Happy Birthday!

Today, I congratulate my oldest puppy litter on their birthday. Meja and Bagus are celebrating their second birthday today. I wish them all the luck in the upcoming year!

Grocery Shopping

Paula took some of us to the zoo store today. We were out to buy more dog food. This is important business, but Paula and Daniel have neglected to bring any of us dogs too many times. I believe it would be self evident that at least one of us would come along and have a saying, when our food is purchased. It is not that neither Paula nor Daniel buys bad food, on the contrary, they often do a good job. Nevertheless, we are the end consumers, and today, we had a saying. I liked that.

Another Batch of Christmas Gifts

Daniel spent part of the evening wrapping another batch of Christmas gifts. He and Paula will celebrate Christmas tomorrow night with Paula's parents and sister. We have yet to get to know who, if any, of us dogs who may follow. Normally, I would be keen to go, but I am not sure this time. It seems a little weird to celebrate Christmas many days later than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Nevertheless, I hope the celebration will be fun, for those who attend it.

Zoo Animals

We watched a Danish documentary on TV today, that was about zoo animals in America that was brought to Europe to make the gene pools of the European zoo animals more diversified. This was interesting. It is positive that so much is done to make the gene pools diversified and thus healthy. I was reminded of Mum and Dad, who were both brought to Sweden from abroad to make the Swedish Shiba gene pool more diversified. Mum even came from America, just like the animals in the documentary. I guess I am a product of great thoughts.

High Public Debt

The Japanese government has approved a budget for next year with record spendings. The aim is to boost the economy. However, it adds to public debts, which is already the highest among developed nations. I am concerned, I have to wonder if Japan is on the right track. It is not that I am very good at economy, but it does not seem right when the contry's public debt is expected to reach 184% GDP by the end of March 2012. A public debt that is almost twice as high as the GDP cannot be good. On the other hand, the Japanese people are hard workers and have come back from much worse circumstances. They also have the world's biggest Shiba population to help them.

Love Actually

We watched this great Christmas holiday movie tonight, the British movie Love Actually. It is a story of many love stories interwoven into a whole. I like this picture a lot. It is positive, though not without sad parts, and it is funny.

The only negative thing that I can say about this movie is that there are no dogs in it. If you want to show a lot of human love stories, why not have at least one story involving the love between human and dog? It is a natural and important part of human society.

Conspiracy

With a Mum from America and a Dad from Norway, I have always thought I would celebrate holidays in Swedish ways, since this is where I live. In Sweden, as most of you know, the greatest Christmas celebration takes place on Christmas Eve. I had, therefore, planned to wish everybody a Merry Christmas yesterday. However, Mum and my little rascal for a daughter Karstuhl convinced me Karstuhl would get to write the Christmas wish, since this is her very first Christmas after being born. Guided by Mum, though, she waited until today to make the wish for a Merry Christmas. Perhaps I should have protected my interests in my own blog a little better.

Oh well, I do wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Hello, Polly here!

Granny insists this is the right day to say "merry Christmas", so we convinced Mommy not to do it yesterday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Cleaning the House

The dogs of the household is helping Daniel cleaning today (while Paula is off working). It is the day before Christmas Eve, and even though there will be no big celebration at our place, with guests and all, we want it to look nice.

Human holidays are funny. Humans take days off from work, but work all the more at home, just to make the holiday a little better. I believe dogs have an easier take on life: we take it easy and take the day as it comes. This means we do not have to feel rushed and stressed out because of days to come. Daniel do say you can buy a lot of prepared Christmas food and candy, but that this does not give the same feeling as homemade stuff. As long as it is tasty, I do not see the difference. Perhaps it is just as well I am no human, the other humans would not like my holiday attitude.

Fan Page

We have started a fan page for our breeding at Facebook. There you can read about us and see pictures such as this one of Pharao Hound Primus, when he made a success at the show this weekend:

Dessert

I was just about to write my daily blog entry, when Paula and Daniel decided it was time for dessert. I have to rush away to protect my interest in any kind of share of the dessert.

Show

We went to Stockholm today for the final dog show of the year. Our results were not quite as good as we had hoped, but they cannot always be. Mum became Best Veteran of the breed, at least.

The most exciting thing today was, perhaps, the journey there and back again. Snow was falling and hard winds were blowing almost all the way. Daniel drove carefully, though, and we made it without any problems.

Electric Cars

There was a TV commercial that I watched today. It was about electrically powered cars, and said it is increasingly easy to use this kind of car, because more and more electrical outlets are put up where you can plug in your car and charge the batteries.

Daniel has told me the charging of electric cars is the great downside of them. Electric cars have to run on batteries, but you have to wait for a long time anytime you want to charge these batteries. I agree with Daniel, who says electric cars should be delivered with more than one battery, and designed so that these batteries could be switched easily. This would mean that you could have one battery at home to be charged when you use the other to drive the car, and when you get home, you switch batteries in an instant. If you go on a longer journey, you would not need outlets to charge your car, but just places where you can switch your battery for a newly charged one. Thus, you would not need to wait until your car would become charged again.

This idea should be easy to make real, but no car manufacturer has tried it yet, as far as I know. Maybe they have, and there are many downsides of it. If there are downsides, it would be interesting to know of them.

One Week to Go

Hi, Karstuhl here!

It is one week to Christmas Eve. I have never experienced Christmas, but I have been told it involves a lot of good food and often new toys. This sounds promising.

Grandmom told me, however, that it is actually more than a week until Christmas. She said that where she grew up, in America, the most important day of Christmas is Christmas Day, the day after Christmas Eve. Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of Jesus Christ, and his birthday is on Christmas Day, Grandmom said. She added that she has never understood why Swedes celebrate one day in advance.

Mommy, on the other hand, said that she believes we celebrate one day in advance in Sweden, because Santa Claus cannot come to all the places of the world in the same day. He goes to Sweden one day before he goes to America. This sounds reasonable, I guess I believe it too.

Upcoming Show

We have made preparations for a dog show this weekend. It is the Swedish Kennel Club's own annual show in Stockholm. I am looking forward to it, as I always do when a show is coming up. It is so exciting.

Life Sentence

In Sweden, the maximum sentence for crimes is prison for life. Strangely enough, though, any person sentenced to life can apply to a court of law in about ten years to get the sentence reviewed and redefined into a time limited sentence. One of Sweden's most notorious criminals, police murderer Jackie Arklöv, asked to have his life sentence shortened in this way. He was not successful, however. This is just as well. I believe murder is one of the most horrible crimes you can commit - next to animal abuse and the killing of dogs and wolves, of course.

Cold Weather

It is snow on the ground and it will probably be a cold winter. It was cold on the morning walk today. Even Dad complained about the cold snow, even though he is normally the only one of us who never complains about anything that has to do with taking walks. I want to have a white Christmas, and the dark months gets lighter with snow on the ground. It is just too bad that the most beautiful winter days, when the sun is shining from a clear sky like today, are also the coldest days. I wish it was not so.

Lucia

Today is the day of Saint Lucia. This is a feast day generally celebrated in Sweden, despite it being the feast day of an Italian saint and Sweden being a protestant country. The origin of the Swedish celebration is probably that the night of Lucia was the longest night of the year in the final times when Sweden used the old Julian calendar. Since Sweden lies so far north, this is important.

According to old popular belief, animals could talk on the long night of Lucia. This is stupid, of course. Everybody knows that dogs can talk and write any time of the year, but that no others than humans and dogs can ever do this.

Sweden Does the Right Thing

Sweden is in focus in world news today. Not like the day before yesterday, when the annual Nobel Prizes were awarded, but for more tragic reasons. Two explosions in central Stockholm are said to be investigated as acts of terrorism.

I am sad that the explosions happened, but I am not surprised. Sweden is a champion of human rights and participate in international military efforts against Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan and against pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. Why would Sweden not be a target for terrorists? In a way, this is proof that Sweden does the right thing. If Sweden did not, but just held the military at home and let others take the fight for peace and freedom, Swedes would not be subject to terrorism. Now it seems like we are, hence, Sweden does what is right.

Luckily, neither dogs nor humans seem to have been victims of the attacks.

Name Day

Hello, Polly here!

Daniel had his name day today. In Sweden, these are often observed by family and near friends, but without any great celebrations. Daniel got a chocolate Santa Claus from Linni, that was nice of her. For his own part, he spent the day cleaning, shoveling snow and chopping wood. Perhaps that is a way of celebrating for him?

The Nobel Prize

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have the TV broadcast from the Nobel Prize ceremony on. There are only human recipients of the prize. Grandmom said the prize is awarded for scientific efforts, but that science isn't for dogs, anyway. She explained that we have better things to do. However, she also said most Nobel Prize winners were from the USA (where she is from) and that most people who win Nobel Prizes must have dogs from the USA. She therefore claimed that dogs from the USA were better than dogs from other countries, because even though dogs do not do science, dogs do inspire scientists, just as we inspire all humans whom we share our lives with. I guess there must be some truth in this.

