Health

Paula and Daniel both have some money from their employers, to pay for sport or other things for their health. They have to pay today, this year, if they want to use the money.

The bad thing is that they cannot use the money for dog shows. How can this not be valid? Mommy would have been even more upset than I am.

Work

It is an ordinary Monday and the last working day of this year and decade. Both Paula and Daniel went to their jobs this morning. Meanwhile, it was up to us dogs to watch the house. This is a very important job. We were on duty on our own for a couple of hours. Then Paula came home, but she has got a cold and felt tired, so she went to bed, and we continued to watch the house. Daniel came home in the evening, then we could relax a little more. It always feels better when everyone is at home.

New Year Resolution

For the first time in my life, I have made a new year’s resolution. I have decided to continue this daily blog for as long as I can, which involves writing it throughout 2020. I hope this will please the readers of the blog. Do not hesitate tocontact me, if you have any suggestions or questions for the blog.

The year that is soon over must have been the worst in my life. Paula was gone, admitted to the hospital, almost half the hear. My dear Mommy passed away not long ago. My dear daughter Polly has moved to a family of her own, whichis great for her, but I still miss her. Next year must be better.

Bills

Paula and Daniel paid the bills for this month today. This is one thing I am glad that I do not have to do, as a dog. It looks gruesome, when they are sitting there, paying the bills. I wish there were less bills to pay, less money to pay, more money to spare. This would give us more money for dog food and treats.

Road Trip

We went to Solna and Enköping today.

In Solna, we left my dear daughter Gertrud with her new family. She will live with them, but will have pups at our place.

In Enköping, we taught Peanut the basics of dog shows. He is promising, but he needs to learn the basics of being shown. If he does, I am sure he can be as successful as I was, getting a Swedish Show Championship on three consecutive shows. I was never so fond of shows as Mommy, so I made sure I got the Championship quickly to be done with it. Peanut is good enough to be able to do the same.

Crackers

There are some people who have already started to fire crackers. This is, unfortunately, a common way of celebrationg the new year in Sweden. The origin of the tradition has to do with the belief in evil beings, who would be scared off by the crackers. Many different animals, not least dogs, get scared by the crackers. I wish people would stop shooting the crackers. They cannot still believe in the evil beings, can they?

Calm Day

We have had a calm and nice Christmas Day. A lot of it were spent together with Paula and Daniel in the living room. This is the way most days should be, if I were to decide. Of course, Paula and Daniel need to go to their jobs to work for a living, but one can always wish.

Daniel took me out on the porch and combed me. This is because I am shedding my coat now. It is not very comfortable being combed, but it feels better afterwards.

Eve or Day

In Sweden, we celebrate Christmas mainly on Christmas Eve, today.

Grandmother Sunni, who was from America, believed that Christmas Day was the right day for celebrations. So does Calvin, who is also from America.

Now that Peanut has moved to us from England, Calvin has got an ally. They do not agree on very much, but they agree on this.

Preparations

We are preparing for Christmas. We are very busy, but it is also very fun. I will come back again tomorrow with a longer blog entry. Stay tuned!

Christmas Tree

We have a real life Christmas tree this year. We brought it in today, put it in the living room, and decorated it. It looks fabulous.

We have not had Christmas trees every year. Some years, we have had a plastic Christmas tree. I like the real Christmas tree better. It smells better and it looks better. We just have to see how long it will last.

Gone

The lady whom I wrote about yesterday, who was missing, was found today. Unfortunately, she was dead. Thus, even though she was found, she was gone. We are all sorry for her and her family.

I know what it is like losing a next of kin. My mother passed away not long ago. It is difficult to experience the joys of Christmas, when you have just lost a close loved one. Nevertheless, I wish everyone such a merry Christmas as they may have.

Disappeared

There are occasions where you read about dogs who have gone missing. On other occasions, humans go missing. Paula and her mother have a friend who has gone missing today. The police has published her photography online. I wish she will be found, before she freezes too much in the cold and damp weather.

