Pie

Paula and Daniel had pie for dinner today. Mum said pie is an American invention, therefore she had to have some. She did not think it would be necessary for the rest of us to taste any, though. However, Paula gave a little pie to everyone, once she and Daniel had finished their meals. It was a really tasty pie with a lot of cheese in it. I could eat pies like this more often.

Earthquake

Tokyo was been hit by a strong earthquake on Tuesday morning (Monday evening by Swedish time). It was of 6.4 magnitude and it shook whole buildings in the city, despite having its centre 170 kilometres away in the Pacific Ocean. An even stronger earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hit Japan on Sunday, but caused no damage or casualties. There were reports of some injuried humans after the Tuesday quake, three of them seriously. However, I have yet to see any reports of the conditions of dogs. I hope all of the Shiba Inus in Tokyo made it without injuries.

Thunder

We had thunder and lightning this evening. This was not surprising after the many days of warm weather we have experienced, still, thunder is not common. The thunder was a nice change from the feeling of an average day that I have had all this day. I usually think the day after a dog show is rather dull, hearing thunder made it a little special.

Watching the Finals

Paula, April, and I went to the dog show in Askersund this afternoon. There were no Shiba Inus shown today, they were shown yeaterday, but we were there to cheer for our Basenji friend Harley in the Best in Show final. We also met Daniel there, who worked at the show. I think it was nice to come along. The only downside was the blazing sun, but april and I had the shadow of a crate, which also had a lot of slots for the wind to run through it. I guess it was more comfortable for us than it was for Paula and Daniel, who sat in the direct sunlight.

Harley became BIS-4, which is a really good result, though he has done better before.

Ancient Dog Cemetery

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a thousand-year-old cemetery with 43 mummified dogs buried in separate plots side by side with humans. They were naturally preserved by the dry desert climate and had been buried with treats for the afterlife. The cemetery belonged to the Chiribaya culture, an agricultural society that thrived from A.D. 900 to 135.

Many people believe that the modern day human take better care of their pets than ever before. In this cemetery, though, dogs were buried alongside the humans, both full-grown dogs and pups. In some cases, they have been buried with blankets and food. If the dogs have been treated as fully equal with the humans in the face of afterlife, they were probably held in high regard in their lives as well. I like my life in Sweden, A.D. 2009, but if I would have lived in a different time and place, the Chiribaya culture would probably have been one of the very best alternatives.

Koala Celebrity Dies

A koala who was rescued by fire fighters in the huge forest fire of Australia earlier this year has died. She had recovered well from wounds suffered in the fire, but was found to have a disease rather common among koalas and put to sleep by a veterinarian. It is a shame to have survived the fire like that, only to die mere months later from a disease. I feel sorry for her.

Petition for a Dog Failed

British troops in Umm Qasr, Iraq, has had a dog as a mascot, two-year-old Sandbag. Sandbag has lived with the troops, charing pleasures and hardships. However, as the last of the British troops now return home, pleas to the UK government to make sure Sandbag would be taken to Britain has failed. The government says this is the decision of the commander on the ground. Sandbag would be cared for at the military base where he has always lived, by the US troops taking over the responsibility for the base.

I feel sorry for Sandbag, who will have to adapt to new humans instead of moving off with humans he knows. On the other hand, I cannot help wonder why the UK government would be expected to take care of Sandbag's journey to Britain. Was there no British soldier on the base who personally adopted Sandbag? Did he not have one particular human who was his, and whom would have taken care of him and made sure he would go to Britain when the British troops left Umm Qasr? A dog is not supposed to be collectively cared for by a vast number of humans, not without a particular human having the ultimate responsibility. It is not the government's responsibility to make sure Sandbag has a good life, because a dog should not be cared for by a collective or a legal entity such as the government. A dog should be cared for by one human, or a couple of humans. This human has the responsibility to bring the dog when moving.

On a side note, I believe the US troops can care for Sandbag at least as well as the British troops did. Hopefully, one of the US soldiers will personally adopt Sandbag as his dog.

New Collar

Paula and Daniel have given me a new collar. It looks nice and has got my name on it. This collar certainly boosts my looks to an even higher level.

The collar is custom made for me and purchased on line. It suits me, as a daily blogger, to have a collar purchased on line.

April and Calvin got collars with their names on them, but I dare say my collar is the best looking one.

Upcoming Lunar Eclipse

There will be a lunar eclipse the day after tomorrow, on the 6th of August. It will be a shallow penumbral eclipse, but with a low magnitude, not visible to the naked eye. Fortunately for my family and friends, though, they can see a Lunar Eclips in me whenever they want.

Cleaning the House

The downside of being so many dogs and humans in a little house, is that you have to clean the place often. We have had a major overhaul of the whole house this afternoon and evening. We started before Daniel came home from his work, made a break for dinner when he had arrived, then continued until after Paula had left for her work. As you can quickly deduce, all the dogs were present during the whole cleaning operation, while Daniel and Paula were away for different parts of it. It almost goes without saying, then, that the fourlegged members of the household did most of the cleaning. We are done now, and I feel a bit tired. Still, having a clean house makes you satisfied.

Dog Reappears after Nine Years

Happy news come to our knowledge from Australia. A terrier who was living in a scuffy and flea-bitten state in a back yard in Melbourne was rescued by animal welfare authorities. The authorities were amazed to discover that the dog was chip marked, and that her actual human family had lost her nine years ago in Brisbane, where they live. The dog, who is now seventeen years old, will return to her humans. It is said she has lived in that backyard for two years, but where she was and what she did for seven years before that is yet unknown.

I am glad this dog lived long enough to be rescued. May her final time be a time in dog luxury!

