A Classic

It has come to my knowledge that the classic comic novel by Englishman Jerome K. Jerome, which in Swedish is just called "Tre män i en båt" (Swedish for "Three Men in a Boat") has a more suitable title in English. The English original title is "Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)". There are four main characters in the novel, the three men of the title, and the dog Montmorency, all of whom go on a boat trip together up the river Thames in England. I cannot understand why Montmorency have not been mentioned in the title of the Swedish edition. His part in the novel is significant, and the original title should have been translated in full. I guess the translator just did not care enough about dogs, as some dull humans tend to do. Maybe it is time for someone to make a new translation of the book, where the full title is translated as well.

Dog Show?

Paula and Daniel were away from home for a part of this Sunday. They claim they went to a dog show in Västerås, a town of the same size as our home town and about an hour's car ride away. I have my doubts, since they did not bring a single dog. What is the point of going to a dog show, if not to amuse the dog you are going to show? It is not like they need to look for new dog breeds, since they are breeders of the best breed there is already.

I checked the story, and there actually was a dog show in Västerås today. They also brought dog candy home of a kind usually purchased at dog shows, and they were gone for such a long time that they would have had the time to go there and back again. Nevertheless, I questioned where they had been when they got home, but they stood by their story. They generally tell us the truth about their whereabouts.

Well, I have no evidence what so ever that they are lying, so they may be speaking the truth, unlikely though it seems. I guess that even the most unlikely event may happen occasionally, and maybe this was one such occasion. In the long run, it will not matter much, and I guess I will settle with believing in the unlikely story that Paula and Daniel both say is the truth.

Polly and Dad

Over the last few days, Polly and Dad has discovered that they enjoy playing with each other. They have a great deal of fun together. When Dad think that Polly goes too far, he tells her so in a good way. It is nice for me to see my daughter playing with her grandfather in such a happy mood. When there are others who play with Polly, I can relax for a bit from my duties as a mother. Polly is growing up, but it will take a little while before she is mature enough not to have anybody watching out for her. Now I have April, Mum, Auntie Linni, and Dad helping me out with this. It is a good life for Polly, I believe.

The Dangers of Bananas - No, Methanol

There is one sort of food that Daniel hates above all, and that is bananas. He cannot stand the texture or the taste of it.

In Uganda, about 80 humans have died from drinking illegal banana gin. In this case, the gin was laces with methanol, which is probably the cause of death. It may be with a lack of respect for those who have died, but we joked with Daniel, asking if he blamed the bananas for the fate of those who died. He joked back and said he did.

Getting serious again, we agreed that it is too bad these people feel they cannot afford industry manufactured gin, but drink the potentially harmful illegal gin instead. We feel sorry for the deaths and hope no dogs lost their humans because of this bad gin.

Barking

Some of us bark a lot, occasionally. Mum, who is the oldest and wisest of us, barks the most. Paula and Daniel often say that they get tired of this. On the other hand, Mum would not be herself, if she would not bark. Odds are Mum will be the one who will leave us first, for the afterlife, because of her age. Daniel has confessed that since he would miss Mum a lot, he would probably miss her barks as well. This is a sign of love. If you love somebody, you also love her faults in a way. I would also miss Mum's barks, not only because I am the second biggest barker who would then have the misfortune of being biggest barker, but also because I too love Mum. We are all very lucky Mum is in excellent health and will certainly live for many years to come.

Tailset

Im happy to discover that Polly has inherited my fine looking tailset. Apart from that she looks more like her father than me, her mother. Well Im proud over her. If she cant be like me her father is the next best thing in line to look like. Im totally aware that Im unique, in all aspects.

Birthday

Today was Nils Olov's birthday. All of us dogs like him very much, so we gave him a cake. None of us came along to the celebrations this evening, though. We stayed at home, and got Paula and Daniel to hand over the present. They told us our present was greatly appreciated, which made us feel good. It is nice to make a dear friend like Nils Olov happy.

Late Fees

Librarians in the oldest library of New York have discovered that two books were borrowed on the 5 of October 1789 and has since never been returned. This may not have been such a big news, if it was not for the claim that then President of the USA George Washington was the one who borrowed the books. The late fees, adjusted for inflation, would now be $300,000 for being about 220 years late.

As far as I can tell, you cannot be quite sure that George Washington was the one who borrowed the books, it says in the article that I have read: "George Washington did not even bother to sign his name in the borrower's ledger. An aide simply scrawled 'president' next to the title to show who had taken them out." The word "president" is used in many other contexts in English than for the head of state in a republic. What if there was another person, president of something else, who borrowed the books? Well, New York was the US capital at the time, and other prominent figures in the federal government did borrow books there, so it is not far fetched to guess that "president" means the President of the United States in this ledger. Regardless of whether it actually was Washington or not, it would be interesting to know what has become of the two books.

Polly and Auntie Linni

Aunt Linni has always had a special place in my heart, my play mate ever since my brothers moved away from home. It has, therefore, been extra hard to see that she has never been fond of my small pups. Linni does not like the small pups, and she has made this clear on several occasions with Polly and Nemo. However, this afternoon, Polly and Linni were outdoors together, and Polly tried as hard as only a pup can do to trigger Linni to play with her. Finally, Polly must have broken through a barrier with Linni, because Linni started to chase after Polly in a most playfull manner. The both of them chased each other for a long time. Although Linni became a little tired, so, too, did Polly. Now they are good friends.

Work on a Saturday

Paula worked today, even though it is Saturday. She will work tomorrow as well, when it is Sunday. This is the way it can be, when working as a nurse at the hospital. On the other side, Paula will not work Monday or Tuesday. Daniel is at home with us dogs during the weekend, and Paula will be at home with us Monday and Tuesday. This is a rather good plan, it is better to have one of Paula or Daniel at home, than being alone. We are proud of Paula, who has an important job and earns money to support us.

