Bacon

We got some bacon in our food bowls today. There were spaghetti and pieces of sausage as well, but bacon is something else. Bacon is a salty, tasty, juicy piece of meat. Bacon is food for the best of gourmets. Even though bacon is so good, it is not that expensive. This makes it worth buying often. I wish we could get bacon more often in our food,

Cuttlery

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have a dish washer with a special basket for cuttlery. Most of the dish washer is normally used to wash the food bowls where dog food is served. We dogs eat without needing cuttlery. The humans, however, need knives, forks, and spoons to eat. I have always thought this is rather unnecessary, but I guess it is a consequence of the short noses that humans have. If they would not use cuttlery, there would be more room in the dish washer for food bowls and plates. On the other hand, the basket for cuttlery can be removed. Once in a while, there is no dirty cuttlery, so more food bowls can be washed instead. This is rare, but it can happen. I think the bowls should have priority, but they do not get priority. Well, enough bowls are washed for us to be able to eat every day, anyway, and this is the main thing. Cuttlery is a small thing in this context.

Criminal Investigation Against FIFA Boss

The chairman of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, is under investigation by Swiss police for illegal payments. He still says he will stay on his post until February next year. If he would have been a democratically elected politician, he would probably have stepped down already. I wonder why he does not step down. FIFA is supposed to be run in a democratic fashion. Sure, he is not convicted of any crime yet, but the suspicions of him doing things wrongly as chairman may still harm the good name of FIFA. Well, I guess I do not have the full story. If Sepp Blatter is the victim of being framed, it might be correct not to step down. Meanwhile, we can forget about football, at least during the current Rugby World Cup.

Full Moon Eclipse This Morning

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There is a full Moon tonight. In the early morning, there will be an eclipse. When the Moon is full, it is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, hence, the eclipse will be a Lunar eclipse, not a Solar eclipse. It is a full Moon eclipse, just like my official name, SEUCH Aangenaam Full Moon Eclipse.

It is supposed to be a nice eclipse, since the Moon is closer to Earth than usually and thus looks a little bigger than it usually does. I hope the sky will not be overcast. When we were outside this evening, there were a lot of clouds. We will have to see what is visible early in the morning. Keep your eyes open!

High

There are some high shelves in our house, in the kitchen and on the book shelves in the living room. These shelves are high even for Daniel, who is the tallest human in our family. It is quite impossible for us dogs to reach them. The only reason to put things on these shelves, are to get rid of things nobody uses very often. Still, it would be nice to be able to reach them. I do not say I would reach up to these shelves, just because I could, it is just that I would like to be able to.

Life is full of annoying obstacles like this, a bit annoying even though they do not really matter. It is a good thing there are no things I really need on these shelves. I have all I need within reach. There are water bowls and when we eat, my food bowl is also on the right height for me. The sofa and the bed are also not too high for me to get up into. This is good. I guess life has been good to me in this way.

Upcoming Eclipse

Please note, dear readers, that a lunar eclipse is coming on Monday morning next week.

The eclipse is visible in Sweden in the early morning of the 28th of September. You will have to get up really early in the morning to be able to see it. I believe most of you will find that this phenomenon is well worth seeing.

For my part, I am not sure I will get up very early to see the lunar eclipse. After all, if I want to see a Lunar Eclips, all I have to do is to stand in front of a looking glass.

Thunder?

The weather forecast for today said there could be thunder. I never heard any. On the other hand, I slept part of the day, and if there was no thunder close by, I guess I did not wake up.

Thunder is usually a bit annoying. I am far from afraid of it, it is just that the noise is disturbing. It was just as well I did not hear any thunder today, it kept my spirits high.

