Happy Birthday Calvin!

Today Calvin is turning 1 year old! He was born on June, 23d 2007 in USA.

I hope that we will have some cake for dinner. The extra amount of treats are the thing that makes birthdays extra fun and special.

Silence Device

Sometimes, Paula and Daniel are angry with me, because they think I bark too much. Their irritation may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists have published new findings on something that could be called a cloak of silence, a device that would really make things soundproof. It would be manufactured by "sonic crystals", designed to produce specific acoustical effects. With this, I would be silent. Now, I will also be silent.

Midsummer Day

We slept until noon today, since Paula had worked night and we all love to sleep. As usual, Daniel had taken us on a morning walk before Paula came home, this makes it easier for us to sleep for a long time with her later. In the afternoon, April and I got to go with Paula and Daniel for a ride in our new car. It is really a smooth ride. We visited Paula's parents, which is always quite fun.

Midsummer Eve

Yesterday was Midsummer Eve, one of the days each year that Swedes celebrate the most. We celebrate the time of the year when there is the most light, and indeed it is light almost around the clock. We were up until late yesterday. I do not carry a watch, and since the darkness of night come so late, I do not always realize when we pass midnight. This was the case yesterday, thus I forgot to write in my blog yesterday. I will make up for this today, with two blog entries. This is the first one.

Watermelon

We had some watermelon as a snack tonight. A watermelon is a fruit, but carnivore as I am, I still like it. Perhaps this has got to do with its sweet taste, perhaps with the colour of the edible parts, which are red like fresh meat. Be that as it may, I like it. I wish we get some more tomorrow.

Germany beat Portugal in the first quarter final of the Euro 2008 tonight. It was a good game with many goals.

Death

We found a dead magpie (pica pica, or "skata" in Swedish, if this helps you to know what I mean) in our yard today, probably killed by the owl that lives in our neighbourhood. It was a sad sight. Perhaps it was also a bad omen. Tonight, Sweden played Russia for a place in the quarter finals in the Euro 2008. The Russians killed the Swedish championship dreams with a 2-0 victory. It was closer to 3-0 or 4-0 than a single Swedish goal. The Russians played fairly well, but the main reason for the Russian victory was, in my opinion, that the Swedes played to slowly and badly.

There were good news today as well. Paula and Daniel picked up our new car at the dealership, a Chrysler Grand Voyager. I got to ride it tonight, it was a sweet ride, suitable for Shiba Inus.

Hopes for Sweden Tomorrow

We all hope Sweden will make it to the quarter finals in Euro 2008. In order to do so, the Swedish team must at least get one point in the game against Russia tomorrow night. We hope for a victory, this is always the best result, but since a draw is enough for Sweden, this would not be a bad result either. Most of us are preparing for the game, discussing options and so on, which is fun despite the fact that our discussions will not make any difference. Mum do not really care, though. She is not very interested in sport and believes that if the USA or Americans do not participate in one way or another, there is no use being concerned about the outcome. I have managed to make April and Calvin more interested than that. They are younger than I am, thus easier to persuade. I am rather good at persuading the younger dogs in our home. This makes for a better feeling when we watch the game.

Go, Sweden!

We Did Not Get Caught in the Tornado

Last Saturday, we were in Avesta on a dog show. The dog show continued on Sunday, but was hit by a tornado. We were lucky not to be there at that time, our tent could have flown away. Nobody was hurt, but a lot of things were destroyed, not least for those who sold dog toys etc. Not that this is anything compared to the earthquake I wrote about yesterday, but I am still glad we were not there.

Earthquake and Landslides

After the huge earthquake in northern Japan, after chocks and landslides hamper the rescue work. The earthquake measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and was felt in Tokyo, 400 km away. Nine humans were killed and several were injuried. As is often the case, there does not seem to be any reports on how many dogs may have been killed or injuried. When a major catastrophe like this happens in Japan, I am always especially concerned, since there are so many Shiba Inus in Japan. I am sorry for the killed and hurt humans, and their families, but just like the lives of humans are closest to most other humans, the lives of dogs are closest to me. I also hope there were not many dogs who lost their humans or had their humans injuried. We should be happy there are never earthquakes of this magnitude in Sweden.

Congratulations

We congratulate our Pharao Hound friend Primus today, who took his first Certificate on an official dog show. In the Shiba Inu ring, I and April was second and third best bitch, respectively. These are not bad results, even though Primus' result is better.

Cutting Claws

I had my claws cut today. This is not something I love to do, but it is necessary sometimes. It would be uncomfortable to walk with claws that were to long. I wish I had inherited my Dad's claws, they are of a kind that grows slowly and he does not have to have his claws cut at all as often as the rest of us. I have bathed today as well, so now I look my very best.

We start to think that the Netherlands will win the Euro 2008, they beat Italy in their first game and won against France with 4-1 today. The Dutch play very well. On the other hand, nobody knows what will happen further on in the tournament - if we did, what would be the point? I still hope for Sweden.

Forest Fire in Norway

A huge forest fire has been raging in Froland in the south of Norway for many days. The fire is still not under control. Dad is concerned, even though the fire is not burning close to his breeder in Bergen. It is still in his country of birth. We all hope the fire will soon be put out and that no dogs are injuried by it.

Fuel Price Protests

In Spain and Portugal, there are vast protests against high fuel prices. Hauliers strike. Unfortunately, this has lead to the death of two people. Fuel is a valuable resource and the oil based fuels we use today won't last forever, so there are reasons for the high prices. Still, I can understand the protests. This is important even for me, personally. It may seem futile, but if fuel gets too expensive, how are dogs and their owners supposed to go to dog shows?

A Little Victory

On one hand, I would like to write about something else than football, since I have written about football for many days in a row now. On the other hand, I have to say I am glad that Sweden won its first game in this tournament, 2-0. I did think Sweden would beat Greece, but it was not easy and the first goal did not come until it was twenty minutes left of the game. The Greeks were not playing very well and I doubt that Sweden will have a task this easy in the upcoming two games in the group. Still, a victory is a good start and I think Sweden may get to the quarter finals.

Big Screen

Tomorrow night, Daniel and Paula's father will go to an event arena here in Örebro to watch Sweden's first game in the European championship on a big screen. Dogs are not allowed, so I cannot come along. I will go with Paula to watch the game at Mia's and Kesshi's flat instead. I believe we will have a greater time there, instead of among a lot of people whom you do not know.

