Pups

April gave birth to two pups today. Both are red, one male and one female. I respectfully keep my distance, knowing fully well how protective mothers are of their newborn pups.

Reports from Paula and Daniel say the pups are very cute. I believe they are, April is a good looking Shiba. Nevertheless, I cannot believe they are as cute as any of my own pups have been.

Of course I am biased when I say this, but what mother would not be? A mother who would not claim her own pups are the cutest ever must be crazy. April certainly thinks the same, when she compares her pups to mine. She is welcome to do that, we do not have to agree on this issue.

A picture of the newborn pups.

Disgrace

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We watched a chef competition show on TV. One of the contestants made many disgraceful comments about the food. I do not like that. Food and cooking is, in my opinion, something very valuable. You can joke about it, of course, but do not demean food or chefs. It is too important.

Correction Facility Food

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We watched this documentary on TV today, about a correction facility in Arizona, the USA. It was a very harsh facility. One of the inmates complained that the food the inmates got was cheaper than that of the dogs in the dog rescue facility. This was correct, and the sheriff in charge said this was as it should be. I agree! Dogs deserve better food than convicted criminals.

Claws

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, you have to have pedicure. For a dog, this means your claws are cut. As Shibas, we are very careful with regard to anything that involves our paws and claws, so we do not really like having the claws cut. Paula and Daniel are quite good at it, though, so it is a pain that is swiftly gone by. I cannot complain. I wish there would be no need for it, but what do you do when you have the luxury of living indoors and running on lawns? The claws do not get torn the way wolves' claws do. Civilized life is great, but you have to take the few downsides there are to it.

Final

There was a lot of sport on TV today, as well as a show about the Swedish Song Contest, where the final was held yesterday evening. The most important competition today was the Best in Show final of Crufts, though. We held our paws for Dreamer, a Pommeranian from Sweden whom we know. He was in the final, which is a great result, but he was not placed. We congratulate him for his participation in the final!

Desks of Drawers

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and Daniel has bought some new furniture. I helped Daniel put some desks of drawers together. It took some time, but it was quite interesting. It is nice to be able to help.

Desks of drawers are mostly used by humans for their clothes. This is the reason dogs never need desks of drawers. We have our coats, which is enough. I actually think the money for the desks would have been better spent on more sofas, comfortable chairs, and beds, furniture used by dogs and humans alike. The new furniture look good, though.

Swedish Song Contest

This was the night of the Swedish Song Contest on television. The winner was Loreen with the song Euphoria. We belive this is good, because we think she has a chance of winning in the European Song Contest in May. Let us hope she does!

Crufts

The world's biggest dog show is arranged in England this week. It is Crufts, of course. We are not there this year. However, tonight, we watched a couple of the group finals live on the Internet. It was interesting, and it was extra fun to see friends of ours win the toy group: the Pommeranian Belliver Unexpected Dream, owned by Fredrik Nilsson (and two more) and handled by Mikael Nilsson. Modern technology is a fantastic thing.

Super Wednesday?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Yesterday was the "Super Tuesday" in the USA, so I asked Granny whether today was the Super Wednesday. She said there is no such thing. There is just a Super Tuesday. No other day of the week has any "super" such day, at any time. Granny explained that this is just because in the USA, humans always vote on Tuesdays and the Super Tuesday is a day when voters in many states vote at the same time in the Presidential primaries. Granny could have told me much more, but I got bored. A Presidential election is nothing for me, anyway. Some humans say presidents are good, because they are elected, but dogs cannot vote in the elections, so I do not care for the presidents.

Vasaloppet

We went up early yesterday morning, despite it being a Sunday when everyone was free from work. The reason for rising early was Vasaloppet, the giant Swedish cross country ski competition that starts early every first Sunday if March. Paula's father always participates in the competition. He is not up among the elite skiers, which means there is not a great probability of seeing him on TV, but it is a nice production anyway. It makes for a nice Sunday, resting while watching others struggle in the ski tracks.

Darn!

This is ironic. I blogged last time about trying to have a daily blog, and then there are two days without any blog entry whatsoever. Darn! I must be better at this.

Shouldn't this Be Daily?

Paula says I need not blog every day, if I have nothing to say. I understand that. I always want to have something to say. Something of importance, that is. However, I call my blog "Daily Hailey", which means it should be daily. I have no great idea for a blog entry today, but I do believe I should try to make the blog a daily blog. After all, the name states that it is. I hope you will not be too disappointed with the blog entry for today, though.

Diet?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Auntie Linni is on a diet. She said she needed to reduce her weight, thus agreed with Paula and Daniel to get a new type of food. She is the only one of us who gets this food and you can tell she likes it. It is strange, though, that her portions are bigger than before, and bigger than those the rest of us get. If this is a diet, perhaps I should also put on some extra weight to qualify for it.

