My Pups Are Born

I gave birth to two healthy pups early this morning, one red boy and one red girl. It was hard labour, both were breech births, but with the magnificent help of dear Paula I managed to give birth to them at home without any complications.

Natural blog break

I will take a natural break from my blog now. As a soon to be mother I need to keep all my strength to sleeping, eating and prepairing for the pups to arrive. As soon as my pups are here I will write more. In the meanwhile I will give you a picture of myself only three days old.

To clarify: below is not a picture of a pup of mine!

Late Morning

We all slept until late this morning. On the second day of Christmas, all the stress and work in order to prepare the Christmas celebration is over and we could have a nice day without much work to do. This felt great. Christmas food was left in the refrigerator, so there was not much cooking to do either.

Over the last days, Paula and Daniel has measured my body temperature on regular intervals. They say this may let them foresee when my pups will arrive. I hope they can. Since we slept until late this morning, there was no morning measurement, though. From what I understand, it is not necessary to take the temperature at exactly the same time day by day. There is an interesting time ahead of us.

Harsher Rules on Bloggers in Vietnam

Vietnam's government has tightened its rules on blogs and those who write them. As a dictatorship, it is natural for this government to do so, because blogs give uncensored news from anybody to everybody via the Internet. Free access to news is always a threat to dictatorships. As a blogger myself, I am against any govenment imposed restrictions on the free publication of news on the Internet. I wish the Vietnam people and dogs a better new year and that their country will soon turn into a democracy with full freedom of speech.

On the issue of blogging: this is my blog entry number one thousand. Isn't that something?

Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas Eve. In Japan, life goes on as usual, since it is not a country with a long, Christian tradition. Prime Minister Taro Aso had a press conference (to the joy of European news corporations like the BBC) and said he rules out a quick new general election.

Paula also works on Christmas, she worked the night before Christmas Eve and will work on Christmas Night as well. They need people who work at her job at the hospital the year around, and she gets extra pay for working these hours, so it is a win-win situation. She will not work around New Year though, which is good considering that my pups may be newly born at New Years Eve.

Before we can celebrate the birth of my pups, we will join a large part of the world in celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas. I wish everybody a very merry Christmas!

Losses in the Automobile Industry

There are a lot of talks in Sweden about the crisis of the two Swedish car manufacturers Volvo and Saab, and their owners Ford and General Motors, respectively. In the general financial recession, it is important to notice that many more car manufacturers are in a state of crisis at the same time. Japanese manufacturer Toyota has announced that it may suffer from the historic first loss in 71 years of car manufacturing. Also Japanese Honda slashes its profit forecast, and has announced it is ending its Formula 1 engagement. Indian owner Tata of British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has asked the British government for financial aid to support the factories in Britain. It may be that we see a race to the bottom, and that some car manufacturers actually have to stop making cars permanently. It was said even in the recent economic boom that there were too many car manufacturers in the world, too many cars produced for the world market. This recession may bring the harsh solution to that problem. I hope that, however harsh, it is not too harsh on people and their dogs.

Anne of Green Gables

Since she was a child, Paula has liked the books and films about Anne of Green Gables (original books by L.M. Montgomery). There was a film about Anne of Green Gables on TV this evening, but we were disappointed with it. It did not follow the original story but was some kind of modernized version that was not good. We quit watching it after a while.

There are earlier films made of Anne of Green Gables that are good. It is a shame that there are so many film makers who have to make new, worse versions than the films already made. Anne of Green Gables is but one example. Can the film makers not make up new stories or make movies of stories that has yet not been filmed? I believe this would be much better. Perhaps they just do not have the imagination necessary for it, but in that case, I wonder why they make films at all.

Curtains

Paula and Daniel has bought new curtains for the windows in the upcoming puppy room. Unfortunately, they were too long, so Daniel went about shortening them this evening. Mum and Dad were with him and tried to help, though Daniel says they made a mess of the curtains when he tried to measure their length. Well, I do not care that much about the actual lenght of the curtains, as long as they cover the whole windows from top to bottom. Apparenty, they would have, regardless of what Mum and Dad did. Since this is the case, I cannot understand what Daniel is complaining about.

Christmas Shopping

Paula and Daniel spent the afternoon downtown, shopping presents for Christmas. I would like to go shopping for presents myself, but as long as I carry pups, I must stay at home. Paula and Daniel has assured me, though, that giving birth to my pups is the best Christmas gift I can give them. This would even be true, they say, if the pups would wait for several days after Christmas Eve (when Christmas gifts are exchanged in Sweden) to be born. Well, I guess there is some truth to this. Regardless, I have some plans along with the other dogs for Christmas gifts. These plans are secret, of course.

Dark Energy

I am usually rather energetic and love to run around and play. This may be called dark energy, since I am a black and tan. The stuff most commonly referred to as dark energy is something best understood by people working with advanced astro-physics. It is the energy in the universe that we cannot see, but which seems to be the cause behind the expansion of the universe.

Over the last weeks, a lot of my energy has gone to the expansion of my belly. There are pups growing in it, as those of you who often read my blog knows. We will know more about the pups once they are born. We expect then to be born between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Fortunately, getting to know my pups will be easier than getting to know the dark energy of space.

Pups versus Clothes

We are refurnishing one of the rooms in our house to be a puppy room. The main use for this room has been for drying and ironing Paula's and Daniel's clothes. I think this is a waste of space. As Paula and Daniel are humans, they do not have the fine coats that most dogs have, so they have to use clothes instead. Clothes get dirty and need to be laundried, then dried and some have to be ironed to look fine. Dog coats, on the other hand, look mighty fine most of the time, no matter what happens. An occasional bath may be useful, especially if you are going to a dog show in a day or two, but is often unnecessary. Regardless of the maintenance you have to give your clothes, if you are a human, having pups in the room is a better use of the space. The room is still not quite ready for the pups, but we are getting there.

Strange Story

An Italian man in a row boat was recently saved off the coast of Australia. He had tried to row the boat from South America to Australia, but did not have the strength to row the final kilometres in heavy weather.While it is nice that the man was saved, I just ask myself: why did he do it? It is not like he is a hero, he did not have a higher aim for his mission, he did not row out of necessity to save himself or others from anything. He just did it for the thrill. OK, if he wants to, I would not be the one who would stop him. I just ask myself: why would anybody do such a thing? It seems so unnecessary.

It seems even more unnecessary that this story makes the world news. It was one man, and he did not do anything heroic or participate in any competition, he was just rowing for his own sake. Now you may say that, since I write about it, it must mean I find it important enough, thus it was worthy of its place in the news. In that case, I say: on the contrary. I comment on this story just because I feel that it is such a waste of time for the news consumers to see headlines about it. If nobody ever objects to stories that they find unnecessary, will they ever disappear from the lime light? I object, that is why I write this comment.

Coat experience

Today I felt a new experience with expecting pups. The coat on my belly is starting to fall of. Mum says that this is yet another thing in preparations before the birth of my pups.

Paula and Daniel bought a lof of stuffed toys for my pups. I manage to sneak one without them looking. I played with the monkey for a little while until I got tired and fell asleep.

Moving

Paula and Daniel helped Paula's grandmother to move today. I did not get to come along, though I believe I would have been able to help as well. When expecting pups, you have to be very careful and should stay at home except for some walks and such. It has to do with the risk of infections. This may be boring, but it is for the greater good, that is, for the good of my pups.

Cost Reductions in Formula 1

The World Motor Sport Council met in Monaco yesterday. The operating body, FIA, has announced decisions of the meeting to greatly cut the costs of Formula 1 for 2009 and 2010. Among other cost reducing rules, the engines will stay the same (except that Renault was granted to make certain modifications on its engines), and each engine has to be used for three consecutive races.

You might think these new rules are the result of the general economic recession in the world. They are not. Discussions about cutting costs in Formula 1 has gone on for years, even in the heydays of the latest economic boom. Formula 1 may be a sport that facinates the imagination of the whole world, thus letting the participants make a lot of money. Nevertheless, many important people in the sport have argued for a long time that since the sport has become more and more expensive for the participants, it may be digging its own grave. I believe this is so.

There is a danger in any sport that if it becomes too costly to become successful, too few people will try. When there are too few participants at the top, the interest of the public will fade and people in general will direct their attention to other sports. Of course, one of the great things about Formula 1 is that Formula 1 cars are the best, the fastest, the most advanced ground vehicles there is. It can, therefore, not be easy to decide upon rules to cut costs, because if the rules become too restricting, Formula 1 will lose the edge and may not be able to keep the title King of Motor Sports. This would also make people lose interest in Formula 1.

Now, it seems, the new rules has met with low opposition. I believe that if the current Formual 1 teams agree upon these rules, Formula 1 will still be the best of motor sports, while not too expensive for newcomers to try it out. This would strengthen the sport for the future. I hope it does.

More Snow

Even more snow fell today. It really feels like Christmas will soon be here. We cleaned the house today, as is proper before Christmas. Cleaning is tiresome and it is late now, so I will not write much today.