Course Again

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The course that Daniel and I have gone to Thursdays this autumn has had a couple of weeks off, but started again today. It was fun to meet the other participating dogs again, especially my brother Nemo. I guess I taught Daniel well, because he gave me a lot of candy.

Blogging

There are times when I question all the time and effort I put into blogging. How many readers do I have? I like to write; in part, my blog is for my own pleasure. It is also a diary of sorts, where I can go back and remember better what happened before. Still, a blog seems unnecessary if it has no readers, or just a few readers. Yesterday, I wrote about a subject that I think is very important. I did get one comment on the blog entry, which I am grateful for, but no more, even though Daniel promoted it by posting it on Facebook. Perhaps I should stop blogging. On the other hand, stopping now would make all my previous efforts on blogging sort of wasteful.

Oh well, we have a dull evening tonight, because Paula is away on a Christmas party with her workmates. Daniel is at home, but it is always better when both Paula and Daniel are at home. Maybe my slightly sad feelings this evening makes it easier for me to question my blogging. I normally do not do that. If you read this blog occasionally, you have to come back again soon and see if I kept it up. My daughter Karstuhl says she thinks I will, and if I do not, she wants to take it over. Would I like that to happen? I have to consider that for a little while.

Wolves Killed in Sweden

Two young female wolves in Sweden have been killed by human scientists. The scientists sedated the wolves yesterday to be able to put radio transmitters on them. Today, the wolves were found drowned in a brook. They had probably still been so groggy from the sedative that they could not save themselves. What a horrible death!

I believe a wrongful death suit of some kind should be started against the scientists responsible for sedating the wolves. If you accidentally cause a wolf to die, you are required by law to report this. You are not allowed to kill wolves. These scientists should have known how strong the sedative was, when it would be safe to release the wolves back into the wilderness, and when it would be safe to stop watching over them. Any human who has a dog who has been sedated knows how important it is to watch over the dog until the sedative is out of the dog's system.

This story is all the more important, since the wolf pack of which these two wolves were members is regarded as an important pack, because it had genes which are unique in the Scandidavian wolf gene pool. Any dog breeder knows how important gene diversity is for the health of the animals.

I hope somebody press charges against the scientists in question.

Finland

Today is the national holiday of Finland, when the citizens of our eastern neighbour celebrate that they became independent from Russia in 1917. Without independence, they would have suffered under the communism of the Soviet Union until 1991. We celebrate today, together with all Moomintrolls and other people from Finland.

Winter Sports

We watched this interesting, but short, Norwegian documentary on sleigh dogs tonight. The dogs and their human were preparing for a long sleigh race. This is a real sport, for strong dogs and tough humans. I wish it would be a Winter Olympic sport.

Party

Paula showed me some interesting pictures on Facebook. It was about a Shiba in Japan who celebrated her birthday with her Shiba friends. I thought this might be a good idea. On the other hand, I already live with all of my best friends. Sure, I do have other friends than the dogs living in our house, but Auntie Linni, April, Kuro chan, and my close family all live here and they are my very best friends. They are always here when I throw a party, I never have to invite them. In a way, it is like we have a party any day. Who could complain about that?

Protests

We, the dogs of my family, are not the only ones who are disappointed with the decisions by FIFA on which countries will host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups. Acting chairman Roger Burden of the English Football Association has stepped down, claiming he wants nothing to do with the FIFA anymore. According to the English, at least four of the twentytwo FIFA delegates who voted on whom to host the 2018 World Cup had promised to vote for England, but reneged on their promises. I would rather have seen England as the host than Russia. England is, after all, an honourable country and home of modern dog breeding and dog sport, just as it is the home of football. They take good care of dogs in England, whereas Russia has a worse reputation (justified or not).

Oh well, I do not feel like dwelling on this much more. I have a nice Saturday evening in the living room sofa, eating crisps. Life is too good to worry about hosts of the World Cup.

Strange Trend

There seem to be a new trend that women dress in male costumes on formal occasions. I believe this is strange. In the world of dog shows, you are rewarded if it clearly shows that you are a male or a female. Why would a female human dress like a male human? What is the point? You may make a sort of impression, but it is a good one? I would not think so. I believe it is better to show your pride of the sex that you have got.

Cold Cats

Some cats run away from their homes, or have no homes, and they do not fare well in this cold winter. This is not good. I want to reach out a paw for them and ask all of you who read this to consider the sad faith of stray cats. There are much more of them than stray dogs. If you can, make sure you give them some help.

By the way, Russia and Qatar got the FIFA World Cups of '18 and '22. We were not amused.

FIFA World Cup Bid

Tomorrow, Thursday, FIFA will announce which countries will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in football.

The four contenders for the 2018 World Cup are England, Portugal & Spain, Belgium & the Netherlands, and Russia.

The five contenders for the 2022 World Cup are Japan, South Korea, Australia, the USA, and Qatar.

Naturally, all of us Shibas hope that Japan will win the vote to host the 2022 World Cup. Mum, April, and Calvin holds the USA as their second favourite, which is understandable since they come from the USA. Auntie Linni holds Australia has her second favourite, since her father was from Australia.

Dad, on the other hand, has said his main concern apart from Japan is that Belgium will be the co-host of the 2018 World Cup, since his father was born in Belgium. I side with Dad on the 2018 World Cup vote. I have no closer relationship to any of the other countries, and Dad's father is, of course, my grandfather.

With the relatively short lifespan of dogs, most of us will not live to see the 2022 World Cup. Nevertheless, it would be fun to know that Japan would win the bid to host the World Cup that year.

A Useful way to Spend the Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have had a very useful way to spend the day today. While Daniel was with us tonight, Paula was off working night at the hospital. When Paula got home, she made sure all of us dogs got outside, then we joined her when she went to bed and to sleep. We did not wake up until late afternoon.

In my mind, this is a very useful way of spending the day. The others do not think so. I say that if you sleep, you get rest and can make better use of your later hours when you are awake, but the others claim that rest is not productive. They might agree that rest can be useful, but still say they cannot see that it is useful to sleep all day. I then ask them why they slept along with me and Paula. They may say that this was just to keep Paula company, since she is the leader of our pack and needed the sleep after a night's work, but I do not believe this is the only reason. I believe they do find a day of rest useful in some more ways, otherwise they would not just sleep all day. Still, they say it is not productive.

Well, what do I know about productivity, junior as I am? I just know that we all slept while Paula slept. This cannot be bad.

Uniformly Dressed

A young woman in New York has made the news, because she has worn the same dress for a full year. Her aim was to protest the consumer society. Still, she did not want the dress to end up in rags, so she actually had seven dresses made up which looked the same.

I cannot understand the hype. I blow my coat twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn. Apart from that, I wear the same thing all year. I do not cheat by having seven different coats that look the same.

Horrible Pictures

We watched a Swedish documentary on TV today, in what looked like an entertaining piece on Chinese food. After a while, though, they showed pictures of a lorry driving down a motorway, full of tiny cages, each with a dog in it. The dogs were not protected from the wind and the weather. We were told they were going on a long journey, at the end of which they would be sold as food to humans. We quickly changed channels on the TV. I feel terrible for all of these dogs, and the other dogs who face a similar fate in China. It is one thing to hear rumours about dogs being eaten by humans in China, quite another thing to see pictures showing dogs transported for this very purpose on TV, in a manner that would make any Swedish animal protection agent freak out. Humans are supposed to be dogs' best friend, but this clearly does not involve the Chinese who eat dogs. I still feel bad about these pictures, I can just hope it will not give me any bad dreams.

Great News from Norway

We have heard great news from Bergen in Norway, where April's and Kuro-chan's son Biki lives at friends of Dad's breeder. Biki has had his hips X-rayed with the result B. This means he has very good hips and will make him even more wanted as a father of future pups. We have all congratulated April and Kuro-chan on their son's result.

Did Not Die in Vain

A dog owner i Lancashire, the UK, fell into an icy river today when trying to rescue his pet springer spaniel. He was pulled from the river by the fire brigade, but despite efforts by paramedics to save him, he died later at the hospital. The dog survived and is now taken care of by the man's family. It is a tragic story, but at least the man did not die in vain, since his dog did survive.

I first read about this story at the web page of the BBC, but the BBC did not mention anything about the faith of the dog. I searched the Internet and found the full story at the web page of the Lancashire Constabulary. It is strange that the BBC did not mention what happened to the dog. This means the reader cannot know that the man's efforts to save his dog's life was actually successful, which mean he did not die for nothing. Nevertheless, he was a hero.

Important News

There has been snow chaos, resulting in terrible accidents. The Swedish news paper Expressen chose an important angle when they report of the troubles in the snow storm, though. They write about a young human who were going to fetch a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup whom she had ordered from a kennel afar. However, she was very late in the long queues on the motorways. The relations between human and dog is always important. I believe it is nice that they describe the snow chaos from this angle, despite the tragedies of car accidents.

Saab

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There is a Lebanese fashion designer called Elie Saab. I would guess she drives a Saab.

