Mother's Day

Last year, my mother was still here at the Swedish Mother's Day, the last Sunday in May. This year, I can just celebrate her memory. My daughter Karstuhl, and my other pups who do not live with me, have celebrated me, however. I appreciate this. I wish all mothers out there a happy Mother's Day!

Second

At the dog show today, I was second best female. This was a little annoying, but you have to accept the judgment. My granddaughter Soya was third best female, and as she was the first who was not a champion already, she won the CAC and the CACIB. The best result, however, was that Gunde became Best of Breed. He was also picked out in the group, but did not get any of the first four places. It is great for a Shiba to be on the shortlist for group placement. All in all, it was a good day at the show. I cannot wait to go to the next show.

Upcoming Dog Show

I am so happy. We will go to a dog show tomorrow, and I am one of them who will go and who will be shown in the show ring. It is the best thing there is to do. I just love the attention, the competition, and the excitement. Of course, I hope I will win, but if I do not, it is fun anyway. My grand daughter Soya will compete as well, and may win. If I do not win, I hope Soya will.

Hard Day

Paula came home this afternoon more sad and tired than she usually is. She had had a very busy day at work. I know the feeling and can have sympathy for her. Some days are busy for us dogs, when we are alone at home and watch the property. If there are many odd sounds outside, we have work to do. We will take care of Paula, this is something we are good at, too.

Ironing

Have I ever written something in this blog about the human habit of ironing clothes? Clothes may seem like a good ides, because you can put them on and take them of when you feel the need. You have to wash them, however, and you have to iron many clothes so they will look nice enough to wear. Daniel ironed some shirts this evening. This is when I am extra happy about my Shiba coat, which is really low maintenance, and still always good looking. Why cannot Daniel's shirts be like that?

The Science of Smoked Meat

Science can teach us a lot about the world around us. Some scientific research seems to be more important than others, though. At Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA, a research team has worked on improving the smoking of meat for barbecues. This improves the taste. I can think of few things that may improve our everyday life in a more tangible way than this. It must be good science.

Pie

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula made pie for dinner tonight. It was a nice, creamy cheese pie. I got to taste some of the dough, it was fantastic. I wish we could have pie more often.

Nothing About Dogs

Twentyseven songs in the Eurovision Song Contest. None of them says anything about a dog or some dogs. I will not vote.

Rain

It is no fun going out late at night, when the rain is pouring down. I wish there was some way of controlling the rain. Nature needs rain, and we need it to fill our well with water to drink and wash in. Still, could there not be a temporary switch just for short times out in the garden?

Genetic Split Between Wolf and Dog

A new scientific study suggests that wolves and dogs split into two separate genetic groups as early as 30,000 years ago. This is thousands of years earlier than preciously thought.

Archaeological evidence suggest that dogs and humans have acompanied each other for about 40,000 years. I have written about this before here on my blog. It is interesting to see that this early bond also gave way to an early dog genetic group.

The scientists behind the new genetic study says this finding may explain the stromg bond between dogs and humans. I believe this is an important clue to solving why this bond exists.

I like this comment on the study by biologist Peter Smith: "(The study) is showing that the deep, deep connection has existed between man and wolves - now our dogs - for many tens of thousands of years and that is why we love dogs so much. They are part of our own evolution into a modern society."

Sunshine in the Rain

It has been strange weather today. The Sun has been shining at times, but then there has also been heavy rainfalls. There have also been times when the Sun has been shining, at the same time as the rain has fallen. I guess you call this April weather, because diverse weather conditions like this is typical for the month of April. We are more than half way into May, though. It does not feel like we will have a warm summer, but you never know. I hope for the best.

WiFi

Hello, Orange here!

We are lucky to have WiFi at home. It helps us connect to the Internet. I asked around to see what WiFi means, but as far as I can tell, it does not really mean anything. It is just a name. I see no point in having a name which does not also mean something. Orange is the name of a region, a colour, and a fruit, as well as my name. This is cool. i like it when words can mean more than one thing. If WiFi actually does not mean anything, except WiFi, then I beliece it is a cool thing, but not a cool name. On the other hand, it is fitting that dogs have the coolest names there are.

Walking

Paula has started to walk to work and back home again. It is quite a distance, longer than some of our dog walks. We are proud of Paula, she really takes care of herself with this new habit. If she needs company on long walks when she does not have work days, I and the other dogs will gladly provide it. Walks are a nice way to spend your time.

Bronze and Gold

Mom's home country, the USA, won the bronze game on the final day of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. I like this, because I hoped the USA would win over the Czech Republic.

In the gold game, Canada outplayed Russia. sweden played Russia in the quarter final and could have won, but would certainly have lost to this great Canadian team. We congratulate the Canadians. We hoped they would win, because we like Canada better than Russia. This was a great game to finish the championships.

Warm Blooded Fish

A species of fish that is warm blooded, has been found for the first time. This fish, the opah, who lives in oceans around the world, manages to keep its body a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water. This is similar to birds and mammals, preciously thought to be the only warm blooded living beings. The warmth of the opah's body makes it possible for it to swim faster, thus being a good hunter. I guess you can compare this to the warm blooded hunters like dogs and wolves. We are better at hunting, because we are warm blooded. Warmth is a good thing.

Winning

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula was out with some colleagues this evening. They participated in a lottery, and Paula won a night at the hotel. She decided to claim the victory right away, so she will not be home tonight. I think I would have done the same. I would love to have a night for myself at a hotel, then eating hotel breakfast in the morning. Unfortunately, I do not think they would let a dog participate in a lottery of this kind. I have to be happy for Paula instead, dreaming what it would be like to be there now.