Visiting Suri

Paula and Daniel was away today. They visited my little sister Suri and the family she lives with. None of us dogs got to come along, so I cannot write about more than what Paula and Daniel have told me. Instead, please read what Paula wrote on our web page.

Our neighbours down the street were outdoors all evening. They probably had visitors tonight. We could hear them talk when we were outside, but we live far enough away that we did not hear what they talked about. It is nice to have neighbours who do not live too close by.

Bloodhound Car

A Brit, who is a Royal Air Force pilot, is working on a project where he will drive a specially built car to break the land speed record. The car is called Bloodhound SSC. The attempt at the record does not interest me so much, but I do find it fascinating that the car is named after a dog breed. It is yet another proof of how important dogs are to man.

Raining Cats and Dogs

In the late afternoon, there was rain. At first a mild and tender rain, but later it poured down and drummed hard on our roof. We do have a strong enough roof to keep all of that rain out, though. Fortunately, none of us were outdoors when that heavy rain came down. I wonder how a Shiba Inu coat would have fared in such a rain. Our coats are good, but they are not invincible.

The rain has stopped now. Rains like this are sometimes described in English with the saying "it is raining cats and dogs". I wonder what that expression comes from. I sure would not want to be a dog raining down from the sky.

Swine Flu Hits Pregnant Humans harder

A recent study from the USA shows that the current swine flu may hit pregnant women harder than the average human. Pregnant women may be four times as likely than other humans of needing hospital care, if caught by the flu. The study only involves thirtyfour pregnant women, but eleven of these were admitted to hospital. This was a rate four times higher than that seen in the general population. It remains to be seen if further studies can confirm these findings, but since this study indicated a number four times as high, I guess it is rather likely that there is a correlation, even though the study was done on just a few humans.

As far as I know, the swine flu does not affect dogs. This is good, considering the plans we have of more puppy litters in the near future.

Cruelty to Pigs

The authorities in Halland (a province in the south of Sweden) have seized 800 pigs. The police have care of the pigs and there are suspicions of cruelty to animals. There were dead pigs lying among the living pigs, and a lot of the pigs were of very bad health. Stories like this make me mad. I hate cruelty to animals, even when it is not cruelty to dogs. Pigs are an important source of meat, and the meat cannot be good if the pigs do not fare well. I hope the pigs who survived will have better lives from now on.

Tacos

This Monday was a rather dull day, until the evening. There was tacos for dinner tonight, and some of the minced meat were left to us dogs. This is among the best thing I know as a supplement to my dog food. It made my day.

Meja Succeeds

My dear daughter Meja was at her very first dog show today. It was a match show, a good place to start. She showed how excellent she is by winning best of breed puppy without making an effort. You just have to look at Meja's picture (below), to see what a worthy winner she is.

BOB

So, Paula was at a dog show today with Calvin and Primus. Primus became Best of Breed among the Pharao Hounds. We all congratulate him for that!

Calvin, on the other side, did not become better than third best male among the Shiba Inus. Thus, Paula never got to go with a Shiba Inu in competition for best of breed. If I would have been shown, maybe it would have been different. I may have become best bitch and then Best of Breed. Noone knows, of course, since I was not there. However, with both a male and a female in the show ring, there is twice the chance of winning the breed, when there are others competing as well. I might have been successful, but, alas, I never got a chance to try. I hope to be shown in other shows soon.

Institut Suédois

There is a place in Paris called the Swedish Institute, run by the Foreign Ministry of Sweden. It is a place where French as well as international visitors can learn more about Sweden and where Swedes in Paris can get in touch with their home country. In an attempt to cut spending, the Foreign Ministry have discussed closing the institute down. These plans have been met with opposition. The plans have also caused the institute to be highlighted in the New York Times in the USA, which recommends its readers to visit it, if possible.

As far as I know, this is the only Swedish Institute of its kind in the world, and it is doing good for the image of Sweden. I have heard that the institute will survive, but the plans to close it down may have brought the positive effect that big news papers like the New York Times have written about it. This is a side effect of public plans to close something down that may cause it to survive. I hope it will survive for a long time yet.

Preparations

Paula will bring Calvin and Primus to a dog show on Saturday. She will go with Primus' breeder Sofie and some of her dogs, and they will leave tomorrow afternoon. I will not get to go. This makes me sad.

Solar Eclipse

There was a solar eclipse in large parts of Asia today. In Japan, a partial eclipse could be seen, in other countries, such as India, there was a total eclipse. It might have been interesting to see, but not so much that I would have wanted to go there. I am Lunar Eclips, and mostly interested in lunar eclipses.

Linni on the Web

Concerned fans of Auntie Linni have noted that there is no information on her on our present web site. I would like to calm them down by saying that this is not because Linni has disappeared in real life or anything like that. Linni is as healthy and happy as ever. It is just that when our new web site was launched, Linni decided to take the opportunity to get out of the limelight for a little while. The rest of us do not know exactly what happened, but somehow, Linni was not there on the new web site, and none of us realized it until her fans got in touch with us. Linni is a very valuable asset in our family and we are glad to announce that she will soon return to our web site as well.

Lunar Anniversary

The 20th of July is the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. Of course, by Japanese time, the landing took place on the 21st of July. Auntie Linni also points out that the TV photage from the first steps on the Moon were relayed to the rest of the Earth from a radio dish in Australia (home country of Linni's father). By Australian time, the landing also took place on the 21st of July. On the other hand, in space, all timing is by Greenwich Mean Time, and by this the landing was on the 20th of July. Shiba Inus, with our roots in Japan (and in Linni's case also Australia) may disregard of this, however, when it comes to the day of a blog post of this great event.

