Looking Out for Your Pup

Small puppy dogs are not always to be trusted. They have yet not learned what they may or may not play with and chew upon. A man in New Zealand nearly lost a winning lottery ticket this way. He had won $ 1.3 million (New Zealand dollars). The lottery ticket was lying on the sofa, but his puppy snatched the ticket and took off with it. Fortunately for the man, he got the lottery ticket back. I guess the pup can get a lot of toys and chewing bones instead with just a tiny part of the amount won.

My Daughter Meja

Meja, my dear daughter, has been hiking the mountains of northern Sweden with her family, including my brother Kiko. She posed for a nice picture when she was there. She looks great, does she not?

Puppies Behind Bars

It may sound harsh, the name Puppies Behind Bars, but it is a successful programme for rehabilitation of prisoners in high security jails in New York State in the USA. The pups are trained by the prisoners to become police dogs and the like, while the prisoners have a useful purpose during their time behind bars and learn to take responsibility and aquire skills that are asked for on the outside. I believe this is great. It is yet another example of how dogs make very valuable contributions to the human society. Programmes like this may prove useful in other countries as well.

More from the Weekend Show

As I wrote in my previous blog entry, the show this weekend was a success. It was a long way to go there, by car and by ferry. Considering the results, it was worth it.

Here are some pictures from the dog show this weekend.

In this picture, I sit in the lap of Paula, beside human and dog friends on the Åland islands.

I was granted the use of these pictures by Sofie, who showed me in the Best of Breed final. She is a good handler. I have the link to her blog in mine.

Getting Home Late

We got home late from the Finnish dog show, but with great results. I must have made a good impression on the judge, she was the one who gave me my very first CAC in 2007. Now I got a Finnish CAC, thus becoming a Finnish Show Champion, a title I can put beside my Swedish Show Champion title. Kuro chan also got a CAC, and I beat him in competition for Best of Breed.

Since it is very late, I write this past midnight, I am rather tired. I am excited and have shown the others my prizes, but still tired. I have to come back tomorrow to write more about the weekend and the show.

Show

I have, finally, gotten the opportunity to go to a dog show again. Kenny and I are in Finland now. I am so excited, I forgot to write in my blog yesterday. Paula and I have trained a little before the show, but it turned out Paula thought I did not need much training. She was impressed, she usually have to train a lot with April before each show where April participate. I say it is like "riding a bicycle" - once you have learned it, you will always remember it. The knowledge on how to act in the show ring is there, inside of me. Thus, it does not require much for me to get back into the game. All I need is a couple of nice treats.

Water on the Moon

New research has revealed that there is more water on the Moon than has previously been thought. In an average cubic metre of lunar soil, there is about one litre of water. This could be important for future missions and settlements on the Moon. I do believe humans and dogs will eventually settle the Moon, and I hope it will be sooner rather than later. The discovery of this amount of water in average soil samples may speed the process up, if only just a little.

Wait

I had to wait for a while before writing this blog entry. We installed a new version of a picture editing software, and it took some time. I never use such software, I just type away in text. Paula uses it quite often, though, when updating our web page (http://www.kennelaangenaam.com/). She makes a great job at it, too. I am not sure it made any difference that I had to wait, I did not really have any great plans on what to write in my blog today.

There is one thing I would like to tell you, though. It is about my Dad, the great male dog in my life. He must have been hurt while digging in our yard, digging is something he likes to do from time to time. Perhaps his claw was caught in a root or something, nevertheless, it was broken almost straight off. It must have hurt, because Dad limped, but true to his Shiba Inu pride, he never complained. Paula took him to the veterinarian yesterday, who took the damaged claw away. Today, Dad acts as if nothing has ever happened. He runs, climbs, and eats treats like always before. He is my hero. A small injury like that is nothing to my Dad.

Show Training

Paula and I trained showing today, since I will be shown this weekend. I stood on the kitchen table, since our show table is lent to Suri's family. Paula and I still have a great cooperation. We believe that if I do not win this weekend (and you can never be sure), it is not because we are untrained.

I could have trained for a longer time than we did. It is fun, but since I am so good at it, Paula thought I did not need more training. She put Calvin on the table instead. He did all right as well.

End of Leave

I have not been shown at a dog show since August last year. Paula and Daniel claims I have been on maternity leave, though it was many months since my pups left. Meanwhile, the rest of the dogs have got opportunity upon opportunity to enter show rings. This has been quite unfair. In these days of gender equality, one would also think my pups' father, Calvin, would take some paternity leave, but no, the leave has just been forced upon me. Is life not unfair sometimes? Well, the coming weekend, I will finally enter a show ring again. How I have missed that! Beware of me, competitors!

