No Place Like Home

Hello, Polly here!

There is no place like home. We are back home after a long drive from Paris. It takes a lot of effort to drive that long, but I managed. After all, most of the roads are motorways, which are rather easy to drive on. The World Dog Show has been a great experience, we are already talking about going to next year's show in Austria. It will certainly be fun, too.

Quake

Hi, Karstuhl here!

There has been another earthquake in the ocean outside of Japan, almost exactly where the big one was in March. We are glad to hear this was not nearly so severe, and the tsunami was just about 20 cm high.

Late Evenings

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The World Show takes a lot of time, and there is also a lot of time spent on preparations in the evenings and mornings. We have had late nights and early mornings all week. This Saturday, I have not been able to write anything in the blog until after midnight. I hope there will be another blog entry this Sunday, except for this, if I find the time on the Sunday eveing.

Granny became Best Veteran among Shibas on the WDS today. This means that she is World Winner '11. This is really good. Although some of the rest of us did well, nothing beats her effort. I got in to the final ring in brace with Daddy, but Granny made it there herself. There was none of us who were placed, though.

Show

Hello, Polly here again!

This was the day that Shiba Inus were first showed at this dog show in Paris. The World Dog Show is running parallel to a French show, and Shibas were shown at this French show today. I got Excellent in quality and came in as third best junior bitch. It could have been better, it always can when you do not win, but I am quite satisfied with this result. There were many competitors in the class and quite a lot of them were nice Shibas. I cannot complain.

Le Tour

Hello, Polly here again!

A bicycle competition has been aired here in France on TV. Granny told me it is the Tour de France, the biggest bicycle competition in the world. Granny used to like it better when her favourite bicycle rider, American (what else when it comes to Granny) Lance Armstrong was competing to win. Granny and I agree that the World Dog Show, which starts tomorrow, is a much more important competition. Nevertheless, it will hardly get the same TV coverage that the Tour de France gets. Many humans have priorities that I, as a dog, do not quite understand.

In Paris

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Now we are in Paris, where we will attend this year's World Dog Show. We travelled down by car yesterday and today. The journey went smoothly most of the time. However, we had to wait for three and a half hours at the site of a terrible car accident on the motorway through Germany.

We would have thought the German police, rescue workers and tow truckers would be organized and effective, but we stood close to the site of the accident and thought the people working there looked terribly unorganized. Maybe this is just because we did not know what they did and have to do, and the time spent without much to do in the car seemed much too long. Most of the irritation has left us now. It will be an interesting story to tell others in due time.

Hamburger

Wow, I got half a hamburger tonight. I did not share it, not even with my pups. It was too precious for me.

The thing is, Paula and Daniel have been very busy most of the afternoon, preparing for a trip to the World Dog Show next week. This year, the show is in Paris, France, and several of the dogs here at our place will go there. I am not going, I am staying with my pups. Late in the evening, Daniel would go to fill up the car with petrol and they decided he would also buy some take away food for a late evening meal. However hungry Paula and Daniel felt, they realized they were not so hungry they could finish a hamburger each. This is why I got half of Paula's hamburger. Rumour has it, Mum and Auntie Linni got a quarter each of Daniel's hamburger. As a mother of tiny pups, who will turn five weeks old this Monday, I did deserve to get the largest piece of hamburger. This was a good call of Paula and Daniel, when they could not eat it up themselves.

Playing in the Yard

Hello, Polly here!

I was playing with my little brother Zeus this afternoon. We had some great fun, both of us.

Visitors

The pups are getting used to meeting new people. Paula's sister brought a couple of friends over today to meet me and the pups. These were very nice and friendly humans. As always, the pups were greatly appreciated. It is a good thing they get along with all of the humans they meet, because they will meet new humans throughout their lives. They are still mine to take care of, but not forever.

Getting to Know the Outdoors

I have been outdoors with the pups a couple of times today. They are getting more and more used to the grass, the sun, and the wind. They have also discovered holes in the ground. We have some small holes, that are big enough for pups to stumble into, but small enough that the pups do not hurt themselves. This is a good way for them to prepare for life.

Polly has helped me keeping an eye on them. She is doing a great job as an older sister. When she was a little to rough on the small ones, I told her off, and she listened to that and learned. She realizes the pups are more fragile than she is. This is good, it all indicates that Polly will once become a good mother herself.

Cute as Can Be

My pups and I spent part of the afternoon out in the yard. It was a nice, sunny afternoon, but with a little wind and not too hot. The pups were in the smaller part of the yard that is fenced in with a one metre high movable fence and is only a couple of square metres big. They were not really fond of being confined to that area. I liked it, though. I did not have to worry where they went. When Polly and Mum came out, they could greet the pups without coming so close that it would be unsettling for me. With Polly and Mum there, it was a family gathering of sorts. Mum enjoyed the chance of meeting my pups close up. She thinks they are very cute. Cute as can be. Mum believes she has a little part of it, and being their grandmother, I guess she is right. Daniel was out in the yard too, sitting in a chair reading. I think we all enjoyed the afternoon.

Dogs Left to Die

Every summer, we hear these horrible stories about dogs who are left in hot cars to die. The humans responsible for such neglect are terrible wrongdoers. I would never have guessed, though, to hear that dogs in a police car would die from such neglect. Nevertheless, it has now happened to a German Shepherd pup and a working Belgian Malinois in the United Kingdom. An investigation has been started. I do hope the human who was responsible for this act will be severely reprimanded and never again allowed to work with dogs. Words are not enough to describe the sadness I feel for these deceased dogs, a pup and a grown up dog who has given so much service to humans.

Remember never to leave dogs in the car on a sunny day!