Artificially Grown Kidneys

Japanese scientists are often in the front of scientific development. A team of Japanese scientists have now successfully grown artificial kidneys that work, when transplanted into pigs and rats. There are many years until there can be kidneys artificially grown and transplanted on a regular basis into humans or dogs. However, I do not think this will make Paula's work as a dialysis nurse obsolete. There will be even more years before kidneys can be grown in such an abundance that dialysis is usually never needed. There will also always be acute needs for dialysis. Stil, I think it is good that Paula is also studying to become an intensive care nurse. Those will also be needed.

Full Force

My trip to the hospital last weekend is almost forgotten already. I am back in full strength as leader of the dogs here at home. Things are back to normal.

It is not easy feeling sick, especially when others depend on you. Being a leader is not easy. If you have no experience of leading, you may think it is. You may think a leader can do whatever she wants. This is far from the truth. A good leader leads in a way that benefits most, if not all, of the individuals whom she rules over. This is not easy. Even a bad leader has a heavy burden, not least because she would have to constantly defend her position. I do think the other dogs here think of me as a good leader. It is calmer now, when everything is back to normal and I lead the way I usually do. Life is quite nice.

Autumn

It was a beautiful autumn day today. The Sun was shining and the weather was nice over all. Leaves are falling from the trees. Insects are disappearing. Whenever insects are disappearing, I think of Dad, who hated insects and thus loved the colder half of the year when insects were not around. This is one of the big advantages of autumn. I hope we will get many more beautiful autumn days like this.

Me on a Diet?

When I got to go home from the hospital, the veterinarian gave special dog food to Paula and Daniel for me, of two kinds. One kind of food was to gove me a better stomach, but this food was very high in energy content, so I got another kind of food that was a diet food. I am not over weight, but the vet was afraid I might become overweight with the first kind of food. The second, diet kind of food was far from tasty, however. There is another important point I have to make here, too. A Shiba does not do diets. Shibas are survivors, we eat proper food. Diet food is the antithesis of food you survive upon. Thus, I refused to eat the diet food part of the food Daniel gave me today. I am a Shiba, I do not do diets.

Home Again

I am home again, after a refreshing detour to the hospital. My stomach got the better of me, but is now back on track.

Except for celebrating that I am home, we can celebrate an unexpected Japanese victory in the Rugby World Cup against South Africa. Japan usually do not do well in the World Cup, having just scored one victory before, against Zimbabwe in 1991. South Africa won the World Cup in 1995 and 2007. South Africa is ranked as third in the world, Japan as thirteenth. This is really a victory for all of us wh root for Japan to cherish. I love it and will eagerly follow the upcoming games of Japan.

Rugby World Cup

Hello, Orange here!

The Rugby World Cup 2015 has started. This is the third biggest sport event in the world, after the Football World Cup and the Summer Olympic Games.

The opening game was played by host England and Fiji. England won 35-11. Javier rooted for England, because he has a brother who lives there.

For us Shibas, the first really exciting game comes tomorrow, when Japan plays South Africa. Most of us will root for Japan, of course, but I am a bit torn. Our kennel prefix Aangenaam is a word from South Africa. What is even more important for me, however, is that there is a river and a province in South Africa which are both called Oranje, just like my name. Would this not be a sign for me that I ought to root for South Africa, even when they play against Japan? I will have to poder upon this question until the game starts tomorrow.

Getting Better

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy is getting better. They have called us from the hospital, telling us Mommy is better of staying there a little longer. We are looking forward to seeing her at home later on, but the main thing is that she will be healthy again.

I am holding down the fort while Mommy is not home. This is good training, since I will inherit Mommy's leader role in the future - hopefully the far future, but still.

Away

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy was sick today, so sick that Paula took her to the hospital. (Humans might call it animal hospital, we dogs just call it hospital.) They called late tonight from the hospital, telling us Mommy is all right. She had a little infection in her body, but nothing serious and nothing that could not be dealt with. We expect Mommy back tomorrow. I am looking forward to it.