Nemo Has Moved

Nemo has now moved to his new family. To you, my dear readers, this statement may seem like just a rerun of the blog post I wrote yesterday. Nevertheless, this is the most important thing that has happened in my life today. I miss Nemo, but I know he will get a good life and I will see him again.

Daniel's sister Filippa celebrated her birthday today. She lives quite a way away from us, so we did not celebrate with her, but hope that she had a nice birthday anyway.

The Last Night

This is the last night that Nemo lives with us. He and Polly turns eight weeks tomorrow, this is when they are old enough to move, and Nemo's new family want to get him as soon as possible. I can quite understand that, Nemo is such a lovely pup. We wish Nemo all the best, we know his new family and know that he will get a great life with them. This feels very good.

Puppy Food

We are running out of puppy food, so Daniel went to our usual store for dog food to buy some more. There were none of our preferred variety to buy, though. We eat salmon & rice, and Daniel got to know that many breeders buy this food for their adult dogs, but they still buy other varieties for their pups. We would like our pups to have the puppy version of salmon & rice, so Daniel ordered some. It will be delivered to the store by next week. In the meantime, we have received puppy bags for Polly and Nemo from the food supplier, and there is a couple of kilogrammes of food there that the pups can have. We believe we have the right to be picky.

Bagus

We have received news on my son Bagus, from my first litter. He is doing great with his family in Stockholm. He loves them, and they love him. He also has got other friends in the neighbourhood. It is always nice for a mother to get positive news about her pups.

Pictures of My Daughter Polly

She is cute, isn't she? I will train her myself for the show ring, with the hope that she can be at least as successful as I have been. Her father is even more successful. We are all black and tan Shiba Inus, and my hope is that Polly will hold the black and tan coat colour in high esteem, as her parents have done. It seems to me that Polly has inherited some of my personal traits, so I believe she will like dog shows as much as I have ever done. Apart from the advantages that she has of having beautiful parents, enjoying herself in the show ring is something that can make her career.

Ninety

Paula's grandmother celebrated her ninetieth birthday today. This is huge. Humans do live longer than dogs, on average, but ninety years is a lot even for a human. It is many years more than the average life expectancy of humans in Sweden, who have among the longest life expectancies in the world. Naturally, Paula and Daniel participated in the celebrations. All of us dogs stayed at home, but we participated in a gift and sent our greetings through Paula and Daniel. I heard the celebration was fun. I will have to congratulate Paula's grandmother next time I see her.

Seventy Years Ago

Dad thought I would devote the blog entry today to something that happened exactly seventy years ago today. It was the day when Nazi Germany attacked Denmark and Norway, the latter is Dad's country of birth. Nazi Germany did this as an act of aggression against countries who had declared that they would be neutral in the ongoing war, just because the Nazis thought they needed the Norwegian sea ports. Seventy years is a long time, many dog generations, but not so much for humans. In Norway, there are plenty of humans still around who remembers this, and the subsequent hostile occupation that went on for more than five years. It is a small wonder, then, that Denmark and Norway decided to join the military alliance NATO, where Mum's country of birth the USA is a strong member. We all hope nothing like this will ever happen again.

Injury

I feel sorry for Paula. She accidentally hit her right arm at work yesterday, and it has become swollen and sore today. It is no fun having pains like that.

Japanese Woman in Space

The second female Japanese astronaut has now gone into space and is currently on the International Space Station. Meanwhile, her husband is down Earthside, taking care of their daughter and their home. It is not the space trip that raises the most interest in Japan, but the roles of this couple. Japan has a very traditional society, where men are still expected to be the bread winner of the family and many mothers stay at home, raising the children. While I believe that I take care of small pups much better than the pups' father would, I still think it is interesting to see traditional roles of men and women being questioned.

Of course, among dogs, it is always the females who rule, while caring for the pups, while the traditional role of humans has been that men has ruled. Gender equality thus seem more important among humans than among dogs.

This story is also interesting, because it shows that space travel has become ordinary enough that the space trip in itself does not have to be the most important news when there are reports on an astronaut. This is actually good news for all of us who are interested in space exploration, because it shows that space exploration is becoming a more common thing. Even though there may be less to read about the actual space journey, there would be more space journeys to read about.

Not a Day Off

Occasionally, I have taken days of from my blog. I really do not like to do so. I have given the blog the name Daily Hailey, therefore, I believe in trying to keep it daily. When I do take days off, it is generally for very good reasons, such as when I am not at home all day or when my pups have been very young. There have been days when I have not written in my blog, despite winning in the dog show ring, but this is when I have not been home to do so. Today, I felt like taking a day off. I have not found any subject to write about; the subjects often seem to come to me without any effort on my part, but this was not the case this day. On the other hand, I cannot say I have any good reason to take a day off from my blog. This is why I decided just to write about the occasional hardships of having a daily blog, the days when you have a hard time deciding upon what to write. This is one of those days. Do come back tomorrow, I think I can come up with something else to write about until then.

Snow Again

Snow fell again this morning. It was a bit odd, since we have had warm spring days for quite some time. However, the new snow melted away almost at once. It had the positive effect that the pups got to see a snow fall, though.

In the afternoon, when all the new snow was gone, Daniel changed tyres on the BMW. It now does not have winter tyres anymore. This is yet another sign that spring is here.

A Maiden Win

Amy, the young Shiba Inu who came from Norway this autumn, had a great day at the Stockholm dog show today, becoming Best of Breed puppy. This is great! We wish her many more victories in the years to come. She lives with friends in Stockholm, which is not that far away, so I guess we will meet on some shows in the future.

Easter

It is Easter. We wish everybody a happy Easter and a lot of Easter candy! I have had plenty of candy myself, and even my pups are big enough to enjoy candy now. That is a big step on their road to maturity. It is good for them that they are old enough to eat candy on Easter, even though this may mean that I get less candy for myself. I do not care about candy for myself more than I care for my pups. You have to have your priorities straight, even though it is hard sometimes.

