France Will Force People to Turn Lights Off

From July this year, France will force people to turn the lights off in certain places. Interior lights of nonresidential buildings must be turned off at the most one hour after the last person who works there will leave. Lights on building facades and in store windows must be turned off by 1 a.m. at night. The objects are to save energy, cut emissions of greenhouse gases, and diminish the disruptions of sleeping patterns and eco systems. An advantage must be that the stars and the Moon will be seen better.

For dogs, the new rules are not much of a problem, we have so much better night vision than humans. Many lights are there, though, to increase safety, since light makes it harder for burglars and villains not to be seen and makes traffic safer. I assume that not everyone in France are happy about the new rules. If they would want to turn off the lights, they would already have done so.

Shooting at a Kennel

A dog breeder in western Sweden has been arrested by the police, after shooting three dogs at his kennel.

One of the dogs was owned by another human, which will cause the police to pursue the case. A police spokesman said no other human was nearby, hence no human was hurt. It was good that no human was hurt, but still I believe it is more serious that the man killed three dogs, than it would have been if he would have hurt a human. A human killing his own dogs breaks the greatest bond of trust you can find in the known universe, that between a dog and his or her human. This is a great tragedy.

If there were other dogs at the kennel, I hope someone is taking care of them.

Toyota Is Biggest Again

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Toyota has regained its position as the world's leading car manufacturer, which was lost to General Motors in 2011. The lesser sales in 2011 was mostly due to natural disasters in Japan and Thailand which hurt production at Toyota factories.

I am glad a Japanese car manufacturer is biggest in the world again. My dad, Kuro-chan, is also very happy about this, Toyota is his favourite car brand.

We have a BMW and a Chrysler. There is nothing wrong with these cars. We do not necessarily have to have Japanese cars, just because us dogs are of a Japanese breed.

Abdication

Hello, Peanut here!

News from the Netherlands, the country where my brother Botan lives, tell us he and his fellow Dutch dogs and humans will get a new monarch in April. The reigning Queen Beatrix has decided to step down from the throne and hand it over to her oldest son, Willem-Alexander.

Contrary to what you may think, this is not due to any constitutional crisis or anything like that, it is just the tradition of Dutch monarchs to abdicate when they reach an old age. Both Beatrix' mother and grandmother abdicated in favour of their daughters. Queen Beatrix herself will soon be seventy five years old and believes it is time she gives the throne to her son. Well, if this is Dutch royal tradition, I am all for it.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is the international day of remembrance of the Holocaust, that is the organised killing of humans of minority groups that the Nazi rulers of Germany did during the Second World War.

Having lived all my life among good hearted humans who love dogs and other humans, I cannot understand how some humans can be so cruel as the Nazis were. I know some humans in present day Sweden want to kill innocent wolves, or have a view that not all humans are created equal with equal basic rights. Still, how is it possible to be so cruel that you make an industry of killing humans, just because these humans were born by parents of a different ethnicity?

Becoming a Grandmother

As my dear daughter Karstuhl has already written in this blog, she is expecting pups. This means I will become a grandmother in the near future. I am looking forward to it.

It also means my Mum will, once again, become a great grandmother. Mum is a grandmother and great grandmother of Shibas in the USA, where she lived and gave birth to pups before moving to Sweden. This will be the first time she gets great grandchildren here in Sweden. I hope she will get many more.

Pups!

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am expecting pups! I already suspected I did, though Paula and Daniel where doubtful. Then Daniel took me to the veterinarian this Thursday for an ultra sound check, and there is at least two pups in my tummy.

I am happy. This is not only because I will be able to continue our bitch line from Granny and Mommy, but also because puppy mothers get to eat more great food. I will get more food before delivering the pups, and then even more after the pups are born. It will be a great experience to take care of pups of my own.

The Amount of Meat We Eat

Today, I read this interesting article on human consumption of meat. In the public debate, some people have critizised the fact that Swedes would eat 86 kilogrammes of meat per person per year. This figure comes from the Swedish government authority on agriculture. At the same time, an international cancer fund recommends that humans would eat 0.3-0.5 kilogrammes cooked per week, which is 16-26 kilogrammes per year. However, the figure 86 kilogrammes is actually the weight of the meat before it is butchered and bones and other things humans do not eat is taken away. (Some things that humans do not eat, like pigs' ears and tails, make for very tasty dog food.) When cooked, the weight of the meat is 23.4 kilogrammes. It is important what figures we use, when debating an issue. I have never believed that humans eat too much meat, the humans I know do not. It may be pointed out, however, that I could eat more meat myself. Meat is great food.

