Winter

This is the last day of January, and the winter is as cold as ever. We had about 20 cm of new snow this week. According to the meteorologists, there will be more snow next week. I like new snow, it is fun to play in. At the same time, I hope the winter will not be too long. I am expecting pups in the second half of February, and they will want to go out by the end of March and in April. It must not be too cold when my pups want to go out. Well, we cannot know now what the weather will be like a month from now, but nobody can take my hope away. I just hope the best for my pups, that is all. We will have to see what February will be like.

A Miracle on the Baltic Sea

A Polish research ship in the Baltic Sea recently discovered a dog way out on the sea, who tried to stay afloat on small patches of ice. The crew managed to rescue the dog, who is now safe and warm onboard. He had been seen floating down the Polish river Wisla on the ice, but nobody had been able to save him before. It is uncertain who is really this dogs human, out of four people who have claimed him, he has met two, but did not recognize them. So far, the ship's crew takes care of him, and will keep him until his identity and real humans may be identified. The question of his identity is important, but the main thing is, of course, that he is safe now.

Friday Night

It is Friday night, and we are winding down at the beginning of the weekend. Life could only be slightly better, Paula could be home. Paula spends the evening with her sister Mia and Mia's dog Kesshi. We are not complaining, everybody cannot be at home all the time. I hope she has fun, like we have.

No Swedish Budget Deficit

Out of the 27 member countries of the European Union, 20 have such high budget deficits that the European Commission demands that they take action against it. Sweden is among the seven countries that are financially sound and are not required by the Commission to take any further action. This is good, it means that the Kingdom of Sweden has a very good economy even in the current recession. A sound government economy is one of the most important things for the economy of the whole country to thrive economically. This is because the government part of the whole economy is so big and important, and because the government can levy new or higher taxes if its economy is bad, to the detriment of other parts of the economy. It must be said that the current administration is good at handling the kingdom's economy. This is something for all grown up humans to consider in the general election this autumn.

Spyker

The Dutch car manufacturer Spyker has purchased the Swedish car manufacturer Saab from American corporation General Motors. It is good for all fans of Saab, because General Motors would have closed the factory otherwise. I am a little worried, though. Spyker was involved in Formula 1 for a year and a half recently, but then sold the racing team to Force India. Will they hold out for a longer time with Saab?

An Unnecessary World Championship

The world championship in bandy is played in Russia now. The only two countries who really compete for the gold medals are Sweden and Russia. Finland, Norway, Kazakstan, and the USA participate as well, but this is more an excuse for the bandy fans to call it a world championship. Sweden just beat the USA 14-6 with a reserve team. The championship could actually be played as one game between Russia and Sweden. Outside of these two countries, hardly anybody cares.

It is not an olympic sport, too few nations are good at it. The sport in itself is almost like ice hockey, but played on an ice big as a football field and with a red ball, a ball hardly visible on TV. You can only become a professional if you go to Russia, but who would want to do that? I think bandy should be scrapped, in favour of ice hockey. The sport is unnecessary, and the world championship even more.

Paula Is Back

Paula came back late last night. I wanted to wait until she came home before I posted anything in my blog, because her homecoming would be the best thing to write about. She came home at half past eleven in the night, and immediately occupied the computer to upload pictures from her visit in Norway. It was interesting to see the pictures and hear her tell of Dad's breeder, who is also Hibiki's new human. I did not get to use the computer before midnight, that is why I did not write anything in my blog yesterday. It did not matter, though, the main thing was that Paula came back home.

Missing Paula

When Paula is away for the night, she usually come home early in the morning. We hoped she would this morning too, but she did not. She is missed.

Hibiki Has Left Us

Hibiki left us for his new home and new human family today. April, I, Dad, and Daniel accompanied him and Paula to the airport, from which they flew to the final destination, the town where Hibiki will live from now on. Dad has told Hibiki about this town, he has first hand knowledge of it since he was a pup. (Sometimes, I have a hard time picturing Dad as a pup, even though I know he once was one.) We miss Hibiki, especially April, but we are convinced that he will have a good life with his new family and we know his new humans have been looking forward to welcome him home for a long time. It will all be great and we will surely meet Hibiki again at future dog shows.

Customs

There was a show on American border patrols and customs on TV tonight. One of the customs officers was a dog named Dixie. She searched baggage for food, since it is illegal to bring unsealed food into the USA to prevent bacteria and such things to come in. A young man had to pay a fine of $ 300 for having a sandwich in his bag. He denied that it was his intent to smuggle it in, of course, but who would not? This was a good catch by the customs dog.

Sometimes, I wish I could have a job as important as this customs dog. I am not complaining, but there might be more to life than this. On the other hand, I am quite happy with my life as a pet and show dog and a mum. The mum part is rewarding and important, and so is the show dog part.

Ultra Sound

Paula and I went to the veterinarian today to make an ultra sound exam of me. I have never been in doubt that I am expecting pups, but it is always nice to have the vet's word on it. According to the vet, I am expecting at least four pups. This would make my next litter the biggest litter so far in our breeding programme. I am not surprised at that either, with my second litter and the nice father I picked for it.