:-)

Swedish Idol

Paula is watching a Swedish TV show called Idol (the same thing as American Idol, but in Sweden with Swedish talents), where talents compete with the aim to be able to make a record. The winner is supposed to become an idol, hence the name of the show. Daniel is not very interested, he believes there are enough musicians in the world already. He also says that the re-growth of new musicians need not be through shows like this, but that real talents often make it anyway. Paula does not care about his critisism, she enjoys the show. I believe she is right in doing so, you can enjoy and like something even if not everybody else in the household does. Personally, I do not care much about the show either, but this is because I believe the only great shows are dog shows. If I am to have an idol, it is another dog.

Prominent Relative

Paula's father Nils Olov has reached a prominent position.

Since many years, Nils Olov has run his own business as a masseur. One of his specialties is massage for athletes. Now he has been hired as the masseur for the Swedish National Team in orienteering. This is great.

He is not competing himself, but I would guess he is at least as important as the humans helping dogs who compete in dog shows by running in the other end of the leash. He has told us about some of the athletes he has helped, some of whom would certainly not have achieved as much without his help. The members of the national team are lucky.

Quieter

April is getting out of her heat, and the boys are not screaming as much in their struggle to get to her. We have more peace and quiet now. This is good. I cannot understand why the boys have to be so loud.

Half a Year

Hello, Karstuhl here!

As a pup, I have had many birthdays. At first, we got to celebrate every week. Then it was every month, and when I was half a year I got to start in dog shows. It has been great.

Now I am not a pup anymore, since I am more than nine months old since last Friday. I have learned, however, that adults celebrate much more seldom, and there was no celebration of me when I turned Junior.

I do not understand why adults celebrate more seldom. Daniel sometimes say that there is never a bad reason for a celebration. Nevertheless, he had a half year birthday today, which neither he, Paula, nor any of the others here at home paid any attention to. I thought I would instead, and this is why I write about it in this blog. Maybe this will make Daniel celebrate, preferably by giving me some treats.

Dogs Are Smarter than Cats

A new scientific study shows what most of us have suspected all along: dogs are smarter than cats. The study shows that brains of mammals have evolved faster in species where the individuals are more social than in other species. Dogs are very social animals, much more so than cats, and dogs do have bigger brains than cats. Humans are also social animals, this can be part of the reason that they have big brains as well.

Along Came Polly

Hello, Polly here!

The motion picture Along Came Polly is broadcasted on one of the TV channels we have this evening. I would want to see it, since it is about a girl by the beautiful name Polly. We will see if I may. Paula or Daniel are usually in charge of the remote control, and perhaps some of them think there is something better on a different channel. I cannot understand why, though, a film about someone called Polly must be good, must it not? Well, if I cannot see this film, my belief that it is a good film cannot be proved wrong, so maybe it is a good thing if I do not get to see it.

Pirog

Paula made some pirogi for dinner today. A pirog is a form of pie filled with meat and vegetables.

I looked it up on the Internet. There seem to be some confusion about the word in English. In one online dictionary, the plural form is pirogi in English. This is a little odd, since almost every word in english has a plural form that is an s-suffix. You would therefore think that the plural form of pirog is pirogs, but it is not, according to this dictionary. I also found this form in this dictionary. In another online dictionary, the word is pirogue (plural form pirogues) or piroshki. In Wikipedia, there were one article on pierogi, another on pirozhki, the former of Polish origin, the latter of Russian origin, but basicly it seemed to be the same thing.

Whatever these things are called, Paula's were very tasty.

Upholding the Law

The Japanese police is good at upholding the law. Their fight against organised crime has made progress, they have arrested a man who is alleged to be second in command in Japan's biggest yakuza syndicate. As I am sure you know, the yakuza is the Japanese equivalent to the mafia, only better, just like the Japanese police is better than the Italian, I believe.

Friendly Game

Sweden's national football team is playing against Germany in a friendly game tonight. I will not look at it. It does not mean anything, since it is a friendly game, and why would I then like to see a game that Sweden will certainly lose? There must be many better ways to spend the evening.

Japanese Collects First Sample of Asteroid

A Japanese space probe has collected a sample of dust from an asteroid and brought it to Earth. This is the first time samples from another celestial body than the Moon has been brought to Earth by our civilisation, and it was Japanese who did it. There is no question about the Japanese being a great people, this only goes to prove that once more. I do not think it is strange that the Japanese are great, considering that Japan is the home country of the Shiba Inu. If humans have great dogs, this must make it easier becoming great humans as well.

It will be interesting to see what scientific news can come from this collected asteroid dust. I have small hopes for great discoveries. The greatest achievement was collecting the dust. This was a scientific feat in its own right.

Even a poodle needs a Guardian Angel

My toy poodle friend, the sweet Laila /Love Chan survived a terrible accident today when she slipped on wet ice and landed on her neck/back.

For a moment we thought she had broke her neck, lying still in an odd position. She couldnt move or stand on her legs. All she could do was making odd sounds and breath very constricted.

We rushed to the veterinarian. Laila had some x-rays and physical examination. Luckily she came back to us. Nothing broken or so. Just bruises and a very soar neck. Probably Laila went into chock after the accident which caused her to faint. But she survived!

All of us are still in chock after the terrible trauma. Luckily, Laila seems to recover in a good way. She has manage to eat pop corns and beef filet. In a normal day I would have been very jealous but now Im just happy that my little friend can eat beef filet.

Father's Day

Today is father's day in Sweden, and I have celebrated Dad. Karstuhl has celebrated her father Kuro-chan. April's and Kuro-chan's son Biki in Norway gave Kuro-chan a special gift, by winning Best of Breed at an official show.

Daniel called his father on the telephone and talked to him. April and I also got to go with Paula and Daniel to Paula's parents, where we celebrated Paula's father.

It was a nice day, despite the dull November weather.

Pie

Hi, Karstuhl here!

Paula did some pie for dinner. It smelled really good, but I did not get to taste it. This was the worst moment of today. I am a great pie taster, I just wish I would get the opportunity to show it more often.

Dog Chases Mountain Lion

A mountain lion in South Dakota in the USA was chased up a tree by a terrier. Experts state that it normally takes three hounds to corner a mountain lion, but this terrier did it himself. This is cool.

Later, the dog's human shot and killed the mountain lion. In South Dakota, you are allowed to do that, if you feel that the mountain lion is a threat to you, your livestock or your other animals. This is not as cool. I cannot understand why a mountain lion who had been chased up a tree would be a threat to the human or the dog, but apparently, the authorities will not investigate the matter. Well, I have not read more than a news article about the event, so I will not judge in the matter, but I do feel puzzled about it.

Letting your human do the killing is not as cool as doing it yourself, Mum said. She did not have to say more, she has told us all enough times about the racoon she once killed. That is cool.

Cupcakes

Paula baked cupcakes tonight. They were not for us, though, but for her workmates. At Paula's job, they take turns at baking cakes for the Friday coffee breaks, this Friday was Paula's turn. Since the cupcakes was for Paula's work, we did not get any, even though Paula and Daniel had one each. We got to taste some of the batter, however, and it tasted very good. I am sure the cupcakes will make a success. It is just sad that I did not get any cupcake for myself.

Snow!

Hello, Karstuhl is here... and so is the snow!

We have got more than 10 centimetres of snow since late afternoon yesterday. All of us four legged family members loved to play in it, and eagerly did so. However, we were not the only ones. Daniel was the one who played the most in the snow. He had this big shovel, with which he pushed and pulled snow around in the driveway for two hours last night and another hour this morning. I cannot understand how his way of playing in the snow is fun, but he must have enjoyed it a lot, given how satisfied he was when he got inside again both times around. I guess humans just have different way of amusing themselves than dogs have.

Soaring Profits

Last month, I wrote about Japanese car manufacturer Toyota recalling cars, stating that this was a good thing. Now we can read that Toyota's profits are soaring and reaching new highs. I guess my prediction back then might have been a good one. Toyota fan Kuro-chan is happy to hear this.

Last Time as a Pup

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We were at a dog show in Växjö today. I was shown as a pup for the very last time. I managed to become Best of Breed Pup once again. The rest of "our team" did not do so well. We thought Daddy was the best male, but he did not even win the champion class. My half sister Meja was shown too, but she did not do well either, despite looking good. Well, shows are like that sometimes. We did not stay for the finals, so I skipped the chance to be seen in the finals. On the other hand, how big probability would I have had to make anything more than just a guest appearance? I would probably not have won anything. You will see me in the offical classes next.

Commemorative Moments

This evening, I had the great fortune to get to go with Paula, Daniel, Paula's parents and her sister Mia to graveyards. This weekend is devoted to those who have left us for the afterlife. We had our thoughts on Paula's grandparents.

We also visited the place where Kesshi is laid to rest, and the place where Paula's very first dog, the Samoyed Hakkas, is laid to rest. Hakkas was important for all the coming dogs of Paula and Daniel, because he was the first and started it all. Auntie Linni knew him, but he did not get old and was gone when my Dad and my Mum arrived to Sweden.

It is good to have a special day for everyone to remember those who have left this life. Naturally, I was thinking of Kesshi, but also on Gertrud's father Gunnar, whom I knew and loved.

Too Altruistic

Hi, Karstuhl here!

