Puppy Buyers

We had a nice family visiting us today. They were interested in buying a Shiba Inu pup from our breeding. I can understand that they want a Shiba Inu. Too bad they cannot have a pup or grandpup of mine right now.

Two Weeks

April's pups are two weeks old now. I am a bit curious about them, but I let her take care of them herself so far. We will meet, eventually. I suppose they are cute, pups usually are. Not as cute as any of mine, but still.

Rumour has it, they are red, no cream coloured pup this time. This must be nice for April. She had a cream pup last time. Cream Shibas may be cute, but the coat colour is not quite Shibaesque enough. I have never had a cream pup.

Meatballs

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We got meatballs in the food today. It is great. We would get meatballs more often, if I were to decide upon the menu. To bad I do not.

New Bed Sheets

We have some new bed sheets. It is more difficult than it usually is, to make the bed with these. This is because they are constructed in a different way from most bed sheets. There are buttons along the whole short end where you put in the blanket, instead of a smaller hole that keeps the blanket in its place by itself. Now you have to button the buttons to keep the blanket inside. There are also a lack of holes by the other short end, making it much more difficult to put the blanket in the right position. Daniel swore and said he would not use these bed sheets often. I understand that. New constructions should make life easier, not harder.

Frühling

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Spring is here. We have had a beautiful, sunny day today with warm weather. It is just that I think "spring" is such a bland word. I like the German word "Frühling" better. A great part of this is that it contains the ü, a u with dots over it, also called u with an umlaut. I like dotted letters, they are cool. Swedish have ä and ö, but not the German ü, while English miss them. (Swedish have å, as well.) I also think spring deserves a word that is a little longer, like Frühling, with two syllables. Then you can enjoy the word for a little longer, along with the positive feelings of spring. We miss this in Swedish as well, with "vår". On the other hand, Swedish and English have other advantages. No human language have all the advantages of spring, though.

New Car

we have bought a new car. it is used, but much newer than the old one. i think i like it.

Gone

Our thoughts today go to Paula and her family, especially her mother. Paula's grandmother passed away earlier today. She was old for a human and had not had a good health for some time, so it was not that unexpected. Still, it is always a tragedy. I know what it is like, I have lost my father, with whom I lived all my life. Paula's grandmother was a good human and we wish her well in the afterlife.

Congratulations

Today is the birthday of a very important person, Mum's breeder Laura Perkinson of Taichung Shibas. Without her, Mum would not be. Thus, I would not be, my siblings would not be, my pups would not be. She has greatly influenced the Shiba breed in America and in Europe, all in a positive way. Her birthday is well worth all possible celebrations. Congratulations!

Crocodile Meat

We saw a food show on TV today, where they tried crocodile meat. Many liked it, though chef Gordon Ramsay said it lacked taste and would not want to serve it in his restaurants. I would like to try it, though. I am always eager to try new edible things, especially meat. Eating a large reptile like that would be something else.

Good Food

Hello, Karstuhl here!

April gets extra treats, more than anybody else, now that she has got pups to attend to. Perhaps it is time for me to get some pups of my own soon.

No Thin Models

I have always been puzzled over the human fashion industry and its current call for very thin models. There are valid comparisons to be made between the fashion industry and dog shows. (Although such a comparison would rather have the human "cat walk" named "dog walk". Cats do not walk on their shows, as dogs do.) However, on dog shows, you are supposed to win if you are in the centre of the standard, not at the very lowest possible weight to height ratio.

In Israel, the parliament has now passed a law banning extremely thin models. The law also requires information on pictures that has been manipulated in order to make models appear thinner than they are. The aim is to promote the health of models and a more healthy view of human bodies.

If health is the concern, though, I believe it would be better that the appearance on the cat walk would have to be preceeded by a mandatory check by a veterinarian. (Well, humans call veterinarians who concentrate on human illnesses "physicians", but as a dog, I see no reason why the veterinarians who concentrate on this particular species would be called anything else than the rest of the veterinarians.) We have health controls on dog shows, so why not have them on fashion shows, if you are so concerned with the health of the models?

Therapy Dogs

In Stockholm, specially trained dogs help treat the elderly who suffer from dementia. The city council has voted to give more funds to this great programme. It is but one out of many ways in which dogs help humans.

Police Recruitment

The Chief of Police in Sweden writes an article, published today, about making it possible to become a police officer in more ways than one. He believes one should not have to go through all of the traditional police education, if one is to investigate specific forms of crimes. Well, he fails to acknowledge that there has always been one alternative way of becoming a police officer. Dogs do not go through the same education as humans, in order to become police officers. I just wanted to point that out.

Formula 1

It is Sunday, but Daniel got up really early anyway. This is because he wanted to watch the first Formula 1 race of the season, which was broadcasted live from Australia. While it was driven late afternoon in Australia, our time was early morning. I do not care that much about Formula 1, but slept in like the rest of the family. We got the results from Daniel later, anyway.

Jenson Button won, before Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. There were thus three drivers who has won the world champion title on the podium. This will probably be fairly common this year, as there are a record of six former champions competing this season. I guess this is a quite interesting piece of trivia.

Gold Dogs

A geologist in Sweden has trained his dog to search and find precious minerals, such as gold ore. He aims to train more dogs and handlers to search for minerals. These dogs can be worth gold - litteraly. I am pleased to read these news, but not surprised. There is no end in the ways we dogs can help humans.

