Not Much Fun

So, reigning world champion and leader of this year's championship, Sebastian Vettel, won another race from start to finish today, in Canada's Grand Prix. It is not that he does not deserve it, he is a great racer in a great car, but the championship would be more fun to watch if it was closer and if it looked more like we would get another world champion this year. It is a little like French Open in tennis, where Rafael Nadal won his eighth title today, he deserves it, but it is not much fun for the spectators.

Wedding

The Swedish princess Madeleine got married today. The marriage was, of course, shown on Swedish TV. We had the TV on this channel most of the time, but changed channels when the qualification to the Canadian GP in Formula 1 started. You have to make priorities.

We wish Princess Madeleine all the luck she can have as a married woman.

Austria - a Historical Anomaly

Sweden is playing Austria tonight, in the qualifying round to next year's FIFA Football World Cup.

Austria is a strange country. The people speak German, just like in Germany. Until the middle of the 19th century, there was no doubt that modern day Austria was a part of the many German countries which existed at the time. Then in 1871, the rest of Germany united into a German Empire, while Austria stuck to their own Emperor. After the fall of the monarchies in 1918, many people was in facour of merging the new German and Austrian republics. This would make sense, since the only real reason for the countries not having united sixty years earlier was their different monarchs. The victors of the First World War did not want Germany to gain Austria, though. Later, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, but the victors of the Second World War did not want Austria to stay part of Germany. Furthermore, the Austrians wanted to be independent again, to show they had also been victims of Nazi German occupation (even though a lot of the Austrians had been in favour of the annexation and gladly fought on the Nazi side in the war).

In short, the main reason for Austria being a sovereign country, is that it had its own monarch in 1871. Being a separate country as a republic is just strange. Austria should reinstate its monarchy, then there would be a real reason for the country to exist. Now it is just a historic anomaly. Because of this, they should lose the game.

D Day

Hello, Sunni here! (Hailey's Mum.)

In Sweden, you may think you have all the reason to celebrate your National Holiday today, for ending a union with Denmark and Norway in 1523. In the rest of the world, this is celebrated as D Day, when in 1944, Americans, Brits, and Canadians landed in Normandy, in Nazi occupied France, and started to liberate Western Europe from tyranny. There were a few Swedes among the troops, but Sweden took no part in this war against tyranny.

I was born and raised in America, but this is not the only reason for me to say this. You should remember D Day on the National Holiday festivities today, because without D Day, you might still have had nothing to celebrate in Sweden.

Name Day

Today is Daniel's second name day. Just like dogs, humans have long official names, but they usually just use one first name and one family name. Daniel has two first names besides Daniel, his second name is Gustaf, which is the name day today.

Gustaf was the name of the Swedish king who was made King of Sweden on this day 1523, finally ending the Danish dominated Kalmar Union that Sweden had been a part of for more than a hundred years. It is thus the latest day that Sweden has become fully independent, which is the main reason for it being the National Holiday.

We do not only celebrate National Holiday today, but celebrate Daniel a little bit, too.

National Holiday

Today is the National Holiday of Sweden.

Daniel has a day off from work, but he says he celebrates by working anyway. He is reading important papers on an upcoming new statute, all in line with his job as a legal adviser on the Swedish Transport Agency. Daniel is of the opinion that you celebrate your country in the best way by working for a better country, as he is doing. In a way, I can agree with that, though I always enjoy resting while celebrating Sweden as well.

Happy National Holiday to all the Swedish dogs and humans out there!

Hospital

Paula is at the hospital. She has had trouble with her stomach, so she had surgery yesterday. Now she is alone at the hospital after the operation.

I wish I could be there with her. We all wish we could be there with her, or at least that some of us could. There are, however, restrictions on visitors. As far as we can understand, dogs are not allowed. We do not really understand why, but those are the rules. Humans can visit for some hours during daytime.

We hope Paula can come home tomorrow, so we are able to give her all the love that she deserves.

On Having a Blog

Orange, the pup who is the youngest member of our dog pack, went with Paula and Daniel to Paula's sister and sister's boyfriend tonight. When returning home, Orange told me Daniel and Paula had been asked about my blog, and that these humans had had some doubt that I am the one who really writes it. Well, it may sound implausible, but dogs are capable of more than most humans believe. You are, of course, fully free to make up your own mind on the question of who is the real author behind my blog, but I am not in doubt. Whatever you believe, though, I hope you find the blog interesting and come back often.

