Public Safety Is a Government Responsibility

A newly issued Swedish Government enquiry proposes that the Government would no longer be responsible for the economic damage done by dangerous contagious animal diseases. Instead, the animal owners would be responsible. They would have to get private insurance if they would want to protect themselves against the economic risks of this responsibility.

I believe this is not right. A contagious disease is a risk for the whole society. Government intervention is often needed, because the Government is the only one who can force people to do this or that, or not to do this or that. It may be necessary to use force to defend society from contagious diseases, and Government is the only one who may use force. This is a matter of defending the whole society, just like the police defends us from criminals and the military defends us from foreign threats. This defence is necessary for all tax payers, thus, all tax payers should contribute and the Government should pay.

Of course, in the case where an animal owner is reckless, and this recklessness contributes to spreading the disease, the animal owner should be liable. This is another matter altogether. Animal owners are often unable to stop the spreading of the disease themselves. It is not a coincidence that these diseases are called contageous.

The main issue here is that defending society from contagious diseases is one of the main responisbilities of the Government, therefore, the main economic responsibility should belong to the Government.

Gate

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Daniel got mad with me this afternoon for chewing at a gate sealing off part of the kitchen. All he had to do to stop me was to open the gate. Fortunately, I got this message through to him rather quickly. It is not my intention to destroy things, but sometimes, I have to do disruptive things like this to make myself clear to my humans. They are not as good as the other dogs at interpreting my more subtle signals. Humans do have a well developed language, and like the fact that we dogs learn it, but they are actually worse at interpreting us than we are at interpreting them. We love them dearly, nevertheless.

The Hunt Is Over

The licenced wolf hunt in Sweden is over - this year. Of the twenty wolves that the government had allowed hunters to shoot, nineteen were shot and killed. The quota in Västmanland County was one wolf, but the hunters there never managed to kill any wolf. They were close a couple of days ago, but the wolf they were closing in on went over the border to Örebro County, where the quota was filled already. This was fortunate, it is almost as if that wolf knew of the border and the safety on the far side of it. I am glad less than the overall quota were killed.

Valentine's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Today is Valentine's day. As far as I have understood, this is a day when loving couples are supposed to express their love for each other in a more romantic and fantastic way than they usually do. Granddad has expressed his love for Grandmom. I love my grand parents!

Now the Third

Japan is now the third largest economy in the world. The biggest economy is still the USA, but China has surpassed Japan as the second largest economy.

This does not say much, though. Japan has the world's tenth largest population, with about 127 million humans. Meanwhile, China has the largest population on Earth, about 1 341 million humans. Thus, China has a population that is more than ten times bigger than that of Japan. It is actually more noteworthy that China has not surpassed Japan much earlier, given these population figures. Each Chinese citizen still just has about a tenth per capita as large economy as each Japanese.

The main reason that Japan's economy is so much bigger per capita is, of course, the communistic dictatorship of China, whereas the Chinese economic growth over the last years is due to the capitalism that is still allowed in the nominal communistic country. China can come back when its economic size relative to Japan reflects its population's size. At that time, this might be something to discuss.

Meat Sauce

We got meat sauce in our food both yesterday and today. It gives the food an edge it usually does not have. I do like our normal food, but variety is always nice. Variety with meat that is nicely seasoned is even better.

Democratic Failure

Humans have this thing called democracy, in which everybody in a certain town, county or nation gets to vote on people, who will then rule until the next election. Democracy is not fool proof, though. In our home city of Örebro, there were cheating in the last election to the city council. There will now be a new election in the part of the city where the voting fraud took place.

Mum says it would be easier for humans to do as dogs do: let the alpha female rule. This is easy for her to say, who is the alpha female of our pack. I am not sure humans could be ruled that way. Over the years, humans have done away with many absolute monarchies, which may be the closest human equivalent to the dog alpha female form of government; it is only that absolute monarchs were seldom as benign rulers as dog alpha females usually are. We have to remember that humans are different from dogs and sometimes not as smart as we are. Well, this new election does not affect us dogs directly, anyway, so we do not have to be too concerned.

Will There Be War?

Talks have collapsed between Japan's neighbours North and South Korea. We just have to hope this will not result in war. The dictatorship North Korea is a much poorer country than democratic South Korea, but invests much in its military. Still, the North Koreans starve and are dependent on foreign aid. It might be that the North Korean regime sees war as a last resort to gain further advantages, if they believe they could win. I guess all they want is some kind of casus belli that would not cause people in general to blame the war on them. Hopefully, they will never get such a chance.

Moving?

Paula and Daniel has been away looking at a house that is for sale. There is talk about moving away from this house, if we find something better. This might be in many years, but it might also be very soon. I am excited at the idea of finding new hunting grounds. So is Polly, who has lived in this house all her life.

Mum, on the other hand, is not happy about the idea. She says she has moved enough in her life. I can understand her, she grew up in Washington in the Pacific region of the USA, then moved to Texas in the south of the USA, then back to Washington, then she moved to Sweden to live with Paula and Daniel. We have also moved once since she came here. She has had enough, she says.

Well, as much as I can understand Mum's view, I do not agree with it. It is important to consider that if we are to move, we have to find something better than the house and the lot we have now. This would not be easy, but it is certainly be possible. If we do, I think we should move. This may be far into the future, though.

Chocolate

A new scientific study will be good news for all chocolate lovers: chocolate contains more healthy plant compounds, as a percentage if the weight, than many fruit juices. Both dark chocolate and cocoa has more antioxidant activity than fruit. It is a small wonder, then, that the Indians of Central America considered cocoa a divine thing, a gift from the gods. It is just too bad that chocolate is still considered poisonous for us dogs. I, too, want to have a really healthy snack now and then.

Poodle Specialty

Paula went away alone to a dog show today. She went to a Poodle specialty in Eskilstuna with a friend of hers from our town. It is understandable that she did not bring any of us Shiba Inus to a Poodle specialty, but I thought she would bring our Toy Poodle Laila. I am not sure why she did not. Laila did not seem to mind, though. I would have been very disappointed if I would have been left at home, if Paula would have gone to a Shiba Inu specialty, but that is just me. I know there are dogs who do not like dog shows. I do not understand them, but I let them keep their opinion if they want to.

