Ehana Finnish Lapphunds

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Ehana Finnish Lapphunds

A place to learn about Ehana and our lappies and follow our adventures

09/10/2026

Please enjoy two of my new favourite pictures. Don’t ask me why…I just love silhouette shots…they tickle me just right. I may even end up putting one on the wall.

29/09/2026

Legend has it that if you say “Roast Pork” 3 times, dogs will appear.

26/09/2026

Throwback to one of my favourite pics from a photoshoot a few years ago with PhoDOGraphy™ You’ll Adore & 🐶 Travel You'll Dig

We happened across this upside down snow man and initially tried to get Ryker to c**k a leg and ‘pee’ on it for a fun picture…but both the dogs jumped up like this and it turned out to be such a cute shot.

We chose to have this printed on a big canvas and I’m sure Kerry would die a little inside to hear it’s still hasn’t made its way to our wall 🫣🤣…I promise…it’ll get there one day!! We’re definitely due for another snow adventure with the whole fam!

14/09/2026

A few snaps from our trip away ❤️

07/09/2026

I did a little post on my personal page, but this guy deserves all the birthday posts ❤️

On Saturday, Ryker had his 13th birthday!!! I was away but we’re making it up to him this week with a camping trip where he’ll get to have so many adventures 🥰.

We adore our old man and he’s still an active participant in our adventures, often coming out with the young kids to our various events getting runs and pats and snacks. Age hasn’t slowed him down much at all, and these pictures were taken back in June where he and Vader were specifically requested to be models for a photography workshop.

His hearing might be a little less than it once was, but just yesterday he was running around like he had a rocket up his b***y, which was even too much for Pip 🤣🤣. We love you buddy ❤️

06/09/2026

Yesterday scent work, today tricks!

Molly, Claudia and I decided to enter a dog each in the K9 agility club triple tricks trial for what ended up being one of the most fun days I’ve ever had at tricks! Claudia and I volunteered to steward at the trial, which was a great experience and so awesome to get a bit of a ‘behind the scenes’ look, as well as see all the dogs competing at various levels.

Our girlies did us so proud with a clean sweep!!

Valkyrie - Ch Ehana Breakfast at Tiffanys (AI) JD RN SD SPRD.A TK.S
❤️Earned 3/3 passes at her first crack in novice!

PB - Ehana Famous Last Words (AI) SPRD TK.S*
❤️Earned 3/3 passes
🥉A third place with a 59.3!
🎉 Trick Dog Starters title

Diaz - Ch Ehana Dirty Little Secret (AI) SPRD.X SWN* TK.N*
❤️Earned 3/3 passes
🥉A third place with 79.3!
🎉Trick Dog Novice title!

Just a crazy weekend full of awesome achievements all around, and especially for Molly!! Who not only earned two titles in two disciplines with her girls, but also earning 3 places between her two girls! So freaking proud and chuffed for you!

Enjoy a picture of the girls who were far too tired to be enthused about having a picture 🤣

26/08/2026

We’ve been a bit quiet on the posting and quite busy! With seasons over, last week we attended 3 sprint trials with the girls and got to catch up with our friends ❤️. We’ve got a few events we’re working towards over the next couple of weeks as well…hopefully the weather holds out for training!

Always lovely days out at sprint catching up with our lappie family! There were snacks AND I got a surprise birthday serenade 🤣❤️

20/07/2026

Sports
3. Why do we encourage others to give them a crack?

Because every dog deserves the opportunity to discover what they love.

You may have heard the term ‘biological fulfilment’ and as I’ve outlined in previous posts…each individual is genetically hardwired with certain predispositions. Dogs often have Mother Nature quietly whispering (or sometimes screaming 😝) in their ears to do certain things.

When we give them an outlet for those natural behaviours and instincts, more often than not, they become far more content in every day life.

Some people find the idea of sports or competition super intimidating, and I don’t blame them! It can be anxiety inducing at times and definitely not for everyone.

What many people don’t realise though, is that most ‘sports’ or activities have dedicated clubs or enthusiast trainers who cater to everyday dog owners. These are simply people who have fallen in love with a particular activity, and want to help others discover it too…usually through short courses, classes or workshops.

As an example, the Finnish Lapphund Club of Victoria is hosting an introduction to scent work day…zero experience required…just a fun morning or afternoon out with your dog, learning how to get your dog using its nose.

Maybe your dog loves it, maybe they don’t.
Either way, you’ve spent quality time together, learnt something new and built that relationship a little more.

