Losing

Mum is disappointed today. The USA lost its first game in the World Cup. The Czech Republic beat the American team 3-0. I am disappointed as well, since the USA is one of my favourites beside Sweden. Auntie Linni has mixed feelings, but mostly happy. The home country of her father, Australia, beat the home country of the Shiba inu breed, Japan. The rest of us hoped for Japan in that game.

Hot Summer

Daniel says you must not complain about the weather being too hot in Sweden, considering our long winters. The adult shibas do complain, they do not want to run around outside in the warm and sunny hours in the middle of the day today. I follow Daniel's advice. To me, running around is so much fun I do not care it is hot. Inspired by the World Cup, I played a lot of soccer today (Mum says soccer is the correct word, even though FIFA calls it football). The only boring thing was that none of the other shibas wanted to join me in the game.

In the evening, I got my own football. It is an official mini football from the FIFA partner McDonald's that Daniel gave me. I played most of the evening with this terrific gift, while we saw the Mexico-Iran game on TV.

World Cup

The FIFA World Cup of football started yesterday. Sweden played for the first time today. The opponent was the small West Indian country of Trinidad & Tobago. This ought to be an easy task for the Swedish team, but it was not. The result was 0-0. This is not good. Perhaps we will have to hope for other teams?

New Design

Everyone who has read my blog before can see that it has a new design today. I have to thank Paula for this. She has the eye for designing web pages and I think it looks good. As you know if you have followed my blog, I am more into redesigning shoes.

Paula at Work

Paula has been studying all my short life. During the summer, she will not study, but work. She will work nights and the night between Wednesday and today was the first night. We all missed her when it was time to sleep, even though there was more room in the bed. However, when she got home, we got to sleep with her until noon while Daniel went to his work. That was nice.

Shoes

A shoe is the best of food
if you are in the mood
I chewed on shoes Wednesday
there is not much more to say

National Holiday

Today is the National Holiday of Sweden, commemorating the day when Gustavus I became king in 1523, ending the Denmark-dominated union Sweden had been a part of since the 14th century. One hundred years ago to this day, the present day Swedish flag was officially hoisted for the first time, having previously had a mark for the union with Norway of 1814-1905.

The day also commemorates the enacting of the former constitution of Sweden, which was enacted on this day in 1809. This is a bit silly, since this constitution was replaced with another about 30 years ago.

It is customary for towns and cities of Sweden to greet new Swedish citizens welcome this day. Last year, our home town Örebro would have greeted Mum in this way, had she been a human. They do not greet dogs who have become registered in the Swedish Kennel Club, though. Mum was a little disappointed, she would have loved to have been given a lot of good food in the town hall. However, she thinks she got some revenge when the Örebro County Kennel Club, a regional division of the SKC, gave her a huge prize for her Swedish Champion title this winter. After all, becoming a Swedish Champion is a much larger feat for a dog than becoming a Swedish citizen is for a human; far from all dogs are good enough to become champions.

Whit-Monday

The last few weekends have shown that I am a dog show star. Then, yesterday, it was a Sunday when we were not on any dog show. It was relaxing, but at the same time a bit disturbing. Nothing special happened, so I did not know what to write in my blog. I have decided to have a daily blog, but if I cannot think of anything to write in it, it must be a waste of my readers' time to write some gibberish for them to read, just for the sake of writing in the blog.

Well, there is another explanation for the lack of a blog entry yesterday, as well. I just did not find the time to read the news and comment on that or anything. We slept until late in the day, took long walks, watched a movie (Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, and some dogs - I can recommend it), and then the day was pretty much gone. I have come to realize that, sometimes, you have the most trouble getting things done when you have the most time available.

This Monday has been more like an ordinary day. Daniel has been to work, even though he says he does not like it. Up until recently, this would have been a holiday in Sweden as the Whit-Monday. Now the 6th of June is a holiday instead, as a National Day of Sweden. This is like trying to force Swedes into being more patriotic, which is the wrong way to go.

Sweden has a national anthem, even though this song has never been officially recognosed as such by Act of Parliament. This is an example of true patriotism, a national anthem that just is there, in the hearts of the people and dogs of Sweden.

Daniel does not dislike his work, on the contrary, but he rather work on the National day, thus supporting the GNP of Sweden, than on a day which is a holiday by long tradition. As for me, I have my duties as a pet any day, even the days I rest from the dog shows.

Another Show

Another dog show today, another best of breed for pups. However, I got no prominent position in the Best in Show final.

Mum is a veteran now, in shows, since she is over seven years old. She became best of breed among veterans. She did not succeed i the veterans' Best in Show final either.

However, we had a nice day and warm summer weather.

The Last Samurai

We watched the American movie The Last Samurai on DVD tonight. Mum says this movie is good, because it can be compared with kennel Taichung in the USA, where she was born and raised. Just like the main caracter in the movie, Captain Nathan Algren, Laura Perkinson at kennel Taichung is an American who helps Japanese to preserve their national heritage. Capt. Algren did this by fighting for the samurai way of life, bushido. Mrs. Perkinson does this by breeding the Japanese national breed Shiba Inu. The fact that Algren is a Swedish name can be see as a symbol for the cooperation Taichung has got with our Swedish kennel Aangenaam. - It is quite fun to read a lot of meanings into movies that are not supposed to be there.

Summer

If you go by the date, it is supposed to be summer now. June is a summer month and it is supposed to be warm and sunny. It was neither on the first of June in our home town, where it was overcast and rain now and then. We do not have to care that much, all our days are Sunni days, since my Mum Sunni lives here.

Happiness

Paula says she has been more happy than usual the last week. I actually believe I am the cause of this joy. It has always been Paula's dream to handle a dog that wins best in show at a great dog show. She has had this dream since long before I was born. Last Sunday she did with me. Not only that, I am bred by her as well.