Football World Cup

Today is the first day of the FIFA Women's World Cup in football. The men had their world cup last summer. I have no problem accepting that the women and the men compete in different world cups. This is just like dogs competing in dog shows: the males compete against other males and the females against other females.

There is one huge difference, though. In dog shows, the best male and the best female faces each other in a final competition, that of the Best of Breed. (The Best in Group and Best in Show finals are actually unofficial, as I suppose most of my readers already know.) There is nothing like that in football.

I would want to see a game played after the Women's World Cup between the winners there and the winners in the male World Cup of last year. This would prove interesting. I have been told the male footballers are so much better than the females, that the outcome would be obvious before the game. However, the women footballers are also said to become increasingly better. If they can never face the men, how can we know how much better the men are, and how do we know when the future women equals the men? (Some would say never, but I am not sure of that.) I hope there will be a game like this in the future.

Minced Meat

My pups have started to eat other food than the milk I provide. This is good, it is an adaption to their life without milk, which will come in some weeks. They like the minced meat that Paula and Daniel have given to them. So far, they do not eat much. This is also good, because it means that I get to eat what is left. I remember that Mum did the same when I was the same age and was given minced meat with my brothers. Now I get the same benefit she got back then. There are definitely fringe benefits with having a litter of pups.

Midsummer

It is the middle of the summer, just after the summer solstice, and this is an important holiday in Sweden. We have celebrated most of it rather quietly at home, which suits me as I have small pups to take care of. They do not know of any season but summer yet, so they do not understand what the celebration is all about, but they will learn, eventually. I know they are intelligent and keen to learn new things. This is good. Next year, my pups will surely celebrate midsummer and enjoy it very much with their new families. I can also participate in the partying. This makes me feel good.

Climbing

The pups have started to climb over the edge of the litter box. They want to explore the world and they do not want to soil the blankets in the litter box where we sleep. This is as good proof as any that they are Shiba Inus. We have it in ourselves to be curious and eager to learn, and to become housebroken very fast.

The male, who is the biggest of the pups, was the first one and is the best on climbing, no surprise given his size. He got his call name today: Zeus, after the head god of ancient Greek mythology. This suits him, I believe.

The older girl will be called Fumi, the younger Anzu. These are also fine names.

Visitors

Paula's parents stopped by in the evening and paid me and my pups a visit. They are very nice people. I guess the pups thought so too. The pups fell asleep during the visit, though. This is how being a pup is, you have to sleep a lot and you can become tired quickly. It is a good thing they sleep well whenever they do sleep.

Outdoors

My youngest pups have been outdoors today, for the very first time. They are a little more than three weeks, and since it is summer, it is about time. It was a rather warm summer day. They were cuddling together on the lawn, not very fond of the experience. I believe they cannot yet fully grasp how big and beautiful the outdoors is. I know I have trouble understanding the vastness of it myself, when I think about it. It is therefore no wonder the pups cannot yet begin to understand it. They will get some hold of it, eventually. I am looking forward to better opportunities to show them the outdoors when they are a little older.

Mia

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula's sister Mia came by to visit us tonight. She will spend the night here. This is great, I really like Mia. So far, however, I believe she has spent too much time with my younger siblings. This is probably just because they look so cute as pups. I do believe time spent with me is more rewarding in the long run, since I am able to interact with humans on a more mature level. On the other hand, Mia will not sleep in the puppy room, but in the living room. I believe this give us opportunities to spend quality time with each other.

A Picture of Me and My Pups

The Last Samurai

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We watched a great movie tonight: The Last Samurai. It is an American movie, but most of the story takes place in 19th century Japan. As a Shiba Inu, I am always interested in Japan, the land of my ancestors. I may not know much about Japan of that time, but it seemed to me that the movie gave a fairly accurate account of what Japan was like in those days, as a background to the fictious story. Mum, Granny, and other older Shiba Inus have told me there are movies which give an even better account of 19th century Japan. Most of these are Japanese, of course. You cannot expect an American movie to be the best at depicting Japan, but it is good. This is worth some praise.

Japanese Olympic Bid?

The Japanese City Hiroshima has withdrawn its bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games. One of the reasons is that it is still paying off the debt from hosting the 1994 Asian Games. I think this is sad. I would like to see Olympic Games in Japan, home of the Shiba Inu, in my lifetime. Being born in 2005, I guess the 2020 Olympic Games will be the last I can see. However, there may still be a chance, since Tokyo has announced that it considers a candidacy for the 2020 Olympic Games. Tokyo has hosted the games before, but that is not necessarily a disadvantage. London will soon host the games for the third time. I do hope Tokyo gets the games.

Registration

We have arranged for the registration of my last litter with the Swedish Kennel Club. One does not want the pups to be unregistered. It is like they do not exist. An unregistered pup will not be aknowledged as a pure bred dog and will never be able to compete at dog shows. I would never want to deny my pups the pleasure of going in to the show ring.

Lunar Eclipse

There is a total lunar eclipse this evening. It will be visible from Sweden from about 22.13 in the evening, when the Moon has risen above the Swedish horizon. When I am writing this, it is less than an hour until that time. Unfortunately, the whole sky is overcast. Thick rainclouds will certainly obscure our view of this scene.

Of course, any friend of mine who wants to se a Lunar Eclips is always welcome to see me, since this is my name in the pedigree.

Growth

Politicians often talk about growth and how important it is for the whole society. They are often unable to produce growth, though. I am not. Everything that my three pups eat and drink is my milk, and they are growing rapidly. They are fifteen days old now, and have more than tripled their birth weights. I suppose that the only things politicians can make that grow this fast is inflation and debt.