No other Earthlings than humans (except for the odd bacteria that they carried along) have ever been to the Moon. It is my belief, though, that dogs may be the second species to go to the Moon. Being so closely associated with humans as dogs are has its advantages.

Historic Defeat Coming Up?

The ruling party in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), may lose power soon. Prime Minister Taro Aso is not well liked and is now even attacked by many members of parliament within his own party. Mr Aso has said he will call a new election in August, but many party officials say it would be asking for defeat if he would lead the party. I ask myself, however: who would be a better party leader? There has been many party leaders over the last couple of years, none of whom have managed to raise the public support for the party. Maybe a time in opposition would be the best, both for Japan and the LDP? The party has held the power for most of the last half century, I believe the democracy in Japan would fare best with a change of powers in the next election. Then the LDP may be able to come back with renewed strength after the next election.

Yet Another Swedish Show Champion

Another one of us have become Swedish Show Champion today. It is Kenny, our dear and beautiful friend who was born and bred in Japan, who managed to take the Swedish Champion title. Well, now Kenny is a champion. Nevertheless, he was beaten by Calvin (father of my pups) and my brother Jiro in the competition for best male. This is not surprising, considering that both Calvin and Jiro are very handsome Shiba Inus too.

After a Short Break

I have granted myself some vacation from blogging the last couple of days. Daniel has been away for some days, so I and the other dogs have had to take a little more responsibility than usually for guarding the house and yard, especially those hours when Paula has been away too. We have been successful, nothing has happened. However, I thought I could take a break from blogging these days. Daniel is back home now and things are returning to normal. Among the normal things are my daily blog posts. Another normal thing during the summer is dog shows, some of us are going to yet another dog show tomorrow. This could be fun.

Tags

Blogger suggests that I have tags for my blog posts. I never have, though. Today, the suggestions were scooters, vacation, and autumn. I have no relation to scooters whatsoever, and as a pet dog, I never have vacations. Autumn is still far away. Thus, none of these tag suggestions were suitable for my blog. However, as the resourceful blogger that I am, I managed to write a short blog post about them anyway. Maybe there will be suggestions in the future which suits me better. If so, I may use them, we will have to see. So far, I have not seen the use of tags.

Going Home from the Show

I went home from the show in the same cage as Calvin, April was with us there as well. (We always go in cages on road trips, for traffic safety reasons.) Calvin's prizes were left on the door to the cage. It was the red and yellow prize for Best of Breed, blue and yellow for CC, red and green for the Champion title, and orange for Best of Group-Reserve. While I am happy for Calvin and the prizes he won, I felt a little awkward, hidden from my place in the limelight. Just look at the picture.

Consequences of Rain

We had a lot of rain on our way home from the dog show yesterday. However, I would never have guessed that it would be so much rain that the road we went by would be closed down this Sunday evening. We went by road 50, part of which goes directly between our home city of Örebro to the small community of Alfta where the show ground was. Between Grängesberg and Klenshyttan in Dalecarlia, the road is now closed off because of the rain. All the traffic is re-routed into smaller roads. The Swedish Road Administration believes that the road will open again tomorrow morning. The dog show was a two day show, we were lucky that our breed group was yesterday. I would not have wanted to go on a re-routed tour down smaller roads, especially since road 50 is not very big in the first place.

Until the next dog show in Alfta, I hope road 50 will be better. I know this is hardly going to happen. There is not enough tax money going to the roads in Sweden, and mending or rebuilding roads take a lot of time. I can still hope, though.

A New Show Champion

Calvin, father of my pups, has aquired proof today that he was worthy of becoming their father. He was showed at a national kennel club show in Alfta, Hälsingland, and became a show champion. This title will show up in new pedigrees of the pups to whom we are parents and any pups that they may get. I was a champion already when we got the pups. One of my requirements for a father was actually a champion title, but I consulted with Paula and Daniel and we agreed that Calvin would become a champion in the future. Today, he proved us right. He has made me and our pups proud.

Beautiful Roads

When you go to a lot of dog shows, you see many kilometres of roads. This is because most dog shows are far away from home and the most convenient way of getting there is by car. Roads can be of different standard, good standard is naturally the most comfortable to go by. There are also differences in how beautiful different roads and their surroundings are. A trip down a beautiful road is, of course, a more pleasant experience than a trip down an ugly road. We are therefore pleased that the Swedish Road Administration has an annual prize for the most beautiful road opened the last year. The 2009 nominees are now chosen. There are thirteen candidates from all across the country and of different kind. Judging from the pictures I have seen, my favourite is Road 87 (candidate no. 3 in the page I have linked to). We will have to see which road wins the prize.

A Fox?

Daniel claims he saw a fox running across our lawn this evening. I do not know if I believe him. None of us dogs where out in the yard at the time, witnessing the fox outside the fence. Would a fox not stay away from the scents of all of us close by, or would it not care? I hope it would care and would stay away. Foxes are not the same species as we, but they hunt for more or less the same prey. We want that prey to ourselves in our lot. I told Daniel that if I would have been outdoors and seen the fox, I would have barked at it to make it run away. Daniel just told me he thought it was lucky I was not outside. He is more concerned about not disturbing the human neighbours than protecting the lot. However, the human neighbours respect the borders to our lot, that fox obviously did not - if indeed it was there.

RIP Michael Jackson

More Rain

We have had more rain today. In fact, it has been overcast the whole day. This is a change from the recent weeks, when we have not seen a cloud in the sky some days. Rain is nice once in a while, but I do not like it when I go outside. It is better if the rain falls in the night when we are all indoors sleeping. Well, unfortunately, it is not like we can do anything about the weather. I wish I could, but there are things that not even I can do. We have a nice and dry climate indoors, though.