Even though I am a successful shiba on the dog shows, there is one thing I do that is not typical for the shiba breed. When Paula throws my ball (the one I described the day before yesterday), I catch it and retrieved it. Maybe I am not a shiba, but something new, a shiba retriever? No, I do not believe so, I know I am pure bred.

Seven

Some say seven is a magical number. My Mum has her seventh birthday today. In human years, that would be seven times seven, i.e. fortynine. At least today, seven must be magical. We even got minced meat to eat in the evening, with its magically good taste.

Seven is also the lucky number of Daniel's mother. This must add to the magic of the seventh birthday of my mother.

The New Toy

I have a new toy since a couple of days. It is one of my favourites now, a black and white mouse in the shape of a ball. It is soft when I chew on it, it bounces a bit on the floor and rolls fast, and it is big enough not to disappear under the sofas. The latter thing is really good. Off course, I still like chewing on Paula's and Daniel's leather shoes better.

BOB

We were at a dog show today. I was not quite as successful as last Sunday. I was best of breed, but did not get a position in the Best in Show final. You cannot expect to have judges who appreciate you all the time. We are all still happy for the victory last week. My result this Sunday was good, though not fantastic, so we are happy for this as well. We are also happy for my brother Jiro, who was best of breed and second best in the spitz group at another dog show today. We are fabulous, my brothers and I.

Saturday Already

It is now Saturday and I have not written in my blog since Wednesday. I ask my readers for forgiveness. There are reasons, but reasons are not always excuses.

We had dinner guests Thursday evening and stayed up late. When I, the other shibas, and Daniel came back from the evening walk, it was past our ordinary bed time and Paula had already turned the computer off. I believe this is an excuse for not writing.

Normally, Daniel reminds me to write in my blog, but he forgot yesterday. Maybe it had to do with me not writing anything Thursday evening?

Paula and Mum was not at home yesterday evening. They spent the night with Mia and Kesshi and the four of them went to a dog show today. The rest of us hope it will be a success. I write this in the afternoon, maybe I will write more tonight if they were successful.

A Calm Day

The weekend was busy, then we rested in shape on Monday. Yesterday was Daniel's birthday. Today is nothing special. Sometimes, days that are not special are great, like this Monday. More exciting things could have happened today, though. In a way, it is a shame you cannot decide how much exciting things will happen any given day, so you can spread these things among the days of your week. Well, the exciting thing when you cannot decide upon this is, you never know what day will be exciting or not. That is nice in its own way. It is just that today I was a bit bored.

Mum, Dad, auntie, and I gave Daniel a birthday gift today, a year's subscription on the magazine F1 Racing. It is a very nice magazine about the exciting motor sport formula 1. The formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco would make this Sunday exciting, if it was not for the fact that we will be on another dog show, this time in Norrköping. Competing yourself on a dog show is a bit more exciting than watching formula 1 on TV.

Birthday

Sometimes, I feel like there are birthdays upon birthdays to write blog entries about. Daniel has his 34th birthday today.

As a matter of fact, I am not so sure we can count this birthday. I have learned that, since dogs do not live as long as humans, you can compare one dog year with seven human years. This have to mean that an average human has seven times as many birthdays as an average dog. You do not see humans celebrate their dogs' birth seven times a year. In order to make this equal, celebrating humans as many times during a lifetime as a dog, they would only be celebrated every seventh year. Given that 7 x 5 = 35, it is the next of Daniel's birthdays we would celebrate.

Well, due to his birthday, Daniel gave us dogs extra fine treats this evening. I am glad he did celebrate his birthday. I was reminded of the old saying that there are no bad reasons to have a party. Let us celebrate all the human birthdays, so they can give treats and candy to us dogs!

I am the Best

I am the best, this Sunday I got proof of it.

It is always best to start from the beginning. We started our weekend tour last Friday and got back home late last night. The goal was two dog shows in the south of Sweden. Dad stayed in Örebro at Paula's parents' house. The rest of us went by kennel Jbax on the way south, where Daniel and Paula got to see my younger half brothers. Mum, aunt Linni and I rested in the car in th meantime. I was told small pups are not fun to play with, so I did not care much. We did get to run around for a while in the yard, that was fun.

On Saturday, we were at a speciality show for spitz breeds. They had had to change judges for the pups. The new judge was not a spitz specialist and I was last of the shiba pups. Then we had to wait all day fr the judging of the adult shibas, where Mum was not very successful. It was a rather boring day.

Our Sunday was better. It was a bigger, international dog show organized by the North Scania Kennel Club, a bransch of the Swedish Kennel Club. I beat three other female shiba pups, then a male shiba pup, so I became best of breed among pups! This is a great result. Mum was not in the mood for dog shows and ended up as best of opposite sex among adult shibas. The male shiba beating her did look nice, but Mum said she just did not feel like the excitement of the finals.

It was my first final. We were about 50 pups from all kinds of breeds. Lo and behold, now there was a change of judges that we thought maybe would work in our favour: the judge putting me forth as the best of breed would now judge the best in show for pups. Well, he did save me to the final ten, none of the other pups he saw earlier got that far. Paula handled me, as usual, and we were very happy to get this far. Then we were chosen to be one of the final five. They always announce the fifth one first, then the fourth, then the third. I was none of those. I had beaten a shiba pup that Paula had matched to become fourth best of breed two years ago. Then they announced the winner, and it was me!

There you have it: I am the best.

However, the very best thing about the weekend happened after the final. My brother Kiko had been there in the audience and seen my victory. Afterwards, we went to Kiko's family's home and I played with him for several fun hours, though it felt much shorter.

We got home very late in the night.

On Tour

We are going away for a couple of days this weekend, starting tomorrow before noon. We are going to see my half brothers in Halland on their kennel. Then we are going to a dog show in Scania on Saturday and Sunday. On the way home on Sunday, we will pass through Småland and visit my brother Kiko and his family. I will probably not be able to write anything in my blog until Sunday, but you can count on that I have a lot of things to say once I get back home. See you later!