Double Digits

Karstuhl has complained that I did not write any blog entry yesterday about myself celebrating my tenth birthday. This is correct, I am ten years old now. I just do not think it is such a big deal. Birthdays have always been a bigger things for humans than it is for dogs, and I am a dog. I also feel a bit sad about the fact that I am older now than Dad ever got to be. Furthermore, I felt the subject of future airliners, that I did write about yesterday, was more interesting for the big audience than my birthday. Now, however, I have granted my daughter Karstuhl's wish and written about my birthday. It is important to be nice to your offspring.

Faster Commercial Flights

Many dogs travel over far distances by air. The aim is to make the gene pool of their breeds more diverse in other parts of the world. My Mum flew from Seattle in western USA to Sweden. My husband Kenny flew from Japan to Sweden. Such flights are often long, thus tiresome for a dog, and there are no dog rest areas on board either. It is positive, then, that future commercial airliners may be much faster than those of today. They can also be more environmentally friendly. This will benefit travelling dogs. It may, thus, also benefit dog breeding, as it makes it easier and will cost less time to have a dog hauled by air from one continent to another. I wish I would be able to see this brilliant future.

Floors

Daniel mowed the lawn yesterday. Today he cleaned the floors indoors. There are some similarities, such as methodically going over an area with the lawn mower or vacuum cleaner. I like cleaned floors better, it plays a bigger role.

Just like there are robot lawn mowers, there are also robot vacuum cleaners. These do not fit under sofas and beda, however, so I do not know how useful they are. Those are places where dust gathers and you got to reach them. With an ordinary vacuum cleaner, you do. There is probably a longer time before we get a robot vacuum cleaner than a robot lawn mower.

The Lawn

Most of us dogs were at home with Daniel today, while Paula and Morran were off having fun at a dog show. It was not very fun for us, Daniel spent hours out in the garden, mowing the lawn and cutting hedges.

I do not really know why Daniel takes lawn mowing so seriously. Sure, with a well kept lawn, there is a lesser risk for us to get ticks. Appart from that, it is just Daniel's idea of keeping the garden looking reasonably nice. I know most humans like well kept lawns. I like them too, they are fun to run at, but in our home, Daniel is the one taking the mowing of the lawn most seriously. Well, it keeps him happy to have a well mowed lawn.

Perhaps we will buy a robot lawn mower in the future, that mowes the lawn by itself. I think this would please Daniel.

Canary Islands

There is a place I would like to visit, unlikely as it may seem, as it is mainly associated with holiday trips to get sun and liquor. It is the Canary Islands, the Spanish group of islands off the North West coast of Africa. The name of these islands actually means dog islands, which is why I believe dogs would be welcome there.

La Palma on the Canary Islands is also perhaps the best place in the world to see stars, due to its geography which makes for exceptionally clear skies. I am not very interested to see the stars, but I have always been fascinates by the Moon, as I am named for it. The Moon must also be very clear through the clear air of La Palma. Perhaps I will go there sometime.

I have never heard about dog shows on Canary Islands, though. Going someplace far away from home without attending a dog show at some point seems a little wasteful. I would have to check whether there are any official dog shows there, before planning my journey.

Back Home

Daniel was away in the line of duty for two days and a night. He is back home now. This is good. It always feels more comfortable, if the whole family is gathered at home.

We have to accept that Paula and Daniel go away even for the odd night. They go in the line of duty and get paid for it. This payment helps paying for dog food and dog candy, two essential things in life. They also let us dogs go away once in a while for our duty as show dogs. It is a matter of giving and taking, where everyone can get some advantages. We have a nice life over all.

3,400

This is my 3,400th blog post. I have not written all of them myself, sometimes having the help of my daughter Karstuhl or of Orange. Still, I have written most of the blog posts and it is my blog.

I believe 3,400 blog posts is some kind of achievement. I am a little proud of my blog. It is not like my puppies, which is my foremost achievement, nor like my dog show victories. Still, it is something that may make a few readers happy. It also gives me some satisfaction to be able to publish stories of my life and thoughts in the blog. All of my readers can be sure that there are many more blog posts to come. Stay tuned!

