Crayfish

Paula went away to a crayfish party with work mates this evening. Crayfish is a Swedish specialty at this time of the year. It is seafood, and I kind of like the meat of crayfish. However, eating them are hard. You have to take away a lot of shells et cetera. Some people even suggest crayfish is the ultimate diet food, because it costs more energy to get hold of the edible parts of the crayfish than the energy you get from them. For us dogs, we had our ordinary food in the evening. I think this was just as well, because I do not like to struggle too much to get hold of the things I can eat.

Yet Another New PM

Japan has a new Prime Minister: Yohishiko Noda. He was minister of finance up until now. This is Japan's sixth Prime Minister in five years! I hope this will bring some more political stability. The humans and dogs of Japan deserves that, especially after all the devastation from the earth quake in March.

It is a good thing Japan has an Emperor who stands for political stability, no matter what.

Cheese Sauce

We got some cheese sauce on our food today. Getting food is usually among the highlights of the day, getting extra sauce is a silver lining on this highlight.

Cheese is a great thing. It is tasty, healthy, and comes in a great many forms and tastes. I like all the cheese that I have tried. It is a small wonder, then, that cheese sauce is also great, with its rich flavour of the cheese which it is made upon. I wish I could have cheese and cheese sauce more often.

Trouble with Blogger

I should not complain, because Blogger is a free service and works perfectly most of the time. I just want to explain that I have not been able to access the Blogger homepage since last Wednesday. This is why I have not made any blog entries since then. I hope you have not lost patience, I will try to keep up my daily blogging from now on, again.

When the Courts See too Mildly on Offences

There was some upsetting news on the radio the other day. A Swedish court of law has sentenced a man to pay fines and have a suspended prison sentence for animal abuse. He had kicked a four month old puppy dog to death. It was not his own dog, thankfully, because a man like that should not have animals. He was also sentenced to pay a little damages to the dog's human.

The sentence was way too mild, in my humble opinion.

The man defended himself by claiming he had had to defend his son, who was scared of the pup. This is no defence. A grown man kicking a pup to death must be unhealthily scared of the pup himself. I cannot believe he even said this. If the son was there to see the man kicking the pup to death, I sincerely hope the Social Services consider whether the man is fit to be a parent. His son may need to be taken care of.

Hearing

Dogs have superiour hearing to humans. Shibas are, among other great things, excellent watch dogs. We notice when somebody is coming and allert our pack. Unfortunately for our humans, they seldom hear what we hear. This means that they are often surprised that we alarm them by barking. Sometimes, they even get a little angry, but I guess this is just because of the frustration they feel for not hearing as much as we do.They are helped by us, and I know our humans are thankful that we are always watching the house, prepared for just about anything. It does not hurt that it is often quite fun to bark, too.

Celebrations

I am busy celebrating Paula's birthday today. Please come back another day for more of my thoughts.

Preparations

We have prepared for birthday celebrations tomorrow. Paula is celebrating her birthday. She deserves all the presents, candy and cake that she can get. We have had a lot of discussions about what to give to Paula, but we have settled on certain solutions now. Everything is prepared for the celebrations tomorrow. This is a public blog, however, and we know that Paula reads it often, so I will not give anything away here. None of us dogs will reveal anything in any other way either. When you are very satisfied with what you are about to give, it is hard not to reveal it, but we do have opportunities to congratulate each other on what we are giving Paula without giving any secrets away beforehand. This is good.

Sushi!

We had sushi for dinner tonight. This is one of my absolute favourite dishes, and the same goes for the rest of us. Paula and Daniel say you can tell we are originally from Japan, just like sushi. It might just be that we have an inherited taste for rice and seafood. This makes sense, because they have eaten a lot this in Japan for many centuries, and the dogs who liked this must have had a higher likelihood of surviving and thriving.

I hope to get sushi again soon. It is my birthday in less than a month, I guess that is a good day to wish for sushi.

