What Is Christmas?

Hello, Li'l Gertrud here!

What is Christmas? I have heard the others talk about the upcoming Christmas with great anticipation. I still have not figured out what it is, The others say there is supposed to be a mystery about Christmas before we get there. I am not sure if this is true, or if they are just pullong my leg. I guess I will have to do some research into the matter myself. It sure sounds interesting.

Last Day

Daniel made his last day at work today. He will start at a new job on Friday. Formally, he is still hired at his last job to orrow, but he has a day off.

The good thing is that he gets a higher salary. This means he can buy more and better treats. This is the great thing about it. If it was not for thins, I think he could just as well have stayed at his workplace.

A New Guy

I have met a new Shiba. He has moved here from Japan. He is handsome, but I do not know him yet. I am always a little careful when making new acquaintances. There is time to get to know him, of course. When I get to know him well, I may write more about him in my blog.

Going Inside

Hello, Li'l Gertrud here!

When we have been out in the yard for a while and Daniel lets us in, he always wants us to go straight into the living room. The other dogs usually do. I do not. I just do not see the point. If I want to be indoors, in the warm and dry surroundings of the house, I can just as well stay in the entrance hall. I may change this behaviour later on, and I may not. It is fun not to be too predictable. We will have to see what happens.

Home Again

Paula has been to Spain for a couple of days. She is back home now. We have all missed her, but now everything is all right.

Fourth

The political party that Daniel is a member of had a meeting today. They decided upon whom to put forward in next year's election to Parliament. Daniel came in fourth. I am not sure this will mean anything. The incumbents were the first and second candidates last time around. You are not getting very famous and you do not get any records that can result in a title in the pedigree. Come to think about it, humans do not even have officially sanctioned pedigrees, the poor people. Becoming Best of Breed or Show Champion is much better.

November

It is November. We have had snow, and it has melted away again. We have had frost in the morings, but not all mornings. It is colder than the freezing point tonight, but no snow. Typical November weather. The snow would make the dark mornings and evenings a little brighter, but as usual, we have to wait at least until December to get a layer of snow that lasts. Still, November has its charm. When there is sunshine, even a November day is beautiful. I like this.

Thomas

Thomas never stood a chance. He did not have hip joints on his skeleton. RIP, dear Thomas.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a very human problem. Humans believe time is very important, and being on time is almost as important. They do not just divide the day up in morning, midday, evening, but in equally spaced hours, minutes and seconds. Trains must go on time and arrive on time, to make sire all the humans going with the train knows when to get to the starion to board the train and when their train journey is finished. Interestingly enough, though, it seems like different countries have different standards on what time is "late", and how this is measured. Only humans think this is important. When it comes to time, dogs are much more laid back. This also mean we are less stressed and I believe we are happier because of it. I suggested to Daniel that he would try the dog approach to time, but he would not hear about it. I guess it is his loss.

Candy Santa

Hello, Gertrud here!

Today, I got hold of a marshmallow Santa Claus, what we call "Skumtomte" in Swedish, or "Skumtomtar" if we mean more than one. It is a very tasty snack. I ate it by myself by the front door of our house.

From what I have heard, Paula has not reaf the Daily Hailey for many weeks. I hope she reads it tonight. I would like humans in my surrounding to know I like Skumtomtar. I believe this may lead to me getting more of them. I sure hope it does. Skumtomtar are very tasty.

Fire

We lit a fire in the stove tonight, for the first time this winter season. It gives a nice heat in the living room and also makes the rest of the house a little warmer. I like it.

Pup Little Gertrud was interested when Daniel lit the fire, but he lofted her away. Fire can be dangerous, but she has not learned this just yet. The knowledge of this will come. It is good that she is curious, but there are still limits to what we can allow her to do.

Snow

We got a little, little snow on the ground today. Most of it is still there. It is not enough to be fun, just enough to look ugly when we have run all across it. The world gets a little brighter even with a little snow, however. There will probably be more snow in the not too distant future, now that winter is on its way.

Calm Day

Paula slept all day after her night shift.

Daniel was at home, since it was an ordinary Saturday, but he kept quiet. He spent most pf the time at his computer, working on this and that.

The rest of us spent most of our time in the company of Paula, also sleeping or resting. This is among my favourite pass times. It was a wonderful way to spend the Saturday. More days should be like this.

Night Shift

Paula is working on the night shift tonight. Daniel is at a lodge meeting in the International Order of Odd Fellows. This means we dogs have a night shift too, watching the house. We are good at it. Nobody needs to worry.

Japanese Top Students Stopped from Studying Swedish

There are Japanese top students who study Swedish. Many of them have come to Sweden to work on their Swedish language skills. These students have done this for twenty years. None of them have posed any problems for Sweden. Now, however, the Swedish authority responsible for issuing visas, Migrationsverket, has decided not to allow these students to come to Sweden. The reasons are unclear. Any reasons must be weird. There are only advantages with Japanese people learning Swedish. Migrationsverket should change its decisions.

Economic Growth in Japan

Japan has a long streak of economic growth. It is the longest stretch in 16 years, and it seems to continue. So far, consumers are still not willing to spend a lot. However, this also shows that there is potentially more growth to come, when consumption rises.

Japan is the home of the Shiba Inu. Most Shibas in the world live in Japan, though we are increasingly popular across the world. It is good for all the Japanese Shibas that the Japanese economy is strong. I believe it will be even stronger. Shibas help, we are constantly aiding our humans, thus helping the economy too. Things are only getting better right now.

Fetching Paula

Apparently, Morran os the dog who come with Daniel, when he fetches Paula at work in the morning, after her night shift. I have always been the one who come along, when Daniel fetches Paula late at night. I hope I still am. I guess there are differences between fetching in the morning and in the night. I believe I would be the best one to come along regardless of the hour, but other dogs need their moments in the lime light as well. There are advantages with staying at home resting as well.