Not so Hot Anymore

It is raining today and the weather has been far from as hot this weekend as the previous weeks. This is really nice, for a change. Coincidentally, the lower temperatures outside comes at the same time as I start to end my season in heat. The boys have been way too interested in me for me to feel comfortable, so I am glad this will soon be over.

Mourning and Celebration

Dad's old aunt Ranko in Norway passed away yesterday. We all mourn with him.

Today is the American national holiday. Sunni, April, and Calvin, who were all born in the USA, would normally celebrate today, and drag the rest of us along with them. With the sad news from Norway, the celebrations today have been of the more modest kind. Still, it has been a good day.

Thunder and Lightning

We had thunder and lightning on the late Friday afternoon, so Paula and Daniel decided to turn the computer off. This is a safety precausion to save the electronics from lightning induced electronic spikes that may damage it. Nobody turned it on again for the entire evening, thus, there never was a Daily Hailey. So be it, I can just blame the forces of nature, can't I?

New Images

The new US lunar probe sent back pictures from the lunar surface. It was images of a region in the highlands to the south of Mare Nubium. There was no lunar eclipse obscuring the view, but an interested Shiba Inu called Lunar Eclips (me) watching them here on Earth. Science can be very interesting.

We also got some new images of my baby sister Suri today. However, these were not digital photographies, but printed ones, so I cannot yet show any of them on the blog. We would have to scan them first. Suri has grown, but is just as cute as ever.

Birthday

It is the first of July and Dad's birthday. He turns seven years old today. My pups are half a year old now, Dad is, of course, their grandfather. We all congratulate Dad today. Among other things, he got a big Pingu, as you can see in the picture.

Production Rising

Japanese industrial production rises again, for the third month in a row. I believe this is the beginning of the end of the recession, not only in Japan, but in the whole world. Japan is the second largest economy of the world, its impact is huge. We are still in a recession, though, so there is yet no time for cheering.

Odd Time for Work

Paula went to work at noon today and will come home soon, around 10 o'clock in the evening. This feels strange. She usually works from 9 in the evening until 7 in the morning. Well, the main thing is that she has got a job that she feels satisfied with. She is the one doing the hard work, the rest of us can adapt. We have also learned that she will soon go back to her ordinary hours, she only work these odd hours because she is on a new job. It is good that she is able to get a new job, because it makes her happy. Self, I am quite satisfied with my jobs as pet and show dog, I would not want any other.

Calvin Got Another CAC

We went to a dog show in Borås today, a four hour drive. The drive there and back again was not so difficult, the hard part was the weather. It was a very hot, sunny summer day with hardly any wind, and the show ground was in a narrow valley that got very hot. We guess it was up to 35 degrees Celsius in the sun. Calvin was the only one of us who was shown, and for once, I did not envy him. He got tired in the sun. Nevertheless, he managed to become second best male and won a CAC. I hope it is not long until my pups with Calvin will get a show champion father in their pedigrees, and Calvin is well on his way there. This is worth celebrating.

Wireless network

Well I wrote on my blog yesterday that we have bought a wireless network. This entry is therefor written in our livingroom. The system seems to work just fine.

We will have a early evening tonight. Tomorrow we are going to a dog show. Stay tune for more information and results!

A Squirrel

We almost met a squirrel on the morning walk today. It ran across the path where we were walking, no more than two metres away from us. We tried to go after it, but it was quick and disappeared in the vegetation. Squirrels are funny looking, with their long, furry tails, but they are fast. Daniel told us to continue on our path, he was the one who was least interested in the squirrel. I guess he knows he would have the least chance of catching up with that little animal. Well, we went on, and the rest of the day was just like any other Saturday. Meeting a squirrel on the morning walk enlightened the day a bit, though.

Wireless Connection

We have a new way to connect to the Internet from our computers at home. It is a wireless solution. The great advantage with this is that we can use any computer, with the hardware to access to a wireless net, anywhere in the house. We do not have to have all the ugly cords that we have had around the computer. Now I can lie in the living room sofa writing Daily Hailey, if I want to. This is great. I will try out new places to write my blog in the days to come.

Waffles

Thursday is the day for pancakes in Sweden. Indeed, pancakes is something of a national course in Sweden, but only on Thursdays. We did not have pancakes today, even though Daniel had planned to make some. The milk had been standing in the coldest part of the refrigerator and most of it was fozen. Paula made some waffle batter instead, in waffles, there is just a little milk. Thus, we had waffles for dinner, and all the dogs got to taste some. It was a real treat. I do not know if waffles are better than pancakes, but it is at least as good.

Another Great US Victory

There were probably not many who believed that the USA would stand a chance in the Confederation Cup semi final against reigning European champion Spain. Mum did, but she is always the US patriot. However, the USA surprised almost everyone by beating Spain 2-0. The USA is now qualified for the final this Sunday. What is maybe of the greatest significance is that the US team prevented Spain from setting a new world record of 36 matches without defeat. The USA did this, a nation not known for its successes in football (soccer, in American English). It is terrific.

The Races Will Go On

For a while, there was a high risk that Formula 1 as we know it would disappear. Many of the top teams of Formula 1 threatened to leave the series and start a competing championship. This would have been bad for all the involved parties. How could there be one primary car championship of the world, if a lot of teams were competing in another championship? One of the greatest sales pitches of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship is that it is the top car racing championship of the world, not one out of two or more. Today, an agreement has been made and the championship will continue. Fans like Daniel and me are happy.