Leap Day

Spring

The snow that fell yesterday melted away again during the night. We have spring again. We will have to see if it lasts.

It has been a disappointing winter, insofar as we have had very little snow. You have seldom been able to play around in snow, it has never been deep enough. On the other hand, we have had some really cold days. Cold days without snow is supposed to be very bad for ticks, and anything that is bad for ticks is good for dogs. I like this. We will have to see if there are fewer ticks than usually. I really hope so.

Winter

Snow is falling again. It is still February, so nobody should be surprised. February is a winter month. Still, there was hope for an early spring this past weekend. We might have to wait another month for springtime. You never can trust the weather.

Visiting Others

Paula and Daniel do not seem to get enough of Shiba pups. I can understand them. However, going away to friends to pet their pups, like they did today, feels like overdoing it. April is expecting pups right now, while I will get another litter later. Polly will also get pups, eventually. Thus, they will get pups to pet here at home. With a little patience, they do not need to pet other pups.

Better

We had a very pleasant evening tonight. Paula's sister Mia paid us a visit, which is always nice. The last of the four qualifying rounds to the Swedish Song Contest was on TV, and the songs were much better than last Saturday. We were not quite pleased with the results, even though it was fun to see that Lisa Miskovsky won a place in the final round. I have liked her ever since she had a music video with wolves in it.

Swedish Succession

The Swedish Crown Princess Victoria gave birth to her first offspring today (a child, as a pup is usually called if human). She only had one (which is, by far, the most common size of human litters), a daughter. This little girl will, eventually, become reigning queen of Sweden. I would like to forward my congratulations. Giving birth is a great thing. Thus, the Swedish succession is secured for yet another generation.

Late Morning

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I did not get along on the morning walk this morning. I usually do, but I heard it was raining this morning, so I abstained. It was nice to sleep until later in the morning under these circumstances. Rain is not my favourite weather.

Carneval

The festivities this day, 40 days before Easter, is called Carneval in many parts of the world. This is a rather silly name for a party, because it describes that the food is predominantly meat. Carne is the same word as in carnivor, for meat eater. The name is silly, because you eat meat at any party that is worth throwing, so mentioning the meat is unnecessary. Just say party!

Slippery Road

We had mild weather this weekend, but the snow that melted then turned into ice today, when the cold came back. It was really slippery. Poor Paula fell on the ice. We took good care of her, though.

Two Years

It has been two years since I gave birth to my second litter, out of which my dear daughter Polly still lives with us. She is so cute, as you can see from this picture of her and Paula today. Happy birthday, Polly and Nemo!

At Home

We stay at home this weekend. Paula likes it, saying that it is more restful for her not to travel to a dog show. I dislike it. It was my turn to go to a dog show, but then our participation was cancelled. I love to go to dog shows, but was robbed of it. This does not feel fair. I hope I will be compensated later this season.

Envy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Envy is a vice. I am envious sometimes, but I am not proud of it.

This evening, Grand Auntie Linni got to help Daniel with the dirty dishes all by herself in the kitchen. I was standing just on the threshold, but in the livingroom, and was not allowed into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Linni took care of the last pieces of a great smelling potato gratin. Under these circumstances, can I help I got envious of her?

Peanut Butter

Paula had bought peanut butter today. It is far from every day we have peanut butter at home. Calvin loved it. He said peanut butter is American, therefore, it has to be good. While Mum, who is also from the USA, agreed with him in principle, I could not. I did agree after tasting it, though. Peanut butter is good.

Valentine's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This is St. Valentine's day, a special day for the celebration of love. This is an odd idea to me. I believe love to be present every day. Believe me, I am a dog, dogs are the experts of love. Since love is all around, why should we not hold love equally high every day? It is not that I am against celebrations, on the contrary, I love any excuse for some candy and tasty food, but dogs celebrate love every day.

More Shows

Paula is back home from the show last weekend. She started to book new shows right away. That is how I like it! I really hope it is time for me to come along now. It has been too long since I had the chance to show the world what a Shiba is supposed to look like in the show ring.

Strange Comment

I got this strange comment on my blog today, from somebody who asked me for how long I have been blogging. Hey, you can see that in the margin of my blog! I took the comment away as spam. Perhaps I was wrong in doing so, but another thing that made me do this was that the comment came with a link to an advert for winter boots. I do not want that kind of adverts on my blog. Dogs do not use winter boots, nor shoes of any kind. Well, it gave me something to write about today, at least.

Anzu!