Whale Candy?

Rumour has it, you can buy dog candy made from whale meat in Japan, from endangered species of whales. This is not good. There are so many non-endangered animals to make candy from, so why make it from the meat of endangered animals? We want the endangered animals to live on for generations, and when they are of enough numbers, we can make candy of some of them.

Disappointed Again

The weekend is here tomorrow, and since it is summer, there is a dog show. paula will go there with some dogs, while Daniel stays at home with the rest of us. I will not get to go this time either. I am really disappointed.

Birthdays!

Mum is celebrating her 14th birthday today. This is an awesome age. We celebrate with her.

My pups of the Aangenaam F litter celebrate their second birthday today. These are my daughters Anzu and Fumi and my son Zeus. I salute them as well.

Birthdays are great. I cannot think of any reason to celebrate that is a bad reason, but birthdays are really good reasons.

Lethal Beaver

You may think you know what animals are dangerous to humans, but did you know beavers should be on that list? A man in Belarus has recently died from the wounds a beaver inflicted upon him. The beaver population of Belarus is growing and they are said to be a growing threat to humans, as they come closer to human settlements.

Perhaps they could use some more wolves, making the number of beavers smaller?

Cake

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Daniel had a piece of birthday cake left this evening. I was lucky enough to get to help him finish it. Cake is always tasty. Not meat tasty, but still very tasty. It made this evening better than average.

80-year-old Human Climbs Mount Everest

Age is no limit in the Japanese society. Old people are revered, and Japanese people often get old - just like the Japanese dog breed Shiba Inu, that I am of.

One Japanese man, Yuichiro Miura, has just recently climbed to the top of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, at age 80. It makes him the oldest human ever to climb this mountain top. This is the third time he reached the summit. Who said you would have to take it easy at an old age?

There is a Nepalese man who is 81 years old, and who held the last record after climbing this mountain top at the age of 76. He now plans to climb it again. Well, if he makes it, who knows for how long he will keep the record again?

Another Victory Yesterday

Without repeating what I wrote yesterday about dog show victories, I have to tell you that Kenny also was victorious. Kenny is the father of two of my litters, among our common pups are Karstuhl and Anzu. He resides in Spain now, and at a dog show there yesterday, he won his final Spanish CAC, becoming Spanish Champion, and was also Best of Breed. It is hard to become a Spanish Champion, there are higher requirements than for many other champion titles. This also makes this a greater accomplishment than most champion titles. Karstuhl and I sends our congratulations to Kenny.

Success for Anzu!

My dear daughter Anzu, who lives in Norway, was successful at a dog show today. The show was held in Bergen, where there is a large Shiba population - Anzu is one of many. She won CAC and Best of Breed. That's my girl!

It shall also be noted that Tarou won a CAC and CACIB at the show where he, Gunde, and Kicki was with Paula and Daniel here in Sweden. Kicki then won the same and BOB, while Tarou won BOS.

Anzu's victory may be the most important for our kennel today, because she has our kennel prefix Aangenaam in her name.

Feeling Grumpy

Early morning tomorrow. Some of us are going to a dog show. I love dog shows, but I will not be allowed to go. Small wonder, then, that I am feeling grumpy this evening.

Birthday

We are celebrating Daniel on his birthday today. He got money for a new lawn mower, a new suit, shirt, and tie. All of it got his huge approval.  He also gave us some extra treat, which got our approval.

Paula worked late tonight, so we will celebrate more tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Daniel!

Logging in

Sometimes, I have problem logging in to my blog. The Blogger page, where I have my blog, claims that I would already be logged in under a different identity. i have now discovered why. When Daniel logs in to his Youtube account, he gets logged in to Blogger as well, despite not having a Blogger account with the same user identity. I do not know why this is, but we can do something about it. I have, thus, now told Daniel always to log out from Youtube, when he has been using that site. I hope he will follow my advice, it would make my life a little easier.

Tigers Lack Genetic Diversity

The wild tigers of India lack genetic diversity. They are also divided into small populations isolated in different part of the huge country. This poses a huge risk for the long time survival of the species.