Stolen Dog

Two women stole a dog in China, because they were under the influence of alcohol and found the dog cute and irresistible. They were, however, caught on camera and face charges for theft. You can see the dog trying to resist on the pictures. Since the thieves were caught, the dog’s human got the dog back.

I can understand that the thieves found the dog cute. It was an Akita, the bigger cousin of the Shiba. Akitas are almost as cute as Shibas. This does not, however, excuse their theft. It was a good thing the dog could be brought back. I hope I will never be stolen.

A Day of Rest

Paula and all of us dogs spent the day at home. We all took it easy, rested, and generally had a great, relaxing time.

It may be fun to party, to eat tasty food and treats, or to go on long walks and discover new smells. I do not, however, think that anything is better than just taking it easy. You just hang around, thinking of whatever, and sleep if you want to. Days like this are great.

Early Morning

Daniel got up much earlier than usual this morning, because he is going to Stockholm in the line of duty today. We got an early morning walk thanks to this.

The great things about early morning walks, if you are a dog, is that you can sleep for a longer time after the walk, before your day begins. Sleep is a great way to pass the time. Once youhave slept enough, the action of the day is great, too.

When the day is over, we can sleep again.

Hidden

We have purchased a Christmas gift for Paula. It is hidden until it is time to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to seeing Paula’s reaction. I believe the gift is right for her.

Now we have bought all of the Christmas gifts we planned to buy. This feels good. We can concentrate on other preparations for Christmas now. Food and candy comes on the last few days before Christmas. This is good.

On Tour

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Daniel and I went to Stockholm today. Actually, I never went quite as far as Stockholm, but visited a nice couple of humans in Solna, which is a suburb of Stockholm. Daniel visited his brother in Stockholm.

My visit in Solna was great. I got to smell new places and we went for a very long, nice walk. These humans were very nice. Any dog could be happy to live with humans like them. If I am lucky, I get to go to them more times.

It was rather nice coming home, too, just not as exciting.

Free from Fire Works

A lot of dogs cannot stand fire works. At our place, we can all stand them, but I remember our late friend Primus, who was very afraid of them and of thunder. He never could enjoy New Year’s Night.

Many dogs go with their humans toplaces where there are no fire works. The dog rooms at Arlanda airport are all booked already. I am glad that the dogs who need this can have it.

Late Last Night

Paula and Daniel was away eating Christmas food yesterday evening. They had great fun and were not home until after midnight. I did not think of making a blog entry until they came home. By then, I was too tired.

I remember that Mommy always thought it was important to keep her blog daily. I think the same. Still, Mommy did not always make one blog entry each day. I guess I may have the same problems as she did, once in a while.

In and Out and In and Out

Paula has had a busy day today. She worked in the morning, then she came home and spent some time with us dogs. Later, she went back to the hospital to meet a doctor. After this, she came home again. Then Daniel called and asked Paula to go and pick him up, so she did.

Paula was in and out and in and out of the house all day, it seems. It is not strange, then, that she is tired this evening. I feel for her and try to comfort her. Dogs are generally good at this. I hope I can help Paula.

From the Morning Walk

This is me with Peanut, Gerstuhl, and Javier, as well as Daniel, this morning. Paula took the picture.

Normally, Daniel is the only one of our humans to go on the morning walk with us. It was less order when Paula came along. After Paula’s illness, she also walks slower than we are used to. It was nice that Paula came along, but I actually agree with Daniel that it is better when she does not.

Treatment for Cancer

There was an interesting story in our local newspaper today, about a dog who receives a unique treatment for cancer. The story is featured online, but behind a pay wall.

The dog, who is eight years old, had skin cancer. It received some ordinary veterinary treatment, but was not fully cured. His humans then found out about a kind of vaccine, actually a form of immunotherapy, from abroad. They got help from a veterinarian and a company that imports medicines.