A Lot of Sport

Sundays are normally days with a lot of sport events, but today it was more than usual. There were two games in the Euro 2008 football tournament, there was the Canadian Grand Prix in Formula 1, and there was the final game in the French Open Grand Slam tournament in tennis. We could follow the Grand Prix on one TV channel at the same time as the first football game was aired on another. Robert Kubica from Poland won in Canada in his German BMW Sauber car, just before Germany played Poland in the Euro 2008. In the earlier football game, Croatia won against Austria. In Paris, Raphael Nadal won his fourth French Open title in a row - he has thus won as many French Open in a row as Björn Borg did, but Borg won six titles altogether.

Over all, it must have been a great Sunday for people more into sports than I am. For me, dog shows are still more important and the most prominent dog show this year is yet to come: the World Dog Show in Stockholm. I will be one of a great many Shiba Inus shown there. I hope I will do good, but it will be a fierce competition. Regardless of the result, it will be a great experience to be there.

Euro 2008

This was the first day for the Euro 2008 football championship. Two games were played, both in group A. Switzerland lost against the Czech republic, 0-1. Portugal won against Turkey, 2-0. Portugal thus leads the group, which they deserved, because they played very well. The Swiss-Czech game could easily have ended with another result, but Portugal was never far from winning its game. Dad is sad that Norway did not make it to the tournament, but glad that Portugal beat Turkey, the country that defeated Norway in the last, decisive qualifying game.

Now I am looking forward to Sweden's first game this Tuesday.

National Holiday

It is the 6th of June and Sweden's national holiday. Swedes do not have the same tradition of celebrating their national holiday as, for example, Norwegians or Americans. This day is also called "The Swedish Flag's Day", but we do not have any flag pole on our yard so we do not fy the Swedish flag. Over all, it is rather rare that people in our home town have flag poles and fly flags.

It is nice that Daniel is at home from work. All of our family just take it easy today. This is a great thing to do.

Eating too Much?

Normally, I want to lay outside in the garden all day and guard it, but it was too hot for this today. I decided to be Paula's compaignon instead. We watched TV and slept on the couch.

A man in a town here in Sweden was banned from a restaurant for eating too much from the lunch buffé. Even though I understand his dilemma, I don't think it is appropriate to eat too much. It doesn't look good. It would be a different thing if the restaurant in mind had a sign telling: "Pay 70 SEK and eat as much as you want". As a good looking Shiba girl I watch my weight and is humble. Moderation is the key word! I know that I will have food in my bowl everyday and occasionally some treats. I'm settled with this.

Space Lab

The Japanese space lab Kibo (the name is Japanese for hope) is now attached to the International Space Station (ISS). The US lab Destiny and the European lab Columbus are already attached to the ISS, but Kibo is the biggest lab. It is so big it could not be fitted inside a single space shuttle and is being assembled in three parts. It is cool what Japanese humans can achieve. I am not surprised, since I am of a Japanese dog breed, I know fully well what Japanese dogs can do.

Accepting Defeat?

Many sources now say that Hillary Clinton is about to end her campaign to become the Democratic presidential candidate in the November election in the USA. She has gone a long way, but her opponent Barack Obama has all but won the nomination. You can admire her will to win, most people would probably have backed out earlier. Now, the chance is next to none that she will win the nomination, after the final primary elections.

The situation is as if I would compete in a dog show, get a CK but become second best in my class - there is a theoretical chance that I would win Best of Breed anyway, because the judge can change his/her mind. However, the likelihood of this to happen is very small. The Democratic party has something called super delegates. These are prominent members of the party who may vote on the party convention and are not legally bound to vote for any particular candidate. If all of the super delegates who has yet to make it public who they want to vote for would suddenly come out in favour of Clinton, she would have a majority. Then again, this is highly unlikely. I would rather bet that she gives up soon.

An Icon Has Passed Away

This Sunday, it was reported that one of the great ones in the human fashion industry, Frenchman Yves Saint Laurent (pronounced approx. 'Yv Son Loron'), has passed away. Yves Saint Laurent inherited the legacy of Christian Dior and was the creator of many aspects of fashion that humans now take for granted, such as the woman pant suit.

As a show dog, I feel rather close to the world of haute-couture. What we show dogs do in the show ring, the models of the great fashion houses do on the runway: we define how a dog or a human is supposed to look. What a lot of dog breeders do for the dogs, a few fashion creators do for haute-couture. This is fascinating. If I was a human, perhaps I would have wanted to be a fashion icon. In that case, I would have introduced Shiba Inu black and tan paterns into haute-couture.

Summer

It is the First of June, but the summer has been here for weeks already. It is warm and nice outside, if you do not stay for too long in the sun. For me and Dad, who have black coats, this is more important than for most dogs. The black colour does not reflect the heat of the sun, but preserves it. Our black coat is beautiful, but you cannot have all the advantages in the world because of it.

It has not rained for many days. We have a lot of water in the well and the vegetation does not seem to be dry, but a decent rainfall would be nice for a change. The nature often looks even better after a rainfall, it looks cleaner. I guess rain is bound to come sometime.

Picking up the Troller

Paula and I picked up our new troller today. It works excellent and will be a nice addition to the gear we bring to the wds.

My friend Harley became Best of Group today. This is an achievement, he is worth all the congratulations we can give him. It was very hot outside today, which makes the achievement even greater. It is hard to show yourself to your fullest potential when it is too hot. The other dogs were surely affected by the heat as well, but skill and experience may have made Harley a little better than most in coping with it.

New Troller

Our old troller has been with us the last 7 years. Last week Daniel and Paula decided to get a new one. All for the comfort for us dogs occassionally travelling on it in varikennels. This is a good decision. The wheels on the old one was barely existing making the travels on it bumpy and not comfy at all.

Tomorrow we will collect the troller at the best dog supply vendor in Sweden, Citypet. We exclusively buy all our bones and supply there. They are the best. Service minded, good prices, and tasty treats.

Look Alike

Today Paula and Daniel got a e-mail from the Swedish Sighthound Club. We have decided to enter our pharaoh hound Primus to the world sighthound specialty the week after wds.

Unfortunatly Paula had entered a drever instead of Primus! She had Primus's reg. no mistaken. I feel it was funny but stupid. I wouldn't have done that mistake but I don't feel less of Paula making this stupid thing.