Good Friday

We are having a quiet and nice Good Friday, which is a holiday. Daniel says Good Friday is to be honoured by taking it easy, maybe even having a boring day, so all of the dogs in the household are trying the hardest to do just that. Meanwhile, Daniel is cleaning, doing the dishes and laundry, and Paula is at work at the hospital. It is understandable that some nurses have to work even on Good Friday, because people have injuries and diseases on holidays as well. Daniel, on the other hand, could have done what he does today earlier, or postponed it until tomorrow. Well, I am not willing to judge him, especially not since the things he does benefits us all, it is just that he teaches one thing and does another.

By the way, yesterday was April Fool's Day. You did not think we were a Fair Trade Breeder, really, did you? As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Fair Trade Breeder.

Fair Trade Breeding

It has been announced that our home city Örebro has had its status as Fair Trade City renewed. The small neighbour town Kumla is also a Fair Trade City. There are other entities that can get the status Fair Trade. Earlier this year, Daniel got to know that dog breeders could be Fair Trade Breeders. Without thinking much more about it, he filled out a form and applied for this. We received notice today that our application had been approved. Thus, we can now call ourselves Fair Trade Breeders. Isn't this cool?

Horror in Real Life

Japan is over all a civilized country. However, they have a huge problem with humans abandoning their dogs. There are so many abandoned dogs, and too few humans willing to take care of these dogs, that the authorities have been forced to horrible action. They destroy the unwanted dogs who do not get new humans. This is done by loading the dogs into a mobile gas chamber, driving the dogs to a crematorium. The poor dogs do not know the horrible end that awaits them.

If you follow the link, you can watch a BBC news report about this. I have to warn you, it is horrible! In my mind, this is worse than any horror movie I have ever seen. It is even more terrifying, when you consider that it is true. I wish Japanese in general would take better care of their dogs. News reports like this make me afraid for the very country where Shiba Inus come from.

By the end of the report, though, there is a tiny hope for the future, as it seems like more and more of young Japanese are willing to take care of abandoned dogs. Let us hope for this!

End of the Month

I am proud of Paula. She has now been working full time as a nurse for two full months, a job that takes great skill and requires great responsibility. She also keeps making sure the whole family has a good life and that all the bills get paid. Sure, Daniel earns a substantial part of the family's income, but Paula is the one who actually pays the bills. It is now the end of the month, and the bills have been paid for this month. I am glad I do not have to pay bills, it seems like a dull thing to do, and Paula is never quite happy when she is done with it. Nevertheless, she always make sure the bills get paid. From what I know, the overwhelming majority of humans make sure their bills get paid every month, but I am still proud of Paula who does this in our family. She would be a great human for any dog to have.

Volvo Cars, Now Chinese

A company from the Peoples Republic of China has purchased the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars. P.R. China is a dictatorship. They do not care about human rights. Rumour also has it they care very little about dogs. I believe it is too bad a Chinese company has bought Volvo Cars. If I would ever buy a car, I would not buy a car owned by a company from a dictatorship, thus, Volvo would now be out of the question.

Daylight Savings Time

Sweden shifted from standard Central European Time to daylight savings time today. I do not care much, as a dog, I let my humans see to it that things are done on time and follow their ideas on when to get up in the morning. I do think it is rather weird, though, to be forced to switch the time of all the watches. It is a way of deceiving people, instead of just asking them to get up an hour earlier during half the year. Well, maybe I just do not understand, since I do not care much about the exact time.

Salmon

Paula and Daniel were grocery shopping this afternoon, and found cheap salmon file that they bought. They had some for themselves, and then they gave a lot to us dogs. We did not have to eat any of our ordinary food, but had salmon, potatoes, and hollandaise sauce instead. While our ordinary food tastes good, it gets a little dull eating the very same thing day by day. The food we got today was a different thing altogether. It was also the first time that my pups tasted salmon. This food was great, and out of the ordinary. Sometimes, it does not take more than this to make a day terrific.

Birthday

My pups turn five weeks today. They are discovering the world around them and look like beautiful, but small, Shiba Inus. Well, since they are my pups and the pups of the father I chose for them, it would be rather strange if they would be anything but that.

We have made plans for the first dog shows for both pups, where they can go in puppy class. They are not yet entered into any shows, but entering them is not necessary yet. I will not take anythingfor granted, but if we are very lucky, one of them may join me in the BIS-puppy club. They do have parents who have gone far in the show rings, so they would have the talent necessary. I hope they will like dog shows as much as I do.

Easter is Coming

It is soon Easter, just a week away now. I like this holiday, because it is the holiday when the most candy is consumed. Do I have to say more? I am looking forward to it.

Of course, candy is not the original reason to celebrate Easter. It is celebrated for the death and resurection of Christ. This may well be commemorated with a lot of candy.

Adorable

Have you ever seen pups discovering the world and playing with each other? I do that constantly these days. My pups are adorable. I wish everyone could experience the kind of joy that I feel when I see my pups happy.

Minced Meat

My pups have started to eat real food. They get minced meat, which is tasty and healthy for them. As is usually the case with pups of their age, they only eat a little at a time. I help them out, so they can finish their meals. This also teaches them that if they do not finish their meals themselves, somebody else will, which is a valuable lesson for them. It almost goes without saying that I also like the minced meat. What I eat will get to them, nevertheless, since they still get milk from me. It is a win-win situation.

Visited by Wolves

A village in the northern, sparely populated parts of Sweden, Lillhärdal in the province Härjedalen, is visited by wolves. The wolves have killed deer right in the middle of the village. It is one female, and she has met a male and is in heat, so there may be pups in the near future.

Some of the inhabitants are scared, one of them even asked the authorities if he could kill the wolves. The authorities declined. This is good. I can understand the anxiety of the villagers, but I am also concerned about the well being of the wolves. I wish there would be an easy way to make the wolves move further away from the village. This would be safer for the wolves and the humans in the village would also feel much better. It is too bad I have no easy solution to offer.