A Lot of Snow

We have got about 1 decimetre of snow today. This is enough to play in, and play in it is something we have done. It is always fun to play in the first deep snow of the season. I hope this snow will stay over Christmas and new year. Later, when it is time for my pups to discover the world outdoors, less snow and more warmth would be very welcome.

A Fortnight to Christmas Eve

Within a fortnight, Christmas Eve is here. We have made some Christmas preparations at home, but have yet to stock the pile of Christmas presents and send Christmas greeting cards. All will be done in due time, I believe. I hope I do not have to take too much action myself in the process, as I have a heavier load to carry each day with the pups. One never knows, though. There is some truth in the old saying, that if you want to be certain that something will be done, you better do it yourself.

Corruption?

When the US President elect, Barack Obama, becomes president this January, he leaves his seat in the US Senate. It is up to the Governor of Obama's home State of Illinois Rod Blagojevich to appoint a successor for the vacated Senate seat. The Governor was, however, arrested this Tuesday by the federal authorities and charged with corruption, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell the seat in the US Senate to the highest bidder. If true, this must be one of the most important cases of corruption in any civilised nation.

Mum says corruption like this would not happen in any US State. It would, for example, never happen in Mum's native State of Washington. I believe this to be true. Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington has a Shiba Inu from Mum's kennel Taichung. It is unreasonable to think that if you pass the tests of kennel Taichung and get to buy a Shiba Inu from there, you would be the type of person who would be corrupted.

Waistline

My slim waistline is disappearing. This has to do with the pups growing, am I told. That makes sense. I am not happy about it, but chances are my waistline will come back once the pups have been born. There are other pranks about having pups in my tummy. I get to eat larger portions of food every day, which is good. Perhaps the extra food helps enlarging the waist, but the pups need it. There are good and bad consequences with most things.

Paula Is Back Home

Paula came back home late this afternoon. It was very nice to see her. What was almost as important was all the things she had bought at the dog show in Stockholm. There were dog biscuits, dog candy, puppy blankets, collars and leashes for my pups among other things. Auntie Linni got a new collar. We got one biscuit each as a late night snack, this made the evening.

All the Things You Can Do with a Teddy Bear

Teddy bears are good for many things. I usually pet and chew on them, occasionally throwing them through the air here at home. British school children, aided by a team from Cambridge University, has given some teddy bears a much longer flight. They launched teddy bears into space on a helium baloon. Pictures have been released of the teddy bears in space, clad in space suits with the British flag. The bears reached an altitude of about 30 km, then landed outside of Ipswich. Reports say they are in good health.

If I had a helium baloon, perhaps I would also send some teddy bears into space. It seems like an exciting experiment to do. If I would go myself, I would like to have a better space suit, though. One of the teddy bears went without a helmet, I think this is a bit too risky.

Dog Show

The Swedish Kennel Club has its big annual December dog show in Stockholm this weekend. It is usually the biggest in Sweden every year. This year, of course, the World Dog Show in July was bigger. Paula and her sister have just gone there, like they always do together. As always, they do not bring any dogs. This is the only dog show Paula use to go to without dogs, just to be a spectator. Daniel is at home with us dogs.

I would have liked to go, but this time, there would have been no chance, since I am expecting pups. The welfare of the pups have to come first. Nevertheless, I miss the show ring. By late spring, I hope to return there. By the end of the summer, my pups may enter the show ring in puppy class. I hope the ones who do will do as well as I did, but I doubt it. Best in Show Pup winners on official all breed shows are far in between among Shiba Inus.

Space Threat?

Daniel thought I would write something about the threat from space, that is, the threat that an asteroid would hit Earth and devastate large parts of it. It may destroy civilisation as we know it, though this is rather unlikely. It was probably a huge asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. An asteroid that size would destroy civilisation, but how likely is it that we are hit by it in the near future? Daniel is concerned, though. He says that humanity has the opportunity to take action against the threat, so why not do that? It would be costly, but may be worth it. He has a point. Well, I am not part of humanity (being a dog is better, in my mind), but I can write about the threat in my blog, at least.

Competition for a Collar

Pups

I will get at least three pups.

I went to the veterinarian today and got my tummy examined with ultra sound. We could see at least three pups in my womb. The examination was a little awkward. I had to lie on my side with my tummy in the air, and the tummy was shaved. Then some cool cream was applied on the tummy, before the electronic device that the veterinarian used was moved across my tummy several times. I am happy for the results, though. Now I know that I will get pups. This means that I will become a mum myself and my Mum will once again become a grand mother. It also means that I have a great reason to eat more food than usual. I have to have extra nutrition for the pups.

Three pups in the litter will be exactly as many as the litter I belonged to. Maybe this could be a family tradition? Nevertheless, I would not be sad if there would be four pups. The veterinarian said that there might be more than three pups, it is just that three pups was all that we could see on the screen. We will see further on, when they are born.

Tomorrow

Stay tuned, there may be important news tomorrow.

Storm in a Tea Cup

This year's Christmas mug with characters from the Moomin Valley shows Moomin himself and his beloved Snork Maiden hugging each other. Not everyone agrees with this picture of Moomin as a straight person. Stefan Ingvarsson, translator and author, claims that Moomin's true love is Snufkin, Moomin would thus be homosexual. Professor Boel Westin, who wrote her doctor's thesis on the Moomin world of Tove Jansson, does not agree. She says that although there are characters in the Moomin Valley who are certainly homosexual, such as Too-Tikky, Moomin is not.

I do not believe Moomin is gay or bi, but I certainly agree that Too-Tikky is. Too-Tikky was inspired by the life partner of Tove Jansson, graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä. Boel Westin also says in the linked article that Tove Jansson was homosexual herself.

Regardless of what the truth may be, I believe this is a storm in a tea cup. The Moomin stories are good stories, no matter what. What difference would the sexual preference of certain carachters in the stories make?

A Dog in the Ski Track

Norwegian alpine skier Anne Marie Mueller nearly hit a dog, when competing in slalom in Aspen this weekend. Fortunately, neither the dog nor the skier were hurt. The dog was subsequently taken care of, but as far as I have read, it is unclear how it got out in the ski track. I would not have wanted to be in this dogs place.

New TV?

According to Dad, we should consider buying a new TV. He believes there is every reason to look closer at Pioneer's model Kuro. This is a TV with a flat screen where the manufacturer has developed the technique to show the deepest black colour ever seen on a TV, which would make for a really good image. Because of the technique, they have named the model for the Japanese word for black, which is kuro. Dad is black and tan himself, and Kuro is his name. The rest of us are not so sure it is necessary to buy a new TV because of this. Dad admits that it is the name that got his attention to start with, but he wants to stress the fact that if we would have a Pioneer Kuro, it would at least have a pretty name. I think we can all agree on that, at least.

The Snow Came and Went

The snow that we had at the start of this week is gone again. The temperatures are above the freezing point. It almost feels like early spring. I have heard birds sing and Daniel says he saw an insect fly by outside. Well, this is how winters use to start. The winter comes and presents itself sometime in November, with a couple of cold days, snow, and roads slippery with ice. Then it disappears just as fast as it came, not to return until weeks later. If I get pups by new year, their first experience of the outdoor life will probably be of a world covered in snow. We will have to see, though, last winter, there was not much snow at all. I hope for a better winter this year.

Bills

Humans always pay their bills by the end of the month. While they are happy to get their salary one day, they get sad that they have to use most of it to pay their bills the following days. At these times, I am especially glad I am a dog, not part of human economy. I may not have a salary, but I also do not have any bills to pay. Thus, I get no roller coaster ride between the happiness of the salary and the sadness of the bills to be paid. Instead, I can be happy most of the time, as, of course, I am.

Exam

Paula finished a home exam today. In the evening, she talked a lot about the exam and expressed her doubts that she had answered everything correctly. I told Paula I have no doubts she will pass the exam, though. I have no doubts whatsoever, she is such a good scholar. There are so many ways in which pet dogs can help their humans. This was one of these things, that I did today.

Need a Lunar Eclipse?

The Indian Lunar craft has experienced an unexpected rise in its internal temperature. When hit by rays directly from the Sun and reflected from the Lunar surface, it has reached temperatures up to 50 degrees C. I can well understand that it is hard for the equipment to function properly in such a high temperature. Who would not be tired in such a heat? Action has been taken to reduce the temperature, which has succeeded to some degree. However, this involves that all the equipment is not active. What this space craft needs right now is definitely an eclipse, to reduce the energy that hits it. It would fare better in a lunar eclipse. As Mum would put it: who would not like a Lunar Eclips?

Busy Monday

Most of the time, at least one of Paula or Daniel are at home. If they do leave us dogs at home by ourselves, it is just for a little while. Today, we were alone at home a little longer than usual. Not that there is anything wrong with that, we take pride in watching the house at these occasions. As most people know, dogs are the best burglary alarm there is. Nothing has ever happened during our watch, Paula and Daniel can be proud of us. Even though we do not mind watching the house, it is a job that has to be done. This means that the time that we are alone at home are a bit more busy than otherwise and we may be a little more tired than usual in the evening. Our happiness to see Paula and Daniel on their return home is still the same.

Murder Mystery Solved?