I believe dog breeders could help. Many experienced dog breeders have made tremendous efforts to preserve and bring small dog breeds back to viable populations. The experience and knowledge of these dog breeders should be able to help not only the tiger, but many endangered species. I hope biologists realise this.

Macaronies

I had had food, but when Paula offered me some macaronies, who am I to turn them down? That would be rude, wouldn't it? Consequently, I had some macaronies as a later supper tonight.macaronies are tasty. If there would also have been meatballs, it would have been perfect, but I have no reason to complain.

Gold!

Yes! Sweden won the gold in the ice hockey world championship.

One has to congratulate the Swiss as well. Given the normal status of the Swiss national team, it is a greater effort of them to win silver than it is of the Swedes to win gold.

The USA Won Bronze

Mum is happier today. The USA, her home country, beat Finland and won bronze in the ice hockey world championship. Congratulations, Mum!

The game was tied after full time, and it went on to be determined on penalties. Thus, Finland did not do a bad game, but either of the team has to win. This time it was the USA that was a little better in the penalty shootout.

Now we hope that Sweden will beat Switzerland and win gold. If this happens, it will be the first time since 1986 that a country hosting the championship also wins the whole tournament.

Mum Was Disappointed

Mum was disappointed yesterday.

We were up late to watch the Eurovision Song Contest, and it was not over until midnight. This is why I had no time to write any blog entry yesterday.

Mum was disappointed for two reasons.

First, her home country America lost to Switzerland in one of the semi final games of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Sweden won the other earlier yesterday, and we had all hoped for a decisive gold medal game between Sweden and the USA. This will not happen. The USA have to fight Finland to get bronze.

Second, Mum's official name, beside her many dog show titles and kennel prefix, is Total Eclips of the HRT. This name is from a hit song by British singer Bonnie Tyler. In the Eurovision Song Contest yesterday, Bonnie Tyler sang for the UK, and Mum was naturally hoping that the woman behind her own name would win the competition. However, Bonnie Tyler did not do very well, despite having a great song. She ended up far away from victory. I guess Paula was right, saying that Bonnie Tyler's song was not modern enough. The contestants are surely mostly competing about the votes of young people, so the song needs to feel modern.

We hope for American bronze and Swedish gold today.

Barbecue

We took the grill out of the winter storage today and had a barbecue. Mia and her boyfriend Stefan came by and it was a noce evening. I got two pieced of chicken filet. More evenings could be like this.

Semi Finals

It could not have been a better result in the quarter finals of the Ice Hockey World Championship. Mum's home country America beat Russia 8-3. Switzerland continued its winning streak by beating the Czechs. Our neighbour Finland beat Slovakia. Then, in the last quarter final, Sweden beat Canada.

The USA will play Switzerland in one of the semi finals. This is good, because it means that either of these countries will be in the final. For as long as the current format of the tournament has been played, with a true final game, neither the USA, nor Switzerland, has reached that game. The USA last won a bronze in the 2004 championship, and before that in 1996, while Switzerland has not won any medal since 1953, when they won bronze.

Most of us hope that Sweden will win the gold, but Mum has her hope up for America. That would also be nice. America has not won the World Championship since 1960, when it was the same tournament as the Olympics, and has not won the separate World Championship since 1933. By comparison, there was a short time since Sweden's latest gold in 2006 or time without a gold between 1962 and 1987.

Go, Sweden!

No Competitions Today

The first semi final in the European Song Contest was yesterday, the second is tomorrow. The final is Saturday.

The groups in the Ice Hockey World Championship were finished yesterday, the quarter finals are played tomorrow.

There are never dog shows in the middle of the week, neither Formula 1 races.

All in all, among all of the competitions going on, nothing really happened today, that I am aware of. Some days seems a little more dull than others. This was one of them. It will be better tomorrow.

Best Best in Show?

Hello, Peanut here!

As has previously been reported in this blog, Gunde became Best in Show this weekend.

I asked my mother which was best: Gunde's BIS at a specialty, where there are judges specialised in the breed, but not many other breeds to compete against in the finals; or Haileys BIS at an international all breed show, but in puppy class? If I would have asked Hailey, she would have held her title in higher regard, of course. Gunde would have said his title was the best. This is just like my mother said that no matter what, her own World Winner title was better than either BIS.

