Gold!

Sweden won the UEFA U 21 European Championship tonight! Yeah! There are hardly any words to describe how big this is. I guess you can compare it to being best Junior at Crufts.

The Day After

The day after a dog show is always a day of rest. The past weekend, we had shows two days in a row. It is great fun, but also makes you tired. We have been able to take it easy today, though, which I appreciate. Nevertheless, I lokk forward to the next show. It is summer and show season, I love it!

Spectator

For once, I came to a dog show, but was not entered. I had to watch it from the sideline. It was interesting in its own way. Soya and Calvin competed and did quite well. I do think I would have done better, though I cannot say how far I would have gone. It seemed the judge was not that fond of black and tan Shibas.

I will be shown tomorrow. Paula and Daniel could not explain why they had not entered me to the show today. Paula said something about the judge being Canadian and North American judges not being that fond of black and tans. Soya was entered, however, which contradicts this explanation. I have to make do with the show tomorrow.

Ninjas

We watched this interesting British documentary on TV tonight about ninjas and Japanese history. The ninjas were often used as skilled special forces and spies.  It was so interesting, in fact, that I even took a long break in my preparations for the dog shows this weekend. Preparing for dog shows are, most of the time, among the best things there are to do at home. You can look forward to all the fun events and excitement of the show. I do not think many ninjas ever went to dog shows, Shibas used to be the dogs of the more noble warriors who were called samurajs.

Barbecue

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Rumour has it, Paula and Daniel was at Paula's parents' house tonight, together with Mia, Arvid, and Soya. They are supposed to have had a barbecue.

I am not sure I believe in this rumour. None of us dogs here at home were there to see and smell it. Could Paula and Daniel have attended a barbecue without bringing any of us? Maybe they did. After all, my daughter Soya is supposed to have been there. If this was so, there was some Shiba quota filled, at least. I hope Soya got some good, grilled food, if the rumour is true. If I could not get any, it is just as well she gets it.

Quicker Horses

A new British study shows that race horses have become quicker over short distances since the 1970's. It is unclear, however, whether this is due to better breeding or better training.

I believe the answer is both better breeding and better training. The article states that training has developed over the last decades. I know that dog breeding has improved, so it would make sense horse breeding has as well. When there are two possible answers to a complicated question, the answer is often a combination of the two.

It would be interesting to get to know more about this in the future. Insights into horse breeding may give ideas to improve dog breeding. Dog breeding is, of course, the most important breeding there is, but I do think that dog breeders can learn from other breeders, nevertheless.

Sykes

A new season of the splendid British crime series Midsummer Murders started tonight on Swedish television. We like John Barnaby more than his cousin Tom Barnaby, who used to be the man in charge of solving murder mysteries before. This is mainly because of the characters surrounding John Barnaby. His wife is a more loveable person than the dry woman who was Tom Barnaby's wife. Most of all, however, we like that John Barnaby has a dog, Sykes. You have to like a human who takes good care of his dog, like John Barnaby does. Tom Barnaby never had a dog. Hurrah for John Barnaby and Sykes!

Marit Björgen Walks Over

The famous Norwegian cross country skier Marit Bjørgen (ø is the Norwegian and Danish version of the letter ö of Swedish and German, it is pronounced in the same way) is pregnant and will therefore skip the next season of competitions. This is good for the Swedish skiers, who will face less competition.

I can understand Marit Bjørgen's decision to walk over the next season. No matter how eagerly you want to compete, your offspring is always more important. I have skipped dog show seasons myself, for having pups. All of my every day readers know that competing at dog shows is almost the best thing I know. This is, of course, next to taking care of my pups. The pups are always the number one priority. This is why I understand why Marit Bjørgen walks over. Her child is her number one priority now, while competing is priority number two.

Summer Solstice

Hello, Orange here!

This evening, we have the summer solstice of 2015. This is, thus, true midsummer, if you go by the science of astronomy. As I wrote yesterday, I think you should.

We did have some midsummer celebration today as well. It is Sunday and we had the opportunity to have a nice, relaxed day. There is never a bad reason to celebrate. Celebrating an extra midsummer on the true day of the summer solstice is a really good reason to celebrate. I liked it.

Midsummer

Hello, Orange here!