Update from Yesterday

A Swedish organisation for the press, "Utgivarna", says that the report on EU press rules - which I wrote about yesterday - is terrible. They will act against it and urge Swedish politicians to do the same. I agree.

European Union to Sack Journalists?

I read a news article, and could not believe my eyes. A report commissioned by the European Union says the EU should have a tight press regulation and officials employed by the EU should have control of national media supervisors, as well as new powers to enforce fines or even to sack journalists. So far, I have not had time to read the full report. It is more than 50 pages. Could it be so bad as the above mentioned article says? Read it here and make up your own mind! I do wonder, however, why you would need so many pages just to say that mass media should be free from infringements by government officials.

Sworn in Again

The US president is sworn in again, for a second term of four years. He cannot have another term. This does not do much for continuity. Compare Japan, where the current Emperor have reigned since 1989, Sweden, where the current King has reigned since 1973, or the UK, where the current Queen has reigned since 1952. This is continuity.

Wolves in Sweden

If you have the news paper Svenska Dagbladet, there is an interesting piece on wolves in Sweden today.

A Dog Stealing Money

A man in India claims a stray dog stole a paper bag full of money from him.

Apparently, India is full of stray dogs. This is sad, dogs usually fare much better when they have humans. The dog in question can hardly have any use for the money he took, no human would sell him food for it. We dogs need our humans to make that kind of business.

The man who lost his money is said to have been looking for it, and has found some of it. I hope that if he finds the stealing dog, he is nice to it. This daring and resourceful dog deserves a good future.

Suspected Murder of Dog

A dog in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, was run over by a car, when walking in the street outside his home. The driver is suspected of deliberately having hit the dog, who ran for his life. The driver left after the hit and has yet not been heard by the police.

Deliberately killing a dog! If the victim would have been a human, this would have been murder. I do not expect the human justice system to convict this driver for murder, but in my eyes, it was. I sure would like to know why? How can some humans be so heartless?

Japanese Grounded Planes

The American airplane manufacturer Boeing has had many problems with the new 787 Dreamliner airplane. The latest news is that a plane of the Japanese airline ANA was forced to make an emergency landing due to battery problems. ANA has now grounded all of its 787, and so has its Japanese competitor, JAL. Well, at least nobody was killed or hurt, when the plane had to do the emergency landing. I hope, for Boeing's sake, that they sort the problems out soon. Mum says she is sure they will, since Boeing is from her home State Washington in the USA.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Snow has been falling all day. Both Paula and Daniel have been out, shoveling it from our long driveway. I am not envious of this work.

In the south of Sweden, the bad weather and slippery roads caused a big traffic accident on the E4 motorway outside of Helsingborg. We heard on the radio that there were reports of some humans being killed. They did not say anything about dogs being killed, so I hope there were none. You cannot be sure, though, human mass media are not as good at telling the story of dogs as the story of humans. I also hope there were no dogs who lost any beloved humans in the accident.

No Pants Day

Yesterday was the No Pants Day in New York, San Fransisco, and a lot of other places, I guess. Humans travelled around in commuter trains no pants, just their underwear, socks, and shoes, on the lower half of the body.

As a dog, I cannot really see what is so special. Wherever I go, I go without pants.

Olympic Games in Tokyo?

A team from Tokyo in Japan has launched a bid to get the Olympic Games to Tokyo in 2020. The city competes with Madrid and Istambul to become a host, and a decision will be made in September this year.

I hope Tokyo will get the chance to host the Olympic Games. Tokyo is a great city in a great country - the home country of the Shiba Inu, you know. I may be able to see Olympic Games in Tokyo on TV, if they will be there in 2020. I will turn fifteen years old in September 2020, an age which is not extremely high for a Shiba Inu. I do hope this will become true.

Christmas Is Over

Hello, Peanut here!

Paula and Daniel removed all the Christmas items, like candelabres, Christmas curtains, etc. today. The adult dogs explained to me that Christmas is over. However, Christmas will return next winter. This is all new to me. It is my first winter and this has been my first Christmas. It is interesting to know that both winter and Christmas will eventually be over, but will also come back. I have difficulties to understand when this will happen, though. We will have to see, further on. Christmas was nice, with a lot of good food, so if I could decide, it would return soon.

Small Steps In the Direction of Equality

Saudi Arabia will, for the very first time, get women members of the consultative council that advises the government on new legislation. In 2014, women will be able to vote for the first time.

