So Few Left

There used to be a larger company of dogs on the morning walks. Orange moved away from us last spring. Mommy passed away in December. My daughter Gerstuhl also moved away in December. Peanut has arrived, but when three do not come along anymore, while one is added, we are still fewer than before.

This morning, Morran skipped the morning walk. She has been known to do this from time to time. Daniel wants her to come, but she is not as fond of it as us Shibas. Paula often says Morran can stay at home. When Morran did not come, it was just me, Javier, and Peanut, except Daniel. We have not been so few on a morning walk for many years, Daniel said.

The morning walk was nice, nevertheless. I do feel a little sorry for Morran, when she tags along, because she does not find our pace as comfortable as we do. We did not have to worry for her today. We will see what will happen further on.

Low Charge

 There was not much energy left in the battery, when I started to write this. This is a bit stressful. I have to hope there is enough charge for me to have the time to write a blog entry. Electricity is good. It is a good thing humans have harnessed electricity, like they harnessed fire in old times. Nevertheless, it is difficult when we run out of electricity, because the charge is too low in the battery. I wish there could be better batteries.

Strange Behaviour by Candidate

Michael Bloomberg, who is running for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, has caused confusion on the Internet. He was caught on film trying to greet a dog by shaking the dog’s head, as if it were the hand of a human he would greet.

If you are an American, and registered Democrat, do not vote for this strange man! A man who cannot greet a dog, is not fit for public office.

Trying to Set Wood on Fire

One of the great accomplishments of dogs is that we teamed up with the tamers of fire: the humans. We do not have to be able to control fire,our humans do this for us. In most cases, anyway.

Tonight, Danie tried to light a fire in the fireplace in our living room. He had a pair of big logs and some paper. The paper started to burn quickly, but he did not manage to put the logs on fire.

Daniel can often make a fire, but not always. He is better at many other things. We love him anyway.

Late Night

Daniel is out late tonight. We miss him.

Sunday Breakfast

Paula and Daniel went away early this morning. They went to have breakfast at a café in the centre of the town with Paula’s sister and her children.

Having breakfast away seems like fun. I wish I could have come. Unfortunately, most Swedish restaurants etc. do not allow pets. I think this is sad. I know most humans get happier around pets. Pets also like to accompany their humans.

Well, we had a nice morning at home, nevertheless. After all, we were the ones who could sleep until late in the day.

Paper

People do not want to use so much plastic anymore. This has led to an increase in the demand for paper. Packaging is made of paper more and more. Perhaps not news papers, but paper canbe used for so many other things. I guess paper is better than paper for theenvironment. This is good.

An Evening at Home

Paula and Daniel had someplans to go out to eat this evening. They changed their plans, however, and stayed at home. I liked this much better. It is always great to have the whole family around for a cozy Friday evening.

This Friday evening was one of the best I can remember. We got sausages. Well, the smaller dogs, the Poodles and Affenpinscher, got parts of a sausage each. I love sausage. Next to meat and fish, sausage is the best. It was so tasty, Javier almost choked on his. I did not, I know to chew down the sausages.

Chewing on Toys

We have a lot of toys around the house. It may be fun to throw them around for a bit or chew a little on them. I am still careful, so the toys do not break. Our youngest family member, Peanut, however, chew harder and break parts of the toys. This makes me a little sad. It is not that I want to take the joy of toys away from Peanut, I would just wish that he would be more careful with them. If many break, we may get new toys, but it is still not fun to throw old toys away. I want to keep all toys.

Pizza

We ate pizza tonight. Do I need to say more?

Wolf Cubs Play Fetch

Human scientists have discovered that wolf cubs play fetch. Scientists used to think only dogs played fetch, retrieving things. Now wolf cubs from three different litters have retrieved balls for humans under controlled circumstances.

The findings show that retrieving is not just a dog trait, but exist among wolves as well.

Dogs and our wild cousins wolves continue to surprise humans. We are very resourceful. I feel proud to be part of the canine species.

