Connections, comparing, & experts... Nurhan

Nurhan's take:

Lot's of folk have been over for visits; puppy has 'cuteness' quotient (or as Åshild referred to Kin, "his cuteness"). People who share a common interest can always talk to each other. It's interesting how many people have stopped me and asked about Karma and offered words of comfort.

At last year's Newfie show in Sandnes (shared with Bernese Mountain dogs, and for the first time last year Leonbergers), I "convinced" Jan to join me. Here is an earlier picture of Jan with one of his grand children and Toni his BMD:

(Don't be fooled by the picture, Jan normally always has a huge grin, much like Toni, who was a wonderful dog - this was Toni's last night, which is why Jan's trade mark grin is missing). Jan and I met through our dogs. When that tragic day came around when Toni, no longer shared his life in physical form, Jan dotted on Karma. My cunning master plan was to invite Jan to the show and for him to decide to get another giant breed dog... preferably a Newfie, but a Berner would have been a great option as well! I had it all planned, Jan being retired, would be perfect for looking after a dog and I could help them out with walks... Sometimes plans don't always work out!

Here's Jan, very happy that at least one of us has now got a dog!

(And I'm hopeful that Jan will want to come and have a chat with the little chap on a fairly regular basis when I start work again!)

Kin is at my feet as I write this (mainly because he's taken to attacking my toes... in between bouts of sleeping!).

Here's Kin meeting the Maddster (Maddie), & Ingvild for the first time:

Maddie is a lovely dog and a friend of Karma's. Ingvild helped me stay together after losing Karma.

I still miss Karma, strange thing to say in a blog for Kin. Kin is a totally different personality, which is slowly meshing with mine. Karma's was interwoven with mine. After a lifetime together we could communicate to each other in looks. Several times Karma picked up when I was upset and then he would come up and sleep in my bedroom to keep an eye on me; sadly when he was gone was when I needed that support the most. It is that deep bond that I miss as much as I miss his physical presence, and he did have a dispassionate physical presence! It's human nature that we draw comparisons; our minds work by making "mental maps" of how the world works, my mental map of dog matters has Karma interwoven through it.So it's only natural that I compare Kin with Karma.

People assume that I'm 'an expert', because I've had a Newfie before. I agree I am an expert in Karma, as he was in me.Odin (a grey Newfie), exemplified this for me on a trip last year.

 Kristian hoped over into a neighbours garden and got us some apples. Now Karma wouldn't eat apples, and it was standard to let Karma sniff something so that he would get it out of his system... tried this with Odin and I was 'lucky' to keep my fingers! Odin, can 'eat' an apple in under a second! (And apple cores are disposed of even faster!).

On the plus side, I'm more relaxed with Kin. If he doesn't move for awhile, I don't go and check that he's still breathing. Struggling to get up, already have rugs to put on the floor to make traction easier for him and have trimmed the fur on the underside of his paws so it doesn't get in the way. Flaky skin, normal especially whilst he has a puppy coat, just keep an eye on the little chap, keep him dry and groom him. His snoring is as cute as Karma's was! Although his 'sense of humour' needs some work:

After a morning pee break, here the little fella is keeping my sleeping bag warm for me! Before this he seemed somewhat confused how I wasn't too keen on having him pull my ears as I slept/woke up suddenly! After 1 1/2 not very sleep full nights, after this I relocated to the sofa. Tonight I go for the sofa and I have in the back of my mind that tomorrow I could relocate to my bed upstairs.

Tried the little fella in the car today... that wasn't a complete success!

Before getting Kin I bought a whole heap of books on dogs, dog training, games for dogs, tracking for dogs, and human's connection with dogs. Each relationship with a person or an animal is different. There are many different ways to raise a dog. However it is good to try to see the world through their eyes and do no harm. You want a companion, not an animal that does what you ask out of fear. When we stop learning, we die. Since coming home the little fella hasn't eaten as much as he should. The breeder recommended mixing boiling water with liver paste and pouring it over his food (never tried that before) worked a treat!

Lastly I was wondering if I could bear to see the little fella using some of the stuff that Karma held most dear, such as his blanket. There's a great story in a book called, "Bones would rain from the sky", where the author describes a dog funeral for one of her German Shepards, a very dignified affair where the other dogs come up and sniff the body before it's lowered into the grave; think the stereotypical idea of a Mafia funeral will everyone armed, and solemnly observing. Then she goes on to the story of helping a friend bury one of her Golden Retrievers. They lower the body into the grave, then the owner says that she wants to put his favourite ball in the grave too. This done, tears flowing, when here other Goldy, leaps into the grave, grabs the ball, jumps out and wants to play ball... Moral of the story, German Shepards are much more dignified then Goldies... or dogs live in the moment and this is a lesson that we humans could take onboard!