Back from the Show

Paula, Mum, and April came back home from the show this afternoon. My daughter Meja had also been there, and she was the most successful of all the Shiba Inus connected with our kennel, becoming third best female. Mum was BOS veteran and April was fourth best in champion class. It is always nice to hear about Meja's success, it makes me feel proud to be her mother. I guess I did something right when raising her, giving her the basic knowledge of how to act as a fine dog that is the basis for every dog show star. Hopefully, the pups of my current litter can be equally successful.

Puppy Visitors

We had visitors here today, friends from the neighbourhood where we used to live when I was a pup myself. I still count their dog, the Bernese Mountain Dog called Amadeus, a friend of mine. If everything goes to plan, they will be my son Nemo's new family. Nemo liked them when they cuddled with him. This is good. I am sure Nemo will get a great life with his new family.

Spring Show

Paula took April and Mum to a dog show tomorrow. I did not get to go, since I have my pups to attend to. While I love my pups and live for them, I still feel a little sad that I did not get to go too. Dog shows are so fun to be at. Well, we have talked about going to shows later in the year, when my youngest pups will compete in puppy class and I can compete in champion class. This is something to look forward to.

Spring

Spring is near. We have had temperatures well above the freezing point today. There is still a lot of snow, but this is not strange considering how much snow we have had this winter. With higher temperatures for a longer time, all of the snow will eventually disappear. I look forward to spring. It is good if the weather is warm when my pups start to go out. It will not take long now before they do.

Great Result

Meja, Aangenaam Gently As She Goes, was BIS 2 Junior at a match show in Laholm!
We are very happy and proud over Meja! Special congratulations to Mejas owners, Karin & Staffan!

I am certain Meja will be even more successful in the future. She will certainly get great results in the years to come.

Names

The pups of my most recent litter have been registered with the Swedish Kennel Club under their respective official names. The names are:

The male, Nemo: Aangenaam Eclipse Class Cruiser
The female, Polly: Aangenaam Full Moon Eclipse

This is the E litter from our breeding, and since both Mum and I have the name Eclips in our official names, we decided to have an E theme based on the word eclipse. Nemo is named for a Royal Navy class of war ships, which suits the marine inspired name that we call him. Polly is named for the last part of the Twilight trilogy, novels and films that especially Paula is fond of. These are good names.

You might wonder why we spell eclipse with an e at the end. This is because that is actually the correct spelling of the word in English, but when Mum got her official name Taichung Total Eclips of the HRT, the final e had to be cropped off because her name would have been too long otherwise. I inherited the spelling from Mum, but we felt it was time to spell the name in a more proper fashion now.

Formula 1

The Formula 1 season of 2010 started today with the Grand Prix of Bahrain. Paula and Daniel have purchased the TV channel Viasat Motor to enable us to see all the grands prix. The first race was a double victory for Ferrari, winner was the two time world champion Fernando Alonso (2005, 2006). My guess is that Alonso will be world champion again this year.

We Do Have Water

In a part of our home city called Solhaga, the community water pipes are out of service. This is one of those moments when I am glad we have water from our private well. However, if you will ever be out of water, the best time is a snow rich winter like this. The inhabitants of Solhaga has the posibility to fill pots with snow and then melt and boil it on the stove. If this would have happened on a dry summers day, that would not have been an option. Still, it is of course more convenient to have water flowing from the tap.

Play Time

My pups have started to play with each other. A little carefully to start with, just a cute form of wrestling, but still. It is very cute to look at. It will not be long until they start to be all over the room. Then they will discover the world outdoors. It will be more play when they do, and more to look after. So far, they are just here with me in the litter box, though.

Morning Walk

This morning I joined Daniel and the other dogs for the regular morning walk. It was my first morning walk since before I got my present litter of pups. I felt like I needed it, a girl has to stretch out her legs once in a while. It was fun to get back into the old habits, if only for a while. When we got back home, I went in to my dear pups again. They were still asleep and I do not think they even realized that I was gone for half an hour. They are so cute. The rest of the day was an ordinary pup maintenance day.

Wolves Hit by Railcar

Four wolves have been hit by a railcar in Dalecarlia in central Sweden. Two of them were killed, while two are probably hurt and sought after by hunters. This is a great tragedy. Wolves are already an endangered species in Sweden, which has, nevertheless, been decimated by legally authorised hunting this year. We do not need the unnecessary death of more wolves.

If anything good can come out of this killing of wolves, I hope it will be to set the recent complains against train companies into perspective. People in Sweden have complained about the train companies and railway government authorities all winter, because there have been so many late trains. The death of two wolves and injuries for other wolves are a much greater tragedy than that.

Early Night

Sometimes, we stay up until rather late. Other evenings, we go to sleep early. Paula does not feel very well this evening, so we accompany her to the land of nocturnal dreams early. Good night, everybody!

International Women's Day

Today is the International Women's day. This is the day that favours women as the sex among humans who have, throughout history, been more disadvantaged in society as compared to men. Whereas men and women are rather equal these days, there are still many who believe they are not equal enough and that the women's day is needed.

There is no need for an equivalent day for dogs. Among dogs, it is self evident that the oldest female is the ruler of the pack. Nevertheless, it would be fun to instate an international day like this, especially if you consider the metaphorical meaning - besides the litteral meaning - that the name of such a day would have: the International Bitches' Day.

No Animal Welfare Lawyers

In Switzerland, the people voted against a proposal to install a nationwide force of lawyers, whose job it would have been to protect the interests of animals in courts of law. I am not quite sure what to think about the plan or the vote not to adopt it. On one side, it would certainly be positive for neglected and mistreated dogs in the country. On the other side, Switzerland already have high standards on their animal protection laws while these proposed lawyers would have meant a heavy cost for the tax payers.

The main concern that I had, though, when I heard of the idea, was that these proposed animal lawyers would work for the protection of many more species than dogs. I do not care much for livestock and other such animals, that are meant, eventually, to be eaten. It is for the best if livestock is treated in a good way, because it means the meat becomes better. However, I cannot extend my compasion to livestock in the same way that I do for other dogs or for humans. Perhaps it is for the best that this proposal was turned down, so that the animal rights groups of Switzerland can come back with a less expensive plan that cares for man's best friend and not much more.