My dear daughter Anzu, who lives in Dad's home country Norway, succeeded on a dog show today. At the show in Ølen, Norway, she became Best of Opposite Sex Pup among the Shibas. This is a good start of a promising career as a show dog. I hope she will always enjoy dog shows just as much as I have ever did.

Oh, Polly

Sometimes, I get the feeling I am not the best of mothers. I have tried to raise my dear daughter Polly to love dog shows just as much as I do. Nevertheless, she wrote this blog post yesterday about how much she enjoyed staying at home when Paula went away for the weekend to go to a dog show. Where did I go wrong? I would really have wanted to go to the dog show this weekend.

Feels Good to Be Home

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula left for the weekend, going to a dog show. Mommy always believes it would be more fun to go on the tour, whenever there is a dog show coming up. I am not that fond of shows. I like them, but I do not love them.

We saw this odd movie on one of the film channels, Up in the Air. It was about a man travelling all across America in his work, and loving it. He did not want any family or the like, but his life was rather hollow.

It feels good to be home.

Black and White

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Some humans say black is the colour of sadness and mourning. Being mostly black myself, I cannot believe that. I take comfort in the Eastern notion that white is the colour of mourning. Thus, only my ura jiro pattern is of a sad colour.

Railway Station

Daniel was in Stockholm today. Paula went to the railway station to pick him up, then they bought some food on the way home. I wanted to come, but was not chosen. I would always like to be chosen. There are many dogs in our pack, which is often fun, but it makes me just one out of many. Sometimes, it would feel better to be more unique.

Open Refridgerator

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Once in a while, Paula or Daniel lets the door to the refridgerator stay open. This is hard for us dogs to smell and see. There are so many tasty things there, but we know we are not allowed to take anything ourselves. I wish I had a little refridgerator myself, that I could open and pick things from whenever I wanted to. Of course, the very best thing would be if that refridgerator would resupply itself, but I know it would not do that. Life could be so much better with a little magic.

Congratulations

Today, we congratulate a human who has a lot of dogs, mostly Welsh Corgi Pembrokes. Besides taking care of her dogs, she is also Head of State of sixteen countries, including Australia, where Auntie Linni's father was born. I am talking about, of course, Queen Elizabeth II. She has been Queen for sixty years today. This is fantastic. Her dogs must be proud.

Second Round

Today is the second round of the election in Finland, where they are electing President. Mum wonders why they have to have two rounds, instead of chosing electors who can make an informed choice of there would be a tie from the beginning. I wonder why they have to have any election at all. Many countries do without, like Sweden and Japan. We have hereditary monarchs instead. A hereditary monarchy gives much more stability to a country. Look at Japan, where the same line of Emperors have ruled for millenia. Look at the United Kingdom, whose Queen have ruled for sixty years tomorrow. The United Kingdom is the country where modern dog breeding and dog shows were invented, so they must be clever there. I believe Finland would also be better of with a monarch.

Beautiful Weather

It was a beautiful day today. The Sun was shining from a blue sky, sunlight reflecting in the snow. Too bad it was cold outside. Then again, beautiful winter days are normally very cold. This is just one of all the things in life when one great thing is accompanied by one not so great. I enjoyed this Saturday anyway.

Tragic Irony

At least 37 humans have been killed at a peace meeting in South Sudan. The aim of the meeting was to end recent violence, officials said. How ironic to be shot dead at a peace meeting. I hope no dogs were killed, hurt, or left without their humans.

A Date of Importance

This day one thousand and fifty years ago, Otto I became the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. By that time, the Empire of Japan had, of course, existed for many centuries. The Holy Roman Empire played an important part in European history, but ceased to exist in 1806. The Empire of Japan still exists.

Of course, the Japanese have always had Shibas to aide them.

Longing for a Pup Cannot Be Wrong

In one of Sweden's largest tabloid papers, the politician in charge of health care in Stockholm County (with about 2 million inhabitants) Filippa Reinfeldt is critizised because she expresses her interest in getting a puppy dog. I do not agree with this critizism, not at all. Longing for a pup can never be wrong.

Endangered Breeds

Hello, Karstuhl here!

In Britain, there is concern that a lot of native dog breeds are facing extinction. This is serious! I hope more humans will get more dogs, not least of endangered breeds. A lot of them are great pets, suitable for most human families.

Cold and Colder

We had a relatively cold morning today, -9C. It was our coldest morning this winter, I believe.

There is no reason for us to complain, though. It has been much colder in Eastern Europe. At least 18 humans have died i Ukraine and 10 in Poland. I hate to think of how many homeless dogs may have had a hard time. As usual, human news do not count dogs. Hopefully, the emergency shelters that has been erected are open for dogs too.

Feeco

Auntie Linni, April, and I got to go with Paula and Daniel to Paula's parents this afternoon. As always, meeting Paula's parents is great fun. It was a highly informal happening today, with the typically Swedish "fika". The word "fika" means coffee break, often along with some sweet snack.

