Advantages

There are actually advantages of not going to dog shows, no matter how much I like it. This weekend, it is time for April to go to a dog show, whence Daniel bathed her this eveing. It is not fun being bathed, I can gladly do without that. Even though I will be jealous for April on the day of the show, I am not jealous of her tonight. This is of some comfort, at least.

Paying the Bills

It is the end of the month. Our humans are paying all the bills. One of the great advantages of being a dog is that we have humans who pay all of our bills for us. Who did you say was there for whom?

Preparations

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have started to prepare for Christmas. It is not much, but we do have some Christmas decorations in the house. I would want much more. The older dogs say it is still many days before it is Christmas, but why wait? I do not think I can grow tired of Christmas paraphernalia.

The only bad thing about Christmas is that the colour of Chrismas is red. I would rather see it was black and tan.

First Sunday of Advent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the new Church year, the first Sunday of Advent, which is the weeks before Christmas. It is a time of great anticipation. While pups and human children might look forward to new toys on Christmas, it is the food that I like best. I hope we get a lot of great food and candy this Christmas.

Something Else

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy wanted to write another piece in the blog about how disappointed she is that Paula has gone to a dog show without her. I beat her to the computer. I have had it with these blog entries. Here goes something else.

We have had a nice, calm Saturday with Daniel. Everything is just fine. The plan is to put up the electric candelabras which Swedes always have in our windows from the first Sunday of Advent and throughout Christmas. It is great to have these lights around during the darkest time of the year. It never gets completely dark with these candle lights. I really like that.

Is the Kimono Dying Out?

Is the traditional Japanese garment kimono dying out? Well, this BBC radio report suggests it is. Young Japanese do not chose kimonos, and there is an interview with a 70 year old kimono maker who has been declared a human national treasure for his work.

Shiba Inus are all national treasures of Japan. Our coats never go out of style. If you do not want to pay the high prices that you have to give for a real kimono, you can always get a Shiba Inu and have a dear friend for life instead.

One Month to Go

It is Christmas Eve within a month. Two days ago, Karstuhl wrote about Christmas decorations here in the blog. I just have to say I do not quite agree with her. I believe we can wait for a little longer before we decorate the house for Christmas. Then again, Karstuhl is still young enough that she gets away with not helping, while I help all that I can. I guess you have a different approach if you participate in decorating the house. We have to give it time to make it great. I believe we can wait until this weekend, when there is more time for this. It is refreshing to have a little difference of opinions once in a while.

Food on TV

Paula likes to watch shows on TV where they cook food. It can be almost anything, from chefs teaching the watchers different recipies to competitions on how to be the best chef. I think watching this is, in some ways, a waste of time. Sure, Paula also cooks a lot of food, but this is not what I am thinking about. I am writing in general terms. If you are interested in food, it is better to cook more food yourself in the kitchen. For the off chance that you cook too much for your own use, the dogs of the household will always be ready to eat it.

Why Wait?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula has started to decorate our house for Christmas. She started to play Christmas songs even earlier. Daniel does not like it, he wants to wait. I support Paula. Christmas is a lovely holiday, just consider all the lovely food and candy. Why wait for it, if we can bring some Christmas feeling as soon as now? I am all for it.

Alliterations

Hello, Harstuhl here!

Almost all alliterations are amuzing, albeit arduous. Blogging being better? No, not necessarily. We wouldn't worship whatever, would we? Any alliterations aren't amuzing. Leaving last line without it.

Silly Rain

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The weather might be good or bad different days. Sometimes, I think the weather is just silly. Today was one of those days. It rained constantly, but just small droplets, few and far in between. I think that if it is going to rain, it is better to have real rain for a short period of time, than this silly almost rainy weather. It is not nice, but still not wet or cold enough to complain about. I do hope the weather gets better, or perhaps worse, tomorrow.

Not Nice

It was not a nice morning today. Paula and Daniel decided to cut my claws. I know this is necessary sometimes, but I do not have to like it because of that. This is when I wish I would have inherited Dad's claws. They were naturally torn to stay on a nice level all the time. Perhaps my claws are stronger, but at least Dad did not have to have his claws cut nearly as often as the rest of us. That must have been nice for him.

New Map

NASA has published a new, improved map of the Moon. Since I always eclipse the Moon (why else would I be called Lunar Eclips?), I feel a little responsibility for teaching others about the Moon. If they cannot see the Moon because of me, I can tell them about the Moon. Otherwise, they can read the article which I have linked to, with its illustration. It is interesting.

