Tell us about the three most important dog events during 2014!
- We started the year with a seminar here in Kungsör. I had invited several excellent guest lecturers and it turned out to be a huge success! They were: Kjellaug Seelsas, and Synnöve Martre, the very successful Norwegian competitors; Carin Bengtsson, member of the Swedish national team; my colleague Siv Svendsen and the versatile handler Tova Lindh. All those great people created a very interesting combination and they brought loads of inspiration and ideas from a whole range of different points of view. Moreover, it was extremely fun to meet so many dog people in one single place!
- Both the book “The puppy who becomes a star” and the film on “Obedience exercises in elite class” came out with a few weeks in-between and, together with Siv Svendsen, I started out a course on-line. This course is also a huge success and we have participants from over ten different countries, amongst them Russia, Hungry, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Latvia, the Ukraine and all of the Scandinavian countries.
- Our training was also very important throughout 2014. Ylle and I participated in our 7th Swedish National Championship in a row! And we were selected on the national team for the 13th consecutive year!
What was the most positive thing that happened during 2014?
The new edition of the book “The puppy who becomes a star” had an absolutely fantastic reception! It has become very popular as course literature in training clubs as well as amongst private actors in the field. It feels unbelievably exciting and it gives me loads of positive energy that so many find my training ideas useful and fun.
And the very best of year 2014 in the dogworld?
All the new people I have met and collaborated with! I have found colleagues to work with! As a private enterpriser it is a fantastic opportunity to work with others, get new ideas and inspiration, and new things always emerge from such an exchange and which one can continue developing. This has been one of my goals this past year to initiate collaboration with others and, though I thought that it would be good, I would have never guessed how good it could be!
How do you rate your own competition results in 2014?
I sort of hit a wall in 2014. In the Swedish Championship, Ylle did a lap of honour at the recall and barked, which resulted in a zero mark, therefore missing a top ranking. Then I dropped the scent object at the European Championship. This is not something that I go around and think about all the time, but it felt so unnecessary.
Ylle will soon be nine years old, how does this affect you?
I am more considerate because he is older. I am much more satisfied than I was before, one could say. But I am extremely happy that he is maintaining such a high level! I am glad that he is still staying at top level, and this is more than one could ever expect. He has been competing in elite class since the age of two. He is a fantastic dog and is certainly my “once-in-a-lifetime-dog”.
How about Signe?
Ylle’s shadow is enormous and this is where Signe has been keeping herself. She always comes second as there almost always is some big competition that Ylle needs training for. But she has risen to elite class in 2014 and hopefully 2015 will be her year somewhat more.
Through the year, Signe has made big progress where speed is concerned. Which makes me very happy since I have put a lot of energy in that part of our training. She now needs more training in the assembling of the details to form a whole, and competition training. She is one of the most curious dogs I have ever had!
In 2014, I have also competed with my sister’s dog, her Border Collie Tindra, and both Ylle and Tindra have qualified for the Swedish Championship as it seems now.
When you look back at this past year, what will be your most impressive memory?
It it most certainly my trip on the other side of the globe, when I gave a seminar in New Caledonia. It is quite exciting that dog training has brought me to different parts of the world, first all over Sweden, then through the Scandinavian countries and Europe, and now, as I said, on the other side of the globe.
And finally, a glance at the future: what do you hope for in 2015?
Book number two, the second part of “The puppy who becomes a star”, will be coming out and this is what I am working on right now. And then, I hope that Signe will make her way a bit more. As for the rest I hope of course that it will be a year filled with fun dog training – far and wide!
