Nippo Show

The Swedish Shiba Inu Club, Shiba-no-kai, held a specialty show with a Nippo judge from Japan today. One of my sons competed in one of the junior classes, where he became second best. Kuro-chan, who is the father of two of my littera, including that of my daughter Polly, came in third among over twenty adult males. These are great results. - Oh, and I guess a daughter of Kicki got a good result too.

Better Japanese Economy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Prices in Japan are rising. This is supposed to be good. The economy is speeding up. Mommy writes about these things in this blog sometimes. I understand her interest of Japan, but I cannot say I am as interested in economy and domestic Japanese politics as Mommy is. If you want to know more, just follow the link I supply in this blog entry. I hope you find it interesting.

European Winner's Show

Paula is in Geneva, Switzerland, at the European Winner's Show 2013. I would have liked to go there and enter the show ring, but I had no place on the aircraft. The only dog from us who will be shown is Kuro-chan. I like him and he is a great representative for us and the breed. However, we have no female representing our kennel. Oh, well, life is not always the best imaginable, you have to make do with the nice life at home sometimes. This is good, too.

Dog "Weddings" in Sri Lanka

The police in Sri Lanka has performed a ceremony where nine couples of police dogs were "married". The aim was to make domestic breeding of dogs more popular. The police in Sri Lanka is now importing many dogs, which is expensive.

I believe most acts that promotes good and healthy dog breeding is good. The purpose of this act was good. It has, however, caused protests among believing Buddhists, who think the police desecrated Buddhist symbols of marriage. I do not know enough about Buddhism to comment on this, but perhaps there is some truth in it. Dogs do not need to marry in the human way, we have other forms of forming family bonds. A dog marriage that causes protests could, therefore, have been bad publicity. I hope this does not fall back on the dogs.

Early Morning Walks

Hello, Orange here!

A while ago, Daniel started to bring me on the morning walks. Weekdays, he gets up really early. I have never been against going out in the garden this early, if I just have to do what I have to do, then go back to sleep again. The morning walks is a different matter. They last much longer. You cannot go back to sleep right away when coming back, because you have to wind down first. On the other hand, it is fun to walk with the adult dogs and my older puppy friend Xavi. It makes me feel more like an adult myself, and this makes me proud. I have also discovered that once you do wind down from these walks, you sleep better than if you just spend some time out in the garden. All things considered, I see more ups than downs with these walks. I like that and I will continue to walk these walks. I can recommend early morning walks to everyone.

CACIB

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am quite happy about my show results this last weekend. I did lose to Mommy, but I got Excellent and CK both days. If I would not have won my Swedish show championship last Sunday, I would have won it this Saturday. I also got reserve CACIBs both days, but since Mommy is already an international champion, I will get the CACIBs eventually. These are good steps towards a possible future international championship for me. I like that.

Wolf Policy

The national committee on sustainable predator policy for wolves handed over its final report to the cabinet last Friday. It was on Paula's birthday, which was fitting.

There is a summary in English in the beginning of the report. An even shorter summary is the list of proposed measures, as written like this:

The Report's proposal for measures can be summarised as follows:
- clarification of the policy direction and purpose of the predator policy
- development of comprehensive wildlife management legislation
- creation of conditions for adaptive management
- simplification of the culling process
- increased compensation for damages caused by predators
- further development of damage-preventing measures
- concrete definition of the management plan for wolves
- decision for an action plan for genetic reinforcement of the wolf population
- curb on illegal hunting
- introduction of opportunities for licenced hunting of wolves, when favorable conservation status is achieved
- allocation of sufficient resources to the responsible authorities
- conduct of socio-economic analysis related to predator presence
- establishment of a permanent wolf committee

I believe there are some great proposals here, not least the establishment of a permanent committee. If I could, I would like to be a member of that committee, but I do not think they will appoint any dogs, regardless of my experience of breeding. Hopefully, at least one experienced dog breeder will be on the committee, knowledge from breeding dogs must be valuable when it comes to preserving the wild breed of the canine species. i do not like licence hunting, but believe it is better than the illegal hunting that would certainly be the result if all the hunting of wolves would be outlawed. I will follow up what happens and I might write more about it in my blog later.