Summer Times

It is warm and sunny today, and it is supposed to be this way for many days to come. We enjoy it when we are outside. Summer is a nice season.

The Lawn Is Mowed

Daniel had planned to mow the lawn today. It was a bit overdue, but rain and other business has stopped him from doing it before. None of us dogs can mow the lawn, the lawn mower is too heavy for us and is built for bipeds anyway. According to the news paper this morning, there was a rather huge risk of rain today, but Daniel started to mow the lawn anyway. It turned out that we only had a little, little bit of rain in the middle of the afternoon, and it did not stop Daniel from finishing. We are glad he finished the job. It is better with a freshly mowed lawn, there is less risk that we get ticks when the grass where the ticks sit and wait for their prey is not so high.

Amazing US Victory

The American national football team did not look like winners in the FIFA Confederation Cup, having not scored a point before the final game in the group. However, the US team managed to beat Egypt 3-0, and when Brazil won over Italy with the same figures, the USA came in second in the group and goes on to the semi final.

Of course, not many people believed in the USA before the game. Mum claims she did. Mum is always an American patriot and believes in the USA under any circumstances. On the other hand, she is not interested in sport, especially not sports which are not considered important in the USA, such as football. I am not even sure Mum knew the USA would play tonight. Be that as it may, as half American, I join Mum in celebrating the US victory.

Anti-Piracy Bill Passed

On the 23rd of April, I wrote about a bill in the Japanese parliament which would allow Japan to join the fight against pirates in the sea outside of Somalia. Since then, Sweden has joined the fight. The Japanese bill did not pass in the Upper House of the Japanese parliament, but the Lower House has now used its power to override the Upper House by a 2/3 majority. Thus, Japan can now join the fight. This is for a good cause, so I believe it is a good thing the bill passed.

Dead by April

It is too bad that the group that sings this song is called "Dead by April". Everybody who knows our April knows that she is the most kind shiba inu girl in the world. Despite this mistake, the song is really good.

New Mission to the Moon

I have always had a certain interest in the Moon. This is mostly due to the fact that my kennel name is Lunar Eclips.

The USA is now preparing to let new astronauts travel to the Moon and back. A lunar probe is now set to blast off in preparation of such a journey. Last time humans visited the Moon was in 1972, the year when Daniel was born and many generations of Shiba Inus before me. It is about time they go there again. If I am lucky, I will be able to see live TV broadcasts of men on the Moon. I am looking forward to this. Eventually, there will certainly also be dogs on the Moon, but I do not expect that to happen in my lifetime.

End of Recession?

The Bank of Japan has said that the Japanese economy had stopped receeding. Growth may come back by the end of the year. This is good news. Japan is the second largest economy in the world, and the home of the highest number of Shiba Inus in the world. If the Japanese economy starts to grow again, it is good for world economy, and it is good for the Shiba Inus living in Japan. Thus, this is good news, though the recession is still there.

Shows this Summer

We will not attend to as many dog shows this summer as we usually do. There is a simple reason: our main focus will be on the World Dog Show in Bratislava in October. We will make sure we are fit for fight there and then. If you will go there too, I hope to see you, if not, I wish you will have your hope for us. I am looking forward to it.

At Work

Mum got to go with Daniel to work today. This was in part due to that Suri would visit Daniel's work. Suri's humans are also work mates of Daniel, this is how they got in touch with us from the start. Suri was happy and playful as ever, Mum said in the evening. Mum only had one objection, Suri tried to eat the sandwich that Daniel had bought for Mum and that Mum had saved for a while. Mum had to eat it right away to keep it from Suri. I know Mum and her love of food, so I know how annoying this must have been for Mum. I can also relate to what Suri must have felt, I have been in her position. Apart from this sandwich incident, Mum and Suri were happy to see each other. I guess they will see each other more times in the future. I hope I will also meet Suri again soon.

Art?

In our home city of Örebro, we have this thing called open art. It is an event where artists may place their work around the centre of the city. The police have, however, removed the art-work of artist Conny Blom. He had made mock bombs out of carrots, taped together with alarm clocks and coloured wires. People were scared, mistaking the carrots for dynamite, thus the police removed all of the carrot bombs. Mr Blom may face criminal charges for his stunt, but he says he only made caricatures of bombs. Well, ridiculous as I think this excuse for art is, it did put Örebro in the focus of international mass media. This is worth something.

Greetings from Family Members

We heard from my son Bagus today, and from my sister Suri, the latter whom moved to her new home yesterday.

Bagus has a happy life in Stockholm. He is the only dog in the family where he lives, but he has many dog friends anyway.

Suri has adapted well to her new life. True to her habit, she slept all night. She has become friend with everybody whom she has met at her new place, including a dachshund in the neighbourhood.

It is always nice to hear from the family members whom you rarely meet. I hope that I will meet Suri and Bagus several times in the future.

Visiting a Show

I got to go with Paula and Daniel to a dog show today. However, I was not shown, but had to settle for being a spectator. It went well, nevertheless. Calvin, father of my pups, won his first CC with excellent critique. This goes to prove I did not make the wrong choice to accept him to father my pups. It was a grey and rainy day at the show, somewhat cold even in June. With a good result, we were happy anyway when we returned home.

Until we meet again Suri!

Today my baby sister Suri left our house to go and live with her owners. Suri lives in the same city as we do which is a good thing. Her owners have invited us to come and visit her. I will do that and check all of her toys and food.
I know Suri will be spoiled rotten and she deserves all the love she will get in her life but she is still my little sister whom I love deeply. I still miss her. The feeling is blue. It is an empty house tonight.