17th of May

In Mum's home cuntry, they have the 4th of July, even though what was to become the State of Washington did not exist when the United States proclaimed their independence on the 4th of July 1776. In Dad's home country, they have the 17th of May, celebrating the Constitution of 1814, even though Norway was about a thousand years old when this constitution was written. The Constitution of Norway is the oldest European constitution still in force.

Mum is not impressed by the Norwegian Constitution. The US Constitution is, off course, older - the oldest in the world which is still in force. Dad, on the other hand, is not impressed with the age of the United States, even less with that of Washington.

Be that as it may, we all know Japan is older.

Well, today is Dad's day, Norway's national day. He celebrates his country of birth. He made sure we got some mackerel in tomato sauce, his favourite dish since he was a little pup on the kennel in Bergen, Norway. (I have trouble picturing Dad as a pup, but I guess I have to believe him when he says he has been a pup. After all, as far as I have learned, every dog has been pup at first.) Mackerel tastes really good.

Running

Mum and Daniel went out to run this evening, in order to get more fit to the dog show season. Mum had a flexi leach. However, she did not run, all she did was walking a little quicker than she use to do, when Daniel wanted to get her to run. Mum just love to be comfortable, running is not her thing. I do not understand why. I love to run as fast and long as I can, whenever I get the opportunity. I am so different from my Mother in some ways, aren't I? I wonder why.

Another Blog Entry About Birthdays

It is the 15th of May and I am turning eight months old. More importantly, it is the annual birthday of a dog Mum knows, the office dog of Daniel's earlier workplace, Grus. Grus is one of few dogs who have made comments to my blog, so I consider him special. His homepage at http://www.freewebs.com/grusifer/ is new, honouring him on his birthday. I wish Grus all the best on his birthday!

Show Training

We took a morning walk in the park today. Paula joined us and trained me to be a better show dog. Show training is nice, because you get a lot of treats. We will go to shows next weekend and the weekend after that. I aim to be very good at it, to earn a lot of treats. If I am good at it, I will probably be successful, thus earning even more treats. If you put it this way, dog shows are nice experiences.

Watching TV

There was a piece on American dog shows on TV this afternoon. I watched it with great interest.

Some humans say dogs cannot watch a two dimensional picture, like the moving picture on a TV screen. We would not have the ability to make out the picture. I have showed Paula and Daniel many times that this is wrong, at least when I am concerned. They know that I watch TV with interest, but only when there is something on about wildlife or dogs. There is no need for animal sound to catch my interest.

Maybe dogs in general cannot make out two dimensional pictures, maybe I am a step forward in the evolution of the dog species? I do not think so. Even though I am a dog that is one of a kind, I do not think I am that special. I believe dogs in general can make out two dimensional pictures.

My Free Blog

If you get something for free, you cannot count on excellent service. I have a free blog. Most of the time, I am very pleased with it. There are, however, some days I am not. I could not write any entry in the blog yesterday due to technical problems on the blog page. Given the overall picture that the blog is free, I think I gain from having this blog anyway. I do not want to complain, the only reason I write about this is to explain why my daily blog had no entry yesterday.

So, what was it I did not write in the blog yesterday? The trouble is, I do not remember. Fortunately, under these circumstances, I do not remember having any great idea for a blog entry that is now forgotten. You must always see the positive aspects of a situation.

Winter Affair

One of the dogs at kennel Taichung (where Mum is from) gave birth to pups in April. One of these pups will probably move here in the future. She has been given the name Taichung Winter Affair, and will be called April. Paula and Daniel think April is a great name, but I am not so sure. This is as if I would be called September, because I was born in September. I like Hailey better. However, I am sure April will be satisfied with her name.

Bugs

Spring is almost getting dull. We have had a lot of warm, sunny days in a row.

On our walks, Dad watch out for flying insects, sometimes trying to catch them, sometimes jumping away from them. He has explained that some insects are dangerous, they can sting you really bad. He is my Dad, hence he is my hero, so I do believe him. He would not be afraid of something which is not dangerous. Nevertheless, I do not back of for insects. When I see them, I cannot believe that these small things are anything to worry about. This is puzzling. It is another one of those conflicts of whether you will believe what you are told or believe what you see. Are those tiny flying things dangerous? I guess you can say the bugs are bugging me.

Pepsi

Paula calls me a lot of things, it is a sign of her affection for me. One of the names I like, which she has continued to use because I like it, is Pepsi. It is somewhat like my name Hailey, but it is also a soft drink.

There are pictures of celebrities on Pepsi Cola bottles. When I become a true celebrity, they should contact me to give me a nice contract for lending my picture to the bottles. After all, who could be a better symbol for a soft drink than a cute, young dog whose name is Pepsi? It would certainly show Pepsi as the choice of a new generation.

More Brothers

The latest litter sired by Dad is born. I now have three more brothers, but not a single sister. So far, I am Dad's only daughter, while he has got six sons. I am unique. I would be unique as an individual anyway, but this is additional proof of that point.

It will be months before these pups are old enough to play with, but I am looking forward to it. There will be a lot of things I can learn my young brothers.

Mia's Birthday

We experienced some wonderful aspects of spring today. It was a warm and sunny day. All the four of us dogs went with Paula to the park. While the adult dogs laid down in the new grass to relax, I ran around, feeling free.

Today is not the birthday of Paula's sister Mia, but on her own request we celebrated it this evening instead of the day before yesterday. This must be a perfect way of getting birthday cake more than once in a couple of days.

We met Mia's boyfriend. He is a nice fellow, we all thought so. This is a good thing, expecially for Kesshi.

Summit

The Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is in Sweden on an official visit. There is a little information on this meeting on the homepage of the Swedish Government: http://www.regeringen.se. Mr. Koizumi visits Stockholm, where he meets our King and Prime Minister. It is nice to know that the Government of the home country of the Shiba Inu breed takes an interest in my home country. Unfortunately, I have not been able to go to Stockholm for this event. I am just a dog, not a journalist, so I would probably not be able to visit the press conference anyway. Sometimes, being a cute pup is not an asset.