The Japanese murder mystery I wrote about last Thursday may be on the verge of being solved. Japanese police has arrested a man on weapons charges. The man turned himself in and has confessed to killing one of the former health ministry officials and his wife.

The police examines whether the attacks are related to the loss of millions of pension records. However, according to Japanese news media, the man said he had killed the former official because he was angry over the death of a pet, for which he held health officials responsible.

It seems like the pet in question was a dog who died 34 years ago. Even though this is a long time ago, it must have been hard on this human, losing his dog. He also claims the Ministry of Health is responsible for the continued killing of many pets. I know how much dog owners love their pet dogs. The death of a pet dog may very well stir up more feelings than a loss of millions of pension records. It is not an excuse for committing murder, but it may be an understandable reason.

Ratification

The Swedish Parliament voted for ratification of the Lisbon Treaty the other night, after a long debate. The Treaty has to be ratified by all 27 member states of the European Union to take effect, but Ireland has said no after a referendum. Since one coutry's no is enough to make the Treaty fail, and one country has said no, I do not really know why the Swedish Parliament even bothered voting on the Treaty.

The Lisbon Treaty itself is obsolete, as far as I can understand (except that there is a rumour that the Irish government may hold a new referendum). However, there may be other political values behind this vote in favour of the Treaty. Sweden is not a member of the common currency, perhaps this vote went though Parliament to show other EU member states that Sweden do care about the EU and is a team player in the development of the Union. There may be further analyses of the vote in the news in the days to come, I may return to this topic in my blog if I have anything more to say about it.

At Home

For the first time this week, Paula was at home the whole day. She has been away more than usual this week and we have missed her much. Today, we all slept until late in the morning and then had a nice afternoon together. It was all right then, that Paula and Daniel left us dogs for a little while in the evening. We know that they always rather be at home with us, but then, they would not know how much they appreciate us, if they would never be away from us. A little later at night, they came home again and we watched a movie together. This was a good day in my life, though nothing special happened.

Murder Mystery

It is Thursday, and the weekly American TV series Criminal Minds is aired on Swedish TV. At the same time, we can read about a real murder mystery in Japan. A married couple, where the husband was a former vice-minister of health in Japan, was killed. Not much later, the wife of another former official of the ministry was stabbed. Both former officials had resigned following a scandal involving the loss of millions of pension records. In Criminal Minds, the FBI agent team solve most mysteries over a couple of days. I wish they could be in Japan to solve this mystery too.

Snow

Snow fell this afternoon. It was not much, it did not cover the lawn completely, but it did stay on the ground. Not enough to play in, though. I would like a decimetre of snow, at least.

On the other hand, I have noticed lately that I do not feel like playing as much as I used to do. Maybe this is because I am growing older; I am not sure. I like the playful me, but at the same time, the playful me does not really seem like me, as much as she used to do. Well, they say "people change". So do dogs.

An 80 Year Old Mouse

Mickey Mouse is 80 years old this year. That is some age for a mouse, but then, he is a fictional cartoon character too. I guess a fictional cartoon Shiba Inu could easily become 80 years old, too. Being that old as a real Shiba Inu would probably be quite boring, I am rather happy I will not be.

Extra Food

Sometimes, I feel like there is nothing special going on in my life, and there are no news worth commenting either in my blog. Today is almost such a day. I have to say, though, that I was pleasantly surprised that Daniel gave me a bigger ration of food than I usually gets. He told me that this was because I may be expecting puppies. If I expect puppies, I need extra food to give them energy and nutrition. Now I understand why Mum, always so fond of food, says she enjoys expecting puppies so much. She has told me it is because of the extra food, but I understand it much better when I actually get extra food. This was not very exciting, was it? Nevertheless, it turned an otherwise dull day into something special. Even the small positive things are worth mentioning.

Visitors

Mia came around this afternoon. She walked her, but she did not bring Kesshi. It was nice to see her anyway. We also had two visitors from another city, who will have a dog from us. These were also very nice people, and if they want a pup from me in the future, I believe they would take good care of it.

The humans talked about dogs for hours. Though dogs are, naturally, one of my favourite subjects, human talks about dogs can be pretty boring after a while. I was close by the whole time, but most of the time, I slept under the table where the five humans sat talking. I rather meet dogs than talk about them.

The Capital of Scandinavia?

Sometimes, the political leaders of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, calls its city "the Capital of Scandinavia". It is the largest city in Scandiavia, but there is nothing that makes Stockholm the capital of Denmark or Norway. I believe Danes and Norwegians just laugh at this name, if they have heard about it. My Norwegian dad surely does. A few centuries ago, this slogan could have caused Denmark-Norway to declare war against Sweden. It is fortunate, at least, that we are all more peaceful now. Still, I think the slogan is stupid.

A Bit More International

Another international restaurant chain has opened a restaurant in our home city: Pizza Hut. This makes this city a bit more like big, international cities, which is good, because it make us feel like our city is not as far away from the centre of the world's attention. Paula and Daniel bought dinner there tonight for them and Mia, which they had at Mia's place. April and I got to come along, but we and Kesshi did not get any pizza. This was not nice, we love pizza as much as anybody else. I hope we get to taste next time around. Both Paula and Daniel think this pizza is very good, which is promising.

Is Lasse Sandberg Now a Ghost?

Swedish cartoonist and children's book illustrator Lasse Sandberg has passed away. Among other characters, he created the friendly little ghost Godfrey, who is called Laban in the original Swedish books. Godfrey was the ghost who did not want to scare people. I wonder if Lasse Sandberg is a ghost now himself. If so, I believe he would be a friendly ghost himself.

Lost Bomb

The BBC has told a story about an American nuclear bomb lost in the ice in Greenland since 1968. This may very well be an environmental hazard, as said in the article to which I have a link. However, as far as I know about nuclear weapons, they need to be re-armed about once every two years to be functional. This means that even though a terrorist would now get hold of this weapon, it would not be functional. Parts of it may be corroded, as well. I am not afraid that anybody who should not have a nuclear bomb would get hold of this one and threaten to use it.

New Layout

We have a new layout on the kennel web site. I think it is very nice looking, but I should let it speak for itself. Follow the link and have a look!

Father's Day

Today is father's day in Sweden. I have celebrated my father. In the evening, I also went with Paula and Daniel to Paula's father. Daniel had talked to his father by telephone.

Next year, there may very well be cause for some young ones to celebrate Calvin on this day.

Conservative Victory

Conservative John McCain did not win the presidential election in the USA, but conservative John Key won the parliament election in New Zealand. New Zealand is a much smaller country than the USA, therefore less significant in the world at large, but it is not insignificant.

Critics have said that John Key lacks experience, since he has only been MP for six years. Six years are not that short time, is it? He has been working with other things, in New Zealand, Singapore, and London before. As far as I know, John Key has no dog. I would say this is worthy of more critizism than his relatively short time in Parliament.

An Interesting Day - for Calvin

Calvin had an interesting day today. He got to go with Daniel to work in the morning, because he had a veterinarian's appointment in the middle of the day. When going home from the vet, Calvin got to see Movitz, Grus' little puppy friend, and Ylva. This is also something I am jealous of. Calvin did not care much, he just wanted to go home to rest after the treatment at the vet.

It is not that I am jealous of going to the vet, but I am jealous of going with Daniel to work. April and Mum has also been with Daniel to work. Even though Calvin had to go to the vet, he cannot say he did not have an interesting day.

Kuro II

My Dad is called Kuro. Paula and Daniel will get another black and tan Shiba Inu male soon, directly from Japan, whose name is also Kuro. We call him Kuro II. Dad will always be the first for all of us, perhaps especially so for me, his first-born daughter.

However, it will be interesting to meet this second Kuro. Rumour has it, he looks stunningly good. Not that looks is the most important, for me as a dog, smell is more important, but looks are not unimportant.

Tudor

Paula will see the British TV series Tudor tonight. It is about the royal family and politics centuries ago in England. Perhaps I will see it as well, I have not decided yet. Rumour has it, it is rather good, but I never saw the first season this spring. I do not know if it is worth starting to see it at the beginning of the second season, maybe I just have to watch the first episode to determine that...

Lunar Orbit

Chandrayaan 1, the Indian Lunar probe, is about to go into orbit around the Moon. Once in orbit, it will map the surface of the Moon for about two years. There are already maps of the whole Moon, but I guess new maps can be more detailed and thus better. I wonder what it would be like to go to the Moon, using such maps. No dog has ever been to the Moon (I do not count Milou in the Belgian comic strip Tintin). I doubt I will ever go there myself, even though my shadow on the Moon surface would be a realization of my name: Lunar Eclips. Oh well, you cannot go everywhere in life.

Black, but no Tan

Yesterday, Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain became the first black Formula 1 world champion. Tomorrow, Barack Obama may be elected the first black President of the USA. I do not care about their colour. If they were black and tan, maybe I would, but there are no black and tan humans. I think Lewis Hamilton seems to be a nice fellow and the Brits are happy for their first world champion since Damon Hill in 1996.

When it comes to the US election, Daniel told me that Mum's breeders told him this spring, when he visited them, that they would vote for John McCain rather than Barack Obama. Daniel believes McCain would be a better president than Obama. For those who are interested in the election, tomorrow will be an exciting day. I am not interested. If any of the competitors would have a Shiba Inu, like Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington State, I would recommend everyone to vote for that candidate. Now, I do no such recommendations. We will have to see what happens.