TV Murderer

We saw the TV crime show Criminal Minds tonight. This is a good show, but I was more upset than usually by the episode tonight. It turned out that one of the murderers had not just murdered his brother, but earlier, he had murdered his family's dog. I usually do not get very upset with crime stories on TV, they are made up and the victims are usually humans. However, when one victim is a dog, I do get upset. While there may be reasons to kill humans, as is often shown in TV crime stories (though the reasons are not good enough to free the murderers of the charges against them), what reason might there be to kill a dog? Dogs always love their humans. If there is anyone who love a human more than that human himself, it is his dog.

Well, in this case the TV murderer was a sociopath, and the lack of compasion that sociopaths have can make them kill without reason. It has to be a sociopath in order to kill such a loving animal as a dog, hasn't it? Thus, the inclusion of a murdered dog in the story must have been a way for the writer to make it plain for the viewers that the murderer indeed was a sociopath. I know this was just a made up story and no dog was actually killed, but still, I would have felt better if there would have been no dog murdered in the show. I hope future episodes of Criminal Minds do not involve murder of dogs.

Pizza

Suri celebrated eight weeks of age today. She was examined by our veterinarian, who could not find any fault whatsoever on her. We got some pizza in the evening, a good way to celebrate.

Lost Game

This is Sweden's national holiday, but this year, we have not got any good reason to celebrate. Paula took Kenny and April to a dog show, and while they did OK, they did not win.

Sweden played Denmark in the football World Cup qualification. I got to go with Paula and Daniel to Mia, Emil, and Kesshi to watch the game, which was fun, but the result was not fun. Sweden lost, 0-1. Neither the Danes nor the Swedes played an excellent football, but the Danes got the only goal.

Yet Another...

Yet another dog show weekend, yet another weekend when I stay at home. Paula take some of the dogs and go without me, though she knows I love dog shows more than any other of the dogs in our house. Now I have no chance whatsoever of winning.

One man that has a chance to a great win this Sunday is Swedish tennis player Robin Söderling. He has won yet another match in the French Open Grand Slam tournament, his semi final game today, and meets world number two Roger Federer on Sunday. Odds are Federer will win, but odds has been against Söderling in many games before in this tournament. It will be exciting.

A Better Night

Paula has worked the two most recent nights, but she will stay at home tonight. While you cannot blame her for wanting to make money, it always feels better to have everyone at home during the night.

Upcoming Election

This Sunday, adult humans in Sweden may vote in an election to the European Union Parliament. Dogs may not vote. The EU has, however, made important differences for dogs in Sweden. Sweden is a country free from rabies and dwarf tapeworm (hymenolepsis nana), which previously meant that dogs coming to Sweden from countries not free of these diseases were quarantined for months. This was not good for the dogs and expensive for their humans, and it had negative impacts on breeding, since it made it difficult to import new dogs. Thanks to the EU, Sweden has other rules now, that requires vaccination and health statements by veterinarians, but no quarantine, if you come from a country where there is low risk of being ill with the diseases I mentioned. Most European countries are low risk countries, and so are the USA and Japan. I believe every adult human should vote, but try to check what the candidates think about the free movement of dogs and other animals and on rules against animal cruelty first. It is important to have rules to keep dangerous diseases out.

Meat Balls

It must be nice to be so young as my little sister Suri, and have so many good things in life left to discover. Today, she discovered meat balls. Paula made meat balls for dinner, and we all got to taste some. Suri sure enjoyed it, just like the rest of us. Still, there are many more great tastes for her to discover. This is something I can envy her.

June

It is June, and summer by the almanack. The summer weather arrived a while ago. Unfortunately, it is said that it will be colder tomorrow. Well, if there is rain tomorrow, Daniel will become happy. He says it is to dry in the soil, which is bad for the vegetation and the water level in our well. So far, I think the vegetation grows just as much as it usually does and Daniel had his usual trouble with thick grass on parts of our yard when mowing the lawn yesterday. Rain may not be a bad thing, but I do not think it is as importand as Daniel seem to think.

Great Swedish Victory

One of the happiest Swedes today must be tennis player Robin Söderling, who beat world number one and defending champion Rafael Nadal in the French Open. The tournament is far from over, though, Söderling plays in the quarter final next. I hope he will win the whole tournament. Having beaten Nadal, he deserves it, but there are matches to go first.

Summer

It is summer, the day has been hot. Dad dislikes the summer, because he hates flying insects. The rest of us kind of like the heat. Auntie Linni really likes to lie in the sun outside. It is a comfortable season. It was warm enough in the morning that Daniel did not wear a jacket on the morning walk with us, this is good, because we do not have to wait for so long while he puts the jacket on. I like the summer time.

Norway

Paula went to Norway today with April, Kenny, and her parents. The Norwegian Shiba Inu Specialty is their goal. For once, I am not the one who are most disappointed with not going. Dad is more disappointed than I am, even though he does not like dog shows. He would, of course, have wanted to see the country of his birth and get a chance to meet his breeder, but he had to stay at home too. Well, I have started to get used to the disappointment of not going to dog shows, so I understand and I can comfort Dad a little.

The Future of Car Manufacturers

The European car marques of General Motors, Opel, Vauxhall, and the Swedish Saab, etc, may be purchased by the Canadian company Magna International. There are people who understand the car business say this may be good. I hope so, for the Swedish manufacturer's sake.

My Beautiful Daughter

We got these pictures of my daughter Meja today. They speak for themselves, I think.

A Heroine

Last Saturday in Umeå in the north of Sweden, a police officer was shot and killed when robbers opened fire against the police force. She is a heroine, of course, who sacrificed herself for her fellow police officers. Her name was Kita and she was a Malinois, i.e. of a Belgian dog breed. I mourn with her friends, two legged as well as four legged. No words are enough to commemorate Kita. I wish the robber who shot her will be sentenced to a long time in prison.