Originally, "fika" was a colloquial word, where the parts of the Swedish word for coffee, "kaffe", switched places with each other. It has gradually entered the normal language. This is as if a coffee break would be called feeco in English. Human languages are funny!

Another Polly

Hello, Polly here!

Both Paula and Daniel are members of the online social network Facebook. There you can see all kinds of things. Daniel always gets news from a dog shelter in Texas. It struck me more than ever, when another Polly was advertised there. She is not a Shiba Inu, not even a spitz breed. If the name says anything about a dog, she has to be a great companion, though. I hope everything goes well and that she gets a new family who will love her and care for her.

Figure Skating

We watched some figure skating on TV, even though we figured out it was the European Championships. Japanese figure skaters are usually competitive, so we can hope for them; so are Americans, whom Mum hopes for. For simple geographical reasons, neither Japanese nor Americans compete in the European Championships, though. Nevertheless, we were rather happy that the Finnish skater Kiira Korpi won silver. Finland is a neighbour to Sweden, and as long as there are no Swedes or Norwegians competing, we can always hope for the Finns.

A Day to Remember

Today is the international day of Remembrance of the Holocast and its victims. It is important to note that the Nazis where to blame for this, not the Germans as a whole. Anybody who blames the Germans make the same mistake as the Nazis did: blaming somebody based solely on what ethnical group he or she belongs to.

Is This Not Generally Known Already?

The Swedish mail delivers advertisements with the mail sometimes. These are wrapped up in a leaflet with articles that can, at times, be rather interesting. Today, the main article told us that pets are not just company to their humans, but have huge health benefits as well. Is the health benefits of pets not generally known already? I believe it is, so why would anybody write about it as if it is news? Sometimes, I cannot understand humans.

Egg and Bacon

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula and Daniel had bacon and egg for breakfast today. Daniel must have been very tired, because he dropped some of his food on the floor. I cleaned the floor from the fried egg that fell there. It feels good to be useful like this. This was a good morning.

Solar Flares

The Sun is throwing solar flares towards Earth, which will peak tomorrow. This may cause disruptions on communications. I wonder what would happen if there was a solar eclipse at the same time? Would it keep much of the effects of the flare away from Earth? Perhaps not for long, an eclipse usually does not last very long. It would be interesting if these events would coincide, though.

High Risk of Major Quake

There is a high risk of a major earthquake soon. Not in Sweden, which is located far from any earthquake prone regions, but in the densely populated Tokyo region in Japan. Scientists in Japan say the recent rise in minor earthquakes makes a major quake likely soon. This worries me, because for natural reasons, Japan has the biggest population of Shiba Inus in the world. I am worried for my kind. The Japanese humans are very good at building earthquake safe buildings, but they are not free of faults. We all know what happened in the Fukujima region last March. I hope dogs and humans will survive any quake.

Unnecessary Election

The citizens of our eastern neighbour country, Finland, have a general election today to decide who will be their Head of State for some years to come. This sounds highly unnecessary. Finland is a republic, this is why they do this. In a monarchy, like Sweden or Japan, the Head of State inherits the position. You usually know for decades in advance who will be the next Head of State. Dogs and wolves do the same in our packs, though our inheritance goes by the female line while human inheritance has generally gone by the male line.

I believe hereditary monarchies are more natural than republics. They are just as democratic as well, because the way in which the Head of State gets the job is not in the essence of being a democracy. On the other hand, I am just a dog. My vote is cast in the decisions of my dog pack, not in the decisions of the human society. My human readers may disregard of my opinions in this matter, if they chose to do so.

Macaronis

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There were some macaronis in our kitchen today, close enough for me to reach when I stood on my hind legs. It was great to get hold of it. Macaronis is not the most tasty food, but when you catch your food yourself, it always tastes better. As I am a very friendly girl, I shared the treasure with my Mommy, Granny, and other four legged friends.

No New Region

There have been talks about merging Örebro County, where we live, with Södermanland and Västmanland Counties. These would form a new region. However, this will not come to pass in the near future. The politicians in Södermanland County did not like it, neither did some in Västmanland County. In Örebro County, everyone thought it was a good idea.

Meanwhile, today, a new ranking of the economic growth of different counties in Sweden have been published. Many factors have been weighed. Stockholm County tops the list. Örebro County is in the middle, ranked 13th. Both Västmanland County and Södermanland County ranks lower, 14th and 15th, respectively. Well, I guess their politicians did not think it was important enough to merge with a county with better ranking. It is their loss.

Old Candy?