Stupid Humans

In the Swedish capital Stockholm, there are a few popular restaurants and pubs at Stureplan which get a lot of revenue, even though they have high prices, unfriendly waiters, and bad service over all. People go there, nevertheless. A new study has shown that customers go there anyway searching for self confirmation and sexual attraction. Many VIP customers also like to go there despite all the bad service and high prices, because they know other customers are treated even worse by the waiters. Somehow, this gives them satisfaction. I cannot understand this behaviour, neither can any of my dog friends. Why not go to a friendlier place with lower prices? Would this not be even better for the self esteem? Many humans are stupid.

Satellite Navigation Tragedy

In England, a four year old human girl died in a car accident last September. This is, in it self, not an odd tragedy. It has now been made public that the cause of the accident was that the girl's parents, who sat in the front of the car, trusted their satellite navigation unit too much. When the unit told them to turn right - thus crossing the line of the opposite traffic, since they drive on the left side of the roads in England - they did so, even though road signs said right turns where not allowed there. In the investigation, both parents said they did not see any road signs, though they are there. Their car was hit in the side, just at the rear side door where the girl was sitting.

It was too bad the parents trusted their satellite navigation unit too much. I am very sad for the girl. Luckily, though, no dogs were hurt.

Gorgonzola

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I discovered a Gorgonzola cheese on a shelf in the kitchen. It had been put there, out on the edge, near enough for me to grab it. The plastic wrapping had not been torned, but I have terrific teeth for purposes like this. As I have learned before, Gorgonzola is a very tasty cheese. I have never had such a large piece of Gorgonzola to eat before, though. Daniel found out when I was licking up the last remains from the wrapping. He was very disappointed, and so was Paula when he told her. I am not to blame, though. If a tasty piece of food lies within reach of any dog, unattended by any human, that piece of food is fair game. This is the law. It actually is: Swedish law states that damage done by a dog is the dog's human's fault. My humans are Paula and Daniel, so they are to blame, not me. I was not the one who laid the cheese within my reach and left. This is not to say I never obey Paula or Daniel; on the contrary, I very often do. When they are not around, it is a different story.

Couples Divided

In the recent licenced wolf hunt in Sweden, at least nine wolf couples has been divided because one of them has been killed. This is a great tragedy! I could not imagine how sad I would be, if my husband Kuro-chan would be taken away from me. There must be some change here, licenced hunts for wolves should not go on!

Police Dogs

We watched an interesting documentary on Swedish television today. The show is called Veckans brott (Crime of the Week) and the main feature is a discussion on a controversial crime committed anywhere in Sweden. Today, though, the second part of the programme was the best, because it was about police dogs. There are police dogs who run after criminals, but most important are the police dogs who use their magnificent noses to find illegal substances, bombs et cetera. If I was not a show dog and a mother, I would have wanted to be a police dog, using my nose to uncover crimes. I believe I would have been rather good at it, because I am good at finding treats with my nose.

Scandal in Japan

One would think that getting a new political party in charge, after half a century of almost unbroken rule by an older party, would make for a good clean up of politics. Far from it. In Japan, a leading figure in the party new to the power, the Democratic Party of Japan, has been charged over a funding scandal. Democracy is good in that it makes for peaceful changes between different people in power, but it is no guarantee that the people in power will not abuse this power. A new party in power is also not a guarantee that there is no corruption in the new party. It is good that the scandal is unearthened, but every affair like this makes you wonder whether humans should be in charge of Earth. Perhaps dogs would make a better job?

Close Relative

A new study on DNA suggests that the animal commonly known as the Egyptian Jackal is not very closely related to other jackals. It is much more closely related to wolves and dogs, so much that it certainly belongs to our species, though it looks like a jackal. The scientists behind the study thus want this animal to be called the African Wolf. I congratulate the African Wolves, it sure is better to be a wolf than a jackal!

Nobody should be surprised that a wolf can look like a jackal. Just look at all the numerous dog breeds of different sizes and shapes, and consider that the dog and the wolf is the same species. While we have so far said the domesticated wolf come in very different guises, we can now say the same about the wild wolf. We are an interesting species, are we not, the canis lupus?

Sushi!

We have overheard that Paula and Daniel have planned to eat sushi tonight, and that their plans involve buying a little more than necessary for themselves to give some to us. I can hardly wait! Sushi is about as great as food can be. It is fish, which fits all carnivores; it is Japanese, and anything Japanese is great for dogs who are of Japanese lineage; and it comes in very tasty and beautiful snack size bits.

Is there anything not to like about sushi? Well, yes, there is actually one thing. The only thing I can never come to terms with about sushi is that there never seem to be enough of it. Regardless of how much you buy or make, I believe you can never have enough.

Flying High

Daniel is a politician in our home city. As such he gets the news paper Dagens Samhälle every week from the Swedish organisation of municipalities. In this weeks issue, the news paper introduces the leaders of all the Swedish municipalities after the election last autumn. In the opening lines of the news article in the paper issue of the news paper, the journalist states that none of the leaders have ever reached a higher altitude than Stefan Svensson of Partille, who has climbed to the top of Mont Blanc in France. This mountain has a peak at 4,810 metres above sea level. I do not believe this is the highest altitude any of these leaders have reached. Normal commercial aircraft reaches much higher altitudes on intercontinental and many other flights every day. I would be surprised if none of the leaders described had ever flown on an intercontinental flight. Paula and Daniel have, and I know a lot of dogs who has, including my own Mum. The altitude you reach when climbing mountains is not so special.

Salmon

We usually have dog food with salmon in it. Paula and Daniel know it is popular with all of us dogs. As decendants of dogs of Japan, fish has always been a great thing for Shiba Inus.

Dog food is, of course, not the only thing for salmon. I found this page of salmon recipes (in Swedish) and my mouth started drooling. I believe I should not take too much time writing about this, but I wanted to recommend it.

Bad Watch Dog

An unlocked car in the small Swedish town Stenungsund was stolen, even though a dog was sitting in it. The dog, a Cocker Spaniel, was obviously not a good enough watch dog, nor intimidating enough, to stop the thief.

The car is still missing, but the dog was found some hours after the theft. It has now been returned to its humans. I am happy for the dog, but I still think it did a bad job when it did not stop the theft. This may be what happens when you hand over the responsibility to a Cocker Spaniel. A Shiba Inu would not let a thief into her or his car.

Last Day of the Course

Hello, Polly here!

I brought Daniel with me for the final day of my course today. We did quite well, the two of us, and I got a diploma for my participation in the course. Daniel always calls me Polly on the course, never Karstuhl. I guess he believes Karstuhl is a name that sounds too odd. I do not care, I listen to both of my names.

The only thing less fun about the course today was that my brother Nemo did not come. Such is life. We have to get in touch some other time instead.

