Cooper has fathered a litter of puppies after an amorous weekend with Zira here in Göteborg back in April. Zira lives in Rätan in the middle of Sweden just south of Östersund with Marie and Kalle Löfhaugen. This weekend the puppies were 4 weeks old and we drove the 680 km up to see them.

Cute is only the beginning. They eat, sleep and play. Mostly sleep and eat actually. Zira is a fantastic mother and patiently lets them suckle on her teets despite their eagerness and sharp teeth.

Cooper is perhaps not the perfect father, at least not by human standards. He kept his distance. Walked into their pen once but turned around quickly when the puppies ran up to try to suckle on him. Zira and Cooper were like an old couple. Mostly thay walked around along side each other when Zira wasn’t attending to her babies, but every now and then they would race around and chase a ball together.

Marie and Kalle are wonderful people and fantastic hosts and really looked after us. We had a terrific weekend despite the rainy weather. Took a drive to scenic Klövsjö, not far from Rätan and a place we’ve passed through a couple of times but never stopped. The dark clouds added drama to the great views across the valley.

The electric car went like a dream, smooth and quiet. No problem to find a charging station, it’s just the bad UX that makes it a bit awkward.