An elderly couple in Canada won a large sum of money in a lottery. They did not buy anything for themselves, though, but donated almost everything, about 98 % of the money, to different groups in their community. They claim they have already got everything they want themselves. I believe this is stupid. If I won a lot of money, I might donate a small part of it for Shiba Inu rescue organisations, but I would take care of most of the money myself. After all, why bet if you do not look forward to winnings for your own sake? There are always more candy and toys to have, and if you are a human without any dog, there is always dogs to be had. I wish I would have won that money instead, I would have put it to good use!

Second Day of the Course

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Today was the second day that Daniel and I went to the course. We trained getting in contact with each other, and I got a lot of snacks. Some of the exercises were rather tricky, but I got the hang of them quickly. Daniel did not learn as quickly as I did, neither did all of the other humans who were there with dogs. It is clear that the course is aimed at teaching both humans and dogs. This is good, it is good for dogs to have humans who know dogs and how to handle them. The best thing about the course, nevertheless, is the snacks.

Passing a Test

Daniel has passed the theoretical test necessary to become a dog show judge. Now he has to apply for the practical part of the education this spring. We hope he will be accepted, but there are a lot of applicants, so nothing can be taken for granted. It would be nice if Daniel would become a show judge, even though he would never be allowed to judge any of us, since he is our human. It might also make people think higher of our breeding, because if Daniel would be a judge, it would be a sign that he really knows what he is talking about. He is, already, but being a judge might make it more obvious.

Election

We have had our general election in September, but Mum was not very interested. She was more interested in the results of the American Midterm elections yesterday. I can understand that. She was born and raised in the USA and has always retained her affection for her homeland, even though she has lived more than half her life here in Sweden. Mum says it is not that she dislikes her home or her family here, but in her heart, she is always an American.

I know the Democrats lost the majority in the House of Representatives to the Republicans, but kept the majority in the Senate. What I do not know is the relevance of this. Mum says she knows, but she talked more to April about it than to me. This is also understandable. Mum and April are not the very best of friends, but April was also born and raised in the USA and understands American society and politics better than I do.

I have never even visited America. I wish I could go there sometime, time will tell if I do.

In the Ring

Hello, Karstuhl here!


This is a picture of me and Daniel in the show ring last weekend. We are just as synchronised as we look. It is fun running around the showring.

Occupied Territory

Russia occupies four islands that belong to Japan. They have done so ever since the end of World War II. While Japan agrees Russia could conquer the Kuril islands, the four islands between the Kurils and the Japanese island of Hokkaido have always been part of Japan. They are called the Northern Territory. There is no way Japan could agree on the secession of these traditionally Japanese islands. About 17,000 Japanese lived in these islands before the Soviet Union occupied them in 1945.

Today, Russian president Dimitri Medvedev has visited one of these Russian-controlled Japanese islands. Japan has, understandably, responded to this hostile act . The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the visit regrettable. Russia's envoy to Japan was summoned. Russia did not respond in a proper fashion, but called the Japanese reaction "unacceptable". I believe the Japanese reaction was very mild. How many countries would react in such a lenient way to a foreign country occupying part of its territory? Russia should be happy it is dealing with the Japanese, and not with any more hostile people. Control of the Northern Territory should be returned to Japan as soon as possible.

Show

Hello, Polly here!

My brother Nemo and I met again today, at an unofficial show here in our home town. I was Best of Breed Puppy again, while Nemo was Best of Opposite Sex Puppy. The only other Shiba Inu competing was also a black and tan, an adult female who lives in Strängnäs although she is part of the breeding plans of our kennel. Do not ask me how, I have not yet understood, but that is the way it is. She was a nice acquaintance to make. She also became Best of Group - Second. Auntie April also came along to the show, but she was just there as a spectator. All in all, it was a nice day, though it felt long and we were tired when we went home again.

Handler Course

Hello, Karstuhl here again!

It was time for another course today. Daniel is not very experienced as a dog show handler, so he had decided to take a handler course. Since I am the dog he usually shows, I got to accompany him to the course. We both learned some new things, although I agree with Daniel that the course was on a fairly basic level. There was also a lot of spare time here and there, we believe there should have been fewer participants in the course. Nevertheless, the course was not a waste of time.

We also got to meet my brother Nemo and his family, who attended this course as well. Both Nemo and I will be shown at a dog show here in Örebro tomorrow. I hope we will both do well. At former shows, I have always managed to become Best of Breed Pup, but if I would lose to my brother, that would be quite all right.

A Message from the FCI

If you enter the homepage of the FCI, you are greeted by the following superimposed message:

The Fédération Cynologique internationale (FCI) informs all its members and contract parties that it holds no official relations with the Federación Canina Internacional and its members and that it does not recognise this Federación.

I do not know the reason for issuing this statement, but it is obvious that the FCI considers it of great importance. It might be that this other organisation has tried to impose as the FCI. This is serious business. Any dog organisation that takes dogs, dog sports and dog breeding serious is a member of, or affiliated to, the FCI. Other organisations should not try to steal the good name of the FCI. It is as if a competing football organisation to the Féderation Internationale de Football would try to host anything that they called the football world cup, despite not being the FIFA World Cup, this would just be weird. In the world of boxing, there seem to be many competing organisations issuing world champion titles, but this only contributes to the bad standing that boxing has as a sport. I would not want anything like that happen to the world of dogs.

Course

Hi, Polly here!

I go by the name Polly at the course. The first seminar was today, and there will be more seminars on the Thursdays to follow, until January. I am not sure why Paula and Daniel use the name Polly, at home they call me Karstuhl more often than Polly. I listen to both names, but I think Karstuhl is a better name, just because it does not feel as common. Perhaps Paula and Daniel just wanted to use the more common sounding name Polly for me in front of other humans and dogs.

The first seminar was fairly easy. I practised a little with Daniel, and I believe we both learned more about each other.

My brother Nemo was on the course as well. He was a little rude when greeting me at the start of the evening, but then we hit it off again. He was also a good student, second best of us all, next to me, I believe. Together, we held the Shiba Inu banner high.

Sheets

My husband Kuro-chan came to Sweden from our Japanese human friend Toshinori Omura. This Japanese gentleman loves the Shiba Inu breed, but he is a breeder of Poodles himself. Hence, when Paula discovered bed sheets in a Swedish store with Poodle silhouettes all over, she purchased them and send them to Toshinori Omura as a gift. The sheets have now arrived in Japan, and Toshinori Omura is so happy about them that he has published a picture of them in his blog. It is always nice to make a friend happy.

International Teddy Bear Day

Today is the International Teddy Bear Day, which is celebrated on the birthday of US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, from whom the teddy bear got its name more than a hundred years ago. Daniel celebrated by wearing his tie with teddy bears on it.

Teddy bears are worth celebrating. They are the most iconic of plush animals and they are great toys, for dogs and humans alike. I wish everybody a happy teddy bear day!

Upcoming Course

Hi, Karstuhl here!

I will go on a course the day after tomorrow, and the following Thursdays for a couple of weeks. I do not really know what it means to go on a course. As far as I can understand, you are supposed to learn things, but I do not know what, and I do not know why it would be necessary.

Grand Auntie Linni told me about a course she went to, where there were a lot of unknown humans following her around in the forest when she was supposed to search blood trails. She did not like those unknowns at all, and tried to show them by growling at them to leave her alone. I do not know if my course will be that horrible, but I hope not. We just have to wait and see. Just like Linni, I will not put up with anything; after all, I am a noble Shiba Inu.

Researching That Which Is Already Known

By following human news, I have come to the conclusion that there are quite a few humans making the news who are scientists of one kind or the other. Some of these do interesting stuff, such as mapping dog DNA or developing Lunar landing programmes. Others seem to research that which is already known.

At the University of Padua in Italy, scientists have studied the way dogs recognize human faces. They have concluded that dogs recognize the faces of their own humans and prefer their own humans over unknown humans, as if not every human living with dogs already knew this. The study was defended in part because it was supposed to measure to what extent dogs preferred their own humans, as if this does not vary from dog to dog and from time to time depending on the dog's mood.

I wonder who granted the money to this research project. It cannot have been a human having dogs, because a human with dogs would already know the answers.

Would a dog ever research the extent to which humans recognize dogs and if they prefer their own dogs? No, because we already know they do.

Snow

Hello, Karstuhle von Würst here (a.k.a. Polly)!

I would have wanted to write this blog entry in white letters. It would fit the subject, and it is actually possible to chose white text, but it is not possible to have any other background than white, as far as I know. We have to make due with another colour.

We had some snow the other morning, but it melted away over a few hours. There is more snow falling today. The temperature is above the freezing point for water and, as I have been told, this would normally make the snow go away. Still, more snow is falling all the time.

I can recall that there was snow on the ground the first times that I was outdoors. I played in it together with my brother Nemo, before he moved to his new family at eight weeks of age. Snow is supposed to fall every winter, but those who are older than I am say that it comes very early this autumn and will probably go away soon. I hope not, I like to play in it for a while first. It reminds me of my carefree days as a young pup. Mommy says I am still a carefree pup, but I chose myself when to listen to that, it all depends on when I can benefit from it. Mostly, I believe I am not carefree. The snow is funny, anyway.

