Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year!

It is New Year's Eve. At midnight, we enter 2016.

While I want to wish all of my readers a Happy New Year, there is something else that is more important for me personally this day. Seven years ago today, my first puppy litter was born. From me and their daddy Calvin — we would like to wish Aangenaam A Hero Comes Home "Bagus" and Aangenaam Gentleman As She Goes "Meja" a Happy birthday!

Busy, but Fun

We have had a fun day today. Busy, but fun.

Early in the afternoon, a family came home to us, who are interested in getting a Shiba. I believed we strengthened them in their belief that Shiba is the breed for them. This is not hard, Shiba is a great breed for most humans.

In the evening, Mia, Stefan, and Arvid came by. Arvid is a very nice young human, less than a year old. He and I had a good time. I like him a lot.

It is nice to have time for visitors.

A Hero's Farewell

Please watch this moving short movie from the burial of a police dog in America. It is a farewell suitable for a hero.

Kissing Under Mistletoe

Some human behaviour is strange. I have wondered why humans in the English speaking part of the world hang up mistletoes at Christmas, expectiong couples who meet under them to kiss each other. I read an an article promising to explain this, but did not get any answer. There were a lot of facts about the plant and some facts about old folklore about the plant, including a story about an old habit involving mistletoes and kissing. Still, there was nothing in the article explaining the modern habit with the mistletoe. It is a good thing this mistletoe kissing culture is not a part of Swedish traditions. I would be more annoyed with not knowing the background if it was.

If you happen to know the reasons for kissing under the mistletoe, please write a comment about it.

The Godfather

Paula and Daniel watched the movie The Godfather tonight. They say it is the best movie ever made. I do not understand its greatness, because there there are no dogs in it.

Snow

Hello, Orange here!

Snow is falling , turning the whole world white. This is perfect for red and for black and tan dogs. We enjoy it immensely.

The darker winter night turns light with snow on the ground, on the roofs and trees. It makes us happier when the surroundings lights up with the snow.

Full Moon Christmas

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This has been a nice Christmas. One of the reasons is that there has been a full Moon in the sky. This is rare just at Christmas, since the dates for full Moons vary. Normally, we can just see a full Moon on TV on Christmas Eve, at the end of the Disney short movie about Santa Claus.

The full Moon gives the night sky and the landscape a greatness suitable for Christmas. This is especially good since there has been no snow this year.

I also like the full Moon, because my official name is Aangenaam Full Moon Eclipse. There has been no eclipse this time, but a full Moon is great as it is.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Stockholm

Paula, Daniel, and I went to Stockholm today, where we celebrated Christmas with Daniel's parentes. Daniel's sister Linda, brother Elias, and brother's Chihuahua Sheldon were there as well. I have met Sheldon before, a young ladd who wanted sausage as much as I did. We got good food. It was fun. I also felt special for being the only dog from us who came there. I hope Sheldon liked the Christmas present he got from us.

Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve, and we did get saknades to ett. Can you have better Christmas candy? Saknades are like the concentrate of meat taste and nice spices, neatly packad in small pieces and with a great texture. I wish all of you had an equally tasty dinner this Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas!

Candy in the Making

On the night before Christmas Eve, it is quite all right to stay up late to make Christmas candy.

Daniel is making his as I am writing this blog entry. He has chocolate on his candy. This is not nice to us dogs, since chocolate contains things toxic to dogs, things that our metabolism cannot digest properly, as the metabolism of humans can.

On the other paw, there are many other kinds of Christmas candy being prepared for us. We also got extra tasty food today, with a lot of minced meat. Regardless of the chocolate Christmas candy, you can see that we will have a lot to eat for the celebration of Christmas as well. We are looking forward to it. Celebrations is always fun. Celebrating the birth of Christ the Saviour is even better. I hope we will get a lot of sausage tomorrow.

Preparations

We have spent much of the day cleaning and wrapping Christmas gifts. Christmas is nice, even when you are preparing for it.

You may wonder what I have got for Christmas gifts for others. I will not tell anything about it in my blog, however. The blog is public, so anyone can read it, including those who will teceive the gifts. It must remain secrets until Christmas and the giving of gifts. It is no fun otherwise.

Good Deed

We hard of a Coffee shop in Greece today, which is close at night, but they OpenOffice up for strax dogs when it is darker and cold outside. The dogs are allowing to slemproppen in the soft sofas of the Coffee shop. This is proof of a good hearted Coffee shop proprietor.  This is a good deed, night after night. In Sweden, our health regultions would probably put an end to this. We are not so animal fiender in every way in this country.