Everyone Is at Home

Paula, Auntie Linni, and April came back late this afternoon. April had made a good appearance in the dog show, though the result was not great, but they had a good time with Kiko and his family afterwards. Soon after arriving home, Paula and Daniel went away on their own to have dinner at Mia's place. I did not get to come this time either. However, late at night, everyone is at home again. It will be a more comfortable night this way.

Feeling Blue

I feel a little down today. It is cold and rather dark outside, winter is on its way, but yet no snow to play in. Calvin is still annoying. Paula took April and Auntie Linni on a road trip to Växjö in southern parts of Sweden. They were going to a dog show where April will be shown and they are going to meet my brother Kiko, but I was not allowed to come. This makes me more sad. Maybe I will be happier tomorrow, when they return home.

Another Giant Lego Man?

Last year, a giant Lego man appeared mysteriously on a beach in the Netherlands. Now, another giant Lego man has appeared mysteriously on a beach in England, near Brighton. A Dutch artist called Ego Leonard is thought to be behind this Lego man. I wonder if he has wilfully chosen a name that is close to the name Lego?

Calvin annoys me. I wish he would leave me alone. Did I really like the attention he gave me earlier this week?

Curious Law Upheld

On the 18th of September, I wrote in this blog about a curious South Korean law that says that only the visually impaired may work as masseurs. This law has now been upheld in the Constitutional court of South Korea. I still think it is a strange law.

Cold Weather

It was cold this morning, temperatures below the freezing point. Our Pharao Hound friend Primus had to wear his cloak. He does not like to get it on, but likes the heat that it preserves on cold days. I am glad Shiba Inus have thicker coats than he has, we never have to wear anything extra in the climate of central Sweden, where we live.

Indoors, Calvin shows warm feelings for me. I kind of like the attention that he gives me.

Another Case of Animal Cruelty

A woman (maybe in Gothenburg, since that is where a newspaper reported about it) left her dogs to starve to death in her flat. It says in the article that the woman was not at full psychological health, but I still do not really understand how this could happen. Poor dogs. As I wrote last Wednesday, there should be long sentences for crimes like this.

In Memoriam

This day one year ago, a dear friend of all of us passed away: Paula's grandfather Gunnar Nelvin. Paula and Daniel was at the grave today. They put a little gift from all of us by the tombstone and took a couple of minutes of remembrance.

We all miss Gunnar. Dad told us about last time he was at Paula's grandmothers, not long ago. Instinctively, he searched for Gunnar, before he realized Gunnar was not there anymore. Nevertheless, even though Gunnar is not with us on Earth anymore, he will always be with us in our hearts.

Real Life Consequences of Virtual Life

A Japanese woman murdered her husband, but it was all on-line. It was in a virtual game world and it was her virtual husband, who had suddenly divorced her. She is now charged with crime and may face a real life prison sentence and real life fines. This is not because of the murder as such, but because she allegedly accessed log-in details illegally of the man playing her husband, then killing his on-line character. I find it very interesting that what you do on-line, even in a wholly virtual game world, may echo in real life like this.

I have never heard of a similar case anywhere else in the world. My guess is that the outcome would be about the same in Sweden and other countries. As often in the world of computers, though, Japan is first.

Responses

I have had a couple of responses on my blog entry of the day before yesterday. Thank you for your support to my opinion! This case has lingered in my mind, I cannot shake it off. I feel so sorry for that Dachshund. As Kenneth wrote: why didn't anybody do anything sooner?

If I was a human, I would like to be a prosecutor specialized on animal cruelty cases. In many places in the USA, they have special animal cruelty police forces, why are there none of those in Sweden?

Indian Mission to the Moon

I have always been a little interested in the Moon, since my name is Lunar Eclips. When there are news about the Moon, I read about it. We can now read about a new mission to the Moon, India has launched an unmanned spacecraft that will go into orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft is not big enough to cause a lunar eclipse, of course, but it is still interesting to read about it.

Outrageously Short Sentence

A Dachshund owner left his Dachshund outdoors in December. The dog, who also suffered from malnutrition, eventually froze to death. The owner has now been sentenced to one month in prison for cruelty to animals.

While I consider the conviction a good thing, I believe the prison sentence is way too short. If the Dachshund would have been a human family member, the sentence would surely have been prison for life. I know that many humans do not believe that dogs have the same value as humans, but dogs are part of human life in a way that no other animal can ever be. The dog is the animal first domesticated by humans, we are who we are because of human breeding and the love between us and humans throughout the millenia. A human who is so cruel to his own dog that the dog dies, is - in my mind - as dangerous to society as any human killing another human. How can one month in prison be enough for that man?

Mum at Work

Mum got to go with Daniel to his work today. She did the same yesterday. While Mum says it is a bit boring at times at Daniel's work, it still gives her new, interesting experiences. I would like to see Daniel's work, too. April has been there, just like Mum, but not me.

Mum also got to go with Daniel to a political meeting this evening. There were not just political issues on the agenda at that meeting, but also talk to and about Mum. The meeting went on for a longer time than expected, probably because of Mum's participation. I guess it was a good thing I was not there instead, as cute as I am, the meeting probably would not have been finished until midnight.

Annoying

Calvin annoys me more and more. He claims I smell good, by which I guess he means that I smell better than I usually do. Nevertheless, I think he comes too close too often. It annoys me and I have to tell him off again and again. Who does he think he is?

Pancakes, but for What?

Daniel is making pancakes tonight. They are not for eating at once, though, but for lunch boxes to the upcoming week. This is strange and can even be considered mean. Strange, because why do you make such a tasty dish without wanting to eat at least some of it imediately after it is done? Mean, because there are a number of dogs smelling the pancakes, seeing Daniel making them, but who may not taste any.

Sometimes, I cannot really understand our humans. Why make food for tomorrow, when you can have it today? Is this wise? Joy and good taste is for the present, not for tomorrow, as I see it. Daniel tried to point out to me that even dogs' wild cousins, the wolves, save food for tomorrow, when they have killed big game. I agree, but this is when the wolves are fed up and cannot feel any hunger anymore, so Daniel's point is moot, if I may say so. I want pancake now, and I have room in my stomach to spare, so I should get some pancake now.

On the other hand, if I do get pancake tomorrow, this is much better than no pancake at all.

No Connection

I had written another blog entry than this, but could not access the web. When I returned, the text that I had written was gone. I settled with this short text instead. - Once this text was published, I realized the earlier text had, somehow, been published anyway. Occasionally, I do not understand computers.

Saturday, Nothing Special

We have had a day off today. Nothing in particular has happened. Paula and Daniel were at Paula's grandmother's, but all of us dogs stayed at home. It is nice to have a day like this once in a while, a day when there is nothing special going on. It is very relaxing.

Confirmation

I can now confirm the suspicions, I am in heat. It is the first step on the way, if I am going to get pups of my own this year. Stay tuned for more information further on.

In New York, Japan was elected member of the United Nations Security Council for two years. This is well deserved, especially since Japan is one of the biggest contributors of money to the UN.

Another Reason for Going On Line

Scientists say that it is good for the health of the brain to use the Internet. It activates the mind to read and search on the Internet, which is good against normal aging processes. If you search for stuff on the Internet, centres in your brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning are strengthened. This might help to counteract age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down. Searching the web is more healthy than just reading on the web, just because it involves decision-making. So, when you have done your daily reading of my daily blog, do not hesitate to search the Internet for other information. What you find may be very interesting, and the search itself seem to be healthy for you.

Something Is Going on

There is something going on. Paula claims in her blog today that I show signs that I will soon be in heat. It is OK that she says so, even though, on some level, I would have wanted to be the first one to break the news. Well, news travel fast in the blogosphere, sometimes so fast that you do not have the time to break them yourself... Congratulations to Paula for being the first to tell.

Early Morning, Early Evening

We got up really early this morning, because Daniel wanted to walk us before going to a meeting in far away small town of Borlänge. The trip there takes more than two hours. He got home rather late, too. It is always tiring to get up early, so we will take an early evening tonight as well. This is why I do not write much today.

Crisis!

They say that there is a huge crisis on the financial markets. They say governments have to step in and help. They say the Euro countries' aid package of the last weekend helps, and that this make the stock markets rise today.

No matter how hard the current crisis of the world economy is, it cannot be worse than the crisis facing me and my fellow dogs today. Daniel found out that some of the meatballs in the refridgerator were too old and had gone bad, so he threw them in the garbage! This is an outrage! How can you let meatballs grow too old, when you have dogs in the house? This is a crisis.

Swiss Roll Again

We were all so enthusiastic when Daniel made a Swiss roll the other day, that we have urged, pleaded, begged him to do it again. Tonight, he did. It was just as good this time around. Unfortunately, Paula and Daniel did not want us to eat the whole Swiss roll tonight. Every dog in our family tried to tell them that we could handle it, that it would be good for our stomachs and overall health. This led to nothing. A large part of the Swiss roll was tucked away in the refridgerator for later use. Maybe Paula and Daniel cannot cope with eating a whole Swiss roll in one night, but in my perfect world, that would not stop them from giving it to the dogs. Well, it is better to get some Swiss roll than none.