I Miss Ice

Spring is warm and nice. The sun is shining today. However, during winter there were pieces of ice on the ground. It was like treats lying scattered all around. You cannot eat stones or dirt. Everything is not better in the spring.

Chocolate

Paula and Daniel had some chocolate this evening. They did not give any chocolate to me or the other dogs. They claim chocolate is unhealthy, even toxic, for dogs. This is strange, considering that there is this thing called dog chocolate. Why is there dog chocolate, if chocolate is toxic for dogs? Is dog chocolate a way of intoxicating dogs? May the truth really be that chocolate is not unhealthy, but only the cheapest chocolate is called dog chocolate, because humans want all the other chocolate for themselves? Another theory was put forth by Mum, she claims the toxic ingrediens in chocolate is removed from dog chocolate. This seems plausible, maybe too plausible. If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is that things are usually complicated. Mum's theory seems to be too simple. Shall I believe in it? Maybe I can satisfy myself with the thought that life is, sometimes, rather uncomplicated.

Flowers

It is the first day of May, a month that was called Flower Month in ancient times in Sweden. There are more and more flowers on the ground, so the name Flower Month seems to be justified.

I think the best thing about flowers is picking them and eating them. It is not that flowers taste great, but it is fun. Unfortunately, Paula and Daniel do not think this is a good idea. They will not let me pick any flowers. Well, if they would give me more treats instead, I would not feel such an urge to eat flowers.

Celebration

On the last day of April, Swedes celebrate spring. This is called Valborg from the saint who has her festivity day on the first day of May.

There is another reason to celebrate today, as well. It is an important birthday. No one in the family has a birthday, but the King of Sweden has. This is worth celebrating.

As you know, shibas are from the Empire of Japan, with the oldest reigning dynasty in the world. Auntie Linni is from Sweden and her father is from the Kingdom of Australia. Dad is from the Kingdom of Norway and his father is from the Kingdom of Belgium. It is only Mum who is from a republic, the State of Washington in the United States of America. Mum is consequently the only adult shiba in our pack who thinks monarchy is a bit odd.

The government is instated for humans, dogs do not have to care much. When the King has a birthday, however, we can celebrate. Any reason to celebrate is a good reason.

This evening, we celebrate on ice cream.

Rain

They said spring would be beautiful. They said spring would be warm. They also said spring would be sunny, which is especially nice to me, whose Mum is called Sunni. On the morning walk this Saturday, spring was neither. It was grey, a bit cold, and rain fell from an overcast sky. I do not really care about rain, but it is not very nice when we get back indoors and Daniel or Paula wants to dry me with a towel.

Oh well, winter could be both beautiful and dull, I guess it is only natural spring can be both too.

A Hat and Obedience

I found a wool hat on the Friday evening walk (this is written just past midnight). It was just lying there on the pavement, so I picked it up and started to bring it with me. It would be nice to chew it to pieces. However, Daniel saw me and said: "Hailey, let go!" Obedient as I am, I let the hat go right away. This was a shame, why would this hat lie out in the rainy night when I could have so much fun with it? Humans have their ideas. Sometimes you do not understand your humans, but since you love them, you do what they ask you to do anyway.

Late Night, Late Morning

Me, Mum, Dad, and auntie Linni had to stay up late last night, since there were som many good American police series on TV. (Mum always says all good TV series are American.) Still, the four of us got up early in the morning to go out on a morning walk with Daniel. We did not want to make him disappointed by skipping this walk. Then we all went back into the bedroom and back to sleep. We slept until Paula woke us up at two in the afternoon, so we really shifted the hours of night and day. This is how devoted we are to TV series from Mum's country of birth.

The Lawn

The older you get, the more often you experience things which are not new to you. By this, I do not imply that I have experienced most things you can possibly experience in a lifetime, not even many things. I still have a lot of things and happenings to explore. Still, I am able to do some fun stuff I have done many times before. The thing is, with regard to my blog, that I have written about such fun stuff almost all the times I have experienced them. So I asked myself: what is there to add, when the most exciting thing you do in a certain day is something you have written about many times before? Then I realized that this is, in itself, a subject to write about in the blog, so I did. I hope you enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed thinking about these things and writing it down.

We visited Paula's parents today, I and the other shibas got to run around and around on their lawn. This was fun, as always.

A Tennis Ball

There is a tennis court near our home. On the afternoon walk, we went by it and I found a tennis ball in the grass. I did not pick it up, but smelled a little around it. Then Aunt Linni came and picked it up instead. She carried it all the way home, despite repeated attempts from me to take it back. When we were home again, Linni laid down under a table and guarded the tennis ball with her life. After a long time, she grew tired of the ball, but then Dad came and took it. I picked a fight with Dad to get the ball, but Daniel did not like that and took the ball away from both of us. I do not know why Daniel would want it, all he did was to put it away high in the bookshelf. Was this just to stop my rightful aggression to get possession of the ball? I still want that tennis ball, I was the one who found it.

Cardboard Box

there was a cardboard box on the floor, but in the paws of Dad. I tried to snatch it from him. He did not want me to and growled at me. Then I laid down on the floor a couple of metres away, watching Dad and the cardboard box. I can be very patient when I want to. After a while, Dad left the cardboard box for other adventures, certainly not as exciting. Guess who ran and took the cardboard box?

Discovering the World

Mum and I were at Paula's parents' house today, while Paula, Daniel, Linni, and Dad went on a trip. I have been there many times before, so I decided to discover more of the surroundings. When Paula's father went out the gate from the lot, I got out as well and ran out into the neighbourhood. This was a short but very rewarding trip, before I was carried back home by Paula's father. Thus, I did not have to walk back myself.