Visit

We visited Daniel's brother Elias today. Elias is about to get divorced, and the dog that he and his wife has co-owned will live with his soon to be ex-wife from now on. This is because she has the better opportunities to take good care of the dog. It is sad that they will divorce, and I feel sad for Elias for losing his dog, but he is a great man who makes up his mind on the dog based upon what is best for the dog. I wish all humans would be like that. We did provide some comfort by visiting Elias, I believe.

Sleep

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I heard that lions sleep about 20 hours every day. The rest of the time, they hunt, eat, drink, and play. This seem like a great life. It is a small wonder that humans call lions kings of the wilderness.

Just like lions, I also take pride in sleeping a lot. All of us dogs have accompanied Paula today, when she has slept a lot after working night, even though we slept with Daniel in the night. Consider the lions, then you can try to claim that what we did is wrong.

Passwords

A couple of months ago, my blog service provider changed some rules. Part of it was to require passwords containing at least eight letters or digits. I guess this improves safety, because it is harder to guess what a password is if it is longer. Nevertheless, I am still not used to it and I still often type my old password. The result is that I have to try to log on again, typing my new password. It does not take a lot of time, just a couple of seconds, but it is annoying all the same. I guess the force of habit is hard to change.

Corn Flakes

I stroke some luck tonight. I went into a corner in the bedroom where I rarely am, and found a large quantity of Corn Flakes there. It must be left overs from the other day, when Paula used Corn Flakes as treats when she would leave us alone at home for a while. They were tasty and certainly fresh, and I had them all for myself.

I can allow myself to write about this fortune now, when I have eaten all of the Corn Flakes. None of the other dogs can find it, despite reading my blog, since I have finished it already. This, too, give me a fair amount of satisfaction.

What? Why?

Hello, Polly here!

Mommy gets annoyed with me sometimes. She says I ask too many questions. If I try to get questions answered by some of the other grown up dogs, they just agree with Mommy.

Granny does say to Mommy that this is something any young dog does, and that Mommy asked her a lot of questions as well, when Mommy was my age. Still, this does not make Granny more eager to answer my questions. Granny says it is Mommy's main responsibility to teach and guide me in my younger years, just like Granny taught and guided Mommy. Furthermore, Granny says that she tells these things to Mommy just to get Mommy to answer my questions so she does not have to hear them herself.

Well, I do know I can be annoying sometimes, but I want to learn. When I try to learn by trial and error, the grown ups may be annoyed with me for making noise or disturbing them in other ways. If they think so, I wish they would answer my questions instead. Life is not always easy, when you are a young and curious dog.

Winter

We have had temperatures above the freezing point for a couple of days, even though it is January. Today, nature's order was restored and we had temperatures at a couple of degrees below freezing. I usually love the snow that comes with a cold winter like the one we have this season, but the top of the snow layers on the ground has now become hard, slippery layers of ice. It is not much to play in anymore. The warmer temperatures brought smells of spring to my nose, and I believe I long for springtime now. I guess we have to wait for at least a month or two before we get there, though.

I sometimes write about issues of politics in this blog. It is not that I imagine that a little dog like me can make much difference, regardless of all the wisdom that I share in my blog, but there might be the occasional seed for further thoughts planted in some reader sometimes. When I write about the weather, I know there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Still, I feel like complaining about it anyway. There are so many humans complaining about the weather here and there, everywhere, so why can't I?

Wolves and the EU

The European Commission might take legal action against Sweden for breach of the European Union environmental law. This is because of the Swedish Government's decision to allow wolf hunts, when wolves are endangered in Sweden.

I do not see the need to state my objections against wolf hunts yet again today. The action that might be taken by the European Commission is positive, in my mind. I am looking forward to seeing the result. This may teach the advocates for wolf hunts in Sweden a thing or two.

Harald V

We are celebrating King Harald V of Norway, who ascended to the throne exactly twenty years ago today. Dad, born and raised in Norway as he is, is the natural leader of the celebrations. In Dad's mind, everything about Norway is good. The rest of us do not always agree, although April has shown tendencies to emphasise the advantages of Norway more since her son Biki moved there. However, when Norway or Norwegians give us a cause to celebrate, I agree with Dad.

Do We Need Wolves?

Hello, Polly here!

Grand Aunt Linni asked me to write about the downsides of having wolves in our forests, since my Mommy persists in defending the wolves. Linni says she has been out in a forest where she discovered the scent of wolves. It was no nice experience. Linni is a bold and normally fearless dog, but this time, she just wanted to get into the car and go home.

Wolves are dangerous, wild animals. They would not be nice to dogs whom they would meet. Dogs, on the other hand, are civilised beings. What use do we have for wild cousins who do not know how to value the blessings of civilisation like artificial light and heating? Linni loves her favourite place in the kitchen next to a radiator, that is civilisation, something which wolves do not have.

Linni has no sympathy for the wolves who are hunted. Referring to my Mommys blog entry yesterday, Linni says she has no more use for the cousins of us dogs who live outside of society than she has for the humans who live outside of society. Personally, I would not be that harsh, but I believe there is some truth in what Linni says about wolves.

What If We Would Hunt You?

I am disturbed by the news that the Swedish Government has, yet again this year, decided to issue licences to hunt wolves in the Swedish forests.

The purpose of a hunt is supposed to be to feed oneself and the family. This is also a main purpose of the ordinary hunt for moose, deer, and other animals in Sweden. It is the only purpose of the hunts that wolves do, as well. None of the humans who hunt wolves eat their prey, though, just like they would never dream of eating dog meat. They hunt the wolves just for the purpose of getting rid of competition for game in the forests. This is unethical.

The wolves are cousins of us dogs. Dogs are part of the civilised society, just as much as humans are. The wolves are just like dogs, but they live out in the wild by themselves. We are the same species. Hardly any human would dream of hunting dogs, and anyone who did would be considered crazy and an animal abuser. How is it, then, that it can be justified to hunt wolves?

Just think about it. Wolves and dogs are the same animal, the only real difference is that dogs live in society and wolves do not. Licenced hunts for wolves are as if the dogs in Sweden would issue licences for the hunt of humans who live outside of society. Where would this happen? Well, I guess it would mainly be in the alleys and parks and under the bridges in our cities. Would this be justified? I think not.

No, we dogs would never hunt for you, humans. This is something we would never do, we love you to much. Wolves never do, either. However, what if we did?