Picture of a drever family from the Swedish Drever Club:


Picture of a Pharaoh Hound (Primus) from kennel Enigma's webpage:

Even a person not intrested in dogs can notice that there is no similarity at all between a drever and a pharaoh hound. The Sighthound Club understood our mistake and changed the reg. no on the entry form. That is good service.

Taking the Blog to a New Level

Today I borrowed Paulas new cell phone to write my blog. She bought a Nokia 95 8GB last week after Calvin had chewed on her old one. Well, today she has a new one which has a wireless internet connection. It may take a while typing on a small dashboard but I think the result is good.

As a comment to the entry made by me yesterday. If anyone of my readers is intrested in watching me at the wds I will be competing in ring B38 on Saturday July 6th. Daniel is my handler. April will compete in the same ring but Calvin will be in ring B37 the same day. There will be so many shibas so they have divided the breed competition into two rings and two judges. The strong competition makes me nervous. Nevertheless, it will be fun I think.

World Dog Show Information

Show Information and Ring Plan has now been published (see "For Exhibitors"/"För utställare") for the World Dog Show in Stockholm this year. I have read it with great interest. It will be a fantastic event, I am sure.

Selling a Child?

A young couple in Bavaria, Germany, is investigated by the police since they put an advertisement on a web site, offering to sell their child. The child is now in the custody of the social services.

The parents wanted 1 € or the highest offered bid. When the web site moderators took the advertisement away after two hours, no offers had been made. The parents defend their action by saying it was just a joke. I believe them. If you would offer to sell a pup on the Internet for 1 €, this would obviously be a joke. You normally sell pups, but even a mix breed is always much more expensive than that. Children are never sold, so how could an offer to sell something that is priceless for just 1 € be considered anything else than a joke? Of course, you could call it a sick joke (I don't, but I am a dog and thus used to the thought of selling your offspring - Daniel says he thinks it is a sick joke), but nevertheless a joke.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in Sweden. Daniel called his mother in Stockholm on the telephone and talked at length to her. Paula, Daniel, and I visited Paula's mother, where her grandmother was as well. I celebrated my Mum by giving her the rest of my evening meal, when she was more hungry than I was. I believe all of our mother's were rather pleased.

Feeling a Little Blue

April feels a little blue after the dog show in Österbybruk. She got a second place in quality, her first prize of such a low value. The second place is rewarded with a blue ribbon, probably because you feel a little blue if getting it. We agree with April that she would deserve a better prize. I did not do so well myself. I got a first prize in quality, but the judge did not think I had certificate quality. He said he thought my head was to round, which would mean that I did not have the right Shiba Inu expression. We had never heard anyone giving any Shiba Inu this critique, but there is always a first time for everything.

A nice thing, though, was that the Shiba Inu who was best of breed was also best in the group. This is a great result! It helps promote our magnificent breed.

Russia won the Eurovision Song Contest, even though they had a song that was far from good. I thought Russia deserved to win the Ice Hockey World Championship last Sunday with their good team, but they did not deserve to win the ESC with this song.

Birthday

We celebrate Daniel's birthday today. By actual years, he is the oldest in our family, even though Mum is the oldest if her age is counted in "dog years". On Daniel's command we ate some barbeque chicken with pommes frites and aioli. Paula had also bought Daniel his very won Birthday cake.

Daniel got a whiskey glass with Homer on and some clothes from us. He seemed to be very happy. I also got a present from Daniel. A new funny rubber ball. That toy definitly made this special friday even better I think.

Shady Lady

We have been watching ESC 2008 semifinals. Sweden went to the final on Saturday. I guess this is a good thing though me and my shiba friends voted for Ani Lorak and Ukraine singing "Shady lady". This is a good song, catchy melody and a beautiful lady to watch. Just like myself. A Beautiful lady. Let's hope she will win on Saturday in Belgrad and I will win in Österbybruk. Watch Ani Lorak here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRF94MGwCmU

"No one knows who I am, but I don't give a damn, gonna set you on fire" Yeah!

A New Mobile Phone

Paula has bought herself a new mobile telephone. It is an advanced phone and she guesses it will take a while for her to get to know all the functions of it. She says none of us dogs may borrow it. Well, it does not matter much for me, I do all my electronic communication via the computer.

There is a new telephone number with Paula's new phone. If you want the new number, you have to ask Paula herself.

The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating

Daniel has bought a big can of a certain oil that he and Paula gives us dogs on the food. Paula and Daniel were not quite sure whether we would like it, since it was so healthy and they did not think it smelled very good. However, as they say in England: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. That is, the ultimate test on whether something is good to eat or not comes when you eat it. We liked our food with this oil on, it added extra spice to the food and all of us licked our bowls clean. Paula and Daniel were, of course, convinced by this. We will get this oil on the food every day. It is amazing that some healthy things can be so tasty.

An Australian with the Wrong Priorities

An Australian was recently stopped by the police, as he was driving a car where a 30-pack of beer was safely strapped in, while a child was sitting unstrapped on the floor. He was fined for the offence, but according to the police, he did not understand what he did. - Given that many people, unintelligent as they may be, in fact take better care of children than dogs, I do not want to think about what this Australian could have done to a dog. Some people should not be allowed to drive cars.

My computer is home safe and sound!

Picture from HP

My computer is back home with us! It works better than before. Nearly every component in it is re-placed so one can guess that my computer is stronger than ever. I have found new inspiration for my daily blog with my strong powerful computer. Just wait and see!

A Better Computer

Our newest computer has been in the shop for repair, but we will get it back tomorrow. I am looking forward to it, since it is a faster and better computer.

Finland is currently playing Russia in the first semi final in the Ice Hockey world championship. I write this after the first period. It is hard to say which team would be the best for Sweden to meet in a final game, whether it be the gold final or the bronze game. Russia probably has the better team, but Sweden often has a hard time beating Finland. This game is a rather good game to see before Sweden's semi final against Canada later tonight.

Rain

It has been sunny and warm for many, many days. Not a single drop of rain has fallen from the sky. After a while, the great weather gets a little boring. Daniel worried about the water level in our well. It was supposed to rain yesterday, but there came less than 1 mm of it. It is different this evening. We were just out in a pouring rain and could see that we have gotten more than 5 mm. This is good for the vegetation and we do not have to worry as much about the water level. Well, I guess everything turns out for the best in the end with the weather. All is well with a full well.