These are small steps in the direction towards equality between men and women. This is good, societies where everyone has equal opportunities are often better for all. Even small steps in the direction of equality should be hailed as positive news.

However, I still long for the day when islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia, will start to treat dogs as humans do where we live. I have come to understand that it is a part of islamic culture to view dogs as unclean, "haram", thus not allowing them indoors as family members and pets. Personally, I believe this is wrong. Dogs have lived very close to humans in many other societies for millenia. When will dogs in Saudi Arabia be treated equal to dogs in our part of the world?

Food, and then No Food

Hello, Peanut here!

We store dry dog food in the entrance hall. Appart from storage for the dog food, shoes and outdoor clothes, this is just a room that we dogs pass through when going in and out of the house. However, I was there with Daniel this evening, when he opened a new bag of food. I tried to help Daniel, but it only resulted in him spilling out a lot of food on the floor. Luckily for him, I was there to clean the floor. Daniel then said I had gotten so much food already, that I did not need any food in my bowl. I think this was unfair! Wasn't this a punishment for helping with the cleaning, or what?

Moving to Mars?

A Netherlands-based non-profit organisation, Mars One, is seeking people who would like to go to the planet Mars and become colonists there. The application period starts early this year, and the earliest journey is set to go ten years from now.

There is one evident catch: you will not be offered a chance to go back to Earth. The idea is to start a human population on Mars.

I can see another possible catch: there is nothing saying you can bring dogs. Wherever cultured humans live, they usually live with dogs. A human colony on Mars should, therefore, have dogs. I hope they will consider this further on.

The Legality of Restraining Air Passengers

I read this interesting article on the legal issues of restraining unruly passengers on airline flights. There are no international rule on the matter, the law of the land in which the airplane is registered will apply. Restraint may only be used if the passenger really is unruly and will not calm down when told to.

This only applies to human passengers. If the passenger is a dog, the general rule is that the dog needs to be restrained in a crate the whole flight. Dogs accept this, we are gentle beings. I do believe, however, that the dogs and many human passengers would be happy to see a dog not restrained, except for take off and landing, during the flight.

Bluefin Tuna

At a Japanese bluefin tuna auction, a new record high price was paid for a bluefish tuna. At the same time, warnings are heard that the bluefish tuna is being overfished and the stock is dwindling.

If the price would continue to be as high as the record price at the auction, maybe the demand will dwindle, thus making the fishing of the fish less profitable? In this way, maybe the stock will grow again? I do not know, but I do wish tasty fish like the bluefish tuna will survive for future generations.

Going Back Home

This was not really my show. I was third best bitch yesterday, and second best bitch today.

Sometimes, they say in Mum's home country America: second place is first loser. I do not really agree. I believe you can be happy for a second place as well, if you have done your best but the winner is good enough to beat you nevertheless. Congratulations to all the winners!

We are on our way home now. The train is due to arrive in Örebro late this evening, but we will be picked up there. I enjoyed going by train a little more when we went here, because it was in the daytime, when I could watch the landscape passing by outside the window. Still, sitting in Paula's lap during the train journey is always nice.

Excellent, but...

My Dog is a big dog show, one of the biggest in Sweden. Today was my first day in the show ring. I did my very best, got Excellent and CAC, but then I was third best bitch. The winner was a great opponent, I have nothing to complain about when I lose to her, but I hope I will do better tomorrow. We will have to see. Stay tuned, and I will keep you updated!

An Important Message

I could have devoted this blog entry to the second day of the dog show My Dog in Gothenburg, but I have still not entered a show ring and I would rather want all of my readers to read this: Rescue, purebred dogs and shelter dogs - the OTHER side of it. It is important to set the record straight, when it comes to dog breeding and rescue dogs.

The First Day in Gothenburg

Group Five did not compete in the show today, so it was just a day for watching other dogs do their rounds in the show rings. Among these were the Poodles.

Paula and I were also reunited with the grey Toy Poodle of our family: Momoko, who have been in Scania to have a litter of pups. She only had one pup, but it was still a litter.

Apart from not going into the showring myself, it was a good day. I am looking forward to Saturday and Sunday, though, when I will show.

Going to Gothenburg

Paula and I went to Gothenburg today. Tomorrow is the start of the first big dog show of the year in Sweden, the "My Dog" show in Gothenburg. I am really looking forward to it.

Since it was only the two of us, we went by train, because then it was cheaper than using the car. It was quite an experience, too. I enjoyed sitting in the lap of Paula, something I could not have done in the car. There were no other dogs in our part of the train, but a cute cat.

Happy New Year

Happy new year!