We found a plastic bag far back among our groceries today. The bag contained a little candy. We tasted it, and found that it still tasted all right. To make sure it would not get too old, we promptly shared and ate it. It would be a waste to let it grow any older, so it would not be tasty any more.

Odd Pillowcases

I put new bedsheets in Paula's and Daniel's bed tonight. (Humans are so fuzzy about where and on what they sleep, but I grant them that their bed is comfortable.) Paula always wants more than one pillow. There is one huge downside of this. When you buy sets of bedsheets and pillowcases, there are never more than two pillowcases in each set. If Daniel and Paula is to have one pillowcase each that both match with the bedsheets, Paula also has to have a couple of odd pillowcases. I do not think Paula is the only human who wants more than one pillow in her bed. There should be sets of pillowcases to add to the main sets. Now we have to have odd pillowcases for many of the pillows, and it is not easy to make it as nicely looking as if all of them would look the same. I know what I would start to sell, if I was a pillowcase manufacturer.

Slow Computers

Our computer is fairly slow. The computer manufacturers claim that the computers are constantly developed to be faster, but as a computer user, I do not see that. All the computers I have used have been slow at times, normally without obvious cause. I guess the software companies use up all the increase in speed in the computers by developing software with a lot of unnecessary functions that uses computer power. Perhaps everything is not unnecessary, but a lot of it is.

On the other hand, what do I know? I have just been using computers almost every day my entire life.

Come Back

The dog Tuva in our neighbour country Norway was scared by fireworks on New Years Night and ran off into the forest. After a lot of searches, Tuva has come back home today and is of good health. The sixteen days in the forest has not injuried her.

The humans firing fireworks must be much more careful what they do. It is known to everybody that some dogs - as well as other animals - cannot stand the sound of crackers and fireworks. On the other hand, a dog is resourceful and can survive easily in the wilderness for sixteen days. How many humans would do the same?

What Is the Point?

Hello, Wärstuhl here!

We had a snowfall again today. Just a few millimetres of snow came down to cover the ground. This is enough to make it brighter, to cover the ice on the ground making it more slippery, but it is not enough to play around in. When this is the case, I wonder, what's the point? Could we not just have been without these snowflakes?

Nice Gift

Paula's parents have been in India and Nepal on a vacation. They brought presents home, and we got them today. The very best present was the one they gave us dogs. It was a little bag with a zipper and pictures of dogs on the outside. As such, it was nothing special, although it looked nice. The best thing was that the proceeds from selling these bags went to dogs in need. There are, apparently, many dogs in need in that part of the world. I like anything that goes to support dogs in need.

A big thanks from us to Paula's parents!

Reshuffled Cabinet

As a country which has had almost one new Prime Minister each of the last years, as Japan, a reshuffled cabinet is probably no big news. I do hope it is no sign of new political turmoil. In my mind, Japan needs some political rest. We will have to see what will happen.

Grade A Hips

Hello, Wärstuhl here!

I had an X-ray examination last week. The results came today. As I would have guessed, I have excellent hips. They are graded A, which means there is nothing wrong with them whatsoever.

Even though both Mommy and I believed I would have good hips, it is great to have the result printed in black and white. Now, there is nothing stopping me from bringing the next generation of our hereditary line to life.

Life is great.

False Conclusions About Mix Bred Dogs

A news paper in Gothenburg, Sweden, published an article today about the names humans give to their dogs. (Far from all dogs decide upon their names themselves, as we Shiba Inus do.) In the article, there are also some numbers on the popularity of different dog breeds. The writer also falsely claims that the most popular dogs are mix-breeds.

It is stated in the article that one quarter of all dogs in Sweden are mix-breeds. The article go on to tell how many dogs there are of the most popular breeds in Sweden.

From this, I conclude that three quarters of all dogs in Sweden are pure bred. This is a huge majority.

You cannot lump all of the mix-bred dogs together and compare this lump to each of the different breeds there are. The mix-breeds do not share more than the species canis lupus familiaris, just like the three quarters of us who are pure bred. A mix-bred dog can be anything from the carefully bred dog whose aim it is to give fresh genes into the gene pool of a small breed, to the stray runt of whom nobody can say what breeds there are in him or her. A mix-bred dog can come in any size, shape, and colour, and can be anything from very healthy and intelligent to very sick and stupid.

You just cannot say that mix-breeds are the most popular dogs in Sweden. They are just one quarter of all of us.

Lasagne

There is a comic strip I do not really like. The main character is the cat Garfield, and he is mean, narcisistic, and generally unlikeable even for being a cat. There is one personality treat I like about Garfield, though, his love for lasagne. I love lasagne too. Paula is cooking her great lasagne tonight, and I hope to get to taste some.