Reshuffle

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has reshuffled his cabinet. It is all in the interest of fiscal stability. I have come to understand that fiscal stability is very important. You cannot have a good life without a balanced economy, and that requires fiscal stability. This is not only important for humans, but also for the dogs who depend on their humans for food and shelter (in exchange, of course, for their own great services to their humans). I hope Japan will soon get back on track and become the economic motor of the world which we are used to. Japan is such a great country that it deserves this. Hopefully, the renewed cabinet will be better. Naoto Kan has been PM for about half a year, I suppose he will be better at it with experience and create a better cabinet now.

Christmas Is Over

Hello, Polly here again!

In Sweden, Christmas is considered to be over today. I have heard that they consider other days to be the last day of Christmas in other countries, but in Sweden, it is on day 20 counted from Christmas Day. It feels a little sad to see the Christmas ornaments be tucked away, but there will be new celebrations later. In less than a year, there is another Christmas.

Granny and Mommy says that if all days were days of celebration, you might get tired of celebrating. I do not agree, I believe in non stop celebration. I think Granddad sides with me, he is always keen on eating more mackerel in tomato sauce. On the other hand, he may be old fashioned boring and say something of the kind that even though he would like to celebrate all the time, it is not feasible to do so. I believe it could be done, if we would all just agree upon it. Too bad we do not.

Soft Food

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Our dog food was soft today. Paula had put the hard pills in warm water for a while, making them softer. This is easier to eat, which is good because it makes the eating faster.

Lately, I have often eaten side by side with Lalala, who normally does not eat as fast as I do. If she has got food left when I am done, I always try to get some of her food. This is easy to justify: I must be hungrier since I ate much faster than she did. However, when the food was soft like today, Lalala finished just as quickly as I did. It must have been much easier for her as well to eat the soft food. This was a downside with soft food that I had not anticipated. Perhaps I must oppose the serving of soft food in the future.

Japan to the Rescue

Japan will buy Eurozone bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), in order to help the Irish economy.

It is great to see that Japan makes this. Europe may have started the industrialism and have had the first developed countries, but the days when European economies were the only strong ones are long gone. During and after the Second World War, Mum's home country America helped Europe. Now Japan contributes to helping Europe. Japan is a great country, of course, which is not only proved by the fact that the Shiba Inu comes from there.

I do not have a lot of experience of the Irish, but what I do have is great. It was an Irish judge who had the great sense to put me up as Best in Show pup many years ago. I am sorry for the Irish that they have a bad economy and I am glad other countries want to help them out.

Late Night

Paula and Daniel has a new favourite sit com on TV: Big Bang Theory. It is rather funny, though I do not like that there are no dogs in it. The only problem is that the series is aired early in the evenings, when we are busy with dinner and the like, or very late, when we would normally have gone to bed already. Tonight the late night airing is as late as half past twelve. I wonder if I will stay awake long enough to enjoy the show. It is something to watch, but still very late. We will have to see.

Tour de Ski

The Norwegian cross country skiers have been the dominant force in the great competition called Tour de Ski that ended today. My Dad, who is from Norway, says he is not surprised. He even says he would be surprised if the Norwegians were not winning as much as they do.

On TV, they say that the Norwegians must have succeeded with their skis and ski waxes. Dad says this is part of the truth. He says the Norwegian ski wax is to the skis as tomato sauce is to mackerel, that is, it makes the skis fly forward on the snow just like tomato sauce makes mackerel so tasty it flies down the throat when eating it. Another part of the truth is, according to Dad, that Norway makes for the upbringing of the best skiers in the world, just like it makes for the breeding of the best dogs in the world. I am not so sure of either statement, even though I know Dad is a great dog and a hero of mine.

Wonders of Technology

Paula and Daniel purchased a new digital TV box today. It is supposed to work better than the last one, and it is possible to record TV programmes on it, but it was a mess installing it. We had to call the broadband company several times and re-install several machines before everything worked again. Electronics may be wonderful, but it is very fragile. It may be fun to watch TV, especially when there are shows about dogs on, but I wonder if it is worth all the effort. I can have more than twice the fun with a stuffed toy or hunting candy.

More Hunting

I hunted for cheese doodles todat too. The hunt was a success, I got hold of many cheese doodles. If you arrange cheese doodles in the right way, they look like the happy mouths of cartoon figures, I guess this is because they are so good.

Later in the evening, I got the opportunity to hunt for popcorn as well. This also turned out to be a successful hunt. Popcorn are also very good.

Good Hunting

Firemen in Poland, on the south end of the Baltic Sea, have saved a young deer that was floating ever further from shore on an ice floe.

The deer made it and will be released back into the wild. This is good, the deer will probably grow stronger, make baby deer, and then both this deer and coming generations will be hunted and end up as steaks. This is the purpose of herbivores, to end up as food for us carnivores. Deer are good hunting, their meat is tasty.

I have practiced my own hunting skills today. I sneaked up slowly on cheese doodles, then striking fast and grabbing them before anybody realised what I did. Cheese doodles are also good hunting.

Bad Animals

You may think dogs and other domestic animals may be bad once in a while. You may even feel wolves and other mammal predators are dangerous. However, the worst animals are the tiny ones, much more distant related to us dogs and humans. The mosquito, spreading malaria in Africa, is the worst bringer of death. Other small animals devastate the cultural heritage. In Jönköping, the County Museum has to close down for over a year, because silverfish are eating away on the paintings by famous early 20th century painter John Bauer. We hope they can save the paintings. Animals like mosquitoes and silverfish would preferably be extinct, I would never pity them.

Homemade Crisps

All of us dogs are very excited tonight. Paula is trying to make homemade potato crisps in the oven.

It will be interesting to know how this experiment is working out. If it is good, I might share the recipe here on my blog. If it is bad, I do not believe you think I should bother. On the other hand, if it is great, I might keep the recipe a secret.

Ice Cream Van for Dogs

The Englishmen are truly friends of their dogs. In London last summer, the world could see the very first ice cream vans for dogs. The ice creams are of such flavours as gammon and chicken, and there may be crunchy dog biscuits on top of them. This must be great on hot summer days in the city, not to mention on outdoor dog shows. I sure hope to see ice cream vans like this in Sweden soon.

Rumours of an Unlikely Reunion

Among us dogs, we have reunions now and then, when we meet old friends on four or two legs. This often take place during dog shows.

There are other forms of reunions. One is with pop groups which once were, but have split up. There seem to be constant rumours of old pop groups reuniting. Now there are new rumours about the old Swedish group ABBA again. These rumours are based on recent quotes by two of the members of that group. I was not around when ABBA was active. Paula and Daniel, who were, do not believe it will reunite. I guess the rumours will always be there, though. You cannot say never until members are dead, as with the Beatles.

