When Freki arrived at our home, we had every intention of beginning SAR (Search & Rescue) with her. Her keen nose and drive seemed perfect for the job.

Several reasons later, Freki is not an SAR dog. We have done some rudimentary training with her and she drops that nose to the ground the instant we say 'track it'!

So, here's the rest of the story.

One of our neighbors stopped by the house, upset that his dogs were missing. These two little dogs delight in tormenting Freki and I'll admit she joins in the fray readily, much to our dismay. (but that's another story)
The point being, I knew if she could put her nose to their scent, she wouldn't miss a chance to chase, er, track them down.
So, I leashed her and we started off.
She took the neighbor's track first, since he was only minutes ahead of us. But, if his dogs had traveled across our front yard (and it was at least a 50/50 proposition), Freki would pick up their track soon enough.
Bingo! About 30 yards or so after tracking the neighbor perfectly, she hesitated, cast out a bit, and took off at nearly a 90 degree tangent from the path I knew he'd taken (I'd seen him, and could hear  him in the woods behind our house). Within minutes, Freki led me to the little dogs who were happily ignoring their owner's call, romping in a field nearby.
My other reason for using Freki? I knew they wouldn't pass up an opportunity to bark at her. Sure enough, they came running to us, and their owner arrived soon after to take them home.
What a good girl Freki was! And that nose, which sometimes gets her in trouble when she can't resist sniffing my plate, worked to perfection.
​Atta girl, Freki!

Freki had fun.

A good friend lives on several hundred acres and this huge pond is so pretty and clear, that Freki didn't waste any time at all getting her paws wet.

She will bring the stick back, but drops it as she passes me with a glance over her shoulder as if to say, "There it is, toss it again." Retriever, she is not.

My friend also has chickens on her farm that wander loose during the day. Freki was not enchanted with them. In fact, she was certain they were zombie chickens and should be scared away. Unfortunately, they didn't understand dogs are higher up the food chain than they are, and we finally corralled the chickens into a fenced area behind the barn-- with the help of a bit of chicken feed.

Here are some more photos of Freki and her fun-filled day on the farm.

I've been wanting to show how well our new boy is doing, but getting photos of Gunnar playing with Freki has been a bit of a challenge.

They play just fine, if a bit rambunctious, but the instant I step outside, they abandon their activities and come bounding up the steps, bringing me balls to throw. Freki brings the basketball, Gunnar loves the soccer ball, and Ben has fun with the Jolly Ball.

And taking photos through the storm door is a task for Photoshop as I'd rather filter out the noseprints on the glass.

So, here is a brief pictorial of how this works:

What is your dog's favorite game?

It's a lovely morning, though it will be hot again later. I don't think it could be much drier. The sprinkler is on, for all the good it does. I now have a nice assortment of muddy paw prints on my floor to clean. They are rather easy to see as the sun hits them on the dark wood floor.

The dogs have had their run and are settling in for a snooze. They had a merry game of tug and chase with the small Jolly Ball. Since it has a rope through it, they can pull it back and forth. At the end of it all, though, it is Freki's ball. According to her.