Meta Meta Data?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, Mommys blog entries do not revolve around any other subject than writing the blog as such. In modern language, one often says that a text that does not revolve around any other subject than the content as such are meta data. I believe this is borrowed from computer science, where meta data is data about other data, or content about content.

I believe meta texts like these are rather boring to read. It is more fun to read about stuff that has happened, is happening, or might happen, than just to read about the process of writing about such stuff.

On the other hand, when I write about meta data, can this be called meta meta data? If meta data is a boring read, would not meta meta data be an even more boring read? Gosh, if this is the case, I might just have written the most boring entry ever in Mommy's blog. I hope this is not the case.

Further on, if anybody would comment on this meta meta data, would that be meta meta meta data?

Rain

We have had a lot of rain ever since midday today. It is no fun being outside in such a weather. We are lucky we do not have to be outdoors more than absolutely necessary. In Sweden, this kind of weather is called dog weather (hundväder), because only dogs go out in it. Believe me, if we dogs could avoid it, not even we would go outside in this weather. I hope we will have less rain in the weekend.

Future Head of State

The Swedish Crown Princess Victoria is expecting a child in March. There is probably just one child, humans mostly get one child per litter. If we could, we would congratulate the Crown Princess. It is nice that there will be yet another generation that may succeed to the Swedish throne.

Poaching

Poachers probably account for the Swedish wolf population being much smaller than it is. Estimates show that there could have been about a thousand wolves in Sweden in 2009, instead of the population of about 250 individuals who were counted. Still, there are humans in Sweden who want to have legal wolf hunts. They say nuisance wildlife management is needed. I say we would rather need some nuisance humanlife management.

Shaking Dogs

A photography artist in the USA has found an odd way of photographing dogs. She sprays them with a little water to make them shake themselves, then snaps the photography while they are shaking. Some of the photos are outright ugly, others may be cute. I guess her models believe a little water is something they can endure for the sake of art.

End of the Vacation

Both Paula and Daniel started working again today, after a couple of weeks of summer vacation. They both complained hard this morning.

I sometimes wish I had some vacation, too. My work as a pet dog requires me to be on alert around the clock, seven days a week, every week of the year. On the other hand, if going back to work after the vacation is so hard as Paula told me it is this morning, perhaps it is just as well not to have any vacation at all.

Enhanced Pat-Downs, Dog Shows, and Beauty Contests

In the USA, there is an ongoing debate over airport security and the body checks of passengers. Passengers may go though a body scanner, but if they refuse, they may be submitted to an "enhanced pat-down" by security officials. This includes touching intimate body parts on the outside of the clothes.

I can understand the concern. It is not like these pat-downs are very important. Compare it to dog shows, where all of us dogs who are showed are submitted to pat-downs of our whole body by the judge. The main aim of dog shows is an evaluation of the breeding results of the dogs showed. At dog shows, these pat-downs fulfill a goal every time. Compare this to pat-downs at airports for the off chance that you would discover a hi-jacker. I mean, what are the odds that an enhanced pat-down would reveal hidden weapons or other illegal items? Any terrorist with some brains would know of these security measures and use other means to hi-jack airplanes.

Ironicly, in the article that I link to, a former Miss USA is mentioned. She was patted down after refusing a body scan, which left her "furious and distressed". As far as I know, beauty contests of the kind where Misses USA are elected is the closest thing that humans have to dog shows. If beauty contests of this kind would be serious business, the contestants would be patted down by the judge there, just like dogs are in dog shows. Thus, a Miss USA would be used to it. In beauty contests, however, pat-downs never happen. This only tells us what a joke human beauty contests are!

Horrible

Dogs are supposed to be man's best friend, but some people obviously do not agree. In Thailand, the police has made a raid against dog smugglers who were about to ship over a thousand dogs to Vietnam, where they faced the fate of being eaten. Not all dogs survived the horrible ordeal in narrow cages, some were also killed when ditched as the smugglers tried to evade the police. I hope the rescued dogs find good homes. I can hardly believe humans would do this. Who would eat your best friend?