Well, my mother could not give me a straight answer. She mentioned all of the pros and cons that I told you above, but when I pushed her, she said a title for an adult dog must be a little better.

I wonder if I get away with writing this in Hailey's blog.

Unfit for Survival?

There are species of animals that are very endangered, so much so that they are really on the edge of becoming extinct. One such species is the sweet water fish Mangarahara cichlid from a river in Madagascar. It is believed to be extinct in the wild, due to dams constructed by humans, making their natural habitats dry. Three fishes are known to be alive, all of them males. Female fishes of this species are therefore sought after. The hope is that some private fish collectors have at least one female, which might be the basis of reconstructing the species.

There are, however, dangers. The last known female to be alive was put together with the male living in a zoo in Germany, but instead of mating with her, he killed her. I figure this may show that not all species are fit for survival. Sure, it might have been this particular male that was mentally ill, but if one of only a handful of individuals remaining of a species is crazy, how can you reconstruct the species without keeping that mental illness in the genetic lines?

I say this fish species looks unfit for survival, so maybe it should not survive. I hope I am wrong, though. It would be a happier ending of the story, if the species is reconstructed.

Norwegian Specialty

Paula is with some of us dogs in Norway, for the Norwegian Akita Inu specialty dog show. Unfortunately, I did not get to come this time.

Today, our friends won a lot. Gunde (a.k.a. Kokuhou, who was father of my latest litter) won Best of Breed and then also Best in Show against dogs of other Japanese spitz breeds. Gunde also won a Norwegian CAC and thus became Norwegian Champion. On top of this, April's son Javier won Best of opposite Sex Puppy.

From home in Sweden, we send our greetings and congratulate our friends. I would have wanted to be there myself. Some say, however, you cannot go to every show there is. I would want to disagree. It is so much fun to go into the show ring, not only when you win.

Alleged Attack

In news from California, four animals claimed by some to have been Pit Bull Terriers, have been said to be responsible for the attack upon and death of a 63 old lady who was out jogging in Los Angeles County. The animals were not in the company of any human, and the last one to leave the woman is said to have run of into the desert. The woman died from her wounds on her way to hospital.

There is nothing in the news article saying what caused the fight between the animals and the woman. Nobody can say for sure that the animals were Pit Bull Terriers, or even dogs, since they are all gone. What we have are the stories by witnesses, such as a police deputy that was on the site, firing at the last animal to leave the place of the fight. No witness can say that the animals had collars or humans around.

Dogs do not normally attack humans. Indeed, I would say there is a higher probability for a human of being viciously attacked by another human than by a dog. Dogs who have humans around are brought up to trust and love humans.

Remember, everybody must be considered innocent until proven guilty. We do not even have proof the woman was attacked by dogs. If she was, there is still nothing in this story saying why she might have been attacked. I would not rule out the possibility that she was violent first, whereupon the animals acted in self defence. The woman's death will be investigated by the coroner, it will be interesting to hear what the result of that investigation might be.

Dog Age Calculation

A human scientist has made investigations into the aging of dogs. This is really interesting.

The common knowledge is that one dog year is equivalent to seven human years. While this is actually a rather good rule of thumb, it is not completely true. The ageing differs between different breeds, and as no other known animal differ so much in sizes as dogs do, this calls for different calculations for different breeds.

I will not waste my time repeating what this scientist has come up with, but recommend that you read this article about the findings.

There is but one thing I do not believe in this article. It says that dogs have been around humans for 15,000 years. As far as I have read many times before, the correct age for the dog-human bond is actually about 40,000 years. We dogs are an inseparable part of civilisation.

Raising Glasses

Today was anorher spring holiday. Thus, Daniel did not go to work, despite it being Thursday. The thing that is celebrated is the ascension of Christ into Heaven. I guess a good thing to do for this celebration was to raise the glasses up in the air, like humans often do when fhey have alcoholic beverages to celebrate. A toast for Christ!