The Penguin

Hello, Polly here!

We have a stuffed toy penguin that I like. It has been gone for a while, but when we cleaned the floor of the living room today, we found it under one of the sofas. I started to play with it right away, but only for a while. We were not done with the cleaning, so I put the penguin away. Imagine my surprise, when the next time I saw the penguin, it was in the paws of another of the dogs here. I was really disappointed. Then again, what could I do? I have been told over and over not to start a fight over any toy, because there are so many other toys in our house. Am I growing up and becoming more mature, when I back off like this? Perhaps, but I hope not.

April's Pups

One year ago today, April's pups Sally and Biki were born. They do not live close by, but we think of them and their birthday is as good as any for some celebration.

Staying at Home

I knew something was going to happen next week. Paula and Daniel has made plans, organized clothes and other things and fetched travel bags from the smaller house where we store them. The plan was to travel to the Shiba Inu specialty dog show in Washington State in the USA on the 28th and 29th of October. However, these plans turned out to be flawed. Daniel could not get away from his work and Paula would not go alone.

I guess there are only some who are happy with this. Paula and Daniel had been looking forward to this journey all autumn, if not all year. They are distraught, and I can understand them. Their friends in America are also disappointed, and Mum is disappointed that Paula and Daniel cannot send her greetings to her American breeder in person.

I am rather selfishly happy, though, and so are my fellow dogs of the family who would not have come along on the journey. Not only would it have been yet another dog show that I would not have been invited to, but Daniel and Paula would have been away for many days. This does not mean I do not comfort them. Quite the contrary, I really know the sorrow and disappointment that you can feel, when you must not go to a dog show that you have prepared yourself for. Dogs should always comfort their humans, if said humans are distressed, it is one of our purposes in life and we are, by nature, good at it. All of us dogs have comforted Paula and Daniel. We feel sorry for them.

New Rules

Daniel has received new rules on dog shows. The Swedish Kennel Club has revised its rules in cooperation with the national kennel clubs of the other Nordic countries to get a common standard. There are some changes, even though the basic setup is the same as before. The new rules will take effect on the 10th of January 2011, after the Gothenburg dog show "My Dog".

It will be interesting to compete under the new rules. This is something to look forward to for next year.

The letter that came with the new booklet of rules was dated the 5th of October, but did not arrive until this week. Daniel was a little annoyed it did not. I do not really care, though, the rules came long before they take effect.

Securing Quality

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota, biggest in the world, is recalling 1.53 million vehicles due to brake and fuel pump problems. Toyota has received world wide critizism for their slow handling of a recall of about 8.5 million cars not so long ago. The car manufacturer now stresses that this recall is more proactive and that Toyota is working towards better quality and customer service, and that this recall of vehicles is part of that work.

My hubby Kuro-chan, father of Polly and Nemo, is a great Toyota fan and is not happy about this recall of vehicles. I have tried to persuade him that the recall is actually a good thing, if it is handled in a customer friendly way. A car buyer, just like a puppy buyer, needs to be handled with care. The boyer is your customer for as long as the car - or puppy - is in the possession of the buyer. Good relations to the buyer will often make the buyer come back for more, just like the buyers of my brothers Jiro and Kiko came back to us for more pups. I believe that the majority of Toyota customers see this recall as a good thing, ensuring the safety and quality of the car. It will make them more loyal to the Toyota brand. Kuro-chan is not so sure, but I believe it is so.

Thirty Years

Thirty years ago today, Paula and her sister Mia came to Sweden for the very first time. Their parents fetched them from their country of birth, Colombia. Paula and Daniel spent this evening at her parents' place to celebrate this event.

Since Paula was born in another country, she has a unique sense of understanding for Mum, Dad, and other dogs born in foreign countries. I was born in Sweden and has not been in many other countries. In the future, pups of mine may move to other countries, but I do not think I ever will. I am comfortable where I live, even though it is fun to be other places once in a while. It would, for example, have been nice to join the celebrations at Paula's parents' house this evening. None of us dogs were there, though, we celebrated with Paula earlier today.

The Pond

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy did not write anything in her blog yesterday, and did not feel like writing anything today either. She says she does not have a writer's cramp, but just wishes to take a little time off. Well, this gives me the opportunity to write something instead.

I have sometimes wondered about the little pond outside of our house. It just lies there, outside of the dog yard and next to the path we use to go down to the road. What is the use of a pond? There are no fish living there, so it cannot be used for fishing. I then realized that it is big enough and sometimes deep enough for the gnomes to swim in. I suppose the pond is really a gnome swimming pool. This would be a useful purpose for a pond like this.

Mommy does not believe in the gnomes, so she did not think my theory was plausible. I do not care, it is actually much more fun if Mommy dismisses my ideas, then I can drive her a little bit mad when I keep persisting that this might be true. None of the other dogs have any theory on the pond that is more plausible, at least to my mind. Sure, I have never seen any gnomes swim in the pond, but what other use would there be for the pond? There is none, as far as I know. Thus, my theory is at least as good as anybody else's.

Orbiting the Moon

There are plans for humans to orbit the Moon yet again. This was done for the first time in December 1968 with Apollo 8, but has not been done since December 1972 with Apollo 17.

Long time readers of my blog know that I am interested in lunar exploration, in part because my registered name is Aangenaam Lunar Eclips.

I wonder when the first dog will orbit the Moon, or land on it. When human colonies are built on the Moon, dogs will surely be needed there.

Animal Abuse

Abuse of animals can happen in many ways. In Lidköping in Sweden, a dog was taken into custody by the authorities because her humans had fed her too much. She could not walk more than a metre, then she fell to the ground. Her legs just pointed in any directions. The veterinarian could not see any healthy future for this dog, so she was put to sleep.

I find no words to explain the sadness that I feel for this dog. May she rest in peace.

Working Nights

Paula was supposed to be home many days and nights in a row now, but she decided to take an extra night of work tonight. She told us that a colleague of hers had made a mistake when making her schedule, taking this night, when a family member celebrated his birthday. We do understand why that colleague wanted to have the night off. This means we have to manage without Paula tonight. We are used to it, since Paula is often working nights. There is no question about us managing this, but we do not fancy it.

Anatomy and Judging

Almost everything Daniel is talking about and thinking about is dog anatomy and judging. He is taking a test in these subjects on Saturday, so I can understand that it occupies his mind. It would be annoying if he would be talking this much about any other subject, but these are subjects that appeal to me. The aim for Daniel is to become a dog show judge, and I really hope he makes it. He will never be able to judge any of us, because he is our human and the rules forbids this because there would be a risk that he would not look upon us in an objective way. There are plenty of other Shiba Inus to be judged, though.

Uncle

This evening, I got to come along with Paula and Daniel to Paula's parents, who were visited by Paula's father's brother, that is, Paula's uncle. For my part, I know I have uncles on my Dad's side in Norway and on my Mum's side in America, but I have never met them. This made it a bit more special to meet Paula's uncle. It was a nice evening, the only thing I was a little disappointed with was that I did not get any piece of the apple pie.

About Those Gnomes

After I wrote a blog entry about my doubts that there are gnomes living in our house, my dear daughter Karstuhl has tried to convince me that there actually are gnomes here. Even though Karstuhl has said that she has met some of these gnomes, I have not.

It is not that I have to see or meet anybody in order to believe in her or him. There might be gnomes living otherwhere. If gnomes would be living in our house, or for that matter in any of the other buildings on our land, I do believe I would have smelled, heard, or at least seen traces of them sometimes.

I guess Karstuhl is just pulling my hind leg. She is so adorable that way, exploring and evolving her fantasies. She cannot fool me, though!

This Evening

Paula is working tonight, and left this afternoon before Daniel came home. Her plan was that she and Daniel would meet at her sister Mia's place and have dinner there, before Daniel would come home. This would have been boring for us dogs, more time alone. However, it did not take long before Daniel came home. He told us that when he got to Mia's place, there was nobody at home, and nobody answered when he tried to call Paula and Mia on their mobiles. He then decided to go home and told Paula so in a text message. When he was almost at home, Paula called him, but she understood why he had left. It turned out that Paula and Mia had been away working out, but that Mia's boyfriend was supposed to have been at Mia's place, which he was not. It was thus all a big misunderstanding.

I am really glad for this misunderstanding. There is nothing wrong with being alone at home, but it feels better when at least one of Daniel or Paula is here. Daniel also served us dinner earlier, since he came home earlier.

101010

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Today is a day with a funny date: 10/10/10 or 101010. It is the 10th of October (the tenth month of the year) in the year 2010.

I asked the older and more experienced dogs, like Mommy and Granny, if there were any special celebrations on dates like this. I have never experienced such a date before, but they have. There were 090909 last year, for example. They said, however, that this day was just like any other day. Daniel told me that sometimes, people sent letters on dates like this, because they liked the look of the dated stamp, but since it is Sunday he was not certain a letter or postcard sent today would get that date.