...and Yet Again

There are always two shows in Visby, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. I won Best of Breed on the Sunday show as well. There was not much luck in the Group Finals either day, but I went into the final ring anyway. I have to use my position as Best of Breed to promote the breed in the final ring. With enough great Shibas there, sooner or later, one of us will be placed in the group. Calvin was, a couple of years ago.

I am happy about my results this weekend. It was definitely worth going to this show.

Best Again

It was a fun dog show today. For the very first time, I was up against my daughter Polly in Champion Class. I won. Both of us was fit to be champions, according to the judge, but I was the better one. My experience matters.

A little later, I also won Best of Breed against Gunde. I just dominated among many excellent Shibas today. It is a great feeling.

Think About the Gassed Dogs!

There have been news articles and debates about gas attacks against humans in Syria, where they are fighting a civil war. I believe we should also consider the animals, they must have been gassed too. Dogs in the Middle East do not have an easy life, many humans there consider them "unclean". They must have an even harsher life, if hit by the gas. I hope aid goes out to the dogs, as well as to the humans, hit by the gas attacks in Syria.

Happy birthday!

We are celebrating Paula's birthday today. She is worth all the celebrations she can get. Hooray!

Busy

We are busy today, preparing for two dog shows this weekend in Visby. We will go there tomorrow. I am so happy that I get to go. It will be so much fun to enter the show ring again. Now I have to continue my preparations.

Late car ride

Paula was on After Work with people with whom she works tonight. She did something similar this spring. Daniel went by car to pick her up last time, and I got to follow along. We did the same this night. It feels like the start of a pleasant tradition.

Stew

Hello, Orange here!

We got chicken stew in the food today. Small wonder, then, that everyone licked their foodbowls clean. It was really tasty. We have to thank Paula for this.

Bathing

Hello, Orange here! Gunde is one of my male Shiba friends. He is a really nice fellow and I am glad to follow his lead in a lot of things. This evening, he had a bath. This is, however, not a thing I would like to have, despite Gunde having it. There has to be limits to the things we do voluntarily, regardless of who go before us and do it. Bathing is not a nice thing to do. I wish you could do without baths altogether.

Champion Today

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I went in the pawsteps of my parents today, winning a third CAC and becoming Swedish Show Champion. It goes in the family, being excellent enough to become a Swedish champion, I guess.

I was also Best of Breed. My half brother Yamasakura's Oliver wom CAC and was Best of Opposite Sex. We have the same father, and a great father he is!

Pies

Paula baked pies tonight. I offered to help her, preferably to taste it and to make the firat rinse of the dirty dishes. I did not get to taste any, though. The pies are for a little party tomorrow. Perhaps there will be some left-overs for me after the party. I do hope it will.

Killing Healthy Animals?

I was deeply concerned, when reading this article about British animal protection association RSPCA. It says that the RSPCA kills perfectly healthy animals and rather pursue humans whom they think abuses animals than helping the animals. One story is about five perfectly healthy cats put to death. The RSPCA does respond, but I am still not convinced. I do think it is important to bring animal abusers to justice, but the most important thing is to take care of the abused or abandoned animals. Things can be done in a better way.

Upholding a Contract

A cat breeder in Sweden had put her male cat with another family, who could care for him as their own family member. However, this came with a contract stipulating that the cat would be surrendered to the breeder for breeding. When the family with whom the cat lived did not want to provide the cat, the breeder asked the authorities for help. She got the help she needed, the authorities will get the cat, thus making sure the contract is honoured.

This is a good move by the authorities. Contracts must be honoured. If a contracting party does not honour his or her obligations under a contract, the authorities should use its power to help the other contracting party. If you have a contract, you want this, or the contract is of no value whatsoever.

The principle is the same with similar contracts on dogs. I hope no dog breeder will ever have to use the authorities in this way, but if they do, I am all for it.

As Daniel quoted in latin: pacta sunt servanda. Contracts must be upheld.