Sweden Skates on to the Semi Final

In the Ice Hockey World Championship, Sweden beat the Czeck Republic in overtime in the quarter final game and goes on to the semi finals. In the next game, Sweden meets the winner in the quarter final between Canada and Norway. Canada is the probable winner, but I hope with my Norwegian Dad for a Norwegian victory. In the other quarter finals, Russia plays Switzerland and the USA plays Finland. I hope for a Swiss victory, because the Swiss are the underdogs, and I hope for an American victory because my Mum is from the USA. My dream result would be for Sweden to win the gold in a final game against the USA, and for Norway to win the bronze game. This is far from a probable result, but part of the thrill and joy of sport is that anything is possible, so you can always hope for a dream result.

Gathered Again

Our humans are definitely part of our pack. Daniel has been away for a few days, visiting his parents in Stockholm. All of us have been missing him alot, but he came home again this afternoon. Tonight, Paula is at work, but we know that she will be back tomorrow morning, so it is not as upsetting. Then she will be at home for many nights in a row. I hope for at least as many calm and and undisturbed nights. As long as both our humans are at home, we dogs do not have to put so much effort into guarding the one who is at home.

Preparations

I am preparing for the first dog show of this summer season tomorrow. We will go to a little place called Larv outside of the old city of Skara, it is about two hours by car to go there. Paula has borrowed her parents large Citroën in exchange for our smaller BMW. This will make it easier to bring all the stuff we want to the show, which is good because good preparations are half the work.

I am looking forward to the show, I really enjoy dog shows. However, now it is late in the evening and I need to get my beauty sleep before the show. I believe my chances are better if I am fully alert tomorrow. Hoping for the best, but remembering that there will be competition. If I get some good result, I will let you know tomorrow.

Bait

Today I sent Paula to fetch some bait to have at the show this upcoming Saturday. I have had my eyes sight for boulettes from Scan*.
Pics of boulettes from Scans own website.

My readers are maybe wondering what boulettes are so I'll try to explain without drewling too much. Boulettes are tiny meatballs filled with smoked ham and cheese. Perfect bite size/bait size for me and Calvin at the dog show. The only stupid thing with these little baites from heaven is the commercial on tv. No one can hear what the voice on the tv-commercial is saying due to the fact that she is talking with a funny french accent. Well one good thing with this is that people don't know what boulettes are, so the risk of them beeing sold out at the market is slim.

As the reserve plan (one should always have a reserve plan) Paula fetched some sliced chicken filet. Yummie! I like chicken too so I'm planning for a mixed bait bag on Saturday. The prognose for the weather on Saturday is warm sunny summer heat. Yeah! If this is the fact I'll sure hope that Paula will take me and Calvin to the ice cream vendor and fetch us some ice cones.

*)Scan is one of northern Europe's largest food industries within meat, cured meats and convenience food.

Late Blog Entry

This is actually my blog entry for Wednesday, but midnight has already been here when I have time to write this. It has been nice, sunny weather today and we have been outdoors almost all day. Daniel hate all the dandelions in the garden at this time of the year, but the rest of us just enjoy the nature.

Do Not Try to Eat Out in Gothenburg

In Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city, dogs are generally not welcome to restaurants, not even to the tables outdoors. This is weird. What harm can a dog do to someone who is, for example, allergic by the restaurant tables that the dog cannot do if sitting on the outside of the fence? I am not the kind of dog who go to restaurants often, but I would not want to live in Gothenburg with these rules anyway.

Daniel came home tonight, so the whole family is gathered now. That feels good.

Business trip

Sometimes I can't help beeing jealous of humans. They can do intresting things that we dogs can't do. For example, tonight Daniel is away on a business trip. This means that Paula and us dogs are left at home. I suppose Daniel has earned a business trip but when do we dogs have to go on a business trip?

I wanted to go along but Daniel said to me to watch the house and Paula. As the loyal shiba girl I am I have taken this assignment to the next level. I have patrolled the garden every hour to make sure no bad people will come to us. Only nice people are welcome.

It is always good to have Paula home at night so I guess that I can live with not beeing able to go along with Daniel this time. Paula gave us dogs some pancake for dinner and I liked that alot. So did auntie Linni. Her favourite food is pancake.

C

If April or I compete at dog shows, there will be a special sign by our names in the show catalogue in the form of the letter C. A dog with this special sign needs to win just one more CC in order to become Swedish Show Champion. Both April and I took many CC's before our second birthdays, the last CC must be won after that birthday.

I believe I stand the greater chance of becoming a champion first. I have won more CC's than April and I will compete in a dog show as soon as next weekend. However, you never know. There may be tough competitors for the CC and the judge may have a different view on what constitutes a great Shiba Inu than you have yourself. There is also the risk that you do not feel like showing on the day of the show, which makes the performance tougher. An experienced show dog like me knows what to do on a dog show even when I am not really in the mood, but it may affect my performance anyway. Furthermore, my experience from dog shows is long enough that I want to say that you can never predict the outcome in advance. On the other hand, what would be the point in dog shows if you knew the outcome in advance? It would not be fun at all.

We will have to see what happens this summer. I suppose and hope that, by the end of this year, both April and I are Swedish Show Champions. When either of us will reach this goal is a different matter. I believe we both have the quality it takes to reach the goal, but so do other bitches. As the good friend of April that I am, I will be just as glad when she becomes a Champion as when I become one.

Chewing Bones

Paula and Daniel went away for a while this afternoon. As usual when they leave us dogs alone at home, Mum and I were in the kitchen. We happened to be fortunate enough to open the door to the cupboard where the chewing bones are kept. It is a small wonder that I did not bark when Paula and Daniel got back home, but I was busy taking care of all the chewing bones that had fallen down on the floor. Somebody had to take some responsibility for them, and who were better for that task than Mum and me? However, Daniel and Paula were of a different opinion, they collected all the chewing bones and put them back into the cupboard. It shall be noted that very little were chewed on the bones, which goes to prove how responsible Mum and I are.

Pedestrian Crossing Sign with a Woman

This week, the Swedish government decided that Sweden will have a new traffic sign by next year. It is supposed to be a sign for a pedestrian crossing, but showing a woman instead of a man. Many feminists have complained about the fact that most humans displayed on traffic signs are males. Some towns have manufactured their own signs for pedestrian crossings with a woman instead of a man, but these signs have so far violated the ordinance on traffic signs. For my part, I would rather see a sign for a pedestrian crossing with a Shiba Inu on it.

Sexy Voice?

