Picking up the Troller

Paula and I picked up our new troller today. It works excellent and will be a nice addition to the gear we bring to the wds.

My friend Harley became Best of Group today. This is an achievement, he is worth all the congratulations we can give him. It was very hot outside today, which makes the achievement even greater. It is hard to show yourself to your fullest potential when it is too hot. The other dogs were surely affected by the heat as well, but skill and experience may have made Harley a little better than most in coping with it.

New Troller

Our old troller has been with us the last 7 years. Last week Daniel and Paula decided to get a new one. All for the comfort for us dogs occassionally travelling on it in varikennels. This is a good decision. The wheels on the old one was barely existing making the travels on it bumpy and not comfy at all.

Tomorrow we will collect the troller at the best dog supply vendor in Sweden, Citypet. We exclusively buy all our bones and supply there. They are the best. Service minded, good prices, and tasty treats.

Look Alike

Today Paula and Daniel got a e-mail from the Swedish Sighthound Club. We have decided to enter our pharaoh hound Primus to the world sighthound specialty the week after wds.

Unfortunatly Paula had entered a drever instead of Primus! She had Primus's reg. no mistaken. I feel it was funny but stupid. I wouldn't have done that mistake but I don't feel less of Paula making this stupid thing.

Picture of a drever family from the Swedish Drever Club:


Picture of a Pharaoh Hound (Primus) from kennel Enigma's webpage:

Even a person not intrested in dogs can notice that there is no similarity at all between a drever and a pharaoh hound. The Sighthound Club understood our mistake and changed the reg. no on the entry form. That is good service.

Taking the Blog to a New Level

Today I borrowed Paulas new cell phone to write my blog. She bought a Nokia 95 8GB last week after Calvin had chewed on her old one. Well, today she has a new one which has a wireless internet connection. It may take a while typing on a small dashboard but I think the result is good.

As a comment to the entry made by me yesterday. If anyone of my readers is intrested in watching me at the wds I will be competing in ring B38 on Saturday July 6th. Daniel is my handler. April will compete in the same ring but Calvin will be in ring B37 the same day. There will be so many shibas so they have divided the breed competition into two rings and two judges. The strong competition makes me nervous. Nevertheless, it will be fun I think.

World Dog Show Information

Show Information and Ring Plan has now been published (see "For Exhibitors"/"För utställare") for the World Dog Show in Stockholm this year. I have read it with great interest. It will be a fantastic event, I am sure.

Selling a Child?

A young couple in Bavaria, Germany, is investigated by the police since they put an advertisement on a web site, offering to sell their child. The child is now in the custody of the social services.

The parents wanted 1 € or the highest offered bid. When the web site moderators took the advertisement away after two hours, no offers had been made. The parents defend their action by saying it was just a joke. I believe them. If you would offer to sell a pup on the Internet for 1 €, this would obviously be a joke. You normally sell pups, but even a mix breed is always much more expensive than that. Children are never sold, so how could an offer to sell something that is priceless for just 1 € be considered anything else than a joke? Of course, you could call it a sick joke (I don't, but I am a dog and thus used to the thought of selling your offspring - Daniel says he thinks it is a sick joke), but nevertheless a joke.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in Sweden. Daniel called his mother in Stockholm on the telephone and talked at length to her. Paula, Daniel, and I visited Paula's mother, where her grandmother was as well. I celebrated my Mum by giving her the rest of my evening meal, when she was more hungry than I was. I believe all of our mother's were rather pleased.

Feeling a Little Blue

April feels a little blue after the dog show in Österbybruk. She got a second place in quality, her first prize of such a low value. The second place is rewarded with a blue ribbon, probably because you feel a little blue if getting it. We agree with April that she would deserve a better prize. I did not do so well myself. I got a first prize in quality, but the judge did not think I had certificate quality. He said he thought my head was to round, which would mean that I did not have the right Shiba Inu expression. We had never heard anyone giving any Shiba Inu this critique, but there is always a first time for everything.

A nice thing, though, was that the Shiba Inu who was best of breed was also best in the group. This is a great result! It helps promote our magnificent breed.

Russia won the Eurovision Song Contest, even though they had a song that was far from good. I thought Russia deserved to win the Ice Hockey World Championship last Sunday with their good team, but they did not deserve to win the ESC with this song.

Birthday

We celebrate Daniel's birthday today. By actual years, he is the oldest in our family, even though Mum is the oldest if her age is counted in "dog years". On Daniel's command we ate some barbeque chicken with pommes frites and aioli. Paula had also bought Daniel his very won Birthday cake.

Daniel got a whiskey glass with Homer on and some clothes from us. He seemed to be very happy. I also got a present from Daniel. A new funny rubber ball. That toy definitly made this special friday even better I think.