We celebrate midsummer every year in Sweden. The strange thing is, we always celebrate it on a Friday and Saturday close to the summer solstice, and not on the real day before and after the shortest night of the year. This year, it was many days before the real summer solstice.

It is nice to have a free day which is always on the same weekday, like at Easter. Still, I believe that if any celebration should be moving around the weekdays, midsummer is the day. It is, after all, the astronomical solstice that is celebrated. This should be celebrated on the Eve and Day of the summer solstice.

If you agree, there may be cause for a political campaign?

Another Tick

Hello, Karstuhl here again!

This is unbelievable. Tonight, I had another tick in my face. What are the odds that this would happen? Paula removed this tick as well. I really, really hate those little horrible creatures. They hurt, it is uncomfortable to take them away, and you can still feel a little remaining pain after they are gone.

Ticks may also destroy part of the coat, which is not good if you are going to a dog show. Under these circumstances, it might be good that Paula and Daniel promote my mother and my daughter Soya on dog shows instead. At least, ticks will never have any shows in their honour.

Ticks

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Ticks are common this time of the year. I had a tick who sat down just beside my eye today. Fortunately, Paula picked it off for me. Daniel made sure to kill it, before throwing it in the garbage.

We do not want any ticks to survive. No matter how hard we try, we cannot think of any good thing about ticks. I wish there were better ways of controlling and decimating the population of ticks. Except for certain bacteria causing illnesses, ticks belong to the species I mostly would want to see extinct. Still, I think this is something we will never see. One can wish, anyway.

Fallen Tree

A week and a half ago, there were hard winds. A birch at the outskirts of our property fell down over our lawn. Fortunately, it just fell on the lawn, there were no actual damage done, except that the tree had to be taken care of. Daniel and Nils Olov did this tonight. Nils Olov has a chain saw, with which he cut the birch into logs. The lawn looks good once again.

The good thing is that we now has more wood for the fireplace, for those cold days in the winter. The bad thing is the loss of a tree. What will come instead? Sometimes, new trees plant themselves. I hope a fine tree will plant itself and grow up in the place where the birch used to stand tall. I will miss the tree.

A Newborn Prince

Princess Madeleine of Sweden has given birth to her second child. As is mostly the case with humans, there was just one child in the litter.

I am a mother of many pups. I know what a joy it is to get pups and to take care of them. I am thus in a good position to know the motherly feelings that Princess Madeleine has right now. Congratulations to her!

I would also like to congratulate Sweden. Even though Sweden is not an empire, like Japan, it is a kingdom, which is almost as good. A newborn prince is yet another person who may succeed to the throne. The more successors you have, the less likely it is that the royal lines vanish and that the kingdom is - oh, the horror - turned into a republic.

Long live the newborn prince!

Fox Hunts?

In Britain, some people used to hunt foxes on horseback and with the help of dogs. This was a cruel form of hunting and it was outlawed in 2004. In North Yorkshire, many fox cubs have been found in a barn. Suspicions are they were kept there in order to be hunted in the old, outlawed way. The cubs are now taken care of in a sanctuary and will eventually be released into the wild. I hope everything goes well with them. It will be interesting to get to know more, if more information will be discovered.

Hunting is a good thing, as long as it does not involve animal cruelty. Foxes hunt. Dogs hunt. Humans hunt. It is just that we do not have to do it in a cruel way. If deer or mooses are just shot cleanly, everything is nice.

BIS 4 Veteran

Hah!

At the National dog show in Avesta today, I became Best in Show 4 Veteran under judge Anette Bystrup from Denmark.

It is nice to compete as a veteran. I know just what to do in the show ring, still there is a little less competition. I have the chance to win Best of Breed, but if I do not, I have the chance to win Best of Breed Veteran. This is a second chance to get into the finals. The humans who like the veteran class are also real fans of dogs who are a little older.

This is one of my best results ever in a dog show. I believe it is just that one time when I became Best in Show puppy at an international dog show that I got a better result. I am still very proud of that result. Perhaps I can win BIS veteran some day. Since veterans compete in the official classes in the breed, while puppy class is always unofficial, this would be better than BIS puppy.

Mum also got many of her best show results as a veteran. I am continuing this great tradition. I hope Mum sees this from her place in Heaven.

I am so happy for the result. I was BIS-4 veteran!