Death in the Dutch Royal Family

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have received notice that a brother of the King of the Netherlands, Prince Friso, has died after a year and a half in a coma. He suffered severe brain damage in a ski accident in Austria, when hit by an avalanche at off piste skiing. He never recovered.

Our thoughts go to the family, the Dutch people and Dutch dogs. We know one Dutch dog, of course, Botan, who was born and raised here at our kennel.

Off piste skiing is dangerous. This is but one proof.

Great Weekend!

Yesterday, my daughter Polly won CAC and was BOS at the dog show in Askersund. Today, my son Gonza won CAC and was BOB at the dog show in Ronneby. Gonza is not much more than a year old. They sure follow the paths of their parents. I am so proud over them. Do I need to say more?

CAC

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This was the day of the Askersund national kennel club dog show. It is the annual show hosted by our regional kennel club, so you can say it is home turf for us. Calvin and I did very well. Calvin went in champion class, of course, and he became best male. I won a CAC and was best female. Thus, we met each other in the competition for Best of Breed, which is good among nine Shibas. Calvin was Best of Breed today. I think I will beat Calvin sometime in the future, if we will go up against one another again, but I congratulate him for the victory today. My main goal was the CAC, another step on my way to becoming a champion. Look out for me in shows to come!

Hamburgers

Hamburgers are very tasty, especially those that Paula makes herself. She made some for dinner tonight. I got to taste. It was so good, I even got a little sauce on my ear. Well, eating slowly has never been a virtue, in my mind.

Blowing Coat

Many of us are blowing coats now. I do not. I know that there are dog shows left, blowing your coat before these shows will clearly lower your chances in the shows. It is best to do whatever you can do to preserve your coat. Good luck to Calvin, who has already blown half his coat and who will be shown in Askersund this weekend.

Aircraft Carrier

Japan has unveiled a new, huge warship. It is an aircraft carrier with a flight deck 250 metres long. Reports say it is the biggest Japanese warship since World War II. The carrier is supposed to be used in border-area survellance and anti-submarine missions. With the recent tension over the Japanese Senkaku Islands, which China claims, it is a good thing that Japan has a good defence capacity. I hope it will never have to be used in an actual war, but then, having a military strong enough to deter your enemies from making war with you is the main purpose of it.

Baking Bread

Paula has a new hobby. She is baking bread. It is not just any bread, but so called LCHF bread. This is supposed to be healthy. I do not know about that. LCHF stands for low carn, high fat. The best hing to eat, then, is meat. Bread can never be as healthy, nor as tasty, as meat. There is some value having a varied diet, as well, but I would not mind more meat, to eat more like the LCHF diet suggests.

Solar Powered Lights

We have had some solar powered lights in the garden since last summer. They have never worked. Daniel has now reviewed the construction and got rid of a seal that was hidden inside. You could not see this seal, unless you disassembled part of the lamp. As far as we can remember, there was no word or picture about this seal in the manual to the lights. However, they are shining tonight. We like that. Better late than never.

Good Ridance

We transported some garbage to the waste depot. It is good not to have it in our garden.

Concert

There is a concert playing a kilometre away, or what it is to Brunnsparken from us. We can hear the base at home, even indoors. It could be a little disturbing, but we do not care. These things do not happen often. It is also Friday night, when humans usually party more than other nights since most of them do not work Saturdays and Sundays. We let them do this, it makes them better people, and better people are nicer to dogs.

New Kind of Antibiotic Discovered

Antibiotics are good stuff. It helps both dogs and humans, and other animals of our liking, to fight off bacteria and the diseases created by them. There have, however, been more and more bacteria who are resistent to the antibiotics we know and use.

Scientists have now discovered a completely new kind of antibiotic compound in a microorganism living in the sea off the coast of California. This antibiotic compound seem to be effective on some bacteria who are immune to all other antibiotics.

This is great news. Fighting off bacteria can save many human and dog lives. I hope antibiotics can soon be on the market derived from this new discovery. Perhaps it is also grounds for a Nobel Prize, like Alexander Fleming got for discovering the antibiotic penicillin. Go, science!