A Downside of Getting Older

There are, in general, great advantages of growing older, you get wiser and more able. Everything is not good, though. Paula and Daniel have reduced my daily dose of food, since I do not grow bigger as much as before. When a dog has grown big enough, there is a risk that she or he will grow wider instead, if given the same amount of food as before. I have understood that it is the same with humans and many other animals. I would like to be able to eat as much as before anyway, eating is always such a great happening.

Football

We were at Paula's parents' house today. Auntie Linni and I played football on their lawn. It was fun. Mum, who is from America, calls this sport soccer. It actually makes much sense for dogs not to call the sport football, since we do not kick the ball with a foot. We grab the ball with our mouths instead.

Great Nights Ahead

I was tired last night and went to bed early. Faithful to my habit, I laid down under Paula's and Daniel's big bed. However, since I am growing bigger, I find it harder and harder to lie comfortably there. A little later I got up into the bed instead. I am big enough to get up there now and the adult shibas are not annoyed that I am there. Daniel and Paula allow us to be there as long as they can sleep comfortably too.

The bed is very, very comfortable. I slept there all night, it was great. It is early in the day now, but in a way I look forward to next night already. There will be many great nights ahead in the bed.

At Kesshi's

I visited my dear friend Kesshi this evening, as well as Paula's dear sister Mia. It has been a while since I met them, but dogs always remember friends. (Take a pup from his breeder at eight weeks of age, how old he ever gets, he will remember his breeder.) The evening was great.

The Shoe

I have a wonderful shoe that Paula has given to me. I have chewed on a lot of it, chewed off parts of it. I love that tasty shoe. The trouble is, now that I have prepared the shoe and made it just perfectly soft to chew on, Dad wants it and will not let me chew on it. I have a relatively nice rubber ball to chew on instead, but I believe I have earned the shoe.

End of Easter

This is the last day of Easter. Over all, Easter has been nice. As I wrote in the blog before Easter, it is the candy holiday of the year. Nevertheless, I have not been allowed to eat as much candy as I like. This is a little disappointment. Mum is disappointed as well, if anybody loves candy more than I do, it is her. However, she points out that we have gotten more candy than usual. Maybe, just maybe, even more candy would make us sick - but we seriously doubt that.

Flexi

Paula and Daniel bought me a new leach yesterday. It is a Flexi leach, which enables me to run as far as eight metres, when the person holding the leach allows me to. I like this, it is much better than ordinary leaches. The older shibas all have their own Flexi leaches, so I feel a bit more adult now.

Another thing that proves that I am getting bigger is that I got up in the sofa in the living room all by myself today. It is only a matter of time before I jump up just as easily as the adult shibas. After all, I turned seven months yesterday, so it is logical that I am getting better at this.

A Day Off

The news papers take some days off around Easter. I have decided to do the same today.

Easter buffe

Today I tried a Swedish specialty, an Easter buffe. Some people may referr to it as an Easter smorgosbord. It was delicious. I ate salmon, egg and herring. After the food I played some with daddy Kuro.

We had a great time at Paula's parents house. I nearly forgot to take my evening walk.

Film Tip

We saw a great film tonight on DVD. Starring Bruce Willis, American soldiers saved (part of) the world in the film Tears of the Sun. The Americans, in part defying orders because of what they experienced on their mission, saved civilians from evil rebel soldiers. Mum says this shows why the USA is needed in the world, do not mess with Americans and Western world values.

The film ended with a great quote by the Irish politician and philosopher Edmund Burke:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Easter

It is Easter this week. This is the greatest Christian holiday, when Jesus Christ died for the sins of mankind and raised again from the dead.

God has never been born as a dog and made any similar sacrifice for the dogs of the world. This is really not so strange, since there are no dogs' sins to die for. By this, I do not try to say that dogs are better than humans, but we are different and have some advantages over humans.

I look forward to Easter, rumour has it this is the candy holiday of the year.

Grannies

It is Paula's maternal grandmother's birthday today. We send her the best wishes.

I have never met my mother's mother. She lives in the United States, which is half a world away. However, chances are I will meet her someday though. I´m still young and there is a lot of time to visit the relatives in America.

Is It Never Enough?

On the morning walk, there was some newly fallen snow on the ground. It was not a thick layer; where the old snow was gone, you could see grass poking through the new snow. This layer of snow must soon be gone as well, I sure hope it will. I am so looking forward to seeing my first spring in its full splendor, it has had to start over many times now.

According to Dad, the headline of this blog post could just as easily refer to the Easter picture of him on Kennel Aangenaam's newly updated homepage: http://www.kennelaangenaam.com/ He does not like the picture of himself as an Easter witch with a head cloth, but the rest of us do.

Sushi

Paula came home with sushi for lunch today. I have written about sushi before, on the 18th of November last year. It is great food, since it is from Japan. Shibas are from Japan and like fish, so it should not be a surprise to anyone that we like sushi. We got to taste a little, little bit each, it was great.

In a dog magazine, Paula discovered a tip that you can buy a small stair case for small dogs to put in front of beds or sofas. It was cute and seems like a good idea. Then again, as you may remember from my post yesterday, I do manage to get up into the bed myself now, if I want to.

Exam

Paula has an exam at the university. We wish her all the luck she can get. She studies a lot and should get her reward for that.

I am not studying at the university, I am home schooled. Mum, Dad, and auntie Linni teach me what it is to be a dog, more specifically a shiba. Being a shiba is an exceptional case of being a dog, an exceptionally good case. Paula and Daniel teach me how to be a good dog and fit into the human society. Paula is also a good teacher on the skill of being a show dog. This is the subject where I get to take exams, by participating in dog shows. In a matter of speaking, Mum has three degrees in this subject, since she is champion in three countries. Paula and Daniel hope I will be champion as well, I hope so too.

This evening, I took one further step towards being an adult shiba. I jumped up in Paula's and Daniel's bed all by myself, just like Mum, Dad, and auntie can do. It was fun playing around there.

