This morning, I had booked a vet from felmo Mobiler Tierartzt, for a course on nail clipping, and for two missing injections (?? how Max was allowed into Germany without them – I have no idea). The vet was accompanied by a trainee, which was just as well. Max was the ultimate drama queen and howled so the neighbours must be wondering what I was doing to him. Almost impossible for two strong men to hold. They were so understanding and patient and gentle (until they had to be less gentle). Jeez. I am trying to do what is best for Max, and his nails could have been clipped in a quarter of the time if he had not been so theatrical. And as for the injections – I had cats – I know for a fact he barely felt a thing but he howled as if he was being tortured. He is now flat out on the floor trying to look like some tragedy just happened to him. Anyway, I highly recommend felmo, and whatever they are not able to do, they will recommend you where to go.

Later, in order to shake off the unspeakable trauma that had befallen him in the morning, I took him to the dog park at Hasenheide. It was great to see him run and play with other dogs. And that he was able to outrun all of them. It is no wonder Nicola, the trainer, has suggested I look into coursing for him. Unfortunately, the two nearest facilities are both about two hours away, so if that would be a weekly commitment (or more?), I am not sure …..

But Hundeauslauf Hasenheide is a good place to visit, a decent walk there and back for me, partly along Landwehrkanal, and the Hundeauslauf has both open space and some green areas with trees for dogs to run and to explore. Plus benches, some of them in the shade, for dog owners to sit. Max did check in with me at regular intervals either by looking back towards me or by running over for a quick cuddle. That may be the eye contact training paying off. Or perhaps he would have done that in any case. Funny how I am not allowed to take two steps away from him, but he can disappear among trees without panicking. Open every day in the week 24 hours.

On a website dedicated to Podencos (Max is half Podenco) I read that they should walk/run 25 km per week. Really? That is less than half of what a human should walk (based on the 10.000 steps per day recommendation). This surprises me. In any case, I have ordered a dog GPS tracker and will try to make sure he walks/runs an average of ten km each day. I will also start taking him to the dog parks in Tempelhofer Feld, at Hasenheide, and in Park am Gleisdreieck, despite warnings such as “beware of ridgebacks” and similar.

I have heard from two trainers that they do not usually have problems in any of those places. (In addition to Nicola, I am now also entering a programme with Astrid, who is studying to become a professional trainer and who offers free sessions as part of her training – any input is welcome as far as I am concerned, and I am also realising just how much a professional dog trainer lends moral support to the dog owner, when thoughts of “I can’t do this” emerge). I wonder if they are aware of that. Perhaps I should tell them.

A propos of nothing, this week’s assignment for the “photography shake-up” course I am following is “worm’s-eye view”, I took the above photo as a test shot after tying Max to an immovable object and giving him a “pacifier”. I am entitling it “the dingo ate the baby”. (Sorry).

First excursion out of Berlin, first time on public transport. We took the S-Bahn from Anhalter Bahnhof to Bernau bei Berlin – a 42 minute train ride (and actually 26 km from Anhalter Bahnhof – not ten km from Berlin as Wikipedia claims). I can’t say Max was at ease on the outward journey, he remained standing and very alert all the way, and only sat for a second whenever I asked him to sit, but he only tried to remove the muzzle once, briefly, and there were no drama or theatrics.

We crisscrossed Bernau inside the city wall and in part of the park area on foot (in total, we walked about 12 km today), and stopped for lunch. I had brought one of the “hard” treats from the Natural Treats Box, and that kept him busy while I had my lunch. And of course this time I made sure he had water at regular intervals too.

He was a lot more at ease on the return journey and even spent much of it lying down, although he got up each time the doors opened and was generally very observant.

All in all, it was a super pleasant trip. I feel a great sense of relief and I hope Max feels three times the sense of achievement I feel :-). He must be quite excited still – for better or for worse – because we have been home for almost an hour, he has had most of his dinner, and he is still awake, although fighting to keep his eyes open. One of my hopes for him is that with time, he will be able to relax and even go to sleep both during and just after having mastered new situations with a lot of new experiences with flying colours.