Puzzling Picture

In our local news paper, there is a crossword puzzle today with a picture of cats and dogs arguing in a Christmas tree. It puzzled me. I would never argue or fight in our Christmas tree. We have had it all through Christmas, to the joy of both dogs and humans. None of us have made anything to ruin it, except that April started to play with one of the balls that had fallen of its branch in the tree. Thus, the puzzle picture puzzled me a little. I guess the human who had drawn the picture either had completely different experiences than I have, or just had a very vivid imagination.

Eating Fir Trees?

Christmas is over in a week. We have fallen fir trees in our garden. However, I do not believe in eating fir trees, as you can do at an expensive Copenhagen restaurant. Perhaps if one of our fallen trees would have struck a mouse, killing it, that would have been a fine meal.

Epiphany

Hello, Wärstuhl here! (A.k.a. Polly)

It is the thirteenth day of Christmas today. In English, this day is also known as Epiphany. It is celebrated to commemorate that the wise men came from a country in the East to look up the newborn baby Jesus.

The wise men, often described as three men called Balthasar, Caspar, and Melchior, presented baby Jesus with three gifts. This is supposed to be the origin of the tradition of giving each other Christmas gifts.

Despite this origin, gifts are given on Christmas Eve in Sweden and on Christmas Day in English speaking countries. In some countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, though, Christmas gifts are given on this day. I think this is a fine tradition. I do not think we should scrap our own tradition, but I could stand getting Christmas gifts on Epiphany as well!

Christmas Gift

We have received a late Christmas gift today. It is at our local post office, for us to pick up tomorrow. It was actually shipped many days before Christmas from Oakville in Washington, USA. We know this, because Mum's breeder Laura has told us she did this. We do not know why it has taken all this time to reach us. Sure, there are a lot of things being mailed before Christmas, but for this to arrive at Epiphany rather than Christmas Day is rather strange. It is probably impossible to learn why the shipment has taken such a long time. You cannot make a parcel tell its story. Oh, well, it is better late than never.

Getting There

Paula got to the dog show all right this afternoon. Now the storm has passed and everything is all right. There is no longer any reason that I can see for me not wanting to be at the show. Too bad I am not.

For those of you who miss me in the show ring: do not worry, I'll be back!

Storm

A storm is approaching Sweden from southwest. Britain is already affected. Paula will go to Gothenburg with two of the other dogs for a dog show. We hope they will not be stopped or anything because of the foul weather. I do think it is not so risky, but I am still glad not to take this risk. For once, I think there might just be one advantage of not going to a dog show.

The Winter Came and Went

We had a rather good snowfall yesterday. There was about 5 centimetres of snow on the ground, and Daniel shoveled snow for the first time this winter. However, by afternoon the temperatures rised above the freezing point, it started to rain, and there is very little snow left after the thaw today. Will there ever be a decent winter this year? I hope so, if only for a little while. Despite my mature age, I do love to play in deep snow. So does my daughter Polly. We would like to have more snow than this.

Satellite for a Satellite

Earth's satellite, the Moon, now has a satellite of its own. The US space agency NASA has put the Grail-A space craft in an orbit around the Moon. The main object for the satellite and its forthcoming twin Grail-B is to map measurements that will give scientists new knowledge on the internal structure of the Moon. This may not sound very interesting, but I believe it can give us an idea on the natural resources that can be found in the Moon. With natural resources ready to be harvested, there would be an idea in putting permanent settlements on the Moon. This would be an exciting idea.

Crackers

It is New Year's Eve, and people have been firing crackers since early this day, more and more the closer we get to midnight. I am not afraid of the cracks, but I dislike them and I loathe the people cracking them, because I know how many dogs are afraid of them. It is a completely useless and unnecessary way of amusing oneself. It costs a lot of money and is over in no time. Furthermore, the historic origin of firing the crackers is that people used them to scare of demons, in the days when people believed in demons. People nowadays should not be that supersticious. They should just stop firing crackers.

Happy new year to everyone out there who are not firing crackers!

New Manned Mission to the Moon

China plans manned missions to the Moon, nearly 40 years after the last time a man walked the surface of that celestial body.

I have mixed feelings about this. While I love the Moon, and always like to learn more about it, I do not like that the Chinese are planning to go there. China is no nice country, and I would not like to see any scientific progress or the PR value of new manned lunar flights go to that country. China is a communistic dictatorship, and in China, they eat dogs. Enough said.

Hopefully, these plans by China will make the USA, Japan, and European countries to take up the challenge of putting men on the Moon again. Perhaps even putting dogs there - and not in the form of food.

The Pillars of the Earth

We have seen a rerun of a great mini series on TV this week: The Pillars of the Earth. It is a story about politics and battles in Medieval England, and the TV production is very well made.

