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.