Names

We have decided upon what official names the pups of this F-litter will have. The theme is Formula 1 tracks. The male will be called Aangenaam Silverstone (silver as in the white ura jiro, as well), and the females, in order of age, will be called Aangenaam Suzuka and Aangenaam Valencia, respectively.

There are many Formula 1 tracks around the world, which made it a bit difficult to decide. We have now settled on these three names. We are quite satisfied with them.

The pups have also opened up their eyes now. They begin to explore the world around them, a world which, to them, is no bigger than the litter box. They will soon discover more.

Future Family

One of my daughters of the current litter will move to a family who lives here in our home town. They stopped by to visit us today. The family consists of a mother, a father, and a rather young son. They are very nice humans and I believe my daughter will have a happy life with them. This feels good.

Dangerous Meatballs

For the second time in a little while, products from the Swedish food manufacturer Värmlandschark has been withdrawn from stores. These products are manufactured between the 7th and the 10th of June. One of the products is meatballs. The manufacturer has found unhealthy amounts of listeria bacteria in the products. It is bad that bacteria are in the meatballs, but good that the manufacturer reacts to it.

In the Swedish news, it is reported that these bacteria may be dangerous for humans with a weak immune system, elderly, and pregnant women. I lack information of whether the bacteria are dangerous to dogs as well. This is not good journalism. As a precaution, I would recommend everyone not to feed the meatballs to their dogs either.

Mood Sensitive Ears

Human inventiveness never cease to amaze me. A Japanese company has invented mood sensitive fluffy feline ears to put on the head of humans. These ears will move according to the mood and mind set of the wearer. A sensor measuring the brainwaves of the wearer controls the movement of the ears.

I guess there would be some demand for ears like this. Dogs already have natural ears to show our mood, and they help us interact with one another. Humans, so far, have not had these. Ears like this will thus help humans get something they must envy us dogs for. I congratulate them for the opportunity.

The Pups

The male, the larger female, the smaller female.

Thunder

We had a huge thunderstorm this evening. It defys description. Next to the storm, the Swedish goal festivity, 5-0, was just a light breeze. Both were exciting to watch, though.

New Champ

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and April are back from Cheestonia today. April won Best of Breed, the Cheestonian Winner title of 2011, and became Cheestonian Show Champion. Congratulations are due for April!

I envy April. I would also like to be a Cheestonian Champion. Cheese is great, being a Cheestonian Champion must also be great. April did not bring any cheese home, though. I guess she must have eaten it all herself on the way home.

A Crazy Idea

Hello, Polly here!

We discussed a crazy idea today. What if Daniel would rather want to have a Spaniel than a Shiba Inu, because Spaniel rhymes with Daniel? It is so weird, we just laughed at the idea. So did Daniel, when he heard about it.

Coming Back

The pups of my last litter are doing very well. All three of them are growing steadily. I can now leave them for short periods of time. This means that Polly, of my previous litter, will no longer have to fill in for me all the time. She has done a nice job with the blog in the last couple of days, but I generally prefer to write the blog entries myself.

There are some different personalities of the pups of my last litter that I can sense already. It is just subtle differences in the way they act, not clear enough to fully describe. It will be interesting to follow their development over the coming weeks to see just what personalities the small ones will develop. I will keep updates of the development here in my blog, of course, so stay tuned.

Hair Thieves

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Humans are strange in a lot of ways, but especially when it comes to hair. They cannot accept the natural length of their hair. I suppose this is mainly because human hair does not grow to a certain length and then fall of, but - like Poodle coat - just grows and grows. Humans are also rather unique among land living mammals in that they do not have hair everywhere on their body. All of this must make for a strange relationship to hair. Shiba Inus, like most dogs, just shed our coats a few times a year, and that is that. Humans cut their hair, shave some of it off, or even add more hair with hair extensions. The recent hair extension fashion in the USA has led to a new form of thievery: people who steal hair extensions. Due to the high demand, hair extensions are expensive, so the thievery can be lucrative business.

If humans would not have such a strange view on the subject of hair, hair extensions would be worth almost nothing and you would not have this form of criminal behaviour. It is not like humans need the hair for human shows to prove their conformity to a breed standard. Even if they had these shows, and tried this with extensions, they would be disqualified for cheating. This is why I cannot understand the use of human hair extensions. I guess the humans who do use them can justify it, though, which is all that is needed, of course.

Cheestonia

Hello, Polly here!

Paula and April went to a dog show this long weekend in a country on the Eastern side of the Baltic Sea. From what I have heard, this country is worth a visit. It is called Cheestonia, thus it should be filled with cheese (in Swedish: Ostland, filled with "ost", in Cheestonian: Juusti, filled with "juust"). Cheese is always tasty and good. I hope Paula and April bring some cheese back with them.

False Marketing

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It has come to my attention that our local supermarket sells a German sausage called Bärchenwurst, by the company Reinert. The name means Small Bear Sausage. Apparently, the sausage is made out in such a fashion that slices of it looks like teddy bears.

I have always been interested in trying out new kinds of food. Bear meat is something I have never eaten. If we would have easy access to a bear sausage at our local supermarket, I would ask Paula and Daniel to buy some so we could try it out. However, I started out by doing some research. It turns out that the Bärchenwurst consists of 65 % pork and 15 % turkey, the rest is water, milk, spices, and artificial ingredients.

I do not like this. The main ingredient of sausages is always supposed to be meat. If you market a sausage under a name that in part means bear, but the sausage does not contain bear meat, I believe this is false marketing. Under these circumstances, I would use my consumer power and not buy this fake sausage. I hope you do the same!

Sounds

Hello, Karstuhl here again!

As Mommy is on maternity leave, I have to take full responsibility for the daily blog. I do not mind, it is fun.