Car Accident

Some people say that "he who is loved by God, dies young". They mean that God makes sure that the person comes to Heaven quickly. I believe that this saying cannot be applied to everyone who dies young.

In Austria, notorious racist politician Jörg Haider died in a car accident today, aged 58. This is a young age for a European man to die in. Apparently, he was alone in the car and it was a single car accident. So far, nobody knows the reason for the accident. Loved by some, hated by many more, for his anti-imigration and anti-EU policies, Jörg Haider was a man who divided people. I cannot believe a man who has his kind of ideas would be so loved by God that he dies young. God is supposed to love every creature of His creation, but sure this love is not equally high for everyone, is it?

By the way, our computer is working properly today. We do not know why, but it does.

Wonders of Modern Technology

Our computer at home is broken, so I have to use other means to make my daily blog entries. Fortunately, modern technology makes it possible to blog from a mobile telephone. I have written this blog entry on Daniel's phone. It is the first time I do this, and it is not quite as easy as typing on the keyboard that I am used to. It is, however, easier than I feared it would be. Ah, the wonders of modern technology! Where would we be without it?

Still broken

The computer is still broken. Its a good thing though that I've so much to do. I nearly have time to sit down and write.

It is a lot of work with keeping April and the small boys under controll. It's amazing to see that even though April is only 6 month younger than me, she acts so childish.

Broken Computer

Our computer was not functioning properly today, so Paula had to reboot it and reinstall a lot of programs. I hate it when computers break down. We may have to turn the computer in to the shop again to get it fixed. It does work right now, but who knows when it will suddenly break down again? Sometimes, I feel like computers function on a random basis, as if they are constructed not to be fully functional all the time. The logical side of me cannot believe this is true, but the sensitive side of me can. Well, I manage to write a blog post today, that amounts to something, at least.

Japanese Nobel Laureates

The Nobel Prize in physics is shared between two Japanese and an American of Japanese decent. This is nice for someone like me, who is half American of fully Japanese decent. The prize is given to these men because of their work on some of the smallest particles known to man, quarks, the building blocks from which protons and neutrons in atoms are built. I do not understand the work as such, nor do I understand how this work matters in the everyday life. On the other hand, as far as I can understand, neither do most humans. Advanced research like this may matter more to everyday life generations (at least dog generations) from now, but people who know say that it is important. I have no reason to doubt that.

Paula Has Got a New Blog

Paula has created a new blog which is very interesting. She follows my example and has the blog on blogger. I have added a link to this blog to my link list.

Paula's blog is written in Swedish. If you cannot read this language, you may still get something out of following the link to the blog, because Paula has published some photographs there. I have to add, though, that I do not know who of the black and tan pups on the picture posted by the first blog entry is me and who my brother Kiko. It is hard to tell from the angle shown.

It will be interesting to read this blog, but I guess it will take a while before Paula has made more than nine hundred blog posts, as I have.

Dog on Top in Box Office

A new family film from Hollywood, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, has sailed up to the top notch of the North American box office. The film is about a pampered dog from luxurious Beverly Hills in California, who gets lost in Mexico. I can understand how a film about a dog gets a big audience, I would like to see it myself. It would be better if the main character was a Shiba Inu, of course, but you cannot get everything the way you want it.

Rain

There was heavy rainfall all morning today. Neither of us was keen on taking a long walk, so we never took any morning walk today, but just went out in the yard and back. We had had 15 mm of rain by noon, which is quite a lot for just one day. On days like this, it is sweet just to stay indoors in the warm, dry, and comfortable rooms of our home.

When we did not take our ordinary morning walk, it may be that we missed out on something. We may never have seen something that we would have seen, had we taken the morning walk, but who really cares? There are never that exciting things to be seen in our neighbourhood, anyway. This is a good thing. I am interested in exciting world news, but it is good to know that when there are upheavals in the world, our neighbourhood still basicly stays the same. Since it always does, one morning walk more or less does not matter that much. We do not need it to be updated on the world events, anyway.

Auntie Linni's Birthday

Today is Auntie Linni's seventh birthday. We each got a pork tail to celebrate. Daniel made pancakes, and Linni was lucky enough on her birthday to get a whole pancake to eat. I felt a bit envious at this, but it was Linni's birthday, not mine. You have to accept that somebody else gets special treatment, when it is her birthday. The pork tail made it a good day for all of us, anyway; so good, that I wish we had somebody's birthday to celebrate every day. You may wonder whether I would not grow tired of pork tails, but I seriously doubt I ever would.

Happy birthday, Linni!

Swiss Roll

We had nothing to eat for dessert tonight, and it is a Friday night. Daniel made a Swiss roll. This is a great cake, because it only needs 4-5 minutes in the oven. It is almost done now, so I have to hurry to finish this blog entry and be sure to get some.

Shoe

We were at Mia's, Emil's, and Kesshi's home tonight, Paula, Daniel, April and I. I had my claws cut there. This is something I have never enjoyed. On the contrary, I almost hate it. Unfortunately, I wriggled too much from my disgust of the claw cutting that Paula happened to cut one claw a bit too short. A little blood emerged. To stop my blood from staining the floor, I got to borrow a dog shoe from Kesshi to wear. This was uncomfortable at first, but I soon got the hang of it and became almost as good at walking with the shoe as without. Well, this was a new experience, and I learned how to walk with a shoe on one paw. The night was great in every other aspect, since we were among friends and had good food to eat. All in all, I think it was a rather good evening.

Social Aid for Walking a Dog

An old lady in a suburb of Stockholm applied to the social services for social aid to walk her dog on days when she could not walk the dog herself. The lady was alone, unhealthy, and the dog was all the family she had. The social services denied the old lady social aid for this purpose. She appealed to the County Administrative Court of Stockholm County, which upheld the negative decision. However, the woman did not settle with that. She appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeals of Stockholm, and won. The court says she has right to social aid for walking her dog on the days when her health makes it impossible for her to do so herself.

In the judgment, the Administrative Court of Appeals agrees with the County Administrative Court that the keeping of pets is something you cannot normally get social aid for. On the other hand, each case has to be determined upon its own merits in accordance to the law. The old lady is 73 years old, has no other family than the dog and few other contacts with other humans. The dog is her primary company and motivates her to fight her illness, among other things through the walks they take together. The lady's illness, however, causes her not to be able to walk the dog every day. The Court concludes that, while the lady's need for help varies from day to day, her need for aid to walk the dog cannot be fulfilled in any other way than for her to get aid from the social services.

I fully agree with the Administrative Court of Appeals. While I believe that no human should ever buy a dog, without being able to afford it or take care of it, on rare occasions like this, granting social aid for the benefit of human and dog is definitely the right thing to do. The judgment also underscores how important a dog can be for the health of his or her human.

Thus, today, just like yesterday, I had good news to write about in the middle of the economic turmoil. There are always good news around, for those of us who can see them.

Great Scientific News

Paula and Daniel are both stressed from having a lot to do at work, Paula also from her studies. The whole world seems stressed, since there is financial unrest and grave economic recession. It was a cold, grey, and rainy day today. In days like this, it feels nice to read great news. There are scientists in the Netherlands who have decoded the DNA sequence of penicillin, the fungus that is the most prominent antibiotics known. This will probably lead to further discoveries in new antibiotics, which is a good thing in the struggles against the bacteria that are resistent to common antibiotics and that can be found more and more often. Antibiotics have saved the lives of many dogs, as well as many humans. The possible development of new and improved antibiotics is a great thing. Can there be better news in a gloomy day like today?

Economic Recession

There is an economic recession throughout the world. In Japan, the new Prime Minister Taro Aso proposes funding and tax cuts to stimulate the economy. In the USA, Congress is voting on a huge package of funding to bail out Wall Street. I do not care very much, as long as I get food in my bowl every day, I believe the economy is strong enough for me.

Finish in Finland

April's finish in Finland was great. She became Best of Breed, but more important, she got a CC. Together with her Swedish Show Championship, this means she is now also a Finish Show Champion. A trip that far cannot have a better result. April and Paula are on their way home, they will come home rather late. When they arrive, we will have the chance to congratulate April and to celebrate.

I am really happy for April's sake. Mum, on the other hand, says April still has another country to become champion in, before she matches Mum. Well, I guess April has an answer to that, Mum has no World Winner title.

European Time in Singapore

Tomorrow will be the first ever Formula 1 race in Singapore in South East Asia. Singapore time is normally way ahead of Europe, so if the race would be driven in the afternoon, as the races normally are, it would be aired early in the morning on European TV. The viewers, such as Daniel, would not like that, thus, neither would the sponsors. The solution is quite simple: the Singapore race will be held in the evening, on a track lit by many giant lamp posts. We watched the qualification this afternoon, Swedish time, and it was a really well lit track. It may be especially interesting to watch this race, since it is the first Formula 1 night race ever. I am sure Daniel will watch it, maybe I will to. I am more interested in getting the result from the dog show where April is shown tomorrow, but watching the race is not bad.