Mum is a little envious at me for expecting pups. It is not that she, at her age, want to have more pups, but when expecting pups you get more food to eat, and food has always been Mum's biggest love.

Farmville?

Paula is playing an online game called Farmville at Facebook. The object is to grow crops, that can be sold so that other stuff can be bought and the farm can be developed. So far, she mostly grows strawberries. I cannot understand the fascination of this game. It would be completely different if she would have a pig farm or something like that. Since it is a computer game, thus a bit unrealistic, I would also like it if meatballs could be grown. Berries are not as cool, because meat is much tastier than berries.

Sports Gala

The Swedish Sports Gala was broadcasted in live television tonight. I was not interested. I like to watch sport on TV sometimes, but I believe the highest form of competition is dog shows, and they do not care about dog shows on the Sports Gala. I hope they will eventually have live TV coverage of main dog shows in Sweden.

Early Sunday Morning

We had to get up early this morning, despite it being Sunday - the day of rest - and despite the late night yesterday. Paula and Daniel went away with some of the dogs, but not me, but they would not say what they were up to. Sometimes, this would mean they would go to a dog show without me, since they know how much I love to go to shows. However, I do not think they went to a dog show without me today, because the pup Hibiki came along. He is old enough to go most places, but would not be old enough to enter a dog show ground, with all the dogs and potential health hazards this might bring pups. I wonder where they went and what they did. It is terrible not to know, even though the worst thing today was getting up so early on a Sunday morning.

Graduation

Paula graduated from nursing school today. There has been a lot of preparations and planing for this day, especially this week. There were talk about inviting family for a dinner after the ceremony at the university and talk about cake, so we anticipated it with high expectations. However, it has turned out that the dinner was not at our place and that the cake was eaten at the dinner at that other place. Rumor has it, the other place was Paula's parents house, but we are not certain, because none of us dogs were invited. Instead, we had to spend most of the day with just the company of each other, as Paula and Daniel were away and no other human friends came to visit us. It is understandable that Paula and Daniel do not tell us outright if they will go to Paula's parents without bringing any of us, because they know we get disappointed if we do not get to come. On the other hand, it is sometimes better to know and be disappointed than not to know and being unable to know what to think.

Oh well, it might have been a disappointing day for us dogs, but Paula only graduates once and the main thing is that she is happy about how the day turned out. Daniel came home on many occasions during the day to let us out and to give us food, so we were well taken care of the whole day anyway. We will have to hear about Paula's day when she comes home later tonight.

Human Languages

Humans are said to have the most advanced languages of all animals. However, it comes with a price: they often cannot understand each other. While all dogs have the same language around the world, humans have hundreds of different languages. This also makes it difficult for us dogs. We are capable of learning the basics of human languages, but learn the specific language that our humans speak. Paula and Daniel still uses some commands in English when talking to Mum, since she lived her first five years in America.

In England, a dog was taken care of by a shelter, where they first thought he was deaf, because he did not respond to any commands. This was before they realized he came from a Polish family and did understand commands given in Polish. Now they have managed to make him bilingual, so he understand some English as well, thus making it easier for him to get a new human family in England. I hope everything turns out well for him.

Borders

There is a US TV documentary that we have seen a few times about the US border control. It is quite interesting to see when they apprehend people with the most stupid answers to simple questions. I believe border control is important, not least for the safety and health of dogs and other animals. Border controls can keep diseases out. It is nice to see the effectiveness of the US authorities, especially since I am half American myself, through my dear Mum.

It Is a Sin

Daniel has had a "semla", a Swedish cake of a white bun, whipped cream, and almond paste. It is fattening, but gluttony is not the main sin here. A semla is not supposed to be eaten until Fat Tuesday, and then it can be had until Easter. It is a sin to eat it during other times of the year! I could have saved Daniel from part of the sin by eating part of the semla, but he would not allow it. Well, if he wants to sin, and will not allow me to help him from it, it is up to him.

Wrinkle Genes

Scientists have found the gene behind the wrinkles of the Shar Pei dog breed. It was a gene which is known to make an enzyme important in the production of skin. Thus, more skin than the amount which seems enough is produced, giving the Shar Peis their wrinkles.

In fact, a lot of research is made on dog genes. The many different dog breeds from pure bred dogs make it easy for scientists to discover the individual role of each gene. This is but one example of how we dogs are essential for the modern human.

Busy Week

This is going to be a busy week. Paula makes her final week on the nurse education, and it contains mandatory lectures from early morning until late afternoon from Monday to Thursday. Meanwhile, Daniel has got his full time job to think of, as well as his political work. The dogs of the household have to guard the house while Paula and Daniel are gone. This is not always easy. There are sometimes noisy vehicles going by on the road, and you can never be sure whether they have any business being here or not, so you have to take the safest bet and rather bark at one too many than one too few. We also have to take care of Hibiki, who is still a pup, even though his mother April does most of the work. It will be calmer next week, when Paula is done with her education, but has yet to start the work that she has got from the 1st of February. We can look forward to that, while enduring this week.

