Understanding Humans

Some human scientists are researching how dogs interact with humans. It has now been determined that dogs can learn whether to trust a human or not. This comes as no surprise to me, as a dog, of course. It also comes as no surprise for humans with a lot of experience with dogs. We know whom to trust. This is essential for us, as part of human society, so it should not be a surprise to anyone. It is still fun to read about it.

TGIF

TGIF stands for "thank God Its Friday". We had a very good Friday evening, Paula, Daniel, and I. We were at Paula's parents'. It is always fun going there. I just wish I had had at least one of the ribs that the humans had for dinner. They claim these kinds of bones are not good for dogs, but I am not sure. Perhaps the real reason is just to save all the ribs for themselves? Well, all the rest of the evening was great,

Brother

Hello, Soya here!

Even though I moved away from Aangenaam, and my grandmother Hailey with her blog, I have been allowed to make a special guest appearance today. The thing is, I got a little brother last Sunday, when my humans got a child. He is called Arvid, is very small, and the cutest human I have ever seen.

Arvid came home from the human hospital today. He was born there and he and his mother stayed for a while. Upon his arrival, I got the opportunity to get to know him. I oversaw a change of diapers, I believe I helped making everything right. It is important to look after a little brother and make sure everything is done in the right way for him. I loved him from the very first time I saw him.

The Bed

Paula and Daniel put clean sheets in the bed tonight. When one of us dogs tried them out, Paula exclaimed that she did not want a dog in her bed yet. I am not sure what she meant. It is not jjust her bed, the bed belongs to all of us, doesn't it? We all usually sleep in it, more or less often. It is Paula's bed too, but not just her bed.

Runt

When watching the news on TV, there was a piece on using dogs in human health care. A children's hospital had bought a dog to help get the spirits up for the children.

While I applaud this initiative, I cannot condone the dog purchased. It was a cross breed, thus a dog who had come to this world without any deeper thought by the humans who had the parents. It must be much better for the children to meet a dog of a recognized breed, who would have been responsibly bred and raised. I would recommend a Shiba.

Child

Humans do not call their offspring pups, like dogs do. They call them children. Paula's sister Mia gave birth to a child yesterday. Paula and Daniel went to see the child at the human hospital. I am not sure why Mia gave birth at the human hospital, I have always given birth to my pups at home, not at the hospital. I guess humans have other traditions than dogs. As a dog, you are not expected to visit the human hospital. From what I have heard, not even Mia's own dog, my granddaughter Soya, has seen the child yet. We just have to believe Paula and Daniel, when they say the child is cute. It will be interesting to meet him, eventually.

Greek Reforms

Greece has made a deal with its creditors. The Greek government has until Monday to agree on reforms to solve the crisis. I hope they agree on things. I do have my doubts, though. The Greek Prime Minister won the election recently by promising an end to necessary reforms for the short term relief. How can the creditors rely on such a man? How can they rely upon that he will back down from his election promises to make the creditors happy? I do not think I would.

No Snow

We have not had any snowfall tonight. The blog entry before this was not published until some seconds after midnight, because there was some problem with the Internet connection. Today, the snow that fell yesterday evening is gone. There is not much older snow left, either. I guess spring is here soon. I like that.

Snow Again

We have had temperatures well above the freezing point for the last couple of days. Most of the snow has disappeared. Still, late tonight, some more snow fell from the sky. It was just a thin layer, mixed with rain, and it will certainly be gone soon, as well. Still, you can never be sure winter will come to an end, despite mild weather, in February.

Birthday Yesterday

Hello, Karstuhl here!

So, My birthday passed yesterday. Why would I need to celebrate it? I already have something much better to spend my time on: a little pup who is just mine. I love her.

Internet Fame

We got an advertisement leaflet in the mail today, where there was a short text about pets who had gotten famous on the Internet. All three of them had many more followers than my blog. Apparently, they do things that appeal to more people than I do. I have run this daily blog for many years, and I know I have some faithful readers. Still, I can get a little jealous at these other pets, who have really become celebrities of sorts. Well, at least I think my blog is the best blog there is.

Slippery Slopes

Our house is built on a little hill. Now that there have been many days with temperatures below as well as above the freezing point, the drive ways down to the street has turned into icy slopes. These are litteraly slippery slopes. On four lega with claws, all of us dogs manage, but it is hard for Daniel. On the other hand, he is seldom out on metaphorical slippery slopes, as he is very firm in his ideological beliefs. Slipping on icy drive ways might not be that bad, in comparison.

Open Eyes

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The most important thing that happened here at our house today, was that my pup Milou has now definitely opened up her eyes. She looks at the world with fresh, beautiful eyes. I wonder what she makes of it. I have learned so much about the world, it is hard to imagine what a pup is thinking, when seeing for the first time. I can see a lot of potential in her, anyway.

Chip Your Pet!