Wrestling

It has been raining, but not the whole day. On the afternoon walk, it was not raining. One would think we would only get damp paws, but I got a damp back as well. The thing is, I like to play around with auntie Linni when we are out on walks. We start to wrestle, and since Linni is older, bigger, and more experienced than me, it always ends with me on my back. When rain has been falling, I get a damp back. It is fun, nevertheless.

Paula cut my claws today. This is unpleasant, but I got treats, so I endured it. A lot of things are bearable when you get treats at the same time. I am such a good dog I earn treats on a lot of other occasions as well.

Another Updated Homepage

Paula updated the homepage of her and Daniel's kennel today. The result is great, see for yourself: http://www.kennelaangenaam.com/ I really like the wall paper, with the Japanese kanji signs for shiba inu. Paula, Mum, Dad, and I are on the front page. Paula is a really good web master.

New Homepage

Paula helped me create a new, beautiful homepage today. You can see it at http://www.daily-hailey.se/. I am very grateful for the page. Do not hesitate to write in my guestbook as well.

As a way of thanking Paula, I helped her making meatballs this evening. These meatballs were very tasty, I really did not know I was so good at making meatballs. I surprise myself once in a while.

Inspiration

I seldom have trouble with inspiration, but tips on what to write about are welcome.

Daniel gave me a tip on writing as such today. He write a lot of legal documents in his job as a lawyer and needs to be inspired to write. Even when he knows what to write, it may sometimes be a little boring, he says. When this is the case, he recalls a quote from the American writer Jack London:

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

To go after inspiration with a club is, off course, a metaphor. Inspiration is something intangible, you cannot touch it, see it, or hear it, even though you can feel it. The quote means you have to force yourself to write, or whatever other creative thing it is you want to do. With an initial force of will, you catch inspiration and the words will come to you. I like this quote.

Nevertheless, I have some trouble with the club metaphor. It is not that I would hunt running, using my sharp canines instead of a club. It is just that if you use a club when catching inspiration, you beat it up. How is inspiration of any use to you, if you have clubbed it to the ground in order to catch it? Wouldn't there be a risk that inspiration would become unconscious? In that case, what do you do?

I guess I have to give this quote some further thought.

Taking a Nap

I had a nice afternoon today. I took a nap. Consequently, there is not so much to write about. Taking naps is one of my favourite pass times. The bad thing about sleeping a lot is just that I have not much to write about in my blog. I dream sometimes, but dreams can be weird. I prefer to keep them to myself.

April Fool's Day

Yesterday was the first day of April, a day devoted to hoaxes and practical jokes around the world. I made up my own hoax in my blog. It was not true that my blog was mentioned in the news paper. If you were fooled by it, I hope you can have a good laugh about it today. If you were not, I congratulate you. Any which way, I hope you have a nice April.

On to other things. This morning, we had the TV set on after the Australian GP of formula 1. There was an American sit com on a different channel, where a woman met a man. She asked: "Do you have a Beamer?" He answered: "Is there any other?" Daniel smiled at that. After all, he has a BMW, too.

In Australia, our favourite Juan Pablo Montoya (from Paula's country of birth) failed. His car ran into something on the side of the track when he missed a little in a curve. Mum's favorite (being American, she claims it is spelled this way), Scott Speed from the USA, finished eighth. This means he would have scored his first point in the world championship table, if it was not for the fact that he was handed a post-race penalty of 25 seconds for paying insufficient attention to yellow flags during the race. He passed another driver during yellow flag, which you may not do. Nevertheless, Mum claims the penalty was unfair.

In the Paper

I have finally gotten some recognition as the great writer that I am. A journalist in the local news paper Nerikes Allehanda wrote about my blog today. This makes me very happy. I know I am a good writer, more than one friend have said so. Still, it takes a lot to be recognized as a good writer in this day and age when everybody is flooded with news and information.

The news paper where my blog is mentioned is in Swedish, but I know I have a lot of readers who know Swedish. Those of you who do can read the paper.

Snow Again

Winter is back. More snow has been falling today. At first, the ground was warm enough that the snow melted right away, but there is a thin cover of new snow across the ground now. Rumour has it, spring will come anyway, I am just too young to have experienced this before. I guess spring has just made a temporary retreat.

Spring is Coming

It was more pleasant spring weather today, without the huge amounts of rain and drying of paws.

In the evening, Paula and I went to Mia and Kesshi. This was fun, as always.

Another Rainy Day

It rained all of yesterday. The really bad thing about rain is that you have to have your paws dried as soon as you come indoors from walks, that is about four times a day. It was raining today too, though not all of the day. I do not like to get my paws dried, it is uncomfortable.

Paula's sister Mia visited us in the evening. This was fun, as always. Mia is a nice person.

Power Failure

All the lights suddenly went out last night around 9.30 p.m. The whole area was black, there was no electricity. Once in a while, the electricity came back for short periods of time, but it did not return permanently until late at night. We had all gone to bed by then. This is why I did not write anything in my blog yesterday. I have still no information on why the power went out.

Here Comes the Rain Again

I have not experienced rain since my early puphood. (This is a word I might have made up myself, from the human word childhood. It is nice, isn't it?) This afternoon and evening, it was raining again. It was not raining much, but steadily. Mum, Dad, and auntie say rain is good, because it makes the snow melt away faster. They are not as fond of the snow now as when it was new and fun to play around in. I have not experienced much else than snow. As I have said before, spring will be an exciting new experience.

Another new thing is that it was dark as in the middle of the night this morning again on the morning walk. This is because Sweden has daylight savings time again. The morning light is saved until the evening. Rather silly, if you ask me - it does not feel as much like spring when there is no daylight on the morning walks.

Terrible News

Mum comes from a part of the world far away from here. It is not very often we hear from her American home state Washington in the news in Sweden. Today we did, there was a terrible massacre on young people at a party in Seattle, the biggest city in Washington. We are upset, how can things like this happen? It would be terrible anywhere in the world, but Mum always reacts a little extra on news from home. (It is enough that we hear people speaking American English when we are out on walks, Mum reacts to it.)

