Feeling a lot better and even optimistic after today’s session with a new trainer, a trainee dog trainer who as part of her education offers free sessions.

Her theory is that Max’s stress issues (my worst nightmare – that he bites a child because I did not see it coming – remember? – or that he causes a couple on an e-roller on the pavement, coming much too close and much too fast, to have an accident because he lunges at them) have less to do with too many stimuli on the streets than with his belief that he is expected to protect me as well as himself.

Astrid’s methods are based on what life used to be, or is, like for dogs in the wild. This means a whole new set of house rules, 12 to be precise, for Max and me in order to reinforce the hierarchy at home, or to use a cliché – to establish me as the alpha male to a much larger degree than now, with rights and privileges which the rest of the pack (i.e. Max) does not have, and as one who does not need protection. So there is lots of concrete stuff to work on and it will be interesting to see if, with time, it changes Max’s behaviour outside of the home.

We have already been observing some of the rules from the beginning, at least up to a point. For example, that it always has to be me who goes through a doorway – any doorway anywhere – first. I just need to be 100 percent consistent from now on instead of 90 percent :-).

Another one – completely dissociating his eating from my eating, and that my meals have nothing whatsoever to do with him – were already in force from the start, and I think he had already learnt that in his previous foster family. He learnt immediately that he can’t enter the kitchen unless I tell him that it is OK, and he never tries to beg food, even when I eat on the balcony and he is sitting right next to me. The new rule is that from now on, I have to eat first before I feed him, and not vice versa.

On this week’s me-me-me day, I went to an exhibition for the first time in about a year. It was great to see art “in the flesh” again, and even greater that it was not crowded at all, so I was able to play a bit with long exposures, also afterwards while having a coffee outside the hangar.

I also took a couple of photos on the way home:

I unfortunately forgot to record the walk on Komoot, but I was glad to be with other people since there was no internet service, so I would have gotten terribly lost.

We walked from Lanke Dorf north of Obersee to the former university and other buildings and the Goebbels Villa. Back south of Obersee, which is surrounded by beautiful forest, the grounds of which were covered with bright green, sunspecked moss.

In total, Max and I walked about 18 km on Sunday.

A beautiful cemetery, sloping down towards a lake more or less in the centre, with thousands of big old trees and many bushes. Not great for bird photography, for some reason, at least not today, or not this month, ……

Masala Bell Pepper Curry

2 medium-sized green bell peppers, trimmed and cut in bite-sized pieces

Spice Mix

• 1 tsp oil
• 4 tblsp very coarsely chopped cashews
• 1 tblsp sesame seeds
• 1 tblsp coriander seeds
• 1 1blsp coconut powder (I blitzed dessicated coconut in the spice grinder)

Gravy

• 1 tin tomato (I don’t care what anybody says – they just have more flavour ….)
• 1 tbslp ginger, chopped
• 1 tblsp green chili, deseeded and chopped
• 2 tblsp oil
• 8 fenugreek seeds methi dana
• 1 tsp cumin seeds jeera
• ¼ tsp turmeric haldi
• ⅛ tsp asafetida hing
• 1 tsp red chili powder lal mirch
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp garam masala

• In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add cashews, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, and on a low flame, stir fry them for about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add coconut, stir. After the mix comes to room temperature blend it using about a dl of water and make it into a paste and set aside.
• Blend tomatoes, ginger, and green chili into a paste. Set aside.
• Use the same frying pan, heat the oil on medium heat, oil should be moderately hot. Add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafetida, stir for a minute, then add tomato paste. Add turmeric, salt, sugar, and red chili powder. Stir fry for about 2 minutes till the oil starts to separate.
• Add the spice paste and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add bell pepper, stir, add 1,5 dl water and bring to a simmer.
• Lower the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 6-8 minutes, until bell pepper is tender.
• Gravy will thicken as it sits, if needed add more water.
• Sprinkle the garam masala and cover the pan till ready to serve.

Aloo palak (spinach with potatoes)

• 2 medium-sized potatoes cut into small pieces
• 1 bag spinach, chopped
• 1 tin tomato finely chopped
• 4 tblsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1 tbsp gram (chickpea) flour
• 1 tblsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp red chili powder, to taste
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp mango powder (amchoor)

• Heat the oil in a saucepan. The oil should be moderately hot. Add the cumin seeds, and as they crack add gram flour. Stir for about one minute till the flour becomes aromatic and turns a light golden brown.
• Add tomato, coriander, red chili powder, and turmeric.
• Stir-fry spice mix for a couple of minutes.
• Add potatoes and a dl water, cover the pan and let simmer. When the potatoes start to become tender but not mushy, add the spinach and cook for another couple of minutes.
• Add more water if needed – this dish should be moist – not very dry. Stir in the mango powder and serve.