A cat in Devon, England, has been reunited with his human, after being lost for eight years. This was thanks to the ID chip he had. A veterinary scanned him and discovered who was his human. It is unknown where he has been during the past eight years, but he has been taken care of, because he is well fed.

This story shows how important it is to put chips with ID numbers in your pets. A pet who goes astray cannot explain where he or she really lives. ID chips can do the trick. If you have not already put an ID chip in your pet, I think you should.

Battery

The battery in my mobile device was almost empty earlier today, so Daniel put the cord in the power outlet. Unfortunately, though, he must not have pushed it in far enough. When I would use it to write my daily blog entry tonight, the battery was still almost empty. I am not as good as humans at putting cords in power outlets, I do not have the hands they do. It is a pity, then, that they do not succeed in something as relatively trivial as pushing the socket all the way in. Daniel usually manages to do this. Still, nobody is perfect and once in a while we all fail at trivial things to do. I am a little disappointed, but I could use the ordinary computer for my blog entry, so it was posted anyway. I forgive and forget. Tomorrow, nobody have any reason to care.

Gay Gala

There is a gay gala on TV tonight. I think more focus could be on dog breeding. There are a lot of prominent dog breeders who are gay.

Cutting Claws

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula cut claws tonight. Not my claws, but the claws of my little pup Milou. It went well. I am glad I did not have claws that were so long they needed to be cut. It is good to have short claws, but having them cut is not comfortable. Milou did not complain. She is yet not so self aware that she does this, but I expect her to be more careful about her claws further on. It is a good thing Paula is such a good claw cutter, it makes a harsh ordeal easier. I am sure Milou will notice this as well.

Australia in Eurovision

This year, Australia will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Apparently, Australia is a member of Eurovision, which is a prerequisite to be able to compete. Auntie Linni, whose father was from Australia, is looking forward to it. She says she will probably root for Australia, believing the country will have a great song to compete with. I also think it will be fun, though I mostly root for Sweden or my Dad's home country Norway. We will see what songs there will be.

Pop Corn Science

Scientists in France have researched the perfect conditions for popping pop corn. The ideal temperature is 180 degrees Celsius, at which 96 % of the corns popped.

Paula has always been a great fan of pop corn. I guess she thinks this is more important science than I do. I like meat or water melon better.

One Week

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My pup is growing and doing fine. She is so cute. An interesting thing is that some of her claws are white, even though she is a black and tan. We have to see whether this colour will change as she gets older. Nevertheless, she is the cutest there is.

Slow Net

sometimea, the Internet is so slow, I forget what I had in mind for my blog entry. This was one of those days. I do not like it.

If I can recall my idea for a blog entry, I might write it tomorrow instead. Stay tuned!

Milou

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have not yet told the blog readers what my newborn pup will be called. She has a new family to move to already. Her name will be Milou. This name is mostly connected with comic book dog hero Milou, from the comic books about Tintin. Milou was a male dog. This does not matter, however. There are other female dogs called Milou already. I think Milou is a fine name.

Song Contest

Hello, Polly here!

The Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest started today. One of the groups who participated had a member called Polly. Despite this fine name, their song was not very good. As a matter of fact, none of the seven songs tonight was that good. I guess the ultimate Swedish contender is yet to be heard. There are many more songs to come. We hope there will be a real winner among them.

Eat Sticks

in Japan, humans eat with sticks. In Europe, they eat with knife and fork. Paula and Daniel want to go to Japan in the not so far future. They want to learn more about Shibas in the home country of the breed, in truth a noble cause. They also eat with eat sticks sometimes, like when they eat sushi. This is good, it will make it easier for them in Japan.

Personally, I do not really understand why humans have to make eating so complicated. As a dog, all I need is a bowl of food.

Pup

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I now have a newborn pup to take care of. She sleeps a lot, and when she does, I have time to write blog entries. She is so cute. Taking care of pups is the best thing you can ever do. I wish everyone could experience this joy. Male dogs never do, I am sorry for them.

There is also a fringe benefit: I get more food.

Another Granddaughter

My dear daughter Polly gave birth to a beautiful little black and tan pup early this morning. I am now a grandmother of yet another dog. It makes me very happy! You might think it makes me think I am old, but today, there is only joy.

So Much Snow

Snow is fun, but now, snow has been falling constantly for days and nights. Many centimetres of snow is now laying on our lawn. It feels like it is enough now, at least for a while. It is February, so snow is to be expected, but does it have to be this much?

Another Dog Hero

In the harsh winter weather of Gothenburg two days ago, a police dog and his human went out searching for an elderly lady. The heavy snowfall and wind made it impossible to see any footprints on the ground. The dog, however, could smell the missing human. He wanted to pass a fence, but they could not pass it, so they had to walk around it. Once they found a way through the fence, the dog ran straight to a dark shadow on the ground. It turned out to be the missing woman, who had tripped, hurt her foot, and was very cold. She would probably not have survived, if it was not for the brave police dog. He is a true hero. Once again, a dog has showed how valuable dogs are for humans.