I have heard the soumds of my young brother and sisters through the door to where they reside with Mommy at their current age. It would be interesting to see them, but I am not allowed to do that yet. Well, this is just something I have to accept. It is not as if I am lonely wothout Mommy. My younger siblings need her and nobody else right now. This is as it should be, Granny says. I will understand this much better once I get my own pups, according to Granny.

I do not doubt that, in due time, it will be up to me to experience that. This is an exciting thought.

Not the Youngest Anymore

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This is Granny's birthday. She turns twelve. This is some age.

Nobody could have given Granny a better present than Mommy did. Mommy gave birth to Granny's youngest grandchildren yet. There were three of them, a brother and two sisters of me and Nemo.

This is not only a gift to Granny. In a way, it is also a gift to me and Nemo. We are not the youngest children of our parents anymore. Now, there are others who will be more immature than us for a long time. I kind of like that.

Maternal Leave

I am taking a few days off because of my upcoming litter. Stay tuned, there may still be news at any time soon.

New Floor

Hello, Polly here!

I put in a new floor in our kitchen today. Paula's father Nils Olov helped me, so did Daniel. We did not quite finish the work, despite working most of the day. What is done looks nice, though. It will be very nice once we are done with it.

Lunar Water

As I have previously explained in multiple blog posts, I am intrigued by the Moon. This is mainly because I am named for it: Aangenaam Lunar Eclips.

New evidence seem to suggest there is considerably more water on the Moon than previously thought. This is good news for all of us who are interested in the Moon. Water is essential for life. It would be much easier for dogs and humans to colonize the Moon if there was enough water there to sustain the colonists.

I do not think dogs will go to the Moon in my lifetime, but one cannot be sure. I would like to go in the paw prints of comic book hero Snowy, who went there with his human Tintin in the 1950's. So far, it is but a vain dream, though.

Grill

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula made the best possible dinner tonight: home made burgers, charcoal grilled on our own grill. It did not matter that a few raindrops were falling, a true user of a grill can cook on it nevertheless. I liked the food very much, it is only so sad I did not get more.

Fun Science

Human scientists have "discovered" how dogs drink. By the use of high speed cameras, humans have studied first how cats drink, then how dogs drink. They have concluded that we drink in the same way. As the tongue comes into contact with the surface of the liquid, the liquid stuck to it. Then, as the tongue is swept back towards the mouth, it creates a water column, thanks to inertia, which means liquid has a tendency to continue moving in the direction it is being pulled. Before gravity pulls the water back down, the mouth is snapped shut and the liquid is swallowed. This is repeated as long as the dog or cat stops.

We are many dogs who were amused to read these "news" today. We already know how we drink. It is a shame these human scientists cannot just ask us how we do it.

Toy Pup

Friends of ours have recently got a new toy poodle puppy. Paula was envious of them this evening, saying she also wanted a toy poodle puppy. I guess these puppies are cute, but I do not believe they are as cute as the puppies I am about to have any day now. Paula will soon have my puppies to be happy about, I think she will be as satisfied as she can be with them.

It is fair to say I am biased in favour of my own puppies. Then again, what kind of mother would I be if I was not?

Birthday

This is Daniel's birthday. He celebrated it last weekend, but we hope for some extra and tasty food tonight anyway. Paula is working late, but she might bring something. I sure hope so.

Early Celebration

Hello, Polly here!

Daniel celebrated his birthday today. His actual birthday is tomorrow. Apparently, humans often celebrate birthdays a couple of days before or after the actual birthday, just to have the celebration on a weekend. If the celebration takes place beforehand, I can understand it. In such a case you do not have to wait as long as otherwise to eat cake and get presents. If the celebration is postponed, I cannot understand it. How can you volunteer to wait to eat cake and get presents? Humans sure are hard to understand sometimes.

No End in Sight

Hello, Polly here!

Some humans are weird. There was this American old man who had predicted the World would end at 6 p.m. today, and gone out with advertisement campaigns for a lot of dollars to warn people about this. I do not understand what possessed him to do such a thing. What tangible signs of a catastrophe was there? Sure, at our place, we had to wait for our food until rather late this evening. This is a catastrophe of a tiny kind, but it was after the predicted end would start. Late food is not the end of the world, though you can feel like it is once in a while.

The Kitchen

We are rebuilding our kitchen. The kitchen is the most important part of a home, because the food is stored and prepared there. Paula and Daniel worked a lot with the kitchen this evening and got help from Paula's parents. We cannot use our kitchen to its full extent right now, but it will be much better than before once it is done.

Someone Is Missing

Daniel is away tonight. We miss him, but he will be back tomorrow.

Younger Brothers and Sisters

Hello, Karstuhl here!

By the end of this month, I will get younger brothers and sisters. Mommy will give birth to another litter. There might be just brothers or just sisters, but since an examination yesterday said there were at least four pups to be expected, it is unlikely they will all be of the same sex.

I wonder what it will be like not to be the youngest dog in the family. Mommy and Granny has told me the pups will be too small to play with the first weeks, and that I will have to be very gentle with them later on. I am sure I can teach them a trick or two anyway. Young pups need to be taught that, as well as the manners that their mother and other older dogs teach them. When I was like them, there was noone to teach me. I managed to teach myself, but I will help my younger siblings.

The 17th of May

This day is Norway's national holiday, commemorating their Constitution of 1814. We have always celebrated it a little, because my Dad was from Norway. Dad has moved from Sweden to Heaven now, but we celebrate for his sake anyway. (April says she also celebrates because her son Biki lives in Norway, but I do not think that count as much.)