Visitor

Paula's sister Mia came to visit me and my pups. Both pups were comfortable in the hands of Mia. I know Mia since I was about the same age myself, and I trust her completely to be careful and gentle with my pups. It was a nice visit and a nice break in the routines when caring for pups. As the pups grow older, we will be able to welcome more visitors.

Outrageous Behaviour

Some boys have bullied Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko of Japan in school. It has gone so far that the princess has been home for most of this week. This is outrageous! How can anyone get away with doing that to an Imperial Highness of Japan? What is more, how can anyone get away with doing that to someone who has such a nice dog, as can be seen on a picture in the article that I have linked to.

Shorter Days

It is spring, and the Sun is above the horizon longer and longer each day. On the other hand, Earth's rotation has increased slightly by the recent earthquake in Chile, making each day a little shorter. While the annual shift in daylight is noticeable, the change due to the earthquake is not. According to NASA, the shift was only about a microsecond. This is a length of time that I cannot imagine, it is so short. Nevertheless, it is a fun little fact to know of.

Wales

The Swedish national football team is playing a friendly game against Wales tonight. I am not that interested. Friendly games are not very important, and Wales does not have such a good team that it is an exciting game of itself. I would bet that Sweden wins. I care about my pups instead of watching the game.

TV Shows and Caring for Pups

My pups are what is most important for me, especially when they are so small and helpless as now. There are occasions, however, where I have a wish to be somewhere else. This evening, Paula, Daniel, and the other dogs were watching a TV show on K-9 cops, that is dogs in police service. This is interesting and I would have wanted to see it. I stayed with my pups, however, because they are more important. I know what priorities I have in life.

Snow Storm

It is March, a month which can be considered a spring month, if you divide the year into four equally long seasons where December, January, and February is winter. Nevertheless, the south of Sweden has been plagued with temperatures below the freezing point, snowfalls, and cold winds. There is so much snow that when we walk along the paths that Daniel has made through the snow outdoors, we cannot see anything to the sides. The snow is simply lying to high for Shiba Inus. Well, I guess spring is bound to come, eventually. The days are getting longer.

Dog Show

Daniel was away on a dog show today, in our home town, where he worked as a ring steward. I like going on shows myself, but this was an unofficial show, so I do not care that my maternity duties kept me from it. Unofficial shows are not a great enough challenge for a girl who have had the successes that I have had in the show rings. I do hope, however, that I will make a grand come back in the show rings later this year. This is something to look forward to.

Fudge

Paula and Daniel decided to have a nice and cozy evening at home. One of the things they did to prepare for this was to buy candy. They bought a piece of vanilla fudge for each of us dogs - except for my pups. Fudge is great, but I believe my pups would also have deserved one piece of fudge each. They do not eat anything but my milk yet, so I would have had to eat the fudge for them, remaking it into their milk. As the good mother I am, I would gladly have done that. Paula and Daniel thought nothing of this plan, however, and denied my pups their equal share of fudge. The evening was nice, but denying my pups fudge was the one thing that tainted it. Well, I guess the pups will enjoy fudge in the future, anyway.

How Similar is a Shiba Inu to a Fox, Really?

Humans often say Shiba Inus looks like foxes. Naturally, they mostly say this when they are thinking of red Shiba Inus, not black and tans like me, Dad, or my current litter. This similarity is not that big, for instance, foxes do not have the beautifully curled tail of a Shiba Inu. Nevertheless, it seems like the similarity may be big enough to be dangerous.

Our friend Kesshi has a son who lives in another part of Sweden, where they had a fox infected with scabies whom they wanted to shoot and kill. Kesshi's son found his way out of his garden and went alone into the woods, where a trap with food had been prepared for the fox. When this innocent and perfectly healthy Shiba Inu spotted the food, he went there to eat, but only to be shot at. He was hit.

I cannot understand how a healthy Shiba Inu can be mistaken for a fox infected by scabies. I hope the shooter appologizes and pays the veterinary bill, it is the least he can do.

Shoveling on the Roof

Due to the heavy snow falls this winter, people have been warned not to keep a lot of snow on their roofs. On our little house and our barn, the roofs are steep enough that there is not so much snow that it poses any danger. The main building is another matter. Daniel has shoveled snow off this roof. The problem is that it sounds terrible. We cannot help but asking him to stop. He did stop after a while, saying he had taken the worst piles of snow off. This is good, it keeps our house safe.

Day Off

Mum business today, stay tuned for a longer blog post tomorrow.

My Pups

I hardly think of anything but my pups these days. I know I will be able to focus on other things soon, but right now, they are so dependent on me. They are also so cute and lovely.

While the girl has been the biggest of the pups from their birth, the boy has caught up somewhat. He has grown more than her since yesterday. This is quite natural - as a boy, he is supposed to end up as bigger than the girl. Adult Shiba Inu males are always bigger than adult females. Of course, the females rule despite our lesser weight, but that is also quite natural.

There are Olympic Winter Games going on in Canada, but I have not followed the games since giving birth to the pups. I guess I will catch up later.

Growth

My pups are growing rapidly, as they tend to do when they are just a few days old. I can see and feel the changes myself, but Paula and Daniel use a scale to measure the weight of the pups. I let them do this, though I do not really like it, because it makes them feel more at ease when they know the pups are growing. Humans are often so dependent on measuring and checking things, things that dogs know just by looking, feeling, hearing, or smelling. We have to let our humans do this, because they do so many things for us. Still, I know my pups are growing and that they are healthy without measurements. This makes me feel good.

What's in a Name?

We are debating what we would like to call my pups. There must be official names to be registered with the Swedish Kennel Club, and there must be names that humans can call out and that dogs can easily understand and separate from names of other dogs.