Well, I believe there is no bad cause to celebrate, so I suggested we would celebrate. We could also celebrate next year on the 11th of November and the year after on the 12th of December. The others were not so keen on this idea. They said it was no tradition. I have noticed that older dogs and humans often refer to tradition when they want to do or not to do something. Perhaps I will grow up to be just like them, but today, I thought they were too negative. I got to write a blog post about this, anyway.

Rain

There has been no rain where I have been in Sweden today, but a massive downpour in Japan caused the qualifying for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix in Formula 1 to be postponed until Sunday morning. This means that the qualifying sessions will take place about 3 o'clock in the morning, Swedish time. As much as I would like to see the qualifying from the Shiba Inu breed home country, I doubt that I can keep myself awake for it. I guess it is better to sleep, but to get up rather early to see the race itself. Daniel will want to see the qualifying as well, but I do not think he is really up to it either. After all, the race is what really counts. I do hope Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi makes a great result.

En Route to a Dog Show

Paula and I travelled to Vallentuna north of Stockholm this afternoon. We will have a sleepover at Sofie from Kennel Enigma, and will go with her and some of her dogs to the dog show in Sundsvall tomorrow. It is fun to meet old friends, both two legged and four legged.

I look forward to the dog show tomorrow with great anticipation. It seems like so long ago, though it was not that many weeks since I made my comeback in the show ring after giving birth to my last litter. I guess this is what it feels like for everybody who cannot do often enough, something that they love to do. It is autumn and the huge amount of dog shows in the summer has vaned, but I hope I will enter the show rings several times before next summer anyway.

Celebrations After the Day

Auntie Linni had her birthday on the 4th of October. However, since Paula has been working night and Daniel has also been rather busy, she postponed her celebration until today. All the family is at home today, celebrating Linni. She is worth all the celebrations she can get.

Protection Outdoors

We listened to a radio sports show tonight, in which they talked about training and running outdoors. One of the issues they talked about was the feeling of security when running. Human females, especially, have this notion that they might be attacked by vicious human males when they are out running in forests or the like. There were tips on how to feel more secure: bringing a woman friend out in the running track, or buying an electric alarm to wear or the like. We were very surprised that they never mentioned the best protection a human can have: a dog. Do I have to explain why a dog would be the best? I do not think so. Thus, it is all the more surprising that dogs were not mentioned in this context. You have to wonder what some humans are thinking about.

Attacked by Lions

Lions are wild animals, used to roam freely in Africa. In Ukraine in Eastern Europe, a lion trainer showed lions in front of curious humans, when two of the lions attacked him. He was severely injuried in his arm and brought to hospital. Unsurprisingly, but sadly, nothing has been said about what will happen to the lions.

I think it is only fair that the lion trainer was attacked and injuried. You are not supposed to hold wild carnivores in captivity. Do not compare lions with dogs. Dogs are carnivores, but we have lived with humans for at least 40,000 years and have built the current, advanced civilisation together with mankind. I hope these lions will be brought back into the wild.

Well Deserved Nobel Prize

Robert Edwards, the human behind In Vitro Fertilization, IVF, or "test tube babies", has been awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for the discovery and development of IVF. With IVF, couples who are not able to procreate in a natural way can still get offspring by their own genes, fertilized outside of their bodies. It is also important to note that IVF can provide valuable insights for the purpose of conserving endangered canids. I include dog breeds with few individuals here, of course.

A Vatican official, Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, who is the Vatican spokesman on bio-ethics, have critizised that the prize was given to the man behind IVF, though he stressed that he made his statement in a personal capacity. He claimed IVF has resulted in many embryos who will never be able to grow and be born, and that most of these embryos will be killed. I believe this is a cost worth paying. Even in nature, many embryos perish before being born. Without IVF, not a single one of these embryos would become humans, dogs, or whatever they have in their genes to become.

When I first heard about IVF, my biggest concern was that it might be used to make less good genes pass on to coming generations. By this, I mean genes that would not be good enough to survive in nature without IVF. As far as I have learned, however, there is no evidence suggesting that individuals born through IVF has genes of lesser quality than others, nor, indeed, that these individuals have less probability than others of procreating in a natural way themselves. Consequently, IVF makes more genes survive to coming generations, genes of a quality that is at least as good as any others. Thus, the overall gene pool is improved, since it is made bigger. This is especially important with endangered species and endangered dog breeds.

As a mother of four, made in the natural way, I have no personal use for IVF. Nevertheless, I am glad it exists. I believe this Nobel Prize was well deserved.

Gnomes

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The othe week, Mummy wrote a blog entry about the gnomes who live, or may not live, above the ceiling in our house. Mummy is not sure she believes in them, even though Paula and Daniel have talked about them on numerous occasions. Today, I told Mummy I had met some of the gnomes. I told her they were very friendly, though a bit curious and had some strange ideas about who really owns our house. Gnomes often become much older than humans - which is nothing strange, it is just like humans become much older than dogs - and they have often lived much longer than the humans in a house. Our house is built ninety years ago, and would you not believe gnomes have lived here most of that time? That is, much longer than Paula, Daniel, and the dogs who moved in here with them before I was born.

Maybe I have a better understanding of all of this than the others, because I have lived in our house all my life. For your part, you may or may not believe it, it is up to you. Mummy is still in doubt.

Anniversary

Sixty years ago to the day today, the comic strip Peanuts was published for the very first time. Peanuts is one of the most widespread comic strips in the world, and for good reason. It is not only that Peanuts was very funny. One of the main characters of Peanuts is the Beagle Snoopy. He was not in the strip from the very beginning, but from early on. Snoopy is a clever dog and the main reason I hold Peanuts in a high regard. There is every reason to note and celebrate the anniversary of Peanuts. Remember this, if you are having a Saturday party today.

Working Nights

Paula is working nights this week. She will continue with night shifts for many weeks. We all miss her when she is gone during the night. It is not fun, and it means all of us dogs have to take a bigger responsibility for watching the house.

This weekend, Daniel will be away. This means that there will be many nights in a row that either of Paula or Daniel is not at home.

Nevertheless, I think we will work this out. We have before. There will be nights in the future when everyone is gathered at home, just as it always would be in an ideal world. On the other hand, in an ideal world there would never be any trouble, and that would be very boring in the long run.

New Things for the Bathroom

New things arrived for our bathroom today. The new bathroom is almost finished, and we received a new water heater and a new sink, among other things. We also received a new door for the bathroom. It is a nice, white door that matches the door across the hall outside of the bathroom and fits the age of our house. We can now definitely see the end of our time without a functioning bathroom. This is great. I believe we will be able to warmly recommend the company that has been responsible for rebuilding the bathroom: Comfort Vatten och Värme i Örebro.

A Little Heroine and the Necessity of Insurance

In the south of Sweden, a Chihuahua heroine is at the animal hospital, recovering from fighting off a dog claimed to be an American Staffordshire who suddenly attacked her Chihuahua friend. If it was not for this heroine, the other Chihuahua would be dead, according to the news reports.

The biggest problem is not the injuries suffered by the Chihuahua, but the huge veterinary bill after more than athree weeks at the hospital. Dog owners in Sweden have strict liability for damages caused by their dogs, but nobody seems to take responsibility for the actions of the attacking dog. The owner of the Chihuahua says to the press that she has not got the money to pay for the veterinary bill.

I am sad to say I am not surprised that no human takes responsibility for the attack. This is exactly what happened to our friend Kesshi, when he had been attacked by a Jack Russel Terrier the other year. The owners of that Terrier refused to take any responsibility and did not even have any money that could have paid for damages, had they lost in court. What makes me surprised, though, is that the owner of the dog says she cannot pay for the veterinary bill. The owner is a breeder, as such she should know the importance of insuring her dogs against any and all bad things that might happen to them. Our humans do.

The primary source of money for paying the hospital bill must be the assets of the dog owner, but if the dog owner lacks the funds necessary, the secondary source would be the dog's own insurance. I would gladly help the little heroine at the animal hospital, if that would involve claiming money from the owner of the attacking dog. I would not, however, help if the help would mean paying for the veterinary bill because the Chihuahua owner did not have her dogs properly insured. If this is the case, I do feel sorry for the injured Chihuahua, but not for her owner.

Popcorn

Paula is poping popcorns late tonight. Daniel said he did not want any, but I do. I also know the rest of us dogs want popcorns. I cannot understand why Daniel does not want popcorns. It is such a tasty snack. There is also a social thing about snacks like popcorn, when you eat them together with family and friends from a common bowl. If you have not tried to share a bowl of popcorns with the dogs and humans of your family, I suggest you try. It is a great evening get together.

Burial

We buried Kesshi today. I participated as a representative of the dogs of our family. As a special honour to Kesshi, we had lemon cupcakes. These were his favourites. I understand that, they are really good. May Kesshi rest in peace!

Anatomy

Daniel is studying anatomy this weekend. This is not all he does. He has seen to it that we got food in our bowls, worked a bit in the garden and watched a bit on the TV. Most of the time, though, he tries to preoccupy himself with a book on dog anatomy. It is great that he want to learn a lot about this. Of course, all of us dogs knows all there is to know already, simply by having a dog's anatomy, but it is nice to know that Daniel tries to learn the same things. The purpose of his studies is to be prepared for a course in anatomy and judging that he will take next weekend. He is aimed at becoming a dog show judge, and this is a first step on the road to be just that. His primary breed to judge will be the Shiba Inu, of course. We all wish him good luck in his efforts.