X Ray Examination

Paula and I went to the veterinarian today to check on my upcoming litter. I was examined with x rays, which enabled the humans to see what I already think I knew: I have at least four pups in my tummy. The vet even said there might be a fifth pup in there. I have never had such a big litter before. The biggest litter I have personal experience from is when I was a pup myself and shared the litter with my two brothers Kiko and Jiro. I am up for the task, no matter how many pups there are! I am looking forward to smelling and seeing them when they are born.

Arrangements

We have arranged for my next litter to be born. The puppy litter box has been cleaned, put in its place and fitted with clead blankets. I have inspected the job and found that it is to my liking. Even though my pups are not due until the end of this month, it is good to know that we have already prepared for them, as far as preparations can go.

Meanwhile, I get extra food. Mum is jealous of this, as the food lover that she is. Mum has always said the best thing with getting pups is the extra food. I do not quite agree, though I do share the view that the extra food is a good thing. To be fair, the other dogs, including Mum, also get a treat extra or two if they are around when I get my extra food. It is not much, but it is better than nothing, as Mum says.

Too Bad

Losing against Finland in the IIHF ice hockey world championship is no shame. Finland has a good national team and you can never take a victory against them for granted. Winning silver medals is no shame either, though gold is always better.

Losing 6-1 is a completely different matter.

Eurovision Song Contest

This blog entry comes after midnight, because we were watching the Eurovision Song Contest. I believe there were to few songs about dogs. A lot of popular songs is about love, but what about the animal who loves humans more than humans love themselves: dogs?

It was an even and rather exciting counting of the votes. The Swedish couple commenting on the contest said this proved that the field of contestants was strong. I can see no such necessary causality. A level field of contestants can come from the fact that the contestants were equally bad. I do not say the contestants were bad, but I did not hear any astounding song.

More About Hamburgers

I can highly recommend yet another blog about hamburgers: Flippin' Burgers. The theme of this blog is a journey across America to find the best burgers, in order to get inspiration for a completely new hamburger restaurant in Stockholm. This is a great cause. Goals like the one pursued by this blogger deserves all the support it can get.

If you are an English speaking dog or human, I just have to point out that the name of the blog may fool you. Just like the blog I recommended this Tuesday, Flippin' Burgers is written in Swedish. I am sorry you cannot read it, but I am sure you agree with me on the greatness of the theme of the blog, anyway.

Here Comes the Rain Again

There has not been a decent rainfall for weeks. Actually, the last real precipitaion we had was a snowfall. Fortunately, there has not yet been a draught, since we had so much snow last winter. This evening, when we were outside, we felt some drops of rain. We hope that a nice rain of many millimetres will fall tonight. All the growing things in our garden, in the forest and on the fields need rain now. We also need rain, since our water comes from our own well. It is not yet a desperate need, but rain tonight would be a nice thing. It is also rather cozy to lie down to sleep indoors when you can hear rain falling on the roof and windows.

A Good Blog

On rare occasions, you run into a blog that is so good, you just have to spread the word about it. The Swedish blog Hamburgare is just such a blog. It is a blog devoted to one thing, a good thing, and this thing only: hamburgers. If you know Swedish, I will not waste your time anymore, just read that blog. If you do not know Swedish, I feel sorry for you.

A Saab in Detroit

BBC Travel had a piece on Detroit today, the former Motor Town of America. The town has decreased substantially in population over the last years, and now artists have moved in where the abandoned buildings are. The funny thing is, that the article is illustrated by a work of art where an artist has painted a Swedish car, a Saab, in abstract patterns (the Heidelberg Project by Tyree Guyton). This is by no means representative of Detroit, but it is nice to see for us who are from Sweden.

Formula 1, the 2011 Season

The fourth race of the 2011 formula 1 season was driven today in Turkey. There was some good racing, nice passes et cetera. The new rules on tyres, KERS, and a back wing that you can open when trying to pass makes for more passing, which is exciting for the spectators. The championship itself does not seem to become very exciting, though. Ruling world champion Sebastial Vettel has won three of the last four races, and was second in the only race he did not win. He has led from start to finish in the three races he has won. When this is the case, it does not matter much that there is good and exciting racing regarding the positions behind him in the finish. This is, of course, no critizism against Sebastian Vettel. Any driver would like to be in his position. Any competitor in any sport would too, for that matter. We just have to hope that fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi, and others will be able to give Sebastian Vettel a better fight for the victory in the upcoming races.

The Day After the Show

No, I did not write any blog entry yesterday. Sure, I learned that Mum became Best of Breed Veteran and was among the last eight in the Veteran Best in Show final. I also learned that Polly did very well, with an Excellent and CK, but did not win her class. Calvin and April also did well. Nevertheless, I did not want to write about that yesterday. I guess I have to admit I was too jealous of those who got to go to the show. It feels better today.

Another Advantage

There is another advantage of not going to a dog show, besides what I wrote about yesterday. When travelling to a show in the morning of the show, you generally have to get up really early. If you stay at home, you can get up equally early, but then you can go back indoors and back to sleep. Then you can sleep until late in the day without any worries.

However, who am I kidding? I love to go to dog shows and I will be really disappointed tomorrow that I do not get to go.

Baths

Mum, Calvin, and April had baths today. This is because they get to go to a dog show this Saturday. I would have loved to go, too, but will stay home since I have pups in my tummy. I would not want to have a bath, so there are some advantages with not going to the dog show.

New York Taxis

The greatest city of the USA, New York, is known for its iconic yellow taxis. They have always been American, but in a recent bid Japanese car manufacturer Nissan won a ten year deal to provide new cars. The deal has an estimated value of $ 1 billion. I am sure the New Yorkers will be satisfied, Japanese cars are generally very good. There is no reason, as such, for the New Yorkers to feel sorry that the new taxis are not made by an American manufacturer, especially since Nissan plans to build the cars in North American factories.