Recent research says female humans have a sexier voice when they are the most fertile. For humans, this is once a month. Dogs have a cycle where we are fertile twice a year. I wonder if I sound sexier when barking when I am in heat? It would be interesting to read about similar research on dogs.

Celebrity Pet Quiz

I did a test on what human celebrity I resemble the most: "Which Celebrity Is Your Dog?" It turned out that I resemble Oprah Winfrey the most. This is far from a scientific test, but I think the text about her bears some resemblance to me. It is also a nice coincidence that "my" human celebrity is black, just like I am black & tan.

When the test is done, your human could publish a badge like this:



I guess they have not thought of the dogs who have their own home pages or blogs.

Proof of Good Eyes

The Swedish Kennel Club has now registered that I have excellent eyes:

Click on the picture to get a bigger copy.

You can find this veterinary data by searching for me at http://kennet.skk.se/hunddata/, first follow the link "Sök hundar".

Tax Returns

It is soon time for humans in Sweden to give their tax returns for last year to the authorities. It is supposed to be handed to the authorities no later than the 5th of May this year. Daniel always curse at this, despite the fact that the tax returns are supposed to be fairly easy nowadays. I am glad Shiba Inus do not have to complete any tax returns. Maybe Dachshunds in Sweden have to, since the Swedish name for Dachshund is tax, but I do not think so.

April Having a Happy Birthday

It is April's birthday today. I bought a stuffed toy for April yesterday, on behalf of all the dogs at home. It was a cute, long, stuffed dachshund. We gave the toy to April this morning. She seemed to enjoy it somewhat, but only sat there with it without playing. I stepped in and made sure the toy was played with on its premiere in our house. There is no use having toys if they are not played with. (Paula thought that I was jealous of the toy, therefore taking it, but this is not true. If April would have made proper use of the toy, I would never have needed to take care of it.)

Paula's sister Mia and Mia's boyfriend Emil came by in the afternoon and we had a barbecue in the sunny weather. It was fun and there was a lot of chicken meat to all dogs.

Over all, Paula was right when she said in the evening that it had been a lucky day. This was nice for April on her birthday. However, our luck ran out later in the evening when Paula was going to work. She had a flat tyre and Daniel had to go to take care of the car while Mia gave Paula a ride to work. It is no fun when they leave us dogs alone at home. I cannot believe such an unlucky event would occur on my birthday.

Wetsuit for a Penguin

Ever since Kesshi was injuried this winter, he has had to wear a blanket when he goes outside. This is because his coat has not yet grown back after his surgery. In a San Francisco aquarium, an old penguin lost his feathers, but had a wetsuit custom made for him instead. It is nice of humans to help animals living with them in this way, but it is also fair, because we give so much to the humans. The penguin's feathers grew back, Kesshi's coat is also on its way back. I hope Kesshi reads about the penguin, I think he would be glad to know there are others who have faced a somewhat similar fate to his.

Barbecue

It is a sunny and warm day in the month of April, and we had our first barbecue for the season. Yesterday, Daniel brought the grill out from the barn, where it stood in the winter. The weather was good enough for a barbecue yesterday as well, but Paula and Daniel did not have the time. Today it happened. The grilled meat sure tasted great. This is one of the times you really appreciate being a carnivore. I hope we have many sunny days this summer and many barbecues.

Foreseeing Earthquakes

Japan is a country sometimes shaken by earthquakes. These shatter the grounds of society, quite litteraly. It has always been impossible to foresee when the earth is going to quake, but a new scientific programme aims at developing an early warning system. The idea is to drill deep holes in the sea bed outside Japan. It is a fantastic idea.

At home, Paula and Daniel are sometimes startled and often surprised when we dogs bark. Dogs have much better ears than humans have and we can detect potential dangers approaching much earlier than they can. Our barks are their early warning system.

Good Eyes

April and I went to the veterinarian today to get our eyes examined. There were nothing wrong with our eyes. No signs of PRA, RD, or Cataract. I could have told anyone about this before, I know I have great eyes, but there is nothing like a veterinarian's statement to prove this to others. I believe I have trained my eyes well in my everlasting search for candy, watching TV, and reading and writing on the Internet.

Late Trains

When Daniel worked in Eskilstuna, a town which is a one hour train ride from Örebro where we live, the trains were often late or cancelled. About once a week, Daniel was an hour late. This was hard for him and for us who waited at home. However, there are always some people who have worse experiences. A Euro Star train journey from London to Paris, normally completed in two hours, took eleven hours to reach Paris this Friday and Saturday. I would not have wanted to be on that train, and I sure would not want to be responsible for such a delay. The incidents will be investigated, it would be interesting to hear what caused all the troubles.

Baked Alaska - "If it's melted it's ruined"

If you want to do something for the enviroment AND enjoy some excellent ice cream I recommend my readers to test Ben & Jerry Baked Alaska:

"Baked Alaska" is vanilla ice cream with marshmallow swirls and white chocolate polar bears. I promise you, this ice cream is so delicious. I drewled on Daniels pants. A bit embarresing but my dad told me that it was an okey thing to do though it was for a very good cause.

Ben & Jerry is activly working against global warming. You can do that too by support this company and the best ice cream in the world. We will do it.

http://www.benjerry.com/

Beowulf

Paula and Daniel went to the cinema this autumn and saw the film Beowulf, an animated movie made from an old English epic poem of the same name. They said it was great. Paula has played music from it ever since and ordered it on DVD as soon as it was available. The DVD arrived this week and we watched it this evening. It was a great movie. The only thing I missed was dogs in leading roles. Beowulf was supposed to be this great hero, yet he had no dog on his side. Well, I guess this is a minor detail to most movie makers. If there were no dogs in the original epic poem, I guess there are reasons not to include dogs in the movie.

On the Low Possibility of Finding Intelligent Extra-Terrestrials

A British scientist has recently tried to estimate the probability of finding intelligent extra-terrestrial life. He says that the likelihood of intelligent life to develop on other planets than Earth is extremely low. I believe this to be true.

However, I have to comment on one thing that this scientist said: "The view that evolution involves a predictable progression, such that the emergence of intelligence is inevitable, is today generally considered to be overly anthropocentric." Well, while it is good science to try not to view Earth's life's evolution as a blueprint for most life's evolutions, it would suit this scientist well not to be so anthropocentric that only humans are mentioned in the context of intelligent life on Earth. Dogs (and our wild cousins wolves) are also a very intelligent species. I know many dogs who are a lot more intelligent than many humans. When talking about intelligent life on Earth, I believe that we, and perhaps even some other mammals, should also be mentioned.