Happy Birthday!

Today, I congratulate my oldest puppy litter on their birthday. Meja and Bagus are celebrating their second birthday today. I wish them all the luck in the upcoming year!

Grocery Shopping

Paula took some of us to the zoo store today. We were out to buy more dog food. This is important business, but Paula and Daniel have neglected to bring any of us dogs too many times. I believe it would be self evident that at least one of us would come along and have a saying, when our food is purchased. It is not that neither Paula nor Daniel buys bad food, on the contrary, they often do a good job. Nevertheless, we are the end consumers, and today, we had a saying. I liked that.

Another Batch of Christmas Gifts

Daniel spent part of the evening wrapping another batch of Christmas gifts. He and Paula will celebrate Christmas tomorrow night with Paula's parents and sister. We have yet to get to know who, if any, of us dogs who may follow. Normally, I would be keen to go, but I am not sure this time. It seems a little weird to celebrate Christmas many days later than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Nevertheless, I hope the celebration will be fun, for those who attend it.

Zoo Animals

We watched a Danish documentary on TV today, that was about zoo animals in America that was brought to Europe to make the gene pools of the European zoo animals more diversified. This was interesting. It is positive that so much is done to make the gene pools diversified and thus healthy. I was reminded of Mum and Dad, who were both brought to Sweden from abroad to make the Swedish Shiba gene pool more diversified. Mum even came from America, just like the animals in the documentary. I guess I am a product of great thoughts.

High Public Debt

The Japanese government has approved a budget for next year with record spendings. The aim is to boost the economy. However, it adds to public debts, which is already the highest among developed nations. I am concerned, I have to wonder if Japan is on the right track. It is not that I am very good at economy, but it does not seem right when the contry's public debt is expected to reach 184% GDP by the end of March 2012. A public debt that is almost twice as high as the GDP cannot be good. On the other hand, the Japanese people are hard workers and have come back from much worse circumstances. They also have the world's biggest Shiba population to help them.

Love Actually

We watched this great Christmas holiday movie tonight, the British movie Love Actually. It is a story of many love stories interwoven into a whole. I like this picture a lot. It is positive, though not without sad parts, and it is funny.

The only negative thing that I can say about this movie is that there are no dogs in it. If you want to show a lot of human love stories, why not have at least one story involving the love between human and dog? It is a natural and important part of human society.

Conspiracy

With a Mum from America and a Dad from Norway, I have always thought I would celebrate holidays in Swedish ways, since this is where I live. In Sweden, as most of you know, the greatest Christmas celebration takes place on Christmas Eve. I had, therefore, planned to wish everybody a Merry Christmas yesterday. However, Mum and my little rascal for a daughter Karstuhl convinced me Karstuhl would get to write the Christmas wish, since this is her very first Christmas after being born. Guided by Mum, though, she waited until today to make the wish for a Merry Christmas. Perhaps I should have protected my interests in my own blog a little better.

Oh well, I do wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Hello, Polly here!

Granny insists this is the right day to say "merry Christmas", so we convinced Mommy not to do it yesterday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Cleaning the House

The dogs of the household is helping Daniel cleaning today (while Paula is off working). It is the day before Christmas Eve, and even though there will be no big celebration at our place, with guests and all, we want it to look nice.

Human holidays are funny. Humans take days off from work, but work all the more at home, just to make the holiday a little better. I believe dogs have an easier take on life: we take it easy and take the day as it comes. This means we do not have to feel rushed and stressed out because of days to come. Daniel do say you can buy a lot of prepared Christmas food and candy, but that this does not give the same feeling as homemade stuff. As long as it is tasty, I do not see the difference. Perhaps it is just as well I am no human, the other humans would not like my holiday attitude.

Fan Page

We have started a fan page for our breeding at Facebook. There you can read about us and see pictures such as this one of Pharao Hound Primus, when he made a success at the show this weekend:

Dessert

I was just about to write my daily blog entry, when Paula and Daniel decided it was time for dessert. I have to rush away to protect my interest in any kind of share of the dessert.

Show

We went to Stockholm today for the final dog show of the year. Our results were not quite as good as we had hoped, but they cannot always be. Mum became Best Veteran of the breed, at least.

The most exciting thing today was, perhaps, the journey there and back again. Snow was falling and hard winds were blowing almost all the way. Daniel drove carefully, though, and we made it without any problems.

Electric Cars

There was a TV commercial that I watched today. It was about electrically powered cars, and said it is increasingly easy to use this kind of car, because more and more electrical outlets are put up where you can plug in your car and charge the batteries.

Daniel has told me the charging of electric cars is the great downside of them. Electric cars have to run on batteries, but you have to wait for a long time anytime you want to charge these batteries. I agree with Daniel, who says electric cars should be delivered with more than one battery, and designed so that these batteries could be switched easily. This would mean that you could have one battery at home to be charged when you use the other to drive the car, and when you get home, you switch batteries in an instant. If you go on a longer journey, you would not need outlets to charge your car, but just places where you can switch your battery for a newly charged one. Thus, you would not need to wait until your car would become charged again.

This idea should be easy to make real, but no car manufacturer has tried it yet, as far as I know. Maybe they have, and there are many downsides of it. If there are downsides, it would be interesting to know of them.

One Week to Go

Hi, Karstuhl here!

It is one week to Christmas Eve. I have never experienced Christmas, but I have been told it involves a lot of good food and often new toys. This sounds promising.

Grandmom told me, however, that it is actually more than a week until Christmas. She said that where she grew up, in America, the most important day of Christmas is Christmas Day, the day after Christmas Eve. Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of Jesus Christ, and his birthday is on Christmas Day, Grandmom said. She added that she has never understood why Swedes celebrate one day in advance.

Mommy, on the other hand, said that she believes we celebrate one day in advance in Sweden, because Santa Claus cannot come to all the places of the world in the same day. He goes to Sweden one day before he goes to America. This sounds reasonable, I guess I believe it too.

Upcoming Show

We have made preparations for a dog show this weekend. It is the Swedish Kennel Club's own annual show in Stockholm. I am looking forward to it, as I always do when a show is coming up. It is so exciting.

Life Sentence

In Sweden, the maximum sentence for crimes is prison for life. Strangely enough, though, any person sentenced to life can apply to a court of law in about ten years to get the sentence reviewed and redefined into a time limited sentence. One of Sweden's most notorious criminals, police murderer Jackie Arklöv, asked to have his life sentence shortened in this way. He was not successful, however. This is just as well. I believe murder is one of the most horrible crimes you can commit - next to animal abuse and the killing of dogs and wolves, of course.