Wolves from a Zoo Killed

All the wolves at a zoo in Scania in the south of Sweden have been killed by the zoo keepers. The reason stated is that the wolves got out of their enclosed yard and started to hunt and kill other animals of the zoo, such as deer and elks. There seem to have been a bit of a power struggle within the wolf pack, which made them more unruly than usually. I cannot see that killing the wolves was the only, nor the best, option. If wolves get out of their enclosed quarters, the fault is not with the wolves, but with the fence. The fence could have been made better. The wolves' instinct to kill prey is not abnormal either, on the contrary, one of the purposes of herbivores is to be food for carnivores.

The authorities must look into this. It is bad zoo keeping.

Web Site Addresses

I am quite happy with the web site address of my blog. It may look a little complicated, but if you want to get to my blog, you can always find it. For other people, such as all of those who have a bigger ego than I, it may be worth it to purchase a special web name. If you buy a name on the top domain of Montenegro, you can have a domain that can truly direct people to you. This top domain is .me, which opens up for a lot of possibilities. While it would be a little fun to have a special domain name, I personally do not think it is worth it. It is, nevertheless, a good enough topic for a blog entry, I believe.

Hibiki at Work

Hibiki has been with Daniel to Daniel's work for two days in a row now. He says there are many nice people there and that he has had fun. I am a little jealous, I would also like to do something special like that once in a while. On the other hand, Hibiki will leave us in two weeks to move to his new home, while I will stay here. I will get more chances to visit Daniel's work in the future.

Burned

Paula made some food in the oven, but when taking it out, she burned her thumb. She had to keep it in cold water for a long time. Paula is a humble and good person, however. She said it was better that she burned herself than that any of us dogs was burned, curious as we usually are when she or Daniel is cooking. Maybe she has been inspired to become so humble by me, humble as I am. It is a good way to be.

The food was good, we all got to taste some.

Record Breaking Tuna

A single tuna fish has been sold in Japan for 16.28 million yen, the highest price paid in Japan for nine years. This tuna weighed 232 kg. The Japanese eat a lot of tuna, not least in sushi. It sure would be something to get a taste of this huge fish, but it is naturally highly unlikely that I get to do it.

At the same time, there are concerns that tunas are being fished too hard. Tuna stocks are diminishing in the Atlantic and the Medditeranean, and I believe it would be prudent to take care of the stock in the Pacific as well. I do not suggest a complete ban on tuna fishing, but with limits on the fishing the tuna stocks would surely be bigger again.

Weird Idea

It will be even colder weather in Sweden. North of us, it is colder than here, of course. There was a radio show today where they spoke about the cold weather. They talked to a dog ower who had a weird idea. She said she planned to learn her dog to go on a litter box indoors on the really cold days, instead of taking him out. This is weird. How can you deny your dog to go outside to do what he or she has to do? It is close to mistreating the dog. You can take shorter walks or have the dog in your yard for shorter times, the dog would not want to stay out for long either, but to completely deny your dog to go out should not be allowed.

Waffles

Paula made waffles for lunch. Waffles are great food, even though it does not contain any meat. All of us dogs got some parts of the waffles to eat, even little Hibiki. We all enjoyed the waffles very much. We got ordinary food later in the day, and while it is tasty, it is far from waffles, and sometimes it gets a little boring. I wish we could have waffles more often.

Too Many Wolves Killed

I heard that it is now confirmed that too many wolves have been shot and killed. This is terrible. The Swedish wolves were already too few and had a gene pool that was too narrow, the hunt certainly does not help.

Some Shiba Inus have sesame coloured coats. This colour is known for its resemblance of the coat colour of wolves. Mum, my brother Jiro, and my daughter Meja are among the Shiba Inus I know of who have sesame coats. I hope none of those get lost in the woods when there are wolf hunters on the lose there.

Killing Wolves

I am a little disturbed by the fact that the Swedish Parliament has authorized the hunt and killing of wolves in Swedish forests. Swedish hunters and sheep breeders do not want wolves, but I feel akin to them. Wolves are, after all, the wild relatives of all dogs. I also doubt that the Swedish wolves have such numbers that they can cope with hunting, especially since they have a narrow gene pool, with only very few ancestors.

In other countries, sheep breeders have no trouble with much larger numbers of wolves, because they have herding dogs who are big and strong enough to protect the sheep. I believe this is the right way to protect the sheep, by letting dogs do it.

The worst thing about the wolf hunt is that it started by new year and it seems like the hunters have already shot and killed more than the numbers allowed. The news reports are not clear on this, but if it is true, what can be done about this? Will more wolves be imported from other countries? There are also wolves being shot at, but whom have not been found afterwards. I really hope there are no wolves hurt and suffering out there.

A New Year

A new year is here, and I will continue to write in my blog this year as well. It will be interesting to see what this year will bring. One year ago, my pups were one day old, back then I did not have much time to think about anything but them. You could say I have more time to speculate now. However, I have learned from experience that future is very hard to foresee, therefore, I will not try today. Time will tell what happens anyway. If you do not make too many expectations, you have less risk of being disappointed. I am a dog with a positive attitude to life, so I make sure not to make too great expectations to refrain from becoming disappointed. I wish 2010 will be a good year for all of my blog readers.