Feeling Sorry for Myself

OK, this weekend our regional kennel club has its annual national (sometimes international, but not this year) dog show in Askersund. Paula is away on a show in the south of Sweden, while Daniel went to the Askersund show to work as a ring steward. Once again, I did not get to go to any show. There is some comfort, though, when I am feeling sorry for myself, and that is that none of the other Shibas went to any show either. As a ring steward, Daniel is precluded from showing dogs at the show where he is working, and Paula went to that other show to help a friend show. Dog shows are not there just for us dogs, they are there for humans as well. May they have a good weekend, despite my absence.

The Wall

It is fifty years ago to the day tomorrow, that East Germany started to build the Berlin Wall. Officially, the East Germans said some workers started to build it on their own initiative. Officially, the East Germans called it the Anti Fascist protection wall. The real reason to build the wall was to keep citizens of East Germany from fleeing to the free world, of which West Berlin was a part. East Germany was a communistic dictatorship, while West Berlin was, in practice, part of the democracy West Germany.

Fortunately, the wall was torn down in 1989. In 1990, Germany was reunited, when the provinces of East Germany became part of what was until then called West Germany. The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War between the democracies in the West (and Japan) and the communistic dictatorships in the East. Fortunately, the West won, thus, there was no need for the Berlin Wall anymore. There are just a few parts of the wall left, for us to remember.

It is not until the fall of the dictatorships in East Europe that humans and dogs have been able to travel freely across the borders. This is good for all of us, not least the dogs. Dog breeding requires open borders to make use of all the different great dogs there are. Dogs are also taken care of better after the fall of the dictatorships, because when humans get better lives, so do their dogs.

Remember the Wall tomorrow, and be happy it is not there anymore.

Turning off the TV

Daniel started to watch a movie on TV this evening. Daniel turned it off half way, though. He says he does not like movies where the hero is unfaithful, which he was in this movie.

I do not think I have the same morals as Daniel has, I have had different fathers to different puppy litters of mine. I guess it is different with humans than with dogs. Among humans, the fathers always participate in the upbringing from the start to the end, whereas among dogs, they mostly do not. We are different species, I guess that amount to a lot.

Well, I did not enjoy the movie anyway. It had no dogs in any leading roles, nor did I see any dog at all in the movie. I do not have to see dogs in a movie to enjoy it, but it helps. This movie was not very interesting anyway.

Not So Good Candy

Candy is usually very tasty. Sometimes, it is tasty, but not more. Occasionally, though, candy does not taste well at all. Paula had purchased some candy with a cartoon character on the package, it did not taste well. We suppose that the cartoon character was put there just to sell this lousy candy. Beware of this if you see Hello Kitty candy.

The Pups

We have received reports on Anzu, who thrives in Norway. She has already started her training for participation in dog shows and she is a success with people wherever she goes.

Meanwhile, Paula and Daniel met Fumi and her family by chance. Fumi was quite all right and has a great life with her new family.

I am happy for my pups and the lives they have now.

Words

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Words are funny, sometimes. Mommy's blog, which I make entries in, is hosted by Blogger. If the first letter was not there, the name would be Logger. The word logger can stand for many things, not only data logging, which has given rise to the word blog, as in web log. Logger can also mean the same thing as lumberjack, a woodcutter, that is a person who harvest logs. The word lumberjack, however, cannot mean data logging. If you would start a competitor to Blogger with the name Blumberjack, it would not be as clear to everybody as it is with Blogger what Blumberjack would be about. This is a bit sad, because Blumberjack sounds funny.

Early Morning for Nothing

Paula and Daniel got up really early today, earlier than ordinary work days. We had to take the morning walk very early. Then they left with two dogs for a dog show, but I was among those left behind. This always angers me. I am so eager to go to dog shows again, but I cannot do that yet after my last puppy litter. For me, this was a boring day. The heavy rain fitted my mood.