The only bad thing about this series is, there are no dogs in prominent roles. Otherwise, I can highly recommend it.

Hamburgers

Hello, Wärstuhl here!

We got some hamburgers tonight. I like hamburgers. Enough said.

Christmas Is Not Over

My dear daughter Karstuhl asked me if Christmas was over now, when we have had Christmas Day and Boxer Day. I told her it is not. We have got plenty of days left to celebrate Christmas. In Sweden, Christmas is not over until the 20th day, that is the 13th of January. In other countries, they even say Christmas is longer than that. Thus, we can look forward to many more days of good Christmas food and candy.

Agility on TV

We watched some agility on TV. It was not a real competition, merely a side show in a horse show. Nevertheless, one would like it to be good. There was a Poodle who raced first. Of course, our poodle friend Laila hoped the Poodle would win. It was not quick, but managed to take the whole course without any faults. Later dogs were quicker, but had faults. Strangely, though, the faults did not count in the ranking of the dogs. We were upset, especially Laila. What is the point of an agility track, if speed is all that counts?

The Night Before Christmas

Hello, Wärstuhl here!

It is the night before Christmas Eve, and we are busy preparing for the celebrations tomorrow. So busy, in fact, that we did not have the time to write a blog entry for the 23rd of December. This does not matter so much, I believe. We will just have two entries for the 24th instead. Mommy is more disappointed, she always want the blog to be daily. Granny, on the other hand, believes the Christmas preparations are much more important than blogging. This is nothing strange. There is nothing more important to Granny than food and candy, and this is a huge part of Christmas and the Christmas preparations. I do help Granny with the preparations, but have found a little time to write this blog entry, nevertheless.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Almond Paste

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Daniel made Christmas candy from almond paste and raisins this evening. I knew how to make better use of the almond paste, so I helped myself to some when Daniel had gone away from his workplace. It was really tasty! Unfortunately, Daniel soon came back and stopped me from getting any more. I hope there is some for me on Christmas Eve, at least.

Prison

A man in Sweden tortured his puppy dog to death. He has now been sentenced to one year and three months in prison for animal cruelty. While this is supposed to be a record long sentence, I still believe it is way to short. In the news article, it says what he did to the poor puppy, but I cannot bear to write it here.

Daniel says he is puzzled any human could torture a little dog like this man did, and not be sentenced to psychiatric care. Beating and even killing humans may be done by mentally healthy people, Daniel says, but torturing a dog, he does not understand that. I want to agree with Daniel, though I think I am too cynical to believe only the mentally ill humans would do these things. Unfortunately, many humans have a tendency to become beasts.

I hope the murdered dog has found peace in the afterlife.

Christmas Tree

We have a lot of fir trees surrounding our garden. At Christmas, this is not enough. There is a tradition to have a fir tree, a so called Christmas tree, indoors as well. You have to have a special foot for this tree to stand. Daniel has tried to mount our tree in that foot many times this evening, but has not succeeded. The tree is now standing at an angle, leading towards the wall. Daniel is just sighing. I wish I could help, but to screw the tree tight in the foot, I guess you have to have opposable thumbs. This is one thing dogs lack.

Well, maybe it will be better tomorrow, if Daniel is less tired by then.

Christmas Shopping

Hello, Karstuhl here! (A.k.a. Wärstuhl.)

Paula and Daniel went shopping for Christmas gifts again today. They did the same last Friday. I have already done all the Christmas shopping I need. It is much easier being a dog when Christmas is coming - the Christmas shopping you need to do can be counted on the fingers of one paw - that is, none. Nice, is it not?

Snow

We got some snow about a week ago, but it quickly thawed away. Today, we got some more. It is not more than last time, just about a centimetre. I believe this will disappear as well. I do not mind if it does disappear. Snow is nice, but only when it is at least a decimetre or so, thick enough to play in. If it does not even cover the tops of the straws of grass in the lawn, it is not worth much.

Late Night Lunch

Paula is working this weekend. Late tonight, she is preparing lunch. This might seem odd, but it is because she wants lunch for tomorrow at work. I understand this perfectly. Paula is a great cook, and while she is able to buy lunch at work, it cannot be as tasty as her own food. She also says her own lunch is cheaper, though I believe she could sell it for more money than the cost of the food you could buy at her work. I help Paula making the lunch, she says this will make it even better.

Stable Power Plant

The Fukushima nuclear power plant is now stable, according to the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. This is positive news. I was certain the Japanese would be able to stabilize the situation, but it has gone quicker than I anticipated. Dismantling the reactors is another matter, this may take decades. Eventually, dogs and humans will be able to return to the Fukushima area. No disaster is forever.