Cold Weather

It is snow on the ground and it will probably be a cold winter. It was cold on the morning walk today. Even Dad complained about the cold snow, even though he is normally the only one of us who never complains about anything that has to do with taking walks. I want to have a white Christmas, and the dark months gets lighter with snow on the ground. It is just too bad that the most beautiful winter days, when the sun is shining from a clear sky like today, are also the coldest days. I wish it was not so.

Lucia

Today is the day of Saint Lucia. This is a feast day generally celebrated in Sweden, despite it being the feast day of an Italian saint and Sweden being a protestant country. The origin of the Swedish celebration is probably that the night of Lucia was the longest night of the year in the final times when Sweden used the old Julian calendar. Since Sweden lies so far north, this is important.

According to old popular belief, animals could talk on the long night of Lucia. This is stupid, of course. Everybody knows that dogs can talk and write any time of the year, but that no others than humans and dogs can ever do this.

Sweden Does the Right Thing

Sweden is in focus in world news today. Not like the day before yesterday, when the annual Nobel Prizes were awarded, but for more tragic reasons. Two explosions in central Stockholm are said to be investigated as acts of terrorism.

I am sad that the explosions happened, but I am not surprised. Sweden is a champion of human rights and participate in international military efforts against Muslim fundamentalists in Afghanistan and against pirates off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean. Why would Sweden not be a target for terrorists? In a way, this is proof that Sweden does the right thing. If Sweden did not, but just held the military at home and let others take the fight for peace and freedom, Swedes would not be subject to terrorism. Now it seems like we are, hence, Sweden does what is right.

Luckily, neither dogs nor humans seem to have been victims of the attacks.

Name Day

Hello, Polly here!

Daniel had his name day today. In Sweden, these are often observed by family and near friends, but without any great celebrations. Daniel got a chocolate Santa Claus from Linni, that was nice of her. For his own part, he spent the day cleaning, shoveling snow and chopping wood. Perhaps that is a way of celebrating for him?

The Nobel Prize

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have the TV broadcast from the Nobel Prize ceremony on. There are only human recipients of the prize. Grandmom said the prize is awarded for scientific efforts, but that science isn't for dogs, anyway. She explained that we have better things to do. However, she also said most Nobel Prize winners were from the USA (where she is from) and that most people who win Nobel Prizes must have dogs from the USA. She therefore claimed that dogs from the USA were better than dogs from other countries, because even though dogs do not do science, dogs do inspire scientists, just as we inspire all humans whom we share our lives with. I guess there must be some truth in this.

Course Again

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The course that Daniel and I have gone to Thursdays this autumn has had a couple of weeks off, but started again today. It was fun to meet the other participating dogs again, especially my brother Nemo. I guess I taught Daniel well, because he gave me a lot of candy.

Blogging

There are times when I question all the time and effort I put into blogging. How many readers do I have? I like to write; in part, my blog is for my own pleasure. It is also a diary of sorts, where I can go back and remember better what happened before. Still, a blog seems unnecessary if it has no readers, or just a few readers. Yesterday, I wrote about a subject that I think is very important. I did get one comment on the blog entry, which I am grateful for, but no more, even though Daniel promoted it by posting it on Facebook. Perhaps I should stop blogging. On the other hand, stopping now would make all my previous efforts on blogging sort of wasteful.

Oh well, we have a dull evening tonight, because Paula is away on a Christmas party with her workmates. Daniel is at home, but it is always better when both Paula and Daniel are at home. Maybe my slightly sad feelings this evening makes it easier for me to question my blogging. I normally do not do that. If you read this blog occasionally, you have to come back again soon and see if I kept it up. My daughter Karstuhl says she thinks I will, and if I do not, she wants to take it over. Would I like that to happen? I have to consider that for a little while.

Wolves Killed in Sweden

Two young female wolves in Sweden have been killed by human scientists. The scientists sedated the wolves yesterday to be able to put radio transmitters on them. Today, the wolves were found drowned in a brook. They had probably still been so groggy from the sedative that they could not save themselves. What a horrible death!

I believe a wrongful death suit of some kind should be started against the scientists responsible for sedating the wolves. If you accidentally cause a wolf to die, you are required by law to report this. You are not allowed to kill wolves. These scientists should have known how strong the sedative was, when it would be safe to release the wolves back into the wilderness, and when it would be safe to stop watching over them. Any human who has a dog who has been sedated knows how important it is to watch over the dog until the sedative is out of the dog's system.

This story is all the more important, since the wolf pack of which these two wolves were members is regarded as an important pack, because it had genes which are unique in the Scandidavian wolf gene pool. Any dog breeder knows how important gene diversity is for the health of the animals.

I hope somebody press charges against the scientists in question.

Finland

Today is the national holiday of Finland, when the citizens of our eastern neighbour celebrate that they became independent from Russia in 1917. Without independence, they would have suffered under the communism of the Soviet Union until 1991. We celebrate today, together with all Moomintrolls and other people from Finland.

Winter Sports

We watched this interesting, but short, Norwegian documentary on sleigh dogs tonight. The dogs and their human were preparing for a long sleigh race. This is a real sport, for strong dogs and tough humans. I wish it would be a Winter Olympic sport.

Party

Paula showed me some interesting pictures on Facebook. It was about a Shiba in Japan who celebrated her birthday with her Shiba friends. I thought this might be a good idea. On the other hand, I already live with all of my best friends. Sure, I do have other friends than the dogs living in our house, but Auntie Linni, April, Kuro chan, and my close family all live here and they are my very best friends. They are always here when I throw a party, I never have to invite them. In a way, it is like we have a party any day. Who could complain about that?

Protests

We, the dogs of my family, are not the only ones who are disappointed with the decisions by FIFA on which countries will host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups. Acting chairman Roger Burden of the English Football Association has stepped down, claiming he wants nothing to do with the FIFA anymore. According to the English, at least four of the twentytwo FIFA delegates who voted on whom to host the 2018 World Cup had promised to vote for England, but reneged on their promises. I would rather have seen England as the host than Russia. England is, after all, an honourable country and home of modern dog breeding and dog sport, just as it is the home of football. They take good care of dogs in England, whereas Russia has a worse reputation (justified or not).

Oh well, I do not feel like dwelling on this much more. I have a nice Saturday evening in the living room sofa, eating crisps. Life is too good to worry about hosts of the World Cup.