Birthdays

Today is the birthday of two of our friends. There is Paula's sister Mia, whom we went to this evening, and there is our Pharao Hound friend Primus. We celebrated Mia with a lot of good food and nice company. In a way, though, I believe the celebration of Primus was better. He comes from kennel Enigma, and we celebrated him by eating ice cream cones called Cornetto Enigma. I do not have to explain why this was such a good way of celebrating Primus.

Is there a Future?

The Swedish car manufacturer Saab has secured a short term loan, which will ensure that they can restart the production of cars. It still seems, however, like a risky company. It has not made profit for many years, not even in a growing world economy like now. This is rather strange, considering that they make really good cars, as far as I know. Well, humans are not always interested in purchasing the best products - if they were, there would be many more humans getting Shiba Inus when getting dogs.

Some people say Saab has a home market that is too small. This is also a strange statement, now that the whole European Union is supposed to be a single market and thus Saab's home market. I also wonder why the home market would have to be so important for a car manufacturer. Sure, if you work for a car manufacturer, you would want to have such a car, but what other point is there for buying a car just because it is from your own country?

No matter what the real reasons are, Saab seem to be a company in constant trouble. Some people believe in it, but many obviously do not. I wonder whether there is a future for Saab. I hope so, since their cars are supposed to be great.

Updates

Sadly, I was too late to blog on the first day of May this year. This is because I downloaded and installed some new additions to my web browser, among those some highly recommended safety features. The installation of these features were not done until after midnight. I do hope our computer will have a better functionality now. This will be a blog entry for the second day of May, and I guess there will be two blog entries this day. Now it is time to go to bed.

Damn Supersticious Humans!

Some humans in our vicinity are supersticious. They obviously believe in witches and demons, and try to scare these away this evening. What other cause would they have to fire cracker upon cracker? You would think humans would be more sane and logical than this, but many of them are not. I curse at these damn humans, they disturb too many dogs.

Ultra Sound

Paula and I went to the veterinarian today to make an ultra sound check on my tummy. It showed that I am probably expecting four pups. I did think I had grown more and faster as compared to the previous times when I have been expecting. My previous two litters have consisted of two pups each. It is said that someone who has had pups before have a higher likelihood of getting bigger litters than someone who gets her first litter. This seems to be true in my case. Of course, one never knows for sure until the pups are born, but we do have a trustworthy prognosis now. It makes the prospect of getting pups more real. I am looking forward to seeing and smelling the pups.

Bearnaise Sauce

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My boyfriend Fuji is clever. He claims he hates having his claws cut so much, that Paula and Daniel gives him treats to eat to divert his attention while cutting the claws. They cut his claws today, and gave him bearnaise sauce to eat while doing so. Fuji has played on this ever since he came to Sweden at an adult age. I am not so lucky. Paula and Daniel have been my humans ever since I was born. I have always had to accept that they have cut my claws without the help of treats ever since I was just a couple of weeks old. I would also like to have a bowl of bearnaise sauce to eat while having my claws cut.

Evening Activities

Both Paula and Daniel were away on different activities this evening.

Daniel was away campaigning for his political party. This sounds dull, and none of us dogs were disappointed that we did not get to come. Nevertheless, he was actually quite happy when he came back home. He was surely happy for coming home, but it seemed that he was also happy for the way his evening away from home had turned out.

Paula was away on more urgent matters. She had been invited to an information evening by our dog food supplier. Can you imagine anything more important than that? I would have liked to come, my fellow four legged friends too, but she did not want to bring any of us dogs. It is my firm belief that we would have been able to give valuable input to the supplier, since we are the end consumers, but that was obviously not enough. Perhaps I can come next time. I sure hope so, even though I doubt it. Time will tell.

Bath

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I was not happy this evening, when I was forced to take a bath in our bathroom. Shiba Inu coats are usually great enough by themselves to fend of dirt, so why would we need baths? However, it went rather quickly and I did feel a bit better once the bath was done. It is not that I will ever long for a bath, but it was not quite so bad. Worse things may happen. If the bath helps me do well on dog shows, as Paula and Daniel claims it will do, there is actually one advantage with taking a bath.

Later, we had some extra good food, because Aunt April celebrated her birthday. This helped making me happier after the bath. Happy birthday, April!

Chicken Breeding

We saw a documentary on TV today about an English woman in Denmark who tried, as an amateur, to breed chickens. It was rather weird. The lady did not seem to know much about hens before she started. When she was disappointed with the first cock, she just bought another cock and let him in with the other one. It was bound to be trouble, and it was, a cock fight. Fortunately, the fight did not result in blood shed. The breeder also did not seem to have any thoughts on what breeds her hens and cocks were, but let them breed freely despite stating they were of different breeds. I do not think she had any breeding programme. Actually, I do not think I would call her a breeder, I just use that word because I cannot think of any better. Are there no equivalents to the dog breeding kennel clubs when it comes to chicken breeding?

Disturbing the Peace

It is Easter, and we celebrate this greatest of Christian holidays with a lot of good food. There are, however, people who seem determined to disturbing the peace.

I am not only talking about those who fire crackers all over. This is a remnant from earlier, supersticious times, when people believed crackers would scare demons and witches away. Nowadays, I guess most people do not have that kind of superstition, they just do it because they are so immature they believe it is funny.

This evening, there was another gang of youngsters disturbing our peace. These were travelling on mopeds on the little road that passes our barn and continues into the woods behind our house. There were many mopeds and each were making a lot of noise. They did not care that we barked at them to keep quiet. I really do not like disturbances like this, but what can you do about them? It is not like we are disturbed for very long, just for about a minute. We hope the moped gang does not come back the same way later tonight.

