Max

I had a Labrador when I was young, a breed that is/was used to retrieve shot down birds during the hunt and I never understood exactly why on earth people would use labradors for that job. Mine chewed on anything 'interesting' that she could get her paws on so what would be the point of using her during hunting season. "Look honey, I shot 8 pounds of minced meat". Aside from this, my Bow was the most perfect dog around.

Being an animal lover I really wanted to have a similar canine companion in Holland. Luckily for me, my wife was determined to have a dog too.



Max isn't a labrador despite his appearance. He will probably have an ancestor that was tied to the breed but Max' behavior is typical for a German Shorthaired Pointer. He is eager to learn and even more eager to play fetch ... he fetches whatever you throw away and brings it back to you ... everything except for what he believes is eatable. This is the part where his Labrador state kicks in :-)

He's all business when it comes to work. He is so focused that he anticipates on possible commands which make it seem as if he's not behaving. What really happens is that I have to make him less eager all the time.

When we go for a walk around the block he knows the routine and whenever I change the path he remembers the route from an earlier walk so he wants to show me that he remembers. Most of the time he is subtle about this: he will walk next to me but slightly ahead and whenever I stop or slow down he will turn around and assume his initial position where his shoulders are next to me and likely also sit down. No commands involved.

He is determined to execute all jobs I give him to the extent that he will also repeat the jobs I once had him do. So returning empty Coke bottles (1,5 L) myself is a thing of the past. Max picks them up and stares at me until I accompany him to the storage. He needs me to open the door, take the bottle from him and put it away in our Coke-crate.

He is guarding and protecting our two cats in a way that is annoying for the female cat as she prefers to be by herself. The male cat and Max go out for walks in the garden or in the forest and whenever I accidentally lock the cat out, Max will behave anxiously and stay at the back door until I open it again.

When he is not working he is looking for attention, wants to be cuddled and at times still believes he is a puppy. He tries to climb on my lap, plays with cat toys the same way he sees the cats do and picks up the tiniest objects with his small front teeth. He is truly a member of the family.

Max also learned me a lesson in priorities: I started teaching him to bring me my slippers and it went well until I realized that I had to teach him to count and bring both of them. The counting part is still not moving along as I would like, my slippers however are moving all day long.

Taking the lama out for a walk

I love to take my dog Max out for a walk. Some days ago during a walk in the area I stumbled across a weird sign. You should know that Dutch communities really take the pet's interest at heart and that all residential areas have dog walking zones and assigned dog playing fields.

These zones are clearly indicated by signposts but for some reason I didn't link the image to the dog ... is it me or would this be the assigned lama-zone?

Mushrooms, our new enemy?

Some of you may know that I am an avid cook and mushrooms have been one of my favorite ingredients over the last two decades - not sure what started it - for their flavor and for their ability to 'meat-up' a dish.

I am aware that they are essentially fungi but their appearance is less icky than their cousins' which sneak into your sealed tupperware to camp for weeks just to surprise you with their colors, patterns and odor whenever you open the box later on.

Today I believe I detected the first signs of hostility from the mushrooms I cooked. Sure, most of the time I use the fresh product and they seem (still) to be pretty harmless, but the dried variety is of a much darker breed.
Maybe they detest the way they are treated which I can relate to as having the water evaporated from my body would not make me the most happy person alive either.
Maybe it is the small packs they are sold in, avoiding them to make much new friends. They are after all a very social fungus, I never saw a mushroom all by itself in a forest ... unless it is a trick to attract innocent animals. Mushrooms hunt in packs you know.

Obviously the above treatment would annoy any mushroom but for preparation I put them into a small bowl and poured boiling water over them. Now THAT would piss me off too.

I believe they waited patiently for their revenge as later on, they ever so slightly nudged my left ring finger under the blade of my knife when I was chopping them. I got away with only minor injury but the next batches of mushrooms I will prepare will be subject to my anger and vengeance.

I will not tolerate any mutiny in my kitchen!