World Cup

Hello, Gertrud here!

Grand Mum Hailey is very happy today. Sweden has qualified for something called the FIFA World Cup in football. We watched the game against Italy. I think it was rather boring. What is the point of watching some men playing with a ball? It must be more fun playing with the ball yourself. I am still happy for Grand Mum and the others, I can sense that this qualification feels important to them. The World Cup is far into the future, in something called summer, which I have yet to experience. The future is exciting.

The Only One

Hello, Gertrud here!

Perhaps there can be only one? One pup staying here, I mean.

My brother Harry left for a new home and family in Upsala last week. The other pups, who had Karen as their mother, left yesterday. The first one left in the morning, he will live not far off here in our hometown. Then the two other left for Helsinki and Stockholm, respectively.

I will stay here, as the only pup of my generation. All of the other dogs are adults. Perhaps there can only be one pup at a time staying on. I am glad it was me.

Victory

Sweden won against Italy yesterday night. There is a second game in Milan, Italy, on Monday.

This is just like at a dog show. You can win the class, but you still have to win the best of bitches. You can win best of bitches, but you still have to win Best of Breed. Then there is best in Group, then Best in Show. You always have higher goals to achieve. I hope the Swedish national football team achieves one step on Monday.

Play Off Game

It is the final chance for Sweden to get to the FIFA football World Cup tonight, and another game soon. Sweden is playing Italy, a formidable foe with four World Cup gold medals to their name. It will be a hard task for Sweden, but we hope for the best. We root for Sweden in front of the TV set. This time, none of us dogs would rather see Italy win, which feels good.

Pups Get OK

Karen's pups of her current litter went to their veterinary check today. They all went through with flying colours. I was more happy about the great results for Polly's pups, but this is just because I am a grandmother of all of Polly's pups. I am happy for Karen's pups too. This is not just for the sake of the pups and Karen, kt also adds to the good name of our breeding. This is also a good thing. Being an Aangenaam dog is a badge of honour.

Meat

There was some fresh moose meat today, but only some of us got any of it. Daniel told me there was not enough to go around. I can understand this. What I do not like, however, is that I did not get any meat. I am the alpha bitch, why am I not guaranteed meat? Well, Daniel told me I usually get tasty stuff, even though there is not enough for everybody. This time, he thought others were worth it. There are few instances when I think there are too many dogs in our pack, but this was one of them. Oh, well, I hope I get the good stuff next time.

Lunch

Paula was away all day. She is back now, but was not around during the day, like we have gotten used to this autumn. Daniel came home at lunch and took us out and gave us lunch. We have had routines like this before, so it was not strange. It is nice eating lunch. Once Paula got home in the evening, we were all happy, however. Everybody is at home now, as they should be. This is relaxing.

Pen Names

When the world gets more and more connected through the Internet, a lot of people want to create an online persona with a somewhat fancy name that stands out in the crowd.

I did this myself at an early age. As soon as I started my blog, as a pup, I called it the Daily Hailey. My official name is Aangenaam Lunar Eclips, but I have always been called Hailey. Adding the word daily said something about the blog, but also gave it a ryhme. I have never considered changing the name of my online persona, it is good as it is. My daughter Karstuhl, who will eventually inherit my blog, has said she will keep the name of the blog. There is a lot of value in a good name. I can understand those who struggle to create a good one. I never had to struggle. fortunately.

Since this blog is daily, you are welcome back tomorrow.

New Neighbours?

We have received a letter from the town that says someone has asked for a preliminary building permit just next door to us. There is now public land there, undeveloped, where humans never walk. Daniel has written a long letter to the authorities explaining why he opposes the preliminary building permit. He had a long list of reasons. The most important reason is that there is no zoning law governing this piece of land, bit there will be in a few years. No building permits, not even preliminary permits, should be given before the work is done with the zoning law. We hope Daniel's letter will help. It is better if there are no other people living really close by our yard. We will see what happens.

Visiting Tombs

This evening, Paula and her family visited the graveyards here in Örebro where their deceased relatives are laid to rest. They always do on the first Saturday in November, it is a Swedish tradition.

I paid my respect to the memories of my parents, Mum and Dad. Blessed be their memories. I often miss them both, even though I do have great company of my daughter Karstuhl, her daughter Gertrud, the other dogs around here, and our humans.

There is always a piece of your heart dedicated to the lost loved ones. However, the more loved ones you ve had, the bigger is your heart, meteaphorically speaking. I have loved and lost many times, but I also love many dogs and humans whom I have not lost. This makes me feel good.

Growing Up

Hello, Gertrud here!

My brother Harry moved away from us yesterday, to a family of his own. In a way, this means he is growing up. He is becoming an adult dog with a family of his own.

I will stay here. I will not move. Mum says she never moved, either. This must mean it is possible to grow up, without moving to a new family. Does this mean I am also growing up? I guess it does. In this case, I am glad. Growing up seems to be a good thing, making you more confident and strong. This is good.

Harry

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My son Harry, of this latest litter, has moved tois new family today. They are nice people, but live a way away, in Upsala. I am sure Harry will get a good life with them. Naturally, I miss him, nevertheless.

Gertrud, my daughter, will continue to live with us. I like this. I have always wanted a pup to stay on, like I did myself. Now this happens, with what might very well be my last litter. Better late than never. Gertrud is a kind and terrific daughter.

Therapy Dog

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My brother Nemo has become a therapy dog. One of his humans, Maria, is working with the social services and uses Nemo to treat children who are distressed and who are often affraid of dogs. Nemo is a very kind dog and can help many children with his gentle manners. I am so proud of Nemo. It fits him, helping out children in this way.