Braveheart

Im busy tonight. I'm watching a piece of movie history. According to Dan and Paula. It is Braveheart. No 1 all system in movies.

Im breathless.

Cheese Doodles

We got to taste some cheese doodles today, when Paula and Daniel had finished their evening meal. Cheese doodles are wonderful snacks. I wish I could get more, but I am not allowed to get as much as I want to. This is a bad thing, I am quite certain I can keep my body fit anyway.

Good News

Paula is studying full time to become a nurse. In the summertime, there are no courses and she wants to work to earn some money and to get some important experience.

More money is a good thing, it give Paula and Daniel more means to buy dog candy. And to buy a bigger place with more rooms for me to play in.

This afternoon Paula got an offer from the university hospital that she may work full time this summer. She jumped at the idea! we are all happy for her today. The hospital will be happy too to have Paula. such a great, caring dog owner must be a great nurse.

A Normal Day

It is nice to have a normal day, when you can rest for a while. The weekend was fun, but one would probably get tired if every day would be like that. We travelled far and I did my dog show debut on Saturday. Then we slept in a hotel far from home, which is not always as restful as it is at home. The next day we even travelled a bit further, since we made a detour to meet ny brother Kiko and his nice family in Älmhult. I played a lot with Kiko.

All of this made it rather comfortable to have just another normal day at home. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I actually liked that today.

Family Reunion

We met my brother Kiko on the way back from Malmö today. It was a lot of fun. It was so long ago, but we got along right away. We played, rested, and went on walks together.

Kiko's family is really nice. Kiko is their only dog. I think my brother rocks!

Loser and Winner

The puppy judge on the dog show was actually one whose specialty was dachshounds. I believe this judge does not know anything about shibas, since I became the last among the pups.

There was a lot of sense in the other judge, who judged the adult shibas. Mum became Best of Breed! There were 17 shibas and Mum beat them all.

Bath

Paula bathed me and Mum today. This was because we are going to a dog show tomorrow, Saturday (I am writing this just after midnight, to me, it is still Friday in a sense). Bathing is not pleasant, but I did not mind. Some dogs are reputed to make war to their humans rather than bathing, but I cannot see that it is that bothersome.

We are travelling by car through the night together with Paula's sister Mia. The dog show is far from our home. It is the first time for me, but I think I will do OK. Paula has trained a lot with me and I am getting quite good at it. Mum is a champion and I have surely inherited some of her qualities. We will see tomorrow.

Half a Year

It was my birthday yesterday, I turned half a year old. I sent birthday greetings to my brothers. Paula and I spent the evening with some friends. We got home so late I did not have the time to write anything in my blog. It was a nice birthday, but without a party. Mum, Dad, and auntie say the real party will be on the one year birthday. That is so far away! I think I deserve parties more often.

Trouble with the Blog

I tried to get into my page for writing in my blog earlier this evening, but it did not work. The page would not open. It generally does, I am fully satisfied with the blog service. The biggest trouble tonight is not the blog page not opening; it eventually did, off course. The biggest trouble is that I do not remember now what I had planned on writing about today. This means that you, my dear readers, have to settle for this little text. Now I am on my way out for my evening walk.

My Best Friend

Paula and I spend the evening with Kesshi and Mia today. I have met Kesshi many times in the last few days. It is fun, but I have the most fun with auntie Linni at home. Linni and I play every day. We play much more often than Mum or Dad and I do. Linni is my best friend. I guess she thinks the same about me.

A Whole Day with Kesshi

Paula and Daniel were going away to attend to a meeting far from our home town today. They did not want to bring me. This meant I got to stay the whole time with my friend Kesshi and Mia, a splendid solution! Now I have spent the whole day playing, taking walks and resting with Kesshi and Mia. No matter how fun it was, I was still very happy to see Daniel when he came to take me home in the late afternoon. There's no place like home, as the old saying goes.

Longer Days

The days are getting longer. The sun rises earlier in the morning and sets later. A few days ago, we actually saw a little daylight in the sky on the early morning walk, which we take with Daniel aat about 5-5.30 a.m. before he goes to work. the older shibas say it will get warmer and that all the snow will disappear. I can hardly remember the landscape without snow, but it was like that when I was a really small pup and started to go outside on walks. Spring will be interesting, since I have never experienced it before.

Stealing a Bone

I met Kesshi today as well. Paula and I was at Paula's parents' house. Kesshi was there as well. He was chewing on a bone when I arrived. Since I wanted his bone, I went by him and stole it. He growled a little, but I did not care. If anything is really important to you, you must not be intimidated by a little growling from a dog whom you know actually have a heart of gold - and a soft spot when it comes to a nice girl like me.

At Kesshi's

I am at my friend Kesshi's tonight. It is so much fun I cannot find the time to write more than this.

Another Prize for Mum

I am proud over my Mum Sunni, Taichung Total Eclips of the HRT, today. She became Swedish Champion last year. Today, the regional kennel club had its annual meeting. All members whose dogs had won a championship got a huge prize, Mum was one of these dogs. Daniel was at the meeting to collect the prize. It is a giant ribbon in black and gold, it looks really nice.

Vacation

We have spent the weekend in Halland on the west coast of Sweden. Mum says it is not as good as the west coast of America, where she is from. I thought it was nice. The best part was running around in a big yard belonging to some friends of Paula and Daniel.

A holiday trip

I will visit my dear friends tomorrow. They own my newborn baby brother. Unfortunatly, he is too small for me to play with. I will see him though in the summer. Then he is in the perfect play-age.

I'm also invited to visit my brother Kiko in March. Im so looking forward to this meeting. He was equally as playful as I was before he left me for his new life. Words says that he is still this happy singing shiba as I remember him to be. Im very proud over my little brother Kiko. Yes, we come from the same litter but I was born first. Hence my nickname "little brother". Kiko is the shiba of the month at the Swedish shiba club and can be seen at their website: http://www.shiba-no-kai.com

A Visitor

Late this evening, Paula's sister Mia came to visit us. Although this is a nice break from any usual day - Mia is a very nice person - I cannot help but being a bit disappointed. She did not bring her dog, my friend Kesshi.