Shady Lady

We have been watching ESC 2008 semifinals. Sweden went to the final on Saturday. I guess this is a good thing though me and my shiba friends voted for Ani Lorak and Ukraine singing "Shady lady". This is a good song, catchy melody and a beautiful lady to watch. Just like myself. A Beautiful lady. Let's hope she will win on Saturday in Belgrad and I will win in Österbybruk. Watch Ani Lorak here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRF94MGwCmU

"No one knows who I am, but I don't give a damn, gonna set you on fire" Yeah!

A New Mobile Phone

Paula has bought herself a new mobile telephone. It is an advanced phone and she guesses it will take a while for her to get to know all the functions of it. She says none of us dogs may borrow it. Well, it does not matter much for me, I do all my electronic communication via the computer.

There is a new telephone number with Paula's new phone. If you want the new number, you have to ask Paula herself.

The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating

Daniel has bought a big can of a certain oil that he and Paula gives us dogs on the food. Paula and Daniel were not quite sure whether we would like it, since it was so healthy and they did not think it smelled very good. However, as they say in England: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. That is, the ultimate test on whether something is good to eat or not comes when you eat it. We liked our food with this oil on, it added extra spice to the food and all of us licked our bowls clean. Paula and Daniel were, of course, convinced by this. We will get this oil on the food every day. It is amazing that some healthy things can be so tasty.

An Australian with the Wrong Priorities

An Australian was recently stopped by the police, as he was driving a car where a 30-pack of beer was safely strapped in, while a child was sitting unstrapped on the floor. He was fined for the offence, but according to the police, he did not understand what he did. - Given that many people, unintelligent as they may be, in fact take better care of children than dogs, I do not want to think about what this Australian could have done to a dog. Some people should not be allowed to drive cars.

My computer is home safe and sound!

Picture from HP

My computer is back home with us! It works better than before. Nearly every component in it is re-placed so one can guess that my computer is stronger than ever. I have found new inspiration for my daily blog with my strong powerful computer. Just wait and see!

A Better Computer

Our newest computer has been in the shop for repair, but we will get it back tomorrow. I am looking forward to it, since it is a faster and better computer.

Finland is currently playing Russia in the first semi final in the Ice Hockey world championship. I write this after the first period. It is hard to say which team would be the best for Sweden to meet in a final game, whether it be the gold final or the bronze game. Russia probably has the better team, but Sweden often has a hard time beating Finland. This game is a rather good game to see before Sweden's semi final against Canada later tonight.

Rain

It has been sunny and warm for many, many days. Not a single drop of rain has fallen from the sky. After a while, the great weather gets a little boring. Daniel worried about the water level in our well. It was supposed to rain yesterday, but there came less than 1 mm of it. It is different this evening. We were just out in a pouring rain and could see that we have gotten more than 5 mm. This is good for the vegetation and we do not have to worry as much about the water level. Well, I guess everything turns out for the best in the end with the weather. All is well with a full well.

Sweden Skates on to the Semi Final

In the Ice Hockey World Championship, Sweden beat the Czeck Republic in overtime in the quarter final game and goes on to the semi finals. In the next game, Sweden meets the winner in the quarter final between Canada and Norway. Canada is the probable winner, but I hope with my Norwegian Dad for a Norwegian victory. In the other quarter finals, Russia plays Switzerland and the USA plays Finland. I hope for a Swiss victory, because the Swiss are the underdogs, and I hope for an American victory because my Mum is from the USA. My dream result would be for Sweden to win the gold in a final game against the USA, and for Norway to win the bronze game. This is far from a probable result, but part of the thrill and joy of sport is that anything is possible, so you can always hope for a dream result.

Gathered Again

Our humans are definitely part of our pack. Daniel has been away for a few days, visiting his parents in Stockholm. All of us have been missing him alot, but he came home again this afternoon. Tonight, Paula is at work, but we know that she will be back tomorrow morning, so it is not as upsetting. Then she will be at home for many nights in a row. I hope for at least as many calm and and undisturbed nights. As long as both our humans are at home, we dogs do not have to put so much effort into guarding the one who is at home.

Preparations

I am preparing for the first dog show of this summer season tomorrow. We will go to a little place called Larv outside of the old city of Skara, it is about two hours by car to go there. Paula has borrowed her parents large Citroën in exchange for our smaller BMW. This will make it easier to bring all the stuff we want to the show, which is good because good preparations are half the work.

I am looking forward to the show, I really enjoy dog shows. However, now it is late in the evening and I need to get my beauty sleep before the show. I believe my chances are better if I am fully alert tomorrow. Hoping for the best, but remembering that there will be competition. If I get some good result, I will let you know tomorrow.

Bait

Today I sent Paula to fetch some bait to have at the show this upcoming Saturday. I have had my eyes sight for boulettes from Scan*.
Pics of boulettes from Scans own website.