New Mouse

We have had a mouse at our computer. Not a real mouse, that would have been hunted down ages ago, but a computer mouse. It feels good steering with a computer mouse, playing with a mouse make me feel a bit carnivourus. However, our computer mouse broke down the other day. There are delicate electronic devices in such things, so the best way to go is just to buy a new one. Paula found a cheap one with a picture from the movie Toy Story. I cannot tell why this was the cheapest computer mouse. It works properly enough.

The movie Toy Story is another thing I like. It shows that toys are alive. We dogs know this, which is why we sometimes kill the toys. Some toys are evil, you know.

Pups

April gave birth to two pups today. Both are red, one male and one female. I respectfully keep my distance, knowing fully well how protective mothers are of their newborn pups.

Reports from Paula and Daniel say the pups are very cute. I believe they are, April is a good looking Shiba. Nevertheless, I cannot believe they are as cute as any of my own pups have been.

Of course I am biased when I say this, but what mother would not be? A mother who would not claim her own pups are the cutest ever must be crazy. April certainly thinks the same, when she compares her pups to mine. She is welcome to do that, we do not have to agree on this issue.

A picture of the newborn pups.

Disgrace

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We watched a chef competition show on TV. One of the contestants made many disgraceful comments about the food. I do not like that. Food and cooking is, in my opinion, something very valuable. You can joke about it, of course, but do not demean food or chefs. It is too important.

Correction Facility Food

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We watched this documentary on TV today, about a correction facility in Arizona, the USA. It was a very harsh facility. One of the inmates complained that the food the inmates got was cheaper than that of the dogs in the dog rescue facility. This was correct, and the sheriff in charge said this was as it should be. I agree! Dogs deserve better food than convicted criminals.

Claws

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, you have to have pedicure. For a dog, this means your claws are cut. As Shibas, we are very careful with regard to anything that involves our paws and claws, so we do not really like having the claws cut. Paula and Daniel are quite good at it, though, so it is a pain that is swiftly gone by. I cannot complain. I wish there would be no need for it, but what do you do when you have the luxury of living indoors and running on lawns? The claws do not get torn the way wolves' claws do. Civilized life is great, but you have to take the few downsides there are to it.

Final

There was a lot of sport on TV today, as well as a show about the Swedish Song Contest, where the final was held yesterday evening. The most important competition today was the Best in Show final of Crufts, though. We held our paws for Dreamer, a Pommeranian from Sweden whom we know. He was in the final, which is a great result, but he was not placed. We congratulate him for his participation in the final!

Desks of Drawers

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and Daniel has bought some new furniture. I helped Daniel put some desks of drawers together. It took some time, but it was quite interesting. It is nice to be able to help.

Desks of drawers are mostly used by humans for their clothes. This is the reason dogs never need desks of drawers. We have our coats, which is enough. I actually think the money for the desks would have been better spent on more sofas, comfortable chairs, and beds, furniture used by dogs and humans alike. The new furniture look good, though.

Swedish Song Contest

This was the night of the Swedish Song Contest on television. The winner was Loreen with the song Euphoria. We belive this is good, because we think she has a chance of winning in the European Song Contest in May. Let us hope she does!

Crufts

The world's biggest dog show is arranged in England this week. It is Crufts, of course. We are not there this year. However, tonight, we watched a couple of the group finals live on the Internet. It was interesting, and it was extra fun to see friends of ours win the toy group: the Pommeranian Belliver Unexpected Dream, owned by Fredrik Nilsson (and two more) and handled by Mikael Nilsson. Modern technology is a fantastic thing.

Super Wednesday?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Yesterday was the "Super Tuesday" in the USA, so I asked Granny whether today was the Super Wednesday. She said there is no such thing. There is just a Super Tuesday. No other day of the week has any "super" such day, at any time. Granny explained that this is just because in the USA, humans always vote on Tuesdays and the Super Tuesday is a day when voters in many states vote at the same time in the Presidential primaries. Granny could have told me much more, but I got bored. A Presidential election is nothing for me, anyway. Some humans say presidents are good, because they are elected, but dogs cannot vote in the elections, so I do not care for the presidents.

Vasaloppet

We went up early yesterday morning, despite it being a Sunday when everyone was free from work. The reason for rising early was Vasaloppet, the giant Swedish cross country ski competition that starts early every first Sunday if March. Paula's father always participates in the competition. He is not up among the elite skiers, which means there is not a great probability of seeing him on TV, but it is a nice production anyway. It makes for a nice Sunday, resting while watching others struggle in the ski tracks.

Darn!

This is ironic. I blogged last time about trying to have a daily blog, and then there are two days without any blog entry whatsoever. Darn! I must be better at this.

Shouldn't this Be Daily?

Paula says I need not blog every day, if I have nothing to say. I understand that. I always want to have something to say. Something of importance, that is. However, I call my blog "Daily Hailey", which means it should be daily. I have no great idea for a blog entry today, but I do believe I should try to make the blog a daily blog. After all, the name states that it is. I hope you will not be too disappointed with the blog entry for today, though.

Diet?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Auntie Linni is on a diet. She said she needed to reduce her weight, thus agreed with Paula and Daniel to get a new type of food. She is the only one of us who gets this food and you can tell she likes it. It is strange, though, that her portions are bigger than before, and bigger than those the rest of us get. If this is a diet, perhaps I should also put on some extra weight to qualify for it.