Downgraded Volcano Alert

Mum comes from a part of North America where there are volcanoes. Paula comes from a part of South America where there are also volcanoes. In Paula's country of birth, Colombia, a volcano alert has just been downgraded. Sometimes, I wish I lived in a part of the world where nature can make such spectacular shows as a volcano eruption. Mum says, however, that there is not much to see but that it can be dangerous. I do not know, I am interested anyway.

A Day Off

It has been a while since I last posted a picture of myself. I'm a humble girl but still enough cute for the world to see. I guess it is in order to let my readers know how I look today:

Myself

My father has some children and grandchildren. Yet, he always says that I'm his favourite. He is weak for me so I can do whatever I want to. He will not tell me off. I'm the only dog in our house who can do that.

My father

Today I slept all day. Paula has been working 7 out of 8 nights this past week so we all tucked in together with her on her day off from work. We girls need our beauty sleep and the boys will not be hurt by it either.

Immelman

At the Augusta National golf court in Georgia, USA, South African Trevor Immelman proved to be the master. In a way, I have certain feelings for everything South African, just because my kennel prefix Aangenaam is an Africaans word, thus with its origin in South Africa. I do not know if Trevor Immelman has a dog. The early World War One master of aerial combat, Max Immelmann, had a dog named Tyras. I hope Tyras fared well when his human was killed in action in 1916. It is well that most international fighting these days is in sports, such as golf. If Trevor Immelman has a dog, it does not stand the risk that he will be killed in action.

An Odd Way Out

April and I were helping Paula cleaning the bedroom today, while Daniel and the other dogs were outside. When Paula opened the bedroom window, we heard the others playing outside. It was a sunny spring day, one of those days when it is wonderful to be outside. April asked if she and I could go out to the others in the yard. Paula agreed to that, and lifted us out through the open window. Daniel was on the other side, putting us down safely on the ground. It felt a bit odd to get out this way, but it was also fun. It is nice to do things a little differently now and then.

More Women than Men in Spain's New Cabinet

Spain has a new cabinet with nine ministers who are women, eight who are men. When the prime minister is included, the Cabinet is equally divided between men and women. The fact that there are many women is something that humans like to report on as news. In a dog society, females in leading positions would be nothing new. In a wolf or dog pack, it is always the oldest female who has the highest rank (such as Mum in the pack at our home). Perhaps the humans who want more female leaders should study dogs and wolves closer.

Men Who Should Be Kings

Cameroon follows the example of several other countries in Africa, who denotes themselves republics but where the Head of State of the republic sits forever on his (it is always a man) position as a President. This is ridiculous. One of the purposes of a republican form of government is for the people to chose different people to be Heads of State. The President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has been in power for 26 years, but has asked the Cameroonian parliament to repeal the law on term limits for presidents.

If Paul Biya wants to be Head of State for the rest of his life, why does he not make himself King? As a King, he would be safe as Head of State for life, no matter what majority there would be in the parliament. In that case, he would not have to make a mockery of democracy with bribes, threats, and violence to stay in power. Thus, the country could become a true democracy with a lifetime Head of State, as a constitutional monarchy. Prominent countries like Japan shows the benefits of that kind of government.

The Important Difference Between Cakes and Biscuits

In the UK, the government is facing a huge bill, because of VAT wrongly imposed on a Marks and Spencer teacake, the European Court of Justice has ruled. The cake has been deemed as a biscuit for the past twenty years, whence VAT has had to be payed. Under UK tax rules, some bakery products are free of VAT, others are not. This is the whole issue. It may seem insignificant, but given the whole amount of VAT wrongly payed to the UK government, it means a lot, £3.5 million (almost 42 million Swedish crowns). Since this is in the UK, it does not mean anything for my cake purchases, but I am happy that there might be dogs in the UK who may get cheaper cakes now. I hope something like this could happen to dog biscuits in Sweden.

An Electrician in a Former Life?

Since Shiba Inus are of Japanese decent, some of our ideas on life and death are inspired by Japanese thought. In Japan, many people believe in reincarnation and that every living being will be born again until she or he has come to such a high ranking life that the soul is rewarded with joining Nirvana, the Buddhist paradise. In human thought, human Buddhist monks have the highest ranking life, thus a monk has the best chance of reaching Nirvana after death. In Shiba Inu thought, Shiba Inus have the highest ranking life.

One of the ideas of reincarnation is that personal treats that we express in our present life are reminders of previous lives. We have noticed that Calvin is very interested in examining and chewing on electrical devices. This has led him to destroy some things, the latest were the remote control to the digital-TV box and one of the telephones. We believe that if Calvin was a human in a former life, he must have been an electrician. This would be reflected in his interest in electrical devices in his present life.

The only thing we wish for is that Calvin would have remembered a little more of his skills as an electrician, so that he would not destroy so many things. On the other hand, the destruction of the remote control has made Paula think of upgrading to a newer and better box, and the telephone had a broken display anyway. Maybe there were some well conceived plans behind the destruction of these devices?

New Head of Bank of Japan

The Japanese parliament has agreed upon a new governor of the Bank of Japan. This was the third person that Prime Minister Yasuo Fusuda nominated, and the first that the opposition party that has a majority in the Upper House of parliament could agree to. I suppose that the new governor is good at economy, but I cannot tell what kind of man he is. I do not know whether he has a dog or not, which is the prime factor when I judge the character of a human. Nevertheless, I believe this is good news for the whole world economy. Japan has the second largest economy in the world, if there is uncertainty on who is to run the Bank of Japan, this cannot be good. A good economy rests on certainty. Now that there is a governor of the bank, one uncertainty in the economy is gone.

Animal Artists

There are some zoo animals around the world who are artists. They make paintings, some of which are sold to animal lovers. I have never been inclined to take up painting myself. This blog is good enough for me, when I want to express anything in an artistic way. I just wish that I would earn some money on my blog. Perhaps I could get some advertisements on it? I would use the money for more food, candy, and toys for myself, so the money would certainly be well invested. On the other hand, I do have all the food, candy, and toys that I need, so what is the point for me in making a lot of money?