Updated Result

What I wrote yesterday about the result of the election to the Örebro City council is not true anymore. The County has reexamined some of the votes which were, at first, declared null and void. This means that the seat that seemed to go from one of the parties to the left to one of the parties to the right went back again. Thus, it now seems like we will have a left coalition minority rule for the next four years.

Is this the final result? Will there be a leftish minority rule? I do not know. I might bet on it, but I am not sure.

Election Results

Daniel goes on and on about it, so I might as well write a few lines about the results of the Swedish general election.

In the national parliament, a centre-right four party government coalition stood against a centre-left-far-left-environmentalist three party coalition. The government won more than 49 % of the votes, but was two seats from keeping its majority in the 349 member parliament. The opposition coalition won less votes, and a populistic far-right party won seats for the first time. (You can have doubts about the far-right label, since many of the ideas of that party are rather leftish, Daniel says, but this is beside the point.) The government coalition stays in power, still with more seats than the left coalition, following a tradition of minority governments in Sweden.

In our home city, the result was rather similar, with the exception that the environmentalist party is on the same side as the centre-right parties. The centre-right-environmentalist coalition stays in power, having lost its majority in the city council but still with more seats than the left coalition, and then there are some seats that went to the far-right party. Daniel won a seat with his conservative party of the centre-right kind.

What is similar, both on the national level and on our local level, is that neither the centre-right nor the left coalition will cooperate with the new far-right party. This is the foundation for keeping the power, despite having a minority. Daniel is not very concerned about the state of the national parliament, but a bit more so on the city council. Still, if everyone takes care not to invite the far-right party into any cooperation, this should work out just fine. I just wish I could understand it a little better, human politics can be so complicated.

RIP

Mum's grandmother Jenny has passed away, fifteen years old. She used to be a show dog and a great agility dog, but retired some time ago. Finally, her kidneys stopped functioning properly, and then she did not have much time left on Earth. I never knew my great grandmother, as she lived in America, where I have never been, but Mum has told me about her. Her lines live on in Mum, me, and Polly, and hopefully for generations in eternity, as she surely does herself in Heaven.

Horror Movie

Last week, I wrote about a newborn human boy who was found deserted on an airplane at an airport in Manila, the Philippines. His mother was found a couple of days later. Today, I have an even more horrible story to tell. A man was filmed by a CCTV camera in Dorset, the UK, when walking a limping dog. He then suddenly walked away from the dog, got into the back seat of a car, and the car drove off.

The dog is taken care of by wardens from the borough council, who are now trying to rehouse her. It was found out that her limp was due to seriously overgrown claws that were digging into her pads.

A mother can desert a newborn baby due to temporary insanity after delivering her child. Deserting a dog in the way shown in this film must be premediated. Any human must consider this a much worse offence.

The humans responsible for deserting this dog will be prosecuted. In England, the maximum sentence for causing unnecessary harm to an animal is six months in prison and a £20,000 fine. I believe this is not enough, but that is just me.

Early Humans and Early Dogs

There are new theories on when early humans left Africa for the rest of the world. Findings of ancient stone tools suggest they may have left Africa more than 70,000 years ago, even though DNA researchers say it is more likely the exodus happened about 60,000 years ago.

The scientists who support the earlier times say the DNA results are not quite reliable. The reason would be that the DNA research is made on present day humans without any ancient DNA to compare.

As far as I know, DNA research have also suggested dogs and humans started to live together on Earth about 40,000 years ago. If the DNA research on humans suggest a date which is too late, perhaps the DNA research on dogs do as well. In that case, dogs and humans may have joined forces much earlier than 40,000 years ago. I like to think this is true.

Late Night

We were up until late last night, watching the election results coming in. Suddenly, we were past midnight, and I had not written any daily blog post. I am sorry I did not. The election was kind of exciting, since it was so close. As I have written before, I am not really sure what to think of the different political parties, but I have my hopes for the party that Paula and Daniel are members of - for their sake, if nothing else.

Election Tomorrow

There is a general election every four years in Sweden, determinging which humans will rule human society. Tomorrow, it is time again, for the second time in my life. Only humans who are eighteen years or older are allowed to vote. Dogs are not, not even the odd dog who would live to be eighteen. Humans do not trust us to make informed choices. Perhaps this is true.

If I would be allowed to vote, I would want to vote for the party who offer the best terms for dogs and dog breeders. Daniel says, however, that there is no party which makes terms for dogs a main issue in the election or in their policies at large. I know Daniel and Paula would work for dogs if they were elected, but when they try to teach me about the election, policies of different politicians, and the trade-offs which they say are often needed to get political result, it all seem to be so complicated. It might give me more satisfaction not to vote. Nevertheless, I hope my human readers who can vote for Paula and Daniel will. They would be happy, which would make me happier.

Reshuffling the Cabinet

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan was reelected as party leader the other day, and could thus remain as PM. I believe this is good for the political stability in Japan, which has seen so many different Prime Ministers over the last couple of years. Naoto Kan is now reshuffling his cabinet, giving important posts to new ministers. It might seem like this is political instability, but I say it is not. The main issue for political stability in a country is a monarch, which Japan is fortunate to have, and the second most important thing are prime ministers who have a firm political majority behind them in parliament and their own cabinet. Reshuffling the cabinet is mostly a way to strengthen this political stability.

Meanwhile, back in Sweden, we have a general election the day after tomorrow. Since 2006, we have had the first cabinet supported by a majority in parliament since 1981. In the interest of political stability in Sweden, it would be nice if the present majority coalition would win a majority this Sunday as well. Then we might see a reshuffle in the Swedish cabinet as well, even that in the interest of political stability.

Not a Future Career

Hi, Karstuhl here!

I have been thinking of my future this week. Part of it involves being a pet dog, part of it a show dog, if I tread in the paw prints of my Mummy and Granny. There might be other options, though. I have considered becoming a hairdresser for poodles. My toy poodle friend Laila volunteered as a hair dressing model. She was disappointed with the result, but what would you expect from a first attempt, an attempt that Paula did not allow me to finish? All I had time to do was one of Laila's ears, not the other. Both Laila and Paula are disappointed with me and suggest that I must find another career. With reviews as bad as theirs, I guess I will.

Celebration

I am busy celebrating my birthday today, so there will not be much written in my blog. Greetings and presents are welcome, even if they are late!

Bomb Threat

One of the most famous buildings in the world, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, has been threatened. An anonymous phone caller have said there is a bomb in the tower. All the visitors have been evacuated and police are searching the tower for a bomb. A bomb searching dog is helping the police, of course. Nobody is better at finding bombs than a dog trained for it. This is yet another example of how dogs are invaluable for all society.

Above the Ceiling

The men who are at our house to rebuild our bathroom has come a long way now. Today, they were up in the tiny space between our ceiling and the roof, giving us new water pipes from the kitchen to the bathroom. There were, of course, some odd noise from up there, but they did not find any odd things.

Paula and Daniel have talked about gnomes living in our house, and I have presumed it must be up there, because that is the only space available. I am not sure I believe there really are any gnomes there, because I have never heard, smelled or seen any. It is quite possible this is something Paula and Daniel are just joking about. They can have rather serious voices when joking about things that they both know are not true, sometimes making it a little difficult for the rest of us to know whether it is a joke or not. I guess that if we do have gnomes living on top of our ceiling, they were out today, disturbed as they would otherwise have been by the work being done.

Newborn Human Boy Deserted

Cleaners onboard a Gulf Air aircraft which had landed in Manila, the Philippines, have found a newborn boy in a trash bin in one of the toilets onboard. The boy has been taken to a hospital and is in good health. He is called George Francis, after Gulf Air's airline code GF.

The mother must have managed to give birth to the boy without anybody else onboard taking notice and then sneaked out of the aircraft together with the rest of the passengers. The social services in Manila has started an investigation into the identity of the boy and his mother. I guess the passenger list to the aircraft can come to good use in this investigation.

As a mother of four, I have a hard time understanding how anybody can desert their offspring in this way. There might be some kind of temporary insanity behind the behaviour. When I gave birth to my first litter, where both pups were breech births, I was very tired in the first hour after delivering them. Once I had had this hour to recollect myself, however, I took very well care of my pups. The second birth was easier.

My guess is that this was the first birth of a very young mother, who presumed her family would not accept her having a child, and thus went into panic. I cannot understand, though, how a baby would not be welcome into its family, no matter how unexpectedly it would be born. Being a parent is one of the main purposes of life, and one of the best things in life. I hope this deserted boy will have a happy reunion with his mother, or else that he will be adopted by other humans who will love him.