IN PROGRESS – STILL TO COME: AN ABANDONED AIRPORT

Max is getting good at this – muzzling up, going on public transport, staying in a hotel, keeping quiet during my meals. He is still super excited and a bit erratic initially in new situations, but he is getting more and more easy to handle.

Initial impressions from Hennigsdorf:

Schloßgut Schwante (a trip which I had organised on meetup.com): Quite interesting sculptures in a lovely park, and an even lovelier garden café.

And then this walk on Komoot (with a couple of detours so we ended up walking about 22 km in total that day). Here are some of the photos – more to come:

I am now realising that dog exercise is not counted in distance but in number of active hours per day, and for a dog like Max this should be an average of 170 minutes and a mixture of walking and running. His Tractive GPS and the app make it easy to see and maintain a daily average.

To get into a routine, I will take him to the dog park in Hasenheide on alternate days. He likes to run around there, and it is a pleasant six km walk there and back, mostly along Landwehrkanal to Admiralbrücke and through a sort of elongated park, so OK in terms of traffic.

On most of the other days, we will go further afield for a nice long walk (+-15 km) in a forest, round a lake or two, or whatever can be reached by public transport.

On top of that, I feed him about half his daily dry food, one pellet at a time, by hand by throwing it into the air, making him jump up to catch it, or making him run from one end of the living room to the other many times. This ought to be good exercise too.

Oh, and at least once a day we walk up to the sixth floor. This should have him, and me, covered in terms of exercise.

Here is Max supposedly making friends with Nigel – a Rhodesian Ridgeback: https://youtu.be/qL6Ft_nRr5E.

To where? You might well ask. Dabendorf is a stop on the lines RE5 and RE7 between Rangsdorf and Zossen. I was joining a meetup to visit the “forbidden bunker city” in Wünsdorf. This could have been easily reached on a day trip from Berlin but I thought I would treat myself to a nice, two-night getaway and start getting Max used to not only public transport but also hotels, not to mention walking for hours with a lot of other people. (He loved the added attention and cuddles).

I still can’t claim that Max was at ease on the outward train trip – he remained standing and very alert all the way, but was again much more relaxed on the return journey.

We stayed at Flair Hotel Reuner. They could not have been more accommodating towards Max although he still gets jittery and unruly in new situations. Nothing but kindness and smiles for all staff.

Here are two photos taken on an early-morning walk along fields behind the hotel. It was so quiet there, and judging from Max’s gait and stance, he loved that.

Sunday was the above mentioned meetup in the group Berlin Nature Meet, along this route: https://www.komoot.com/tour/439214363. I forgot to record the first bit from the station in Wünsdorf. Including our early-morning walk, Max and I walked a total of 24 km that day.

This morning, I had booked a vet from felmo Mobiler Tierartzt, for a course on nail clipping, and for two missing injections (?? how Max was allowed into Germany without them – I have no idea). The vet was accompanied by a trainee, which was just as well. Max was the ultimate drama queen and howled so the neighbours must be wondering what I was doing to him. Almost impossible for two strong men to hold. They were so understanding and patient and gentle (until they had to be less gentle). Jeez. I am trying to do what is best for Max, and his nails could have been clipped in a quarter of the time if he had not been so theatrical. And as for the injections – I had cats – I know for a fact he barely felt a thing but he howled as if he was being tortured. He is now flat out on the floor trying to look like some tragedy just happened to him. Anyway, I highly recommend felmo, and whatever they are not able to do, they will recommend you where to go.

Later, in order to shake off the unspeakable trauma that had befallen him in the morning, I took him to the dog park at Hasenheide. It was great to see him run and play with other dogs. And that he was able to outrun all of them. It is no wonder Nicola, the trainer, has suggested I look into coursing for him. Unfortunately, the two nearest facilities are both about two hours away, so if that would be a weekly commitment (or more?), I am not sure …..

But Hundeauslauf Hasenheide is a good place to visit, a decent walk there and back for me, partly along Landwehrkanal, and the Hundeauslauf has both open space and some green areas with trees for dogs to run and to explore. Plus benches, some of them in the shade, for dog owners to sit. Max did check in with me at regular intervals either by looking back towards me or by running over for a quick cuddle. That may be the eye contact training paying off. Or perhaps he would have done that in any case. Funny how I am not allowed to take two steps away from him, but he can disappear among trees without panicking. Open every day in the week 24 hours.