Preparing to Leave Me Behind

Paula will go to a dog show on the Åland islands with April this weekend. They are preparing and packing their bags tonight. I am not invited to come along. True, I am not in the best of coats right now, but I would also like to go to the show. Paula and Daniel know that there is nothing I like better than to go to dog shows, but they say it is not my turn this time.

Well, I hope they have a nice time and that April succeeds, anyway. It may be my turn the next time.

Pics

Sunnis grandchildren

Sunnis great grandchild

I bet my puppies will look just as nice as these kids!

Busy Day

It has been a busy day today, more busy than usual. Unfortunately, I am tired and have to go to bed. You have to come back tomorrow for a longer blog post.

Another School Shooting in Finland

I had promised more pictures of my black and tan relatives today, but news from our neighbour country Finland was too upsetting not to write about. The promised pictures will come, just not today.

About a year ago, there was a gunman shooting a lot of pupils to death at a school in Finland. Today, it is like a rerun of that tragic event. Daniel's sister-in-law Heidi and our Labrador Retriever friend Primus lives in Finland, though luckily at a great distance from the town where this happened. I could not believe it had happened last time. At first, it seems even more unbelievable that this kind of unlikely event would happen again in the same country - but perhaps it has its own kind of sick logic, perhaps the shooter today would never have done this without the previous school shooting.

I hope no dogs were injuried and that any dog owners who may have been hit have friends and family who can take good care of their dogs.

Grandmother Amy

This is my grandmother Amy. She also comes from kennel Taichung. Her name is Taichung Mail Order Bride. People who knows my blood lines and have met Amy says that we are so much alike. I think so too. I hope to have my own red little daughter and see if she looks like me Hailey, mum Sunni, grandmother Amy or even great grandmother Jenny.

Tomorrow I will show my readers a picture of a b/t grandchild and a b/t great grand child of mum Sunni. Stay tuned.

Weekend resume

This Sunday was the first one in a long time with good Autumn weather. I helped Paula out with some garden work after she got home from the hospital where she is employed. Yesterday was a day of rest. Paula was out shopping with her mum and sister. Daniel took good care of us dogs at home. I also helped him out with some legally advice for his job as a laywer.

April will be away next weekend. She and Paula and some of our friends will go to the international show in Eckerö, Finland. Hopefully April could be a Finnish champion before October. Well, we just have to wait and see how it goes next Sunday:o) As usual I feel a bit left over since I enjoy being the centre of attention. Daniel has promised me though to give me some extra special care.

I have no shows planned the next couple of months. Paula has some plans to show me abroad next year. My biggest plan in the nearby future is to have puppies. We have some, in our mind, extra terrific upcoming puppy buyers who eagerly await my puppies. I hope not to let anybody down.

A Hill or a Mountain?

According to new measurements, a peak in Wales that was up until now deemed as a hill, may be reclassified into a mountain. In Britain, anything lower than 2,000 ft. above sea level is a hill, anything higher is a mountain. Recent measurements by a private group of people have showed that the peak may be a little higher than 2,000 ft., instead of a little lower. This is considered a big thing in Wales, where the inhabitants are proud of their rugged terrain. Personally, I would find better things to do than measuring the height of a hill. The interesting thing is, though, that private citizens care so much about this that they do these measurements.

(Correction made after comment.)

A Curious Law

In South Korea, only the visually impaired are allowed to be masseurs. There are, however, many seeing masseurs in the country as well, because the visually impaired ones are far to few to meet the demand. Now, the country's supreme court will determine the constitutionality of the law, considering that it discriminates the seeing masseurs. This is, indeed, curious.

I am glad that we do not have a law like this in Sweden, especially since Paula's father is a masseur and he has no trouble at all with his eye sight. He has a successful business, completely legal, since he does not work in South Korea.

Update on the Apple Pie

We have had apple pie now. Both Daniel and Paula liked it, but said they had tasted better. I cannot say whether this judgment is true, I have not tasted as many apple pies as they have, since I have not lived as many autumns as they. I thought it was a very good pie and ate the little piece of pie that I got with great joy. This was a fine dessert.

Apples

We have got four apple trees in our garden. This year is a great apple year, so we have had a large harvest of apples, more than we can eat. In order to put some more apples to use, and to answer Paula's call for a good dessert, Daniel decided to bake an apple pie this evening. The pie is currently in the oven, where it is supposed to be baked for 40 minutes. We have to be patient for a little while longer. It looks and smells promising.

Daniel used this recipe:

1 kg apples
2 ½ dl flour
150 g butter
4 table spoons water
4 table spoons sugar
1 egg

Oven temperature 225 degrees Celsius, 40 minutes.

He mixed the flour and butter, then mixed the water into this dough. Then he peeled and cut the apples, laying them in layers in a pan with sugar between. The dough was flattened out as a lid on top of the apples, and the egg was whipped and poured out across this lid. Then the pie was put in the oven.

Of course, the actual baking process took longer than reading (or writing) this text. What seems to be the longest time, however, is the time we have to wait for the pie to be done in the oven. I am longing to taste it.

Tough against Dog Droppings

I have always been annoyed with dog owners who do not pick up their dogs' waste. It is not supposed to lay in the street or on well kept lawns. Leaving it affects the public image of all dog owners.

In a town in Israel, the authorities have come up with a new, high tech method to work against the dog waste problem. They set up a DNA database of local dogs, then they will use the data to match the dog droppings to the dog, and thus to the owner. Thus, the owners can be identified and punished. So far, giving DNA samples to the database is voluntary, and dog owners who comply with the rules and pick up the droppings can be rewarded. The authorities are considering making the DNA sampling compulsory.

This is surely an interesting method to catch the bad guys. No blame is to fall on us dogs, it is in the age old separation of duties between dogs and humans that humans pick up the droppings.

My Birthday

I celebrate my third birthday today. It is I, and my two brothers Kiko and Jiro, of course. I have sent greetings to my brothers, congratulating them.

The day was a bit dull at first, both Paula and Daniel were away for a while. When they got home, rather early, we had some fun. Paula gave us some extra good food just to celebrate me. I also got to go with Paula and Daniel to Mia, Emil, and Kesshi in the evening and we had a lot of fun there. All things considered, it was a good birthday.

Champion Class

Today was the first day that our Pharao Hound friend Primus competed in champion class. He became a champion yesterday at the sighthound specialty outside of Helsingborg, and competed at the Southern Scania Kennel Club national show today. It must have been nice to compete in champion class. I know how fun it is to become a champion, since I became one a little over a month ago.

I did not come to the shows this weekend, you cannot always be there. I have had a good weekend at home instead, with Mum, Dad, Auntie Linni, and Daniel. April had to hold the banner high for all of the Shiba Inus of our clan. Reports say she did not, but then again she did not have the support of me and the others who stayed at home.

By the way, there was nothing wrong with the certificate of Blogger today. This feels good.

There Is Something Wrong with the Certificate

I do not know what is wrong, but when I tried to log in last night to write the daily blog entry, my web browser said there was something wrong with the certificate on the page. You are recommended not to use a web page where the safety certificate is not functional or not up to date. It may be expired, in which case the owner of the page has to renew it, i.e. my blog provider Blogger. I believed it would be fixed today, but it is not. I decided to take my chances and write this blog entry anyway. I sure hope nothing bad will happen because of this, and that the problem is fixed soon.

Dog Still Missing

A family in Durham County in England nearly lost a daughter, who was sucked down an open manhole and ended up in a nearby river, and lost their dog who went the same way. They managed to rescue the girl, but the dog is still missing. I first read about this in a Swedish news paper, but in that article, all that was said about the dog was that it had been sucked down along with the girl. There was not a word about what had happened to the dog later. I searched the Internet and found an English news paper that wrote more about the story. This is how I know the dog was not rescued. I sure hope they find the dog alive, and I cannot understand why there was not a word in the Swedish article about the fate of the dog. We are lucky to have the Internet, where we can find more about stories like these.

The Meaning of the Name Shiba Inu

I had a comment to my blog post yesterday that prompts me to write an extra blog post today. (Please do not forget to read the first blog entry.) What is the meaning of the name Shiba Inu?

Well, inu is Japanese for dog. This is the easy part of our breed's name.

The Shiba Inu has not any specific area in Japan where we come from, unlike the other original spitz breeds of Japan. Our origin is the whole of Japan, we have lived throughout the country since times immemorial. Thus, unlike the other breeds, the Shiba Inu cannot have a name from an area in Japan where we come from.

Shiba is the Japanese word for small. This may be the origin of the breed name, given that we are the smallest of the original Japanese breeds. There is, however, another explanation of our breed name. There is a certain kind of brushwood which, when dried, has the same red colour as red Shiba Inus. Red is, by far, the most common colour of Shiba Inus. This brushwood is also called shiba. Whether the dog breed has received its name from the brushwood or not is unclear. In my opinion, it may as well be that the brushwood has received its name from the Shiba Inu.

I believe in the explanation that Shiba Inu means "small dog". We are relatively small in body, if not in mind, and it is a simple and straightforward explanation. The true origin of the name is, however, from times immemorial, just like the breed. This is cool.

