The picture above will be my strongest memory of our fall vacation in Poland. Maybe because I never expected that Ruda , a Laekenois, would enjoy herding so much and Prima, a Border Collie would rather watch from the distance than get involved. My dogs wil never stop surprising me!
But lets go back to the beginning of our journey.
Instead of flying we took a ferry to Poland. Partly because we had the dogs with us, partly because it was much easier to move around in our own car.
The first stop was made on the Baltic sea coast on the Polish side. I love the wide, sandy beaches, completely empty at this time of year. The weather wasn´t the best but I had dreamed of streching my legs after the long night in a little cabin on the boat. We had a very nice walk.
A clear difference between an always raised Belgian Shepherd and an always lowered Border Collie
Our next activity was a 5 days long herding training at Pastuszkowo, a farm with sheep, goats, sheepdogs and other animals owned by a passionate young woman who left a noisy big-city life and made a brave move to the countryside. A beautiful and peaceful place where all the daily struggles would be forgotten and every single moment enojoyed immensly.
While working with the dogs, talking to all the wonderful people I met and just sitting and watching the others I was contaminated with desire to run away from my current life and find such a place for myself.
I was very proud of Ruda, acting like a herding dog already on the very first day and puzzled about Prima, not showing any interest before the very last day. Maybe she just needs more time? I hope I can give her another chance some day!
We rented a big and comfortable room with a kitchen in a nearest village. A cosy and quiet place surrounded by open fields where we could take long walks. I even managed to train some obedience on the lawn in front of the house.
Eventually we even got some sunny evenings. Not often but I was not upset about the weather. We had wonderful time anyway. The countryside was beautiful and woods full of mushrooms, some of them real beauties!
The next goal was to drive to the south of Poland, where I come from originally, and visit family and friends.
I must praise my dogs. Always quiet, friendly and well behaved anywhere we go. They stay where I ask them to stay, they put up with all these people petting them all the time and sleep under tables in restaurants, totally unseen. I really cannot understand how on earth I managed to make them like that!
In my hometown there was time for walks in the mountains, some training and lots of visits to different places. And both girls decided to start their season exactly the same day! If I did not plan the litter with Ruda I might have been annoyed by the fact that it was at least 2 weeks earlier than expected. But this time I was just happy. The panties were purchased and we managed to keep the floors clean.
Now there is a silent hope for an early season next year so the puppies will be born in the beginning of summer!
We even managed to visit Cracow and walk around the Old Town where my dogs were treated as some kind of tourist attraction.🙂 Both American and Russian tourists stopped to make pics with them!
After few sunny days in Wadowice and Cracow there was time to move on to Warsaw, our last stop.
The weather changed to rainy and we did not see much of the sun until we left Poland. While in Warsaw I lived in a rented appartment in a quiet area near a wonderful forest where we could walk for hours.
Some parts of the forest were magical!
But getting the dogs clean after such walks was a nightmare! I used clean water from the ditches to rinse off the dirt and towels I had with me. Somehow we managed to leave the place fairy clean anyway. It´s so important to show the landlords that they can rent a flat to people travelling with dogs without taking too much of a risk!
I met a friend training obedience in Warsaw, went for a long walk with her and her dogs. We hoped for some training together but it was raining heavily. Hopefully she will come and visit us next summer! Hopefully the weather will be on our side then!
So after few days of family visits and fighting against mud and dirt we headed back home. We saw full moon on the ferry and hoped for a change in weather on the other side of the sea. But no, this must be such a fall that makes even the mushrooms rot!
We get sun glimpses sometimes of course but otherwise it just rains and rains and rains. The only joy for the eye are the bright colors of the falling leaves. All water depots are filled properly so I really hope the raining will cease soon!
Now I would like to go back to training as soon as the girls are over their season which should be very soon! I do not dream about sunshine but I hate to be soaked with water!