Fast

It is the beginning of something called fast. It has nothing to do with speed, on the contrary, it is about not eating as much as usual and slowing down yor life before the greatest holiday: Easter.

In Brazil, they have a great carnival before fast. In Sweden, we have something much better during fast. It is derived from a plain bun which people were allowed to eat during fast, called semla (semlor in plural) from the latin word "simila" for white flour. However, people began hiding other food stuff inside their semlor. This has developed into the modern day semla, a bun with cardamom cut in a bottom and a top half, filled with almond paste and a lot of sweet, whipped cream. It is delicious!

From old tradition, this Tuesday is the first day to eat semlor. Then you can eat them until Easter.

Walking on Ice

I guess that it would sometimes be advantageous for humans to walk on four legs, like dogs do, instead of two. We walk quickly over ice on four paws, this is more than two. We can have more than one foot on the ice all the time. We walk without the need to worry about falling so far as humans who walk upright. On snow with an icy crust, we do not fall through the crust as easily as humans do - which is also due to our lesser weight.

Off course, humans have other advantages with their hands on their front legs/arms. The hands is something to envy a bit. Over all, however, I think dogs have more advantages than humans do.

Gold

The USA got more gold medals than Sweden, which makes Mum happy. However, aunt Linni says that Sweden's gold medal in men's ice hockey is the most valuable medal in the whole Olympic Games. Kuro says Norway will return in Vancouver 2010 and show the Swedes that it does not matter that you are lucky once in the Olympic Games, Norway is still the very best winter sports country in the world, not least counted per capita. Four years is a long time, especially in a dog's life, but we can look forward to it anyway.

Half Brother!

I have yet another brother. Now I am really the big sister. Dad has got a new son with a bitch on the west coast of Sweden. (Mum says she is not only a bitch in the litteral sense of the word, a female dog, she is also a bloody bitch stealing Dad from Mum.) This pup is consequently my half brother. I look forward to meeting him so I can teach him who is the boss.

Colombia

A couple of days ago, I wrote about all of the different countries in the Winter Olympic Games that I may hope will win. There was, however, one country I failed to mention. Paula was born in Colombia. For this reason, as an example, she and Daniel hope Juan Pablo Montoya will win the world championship of Formula 1 this year. I would hope for Colombian medals in the Winter Olympic Games, if it was not for the tiny little detail that there are no Colombians participating in the games. This may also be the reason that I did not think to mention Colombia in the earlier blog entry. It should not, by any means, be held against me in the question of my loyalty to Paula.

The national anthem of a gold medal winner's home country is played at the ceremony when the medals are given to the winners and first and second runners up. Paula likes some anthems more than others. She has thought of buying a Canadian shiba just because she likes the Canadian national anthem so much. However, she thinks the US anthem is the best, therefore, she is glad to have my American born mother, Sunni, and hope for American gold medals together with her.

Studies

Paula is studying at the university and has an exam today, Friday. Yesterday evening she and Daniel hardly did anything but talk about the subjects of the exam. The computer was turned off. How would I then write my Daily Hailey blog entry? I was a bit disappointed, but Paula's studies are important. I wish her good luck today!

Barking

I bark sometimes when there is noice outside. It is among my duties as a watch dog to tell everyone in my family that there might be something dangerous outside. Paula and Daniel does not always like it when I bark.

Sometimes I am the only one of us dogs who bark. Do the other dogs recognize differences between different sounds that I am yet too inexperienced to do? If this is the case, I am sure I will learn to do so too. I am clever enough to do that. In that case, Paula and Daniel will surely not ask me to keep quiet as often as they do now.

Upcoming General Election

Daniel did not come home until late Tuesday evening. The whole evening sort of got postponed and I did not post anything in my blog. Daniel was at a party meeting. He is member of one of the political parties represented in the Swedish parliament. This autumn there will be a general election to the parliament. There is general elections only once every fourth year, which means that dogs living the average 14 years will only live to see three general elections. This does not matter that much, since we are not allowed to vote anyway. As long as we get sufficient amounts of excercise, rest, food, water, and huge amounts of candy and treats, we do not really care, either.

Evening Walk With Paula

The evening walk felt a bit odd today. Normally, Daniel takes us out on evening walks, but tonight Paula did. It was not that we did not take the same route as usual, Daniel took us on another route yesterday evening as well. There is something undefinably different between the walks with Daniel and Paula. It is not a bad thing, on the contrary. I like it when every day is not like the other. Even this kind of small difference stimulates my sense of imagination. What will tomorrow be like?

The Dilemma of National Competition Once Again

Sweden and the USA were playing ice hockey tonight. Mummy Sunni wanted the USA to win, whereas auntie Linni wanted Sweden to win. Daddy Kuro could not care less, he says that ice hockey is no real sport - probably because Norway is lousy at it. I was stuck in between the opinions of the adult shiba inus, the same problem as I wrote about the other day. Would I care about the sport and the game, or would I not? If I would care, who would I hope would win?

Daniel bought a new battery to the car. That is something nobody can have different opinions about. The car needed a new battery, so everybody thought it was a good thing Daniel bought one. It is a good thing I do not have to ponder every question there is.

By the way, Sweden won, 2-1.

Curling

Japan's Ladies' Curling team in the Olympic Games won over Canada. This was a fenomenal victory, totally unexpected, Japan being the underdog. The game was played in the early morning, Italian and Swedish time, but was sent live in Japanese TV in the early evening. There were ten million viewers in Japan. Even though it was an unexpected victory for most people, shiba inus like me, my parents, and auntie know never to rule out the Japanese! A nation that has created such a great dog breed as the shiba inu can accomplish anything.