Visby in the Late Summer

Late in August, we will go to Visby for a dog show. I like this old city, but above all, I like the fact that there are always two dog shows in a row, Saturday and Sunday. It gives me two chances to go into the showring, two chances to show the world, yet again, that I am a splendid dog of my breed. I think more show venues should be like this, it makes for twice the fun on a single weekend.

Earlier in the summer, Visby will host "Almedalsveckan", the biggest annual event for politicians and political lobbyists in Sweden. I believe many politicians would be better of going to the dog show later in the summer. It could give them insights into the world of dog breeding, where humans and dogs work together for a better future for our joint civilisation with a minimum of government intervention. Some politicians would need to learn about this.

Police Dogs Help Track Fugitives

Six days ago, two convicted criminals escaped from prison in upstate New York. Today, police dogs have identified what appears to be a hideout they used early after the escape. This may help the police to catch the villains. Once again, we have evidence on how much dogs can contribute in society.

The place where the hideout was, is called Dannemora. I believe this name is originally Swedish.

Hotaru Ika

Nature can be fascinating, even though I often prefer the indoors. One perk of being indoors are the lights. In Japan, however, you can see squid that are luminescent on their own. I would like to see these squid in the sea.

Contracts

The Swedish Kennel Club has revised their standard forms for the purchase of a dog. If you are a responsible Swedish breeder, hence a member of the Swedish Kennel Club, the club statutes say you must use these standard forms when selling dogs. This makes these standard forms the most important legal forms of Swedish law. I hope you all are aware of them and make sure you use them. Good luck with the next purchase of a dog!

Affenpinscher

Many years ago, at the World Dog Show in Paris, Mum was taken for an Affenpinscher by the organizing kennel club. It took Paula a lot of work to have Mum's entry changed into a Shiba.

Now I have gotten to know an Affenpinscher in real life. She is a little black pup called Morran. An Affenpinscher is supposed to be all black, they have neither ura jiro, nor tan markings. I believe she looks quite cute anyway, even though the black and tan Shiba coat will always be my own favourite. It will be interesting to learn more about this little dog.

At a Restaurant

Last night, after the dog show, Paula, Daniel, and I went out to a restaurant in central Örebro and had some dinner. Good restaurants accept dogs as customers, at least at their tables outdoors. We were at a sushi restaurant that enjoyed having me there as a customer as well. I believe I added to the Japanese atmosphere, Shiba as I am. Paula also let me taste some sushi. I am still happy about this evening.

BOB Veteran

I won Best of Breed Veteran at the dog show today. Unfortunately, I was just second best vitch, beaten by a younger champion. The veteran prize is good, nevertheless. It gave me an appearance in the finals, even though it was a short one. Being there is fun, even if it is only for a while.

Show

Show tomorrow! Yeah!

Ancient Stone Constructions

Some old constructed stone structures in present day South Africa have been dated based upon the erosion of the stones. The estimate says they were built sometime between 200,000 and 160,000 years ago. This is much older than any other known ancient civilisation, much more than 100,000 years older.

I doubt that the estimated age is correct. It is not just that it is so much older than any other known civilisation, or that there are no sources mentioned from scientific papers. It is also that humans did not have dogs until about 40,000 years ago. No known human civilisation have been without dogs. Dogs are an essential part of human civilisation. I think humans can do much, but not have a whole civilisation without dogs. We are this important for humans, aren't we?

Losing a Mobile

I do not have any mobile phone. As a dog, I do not need one. I use Paula's and Daniel's computers and mobile devices, when I write my blog. Since I do not have any mobile myself, I can never lose it. Paula lost her mobile phone tonight and was quite upset, until she found it a little later. I never have to care. There are perks of being a dog, and living your life without mobile devices. It makes life easier.

Cold Summer

We have entered June, a summer month. Still, it is cold, humid, and rainy. It has been the coldest spring for many years. Will it ever be a warm summer this year? We do not like to go outdoors rainy days. Hopefully, the weather will become better.

Polytech

Hello, Polly here!

In English, a higher education of a kind more simple than at a university can be had at a polytech. I think it is good they do not call it pollytech, it would be a little offensive to those of us who are named Polly, don't you think?

Paula and Daniel both have degrees from universities.