South Sakhalin

Before the Second World War, the southern half of the now Russian island Sakhalin was Japanese, called Karafuto. There were a lot of Japanese who lived there. There were a lot of investments made, and economy thrived. Most of the Japanese were evacuated, however, when the Soviet Union invaded in 1945. The island has since been neglected, not least under the Soviet Union regime. A few Japanese families stayed on Sakhalin, the story of one of them is quite interesting. I agree with the analysis of the journalist writing the story, that if South Sakhalin would have stayed Japanese, the biggest city Yuzhno-Sakhalin could well have been a shining metropolis and the south half of the island criss-crossed by modern railways and roads. It is a pity it did not turn out this way.

Nice Night

My pups of the last litter have all moved to their new homes. I do miss them, but there are advantages not having them around. I can return to my natural place among the other dogs of our family. I can also sleep with the others in the bedroom. Last night, I slept there all night and slept very well. I will meet the pups on and of in days to come, and Paula and Daniel will make sure I get reports on their well being. Now it is time for me to think of my own well being. I am looking forward to this.

Anzu Is in Norway

We have received news that Anzu's flight to her new home in Norway went well. She has already inspected her new home, wagging her tail as she did so. It must be exciting to move to a new place. She will be all right, but I do miss her. I hope to go see her sometime.

Remains of Ancient Dog

Hello, Karstuhl here!

A very well preserved dog skull, 33,000 years old, has been found in the Siberian Altai mountains. It is one of the earliest evidence of a dog - those of us canines who live with humans. Scientists say, however, that it seems like this dog has not left any modern offspring. It seems like an evolutionary dead end. The scientists speculate that this is due to food becoming more scarce, at the same time as they say humans are much better hunters with dogs than without.

Perhaps this skull just belonged to a dog that was not good enough compared to the breed standard of the time, thus not being bred. This would also explain that it has no modern day offspring.

Norwegians

We have had visitors from Norway today, who will stay until tomorrow. Dad would have been very pleased to have heard them speak his native language Norwegian. They are very nice people, and I am glad one of them will be my daughter Anzu's new human. She will get a good life in Norway, in the city of Bergen, where my Dad came from.

A 26 Years Old Dog?

The world's oldest dog is supposed to be 26 years old this year. She is a cross breed of Shiba Inu and Japanese Spitz and claims part of her longevity on her Shiba Inu heritage. Shibas often get very old, though far from this old.

According to my source, this record is accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records. Also according to the source, a dog who is 26 years old is equivalent to a human becoming 116 years old. This made me think. Normally, one dog year equals seven human years. If you multiply 26 with 7, you do not get 116, but 182. 26 x 7 = 182. If you divide 116 with 26, you get something close to 4.461538, but I have never heard anybody say that one dog year would roughly equal four and a half human years.

Is it really possible that a dog can get this old? You would not believe a human could become 182 years old, would you? I allow myself to doubt.

We Do Not Live in Italy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

At the dog shows this weekend, we had some trouble getting hold of number tags for the Saturday show. They had never reached us by mail. We did get new number tags at the show site, but nobody could explain what had happened to the original number tags. Today, the riddle was solved. The number tags arrived by mail, and we could see that the lower line of the address said "Italien". This is Swedish for Italy. The letter had probably travelled all the way to Italy, where the country name had been crossed out, and then been returned to Sweden and finally found its way to us. We do not live in Italy. Our Japanese friends who are part owners of the dogs shown on Saturday do not live in Italy either. We have no idea why the name Italy was put at the end of the address, but it does explain why the letter was late in the mail. It gives us something interesting to talk about, anyway.

Dog for Health

At homes for the elderly humans in Sweden, it has become more and more common to employ dogs in the caretaking of the elderly. The dogs make the elderly very happy and activate them. It makes the need for medication smaller. This only goes to prove, once more, how useful dogs are to humans. I am not surprised.