It was expensive, but the humans had the money. My humans would, too, but I would not expect any human to be able to do this for a dog. It is still great that some humans have the heart and the money for it. I believe it is good news. In the future, since the treatment is done now, it may very well be cheaper.

Lodge

Paula is away this evening. She is at a lodge meeting with the lodge of Odd Fellows that she is a member of. Daniel is also a member of an Odd Fellow lodge, but a different lodge. There are different lodges for ladies and gentlemen. I think this is most reasonable. Among dogs, we also do some things that only bitches do, other things that only male dogs do. At dog shows, males compete against each other, females against each other. Another advantage is that Daniel is at home, when Paula is at a meeting with her lodge, and vice versa. We have a nice evening with Daniel.

Raspberry Pop

Paula left a glass of raspberry pop on the table. It was very tasty, so I drank quite a lot. Daniel told me not to. I did not like his objection, after all, Paula had put the glass there for anyone to try. Then Paula came back. She also told me not to drink the pop.

I believe that if the humans want their food and drink for themselves, they must not just spread it around where anybody can get their paws on it. If they do, they certainly should not get angry.

Now, neither Daniel nor Paula was angry, but they were not happy, either. It is not always easy to guess what they want to allow us dogs to do or not. We love them, anyway.

The Lion King

We watched the old movie The Lion King on TV this afternoon. It is quite good, for being an animated movie with antropomorphic animals. The story is rather exciting and it has a happy ending, like children’s movies should have.

I would prefer to see a movie about wolves. Wolves are more closely related to us dogs. Perhaps we can find some movie like that to watch in the near future.

At Another Shore

It is the 6 December and the national holiday of Finland. This day in 1917, the lower house of the parliament of Finland ratified the declaration of independence from Russia. It was accepted by Russia about a month later.

I celebrate for my son Suzuki, Aangenaam Lunar Shore, who lives in Finland with his family. He has a great life there.

Cheers, all of the friends of Finland! 

Emptiness

Life is empty without Mommy. There were days when I was annoyed with her, but I always loved her and were mostly glad that she was around. Now she is not.

The snow has gone, as well. It makes the world look darker again. This seems fitting.

We will all get used to the fact that Mommy is not around. I know this from previous experiences of losing friends and family members. It is still hard. We get used to it, but a piece of our hearts are lost forever. We go on, anyway.

Hailey Is No More

Hello, Karstuhl here!


This is the last time I will start a blog entry by stating who I am.


My dear Mommy Hailey passed away this morning. She has gradually become less healthy this autumn. Until the last moment, she tried to hold herself together, even joining us on the morning walk this morning, as always. Later in the morning, however, she cried out in pain for no apparent reason. Paula and Daniel took her to the veterinarian right away, but she could not make it.


It was the will of my Mommy, that I would get this blog and keep up the Daily blog entry tradition. It is my intention to do so.


I have written blog entries in this blog many times before, but this has been just now and then. From now on, it is my duty to keep the blog daily. When I have written in the blog before, I have often been less serious than Mommy. I have even joked from time to time. Mommy has not been very fond of this. She wanted the blog to be more serious than that. I will try to continue blogging in the style of my mother.


Please stay tuned, for the loving memory of my mother Hailey.

Shrimp Chips

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula gave us shrimp chips tonight. I do not really know if this is the right words in English for it. Regardless, it is very tasty. The tastiness is more important than a correct language.

Theft

A battery to Paula’s electric bicycle was stolen in town today. The battery was locked to the bicycle, but could, apparently, be stolen anyway. It is annoying when people cannot respect the ownership of other people.

Broken Lights

There is a Swedish tradition to have electric chandeliers with seven lights in the windows before and during Christmas. We put up ours today.

The strange thing is that there are always some light bulbs that does not work, when it is time to switch the chandeliers on, even though all of them worked when we put them away at the end of last Christmas. What happens to the light bulbs, that make them break down when the chandeliers are tucked away in storage?

It is easy to change the broken light bulbs and put the chandeliers up. It looks great now.