My readers are maybe wondering what boulettes are so I'll try to explain without drewling too much. Boulettes are tiny meatballs filled with smoked ham and cheese. Perfect bite size/bait size for me and Calvin at the dog show. The only stupid thing with these little baites from heaven is the commercial on tv. No one can hear what the voice on the tv-commercial is saying due to the fact that she is talking with a funny french accent. Well one good thing with this is that people don't know what boulettes are, so the risk of them beeing sold out at the market is slim.

As the reserve plan (one should always have a reserve plan) Paula fetched some sliced chicken filet. Yummie! I like chicken too so I'm planning for a mixed bait bag on Saturday. The prognose for the weather on Saturday is warm sunny summer heat. Yeah! If this is the fact I'll sure hope that Paula will take me and Calvin to the ice cream vendor and fetch us some ice cones.

*)Scan is one of northern Europe's largest food industries within meat, cured meats and convenience food.

Late Blog Entry

This is actually my blog entry for Wednesday, but midnight has already been here when I have time to write this. It has been nice, sunny weather today and we have been outdoors almost all day. Daniel hate all the dandelions in the garden at this time of the year, but the rest of us just enjoy the nature.

Do Not Try to Eat Out in Gothenburg

In Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, dogs are generally not welcome to restaurants, not even to the tables outdoors. This is weird. What harm can a dog do to someone who is, for example, allergic by the restaurant tables that the dog cannot do if sitting on the outside of the fence? I am not the kind of dog who go to restaurants often, but I would not want to live in Gothenburg with these rules anyway.

Daniel came home tonight, so the whole family is gathered now. That feels good.

Business trip

Sometimes I can't help beeing jealous of humans. They can do intresting things that we dogs can't do. For example, tonight Daniel is away on a business trip. This means that Paula and us dogs are left at home. I suppose Daniel has earned a business trip but when do we dogs have to go on a business trip?

I wanted to go along but Daniel said to me to watch the house and Paula. As the loyal shiba girl I am I have taken this assignment to the next level. I have patrolled the garden every hour to make sure no bad people will come to us. Only nice people are welcome.

It is always good to have Paula home at night so I guess that I can live with not beeing able to go along with Daniel this time. Paula gave us dogs some pancake for dinner and I liked that alot. So did auntie Linni. Her favourite food is pancake.

C

If April or I compete at dog shows, there will be a special sign by our names in the show catalogue in the form of the letter C. A dog with this special sign needs to win just one more CC in order to become Swedish Show Champion. Both April and I took many CC's before our second birthdays, the last CC must be won after that birthday.

I believe I stand the greater chance of becoming a champion first. I have won more CC's than April and I will compete in a dog show as soon as next weekend. However, you never know. There may be tough competitors for the CC and the judge may have a different view on what constitutes a great Shiba Inu than you have yourself. There is also the risk that you do not feel like showing on the day of the show, which makes the performance tougher. An experienced show dog like me knows what to do on a dog show even when I am not really in the mood, but it may affect my performance anyway. Furthermore, my experience from dog shows is long enough that I want to say that you can never predict the outcome in advance. On the other hand, what would be the point in dog shows if you knew the outcome in advance? It would not be fun at all.

We will have to see what happens this summer. I suppose and hope that, by the end of this year, both April and I are Swedish Show Champions. When either of us will reach this goal is a different matter. I believe we both have the quality it takes to reach the goal, but so do other bitches. As the good friend of April that I am, I will be just as glad when she becomes a Champion as when I become one.

Chewing Bones

Paula and Daniel went away for a while this afternoon. As usual when they leave us dogs alone at home, Mum and I were in the kitchen. We happened to be fortunate enough to open the door to the cupboard where the chewing bones are kept. It is a small wonder that I did not bark when Paula and Daniel got back home, but I was busy taking care of all the chewing bones that had fallen down on the floor. Somebody had to take some responsibility for them, and who were better for that task than Mum and me? However, Daniel and Paula were of a different opinion, they collected all the chewing bones and put them back into the cupboard. It shall be noted that very little were chewed on the bones, which goes to prove how responsible Mum and I are.

Pedestrian Crossing Sign with a Woman

This week, the Swedish government decided that Sweden will have a new traffic sign by next year. It is supposed to be a sign for a pedestrian crossing, but showing a woman instead of a man. Many feminists have complained about the fact that most humans displayed on traffic signs are males. Some towns have manufactured their own signs for pedestrian crossings with a woman instead of a man, but these signs have so far violated the ordinance on traffic signs. For my part, I would rather see a sign for a pedestrian crossing with a Shiba Inu on it.

Sexy Voice?

Recent research says female humans have a sexier voice when they are the most fertile. For humans, this is once a month. Dogs have a cycle where we are fertile twice a year. I wonder if I sound sexier when barking when I am in heat? It would be interesting to read about similar research on dogs.