Activities like these mean you can add spice to your daily routine, and try something new with your dog…see if it floats their boat.

Plus, you often get to meet new people, travel to places you didn’t know existed and make like minded friends along the way. I’ve been lucky enough to land in a wonderful little community of dog mad ladies who build each other up, help support each other’s training goals…and eat lots of cake 🤣

Titles and s**z are cool, but creating some new memories and building that bond with our furry best mates is the biggest reason.

And for me, that’s the best reason of all.

Pic from a trip we all took a few years ago to Bendigo

18/07/2026

Sports
2. What’s the point?

As I hinted at in the last post, the point for trying so many different sports isn’t to collect ribbons or titles.

It’s to discover activities our dogs truly enjoy.

And the best part? You never have to step in a trial…truth be told, most people don’t! The foundations of most sports can be adapted in to games and activities you can incorporate at home and out on adventures. Play is such a powerful tool.

Diaz loves using her nose, so we taught her to indicate on certain smells. That progressed to hiding them around the house, then out and about on our adventures. We’re now teaching her how to track, by laying small tracks for fun and hiding socks and washers along the way.

Pip’s favourite hobbies include parkour and running at questionable speeds…so we use our slat mill for running, and work on body awareness activities that give her better control over how she moves her body…otherwise she’s likely to accidentally end up in a full body cast 🤣. She would really enjoy agility but I’m held together by hope and duct tape, so I’d probably join her in plaster 🤣.
Scent work also gives her the space and independence to problem solve herself, and lure coursing type games channel her need for speed.

Vader’s mantra to life is everything, all at once…why do one thing when you can do 700 simultaneously. Tricks have always been one of her favourite outlets…they allow her to throw her whole body (and personality) in to the activity. We’ve had so much fun teaching all kinds of tricks over the years.

Ryker…well, if there’s an excuse to run, you’ve made his day. He likes solving problems but on a much slower old man pace…so we throw a few little trick or scent puzzles at him to keep his brain ticking.

I also genuinely enjoy the challenge of competing. Trials push me to take our training one step further and measure ourselves against an objective standard, in an environment that’s very different to training at home.

The other big reason I compete is because I’m often a point of contact for sports curious people…a mentor of sorts.

I’m certainly no expert, but I don’t feel comfortable providing advice or tips on certain sports or topics I’ve never experienced myself. I also don’t feel like I can recommend a particular sport for a dog or puppy if I haven’t worked through foundational training in that sport myself. By jumping in and being humbled time after time, you quickly learn which traits are helpful and which are going to be more of a challenge to work with.

By competing, training and immersing myself in different sporting communities, I’m introduced to different networks and get to connect with some incredibly knowledgeable people. So when someone comes to me with a question I haven’t got an answer to, I know exactly who to point them to for that information…and in the process, I get to learn something new as well!

17/07/2026

Sports
1. Why do we do so many?

There’s a few reasons for this.

I like training dogs, and I enjoy dogs who enjoy training. I love nothing more than feeling out a dog, building a relationship and seeing what spins their dials.

Does the dog enjoy sniffing or tracking rabbits in the bush? Are they a bit of a prey monster who comes alive with the flirt pole or chasing birds? Does running or jumping really rev their engines? Or are they happiest working alongside their person solving problems together?

Dogs are individuals, so by testing out different activities, I get to learn what motivates them, how they think, where their strengths lie, and what genuinely makes them happy. I can find activities that really make their heart sing, and use those activities to enrich both our lives.

As an example, Diaz is happiest when we work as a team. She enjoys solving puzzles, tracking animal trails and exploring with her nose. She’s not really one to chase prey but loves a free run and would happily spend hours exploring the bush.

Vader and Pip on the other hand, whilst nosey, are much more visual…they like watching, stalking and chasing prey.
Pip is far more independent compared to my others, she’s less interested in working ‘with’ me and more interested in using me as the gateway to get the things she likes. She likes to run and bounce and tug and would rather work through things herself, without my inputs.

Ryker is simple…he likes running. Not for any purpose, he just thinks running is the greatest thing ever.

All these different attributes are the reason we try so many…all part of the quest for finding activities that work for each dog. Each dog sport brings something different to the table and allows us to tap in to natural behaviours and instincts we may not be able to replicate in our day to day if we just went for neighbourhood walks.

Pic of Vader lure coursing before she turned bionic!

Address

Melbourne, VIC

Website

http://www.ehana.info/, https://linktr.ee/ehanalappies

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BarkingMad Grooming
b6/1132 Nepean Highway, Mornington

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