Quarter Finals

sweden lost its quarter final game in the ice hockey world championships to Russia. Sweden did not play well at the start of the game, but came back and got a tie, 3-3, at the end of the third period. The Russians then got lucky, by sheer luck, they got a 4-3 goal, then scoring 5-3 in an empty goal. Russia is a great power in ice hockey, it is not ahameful losing a game to them. Still, we are sad, having looked forward to a semi final where Sweden would have faced the USA. Now, we will all hope for the USA versus Russia.

Long Weekend

We have a long weekend ahead of us. Tomorrow is a Thursday, but due to the number of days from Easter, we celebrate the day Christ ascended into Heaven. Daniel will be home, but Paula will work. Nurses have to work on holidays sometimes.

I understand this holiday is a celebration of something proving that Christ is in Heaven. It is a little strange to celebrate that He left his followers, but I guess leaving them for Heaven, promising his followers to come there in the future, is something to celebrate. There are things I do not understand about the faith, but if everything was understood, it would not be faith, but knowledge, wouldn't it? Nevertheless, I do understand the concept of having a day off, which is a good thing.

Strange Purchases

Hello, Orange here!

Paula came back home tonight, after two days of shopping. She had not purchased anything in particular for us dogs. This is strange. Why would you travel for a long distance and spend many hours shopping, and still not buy any dog treats, for example. Paula said the dog section of the great store she went to was not good, it did not have much. If this is so,I can fully understand Paula, but how can a big store not have a good dog section? It is not a great store then, is it?

Shopping

Paula has gone away for Monday and Tuesday, travelling with some friends to a little place in the south of Sweden where they spend the day shopping. I cannot see the reason why you would want to go so far just to go shopping. It is not like there is a dog show there, or even a dog supply store. Why go away from home, if it is not to go to a dog show?

Work

Paula was at work today. As a nurse, she regularly works Sundays. Daniel was at home, but sat at his computer working for many hours. I am not a stranger to working weekends myself, most dog shows are at weekends. By the way, as a pet dog, you are on duty as pet every day of the week, every hour of the day. I do not mind, I like being productive this way.

Conference

Paula was at a conference of a most important kind today, a dog breeding conference. She got up very early and drove off, while the rest of us could sleep late. I would have wanted to come, the subject is very interesting and I do have some experience. I wish I could share this experience in a good way. Since I did not participate, I do not really know what items were siscussed and what was being said. If I knew, I could have commented on it here in my blog. Well, humans have an important role in dog breeding, so it is important they can discuss it as well.

No Games

There are no games.in the ice hockey world championships today. What is there to watch then?

Unnecessarily Exciting

Sweden played Germany in the ice hockey world championships today. Normally, Sweden would win easily. It is not that Germany has a bad team, they are always in the top championship group. Sweden is much better, however, being one of the four great powers of ice hockey. Still, Germany had a 2-2 tie at the start of the third period. While Sweden managed to get 4-2, Germany reduced and the game finished a mere 4-3 in Sweden's favour. This is proof that the sport is getting more attention outside of the great powers if ice hockey, but it is still shameful for Sweden not to defeat Germany more thoroughly.

Still, the USA should be more ashamed, losing their game to Belarus today.

Microwaves

Scientists at an Australian radio telescope has searched in vain for seventeen years to find the source of strange signals. They found out this year what the source was. It was nothing more strange than microwaves from the microwave oven in the kitchen of the observatory. When the door of the oven was opened before the programme was over, microwaves left the oven and was detected by the radio telescope.

They must feel a little silly, realizing this was the source of the signals. The staff caused the signals themselves, without realizing it.

They would not even have had the help of a dog sniffing out the solution, because microwaves cannot even be detected by the sharp noses of dogs. I wish we could, but there are limits even to our sniffing abilities.

Oh well, I guess science has made some progress by this discovery as well.

Sausage

Hello, Orange here!

Today, we got some sausage in our food. This was good. I love sausage. Every sausage is seasoned in its own way. This was salami sausage, which is very tasty. I do not think, however, that the seasonong of sausage has got anything in particular to do with the herb sage, which can be used for seasoning. The similarities in the words are certainly just a coincidence. I wish I could get some more sausage to eat. Eating sausage is better than thinking about sausage. Sausage is made for being eaten, not for being thought about. Hopefulky, we can get more sausage tomorrow.

Left Overs

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We got left overs from different dishes in our food bowls today. It was tasty and it gives a certain edge to the food that it is different than the usual food we get. I am not sure I like the word "left overs", though. It feels like it is quite right to get food this way, but what is right is the opposite of what is left. Perhaps we should call it right overs instead?

Birthday!

Paula's sister Mia celebrated her birthday today, so Paula and Daniel went there to celebrate. My granddaughter Soya, daughter of Polly, lives with Mia, so she represented the four legged part of our family.

Happy birthday, Mia!

A Cat

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Kenny was out in the yard today and started to bark. Daniel and I went out to see what was going on. It turned out to be a black cat sitting by the car, outside of the dog fences. When Daniel went out to look closer, it dashed off. As far as I could see, it was quite a cute cat, so far as cats can be cute. It was a pity it did not want to say hi. I guess ot figured it was better safe than sorry, not knowing it would never have been sorry for saying hi to us. Cats can be quite interesting aquaintances.

Ice Hockey!

A sure sign that spring is here: the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship has started. Sweden met the Czech team, who play on home turf this tournament. These are two of the four major ice hockey national teams, and the game was realy good. Ultimately, it ended with a 5-5 tie, and Sweden won on penalties. Having tied the Czechs on their home turf is a good result. We are looking forward to the rest of the tournament.

Spring

On the first day of May, spring starts. We celebrate it in Sweden the evening before. It is fun.