Christmas Coffee

Paula and Daniel was at Christmas coffee at Paula's parents. Neither I, nor anyone of the other dogs, were there. This is no loss, coffee is not that tasty anyway. Apparently, they served cakes and fruit salad with the coffee, while I would have liked bacon or sausages better.

We had a separate little celebration of the fourth Sunday in Advent later in the evening instead, with Paula and Daniel, when they were home again.

We wish Merry Christmas to all of the people who were at the Christmas coffee. Paula's parents are good friends of ours, we will meet them soon under other circumstances.

Warm December

It does not look like we will have a white Christmas. It was 8 degrees above the freezing point today. We have had green Christmases before, but I want the white snow for the light and to play in. It is just not the same without snow. I hope something unpredicted will happen and that snow will fall before Christmas Eve.

Gifts

Christmas is coming, and a lot of us wonder what to get to give to our loved ones. I have seen articles and advertisements with ideas for gifts to many different categories of humans. There have been hardly any ideas about gifts for dogs, though. Sure, dog candy is always welcome, but I would like to read about other ideas. It would be nice to surprise my dog friends with something totally unexpected. Dog candy would never be unexpected, however welcome it would be. I guess I will have to brainstorm some more.

Norway Is Great

For the twelfth year in a row, the United Nations has ranked Norway the best country in the world to live in. I am not surprised, my Dad always praised Norway, the country of his birth.

Sure, there are disadvantages, like the high taxes and high prices on many things. When I have visited Norway, I have still found it to be a friendly and beautiful country. There cannot be a country with just advantages. Wherever you look, you can find disadvantages, but let's look at the advantages. Norway is a peaceful, prosperous, rich kingdom with a beautiful nature, friendly humans and dogs and a great cross country skiing national team. It is a great winter sport nation, even though Sweden usually defeat Norway in ice hockey. There is also a great Shiba kennel in Bergen, where Dad was born. My daughter Anzu lives in Bergen and has a nice life there.

If I could not live in Sweden anymore, I think Norway would be a good alternative.

A Short Visit

Daniel and I walked over to Paula's parents' house tonight. Paula was already there, having helped with Christmas preparations. It is always nice to visit Paula's parents. It is not far, but within a comfortable walking distance. It is still far enough that we do not get there every day.

Daniel was given a little food. I was not. I had had food already, but I could have had more, of course. You are not a true dog, if you cannot eat more, if given the chance.

Paula had taken the car earlier in the day, so we went home by car. This was comfortable, but I could have walked. Unfortunately, Paula still has a sore knee after being hit by a car last month, so she preferred going by car. She will be fine, but it might take some time. We will get walks with Daniel anyway.

Moose

We got parts of moose meat in our food today. This is great food.

Paula's father Nils-Olov participates in moose hunts every autumn. He gets a lot of meat from this, some of which he gives to us dogs. This is really nice of him. We could not think of any better present.

Frost

It is cold today. Winter is here, probably to stay.

Another Day at the Show

Paula went to Stockholm and the dog show again today. She did not bring any dogs, which is understandable, because no spitz breeds participated today. She was there with friends who have other breeds, though. I think this is unnecessary. Paula had a great time, however, and I guess this is what matters. Daniel was at home with us, we had a calm and nice day together.

Great Competition

Sweden has a great Shiba population. It was one of the first countries in Europe where there were Shibas and there is a relatively large number of Shibas, Shiba humans, and Shiba breeders here. This is something to be proud of. It also means there are more Shibas of great quality.

At the dog show in Stockholm today, both Gunde and I had more Shibas to compete against than we did in Helsinki last weekend. The quality was excellent over all. Gunde won CAC, but became second best male veteran. I also won CAC, but became third best female veteran. You can always have a slightly different opinion than the judge, I would rather have seen Gunde as class winner, but I cannot say it was unfair that those who did win got the veteran winner titles. Losing to other excellent dogs is alright.

Polly also won CAC, but was fourth in champion class.

Stockholm Show

The biggest and most important event of the year in Sweden takes place in Stockholm this weekend: the Swedish Kennel Club annual international dog show. We will go there and compete.

You did not really think the Nobel Prize ceremony yesterday was bigger, did you? The final of the Swedish ice hockey championships or the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest qualification round are not bigger either. There are much more people participating in this upcoming dog show. There are also dogs, of course, which the aforementioned events lack altogether. Dogs are an essential part of society, no event can be truly great without dogs. All dogs must also be counted in the total number of individuals in every event. The dog show this weekend is the greatest event of the year.

If Gunde and I are lucky, we will each win another set of winner titles tomorrow. Nobody can ever take a victory in a dog show for granted, but we will do our best to win.

Japan Withdraws

Japan withdraws from their spot in the IIHF U20 world championship, division IB. The five remaining teams will still play the tournament, the winner will advance to the higher IA division and Japan will be relegated.

