did it again. Fabulous dog! So today I thought I could risk letting her take one piece from there. I put one small piece on the tip of the counter, pointed to it and said Varsågod (her go signal). She got her nose up on the counter, but saw that there were much bigger pieces, actually whole uncut ones, and of course choose one of those instead. Barbets are smart dogs. I got it out of her mouth (sorry Yatzie) after a little fight. Since I was the one who was unclear in my instructions to her I finally gave her a big part of it.

Now I have a lot of small bags with liver goodies for our daily walks and training. I usually put them in the freezer, even though I have dried them, since I do not dry them totally. They get so hard then. They stay fresh for 3-4 days. Yummie Yatzie!

Yatzie had not seen her best friend the portugese waterdog Isa for almost three months. When we approached the golf course this morning the sun was just rising above the horizon. Shadows were long and the snow was turning yellow. As soon as Yatzie saw the figure in the snow she knew who it was. She was yelling to get out of the car. A short tumble around in the snow, chasing a ball and Isa had to leave... Yatzie was disappointed and sat in the snow looking for her for a long time. We will soon see her again dear Yatzie! Fortunately we met a new friend, the flat Leija. Yatzie does not play with new acquaintances that easily but Leija was so playful that she got Yatzie going. What an amazing start of the day for both of us!

Yatzie is so happy in the snow. She seems to find even more traces to follow than when the ground is bare. Just outside our apartment is a forest and we make short excursions there a few times a day. When the sun was setting the snow was glimmering so beautifully I had to bring my camera and capture it!

After two days on the road we reached our second home in Stockholm. It is full winter here and the Christmas trees are already lit in the garden of Hammarbacken where we live. We are looking forward to celebrating a white Christmas here with Yatzies and my Swedish family.

Sweden welcomed us with a beautiful snowfall around midnight! Yatzie was thrilled and played her favourite winter game - steal a glove, then run - with mini mom Melise. Then it was nice to just chill together on the floor and relaaaaaaax!

"Where have you been for so long?", said Yatzies neighbour the labrador Ruff and gave her a big hug. "So you did not read my blog? I met a fabulous guy in France, my heart is with him now. Sorry Ruff! But we will still play!"

Today Sinterklaas and all his Zwarte Piet helpers arrived at the childrens school. It was fantastic to see the joy in the faces of the children and to hear them sing the Sinterklaas song on the top of their voices. Yatzie also helped to bring some presents and got a kiss from her Dutch mini mom Margot!

This is the closest one gets to any kind of religious belief in Holland... Doesn't Sinterklaas look just like the present day Greek Orthodox Bishops? If I only had the pictures from the monastery in Greece I would post one right here and you could see how they resemble. But Yatzie never was a devil - she was always an angel! (See yesterdays blog post about the history of Zwarte Piet and you will know what I mean)

Yatzies bonussister Saartje and nearest neighbour, the beagle Tupak, were playing around in the snow today. It is cold here in Holland, just as in the rest of Europe. But Yatzie loves it. Winter is her favorite season and she hardly ever gets cold in her thick coat.

Christmas comes earlier here in Holland. Every year on December 5 Sinterklaas comes with presents for the kids. Tonight we were wrapping gifts and Yatzie was sure they were all for her! Ever since she was a puppy I have wrapped things for her and she is terrific at opening packages. So of course I made one with some goodies for her as well.

There are moments, even for an amateur photographer, when everything goes right. The light, the timing, the camera settings - and, when working with dogs, the object to be captured behaves! A minute later the magic was gone.

As the sun was setting last Sunday, by the river in l'Isle sur la Sorgue, Yatzie started sniffing intensely in the bushes by the river side. Deep into the bushes she went. Yatzie has a very good nose. I knew there was something. And then for a second I caught a glimpse of it, inside the clear water - a 20 cm long, 7 cm thick, grey, hairy water animal that quickly hid in a safer place. There are moments when you wish your eyes were the camera and you could just blink...

What could it have been? Anybody knows? Yatzie did not see it, but she is happy by the excitement of sniffing itself. Later when I called her out of the bushes she did not come, she just stood there... Her fur was totally entangled in the thorny bushes and she could not move at all. That is what you get with a curly Barbet by your side!

This morning the lovers Yatzie and Django had a chance to play around in the frosty fields under a clear blue sky before saying au revoir. It was a joyful moment, rolling around and playing the way Barbets do. You can note in the movie to the right that they have a similar kind of body language. Yatzie does not play this way with any dog.

Geneviève, Djangos owner, and I shed a tear when parting. She is an adoreable woman, who pours out her sweetness and love not only to Django but also to foreign new friends! Thank you Geneviéve, we both will miss you both!

...over the hills and everywhere! Yatzie will be a mother! Three days of excitement! The details… belong to Yatzie and Django alone. Now three weeks of waiting before the confirmation – it seems endless… Yatzie has been so sweet in this process, so focussed, determined. A new side of her has come out. She deserves to be a mother and I believe she will be a very good one.

What an adventure we have had. We have met wonderful people and made new friends. We have seen beautiful parts of France. We have done nice things together Yatzie and I. I will update you on more of our adventures back in Holland. The internet connection is really bad from this hotel. It has been special to be in Yatzies home country for the breeding. She is after all a French lady. I am also glad I had many days to emotionally get ready myself for this big event in Yatzies and my life.