Silver Coins

While April's copper coins found on the 1st of April was an April's Fool's Day joke, some Swedish archaeologists actually found a large collection of silver coins on the 1st of April. They made the discovery near Arlanda Airport north of Stockholm. The reports of the discovery did not come until a few days later, thus we can be sure the reports are true. It is a fun coincidence, though, that April's and mine 1st of April joke was about finding ancient coins. Sometimes, the world feels ful of surprising coincidences.

Black and tan

Today I inspired Calvin to be a b/t shiba. I have told him about how fun it is to go through life in b/t colours. Calvin thought it was a good idea. He dug up a big hole in the garden. When Paula called him inside the house he was a three coloured shiba just as I am. I was happy and cheered for him. Paula was not so amused though she had to wipe him clean.

Invulnerable Toys?

We received a dog toy in the mail today. It was supposed to be invulnerable. Now parts of it are chewed off and it is a bit torn. When will dog toy makers realize that there is no such thing as an invulnerable dog toy? We can only laugh at them.

Yesterday

Yesterday was the First of April, or April Fools' Day. It is a day when you may joke and try to make fool out of others. I did it this year in my blog, just like I have done before. April did not find anything in the ground yesterday, neither coins nor anything else. She was in on the joke though.

The First of April is April Fools' Day in most parts of the world, even a country so distant in place and culture as Japan, though it is still not so wide spread there as in Europe. I am glad they have it in Japan, though, the home of my dog breed, since I am fond of the jokes of April Fools' Day.

A Somewhat Disappointing Discovery

It may be that April was lucky today. She was digging in one of the holes in our yard and found what appears to be ancient copper coins. I will see if I can get a picture of the coins for my blog tomorrow. Neither April nor I consider this to be a stroke of luck, though. Coins are not edible and cannot even be chewed upon. April would have been luckier, had she found some old bones to chew on. However, we know that Paula and Daniel would not want that to happen, so maybe it is better this way.

Paula's New Blog

Paula has a new blog. I have edited the link to her blog to point to the new one, she had not written in the old one for quite some time anyway. I can recommend Paula's blog, it is interesting. You may think that I say so just because Paula is my human, but I do not. I really think the blog is a good read.

Cutting Down Trees

We cut down some trees by our house this weekend. Paula's father and Daniel did most of the work, but I was out watching to make sure everything went well. These trees were very tall and they cut out sunshine from our lawn, so it is good that they are gone. They will also make a nice addition to the wood that we can burn for heat indoors next winter. We have not burned a lot of wood this winter, but it may very well be colder next winter. Time will tell.

Hips

Yesterday, we got the result from April's hip X-ray. Today, we got another copy of the result. We do not know why we got two copies. Nevertheless, the result was good. April got B on her hips, which means there are nothing wrong with them. The best result is A. B is good enough, I got B myself.

Rome

Paula and Daniel have bought a DVD box of the second season of the TV series Rome. They really think it is good. The other day, they saw three episodes in a row. Tonight they saw the final two episodes. I was appalled by one thing in the second to last episode. There was a famine in Rome and the humans were talking about eating dogs. How could anyone do that? At the same time, these Romans scolded other peoples for being barbaric. Is it not barbaric even to think about eating dogs? Dogs are man's best friend, who eats a friend? Apart from this, I think the series is good.

An Important Reminder

Dog owners must be aware that they should not leave their dog tied outside a store, when going inside to shop. The dog may be kidnapped. This is not only true for dogs, but also for children. A woman in Latvia left her infant child outside a store sixteen years ago, he was kidnapped, and has only just been found by the police. Imagine if this boy would have been a puppy. Most dogs do not live to see their sixteenth birthday. Whereas the boy is still young, a dog in this situation would probably not be alive any longer and the case might never have been solved. I am glad Paula and Daniel would never consider tying me outside a store and leave me there.

A Praying Dog

Dogs can do anything, as long as they want to. In Japan, a pet dog at a Buddhist temple has started to pray like his humans, the monks. This has attracted much more visitors than usual. Aren't dogs fantastic, doing things like this?

Shiba Meeting and Snow

Some of us went to a Shiba Inu meeting south of Stockholm today. Auntie Linni was disappointed, she had been looking forward to see her breeders, but they could not come since a road was blocked by a car accident. The weather did it. A lot of snow fell over large parts of Sweden today. Some snow fell at home as well, but not much stayed on the ground, the temperature was too high for that. Nevertheless, it was not your ordinary Easter weather, it made the day more exciting.

Resurrection

Easter is celebrated because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who came back from the dead. In no way so astounding, Ferrari formula 1 driver Kimi Räikkönen nevertheless came back today from a terrible race last Sunday and won. His most prominent competitor, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, came in fifth. Thus, the Ferrari and Räikkönen fans have had a more happy Easter this year than the McLaren and Hamilton fans. This is good, it makes the championship exciting.

Easter Competitions

The second formula 1 race of the season is tomorrow in Malaysia. Last race, the McLaren Mercedes cars triumphed. Now the two Ferraris will start in the front row. Is it their turn to triumph this time? It is bound to be yet another exciting race.

In Stockholm, Paula will show April and Calvin on one of Sweden's biggest annual dog shows. This, too, is bound to be an exciting competition.

I hope for red winners in both of these competitions. Red Ferraris to win in Malaysia and red Shiba Inus of our family, April and Calvin, to win in Stockholm.

Anime Ambassador

The Japanese Foreign Ministry has appointed the robotic cat Doraemon the first Japanese anime ambassador. I guess this is the first anime ambassador of the world, anime being a Japanese art form. It is nice to see that the ministry thinks anime is so important that it names an ambassador for it. I would have liked to see an anime Shiba Inu as ambassador, but I know of none. Doraemon is fairly well known.

World Championship in Gothenburg

The 2008 Figure Skating World Championship takes place this Easter in Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast. This is a sport where the Shiba Inu home country Japan and Mum's home country America are quite good, so I rather like it.

The silly thing is, however, that the Swedish hosts either do not know what their own home city is called in English, or simply disregard it. They call Gothenburg by its Swedish name Göteborg. Mum is upset, she believes the hosts do know, but simply disregard the English name Gothenburg. The English language is the property of the native English speakers, Mum says, and she loathes any attempt by Swedes to try to change the English name of a city. This is not a thing that Swedes can do. I agree. I would not want Englishmen or Americans to try to change the Swedish names of things or places.