Strange Trend

There seem to be a new trend that women dress in male costumes on formal occasions. I believe this is strange. In the world of dog shows, you are rewarded if it clearly shows that you are a male or a female. Why would a female human dress like a male human? What is the point? You may make a sort of impression, but it is a good one? I would not think so. I believe it is better to show your pride of the sex that you have got.

Cold Cats

Some cats run away from their homes, or have no homes, and they do not fare well in this cold winter. This is not good. I want to reach out a paw for them and ask all of you who read this to consider the sad faith of stray cats. There are much more of them than stray dogs. If you can, make sure you give them some help.

By the way, Russia and Qatar got the FIFA World Cups of '18 and '22. We were not amused.

FIFA World Cup Bid

Tomorrow, Thursday, FIFA will announce which countries will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in football.

The four contenders for the 2018 World Cup are England, Portugal & Spain, Belgium & the Netherlands, and Russia.

The five contenders for the 2022 World Cup are Japan, South Korea, Australia, the USA, and Qatar.

Naturally, all of us Shibas hope that Japan will win the vote to host the 2022 World Cup. Mum, April, and Calvin holds the USA as their second favourite, which is understandable since they come from the USA. Auntie Linni holds Australia has her second favourite, since her father was from Australia.

Dad, on the other hand, has said his main concern apart from Japan is that Belgium will be the co-host of the 2018 World Cup, since his father was born in Belgium. I side with Dad on the 2018 World Cup vote. I have no closer relationship to any of the other countries, and Dad's father is, of course, my grandfather.

With the relatively short lifespan of dogs, most of us will not live to see the 2022 World Cup. Nevertheless, it would be fun to know that Japan would win the bid to host the World Cup that year.

A Useful way to Spend the Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have had a very useful way to spend the day today. While Daniel was with us tonight, Paula was off working night at the hospital. When Paula got home, she made sure all of us dogs got outside, then we joined her when she went to bed and to sleep. We did not wake up until late afternoon.

In my mind, this is a very useful way of spending the day. The others do not think so. I say that if you sleep, you get rest and can make better use of your later hours when you are awake, but the others claim that rest is not productive. They might agree that rest can be useful, but still say they cannot see that it is useful to sleep all day. I then ask them why they slept along with me and Paula. They may say that this was just to keep Paula company, since she is the leader of our pack and needed the sleep after a night's work, but I do not believe this is the only reason. I believe they do find a day of rest useful in some more ways, otherwise they would not just sleep all day. Still, they say it is not productive.

Well, what do I know about productivity, junior as I am? I just know that we all slept while Paula slept. This cannot be bad.

Uniformly Dressed

A young woman in New York has made the news, because she has worn the same dress for a full year. Her aim was to protest the consumer society. Still, she did not want the dress to end up in rags, so she actually had seven dresses made up which looked the same.

I cannot understand the hype. I blow my coat twice a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn. Apart from that, I wear the same thing all year. I do not cheat by having seven different coats that look the same.

Horrible Pictures

We watched a Swedish documentary on TV today, in what looked like an entertaining piece on Chinese food. After a while, though, they showed pictures of a lorry driving down a motorway, full of tiny cages, each with a dog in it. The dogs were not protected from the wind and the weather. We were told they were going on a long journey, at the end of which they would be sold as food to humans. We quickly changed channels on the TV. I feel terrible for all of these dogs, and the other dogs who face a similar fate in China. It is one thing to hear rumours about dogs being eaten by humans in China, quite another thing to see pictures showing dogs transported for this very purpose on TV, in a manner that would make any Swedish animal protection agent freak out. Humans are supposed to be dogs' best friend, but this clearly does not involve the Chinese who eat dogs. I still feel bad about these pictures, I can just hope it will not give me any bad dreams.

Great News from Norway

We have heard great news from Bergen in Norway, where April's and Kuro-chan's son Biki lives at friends of Dad's breeder. Biki has had his hips X-rayed with the result B. This means he has very good hips and will make him even more wanted as a father of future pups. We have all congratulated April and Kuro-chan on their son's result.

Did Not Die in Vain

A dog owner i Lancashire, the UK, fell into an icy river today when trying to rescue his pet springer spaniel. He was pulled from the river by the fire brigade, but despite efforts by paramedics to save him, he died later at the hospital. The dog survived and is now taken care of by the man's family. It is a tragic story, but at least the man did not die in vain, since his dog did survive.

I first read about this story at the web page of the BBC, but the BBC did not mention anything about the faith of the dog. I searched the Internet and found the full story at the web page of the Lancashire Constabulary. It is strange that the BBC did not mention what happened to the dog. This means the reader cannot know that the man's efforts to save his dog's life was actually successful, which mean he did not die for nothing. Nevertheless, he was a hero.

Important News

There has been snow chaos, resulting in terrible accidents. The Swedish news paper Expressen chose an important angle when they report of the troubles in the snow storm, though. They write about a young human who were going to fetch a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup whom she had ordered from a kennel afar. However, she was very late in the long queues on the motorways. The relations between human and dog is always important. I believe it is nice that they describe the snow chaos from this angle, despite the tragedies of car accidents.

Saab

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There is a Lebanese fashion designer called Elie Saab. I would guess she drives a Saab.

:-)

Swedish Idol

Paula is watching a Swedish TV show called Idol (the same thing as American Idol, but in Sweden with Swedish talents), where talents compete with the aim to be able to make a record. The winner is supposed to become an idol, hence the name of the show. Daniel is not very interested, he believes there are enough musicians in the world already. He also says that the re-growth of new musicians need not be through shows like this, but that real talents often make it anyway. Paula does not care about his critisism, she enjoys the show. I believe she is right in doing so, you can enjoy and like something even if not everybody else in the household does. Personally, I do not care much about the show either, but this is because I believe the only great shows are dog shows. If I am to have an idol, it is another dog.

Prominent Relative

Paula's father Nils Olov has reached a prominent position.

Since many years, Nils Olov has run his own business as a masseur. One of his specialties is massage for athletes. Now he has been hired as the masseur for the Swedish National Team in orienteering. This is great.

He is not competing himself, but I would guess he is at least as important as the humans helping dogs who compete in dog shows by running in the other end of the leash. He has told us about some of the athletes he has helped, some of whom would certainly not have achieved as much without his help. The members of the national team are lucky.

Quieter

April is getting out of her heat, and the boys are not screaming as much in their struggle to get to her. We have more peace and quiet now. This is good. I cannot understand why the boys have to be so loud.

