On Queensday, April 30th, all Dutch people put on something orange (the colour of Holland), paint their faces with the Dutch flag (Yatzie did not like that part!), gather old toys and clothes and meet on the streets, selling and buying in an atmosphere of festivities! What you also have to do this day is eat Tompouce - an orange, creamy, delicious cake. Yatzie loved it and what could be more appropriate than eating it the Tompouce as a PUSS (kiss in Swedish) from mummy! Queensday is of course about celebrating the old Queens birthday, and the Dutch country in general, but it is also a day when children like the idea of making a few Euros from what they sell. So we set up a circus show, with Yatzie - "Hondeshow, 10 cents"! She did all her tricks under instructions of minimum Margot. Well done circus-team!

A new soft Ajax football from IKEA did not last long in our house. Yatzie has a talent for tearing apart any toy that has a soft center that can be pulled out! I put the content back, she pulls it out, I put it back, she pulls it out and so it goes on forever. In the beginning I stiched the toys together but nowadays it seems to be a waste of time :-) ... She has a lot of fun and I get a good reason to clean the house again!

Easter, spiritually the most joyful time of the year, we this year joyfully spent together with beloved family from Sweden visiting us. The sky has poured its goodness on Holland the past few days with temperatures up to 29 degrees! So we spent today on the beach as if it was in the middle of the summer! Yatzie went wild of joy at the sight of the sea and from playing with minimum Anna. In the evening she got to taste from the Easter cake that Margot and Anna had decorated so beautifully with tempting chocolate bunnies. That is a full day of Easter joy also for a dog!

In a small pond in a park nearby us Yatzie saw some birds that she started chasing in the water. Looking at her from the other side of the lake I saw her behaving in a strange way - she went out into the water just a little bit and then returned to the bank of the pond, then back into the water. My heart froze - did she get hold of a baby bird? Now is the time for the eggs to break and I had forgotten to check the water before I let her go. Yatzie has never caught anything alive, she has only chased and kept hoping. I ran over to her side. In the grass lies a young bird covered with seaweed. I check it out, remove the seeweed and oops, back it jumps into the water. Yatzie had carefully carried the baby bird in her mouth and lifted it out of the water, once it was on ground she just went back into the water. I was so relieved that the bird was not injured! And fascinated by Yatzies gentleness in catching the little bird. I was so chocked though, I scolded Yatzie, "NOT ALLOWED" and afterwards asked myself: how can I scold her today when she retrieves a bird and train her tomorrow to do the same... I asked my hunting trainer who said: Yatzie did well. You should not scold her...

WARNING FOR SENSITIVE READERS

The best hunting dogs from the Artemis hunting games in five Dutch provinces were competing against each other in the Hubertus Hunting Competition on Saturday. The event was organised by my hunting trainer Richard Bosch from Jachthondentraininggroep Deutrechtse. It was a very interesting experience for me and Yatzie, who have never before seen something like it. The blowing of the horns to start and end the sessions added to the real hunting atmosphere.

The game consisted of four parts: retrieving a coot/sothöna, retrieving fox/rabbit (tracing), duck retrieving, goose hunt. The challenge for the dogs was rather high, and not everyone succeeded in each test. But when they did I was full of admiration!

The game was held outside of Haaften, Gelderland, in a spot so beautiful it even reminded me of Sweden! Apart from the wind mill that could be seen in the horizon! In the neighbourhood was also a herd of shetland ponies that I was able to get some nice shots of. Enjoy the photos!

WARNING FOR SENSITIVE READERS!

Today, at the hunting training, the time had come to retrieve a real bird. Last week Yatzie was for the first time in contact with a pigeon, just smelling it. This time I used a clicker to teach her to grab it with her mouth. I held the bird in my hand. Click and meatball at first interest approximately 5 times, then click and meatball when she opened her mouth over the bird. I then put the pigeon on the ground and as soon as she picked it up, even though it was at the tail - party shoutings, hipp hipp hurray and lots of meatballs. Then that session was over.

The trainer then did the retrieving exercise "Forward", where the dummy is approximately 20 meters ahead in a straight line and the dog has to run straight out without having seen it being placed there. I sent Yatzie "forward" and she took off. I thought there was a textile dummy to pick up, but back she comes without hesitation with the pigeon! Well done - my brave girl!

Being Yatzie's actual birthday I thought I'd give her the best treat she could ever imagine - two hours in a new, unexplored terrain with water, birds and rabbits. Yatzie had a ball, I did not see much of her. She just checks on me once every few minutes and disappears again. Thick low bushes she finds very exciting. She runs around looking for rabbits, sniffing the holes. In the high grass she could smell a pheasant, just one meter from her side it flew up. Then down to the riverside looking for the disappeard bird. No luck so a quick zip and dip and then run, run, run again. Her toungue got longer and longer, til she finally after 2 hours of running ended up in the water, just standing there cooling down for 10 minutes. Then started the cleaning up process - thorny bushes, thistles all entangled in her long fur! She does a lot herself but some of it I must get out of course. Usually I keep finding small thorns in her skin and fur many days afterwards. I think Yatzie was a very happy birthday dog today! And I look through my fingers for a day and just let her happily roam around in her true element!

What Yatzie loves the most in this world is hunting and water retreiving - of course, if she can choose between the two, hunting is a million times more interesting... but still. So to make her happy we took a walk around Strijkviertel lake where she can do both. Enjoy the photos of Yatzie in her happiest birthday mode!

Yatzie turns 4 today! We celebrated yesterday with Barts mum Ieneke and our good friends the Huismans, their 3 kids and dog Bo. Many children, dogs and cameras - there was quite some chaos before the dogs were allowed to eat the declicious meatball with cream cakes that Margot had prepared on colourful plates. And in a spur of a moment it was all gone!

Happy birthday sweet, sweet Yatzie!

The first barbecue of this season was an eventful one! First our dear neighbour's beagle Tupak stole the cork screw and ate the cork! Then Saartje fell into the garden pond, as she was trying to catch a piece of the delicious Dutch herring that was served as a starter. We did not know the pond was so deep, but Saartje totally disappeared, to both her and our surprise! When she was dried off Yatzie proudly presented an old bone from dried skin (you know those white ones) that Tupak with much care had hidden in the garden, before the snow fell. The first one I got a hold of and threw away, as well as the second, but when Yatzie, who has a good nose, continued to find those delicacies, she finally was allowed to eat one... Tupak also started looking for his old treasures, hiding them in safer places, under the branches or under the terass, pushing the soil over them, so sweet! Finally we were able to welcome the first early summer evening with a toast in nice rosé! Thanks John and Yvonne for a great evening!

Inspired by the summer heat (25 degrees this past weekend!) Yatzie, Bart and I did wonders to the front garden of our house! Yatzie helped by digging holes in the flower beds and chewing on the branches we cut.