Show Weekend

The annual Shiba Inu specialty show in Sweden was today. I did not participate, but Calvin (father of my pups) did as well as Kenny and April. Calvin finally got a good coat as an adult. He did rather well in the show ring, ending up as 3d youth male with excellent out of 8 youth males (champion quality). I wish Calvin would eventually become a champion, not least because it would look good in the pedigrees of our pups. We have some shows planned for him now.

Kenny was 4th champion male with excellent out of 8 champion males. April was 4th champion female out of 8 champion females and was also placed in best bitch as reserve best female with excellent. Still, the results are all in all good, because there were quite a lot of shibas there (total entry 68). I guess I should have been there, because there was not a single dog with the Aangenaam prefix in the show catalogue. We have to hold our prefix high, and the best thing to do that is to allow those of us who has this prefix in their name to be shown. I hope I will be shown later this summer.

Birthday Celebration

Somehow, I forgot to write in my blog yesterday.

We had a great celebration of Daniel's birthday, with blood pudding. Suri got some as well, for the first time in her five-and-a-half week long life, and she enjoyed it just as much as the rest of us dogs did. This is good, it goes to prove that she has got good taste for the great things in life.

Celebration

Paula and Daniel went away this evening to celebrate Daniel's birthday. His real birthday is tomorrow, but Paula is away on a dog show tomorrow. I am not so much annoyed with not being on the birthday celebration, we can celebrate that many times, but I am annoyed I will not get to go to the dog show. Well, I guess my time will come, at that time, I will once again be able to stun the world.

Flight

I have never flown anywhere. Mum flew across the Atlantic Ocean when she moved to Sweden. April did too, and has flown back to America and returned here again as well. Calvin, father of my pups, was also born in America and flew to Sweden. Today, we celebrate that Jesus Christ flew up to Heaven almost two thousand years ago. He did not use an airplane, though, as the dogs I mention here did. Thanks to this holiday, both Paula and Daniel have been home all day, which means this has been a great day for all of us dogs. There are not as many traditions surrounding this holiday as, for example, Easter. We celebrated on pizza in the evening. This was a really good way to celebrate in my mind. Holidays are good days.

Five Weeks Old

My little sister Suri turns five weeks old today. We have played a little in the yard, she is fun to play with. She is also cute - small wonder, since she has got the same parents I have.

In a little more than three weeks, Suri will move away from home. She does not yet comprehend what will happen, but she does not have to worry. We met Suri's future humans last Sunday, they are nice people and she will get a good life with them.

A Lack of Inspiration

Paula is writing a paper for her university course, but she has a hard time finding the right inspiration this evening. I can totally relate to that. Once in a while, I have a hard time finding any inspiration to write in my blog. I have made it a rule to try to write once a day, especially since I call my blog Daily Hailey, but this is just something I demand of myself. There will be no harsh consequences if I do not write a blog entry some day. In Paula's case, it is different. She has to finish her paper in a given time in order to complete the requirements of her present course.

As the concerned pet I am, I try to help Paula as much as I can. However, when it comes down to actually writing, Paula has to do the work herself. I could have helped her with the writing, but that would be cheating. Paula is a great writer, though, and I do not doubt that, in the end, her paper will be terrific.

Blogs in Our City

The news paper in our city has had articles about local politicians who write blogs yesterday and today. I am not a politician, but I am considering whether I will write to the paper to tell them about my blog. If they want to write about local dog blogs, I believe my blog may be worth mentioning. I am not sure they will write about dog blogs, though - not all humans are interested in dogs. I know not all humans are interested in politicians, either, but what a prominent politician does affect more people than what an ever so prominent dog does. This is sad, but true. Thus, there may be a greater value in articles about politicians' blogs than articles about dogs' blogs. This is why I hesitate to write to the paper to tell them about my blog. If they would not write about dog blogs, it would be a waste of time to tell them about mine. On the other paw, it might give them the idea to write about dog blogs. I will ponder some more over this issue.

National Holiday

Dad, who still counts himself as Norwegian, because he was bred and born there, celebrates his national holiday today. This meant we all got some extra tasty food with minced meat, which is always nice. I would like to have things to celebrate more often during the year, because we always get an extra treat or better food when there is something to celebrate. This is why it is so nice that Dad still counts himself as Norwegian, otherwise we might not have gotten extra tasty food today.

Dangers of Cleaning

Daniel dusted around the computer today, and must accidentally have turned the modem off. This made it difficult for us to turn the Internet on later in the evening. We did find the problem and got online, though, as you can see. You have to be careful when you are dusting, or maybe do what I always do: leave the cleaning to others. Daniel and Paula are generally good at cleaning, they do not need my help.

Norway is winning the Eurovision Song Contest tonight. Most of us do not think Norway's song is the best, but Dad never let go of his Norwegian roots and has hoped for the Norwegian song all week, though the semi finals. I had my hopes for the Swedish song, but it has not attracted many votes. It is not that I am very concerned, there are no dogs on stage and not one of the songs is about dogs. If there was, perhaps I would vote for it.

Late Last Night

We were visiting Mia, Emil, and Kesshi last night, and it was too late to write in my blog when we got home. It was a nice evening.

Playing with the Pup

Around noon today, I had the privilege to be out in the yard together with Mum and my baby sister Suri. I offered to play with Suri, but she was yet too young to take me up on the offer. I guess I should have understood that, my pups were not much into playing when they were just four weeks old, but it is not as easy keeping track of the progress of Mum's pup as it was of my own. After all, I spent almost all the time, day and night, with my pups. This is what Mum does with her pup now, while I just see the pup once in a while. Well, it was very nice to get to know Suri better today, anyway.