Shiba Inus have a reputation for chosing their own names. The pups are yet too small to have anything to say for themselves in this matter, still being deaf, but I would like it to be nice names. When they grow older, they may want to change names, but that is a question between each dog and his or her human.

The litter is an E litter, so Paula and Daniel would like to give the two pups official names that reflects the letter E in some way or another. I do not care as much about these names, but I will give Paula and Daniel enough time to agree on great names. I am quite satisfied myself with my official name, that they gave me.

Picture of My Pups

This is my youngest son and daughter, a photography from last night. I am still a little tired and busy taking care of them, so you will have to wait a little longer before I tell you more.

Pups Born

My pups were born today: one dog and one bitch. Both are black and tan, which makes me glad. Now I will go back to them, I will tell you more later. Stay tuned!

Anniversary

Today is the tenth anniversary of the engagement of Paula and Daniel. This is a big event in the lives of all of us, because if it had not been for the combined efforts of Paula and Daniel, we would not be here. Indeed, some of us would probably not even have been born, such as myself. I rather not think about that possibility.

We had a little celebration this evening, with extra nice dinner. There were shrimp added to the dog food, really tasty. Later, there were the pastry of the season, semla. Paula gave me some of her. It was a great evening.

Whom Can You Trust?

A woman in Malmoe in the south of Sweden, who held herself out to the public as a dog watcher, has been caught stealing at the home of one of the watched dogs, while the dog's humans were at work. This is a grave misuse of the trust she had been given. If you entrust your dog to another human being, this has to involve the biggest trust possible. If this woman cannot be trusted into the home of the dog, because she steals there, what has she done to the dog? I feel sorry for the dog, who no doubt trusted her.

Shrove Tuesday

In English speaking countries, this day is called Shrove Tuesday. They eat pancakes there on this day. Pancakes are great, but in Sweden, we eat something even better, we eat a pastry called semla. It is eaten from this day and throughout the fourty days until Easter.

Daniel loves the pastry semla. However, he abandoned the semla he would get on his workplace to be able to work from home in the afternoon, in the company of us dogs. This was a great sacrifice, but we were happy he did this. In the evening, there was time for a semla.

Economic Growth

The Japanese economy grew by 1.1 % in the final quarter of last year. Japan is the worlds second largest economy, and its growth shows that the world is on its way to recovery from the recession of last year.

The third largest economy, mainland China, is growing faster. It seems likely that China will soon pass Japan and become the new second largest economy. This is not strange, given the capitalistic politics of the one-party state that still calls itself a communistic Peoples Republic of China. I just wonder when there will be an upheaval in China - either by going back to the communistic teachings or, perhaps more likely, by establishing a democratic form of government that can make the economy even better.

Road Closed

This winter has had more snow than usual in Sweden. The road between Kiruna in the north of Sweden and Narvik on the Norwegian border is currently closed by Riksgränsen, at the border between Sweden and Norway, due to deep snow. Many years ago, Paula worked in Riksgränsen. It is fortunate she came home from there and did not go back. We would not want her to be trapped in snow, nor all of us, if we would live there too.

Opening Ceremony

Paula and Daniel got up really early this morning, at 3 a.m. This was because the live television coverage of the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games would start at this time in Sweden. We go by Central European time, whereas Vancouver in Canada goes by Pacific Time. Mum said it should not be hard to be awake at this hour for her, because it is the real time zone for Taichung dogs, and she has lived for many years at kennel Taichung in Tenino, WA, USA. Nevertheless, I believe she slept though most of the ceremony, just like the rest of us did. Daniel stayed awake for the longest time, but even he fell asleep by the end of the ceremony. It was some boring show numbers in the middle and towards the end, he said, whereupon Mum said it would have been better if it had been south of the border, in the USA. She is always the American patriot, my Mum.

Tracking Devices for Dogs

A company in a small town just north of our home city in Sweden has received a large order from France on devices for electonically tracking dogs. The company normally manufactures similar devices for wild animals. I am concerned about devices like this. If you would manufacture and sell similar devices for humans, you would be widely critizised for invading privacy. However, similar devices for dogs does not seem to make people cry about invasion of privacy for the dogs. I am concerned about such privacy, however. Are not dogs worthy of our privacy, to some extent? I believe we are.

Unexpected Find

A Swedish police dog who was just out to rest from a car ride suddenly marked a piece of ice for his human companion. The ice contained a small gun. It will be examined to see who owns it. So far, nobody knows where it came from and how it ended up on the side of a country road in Sweden. Somebody may become very lucky that the police dog found the gun, or if it has been used in criminal activities, very unlucky. I hope to get to know more, it sounds like the start of a detective story.

Clouded Leopard

A cat species discovered as late as three years ago, the Sundaland clouded leopard, has been caught on film for the very first time on Borneo in Indonesia. It is a relative of the Asia mainland clouded leopard, but a separate species. It is the largest predator on Borneo, which sounds like a cool thing to be, but it is still regarded as an endangered species. This is not due to commercially used forests, such forests can very well hold and preserve many species if managed in a good way, but there are still few of these cats around. I hope the species will be around for many centuries to come.

Deep Concern

Kuro chan is deeply concerned over the fact that Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has been forced to recall a large number of cars of the Prius model. It is not only that he is a Shiba Inu, and as such of a Japanese breed, but that he was born and raised in Japan. I am also concerned, but not as concerned as Kuro chan. We hope this does not reflect too badly on Toyota's reputation of building cars with very good quality. When you think about it, recalling cars has its positive sides to the manufacturer, it shows the great concern that the manufacturer has of the well being of its customers.

Casualties of War

Two Swedish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. Sweden participates with soldiers in the multilateral peace force in Afghanistan, but some Swedes are upset now and want Sweden to withdraw all Swedes immediately. There are naturally some risk to be hurt or killed when you participate in such a force, but it goes with the job. Being there and being part in upholding peace and civilisation against the extreme islamists called the Talebans is a good thing. I believe Sweden should participate, as long as there are Swedes who are willing to go there and participate in the peace force.

