Pride

Paula and Daniel went in the Örebro Pride Parade this evening. This is good, it is for a just cause: treating all humans equal. I stayed at home with my pups, though. They are old enough to make it on their own, but they will both move soon and I want the time I have with them. We could see Paula and Daniel in the local TV news. They were seen in the background of many shots of the Parade.

Food

Hello, Peanut here!

I am not so young anymore. I do not get food as often as before. The adult dogs get food once a day, I guess I will eventually end up there too. What annoys me the most, though, is that the small pups Issi and Gonsa get food more often than I do. It is not really unfair, I got food equally often when I was their age. Still, it is no fun watching the small pups eating, when I get nothing.

It is fun playing with the small pups, though.

Cleaning

We cleaned the floors this evening. It is no fun, but necessary sometimes. I guess part of the blame for the need to clean has to fall on my small pups. They are, however, excused because of their age and their cuteness. There are advantages with being a pup.

Portugese Champion

Multi ch. Kokuhou go Ryuukyuu Uruma, father of my latest puppy litter, is living in Spain for a couple of months this summer. He participates in dog shows there and in neighbouring countries, as one would expect from such a fine dog. This has now resulted in another title that he can add to his name and to the pedigree of our pups: Portugese Champion. Congratulations!

Sweden in International News

I am always sad to see when Sweden is depicted in negative ways in international mass media. Today, the BBC writes about the scandalously expensive party that the Swedish police intelligence agency had earlier this year. No fun reading.

Great Tragedy, but then Some Hope

This is a blog post of a sad story about a dog. It has a happy ending, but I still want to warn you for the feelings you get, especially when watching this video.

A dog in Mexico was found in a rubbish bin with his front paws cut off. The humans responsible are probably members of some criminal gang. Now the dog, going by the lovely name Lemon Pie, has a new home in a dog shelter and has custom made prosthetic legs. While I am terribly sorry for his fate, and the state in which he was found, it seems he will now live his life in relative happiness.

There seem to be no limits for human cruelty, but there are also no limits for human goodness.

Sunday Results

Hello, Karstuhl here! I am quite happy with the show results today as well, even though it was not as great as yesterday. I got Excellent, but no CAC. Calvin was BOS. The BOB winner was also a really good bitch.

Neil Armstrong

The first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, is dead. He lived a long life, even for a human, but still did not live to see the next manned Moon landing, nor the first dog on the Moon. This is sad. I hope humans and dogs will land on the Moon again soon. RIP Neil Armstrong.

Success

Hello, Karstuhl here! At the dog show in Visby today, I won my first CAC. Calvin was Best of Breed, while I was Best of Opposite Sex. It was a good day for us. Now I want to go to more shows. Lucky Me, then, that there is Another as soon as tomorrow.

Turning Greece Around?

I heard on the radio today, that prices in Greece are being lowered. It is getting cheaper to be a tourist in Greece, which makes the streams of tourists turning back to Greece.

The person talkning about this said this was an "internal devaluation". This means that when Greece has the euro, hence no currency of its own to devaluate, it has to devaluate by other means. A devaluation means goods and service produced in Greece would turn cheaper for people from other countries, but a similar result is achieved by lowering the prices. This may save the Greek economy without it having to leave the common currency.

I guess this was one way in which the common currency was meant to work. I hope it will be a road towards a better economy in Greece.

Celebrating Paula

We celebrated Paula's thirtyfifth birthday today. This is well worth celebrating, because thirtyfive can be evenly divided by seven, so it is easy to compare it to a dog birthday. In dog years, Paula would be five.

Paula actually turns thirtyfive this thursday, but it suited us all better to celebrate today. This is life when everybody has full calendars.

Spotting Spotted Owls

Dogs and our great noses can help humans in many ways. In a scientific project by the University of Washington in the USA, dogs sniffed out pellets from spotted owls. This improved the probability of finding these owls by 30 percent. Need I say more?

Baby Strollers and Fire Security

Humans have a knack for making life difficult for themselves. They do not learn to walk until they are almost a year old, and their parents drive them around in baby strollers until they are good at it.

