X Ray

We talked about my granddaughter Honey today. She must have her hips x rayed, so we can know for sure she has good hips. When this is done, and she will most probably have a good result, she will be able to get pups.

It is very satisfying to have pups. It is also a continuance of the life, to future generations. I hope Honey will get many pups. She will certainly enjoy it. 

We have to make an appointment with the vet for the X ray examination. This can be done soon. I hope all will go well. 

I would like for Honey to inherit this blog. Since she does not live here, she has never tried. It might be that Piffy will take care of the blog in trust for Honey. 

Tired

We have nice and sunny spring days, but I feel too tired to truly enjoy it. This morning, I jumped down from the sofa, but I sort of missed the floor with my paws, falling on my belly. I cannot run around with the younger dogs. I see their happiness, I recognise it, but I cannot fully participate in it. It is nice to lay down to rest, though. 

Japanese History

Paula and I watched a documentary about a part of Japanese history, in the 16th century. It is always nice to learn more about Japan. I just wish they would say more about dogs, especially Shibas. We are an essential part of Japanese history. 

The Medals

Canada can never be underestimated in ice hockey. It is their sport from the beginning, after all. Team Canada beat Germany in the final.

Earlier in the day, Latvia beat the USA in the bronze game. 

Both the Germans and the Latvians are to be congratulated. These teams both exceeded the expectations. Germany has not won medals in the World Championship for a long time, and silver is a great result. Latvia has never before been in a medal game, their bronze is historical. 

I just wish Sweden would have made a better tournament. 

Morran Is Happy

Our Affenpinscher friend Morran roots for Germany in the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey. Her breed is German, so this is where her roots are.

Tonight, Morran is happy. Germany has advanced to the final of the World Championship for the very first time. They beat the USA in overtime, 4-3. In the final, the Germans will face Canada. This is not an easy opponent, but Germany has a chance to win, nevertheless. Either way, a silver would be a great result for Germany as well. For Morran’s sake, anyway, we will all root for Germany tomorrow. 

Go, Germany!

Long Time to Finish

Humans live longer than dogs. This is more evident in some cases than others. In British Columbia in Canada, a man has finished a university degree after 54 years. This is many generations worth of dogs. 

University degrees can be compared to champion titles for dogs. I finished my own Swedish Show Championship on three consecutive shows, so I was fast. I would not want to wait for 54 years, not even if recalculated to dog years, in which case it would be a little less than eight years. I guess it is still nice to finish unfinished business. 

Latvia Beat Sweden

In the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey, Sweden played Latvia in the quarter final, and lost. 

Sweden would normally be seen as the better team. This does not help, when the Swedes do not score more than one goal on really many chances. Latvia played well enough and score med more goals on fewer chances. It is the number of goals that counts. 

Congratulations to Latvia. 

Dogs to Help University Students

At the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, they have a new way of helping students come with anxiety and stress. They let dogs take care of the students, through a programme called Paws on Campus. 

This is good news and similar to when dogs are taking part in the care of the elderly or ill. I think it is a great idea. We dogs are great at helping humans feel better, just like humans make us feel better. It will be interesting to see if the University of Edinburgh idea will spread to other universities. I think it should. 

Birthday

We celebrate Daniel’s birthday today. This is worth celebrating, not least because any birthday means more treats. We love Daniel, just like he loves us. May he have another great year!

Surprising Norwegian Victory

In the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey, Sweden beat Denmark tonight. This was hardly a surprise. The big surprise tonight was that Norway beat Canada. This game was tied after full time, which in itself is a great result for Norway. There were no goals in over time, but Norway won the shoot out. Canada is a great power in ice hockey, even a mediocre Canadian team will usually beat Norway. This year, it seems like Canada has a team in the World Championship which is not even mediocre. They will good to the quarter finals, but I do not believe they will continue to the semi finals. 

Mowing the Lawn

Daniel moved the lawn today, for the first time this season. It is good to get the lawn mowed, it makes for less opportunity for ticks to get close to us from the high grass. Daniel is satisfied with himself after mowing the lawn, which makes the day better. Life is nice. 

More Sausages

We got our food supplemented with sausages today as well. This is great. I love sausages!

In the evening, Sweden played France in the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey. Laila rooted for France, as a Poodle, her breed comes from France. Sweden won, however, 4-0. Morran said a country which is not known for sausages cannot be good at ice hockey. I do not know if this is true, Germany is known for sausages but is not much better than France at ice hockey. I am glad Sweden won, though. 

Sausages

We got sausages instead of our ordinary dog food today. Sausages are great food.

You do not really know what is in sausages. The German Chancellor Otto v. Bismarck is known to have said that there are two things you do not want the people to know how they are made: sausages and laws. I do not care, sausages are tasty anyway. 

Ascension

This Thursday, a fixed time after Easter Day, is celebrated as the day of Christ’s ascension into Heaven. He rose from the dead, meeting his disciples again, then went up to Heaven.

In Sweden, this is a holiday. Paula and Daniel has celebrated here at home with us dogs. We also got some sausage beside our regular food, which was tasty. It has been a fine day. I wish more days would be like this. 

Norway

It is the national holiday of Norway. This day always makes me think of my late grandfather Kuro. He was born in Bergen, Norway. Even though he moved to Sweden as a pup, he remained a Norwegian patriot. I like this. You should always be true to your roots. 

Happy national holiday, all Norwegians, and my late grandfather!

Extra Meeting

This evening, Daniel presided over an on line meeting with the Swedish Spitz and Primitive Dog Club. They needed an extra meeting to chose a new chairman. It is good that Daniel is entrusted with tasks like this, it helps our breeding, because it makes it better known. 