Full Moon

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am also known as Aangenaam Full Moon Eclipse. This is my official name, the name I am registered as at the Swedish Kennel Club and Swedish authorities. In a way, it is a nice name, even though I do not use it. There actually is a perfume called Full Moon. I can call that my perfume, based on my official name. It is a perfume by Oriflame, but I can have some claim anyway. It is like when Grandmum claims the song Total Eclipse of the Heart is her song, because her official name derives from that song. It makes the world a more interesting place, if you can have different claims on small parts of it without interfering with anybody else. I like that.

Barbecue

We had the first barbecue of the year this afternoon. It was a nice, sunny weather. The meteorologists say it is already summer in the southern parts of Sweden, but it was warm enough for us here too. Mia was here visiting us, and she, Paula, and Daniel sat outside when they ate the grilled food. Auntie Linni, Polly, and I were outside, keeping them company. There were some meat and bread for us as well, later. It was a nice Good Friday.

Advertisement

There was a very nice advertisement in our local newspaper today. It had a picture of a cat, and birthday wishes for the cat's fifteenth birthday. I think this was a great gesture towards a beloved pet.

Cats have a slightly longer life expectancy than dogs, I believe. Still, fifteen years is a long life for a cat.

It is many years left, but if I live to be fifteen years old, perhaps I can get an advertisement like that one as well.

Nils Olov

Paula's father, my dear friend Nils Olov, celebrated his birthday today. We went over to him this evening and celebrated with him. It was a great evening, full of nice people, joyful mood and good food. Paula's parents live on a nice walk's distance from us, so we walked there and back again. It was quite a nice evening.

Redecoration

We will redecorate our kitchen this spring. It is quite old, small parts of it are broken, and it is out of style. A painter was here this evening and gave us an estimate on how much the painting would cost. I am not so fond of having handymen at home, but I am sure the result will be great in the end. We had our bathroom remade last autumn, and it is great. Now I am looking forward to the day when the new kitchen is finished.

Barefoot

Hello, Polly here!

I just heard part of a song on TV. It was a woman singing "barefoot without socks or shoes" (but in Swedish: "barfota utan strumpor och skor"). There is the obvious tautology, but I find the song funny for other reasons. This woman sang as if it was something special to walk barefoot, a nice though rare thing to do. To humans, I guess it is. To every dog, it is just the way we always walk. In general, a human is too much of a tenderfoot to walk barefoot.

Dog Show!

Oh, I liked it today! We went to a dog show in Västerås, a town not far away from us. I really enjoy going out in the show ring. My two children Polly and Nemo competed in Junior Class. Both won Excellent and went to the competition round. Nemo was fourth best male. This is amazing at their age. Calvin was second best male.

I was best female. I did not win the Best of Breed finale, but became BOS. An appearance in the Group might have been an excellent crescendo to this lovely day, but I am fully satisfied with the result that I got. For now, I will leave further showing to my dear children. There will be more shows for me in the future, I just wonder when this will be.

This is my son Nemo, who was the first Shiba Inu in the show ring.

This is my daughter Polly, the first female Shiba Inu in the ring.

Not Endangered Anymore?

Congress in the USA have decreed that the wolves of Montana and Idaho will be removed from the list of endangered species. Normally, this would be positive news. It would, of course, be positive to be able to say these wolves are not endangered anymore. However, environmental groups critizises the decree. They are stating that this sets a dangerous precedent by letting Congress, rather than a federal agency which makes its decisions based on science, remove the protection granted to endangered species.

I do hope Congress knows what it is doing, but I fear the worst. If you take wolves away from a list of endangered species, I believe your decision must be based on science. Is Congress' decision based on science, or is it just politics?

Congratulations!

Congratulations, and jubilations, is due for my younger sister Suri today. It is her second birthday. She was the only one in her litter, Mum's and Dad's last pup, and beloved family member of a family here in our home town. Happy birthday, Suri!

Bad Grand Prix

The Chinese Grand Prix in Formula 1 is this weekend. I do not like that China has a Grand Prix. China is a despicable country.

The Chinese do not treat dogs well. What is more, they eat dogs! We once saw a documentary from China where a lorry was carrying dogs in miniscule crates on their way to slaughter to be food.

As if these horrific deeds against dogs would not be enough, the Chinese do not treat humans well either. China is a dictatorship and the people are not free to express their thought and opinions, neither are they able to vote freely for politicians. People who have opinions which are wrong in the eyes of the rulers can be prosecuted just because of their opinions. China is also the country which executes the most people.

I do not think a country like China is worthy of the international recognition that comes with great sport events. This was true for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which I critizised, and it is true for the Chinese Grand Prix. I believe the international motorsport federation FIA should not allow China to have a Grand Prix.

Hot Food

Paula made a meat sauce for burritos today. None of us dogs got to taste any. The official reason was that the sauce was too hot, it had a lot of jalapenos in it. I am not so sure this is the truth. There were not much left overs and they did save some to have for lunch at work in the coming days. They did not fume or drank very much either. Perhaps the humans just thought the meat sauce was really tasty and wanted it for themselves. Unless I try it, I cannot know, though, but I will stay suspicious.

Day Off

Hello, Polly here!

Mommy and I are taking this day of from the blog, just wanted you to know.

City of Hailey

There is a small city in the American Midwest, in the State of Idaho, which is called Hailey. I think it is a rather nice name for a city. They even have a Hailey Police Department, a Hailey Fire Department, and a Hailey Arts Commission.