If you live in a block of flats in Sweden, you are not allowed to store things in the staircase. There are fire security reasons for this. Things may burn, and they may stop people from evacuating the building. When a large owner of blocks of flats in our home town removed a baby stroller from a stair case this week, some people were, nevertheless, outraged. They believe there is a right to store baby strollers anywhere. I believe there is not.

It is much easier being a mother of dog pups. A pup learn to walk when he or she is but weeks old, and a couple of weeks later, there is no question of whether the pup rather walk by itself or is carried.

Athletics Again

The Olympic Games are over, but we listen to live broadcasted athletics on the radio tonight, nevertheless. It is the "DN Galan" in Stockholm, an international athletics competition. According to the radio reporters, it is a good competition. I guess the Olympic Games did not make people tired of sports, perhaps the contrary.

Weirdly, the word athlete has started to mean the same in Swedish as in English over the last couple of years. Traditionally, the word "atlet" in Swedish has meant weight lifter or "strong man", while the English word athlete is translated into "friidrottare". I guess too many Swedes believe that just making the English word sound Swedish is a sound way to translate. I would never think so. Then again, dogs all over the world have a common language, we never have these translation difficulties.

Blogging

Hello, Gonsa here!

I cannot believe my sister Issi beat me to the computer, writing her blog entry before I did. I thought I would be there first, but was not. This was a little annoying. Not quite as annoying as when she lifted her ears before I did, but still.

Blogging seems to be fun, but I am not sure I will start my own blog. Future will tell.

My Entry

Hello, Issi here!

Mommy has given me and my litter brother Gonsa the opportunity to write in her blog. We are about the age she was when starting it. I am not so sure I will be a blogger, though, I cannot think of anything interesting to say in just one blog entry. Well, it was nice to try it, anyhow.

Diplomatic Row

Some Chinese activist went ashore on one of the Japanese Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. When they were arrested by Japanese Coast Guard, China made a diplomatic protest. I understand why. China is a dictatorship and claims these islands. It is in the line of dictatorial regimes to claim other states' territories, because they believe imperialistic policies look good to their own people and takes peoples' interest away from internal affairs. I still think China has no claim to the Senkaku Islands. Why would they? They are a part of the Okinawa prefecture in Japan and this was the first time for many years that any non-Japanese people had ever visited them. There is no basis for the Chinese claim.

You Just Do Not Do That!

A woman in Västerås (a Swedish town about halfway between Stockholm and Örebro) claims to have forgotten her dog in her car all day today. When she came back to the car in the afternoon, the dog was dead. The woman was chocked.

Police have started to look at the case. They say it cannot be a case against the woman for animal cruelty, because that is a crime of premeditation. It can still be a crime against the animal protection laws.

I do not believe this woman just forgot her dog. You just do not do that. I mean, who would forget a family member for a full day? In my mind, this woman should be prosecuted for animal cruelty. The dog must have had a terrible time, before it finally passed away. May it rest in peace!

Strange Priorities

In Sweden, we have got two TV channels that are financed by a tax on TV sets, the so called TV licence. These channels are not allowed to have any commercials, like the other channels have. The other week, they broadcasted one hour of live show with a Swedish singer on prime time. Complaints were filed against broadcasting this, because it was considered a violation of the rules prohibiting commercials. Nevertheless, this show was broadcasted again, as a rerun, early this evening. It is strange that the TV channel decides to rerun a show where there is a pending complaint. Strange priorities, I say.

Cheater

The olympic gold medalist in shot put, Belarussian Nadzeya Ostapchuk, has lost her gold medal. She failed doping tests and has thus been disqualified. The gold has gone to New Zealander Valerie Adams instead.

This is good. Cheating should be punished, in human sports as well as in dog sports. I would not like to lose a dog show to a dog who cheated, neither should a human have to lose to another human who has cheated.

Good Show

In the dog show in Askersund this weekend, my daughter Polly won Excellent, ck, and was second best bitch. This is not bad at all.

Calvin was Best of Breed. This is really good. He might even become Shiba of the year if he keeps up his winning streak.