On line meetings are good, because our humans can sig at home and still take part in them. I like it best when they are around. 

Game Against Finland

Sweden plays Finland in the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey tonight. It is a close call. The game ended in ordinary time in a tie, 1-1.

Finland was the first team to score a goal on Sweden. It is worth noting, however, that Sweden has just played Germany and Austria so far. Sweden should win versus those teams. 

On days like this, I am glad none of us dogs here has such ties to Finland that we have anybody who roots for Finland. The ice hockey games against Finland are too important. 

There was no goal in over time. Thus, the game ended with penalties, where Sweden finally won. Sweden got two points, Finland got one.

Dandelions

Daniel has extrakter the first becket full of dandelions from our lawn for the season. He hates them saying that they are ugly weeds that must be removed. Over the years, he has managed to make the dandelion presence much smaller, but some always pop up here and there. I have asked him if it would not be less stressful to just let them be, but he says the least stressful thing is to take them all away as soon as he sees them. To each his own way to lessen stress. 

Eurovision Song Contest

The Song Contest is on tonight. Sweden does not have a good song. Japan does not participate. I guess I have to hope for another country. 

Close Call

Sweden played its first game of the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey versus Germany.

Our Affenpinscher friend rooted for Germany, since her breed is German. Sweden should win, however, but did it with just 1-0. The rest ofta were a little disappointed. 

Late Replacement

Daniel is responsible for contracting ring stewards to the unofficial dog show this Saturday. One of them has turned sick and had to cancel her participation. We got notice of this early this morning. Fortunately, Daniel managed to get hold of another ring steward during the day. We have to hope there will not be any more cancellations now. 

Web Link Meeting

Paula and Daniel participated in a board meeting with the regional kennel club today, but they were at home. The meeting was held through a web link. It was great that they did not have to leave, but stayed at home.

It also meant I could hear what they talked about at the meeting. I thought this would be more interesting than it was. Economy and administration is not really my thing. It is good that the humans take care of those things, though. 

I wish more meetings could be held from home in this way. 

Contests

You Knowit is May, when the IIHF World Championship in ice hockey is about to start, when the semi finals to the Eurovision Song Contest is aired on TV, and when we celebrate Europe Day. I would like it better if Japan was involved. Of course, Japan cannot be involved in Europe Day, but if Australia can compete in Eurovision, Japan should also be able to. Japan has participated in the ice hockey World Championship, but is far from as good as many European and North American national teams. I root for Sweden when Japan is not around. 

Shrimp

Paula and Daniel had shrimp as an ingredient for supper tonight. I got to taste some. Shrimp are good food.

I guess Shibas are used to ses food for generations. This is common food in Japan. I like it very much, so I guess in this way, I am an ordinary Shiba. Shibas are out of the ordinary, ordinarily, so this is good. 

Lazy Sunday

We have had a lazy Sunday today. You need to take days off, once in a while, like this, not doing anything special, I believe. 

Sure, we cleaned and washed a bit, like we usually do on Sundays, but in a very modest pace. It was restful anyway.

Over the years, I have come to love lazy days more and more. I guess this comes with age and wisdom. 

Coronation

Peanut, who is from the United Kingdom, followed the TV broadcast of the coronation of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and his other realms. I was not as interested. 

My late grand aunt Linni was always interested in Australia, since her father was from Australia. Charles III is the King of Australia as well. I guess this made me a little more interested in the coronation than I would be otherwise. 

For my part, I am quite content with an interest in Sweden and Japan. 

Sun

It is nice to ave a black coat these cold but sunny spring days. When I am outside and the sunrays hits my black coat, I really get warm. Most sunrays, with their heat, stays where it is black.

In the middle of the day today, we got to get out in the yard. When the others went inside, I stayed out in the sunshine. It was nice. During this time, I could forget sorrows of my life. 

I hope the weather will soon be even warmer, I feel like I need it. 

Self Changing Settings

It is often a mess, when the computer or the tablet changes the settings without the input of the users. I cannot understand why the developers believe it is a good thing to make the settings change themselves. This evening, some of the settings on our tablet had changed, without the input of either of us who use it. This became a mess, until we could change things back. Now it is all right again. I hope for a better tomorrow. 

Constitution Memorial Day

On the 3 May 1947, the Constitution of Japan came into force. Since then, this is a Japanese holiday. The Constitution is an important part of any country, especially of free, democratic countries like Japan. This is, thus, an important day for all of us who have Japanese roots.

Few things are more important to a country than the Constitution. The national dog breeds are definitely more important, and probably the monarch, but I cannot think of anything else. 

Hurrah for the Constitution today! 

Birthday

One of the best known fictional dogs of the world is Snoopy, from the comic strip Peanuts. Snoopy often plays a World War I flying ace, whose arch enemy is the German flying ace the Red Baron. 

The Red Baron existed in real life, Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen. He was born on the 2 May 1892. 

Our Affenpinscher friend Morran, whose breed is from Germany, celebrates the Red Baron. She says that the world would have been a better place, had Germany won that war. I am not so sure about that. Japan was an enemy of Germany in that war, so if Germany would have won, Japan would have lost. Morran says that history would have become different, and there would not have been a Second World War, which Japan lost and became the target of two atomic bombs. 

Alternate history may be interesting, but you never know what would have happened. I can understand that the Red Baron was a gentleman of war, though. His memory also made Snoopy a more interesting fictional dog. 

Closer to Summer

It is the 1 May, and summer comes closer. It was a windy night, the trash cans had fallen over this morning. Rain has fallen most of the day.

This is typically summer weather. I believe it will be a chilly and rainy summer this year. You never know, but if the trend from winter and spring continues, it will be so. Rain is good, but we do not want too much of it either.