Clothes Do Not Heal

Daniel slipped on an icy road today. He landed on his knee, but it does not hurt. However, he ripped up a little hole in his trousers. They do not heal, like dog coat and dog skin would if I would slipp and fall. I am glad I have my coat instead of clothes.

The South Pole

Exactly one hundred years ago today, dogs and humans reached the South Pole for the first time. It was Norwegian dogs who helped the Norwegian human Roald Amundsen and his fellow countrymen to get there. Without the dogs, the expedition would surely have been a failure.

Perfect Lunch Boxes

Japanese always strive towards perfection. Why not watch this piece on Japanese lunch boxes? What is better than to make food perfect?

Saint Lucia

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Today is the day when we celebrate Saint Lucia in Sweden. It is the only saint who really gets celebrated. As far as I have understood, this is because the night of Lucia was the longest of the year during the last century or so with the Julian Calendar. Saint Lucia was a Christian excuse for celebrating midwinter. I do not mind. I do not think god would mind either, given that he created midwinter as well as everything else. Instead, I enjoy the special, yellow lussekatt cakes.

Late Night Snack

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is late at night, but Paula is about to have a snack of taco shells and cheese. I hope I can get some. I will certainly make my wish become known.

Sad

Eventually, you get to a point where you get sad. We have lost our friend Primus, the Pharao Hound. He was always nice to me. I counted him as a friend, and I miss him. We may meet in the afterlife.

Four Paw Drive

The first snow of the season came tonight. The temperatures have been above the freezing point all day, making the muddy snow watery and very slippery.

This is where dogs have yet another advantage over humans. While dogs and humans walk dry surfaces with equal ease, dogs have far less trouble walking slippery surfaces. We have a lower point of gravity which is always located between the four paws which propells us across the ground. The claws help us get a good grip. Meanwhile, our humans try to balance their high point of gravity on their two long legs, often with shoes that get a bad grip on the ground. This is like comparing a four wheel drive car with spiked tyres to a two wheel motorcycle with summer tyres.

I cannot help but feeling sorry for the humans under these conditions. This does not stop me from walking on in my ordinary pace, however. You always want to get a proper workout on the walks.

Answering the Telephone

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There is always somebody at home at our place. However, when you call us on the telephone, you may not notice. This is because dogs always leave such tasks to their humans. If no human is at home, or just busy doing other chores, they cannot answer. We dogs could answer, but it is beneath us to communicate with nothing but sound. There are so much more things to say through body language and smell. This is why we do not answer the phone; we could, if we would want to.

Christmas Carols

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We are playing Christmas Carols at home these days. It is a terrific way to get into that perfect Christmas mode. The only trouble is that it makes you very hungry for Christmas food, and we have to wait before we get that. Some say it is worth waiting for, but I would rather have it both now and at Christmas.

Congratulations

Paula and April came home from Finland today. April brought a new winner title, she is now FINW -11. I congratulate her warmly to that title. She was Best of Opposite Sex, and has yet to come close to a Best in Show title, like I won when I was as young as a pup. This means that she needs the extra encouragement of my warm congratulations even more.

Another Dog Island

Another Dog Island may be in the making. I am talking about the Canary Islands, of course, whose name means Dog Islands. This Spanish archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa is full of volcanoes. This year, another volcano has formed and erupts south of the island El Hierro. This might become another Canary Island, or add territory to El Hierro. Either way, the Dog Islands will get more territory.

This is nice. For obvious reasons, I like the name, and I would like to go there sometime. I do not know if you can get a Canary Island championship or if it is Spanish there too. The Islands is a province of its own in Spain, but I do not think it has any special governing status. It would be nice if there was a Dog Islands Dog Championship, or Winner title, though.

Black Wolf

I read this interesting article on wolves in the Yellowstone National Park in the USA. What intrigued me even more, though, was the adjacent picture of two wolves, running while playing with each other. One of the wolves is black. Never before have I seen a picture of a wolf of this beautiful colour. I was uncertain they even existed. Being a black and tan dog myself, this makes me really happy. There probably were black wolves tens of thousands of years ago, before dogs. We may have a really long story, we who are black. It continues now with me, from my Dad and onwards through most of my pups. I like that.

England, France, and Ukraine

Sweden will face tough opponents in the Euro 2012 football championship. The other teams of the group include England, which has been very successful in the qualification round, and France. The easiest opponent may be Ukraine, which, however, has the advantage of playing at home soil. I would like for Sweden to move on from the group, but I am not sure this will happen. In England, they believe they have an easy group. I guess they are right, from their perspective.

Christmas Party

This evening, Daniel is at a Christmas party with his work mates. Meanwhile, we who stay at home have a Christmas party of our own right here. It is a nice and quiet party, there is no need to trash our own home just to have a good time.