Horrible Loss

As dog breeders, we do a lot to promote Sweden at international dog shows. Paula and Daniel went to Oslo last weekend for the European Winner Show 2015 with one of the dogs from us.

There are others who can promote Sweden to a much bigger audience, however, which makes their effort important even though it has got nothing to do with dogs. The Swedish national team in men's football is one such group, because they play the sport with the biggest audience there is in the world. It is very unfortunate, then, that this team make fools of themselves by losing on home turf to Austria, 1-4, in the qualification round to next year's European championship. Austria is a silly country, it would not even exist as a separate country, if it was not for the imperial family that the ungrateful Austrians later dethroned.

Sweden should beat Austria, but, alas, did not. There is still a small chance that Sweden makes it through to the Euro 2016, but do we dare hope for it? The team might need new leadership.

Sleepy

I am rather sleepy tonight. It has been a hard Monday after a hard weekend. I guess I stop there for tonight.

Early Celebration

Paula and Daniel went over to Paula's parents tonight, celebrating Paula's mother Gertrud's birthday. It is actually tomorrow, but many of the humans had other plans, including Gertrud.

It is said that in some countries, it is considered to bring bad luck if you celebrate before the actual day. This is not the case in Sweden and I do not see the point in thinking like this. I believe the main thing is that you celebrate, not exactly the day when you celebrate. Thus, I will also take this day for the birthday greetings.

Happy birthday, Gertrud!

Apple Trees

Hello, Orange here!

It is autumn again and time to harvest fruit and berries. We have four apple trees in our garden. None of them will yield any big amount of apples this year. I guess it is no apple year, which is said to be due to the weather during the summer.

I do not care much about apples. I do not eat apples and have no other attachment to apples. If we had orange trees in the garden, it would be different. Oranges do not grow in the cold Swedish climate, however. I have to be the only Orange growing up in our town.

Untimely Rain

When the alarm clock rang this morning, it was nice weather outside. During the time it took for Daniel to make himself ready for the morning walk, it started to rain. The rain fell throughout the morning walk. A little later, the rain stopped. Daniel could ride his bicycle to work without being annoyed by the rain.

Sometimes, the timing of a rainfall or other uncomfortable weather conditions is just so annoying. You know it is just a coincidence that the rain happen to fall when you are going out for a walk, but it makes you wonder if there really is nothing to do about untimely weather conditions. I wish there was, but I doubt there will be in the foreseeable future. The weather just depends too much on random events for anybody to regulate it.

Perhaps the randomness of weather is just as well. Imagine how much humans would fight over what weather they would want, if they could decide what weather there would be.

The Car Is Repaired

Paula and Daniel picked up the Chrysler from the garage today. Now it is working as it is supposed to again. This is good, because we often need the big Chrysler when we go to dog shows. It has room for many of us dogs and a lot of other baggage. I like it and I am glad it is working properly again. Hopefully, I will soon get to go to another dog show in this car.

Talking Back To You

For a little while this evening, a reality show was on when we watched TV. As a courtesy to the one switching this horrible show on, I will not say what show it was. In the show, some city girls went to a farm with animals in the countryside. One of the girls said: "I like animals, because they don't talk back at you."

This quote just shows what little experience this girl had of animals. I do not mind her liking animals, but she likes animals without knowing much about them. Any human who has known dogs for a while, knows we can talk back to humans, especially intelligent dogs like Shibas and other dogs of spitz breeds. I am sure other intelligent animals can also talk back to humans.

Of course, we dogs do not talk with words, the way humans do, but we can make our opinion heard to those humans who knows dogs. Rest assured we can talk back to any human who is experienced enough to hear us! This does not mean we are rude or disobedient, we just make ourselves heard, mostly in the nice manner dogs are known for.