Four Weeks Old

My little sister Suri is four weeks old today. I wonder what she thinks about the world, she is not yet old enough to tell. Since she is the only pup in her litter, I wonder if she believes there is noone but her who is as small as she is. She has no other pup to play with, but I can see she enjoys many aspects of life anyway. The last couple of days, she has been able to discover the lawn outside our house. It must be a revolving experience to see that the world is so much bigger than the room where she has lived since the day she was born. Yet, the world is so much larger than what we can see from our yard. I thought about this when I had my own pups with me as well, I cannot quite recall how it was that I discovered the vastness of this world myself. My pups have surely discovered it, but I have not much contact with them and have not discussed this with them. Well, maybe Suri will tell me something about it.

How will it go?

Tonight Sweden will compete at the Eurovision Song Contest in Russia. Im not intrested though. There are no dogs allowed to take part in this competition.

I'm more intrested in the food tonight. Paula will cook sausage cassarole. Mmm. Hope I get to taste some.

Small Pigs

Today, I've read about what is probably the smallest breed of pig there is. It is only about 25 cm tall and weighs no more than 9 kg, so it is smaller than a Shiba Inu. It is a rare breed, so I guess you can rarely get meat from it. It would be interesting to see how small the bacon from these pigs would be, though, and to taste it.

Saving Mums

The Swedish Red Cross has a campaign in favour of mums suffering from armed conflicts throughout the world. I love my mum and I am a mum myself, so I have all the reason to feel for this cause. I could do what bloggers are asked to do on the page I link to: add a widget to my blog to collect money to this cause. However, as much as I feel for mums around the world, this cause is aimed at human mums. I will gladly link to the cause, but for me to add a widget and collect money myself, it would take a similar campaign in favour of canine mums, or canines in general. We are all closest to our own speices, aren't we? For me, causes in favour of humans are important, but not as important as causes in favour of dogs. If you, as my reader, is a human and has a blog, do not hesitate to add that widget to your blog. I will wait until there may be a similar campaign in favour of dogs.

Rumours

I have heard rumours that Mia and Emil will come by tomorrow and play with me. Well, evil rumours says that they are more intrested in meeting my baby sis Suri along with changing tyres on their car. I don't listen to such crap. I'm Hailey, what more can be intresting?

No Show

Paula and Kenny were supposed to go to a dog show today. However, Kenny is right in the middle of blowing his coat, so he would be nothing to show. It is not that judges judge dogs by their coat alone, but in a competition with another dog in full coat, Kenny would most probably have lost. Thus, Paula and Kenny decided to stay at home. Paula later learned that, while we had a warm and sunny spring day, it was rainy, windy, and cold on the showground. This made Paula even more happy she did not go. I am also happy to have had Paula at home for a longer time today.

Blood Pudding

Daniel had some great food tonight: blood pudding. He also gave a slice each to us dogs. This was great, a fine treat for carnivores like us. I wish we would get blood pudding more often.

Chicken and Rice

We went to Mia and Emil tonight. They all ate chicken and rice. April, Kesshi and myself got some too. I also manage to tell Kesshi off. Im not intrested in him in that way if you reader's know what I mean.

An odd thing happened on the way home. April got to sit in Paula's lap. She beat me to it. Strange. I did not like it at all, which I btw told April when we arrived home.

Flat Tyre

Daniel ran the car over a nail yesterday, getting a punctured tyre. He managed to get the car to a garage where they could mend the tyre, but this morning, the same tyre was flat again. It caused a lot of trouble, not least because it turned out that the car lacked one of its standard tools that you need in order to change tyres. Well, Daniel got hold of that tool from the car dealership where the car was bought last summer - they gave him one for free, which is good service. Then Daniel took the flat tyre to the garage where it was mended yesterday. Apparently, they discovered that the tyre had had two holes in it, but only one had been mended yesterday. Now, the tyre is back on the car, and we just have to hope it does not get flat again.

In general, modern tyres do not get flats often. Nevertheless, it is too bad they do get flats once in a while. You would think modern technology would come up with cheap tyres that never get flat. Maybe this will happen, eventually. After our experiences today, I cannot wait.

Family News

We received pictures of my daughter Meja today. She is turning into a beautiful little sesame lady. The even sesame colour is very rare, but suits this sweet girl just fine. It makes Meja a splendid example of the Shiba Inu breed. We got permit from Meja's humans to use this photography in my blog:



The handsome guy beside Meja is my brother Kiko, with whom Meja lives.

My youngest sister Suri is now registered with the Swedish Kennel Club. Her formal name is Aangenaam Miss Red Velvet Cake. She is also cute.

Disappointment

I did not manage to follow through on my plans to come along to the festivities when Mia's birthday was to be celebrated. April got to go, though. While I do not mind that April had a good time, I do envy her. I am disappointed, mostly on myself, for not succeeding with my plans to come along.

Cruel

Tomorrow Paulas sister Mia is turning 31 years old. Kesshi has arranged for her to have a birthday party. Rumours says that Paula and Daniel will go to that party without me or April. Stupid and unfair! Im thinking of in which way I can make them change their minds...

Mama Mia

We visited Mia, Emil, and Kesshi tonight. When we were there, we saw the musical movie Mama Mia. It was quite good. Besides that, it is always nice to visit nice people and nice dogs.

Mama Mia means "my mum", but can also be a general expression of surprise or the like. My Mum stayed at home, since she has a pup to take care of. She is a good mum, my little sister is lucky to have her.