Yeah!

Even though April took her title before me I obviously beat her to have it published on the Swedish Kennel Club database. Mum thinks this is a proof for everyone that Im more important than April. I don't disagree with her.

Shiba

If you want to stay correct, it is important to say Shiba Inu about my dog breed. The breed is often just called Shiba. However, there are other things in Japan that are also called Shiba, such as an area in central Tokyo. If you are Japanese, you may even have Shiba as your family name, such as a tourist interviewed in this article about an old silver mine in Japan that is designated as a world heritage. This is why I usually use the full name of my breed.

In other news from Japan, it is noteworthy that there are now as many as six candidates to become Prime Minister in Japan. I wonder how this will end.

Attack on Two Fronts

Paula and Daniel celebrated the anniversary of their wedding today. They had a nice meal at the living room table, wich is rather low. There was a very good sauce with the meal. At the end of the meal, Dad discovered he could reach the sauce from one end of the table, until Daniel moved the sauce away. Then Auntie Linni discovered she could reach the sauce from the other side of the table. Daniel moved the sauce back again, only to notice that Dad could reach it again. Daniel had to lift the sauce away, but he did laugh at the ingenuity of the Shiba Inus.

We fought poverty for dessert. That is, we had some Ben & Jerry ice cream, an ice cream where the manufacturers promises to fight poverty with some of the proceeds of the ice cream. It is very tasty ice cream, so it is a nice way of fighting poverty.

All in all, it was a good celebration.

Birthday

Paula's mother celebrated her birthday today. Paula and Daniel went there to celebrate without any dogs, but we let them bring a present from us. We had bought candy, can any present be better?

In Japan, the competition for the job as Prime Minister gets tougher, as more candidates emerge. One of the candidates may become the first female Japanese PM, but I do not know if she is the best candidate. Among dogs and wolves, it is always the oldest female who rule, but this is not the case among humans. We will have to see what happens.

Late Night

We were at Mia and Kesshi tonight. It was a fun night, though we had three black outs and the DVD player did not work properly. It was so fun, that we were not home until after midnight. This is why this blog entry is dated on Sunday. Now I need to get some beauty sleep.

Rattling Dog

A human in Scotland recently noticed that his Labrador Retriever was rattling. Human and dog had taken walks along a golf course for several months. When the rattling from the dog's stomach started, his human wisely took him to the veterinarian. It turned out, during surgery, that the dog had swallowed thirteen golf balls. Some of these balls had been in the stomach for very long. It must feel nice to get rid of such a burden from the stomach, even though you are fond of golf balls.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Taro Aso has formally announced his bid to succeed Yasuo Fukuda as Prime Minister. Taro Aso is popular, but too conservative according to some in his own party. We will have to see if he becomes PM.

Cops

Some evenings, we watch the American TV show Cops. It is a documentary on police work in different cities in the USA. We are often appaled at how stupid some criminals are. On the other hand, if they were not stupid, I guess they would not have become criminals in the first place. it takes a certain kind of stupidity to commit crimes of the kind shown and getting caught. Earlier today, we also watched a documentary about a man who killed his wife. He was very stupid, trying to fake an alibi, but making numerous mistakes in the process. One part of the fake alibi would be that he would have purchased dinner to both himself and his wife, but the man selling dinner to him remembered, and the receipt from the restaurant proved, that he had bought food for just one person. Later on he returned twice to the remote place where he had buried the dead wife. The only good thing about these crimes is that it makes good TV.

Seafood

Paula and Daniel had spaghetti with crayfish sauce for dinner today. There was a lot left, which they gave us dogs. It was a great meal.

You may consider seafood like crayfish to be somewhat odd for dogs to eat. It is not odd for Shiba Inus, however. In part, this is probably due to our Japanese heritage, seafood of different kinds are very common there. Scientists in Canada have also discovered that fish, especially salmon, is an important part of the animals that wolves eat, as well. Thus, fish is nothing strange for dogs who are proud of their wild ancestry.

Dog Pens Used for Prisoners

Australian soldiers have held four suspected Taleban militants in dog pens for 24 hours. This was a necessary thing to keep the suspects locked in and the Australian soldiers safe, until the suspects could be transferred to another building. Muslims have expressed heavy critizism against this, claiming it was an infringement of human rights. According to Muslim traditions, dogs are viewed as unclean and impure. The Australian military, on the other hand, has claimed that the prisoners were not maltreated and that no breach of human rights occured.

I agree more with the Australians than the Muslims. These prisoners should feel happy about their treatment. In my mind, humans who believe dogs are unclean and impure actually does not deserve to be put in such a fine facility as a dog pen. Dogs are man's best friends, you do not claim your best friends are unclean and impure. It is quite impolite to do so. However, if you let these people into a dog pen, maybe they can start to review their opinions about dogs to the better? I would hope so, but, unfortunately, I do not believe so.

I fear there will always be humans who look down upon us dogs. This is especially sad, because dogs always look up to humans. Occasionally, however, we just do not understand some humans.

Resignation

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has, quite surprisingly, announced that he will resign. The continuing impopularity of his cabinet and party is cited as reasons, along with troubles in dealing with the Upper House of Parliament, where the opposition holds a majority. According to the BBC, Mr Taro Aso is seen as the front runner to succeed Yasuo Fukuda. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Shiba Inu Rendez Vous

Paula, April, Calvin, and I went to a Shiba Inu meeting in Köping today. Mia and Kesshi came along, as well as Kesshi's sister Saga and her human Lina. There were numerous other Shiba Inus there. One of them was, of course, my brother Jiro, who lives in Köping. All of us had a great time. It is always very nice to meet Jiro and other nice dogs of our breed. There was also a barbecue with hot dogs, which was my favourite event in the whole meeting. There was also a journalist from the local news paper there, taking photographs of some of us dogs. I wish we could do fun stuff like this a bit more often.

Nine Pups

Just like yesterday, I would like to tell you about something that has happened in Norway. At the breeder where Dad comes from, Enerhaugen in the city of Bergen, a Shiba Inu litter of nine pups has been born. None of us at Aangenaam has ever heard of a bigger litter, when it comes to our breed. The Shiba Inu is a breed that is very close to the wild origin of the dog, thus, we normally get litters of about two to four pups. Noone have ever bred our breed to make us get bigger litters. The biggest litter ever in Sweden was eight, and even this was huge, as far as Shiba Inus go. It is not surprising, then, that the litter of nine pups is a matter that we have discussed at length today.

We hope that all pups are well, there is the risk that some pups in a huge litter are weaker and will not fare very well in life, if they survive at all. As far as we know, all pups in this litter are healthy, which make us happy. Dad say, of course, that they could not have had a better breeder to be born at (the rest of us say that other kennels must be just as good, such as Taichung, Aangenaam, and Honto No). We have no doubt the pups are taken very well care of. I will come back with more news when I get any.

Medieval Ships Found in Norway

Dad is always interested in news from his country of birth, Norway. Today, we can read that archaeologists have found nine old ships, well preserved under mud, in Oslo. The ships apparently sank at an old harbour of Oslo that was abandoned in the 1620's. Dad says that these nine ships must be a more interesting sight than the one that has a museum in Stockholm, the war ship Wasa that sank at its first journey. Dad is always able to see advantages of Norway over Sweden.

Good and Bad Dogs

A human child in South Africa was assaulted and dragged along the street by a Pit bull terrier, but a Rottweiler came to rescue the child. The child was saved. There is yet no explanation for the action by the Pit bull, but the police is investigating the case.

In cases like this, it is important to note, not only that another dog saved the child, but also that the vast majority of dogs would never, ever attack a human like this. Pit bulls are notorious for being ferocious, but not every Pit bull would attack a human. No matter what, I have never heard of a dog who would attack a human without cause. It may not be a just cause, but a cause, nevertheless. It would be very interesting to hear what caused this attack. The news story starts with the attack, but what happened before?

Great News

Kesshi is declared healthy by the veterinarian today! Do I need to say more?

Work Schedules

They called from Paula's work about half past nine tonight and asked if she was not supposed to work tonight. According to Paula's own notes, she was not, but according to notes at her work, she was. Be it as it may, she went to work and we will have to do without her tonight. Daniel is at home, as well as every dog, but no night is great without the whole family. I miss Paula all the more, since we all had assumed she would not work tonight. We were not prepared for this. Hopefully, things like this will not happen again.

Murderers Caught in Bergen

A couple of Finnish fellons have been on the run, but have been caught by the police in Bergen. I am glad that they were caught. It is always disturbing if dangerous criminals is lose, and especially so if you find out that they have been on the lose in a city where you know a lot of dogs and humans. Dad was born and raised in Bergen, and he has a lot of family there. We would not want these fellons to be able to do anything dangerous in the home town of Dad's family and friends. Dad says that the capture goes to prove the efficiency of the Norwegian police, and I do not think anybody can argue with that.

Paula's Birthday

Today is Paula's birthday, and we have celebrated her. Paula's parents, grandmother, and Mia and Emil were here. It was great fun to meet them all and Paula had a good time. Paula's father got to take so many apples from our garden that he could carry, and her grandmother got a few apples as well.