Snow on the Roof

With all the snowy days this winter, and with a roof that is far from steep, we have a lot of snow upon it. This may be dangerous, snow is rather heavy and may break the roof, if there is too much of it. Daniel has spent part of the weekend shoveling snow from the roof. I did not like the sound of it, but I do understand the importance of it. I hope our roof will stay intact.

Song Contest

The first round of the Swedish trials for the Eurovision Song Contest was aired on Swedish Television today. Out of the eight songs, not one was really good. Paula believed the two songs that went straight to the finale was the two best songs, so for her sake, I am glad those songs did. We have to hope for better songs in the Saturdays to come.

Runeberg Day

Today they celebrate Runeberg Day in Finland. It is a day commemorating the famous poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who wrote some of the most revered poems about Finland and the war in 1808-09, in which Finland was lost from Sweden to Russia. A sad result of the war for Swedes and Finns alike, but the Russian Grand Prinicpality of Finland eventually became the independent country of Finland that exist today. Runeberg also wrote the lyrics to Finland's national anthem.

On Runeberg Day, you are supposed to eat Runeberg cake. This is a small cake with frosting and raspberry jam. I would have liked to taste one, but it does not seem like you can get any in Örebro. Runeberg did write all his works in Swedish, still an official language of Finland but more common back then, but he is regarded as a poet of Finland and I guess this is why we do not celebrate him much in Sweden. We should, though, there are no bad reasons to celebrate and cakes are always a good thing.

The First Week

Paula has made her first week at work. You may find that strange, since it is Thursday today and she is working full time, but since she has some evening hours alongside her day hours, she get an occasional day off here and there. Tomorrow is her first day off. This is good for us dogs, because then she will be at home with us most of the day. While we are perfectly capable of being at home alone, it always feels better when Paula and Daniel, or preferably both, are at home too. Paula will generally not have any weekend hours, so both she and Daniel will often be at home all weekends as well. This feels good.

Even More Snow

They said on the radio this morning, that the more southern parts of Sweden had heavy snow falls, and that we would get a little snow in Örebro later in the day. However, by that time, snow was already falling in our home city. Daniel has been out shoveling snow. He is starting to get really annoyed with all the snow, because he have a hard time finding places to store it all. We have a lot of high piles of snow in the yard. Nevertheless, it is always fun for us dogs to play in newly fallen snow.

Weird Idea for Peace Prize

The Italian edition of Wired Magazine claims to have nominated the Internet for the Nobel Peace Prize. While I can agree that the vast opportunities of communication that the Internet has brought to the world is good for peace, the Internet is an inanimate object. One of the main ideas of the Internet is that nobody and everybody owns it. If the Internet would get the prize, who would get the prize money, and what would be done with them? I believe giving the prize to the Internet simply cannot be done. It is a weird idea. On the other hand, I was not the only one who thought Barack Obama could not get the Peace Prize last year, but he did. If the Peace Prize committee want to take the edge of the ridicule from last year's prize, giving the prize to the Internet would be the perfect choice. I would not vote for it, would I be part of the committee, but I am not.

Work

Paula has started her work today. She will work about half the time from morning until afternoon and half the time from noon until evening. Today she works from noon until evening, and we are at home with Daniel. It will be interesting to hear what Paula has to say about her new work. She was a bit nervous this morning, but I guess that is just what you would have to expect. We are all certain she will do a tremendously fine job.

Winter

This is the last day of January, and the winter is as cold as ever. We had about 20 cm of new snow this week. According to the meteorologists, there will be more snow next week. I like new snow, it is fun to play in. At the same time, I hope the winter will not be too long. I am expecting pups in the second half of February, and they will want to go out by the end of March and in April. It must not be too cold when my pups want to go out. Well, we cannot know now what the weather will be like a month from now, but nobody can take my hope away. I just hope the best for my pups, that is all. We will have to see what February will be like.

A Miracle on the Baltic Sea

A Polish research ship in the Baltic Sea recently discovered a dog way out on the sea, who tried to stay afloat on small patches of ice. The crew managed to rescue the dog, who is now safe and warm onboard. He had been seen floating down the Polish river Wisla on the ice, but nobody had been able to save him before. It is uncertain who is really this dogs human, out of four people who have claimed him, he has met two, but did not recognize them. So far, the ship's crew takes care of him, and will keep him until his identity and real humans may be identified. The question of his identity is important, but the main thing is, of course, that he is safe now.

Friday Night

It is Friday night, and we are winding down at the beginning of the weekend. Life could only be slightly better, Paula could be home. Paula spends the evening with her sister Mia and Mia's dog Kesshi. We are not complaining, everybody cannot be at home all the time. I hope she has fun, like we have.

No Swedish Budget Deficit

Out of the 27 member countries of the European Union, 20 have such high budget deficits that the European Commission demands that they take action against it. Sweden is among the seven countries that are financially sound and are not required by the Commission to take any further action. This is good, it means that the Kingdom of Sweden has a very good economy even in the current recession. A sound government economy is one of the most important things for the economy of the whole country to thrive economically. This is because the government part of the whole economy is so big and important, and because the government can levy new or higher taxes if its economy is bad, to the detriment of other parts of the economy. It must be said that the current administration is good at handling the kingdom's economy. This is something for all grown up humans to consider in the general election this autumn.

Spyker

The Dutch car manufacturer Spyker has purchased the Swedish car manufacturer Saab from American corporation General Motors. It is good for all fans of Saab, because General Motors would have closed the factory otherwise. I am a little worried, though. Spyker was involved in Formula 1 for a year and a half recently, but then sold the racing team to Force India. Will they hold out for a longer time with Saab?

An Unnecessary World Championship

The world championship in bandy is played in Russia now. The only two countries who really compete for the gold medals are Sweden and Russia. Finland, Norway, Kazakstan, and the USA participate as well, but this is more an excuse for the bandy fans to call it a world championship. Sweden just beat the USA 14-6 with a reserve team. The championship could actually be played as one game between Russia and Sweden. Outside of these two countries, hardly anybody cares.