Successes in Denmark!

April and Kuro chan came back from the dog shows in Denmark as winners. While they did not win everything (as I did as a pup in Hässleholm in 2006), they did won a lot! Both won each a Danish champion title (DKUCH) and with this, a Nordic champion title (NORDUCH). April also became an International Champion and won the title Copenhagen winner '09 (KBHV-09). Kuro chan can't be an International champion until the end of this year because his first CACIB was won in Japan November 2008.

Next weekend, I will get to go to a dog show in Finland. Finally, I say! I hope I can get a Finnish champion title.

Human Pedigree

There is a lot of focus on canine pedigrees, and for good reason. Without belief in and research into pedigrees, I would probably not walking the earth. The pedigrees are a support of good breeding and makes for sound, nice dogs. Sometimes, humans have interesting pedigrees as well, without there being quite so much thought given to it over the generations. For instance, genetic research has shown that Scottish actress Tilda Swinton is a direct decendant of Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Well, if those would have been dogs, we already would have known, because the records would have told us.

No, Not Again!

Once again, Paula has managed to drive off to a dog show with some dogs, but leaving me behind at home. I love dog shows and being shown at them. I have to figure out a way to make sure I can come along more often. If you have got any ideas, please tell me! Now I will ponder upon this some more, therefore, my blog post today is fairly short. Stay tuned!

The Ironies of Life

Our Pharao Hound friend Primus is in mourning. His grandmother, who celebrated her twelfth birthday yesterday, suddenly passed away last night. Pharao Hounds rarely live as long as Shiba Inus, and Primus' grandmother did not die young. Still, it must be one of the ironies of life, that she passes away unexpectedly on the night immediately after day of birthday celebrations. It might have been a great end to her life, those celebrations, but they were certainly not meant to be festivities before passing away. I would not want to pass away like that.

We all mourn with Primus, of course.

New Japanese PM

As all of us Shiba Inus are of Japanese decent, we are interested in what happens in Japan. We now know that Japan has a new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan. Our hope is that this will revive the politics of Japan and make for a better country in the long run. Future will tell.

Autumn

It was rather cold this morning. Not that I care, I have a great coat, but Daniel had to locate his gloves before riding off to work on his bicycle. During the day, the sun was shining from an almost cloud free sky, so it was rather warm in the afternoon. Leaves have started to turn yellow and fall to the ground in our garden. This is my fourth autumn, since today is my fourth birthday. It was nice weather for a birthday.

Can a Dog Really Be Worth This Much?

A rich woman in China has paid the equivalent of $ 600,000 for a single dog of the breed Tibetan Mastiff. This is a rare breed, but according to breeders they typically go by prices around $ 2,000. Is a Tibetan Mastiff really worth $ 600,000. My reports come from the BBC, a news company you usually can rely upon, but I still have a feeling that this is a hoax. Who would put up this amount of money for a Tibetan Mastiff? I would not even think one of my own Shiba Inu pups would be worth that much money.

Celebrations

Paula's mother Gertrud celebrated her birthday again, today, when relatives from the south of Sweden was here. Consequently, Paula and Daniel were gone for several hours, while the four legged members of the family had to stay at home. It would not be much of a problem, except that they got home late, thus making our food late. Well, now we have eaten, and I am again in a good mood. You have to let your humans get away to have some fun on their own, once in a while, it makes them nicer to you too.

Suddenly, off to Work

We had a nice Friday night tonight. Paula and Daniel watched a movie and sat with us in the living room. Everything was calm and nice (except in the movie, which was a crime story). Then, out of the blue, Paula got to know over the telephone that she was expected to work today and was about half an hour late. She had to go immediately. Dutiful as she is, she did. We all usually know before, if Paula will work night, but none of us knew tonight. It was, apparently, all due to a missunderstanding, Paula had not received notice that they wanted her to fill in tonight. Well, she will get paid, but we miss her more tonight than her ordinary work nights, since we had thought she would be home. We hope this will not be repeated.

Japan in the Space Race

Japan participates in the international cooperation of the International Space Station (ISS), and has now launched the first space frighter of a new type. Although the freighter is meant to supply the ISS, it also proves the ability of the Japanese space industry. Japan is a member of the space faring nations in its own right, and this freighter proves that. It is what to expect of the nation that brought the Shiba Inu to the world.