My Dad is also happy for two Norwegian Olympic gold medals today, in the ladies' handball and men's javelin throw. In addition, there was a Belgian gold medal in the ladies' high jump, which makes Dad happy since he is actually half Belgian, his Dad was born in Belgium. He does not really care that there has been so few Swedish medals in these Olympic Games.

Prepairing

Prepairations are ongoing for Paulas birthday on Saturday. There are rumours saying that Paula and Daniel will go to the cinema and to a restaurant tomorrow night. If so it gives me a couple of more hours to prepairing for the festivities on Saturday.Today I tried cleaning up the floors from all the toys lying around. This was not the easest task with Calvin in my way. He just wanted to play all time.I have also used my skills in surfing on the web to buy Paula a couple of present online. I sure hope that she will like them.

Benefits of Teddy Bears

There are many benefits to having teddy bears. They are cute, soft, and fun to play with. What I had not thought of before, is that they can also be used to house a spy camera to guard your home. In England, a carer for an old lady was caught stealing by a camera hidden in a teddy bear with the lens at one of the eyes of the bear. The carer pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison. Consequently, justice was done thanks to a teddy bear. Happy news for all of us who like teddy bears, since this is yet another benefit of these plush animals.

Foot Injury

Paula and I went to Mia, Kesshi, and Emil tonight. It is fun to go there, but the imediate reason was not fun at all today. Mia had stepped upon a hard, sharp object and wanted Paula's help to clean the wound. This is consequently a time when Paula's nurse studies come to practical use even beside work. Kesshi knows just how Mia feels, since he has cut a paw open when stepping on glass hidden in the snow some years ago. He still remembers that agony and is protective of his paws.

Sweden's best hope for an olympic medal did not make it today. High jumper Stefan Holm ended up fourth, just short of a medal. I am sorry for him (but not as sorry as I am for Mia).

Another Rainy Day

It seems like there is rain every day now. Thus, the English saying that an ordinary day is "another rainy day" fits very well. It is Monday and Daniel go to work in the day, while Paula works in the night. Meanwhile, as pet dogs, we are on call around the clock.

The Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who passed away recently, has had a street in central Moscow named for him. He was known as one of the most prominent people to critizise the tyrannical communistic regime that used to rule Russia. It seems fit, then, that the street that gets his name has been known as Great Communist Street up until now.

Rain

I got to come along to the dog show today. Since I am blowing my coat, there was no use in showing me for the American judge. I did get to meet a very nice human called Sandra, though, who may offer a home for one of my future pups. We got along quite well, so I am sure she will take good care of a young Shiba Inu.

It was probably just as well that I was not shown. The Shiba Inus were shown late in the show ring, and while there was a little rain now and then before noon, it was as if the gates of the heavenly reservoir had open up completely once the Shiba Inus were up for our competition. April was shown, and she did not like it at all. Sure, the horrible weather was equal for everyone, but some dogs can take it better than others and April has never been fond of rain. She did not do very well.

Luckily, Paula and Daniel decided not to stay until the finals. Last Saturday in Askersund, they did despite heavy downpour, but that was because April was Best of Breed and thus got to compete in the Group final. We were not obliged to stay for any final today. We often stay anyway out of sheer interest, but in this weather, none of us wanted to.

It was nice to get in to the dry car for the ride home and even better when we got home. Normally, I love going to dog shows, but this was maybe a dog show I could have done without.

They Went Without Me

Paula and April went to a dog show in Norrköping today. I did not get to go along. Sure, I got to sleep for a long time in the morning, but it is always better to go along to a dog show. Dog shows are so much fun. In the afternoon, Paula and April came back, and I have been promised to go along to the dog show in Nyköping tomorrow. This will be fun.

Celestial Japan

The first completely Japan made satellite was launched this Thursday from Kourou in French Guiana. It will broadcast TV and provide other services to Japan and surrounding countries. It is nice that the Land of the Rising Sun can build its own satellites.

Meanwhile, Japan beat China in its quarter final in the Olympic ladies' football tournament, making up for the sadness that Dad and I felt when Norway and Sweden lost theirs. The USA is also in the semi finals, playing Japan there. I am half American, but as a Shiba Inu I always hope for Japan too, so I am not quite sure what team to hope for in this semi final. Mum and April, wholly American, hope for the USA.

Poor Linni!

I have watched over auntie Linni today. She went under anesthesia for removing a big red lump on her belly. Luckily the lump turned out to be a purulence. The veterinarian flushed the pus away. Now Linni has to be on antibiotics for 10 days. Both ointment and tablets.

Good stuff does come with the bad. This mean that she will recieve a meatball every morning and night with the medicine in it. Paula and Dan are such nice dog people so they will give us each a meatball so non of us dogs feels left over. I will soon drive to the drugstore to fetch Linnis medicine. After that we will go to the supermarket to buy some meatballs.

A good thing that happened today was that the US olympic team in basket stays unbeaten and that James Blake eliminated Roger Federer from Olymic tennis. Yeah!

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

Bad Economy Hit Dogs

The world's economy is slowing down, interest rates are rising, and apparently, this makes people abandon their best friends - their dogs. This is at least true in Australia. We are disturbed by these news, especially Auntie Linni, whose father was from there, so she's got relatives there. How can you abandon a dog for economical reasons? There must be other expenses to drop first. If you have to abandon your dog, you should not have had a dog in the first place. The world is a cruel place, sometimes.

Equestrian

We watched a show jumping final in the olympic equestrian competitions. I, as half American, had hoped for the US rider who got the silver medals. Still, it was a nice story that the winner was an amateur who beat all of the professionals. He is a dentist from Germany, riding in his spare time. This is great.

While I like watching equestrian, I cannot help wondering if the dog sport agility would not suit equally well in the Olympic Games. Like in show jumping with horses, there is a human guiding the dog, though the human runs beside the dog, which makes it somewhat more of a sport for the human as well. Maybe we will see agility in the Olympic Games in the future, it is said that this sport is increasingly popular throughout the world. However, I believe this will have to be in the far future.

Americans Sure Can Swim

The USA swam for gold, and they made it. The US male olympic swimming team were close to getting the silver medals in the 4 x 100 metres relay finale today, but beat the French team to the gold in the last 50 metres.

"Never rule out Americans", as my American Mum said.

Through my Mum, I am half American myself. Sweden got in as the fifth team, which is not bad, but in the Olympic Games, the medals are what really counts. As I am half American, I can celebrate the gold as well. This feels great.

Scene stealer

I'm having a nice day off today. In the evening I will go to my friend Kesshi and show him my ribbons. He loves the fame which come with the fact to have two champion girls as close friends. April has made some hints that she wants to come with us. Well that could work, as long as she is not trying to steel the attention from me. She can be such a scene stealer. Just look at the picture above. Paula had arrange for me to take a picture with my newly won ribbons. Guess who came jumping up in the sofa and wanted to be in it? I'll rest my case....

Well, Today I Managed to Finish It

It was a rainy day at the dog show in Askersund today, but our results were great.

I have kept my fans on hold for a long time, denying them the joy of seeing me as the champion everyone have always said that I had the potential to be. This has to end sometime. I decided that today's show on our home turf in Askersund, organized by our own regional kennel club, was the perfect place to finish the championship. Consequently, I did everything I could to win the open class. I did win and was second in Best of Bitches, gaining the final certificate that I needed. I also hired a pro-handler for my mission. Ms Sofie Lönn (also a close friend to Paula) made me strutt my stuff just that extra much which made me a champion. Way to go Sofie and thank you for your kind help and super delicious bait.

The only bitch who beat me was April. April is my dear friend, she is already a champion so I got the certificate anyway. April went on to win Best of Breed, yeah!

A nice thing is that I won the final certificate judged by Mr. David Hull from South Africa, when my kennel name is originally a word in Africaans, a language from South Africa.

As I am now a champion, Paula and Daniel will not have to worry that I have started to blow my coat now. When I get my first litter of pups, which we have planned for late this year, my championship title will be seen in the official pedigrees of my pups. These were also things I considered, when I made my plans to win my championship today.

Dogs Benefit Humans in Many Ways

What I say in my headline today is actually superfluous. Of course, dogs benefit humans in so many ways, it should be unnecessary to say so. On the other hand, here is another benefit to humanity: a genetic fault in dachshunds may explain a certain kind of blindness in humans. These blindnesses are similar, as would probably be the genes causing it. This only goes to prove, yet again, that the benefits that humans get of dogs are countless.

Irony

It is ironic that the Italian top car designer Andrea Pininfarina was killed in a car accident, hit by a car while riding a scooter.

It is also ironic that the Spanish slugs, that constantly invade our property, are killed by us. This is ironic, because in Sweden these slugs also go by the name "murder slug", and we are killing them. I am not sure why they are called murder slugs; one explanation would be that they eat everything green that they come across, another would be that they eat each other. I would like it better if they only ate each other. Be that as it may, we kill these slugs by putting them in our feces container in the dog yard, which is air tight. They die from suffocation and then we throw the contents in the garbage. This may not sound like a nice way of killing the slugs, but it is effective, and after all, they are the unwanted trespassers.