Change

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My life seems to go on in the same tracks as always. It occurs to me once in a while that I might want to change careers, perhaps move away from home. Granny moved from the USA to Sweden when she was five years old, that must have been exciting. She did not change careers, however, but continued her career as a show dog and pet. She has done this extremely well. Mommy has had the same career. It seems like I am predetermined to walk in the paw prints of Granny and Mommy. This is definitely not bad, but what if I do not want to? I might want to be something else. It is just that I do not quite know what alternatives I might have. Would it be possible to become candy tester or movie actor? I believe it would be hard, there would be many who would want to do the same. Perhaps I will just stick to what I know and do that very well.

New Pup

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Once again today, I have become sister to a newborn pup. It is a black and tan little girl. Mommy is not quite happy about this, because it is a pup that Daddy had with another bitch. Mommy says this with so much scorn that it is clear she means bitch in the figurative as well as in the litteral sense of the word. I do not care, I am happy. The only downside is that this pup does not live with us, but quite a way away. The chance för me to play with her and teach her fun stuff almost does not exist. We will have to see if we will meet sometime in the not so far future.

Anzu

I wrote about Biki yesterday, April's son who were successful in a show last weekend. My own daughter also participated in that show. She was showed in puppy class and did well compared to relatively much older contestants. I am sure Anzu will become show champion too, in the not too distant future. This is something to look forward to.

Not Bad

April has this weird idea that, just because her son Biki has become Norwegian Show Champion and was BIS-4 yesterday, her offspring is better than mine. Granted, what Biki did was not bad. However, he is the only offspring of April that can ever have a success like that. He is April's only son, and April's only daughter is creme, which is not a recognized coat colour in Shiba Inus. I, on the other hand, have three sons and four daughters, many of whom are promising. The last laugh will be mine.

Father's Day

We celebrate Father's Day in Sweden today. This is my first Father's Day when my father is not present. He left us for the afterlife earlier this year. I miss him more today than I usually do, since I am reminded of him on Father's Day. Still, he is in a better place now, where he is not tormented by the illness that became too much for him in the end.

Polly celebrates her father Kuro chan.

Inspiration

I have heard that Charles M. Schulz, the creator and author of the comic strip Peanuts, had a way of coming around a lack of inspiration. Sometimes, he would just start to draw some of the characters of the comic strip, working out along the way what they were saying and doing. Thus, a joke could be made up.

When I write my blog, I believe that Iuse a similar method sometimes. If I do not have any idea what to write about, I just start to write anything. This often leads to some thought that is worth expressing to the world in the blog. In these circumstances, I often erase the first sentences, even though they led to the idea that I eventually wrote down. This is no loss. There must be hundreds of discarded words for every word that was ever published. I wonder how many peanuts comic strips that was started but never finished or published. There must have been a few.

TGIF

There are those who love abbreviations. On Fridays, some humans like to use the abbreviation TGIF. It means they are thanking God it is Friday, the last day of work before the weekend. I can also say TGIF. This is not because I am not working in the weekends. On the contrary, I am always fulfilling my duties as a pet dog and my job as a show dog is normally executed in the weekends. When I say TGIF, it is because my humans are mostly at home during weekends. I like that better than when they are off to work. This weekend, Paula will work, but Daniel will be at home the whole time. There is cause for me to say TGIF.

Saint Martin

Today is the eve of Saint Martin of Tours. This is celebrated in the south of Sweden with goose for dinner. On one paw, I would like to have some goose meat, because have never tried it but I am sure it tastes good; on the other paw, we live in central Sweden, where there is no tradition of eating goose this evening. We had an ordinary meal, just like any other day. This is not bad. I can try out goose meat any other day of the year.

Referendums

Humans rule their complicated society in quite odd ways. They elect people who will rule for them. Still, when there are difficult questions, these elected rulers may leave the decision to the whole people, nevertheless, through a referendum. Then, the politicians may vote against the will of the people from the referendum. This has happened in the little municipality Sjundeå in Finland, where a referendum was held earlier this autumn on the question of merging with two other municipalities. The people voted no, but the municipality council had the final say and voted yes today.

