Little Things Make A Big Difference

We didn't go to the trial, but we had a great weekend nevertheless - at least until Sunday afternoon when I had to go to work. On Saturday we went to the seaside. It was cloudy, but a little warmer than here. I really love the sea and luckily Slovenia is so small that it only takes you one hour to get from Ljubljana (in the center of Slovenia) to any border, including the coast.

While we were there, we also stopped in Italy to buy some pills against heartworm which cannot be bought in Slovenia (even though the mosquitoes on our side of the coast are just as much infected as the Italian ones). Unfortunately we didn't have the time to go to Miramare this time, but we will probably go there next week.

Miramare is a castle in Italy, just by the sea, and there is a wonderful park around the castle. They were both built by order of the Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg in 19th century. The park had no vegetation in the beginning so the Archduke filled it with exotic plants. Today it is a natural reserve and it is just incredibly beautiful.

Sunday was the day for charity. Before I had to go to work we attended a charity event for Repkov sklad (Little Tail's Fund), which helps to provide money for veterinary expenses for rescues, strays and animals with owners who simply cannot afford to pay for a lifesaving operation. They also provide food and temporary residence for these animals. They are doing an incredible job and Xsara and I donate them practically all of the food we win on competitions.

The event was a race, but not a competitive one so you could walk slowly if you wanted to. They also had a presentation of canine disciplines and one of the organizers asked me to demonstrate some tricks. We actually never performed tricks in public before - we do it for friends and as a warm-up routine before runs, but not like that. I was happy to do it but Xsara was still a little uneasy because there were so many unknown dogs. She did well, she only refused to do the handstand and she needed a little more encouragement, but the tricks that she did were very nice.

Events like this one always make me remember how lucky we are. Big thanks to those who are helping the less fortunate dogs and making their dreams of a happy home come true!