Half a Year

Hello, Karstuhl here!

As a pup, I have had many birthdays. At first, we got to celebrate every week. Then it was every month, and when I was half a year I got to start in dog shows. It has been great.

Now I am not a pup anymore, since I am more than nine months old since last Friday. I have learned, however, that adults celebrate much more seldom, and there was no celebration of me when I turned Junior.

I do not understand why adults celebrate more seldom. Daniel sometimes say that there is never a bad reason for a celebration. Nevertheless, he had a half year birthday today, which neither he, Paula, nor any of the others here at home paid any attention to. I thought I would instead, and this is why I write about it in this blog. Maybe this will make Daniel celebrate, preferably by giving me some treats.

Dogs Are Smarter than Cats

A new scientific study shows what most of us have suspected all along: dogs are smarter than cats. The study shows that brains of mammals have evolved faster in species where the individuals are more social than in other species. Dogs are very social animals, much more so than cats, and dogs do have bigger brains than cats. Humans are also social animals, this can be part of the reason that they have big brains as well.

Along Came Polly

Hello, Polly here!

The motion picture Along Came Polly is broadcasted on one of the TV channels we have this evening. I would want to see it, since it is about a girl by the beautiful name Polly. We will see if I may. Paula or Daniel are usually in charge of the remote control, and perhaps some of them think there is something better on a different channel. I cannot understand why, though, a film about someone called Polly must be good, must it not? Well, if I cannot see this film, my belief that it is a good film cannot be proved wrong, so maybe it is a good thing if I do not get to see it.

Pirog

Paula made some pirogi for dinner today. A pirog is a form of pie filled with meat and vegetables.

I looked it up on the Internet. There seem to be some confusion about the word in English. In one online dictionary, the plural form is pirogi in English. This is a little odd, since almost every word in english has a plural form that is an s-suffix. You would therefore think that the plural form of pirog is pirogs, but it is not, according to this dictionary. I also found this form in this dictionary. In another online dictionary, the word is pirogue (plural form pirogues) or piroshki. In Wikipedia, there were one article on pierogi, another on pirozhki, the former of Polish origin, the latter of Russian origin, but basicly it seemed to be the same thing.

Whatever these things are called, Paula's were very tasty.

Upholding the Law

The Japanese police is good at upholding the law. Their fight against organised crime has made progress, they have arrested a man who is alleged to be second in command in Japan's biggest yakuza syndicate. As I am sure you know, the yakuza is the Japanese equivalent to the mafia, only better, just like the Japanese police is better than the Italian, I believe.

Friendly Game

Sweden's national football team is playing against Germany in a friendly game tonight. I will not look at it. It does not mean anything, since it is a friendly game, and why would I then like to see a game that Sweden will certainly lose? There must be many better ways to spend the evening.

Japanese Collects First Sample of Asteroid

A Japanese space probe has collected a sample of dust from an asteroid and brought it to Earth. This is the first time samples from another celestial body than the Moon has been brought to Earth by our civilisation, and it was Japanese who did it. There is no question about the Japanese being a great people, this only goes to prove that once more. I do not think it is strange that the Japanese are great, considering that Japan is the home country of the Shiba Inu. If humans have great dogs, this must make it easier becoming great humans as well.

It will be interesting to see what scientific news can come from this collected asteroid dust. I have small hopes for great discoveries. The greatest achievement was collecting the dust. This was a scientific feat in its own right.

Even a poodle needs a Guardian Angel

My toy poodle friend, the sweet Laila /Love Chan survived a terrible accident today when she slipped on wet ice and landed on her neck/back.

For a moment we thought she had broke her neck, lying still in an odd position. She couldnt move or stand on her legs. All she could do was making odd sounds and breath very constricted.

We rushed to the veterinarian. Laila had some x-rays and physical examination. Luckily she came back to us. Nothing broken or so. Just bruises and a very soar neck. Probably Laila went into chock after the accident which caused her to faint. But she survived!

All of us are still in chock after the terrible trauma. Luckily, Laila seems to recover in a good way. She has manage to eat pop corns and beef filet. In a normal day I would have been very jealous but now Im just happy that my little friend can eat beef filet.

Father's Day

Today is father's day in Sweden, and I have celebrated Dad. Karstuhl has celebrated her father Kuro-chan. April's and Kuro-chan's son Biki in Norway gave Kuro-chan a special gift, by winning Best of Breed at an official show.

Daniel called his father on the telephone and talked to him. April and I also got to go with Paula and Daniel to Paula's parents, where we celebrated Paula's father.

It was a nice day, despite the dull November weather.

Pie

Hi, Karstuhl here!

Paula did some pie for dinner. It smelled really good, but I did not get to taste it. This was the worst moment of today. I am a great pie taster, I just wish I would get the opportunity to show it more often.

Dog Chases Mountain Lion

A mountain lion in South Dakota in the USA was chased up a tree by a terrier. Experts state that it normally takes three hounds to corner a mountain lion, but this terrier did it himself. This is cool.

Later, the dog's human shot and killed the mountain lion. In South Dakota, you are allowed to do that, if you feel that the mountain lion is a threat to you, your livestock or your other animals. This is not as cool. I cannot understand why a mountain lion who had been chased up a tree would be a threat to the human or the dog, but apparently, the authorities will not investigate the matter. Well, I have not read more than a news article about the event, so I will not judge in the matter, but I do feel puzzled about it.

Letting your human do the killing is not as cool as doing it yourself, Mum said. She did not have to say more, she has told us all enough times about the racoon she once killed. That is cool.

Cupcakes

Paula baked cupcakes tonight. They were not for us, though, but for her workmates. At Paula's job, they take turns at baking cakes for the Friday coffee breaks, this Friday was Paula's turn. Since the cupcakes was for Paula's work, we did not get any, even though Paula and Daniel had one each. We got to taste some of the batter, however, and it tasted very good. I am sure the cupcakes will make a success. It is just sad that I did not get any cupcake for myself.

Snow!

Hello, Karstuhl is here... and so is the snow!

We have got more than 10 centimetres of snow since late afternoon yesterday. All of us four legged family members loved to play in it, and eagerly did so. However, we were not the only ones. Daniel was the one who played the most in the snow. He had this big shovel, with which he pushed and pulled snow around in the driveway for two hours last night and another hour this morning. I cannot understand how his way of playing in the snow is fun, but he must have enjoyed it a lot, given how satisfied he was when he got inside again both times around. I guess humans just have different way of amusing themselves than dogs have.