I am disappointed with Japan. Having lived all my life in Sweden, I am interested in ice hockey, but I want Japan to succeed almost as much as Sweden. A country which does not even participate cannot succeed, however.

I do not know what reason the Japanese ice hockey federation might have had for withdrawing. Whatever reason, I am disappointed. Is it too costly going from Japan to France? Perhaps it is, but it should not be. Are there not enough fans in Japan to give the ice hockey federation sponsor money? With one of the most exciting sports, there should be, but what could I do? No matter how much money I would have, it is too late now.

Early Morning

once in a while, Daniel leave for work much earlier than usually. This is when he goes away to other places for meetings. He had a meeting in Stockholm this morning. When this is the case, we take the morning walk earlier than we usually do. This is no problems for us dogs, we can go back to sleep and still fulfill our duties as pet dogs. Daniel may sleep on the train, if he goes by train, but not on the meeting.

I guess it is fun travelling, anyway. I think it is, but then again, I usually go to dog shows, which is funnier than work related meetings.

Another Painting Under Mona Lisa?

One of the most known art works in the world, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, may have another painting under it. The great artist may have used an old painting and re-painted it with Mona Lisa.

Some people are sceptical about the findings. For my part, I am mostly disappointed that the picture of the alleged overpainted portrait looks much the same as Mona Lisa. It would have been a greater story, had the hidden painting shown something altogether different. What if Leonardo da Vinci would have hidden the painting of a dog? This would have been more exciting.

More research needs to be done. The museum where the painting is, the Louvre on Paris, has not yet made any comments. I guess they want to know more before saying anything. I think this is the right strategy for them. Meanwhile, as an amateur, I can speculate if I want to. I think the over painted painting is that of the same person as the famous Mona Lisa. In time, we will get to know.

Home, Sweet Home

I love going to dog shows. I really loved our journey to Finland and the adventures we had there. Regardless of all this, there is no place like home. It felt great being back home again. Just this day, I have taken it easy, thinking that I do not want to go away like I did this weekend ever again. Still, I know I actually want to go to more dog shows, showing the world who I am in the show ring over and over again, and visiting more cities and towns close to showgrounds.

Dog show journeys are the best, even though resting for a day or so afterwards is also great. Maybe I am getting old, thinking like this. So be it, I am sure not young any longer, and I do compete as a veteran. Life is great, as long as I can go to dog ahows once in a while.

Finnish Veteran Winner

Both Gunde and I became Finnish Veteran Winners on the Sunday dog show. Gunde beat me to the Best of Breed Veteran title. There is nothing more to say about that.

Helsinki Veteran Winner

My entry into the showring resulted in success. I was best veteran among the Shiba bitches, thereby winning the Helsinki Veteran Winner 2015 title. This will be added to my other dog show titles. I am really proud of it.

Mum won quite a few veteran winner titles. I am following in her paw steps. This would have made her proud. I am continuing a great family tradition, which makes this title all the sweeter.

Gunde also won a veteran winner title, as the best male veteran. I beat him to the Best of Breed Veteran prize, however. The judge in the veteran final saw greater quality in veteran winners of other breeds, but I was happy to visit the finals anyway.

Different Time Zone

Finland lies east of Sweden. When it was part of the Swedish Kingdom, from ancient times until 1809, it was sometimes called the eastern half of the realm. This means that the Sun rises and sets earlier in Finland than in Sweden every day. Finland has a time zone which is one hour earlier than Sweden. I am still not used to this, which is the reason this blog entry gets the wrong date. I wrote it late at night, just past midnight, Eastern European Time, which is the time zone of Finland.

Apart from this little mistake due to time zones, Finland is a land that I like. We have a nice hotel room in central Helsinki and a nice park for walks just across the street. I feel energized for the show tomorrow. It will be fun.

Long Wait

We had to wait seemingly forever before we could board the ferry to Finland. Oh, how tiresome!

Packing

We have been busy packing and preparing for a trip to a dog show this weekend. I am coming along, which makes me very happy. I have participated enthusiastically in the packing, cleaning, and other preparations necessary.

The show is in Helsinki. We will go by car and ferry. This is always exciting. It is nice to participate in dog shows abroad, showing them how nice dogs there are in Sweden.

Stockholm in the World

The capital of Sweden is a cool place, with a great growth rate. This is reflected in this article, which shows an interesting foreign view of Stockholm.

Daniel is originally from Stockholm. We have visited his family members who still lives there. It is a great city. I would not want to move, though. I find our home town Örebro great enough. We have a large property close to the town centre, which would not be possible in the much bigger city of Stockholm. It is still interesting to read about Stockholm.