Winter

It has been a warm winter with very little snow, but this week, snow has fallen and it is really cold. In a way, it feels like a winter that is very late. The snow is just about a centimetre on the ground, so it is not enough to play in. I was looking forward to spring for Easter this weekend, even though we have an early Easter this year. Well, the only sure thing about the weather is that you can never be sure what weather there will be.

A Famous Author Is Gone

One of the world's most famous science fiction writers, Sir Arthur C Clarke, has died. He was an Englishman who lived his last years in Sri Lanka. He is one of Daniel's favourite authors, this is why Daniel wanted me to mention this in my blog. I know of only one dog who has had books published, and that is Snoopy, who is not a real dog but a character in the comic strip Peanuts. Perhaps I could be another, if I would find the time to write anything else than this blog. I have no illusions that I would be such a good author as Sir Arthur, though, whose penmanship brought him a knighthood.

ABBA Drummer Deceased

Sweden is mentioned in the world news today, since Ola Brunkert, drummer for the world famous band ABBA, was found dead late Sunday. Ola Brunkert was not even a member of ABBA, but played with them on many albums and tours. It is amazing that your death can attract such attention, just because you have been working with people who are world famous.

Dogs are rarely world famous, but it would be amazing if I would be such a great co-worker of someone world famous that I would be mentioned in the world news when I pass away. I probably will not, but you can always dream.

The Right Jurisdiction?

A court of law in Macedonia has convicted a bear of stealing honey from a beekeeper's hives. Since the bear was of an endangered species, it goes free and the Government will pay for the damages instead. I think it is a silly ruling. That bear is a wild animal, it should not be subject to human jurisdiction. If you convict a bear of stealing the honey, you can also make the argument that it is not the beekeeper's honey anyway, but that he is stealing it too - from the bees. In that case, the beekeeper should also be convicted. Since the beekeeper is a human and thus not member of an endangered species, he would have to pay damages himself. Of course, not all humans make the same logical thinking as I, as a dog, do. Maybe there is some logic behind this judgement that I just do not understand?

Competitions

Paula went with some of the dogs of our family to Malmoe to compete in a dog show there today. None of them made any top results, but they performed well and had a good time with two and four legged friends. I did not come along, which may be one explanation there were no victories in our family.

This evening, the final round of the Swedish qualifying competition to the Eurovision Song Contest took place in the Stockholm Globe Arena. We did not think the best song won. Daniel said, however, that a more important game was won in the Johanneshov arena next door. His favourite Swedish ice hockey team, Djurgården, won the third game of the seven game quarter final series in the Swedish ice hockey championship. Thus, Djurgården took a chance at prolonging the quarter final, since its opponent had won the first two games.

Daniel will get up early tomorrow morning to see the first formula 1 race of the season. This is also a more important competition than the Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Japanese Pictures of the Moon

I will write about Japanese pictures again, like I did yesterday. However, this time it is about photographs on a far frontier. A Japanese space probe has gone to the Moon and taken high definition movies from its surface. Scientific marvels like this make me proud to be of Japanese origin.

Chinese Comics

Japan is not only the home of the Shiba Inu, but also of the distinguished form of comics called Manga. There is a Chinese version of Manga, called Manhua. Since China is a dictatorship, there are much more restraints on what Manhua can be about. I suggest that my readers who are interested in comics would rather go for the Japanese original, Manga.

Repair

Our ordinary computer is on repair. It turns itself off spontaneously, of course it is not supposed to do that. Paula and Daniel brought out an old computer to use until we have the ordinary one back. This older computer is a bit slower than the one we are now used to. However, it was the computer upon which I started to write my blog a long time ago. It makes me feel a bit nostalgic using this computer. However, I want our ordinary computer back as soon as possible. A computer that you use a lot becomes almost like a friend, you get to know the special features of that particular computer. While it is nice to get to know our old computer again, it is not like our ordinary computer. We all hope the repair will be done quickly.

Pygmy Hippos

There is a species of very small hippos living in western Africa, often called pygmy hippos. It is an endangered species, but recent photography has revealed that some do get by. This is nice. I like animals that are smaller forms of normal sized animals. Shiba Inus are smaller than the average dog breed, maybe this makes me feel affiliated to smaller forms of other animals.

An Evil US Marine

The US Military is a good force in the world, promoting freedom and human rights. This is what my American Mum has taught me. She should know, not least because Art, the man in the family where she lived in the USA, has been in the US Military. There are, however, evil individuals in even the most good natured organisation. In a short film posted on the Internet, a smiling US Marine soldier throws a little pup down a ravine. The Military will now investigate the film. If the film is for real, the pup falls to a certain death and the soldier should be held responsible for cruelty to animals.

I am really upset with this. Sure, there are evil people everywhere, but they do not belong in an organisation that I have always seen as a defender of what is good. In my mind, that soldier should be thrown down that ravine himself. Even if the film is not true, it shows a man with an evil heart - or perhaps a really good actor (but I believe the former). You cannot be a good human and be cruel to puppies.

Wolves in Scotland?

There are no wolves in Scotland nowadays. Wolves used to be native to Scotland, but were extinct when humans exploited the woodlands more and expanded farmlands and held more cattle. Other wild animals that has been extinct in Scotland has been reintroduced from other countries in present time. The idea has now come up to reintroduce the wolf as well. As it says in the article that I have linked to, a research team from the UK and Norway published a study last year that found reintroducing wild wolves to the Scottish Highlands would help the local ecosystem. This seems to be a reasonable finding. It will be quite a while before this will happen, though. It would be interesting to hear about the future of this idea.

Vasaloppet

Vasaloppet, an annual long distance cross-country ski race, was held today. Paula's father Nils Olov usually participate in the race. He is actually more daring than most participants, since he runs twice a year, the first time in the "Open Track" on the Sunday before the actual race, and then in the real race. This year, he was interviewed after the Open Track race that he did. This is fun to watch, you can tell that the interviewer is not really prepared for all of Nils Olov's answers.

Kesshi celebrated his sixth birthday today. Paula and Daniel were there, representing the whole family (except perhaps Dad, since Dad and Kesshi do not like each other). I would have wanted to go as well, but I guess I will have to wait a little longer to see Kesshi.

Daniel brought some birthday cake back home, that Dad and I shared. Daniel told us afterwards that the cake was meant for him. The truth is, however, that he had already had some at the birthday party and he had put the plastic container with the cake in a place where Dad could easily get access to it. I think it was more fair that Dad and I had the cake than that Daniel would have it. The other dogs, well, they did not even try to get any cake, so it is their loss.