If I would ever visit those parts of the USA, I would stop there and have a look at the City of Hailey. It would be nice to smell it, too. I would definitely have my picture taken next to the sign with the city's name at the city limit.

It is a small world we are living in, but not so small you cannot get pleasant surprises when you discover new places on the map.

More Earthquakes

There have been more earthquakes in Japan since the big one about a month ago. Today, a quake that reached 7.1 on the Richter scale shook the same part of the country. Our thoughts go out to the dogs and humans of Japan, we wish them all the best.

Standing for Shows

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We will go to the first show of the season next weekend. This weekend, we have started to train Paula and Daniel in handling, so they will not make a shame out of us in the show ring. I told them our Toy Poodle show table was too small, so they made sure they got the ordinary size table which Nemo and his family had borrowed. On the ground or on the floor, Paula and I made a formidable couple, especially when I was standing right in front of her. Daniel is usually the one who handles me in the show ring, but it is good if I train Paula a little as well, just in case.

We will let you know of the successes of the season.

Healed Wounds

The wolf hunt in Sweden this winter has been evaluated by the authorities. Nineteen wolves were murdered. Out of these, five had been born with faults on the skeleton or teeth. Well, we all know the Swedish wolves are inbred, so this is not strange. The thing that makes me really angry is that two of the wolves had wounds from being shot before. The wounds had healed, but they must have hurt a lot. If you do shoot a wolf, but only hurt it, it is animal abuse not to give it veterinary treatment or at least put it out of its misery. Two wounded wolves out of nineteen can hardly be dismissed as a coincidence and the unfortunate result of accidents. Humans must have wanted to shoot these wolves before. This is evil.

Another Wolf

A new male wolf has settled north of Örebro, together with a female who lived close by before. The male has migrated here from Norway, and his father brought new genes to the small Scandinavian wolf population by migrating there from Finland or Russia. This is good. As we all know, who take active part in dog breeding, genetic diversity is very important to ensure the health of the offspring. I hope this new couple can make a contribution.

Names

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There have been instances when some have asked why I call myself Polly sometimes and Karstuhl other times, and what causes I have for using one name or the other. I thought it might be interesting to say something about this. The truth is, I just like having two different names, and I do not have any rules decided beforehand on when to use one name or the other. I just change between the names as I feel like. Life do not have to be more complicated than that, don't you agree?

Hairdressing

Hello, Polly here!

Poodles do not have an easy life. Their coat does not blow, the way most other dog breeds' coats do. Instead, they have to go to the hairdresser once in a while. It is no use just shaving them, because their coat has to be cut in certain ways i order for them to be able to go to dog shows. I think this is rather ridiculous, but that is just me.

I am often glad to be a Shiba Inu, and proud of it. On a day like today, when our Poodle friend Love-chan had to go to the hairdresser, I am more happy than I usually are that I am not a Poodle.

Dog Awarded for Bravery

The Labrador Retriever Sarbi has received a military award in Australia. Sarbi did military service in the Australian army searching for roadside bombs in Afghanistan. She was reported missing in action after a battle where her human handler was wounded. Fourteen months later, she was discovered again. She had been taken care of by a local Afghan man. She returned to Australia in 2009 and received a hero's welcome. She has now been awarded the Australian Purple Cross, the highest distinction possible for an animal in Australia's armed services. The only former recipient was a donkey who carried wounded soldiers in Gallipoli during World War I. I am happy for Sarbi. Her story proves, once again, how important dogs are in human society. She was recognized for it, too.

Healthy Dark Colour

Hello, Karstuhl here!

A French scientific study has revealed that pigeons in urban areas who have dark feathers are more healthy than pigeons with paler feathers. They also respond quicker to infections. They even seem to have greater sex appeal, perhaps because of their better health. It is, as yet, not quite clear what the cause of the better health is.

I wonder if this applies to dogs as well. Are dogs with darker coats more healthy than those with paler coats? Are black and tan Shibas, like Mommy, Daddy, and I, more healthy than other Shibas? Do we have greater sex appeal? I hope this is the case.

Spring

Spring is finally here. We have considerably warmer weather and most of the snow is gone. Another sign of spring is the changing of car tyres. Daniel changed from winter tyres to summer tyres on the BMW today. Then we had some rain, which feels so much better than snow at this time of the year. I do like winter and to run around in snow, but over the last couple of weeks, we have just had dirty snow with hard ice crusts on it. This is no fun to run upon. When summer comes, we can have the front door open, and everyone can walk in and out just like we want to. I believe this will be a nice spring and summer.

Another Dog Who Survived

A dog has been rescued by the Coast Guard 1.8 km out to sea off the coast of Japan. She must have been swept out to sea by the tsunami three weeks ago and managed to survive on a floating roof and other floating rubble. The dog is yet not identified, but we have to hope she will find her way back to its humans soon. I felt so happy when I watched these TV pictures of the rescue. Note that the dog is given a sausage. She is definitely worth it.

No Australian Trip

My blog entry yesterday was, of course, an April Fool's day joke. There are none in our family who intend to go to Australia in the foreseeable future. Auntie Linni do say that if she would have the opportunity to visit any foreign country in the world, she would chose Australia, where her father was from. Over all she is, however, quite content with just staying at home. She likes it here. Don't we all?

Australia

Paula and Daniel had plans to go to Japan this spring, but with the earthquake and all, the journey was cancelled. Daniel has arranged that they will go to Australia instead. They might bring a dog or two home, and certainly a wombat. I have seen a wombat before, in Brunnsparken here in Örebro, but wombats are rare in Sweden and there is reason to bring more here. Auntie Linni insists this trip will also be good for our breeding, because there are a lot of great Shiba Inus in Australia. I know her father was born in Australia, so I guess I must agree with Linni here.