Pitch Black

Most of my coat is black, although I have tan markings and the white ura jiro. Paula have bought a new dress that was supposed to be black, but she thought it was more dark grey. She compared it to my coat and got the answer: dark grey. Of course, next to a black and tan Shiba Inu like myself or Dad, most things look less perfectly dark, but there was such a distict difference here that there was no question about it. This is another advantage of having a dog with a black coat: it can be used to measure blackness of other things.

Wedding Anniversary

Paula and Daniel have been married for eight years today. I am impressed by the length of their marriage. I married the father of my pups, Calvin, about nine months ago, and I grew tired of him almost immediately. Sure, I do get along with Calvin, but I cannot say I love him. Paula and Daniel, on the other hand, do love each other. It is nice that they do, because they keep all of us dogs together too.

My PERFECT daughter Meja!

"Well developed female puppy. Nice head and expression. Correct bite. Enough angulation. Moves firmly and well from all angulations. Nice coat"

It seems that Meja meet up the standard of her champion parents. She will for sure be something to count on in the show rings.



May I say that both Paula and Daniel are very very proud over sweet Meja? We all send all of our love to Meja and my brother Kiko with family. They are so sweet and take such good care of their Aangenaam shibas.

I think that Kiko has fostered my girl Meja well. As an uncle he take his responsibility as my brother and Mejas "brother" to learn her about life. Thank you Kiko!


Me and my mum Karin in the ring.

My brother Kiko and me.

Pics Will Come Later

Paula sent some pictures that she had received of Meja, but they have yet to reach an e-mail address I can access. Since Paula is at work tonight, I cannot turn to her for help. There will be pictures in my blog in the future.

My Successful Daughter

My daughter Meja participated in an unofficial dog show today, in puppy class. Puppy classes are always unofficial, so the difference between puppy classes on unofficial shows and official shows is miniscule. Meja competed against three other pups, and became best pup of the breed. I am really proud of this result. It shows that Meja is a promising pup.

More information will come about this show, stay tuned!

Upcoming Birthday

Paulas mother Gertrud will soon celebrate her birthday. This year, there is something special about it, so Paula and Daniel went to Paula's parents to help them prepare for festivities. I do not think it is such a special birthday. If you consider that one dog year equals seven human years, the biggest human celebrations would be when they turn into a year which can be evenly divided by seven. Thus, when a human turns 7, 14, 21, 28 or the like, she can compare it to a dog turning 1, 2, 3 or 4. Such birthdays give me, as a dog, a better frame of reference. Turning another decade is nothing special compared to this, if I may say so. I will gladly celebrate Gertrud, she really deserves being celebrated and any reason for a party is a good reason. However, I see more reason to celebrate another year, when she turns into something evenly dividable by seven.

Duties as a Pet

Some would think it is an easy duty being a pet dog. Often, it is, but far from always. Paula is working tonight, and before she went to work she wanted to rest for an hour. She brought me to rest by her, holding me tight, petting me. It is at times like this, when your duties are in demand, that life as a pet is not always easy. Sure, I love Paula and love to be petted by her, but I would rather be petted or rest whenever I chose to, not when Paula chose to. Tonight, I felt like hanging around with April in the living room, but that was not to be when Paula wanted me to rest with her. Well, I did without complaint, duties are to be taken seriously.

Suit Ban

In Bangladesh, the government has banned male employees from wearing suits and ties during the hot summer months. Instead, they are supposed just to wear trousers and a shirt, which need not be tucked in any more. This is supposed to reduce the need for energy consuming air condition. They have also been told not to use air condition in temperatures below 24 C.

There is energy shortage in Bangladesh, so this seems to be a wise strategy. From what I have read, there are no rules about the dogs in government employment, though. I sure hope they will not shave the coats off of police dogs and the like.

Heavy Rain

When we were outdoors around noon today, it was as if the gates of heaven had opened. There was suddenly a huge rainfall. It was almost out of this world. Luckily, we were just out in our own garden, so we could get in quickly, but we got really wet anyway. There was sme thunder as well, but not until we were inside. The weather forecast had predicted a low probability of rain today, but even a low probability can become true. It was definitely something to talk about this afternoon.

Ice Cream

Mum got to go to the veterinarian today. That is seldom fun, but she was compensated with a large strawberry ice cream. Coming home, she bragged about it, and I can see why. Such a compensation would almost make me want to go to the vet.