It is not an olympic sport, too few nations are good at it. The sport in itself is almost like ice hockey, but played on an ice big as a football field and with a red ball, a ball hardly visible on TV. You can only become a professional if you go to Russia, but who would want to do that? I think bandy should be scrapped, in favour of ice hockey. The sport is unnecessary, and the world championship even more.

Paula Is Back

Paula came back late last night. I wanted to wait until she came home before I posted anything in my blog, because her homecoming would be the best thing to write about. She came home at half past eleven in the night, and immediately occupied the computer to upload pictures from her visit in Norway. It was interesting to see the pictures and hear her tell of Dad's breeder, who is also Hibiki's new human. I did not get to use the computer before midnight, that is why I did not write anything in my blog yesterday. It did not matter, though, the main thing was that Paula came back home.

Missing Paula

When Paula is away for the night, she usually come home early in the morning. We hoped she would this morning too, but she did not. She is missed.

Hibiki Has Left Us

Hibiki left us for his new home and new human family today. April, I, Dad, and Daniel accompanied him and Paula to the airport, from which they flew to the final destination, the town where Hibiki will live from now on. Dad has told Hibiki about this town, he has first hand knowledge of it since he was a pup. (Sometimes, I have a hard time picturing Dad as a pup, even though I know he once was one.) We miss Hibiki, especially April, but we are convinced that he will have a good life with his new family and we know his new humans have been looking forward to welcome him home for a long time. It will all be great and we will surely meet Hibiki again at future dog shows.

Customs

There was a show on American border patrols and customs on TV tonight. One of the customs officers was a dog named Dixie. She searched baggage for food, since it is illegal to bring unsealed food into the USA to prevent bacteria and such things to come in. A young man had to pay a fine of $ 300 for having a sandwich in his bag. He denied that it was his intent to smuggle it in, of course, but who would not? This was a good catch by the customs dog.

Sometimes, I wish I could have a job as important as this customs dog. I am not complaining, but there might be more to life than this. On the other hand, I am quite happy with my life as a pet and show dog and a mum. The mum part is rewarding and important, and so is the show dog part.

Ultra Sound

Paula and I went to the veterinarian today to make an ultra sound exam of me. I have never been in doubt that I am expecting pups, but it is always nice to have the vet's word on it. According to the vet, I am expecting at least four pups. This would make my next litter the biggest litter so far in our breeding programme. I am not surprised at that either, with my second litter and the nice father I picked for it.

Mum is a little envious at me for expecting pups. It is not that she, at her age, want to have more pups, but when expecting pups you get more food to eat, and food has always been Mum's biggest love.

Farmville?

Paula is playing an online game called Farmville at Facebook. The object is to grow crops, that can be sold so that other stuff can be bought and the farm can be developed. So far, she mostly grows strawberries. I cannot understand the fascination of this game. It would be completely different if she would have a pig farm or something like that. Since it is a computer game, thus a bit unrealistic, I would also like it if meatballs could be grown. Berries are not as cool, because meat is much tastier than berries.

Sports Gala

The Swedish Sports Gala was broadcasted in live television tonight. I was not interested. I like to watch sport on TV sometimes, but I believe the highest form of competition is dog shows, and they do not care about dog shows on the Sports Gala. I hope they will eventually have live TV coverage of main dog shows in Sweden.

Early Sunday Morning

We had to get up early this morning, despite it being Sunday - the day of rest - and despite the late night yesterday. Paula and Daniel went away with some of the dogs, but not me, but they would not say what they were up to. Sometimes, this would mean they would go to a dog show without me, since they know how much I love to go to shows. However, I do not think they went to a dog show without me today, because the pup Hibiki came along. He is old enough to go most places, but would not be old enough to enter a dog show ground, with all the dogs and potential health hazards this might bring pups. I wonder where they went and what they did. It is terrible not to know, even though the worst thing today was getting up so early on a Sunday morning.

Graduation

Paula graduated from nursing school today. There has been a lot of preparations and planing for this day, especially this week. There were talk about inviting family for a dinner after the ceremony at the university and talk about cake, so we anticipated it with high expectations. However, it has turned out that the dinner was not at our place and that the cake was eaten at the dinner at that other place. Rumor has it, the other place was Paula's parents house, but we are not certain, because none of us dogs were invited. Instead, we had to spend most of the day with just the company of each other, as Paula and Daniel were away and no other human friends came to visit us. It is understandable that Paula and Daniel do not tell us outright if they will go to Paula's parents without bringing any of us, because they know we get disappointed if we do not get to come. On the other hand, it is sometimes better to know and be disappointed than not to know and being unable to know what to think.

Oh well, it might have been a disappointing day for us dogs, but Paula only graduates once and the main thing is that she is happy about how the day turned out. Daniel came home on many occasions during the day to let us out and to give us food, so we were well taken care of the whole day anyway. We will have to hear about Paula's day when she comes home later tonight.

Human Languages

Humans are said to have the most advanced languages of all animals. However, it comes with a price: they often cannot understand each other. While all dogs have the same language around the world, humans have hundreds of different languages. This also makes it difficult for us dogs. We are capable of learning the basics of human languages, but learn the specific language that our humans speak. Paula and Daniel still uses some commands in English when talking to Mum, since she lived her first five years in America.

In England, a dog was taken care of by a shelter, where they first thought he was deaf, because he did not respond to any commands. This was before they realized he came from a Polish family and did understand commands given in Polish. Now they have managed to make him bilingual, so he understand some English as well, thus making it easier for him to get a new human family in England. I hope everything turns out well for him.

Borders

There is a US TV documentary that we have seen a few times about the US border control. It is quite interesting to see when they apprehend people with the most stupid answers to simple questions. I believe border control is important, not least for the safety and health of dogs and other animals. Border controls can keep diseases out. It is nice to see the effectiveness of the US authorities, especially since I am half American myself, through my dear Mum.