A Day with Paula

Paula stayed at home and took it easy the whole day. We dogs did one of the things we do best, we kept her company, resting in the bed.

It is fair to ask if I could not have written a much longer blog entry, when I just took it easy the whole day. If I had, however, I would not have taken it easy. Taking it easy requires not working with the blog or anything like this. We are good at taking it easy, but it is not without requirements.

Injury

Paula slipped on a blanket early in the morning and fell against the kitchen table. She was injuried in the back of her head. Now she has been to the hospital and have had the injury taken care of. It will heal.

Injuries are always bad. This injury, however, was not as bad as a wound in the head may be. We are happy Paula is safe and sound at home now.

Hamburgers

Daniel went grocery shopping today. When he came back, he brought hamburgers to Paula and himself. Paula did not want the hamburger she had asked for, however. I asked if I could have it, but I could not. I got regular dog food instead. There is nothing wrong with our dog food, but a hamburger would have been nice for a change. Perhaps I can get one for my birthday in a month.

Longing for Snow

We have not had snow since early December. There have been a few days with a little freezing temperatures, but mostly not. We want to have snow to play in, but it will not come in these temperatures. There is just rain. It is boring and dark. We do not like it. Do we have to wait until next winter? I hope not, but I fear this will be the case. Life is still good in other aspects.

The Last Remnants of Christmas Are Gone

We took some time this evening to get rid of the last Christmas decorations. It is a bitter sweet feeling. Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. At the same time, we do not want to keep any decorations, when Christmas is actually over. In Sweden, Christmas is traditionally over on the 13 January, so we were a little late anyway.

We do not have to wait until next Christmas to have a wonderful time. There will be Easter, Midsummer, birthdays, and many other reasons to throw a party. Life is good.

Food

When Paula came home this afternoon, we told her we wanted food. She asked if Daniel had not fed us this morning, before he went to work, but we told her he had not.

In the evening, Paula told Daniel. He then said to her he had fed us in the morning.

You may decide for yourself whom to believe.

Tasty Ham

We got some Christmas ham with our food today. This was really tasty. There is still some ham left. I hope we can get the rest in the days to come.

Christmas ham is a Swedish tradition. I like it that Daniel bought a rather large one this Christmas, so there is more to eat.

Julmust

We had some julmust to drink this evening. It is a seasonal pop, for the Christmas season, which is really tasty. You can get the similar pop påskmust at Easter. Now that Christmas is over, we have to look forward to Easter, to get påskmust instead of julmust.

The Sun

We saw the Sun today, shining from a blue sky. This was the first time in weeks, it seems. The Sun shone in through the windows, it was nice. We have had such a dark period this winter, with no snow on the ground. I like the light, it makes me feel happier.

Sleepover

Paula has a sleepover at her sister’s place. Her nephew and niece have wanted Paula to stay the night for quite some time, so now it happened.

It sounds interesting with a sleepover. I have enjoyed sleeping away from home many times. Perhaps I could come along on a future sleepover. I think I would enjoy it. Hopefully, the niece and nephew would, too.

Clean Ears

Shibas and other dogs of spitz breeds have an advantage over many other breeds, our ears stand up. This means that they are constantly exposed to open air, which keeps them clean. Poodles have ears which lies down to the sides of the ears. Our Poodle friend Laila needs to have her ears cleaned now and then, especially her right ear. Paula and Daniel helped her clean the right ear tonight. Laila hated it. Now that it is done, however, she is glad it is done. She says it feels better now. Sometimes, you need to go through hardship, to come out as a better self on the other side. I am glad I do not have to do this with my ears.

Toast with Butter

There was a discussion tonight on the degree of burning of a toast, and the amount of butter on the toast, between Paula and Daniel. Paula has a very specific taste. The toast should be brown, but never black, and there should be a lot of butter. She was not satisfied with the toasts prepared by Daniel. I agree with Paula. When you cook food, any food, even such a ”simple” dish as a toast, you should do it very well. Paula does things very well. Daniel do them well, bit thisis not always enough. Toast is not something to prepare badly.