I am considering spending a long weekend with Max in Bernau bei Berlin some time soon. It is a pleasant and quiet little place, with not a lot of traffic (especially not on the pavements ….) and we could do with a few days away from the insanity of the Berlin traffic on our doorstep. In addition to being easy to reach on the S2 from Berlin, Bernau is well placed for regional trains and also buses going out in all directions for walks in villages and in nature. And enough restaurants to keep me interested for two or three days – I even spotted an Indian one :-).

One thing I am going to have to work on is an aspect of Max’s separation anxiety: Sometimes, if I want to concentrate on making a photo, I secure his leash around a pole or whatever I can find, but I then cannot take even two steps away from him, before he starts “panick-barking”. I know I should just ignore that, as long as I stay close and definitely in his line of vision, but that is hard when there are other people around who think I am being cruel to him.

A couple of photos from Bernau:

(Yuki & Jun Verhaltungsberatung und Hundetraining)

Max seems almost fully muzzle trained now, on the third muzzle, this time made to measure at Hauptstadthund in Husemannstraße, after two previous, more or less disastrous attempts with the very limited choice in other shops.

He is not always the world’s most predictable dog – for example last night he ended the walk by throwing a complete hysterical fit, rolling around on the ground, frantically tearing at the muzzle – but this morning, he accepted it even without treats and not once during the walk did he try to pull it off. I will have to see how the next day or two go before testing him on public transport (I would hate for him to throw that kind of fit on the bus or U-Bahn :-)).

It will be interesting to see how he behaves later today when Alfred takes him out – you never know – sometimes he reverts to his old bad habits when somebody else walks him, and sometimes he behaves even better than with me …….

But in terms of being able to venture futher afield by public transport (where the muzzle is obligatory), things are looking up. Fingers crossed. Walks in general are also much easier since, with the muzzle on, Max can’t grab and guzzle down everything he finds on the ground which in his book constitutes something that can be eaten – which is just about everything, and here in Berlin, people throw everything everywhere except in the bins. Max seems to be slowly coping with that kind of frustration, especially having discovered that he can still exercise his natural, and very strong, sniffing instinct. It also means I do not have to be so careful, nor do I have to drag him away from things all the time.

Also, I am finally clearing from my head (and heart ;-)) what has been a major distraction – if not actually an obsession – and – I can see now – a complete waste of time for well over two years now. Life is too short and it is not like I don’t have other things to occupy my mind.

So here’s to new beginnings on several fronts :-).

We went to watch the festivities at the celebrations of the opening of Humboldt Forum. Crowds, noises, smells, food stalls, and being dragged away from leftover food thrown on the ground (why DO most people only eat two-thirds of their burgers/hotdogs/sandwiches and throw the rest everywhere but in the many bins?) Max was on his – so far – best behaviour (there is always room for improvement but I was surprised how compliant he was).

And he was rewarded with a new chewtoy as can be seen in this video.

By the way, earlier in the day we reached the stage where he wore the new muzzle for ten minutes without complaining. It will soon be time to go for a walk with the muzzle on.

Berlin is increasingly allowing total anarchy to reign on pavements and bike paths and has consequently become a total nightmare for pedestrians to live in. And that is even with tourism still being just a shadow of its former self.

Warum hat eine Stadt wie Berlin keine Verkehrspolizei? In vielen Gegenden herrscht totale Anarchie und niemand hält sich an grundlegende Verkehrsregeln. Vor allem dort, wo die Radwege gefährlich schmal, voller Schlaglöcher und von Büschen und Bäumen überwuchert sind, sausen Fahrräder und E-Roller auf den Gehwegen an Fußgängern vorbei, in beide Richtungen, viel zu eng und viel zu schnell. Spazierengehen ist ein Albtraum, besonders mit einem Hund. Autos parken auf Radwegen, systematisch und ungestraft. Warum ist das alles - de facto - erlaubt? Polizisten, die in Polizeiautos vorbeifahren, sehen es und tun nichts, also ist es offensichtlich nicht ihre Aufgabe – oder?