Troublesome Neighbours

Japan has ongoing territorial disputes with many of its neighbours. I can understand that the dictators of China are interested in claiming Japanese islands in the East China Sea. I can also understand that the imperialistic Russian regime want to keep as much as possible of the territory conquered by the tyrannical Soviet Union, such as the Japanese Northern Territory, islands northeast of Hokkaido. I am more concerned that South Korea, which is at present a democracy, stirr up feelings about Japanese islands. The President of South Korea has just visited the Japanese Takeshima Islands in the Sea of Japan, which is occupied by a South Korean coast guard detatchment since 1954. South Korea should not do such things. They are lucky the Japanese are a peace loving people. It might be better, however, if Japan would also station some people on these islands. Even justified claims may need such measures in order to be upheld over time.

Busy Evening

We are preparing for visitors this evening. I guess Kuro-chan will be happy, one of the visitors is an old friend of him from Japan. I would also like to have lived in Japan, it is a fascinating country and our ancestors are all from Japan, since we are Shibas.

The preparations keep us busy all evening. It is amazing how much there is to pick up and clean, once you put your mind to it, even though you normally think the home is just as tidy and neat as it ever has to be.

Yoghurt

My pups often get to share a bowl of yoghurt late in the evening. They do not finish it, though. When they are done, I come in and finish the bowl. This is just one of many duties I perform for my pups. None of the duties are hard, because I love my pups, but some are more pleasant than others. Finishing the bowl of yoghurt is one of the more pleasant duties. I can recommend yoghurt to most dogs.

Abandoned Dog

In Norway, there are sometimes dog crates that you can borrow outside of shopping malls. Yesterday, somebody abandoned a dog in one of them in Gjovik. The shopping mall closed at nine in the evening, but when the dog barked just after midnight, police was called to the scene and took care of the dog. Nobody knows who abandoned the dog, or why. I cannot think of any reason that would forgive such behaviour.

Who Will We Root For?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The women's Olympic final in football features Japan versus the USA.

Granny is from the USA, just like uncle Calvin and aunt April. Daddy, on the other hand, is from Japan. Japan is also the home of our breed.

I am not sure whether I will join Granny to root for the USA, or Daddy to root for Japan. I am not the only one who are unsure of this at our place, either. Of course, I will not be really disappointed with either country as gold medal winner, but the thrill of sports is to hope that one of the competitors or teams will win. Thus, it would almost be better if either Japan or the USA would face a quite different country that I have no special feelings for whatsoever.

Well, it is bound to be a nice game to watch, nevertheless.

Pups

It is great having pups. I get extra food. The downside is that I cannot always chose when I will get it. Well, you cannot get it all.

Wrong Name

Hello, Karstuhl here! We had visitors here today. They were nice people. I happened to give their pup, the male, the wrong name yesterday. He is supposed to be called Gonsa. I do not know what this means, but it is a cute name.

Six Weeks

Hello, Karstuhl here! It is now six weeks ago I got another new brother and sister. They are very cute and fun to be with when they are this age. The boy is called Gonzo and the girl Issi. Gonzo's new family Will come to visit him and us tomorrow. It will be interesting to get to know them, so we will know Gonzo gets a Good home. I believe it will be nice.

The Oldest Participant

The oldest competitor in the Olympic Games is from Japan, the 71 year old Hiroshi Hoketsu who participates in dressage. What makes it even more special is that he participated in his first Olympic Games 48 years ago, in Tokyo in 1964. Japanese humans are tough people, just like dogs of Japanese breeds are.

Flying the Flag

The Olympic Games are the current focus for most people these days. National flags of the medalists are flown many times a day. Many of these flags are US flags, because Americans win many medals.

I am, however, much more impressed by other American flags. Recent photographies of the Moon's surface by the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter show that all but one of the American flags left "flying" by the Apollo landers are still standing. (They are not really flying in the almost non-existant Lunar atmosphere, but made to look like it by a flag pole that also held the upper edge of the flag.) This is despite the harsh temperatures and ultraviolet light on the Lunar surface.

I hope these flags are still standing when humans (and dogs) revisit the landing sites in the future.