Sleepy

Sometimes, we spend the evening in the sofa in front of the TV set, but fall asleep. It is better to go to bed before falling asleep, then you do not have to wake up in the middle of the night and move to he bed to continue your sleep. Nevertheless, falling asleep in the sofa is so cozy. I cannot sayit is a bad thing, because it is so cozy. There are nights when I just stay in the sofa and sleepthere all night. It would be better if our humans would do the same more often, this would make it an even better habit. I like it, either way.

Pasty

Paula baked pasties tonight. It smelled really good from the kitchen. Calvin was lucky, he got to prewash the dishes. None ofus got to taste any of the finished pasties, however. Paula had a little piece herself. The rest will be for tomorrow and perhaps later in the week. We all know Paula is an expert baker, so it feels like a shame not to be able to taste any. I hope we can get some later on.

Stop in the Toilet

Humans have some rather nasty habits. They stay indoors, when they need to do what housebroken dogs always do outdoors. They use this white chair in porcelain in the bathroom, then they flush a lot of water in it to get rid of the waste. I have always thought the dog habit is more hygienic. There are also never any stops in the toilet for us. There was a stop in the toilet for Paula today, when she tried to flush. After a lot of effort from her and Daniel, they managed to get rid of whatever it was that put a stop in the way. If they had the same habit as dogs have, this would never have happened. The smell and hygienic problem would never have occured. I guess this is just one of those humanhabits I can never fully understand.

Mango

Paula gave us slices of mango to taste this evening. Mango is a sweet fruit.

Most of the time, meat is my favourite food, treat, amd snack. Fruits are not really the staple goods of carnivore diets. This does not mean I always turn down fruit. A fruit now and then can be quite tasty. You still have to remember that a healthy diet does not contain too much fruit.

The mango tonight was very tasty. It was sweet and juicy. It was also nice to chew upon the fruit slices. I would consider eating mango again.

When the Vikings Did Not Conquer Paris

We watched an episode of the TV show Vikings tonight. The vikings tried to conquer Paris. We rooted for the vikings (except forour Poodle friends Laila and Momoko, who are of French decent and rooted for the French). The vikings failed, however. They made a great effort, but they were heathens and failed to conquer a Christian city. Our Poodle friends liked this. I have got mixed feelings. Japan, where we Shibas come from, is not a Christian country. Nevertheless, Sweden is, and Paula and Daniel are, even though Daniel is of viking decent. Perhaps the vikings conquer Paris in the next episode.

Updated Software

When I write my blog entries, I often borrow Daniel’s Ipad. The software was updated today, now the Ipad and its apps look different. Updates may be necessary to take care of bugs and viruses. They may also make the device work better. I wonder why they often change the looks of the software. We are not yet used to the new look. Do they do this, to give it a more new, modern feeling? I do not know, but it would be nice to know. Perhaps I can get to know sometime.

Washing the Dishes

We had a party with a lot of food the day before yesterday. A lot of dishes became dirty. They were so many, that the last batch was not washed until this morning. This is not proof of laziness when doing the dishes, however. This is proof that you had a great party. I would gladly have many parties as great as this one many times again.

A New Year

We have now entered a new year, and the 2020’s. As always, I think it feels just like before. The concept of collecting the days into weeks, months, and years is something special for humans. I can see that the seasons of a year come and go, but I have no particular need to say that those days were last year and these days is the present year.

Celebrations are always fun. I like the annual birthday celebration that my humans give me. The New Year celebration is not particulary funny, however. I cannot understand the point of shooting crackers and fireworks, for a lot of money, scaring many animals. If New Uear celebrations would be conducted in a better way, I would understand it better. Then I would probably think the concept of different numbers for different years would be a better thing. The change of years would then result in a good party.

We did have rather fun yesterday night. Paula’s sister was here. Her parents stopped by for dinner, even though they left well before midnight. I am not afraid of the explosions, but I do not like them, either. Perhaps the 2020’s is the decade when New Year celebrations become more quiet? I hope so.