So good bye France, we leave today. Hurray to Yatzie and Django!

Django is fabulous - but is he ready for Yatzie? That is the question. They met last night and Yatzie did everything right, she knew what this was about. She really wants to be a mother. But it did not happen yet. They were so sweet to each other, they do like each other, but though Django tried a lot it did not work out... We will give them a new chance... Hold your fingers!

For the rest we had a great birthday dinner for Elaine. Geneviève, Djangos owner, cooked us a terrific meal. Clams, legumes from the garden. Her house on the country side is a dream! Brigitte, friend of Elaines was there too, who is an experienced breeder. She said Yatzie knows she is a dog. That may sound strange to you, but I understand exactly what she means. When dogs are so close to humans as they are they sometimes get too independant and need reassurance from their master about what to do. Yatzie did not need that. She was so clear in her mind. I was glad to see that since I am often told I treat her too much as a human! Yatzie was so sweet in my eyes, the way she acted. She charmed Django, playing, laying down for him, rolling around. We just have to wait and see what will happen this weekend...

At 10.16 the test was ready - light light blue! Tomorrow Yatzie will be redy and willing said the vet! It may be hard for someone who has never planned a mating to understand all the thoughts and feelings around it. Will it work out? Will they like each other? How will she react? Yatzie is like a child to me and I feel her so close. But in this case I must leave her to do her job - it is pure nature after all.

So we packed and left Cluny. Snow had fallen during the night, and the surrounding mountains were white. It was so beautiful. And more and more beautiful it became as we approached the south of France, to the destination outside of Avignon. Met a fabulous black swan at one of the resting places. You see him in the gallery. Yatzie was curious, had never seen one before.

Must rush now, will tell you more soon. Cause now I am leaving the hotel to meet Django for the first time!

Spent an hour in the old monastic grounds of the Cluny Abbey today, thinking back at the times 800 years ago when these corridors were full of zealous monks aspiring a higher life. Now there are zealous young arts students with the same kind of aspiration I guess. I hope you enjoy the photos. I also found an old chapel in the garden that had amazing acoustics and I could not help but sing a little there. I share a small piece with you so you can hear how the sound is bouncing around the arches.

It started snowing tonight! They say I brought it from Scandinavia. Yatzie and I found a cool bistro earlier this week, and had dinner there tonight. They have a male dog and he came running when Yatzie entered. But the owners remembered that she is on heat and locked the excited dog up. I love the atmosphere in these local restaurants. It is like a big family in there. Everybody seems to know each other. They all greeted me "Bon appetit" and also gave Yatzie a few strokes. My French is getting a little better.

Yatzie spent the evening watching Flash playing and following her wherever she went.

Yatzie is getting more and more friendly with Flash, the kitten. This evening Flash was playing with Yatzies ears. Can you believe that Willemien? Take a look at the video. It is so sweet to see them together.

My daily breakfast in La Maison des Gardes. Look at all the cheeses, fresh croissant, homemade confiture, yummie yummie. The area of Cluny is known for its chèvre. But Yatzie can not taste any of these... The vet said she is chubby! 2-3 kg too many. And it is clear to me too after having touched all of Elaines dogs. Well, maybe she can use a little extra for the puppies!

This morning Yatzie made friends with Jabolou - the guinea pig of the house. She has never been so close to one before, only sniffed from the outside of a cage. Now they even touched nose to nose. Usually Yatzie is totally stiff around guniea pigs, tail straight up, but today she was more relaxed. Maybe because Api was there too and Api and Jabolou are best friends!

Today Yatzie and I were invited to Elaine Fichters home. I was so much looking forward to seeing all her seven Barbets, that I have read about and seen on Elaines website for many years. They were thrilled to get a new visitor and wanted to check me out and cuddle and cuddle, like Barbets do! Yatzie waited in the car the first half hour since, well, you know why! Tried to get some nice photos of the whole group, but it was not easy...

Yatzie was very shy to enter into the tight pack of dogs (no males around now). I had to carry her and put her down inside the gate. I did a goody rain to distract the dogs so that Yatzie would feel more relaxed. It worked fine and I think she handled the situation very well. It is never easy for a dog to enter into a big foreign dog family.

All the dogs were so sweet. Coming very close to me, asking for and giving love. Elaine does a lot of research on the history of the Barbet and showed me some of her documents. If you are interested to know more there is a lot of interesting information on Elaines site.

On our way back to the hotel, after a nice riverside dinner in Macon, Yatzie and I had a walk along the river by the old Macon bridge! See her posing in the gallery below!

Today Yatzie joined the hunting training in Noorderpark for the first time. This is a more advanced hunting training than the one in Almere that we also attend, and here real birds are used in the retrieving. I myself have struggled with the idea of real animals, but have decided to let go of that moralistic viewpoint and give my dog the joy of experiencing what is in her genes - the retrieving of birds.

The trainer, Richard Bosch, was impressed with Yatzies performance, and someone commented - she did better than the rest of the dogs!

The training started with some obedience exercises, walking in a circle, stop, sit, serpentine between the other dogs and not be distracted. I used my clicker a lot and Yatzie did well. She has a good basic obedience and with the clicker she is always alert.

We were then asked to play and have fun with our dogs and as we did that three shots were fired 20 meters from where we were. I was worried she would react, since I have not trained her with shooting before, she noticed the shots, but did not get nervous about it.