We Will Never Forget

Inbreeding

Some humans complain over inbreeding in many dog breeds. Dogs are, however, not the only species at risk because of inbreeding. The risk of inbreeding exist in all species who uses sexual reproduction. In the UK, for instance, scientists warn that some bumblebee populations are at risk of extinction because of inbreeding, which is caused by a loss of suitable habitats. Humans are, thus, in part to blame for this. This is sad news. Bumblebees are important for the biodiversity, not only on their own account, but because many plants depend on them for their reproduction.

Dad is not sorry. He hates bumblebees and other small flying things. They are bugging him. He has explained to me that they can be very dangerous, but I am still not as hesitant about meeting them as he is. Well, at least Dad would be happy if there were no more bumblebees around our house.

Illegal Hunt?

The European Union has instigated an investigation into the hunt for wolves in Sweden last winter. There are suspicions that Sweden made the decision on the hunt in breach of the EU rules on habitats of endagered animals. The EU states that the hunt has probably contributed to more inbreeding of the Swedish wolves, that the purpose of the hunt is unclear, and questions the scientific causes for the hunt.

The Swedish government has said that it will bring more wolves to Sweden, in order to minimize the inbreeding. I guess this is a good idea. Dog breeders often bring dogs to their home country from abroad for the same purpose. Nevertheless, I cannot see the need for hunting wolves. There are so few wolves in Sweden anyway. People in the countryside who are afraid of the wolf may get large dogs for the protection of themselves and their livestock instead, this is a method that works in other countries.

Inspiration

It is not always easy having a daily blog. Once in a while, I cannot think of anything to write. This is such an evening. Please come back tomorrow, I will go on a quest for inspiration until then.

Gone Forever

Hello, Karstuhl here again.

Mummy is very sad about the passing away of the old friend of the family, Kesshi. I cannot be as sad. I did not know Kesshi, I just knew of him. I do know Kesshis human Mia, Paula's sister, who was here yesterday. I helped comforting Mia. I also take a little pressure off of Mummy by writing the blog post for today.

As a matter of fact, I have a hard time relating to death as such. I am still just a pup, I have not lived very long, and I have never knew anybody whom I have lost in that way. The grownups say death is final, that you never come back. This sounds strange. They also say everybody will die, eventually. I am still not comfortable with that thought. It is not that I have considered life before me as an eternity, I just had not given life, eternity or death any thought at all before. I guess this will preoccupy my thoughts for a couple of days.

Off to Heaven

Kesshi has left us for the afterlife. Kesshi, Paula's sister Mia's Shiba Inu male.

Mia came by our house afterwards, so we all got the chance to comfort her.

I am sure Kesshi is on his way to a better afterlife, if he has not reached it already. He was such a nice, good hearted fellow. He tricked death two and a half years ago, after suffering a surprise attack by a fierce Jack Russel Terrier, but never got quite well. In afterlife, he must be as strong as he ever were.

Killing a Garden Gnome

There is a commercial currently aired on Swedish TV for a Swedish home decoration store chain that we do not like. This store chain has decided not to sell anything but fabric and other "soft" things, so in the commercial, a garden gnome is thrown out of an airplane together with a lot of fabric, and the gnome is crushed when reaching the ground. We feel sorry for the garden gnome. What has he done to deserve being executed in this horrible way? We do not think it was his fault the store chain felt the need for change. Well, garden gnomes are often ridiculed, perhaps this is what makes them fair game in the minds of a lot of people. I think that is wrong. At the very least, garden gnomes deserves more respect than is shown in this commercial.

Visit

We are not going to any dog show this weekend, but there are other things to do on a weekend that makes for a nice change from the usual routines. I got to go with Paula and Daniel to Paula's parents this afternoon, as the only dog. It is nice to feel special once in a while, and we always have a nice time by Paula's parents. We had a little barbecue and I got to taste the good food. I also got the opportunity to rest in Nils Olov's lap for a long time, which made me feel even more special. I suppose he liked it just as much as I did. All in all, it was a very pleasant visit, even though - or rather just because - there is nothing more interesting to say about it. You do not always have to make things special in order for it to be pleasant.

Qualification

The qualification to the UEFA European Championship in football has started tonight. Sweden played Hungary and won 2-0. The championship is played in the summer of 2012.

I believe it is a good thing for the sport of football that there are other international championships than the World Cup, and that the qualifications to the different championships of the confederations stretch out for years, just like the qualifications to the World Cup does. This makes people keep the interest for national team football, which I believe would disappear if there was just the World Cup played every four years. Especially for dogs, who have lifespans which are more limited than that of humans, a football cup played every four years would really be too far in between.

There are, of course, both humans and dogs who are not interested in football no matter what. Mum is one of them. She did have a tiny bit of interest for the World Cup for as long as her home country USA was playing, but that was it. The European Championship is nothing for her. I hope Sweden does well, nevertheless. Dad hopes Norway does well. The next games are played this Wednesday, we will see what happens then.

Dog Attacked by Lynx

A Swedish newspaper has published a film on its web page with photos from a camera strapped to a dog, just as that dog was attacked by a lynx. The dog was out in a forest in Sweden with his human, hunting for bears. He started to bark when out of sight of his human, then he was attacked. Fortunately, he survived and did not even get wounds serious enough that he had to go to a veterinarian. The lynx just bit him in one leg. The film may be a bit scarry and it is noisy, capturing the barking, but all is well that ends well.

A reporter asks the dog's human by the end of the film if he will hesitate to bring the dog out into the forest again, but the answer is no. I believe this is a correct risk assessment. It is highly unlikely that you are attacked by a lynx. It would be at least as unlikely to be attacked a second time. Hunting dogs love to hunt, that is what they live for; it would probably be more traumatic for this dog never to hunt again than to go out in the forest again where he was attacked by the lynx. I wish him good hunting!

Dog Rescue

We watched a TV documentary this afternoon about dog rescuers in Philadelphia, USA. It is horrible what some humans let their dogs go through. There were some humans who used their dogs for dog fights, that is, they were teaching their dogs to fight other dogs until either of them died. This is not legal, and with good reason. Making dogs fight each other goes against dog nature and is animal cruelty. The greatest tragedy is that even if you rescue these dogs, they have been taught to be aggressive all their lives, which makes it very difficult to rehabilitate them and give them normal lives in the care of loving humans and with normal relations to other dogs.

Perhaps humans who are convicted of arranging dog fights would be sentenced to bare hand fighting for life or death to each other. The humans who would survive, would be put in prison for life. On the other hand, the justice system needs to show that the law is better than the weird morale of these people, and just sentence them to prison. I do believe, however, that they should have prison sentences for life. Humans like that should not be let lose in society.

Early Night

We take an early night tonight. We did not get much sleep during our wonderful weekend on Gotland, especially Daniel did not. He also caught a cold on the night between Sunday and Monday, but managed to drive home to Örebro where we arrived at 1.15 in the night. We did not have an early night yesterday either. Today, though, we will. This will hopefully make all of us in a better mood.

I am glad dogs cannot be infected by the viruses that cause human colds. If we would, I guess most of the four legged members of our household would be coughing and sneezing now. Paula has been infected, but we have not. On the other hand, there are diseases that dogs get which humans do not, so I guess it evens out.

Visby

Hello, Polly here!


I was best pup of the breed at both shows we went to this weekend, just outside of Visby. I was the only pup competing, but that is no guarantee for being best pup. You have to be good enough to get an Honourary Prize first, which shows there are hopes that you will grow up to be an excellent representative of your breed.


Visby is a nice city. We lived in the old part of the city, within the city walls. This meant we were allowed to drive our car up to a parking lot next to the hotel, whereas motor vehicles are normally prohibited from getting inside the city walls in the summer months. I was amazed at how narrow the streets were, making Daniel drive very slowly. Mummy explained to me many of the narrowest streets were in fact alleys, though there is no determined definition on what is a street and what is an alley. I learned that in the old days, when the old city was built, there were no cars. There were carts, but these were few and not meant to go into all the alleys. Prohibiting motor vehicles from the old city is thus just a way to make the streets and alleys be used in the way they were originally built for. This was fascinating to learn.


I hope we will go back to Visby next year. They are supposed to arrange a show at the same weekend next year.

The Show

We came back home to Örebro really late last night, after a successful show. I was Best of Breed Saturday, beating my dear husband Kuro-chan. On Sunday, he beat me in the Best of Breed competition. Our daughter Polly was best pup both days. Mum became Best Veteran. These are the most important competitions, since the breed competitions are the official ones.

Preparing for the Next Show

We are going to two more shows this weekend, on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. The shows are on Saturday and Sunday, one show each of these days. It takes a while to go to Gotland. We will go by ferry tomorrow and stay the night until Saturday. There are two shows on Gotland, which makes it worth the long trip. I hope we will be successful, too. Any show is fun to be at, but of course, it is better if you are successful as well. With two shows, you have two chances the same weekend, which is great. I am looking forward to this trip.

Picture of Winners

This is me to the right in Norrköping, when I had just won Best of Breed. My handler was Sofie Lönn, while Paula was the handler for Kuro-chan, left, who became Best of Opposite Sex. Judge was Mr Dimitris Antonopoulos from Greece. The nice photography is courtesy of photographer Sandra Älverud Sjöström of Kennel Spisi's.