I do not know if I think referendums are good for democracy or bad. They show that you have elected politicians who are not able to stand up for what they believe is right. You elect politicians, so that you can use your time for other things than the broad questions of society. If the politicians will not do that, you still have to learn enough to make an informed vote in the referendum. Then, the politicians may vote against the result of the referendum, and you gained nothing but more contempt for them.

What other tradesmen let you make the most difficult choices yourself? If you hire a constuction firm to build a house, you do not have to chose the building material. If you bake a cake, you do not have to chose how to harvest the grain, but buy flour in a store. The politicians, however, leave the biggest issues to you - then they may just ignore the result that you and your fellow non-politicians vote for. No, if I would vote for leaders, I would want them to lead. Is it not this they are elected and paid for?

Not Tough Enough

A man has been sentenced to fines by Värmlands tingsrätt (the Court of law of Värmland, the province to the west of us) for animal cruelty. The man's son was attacked by a dog, but witnesses pulled the dog away. Although bitten, the boy siffered no physical injuries. Nevertheless, the man grabbed the dog by the skin, lifted it up, and threw it on the ground. He then proceeded by hitting it many times with his fists.

This action by the man was obviously uncalled for. The dog had already been pulled away. It is a good thing he was prosecuted and found guilty. I just think the sentence was not tough enough. I also hope everything is all right with the dog.

New Trolley

Paula has bought a new trolley for us dogs. We can ride in this trolley when we go to dog shows, from the car into the show ground. It is a large trolley in aluminium, foldable so it can be stored in the car. We let Paula and Daniel put it together for us; then April, Polly, and I tried it out. It felt comfortable. As always, I am looking forward to dog shows of the future. With a new trolley like this, it might be even better.

Visiting Journalist

A journalist visited us today. She is from Japan, but lives in Sweden, and will make an article about us and our breeding for the Japanese dog magazine Wan. This is very exciting. As far as I can understand, this is the first feature of a Swedish Shiba breeder in that magazine. I like that!

I will let you know when I get more information on the published article.

Gustavus Adolphus

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Human languages interests me. There is no doubt it must be frustrating to be a human, with all of these different languages. Dogs understand each other throughout the world. You may say that we have less complicated dialogues, but at least we can make peace with each other wherever any of us come from.

In Sweden today, humans celebrate the memory of King Gustavus Adolphus, who died on the battlefield of Lützen on this day in 1632. Thus, he was fighting a war, a more fierce war than any other animal on Earth has ever fought, still not the fiercest in human history. Dogs could have made peace with each other.

Gustavus Adolphus fought for freedom of religion, you may say. This is also very human. Dogs allow one another to believe whatever we want, humans often do not.

The proper name is also interesting from a language point of view. The King was called Gustaf Adolf in Swedish. Why would you change a proper name just because you use another language? It is as if I would be called Karstuhlia or Karstulko in other languages.

Dad

This Saturday is celebrated as All Saints' Day in Sweden. We commemorate our deceased loved ones this day. Mum, Polly, and I, as well as Auntie Linni, have special causes to commemorate Dad. He passed away early this year, but we will never forget him. Dad was the best male role model anybody could have. He was a great father and friend. We really miss him, but we believe that he is in a better place now.

If we could, we would light a candle for Dad. Paula and Daniel lit a candle for us, commemorating him.

RIP

Our great veterinarian Torleif Lind, who passed away earlier this autumn, was laid to rest today. Paula and Daniel visited the funeral. If dogs would have been welcome, I would have come as well. He did wonders for me, my fellow dogs, and especially my pups.

Å, Ä, Ö

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Why are there no å, ä, and ö in English? We have these letters in Swedish. At least ä and ö also exist in German. They have the sounds for å and ä in English, but I guess they do not have the ö sound, so they might not need that letter. Well, English is a rich language in other ways, so if it is poor in letters, it might have to do.

Snow

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have not had snow yet. I will write about snow anyway, because I like to play in it and I am longing for it. We are in the last month of autumn, but we have had a couple of relatively warm days. It will probably be a while before we see the first snow of the season. In the meantime, we have to make due with other white, fluffy things. If I would kill a pillow, I would get some fake snow. Daniel and Paula would not like me to do that, though. I guess I will have to wait for the real snow to come.

November

It is now November, the last month of autumn and probably the darkest month of the year. There are less hours of sunlight in December and January, but often snow. The white snow makes it less dark, in the day as well as in the night. It is not that I fear darkness, far from it, but it can make me a little blue sometimes. Dark blue, that is.