Sweden v. Norway

The annual ice hockey world championship is on. Tonight, Sweden played Norway. Generally, Sweden has a much better national ice hockey team than Norway, thus, it was no surprise that the Swedes played much better than the Norwegians. I am quite pleased with the result: 5-1 in Sweden's favour. My late Dad, who was born in Norway, always hoped that Norway would win in sports. He would not have been happy. As I am born and raised in Sweden, Swedwn is always my facourite. I hope Sweden will go on to win the gold.

Birthday

Today was Daniel's mother's birthday. They live in different cities, but talked over the phone for more than an hour this evening. I like that. One should be nice to one's mother. I am, and my daughter Karstuhl is.

Food

Sometimes, I wish life would be a little more exciting, so supper time would not necessarily be the best time of the day. On the other hand, food is a great thing. Does life really have to be better than a nice meal? I really do not think so.

Mia

Paula and Daniel went to Stockholm today, to visit Daniel's family. In the meantime, Paula's sister, our dear friend Mia, came by and took us out for a while in the middle of the day. It was nice seeing her, as it always is. We also made a new friend, Mia's friend Johan. He was a great guy. I hope to see both of them again soon.

35 or 5

One human year is roughly equivalent to seven dog years. This means that dogs are only really concerned with human birthdays, if they turn a year which can be evenly divided by seven. Today, Mia turned 35, or five dog years. This is worth celebrating. Happy birthday, Mia!

Bumble Bee

We had an unwelcomed guest in our house tonight: a bumble bee. I do not like flying insects, especially not when they can sting you. I tried to warn Paula and Daniel, but they just told me to go back to sleep. If you want a watch dog, what good am I, if you do not act when I try to wake you up and warn you for a potential danger. A sting of a bumble bee is definitely no small thing.

In the morning, Daniel saw the bumble bee, as it tried to fly out of the house through a closed window. Insects do not see glass and do not learn from their mistakes when they bounce off the glass time and time again. They are stupid animals. This is, of course, one of the reasons I do not trust them.

Daniel opened the window and let the bumble bee out. So far so good, though I would rather have seen it punished for disturbing our sleep. On the other hand, a stupid animal like a bumble bee would not learn anything from such a punishment, so maybe just letting it out was just the best thing to do. It is not necessary to kill it, if you can let it out easily.

1st of May

Yesterday was a holiday in Sweden. I am not sure why it is. Nevertheless, the leftish political parties usually use the day to demonstrate. I do not care much. Red for me, is the colour of red Shiba Inus, or the colour of the sun in the flag of Japan.

Walpurgis Eve

It is Walpurgis Eve, a celebration for the Medieval Saint Walpurgis and spring.

Unfortunately, this celebration is connected with fire crackers in Sweden, if not as many as at New Years Night and Easter Eve. This is the most annoying Swedish tradition of all, one that should stop immediately. It is scarry for many dogs. The basis for the tradition is the ancient belief that the crackers would make evil demons go away, but since I believe most Swedes nowadays do not believe in such evil demons, they have no reason to fire the crackers. I hope they will stop.

Happy Walpurgis Eve, everybody!

Games

Daniel is playing computer games. This stops me from gaining access to the Internet and my blog. I have to nag to get the computer. Why does he have to be this selfish? Is it not more important to publish my blog? Perhaps not...

Changing Tyres

Daniel had planned to change tyres on our Relatively new BMW today, from winter to summer tyres. It turned out he could not, however. Our car is so new, the tools for changing tyres are extras that has to be bought separately. People nowadays probably let others change tyres more and more often, so in a way, this makes sense. It was just that we were surprised, we had not expected this.

Candy Ice Cream

We tested a new flavour of ice cream today, from the Swedish ice cream manufacturer Siaglass. It was called Godis (candy), and was sweet with pieces of hard candy inside. We liked it very much. I usually like all flavours of ice cream, but some are better than others. This was one of those flavours. I never eat chocolate ice cream. Daniel likes it, but since chocolate is supposed to be poisonous for dogs, he never shares it with us dogs. There were no such concerns with the candy ice cream that we had today.

Slow Connections

I am not the only one, being annoyed by slow connections to the Internet. Today, it felt like many minutes went past, before I could start to write my daily blog entry. It was late at night, and I almost fell asleep waiting. Now this feels like the urgent matter to write about. Daniel has an Ipad with wireless connection that I borrowed today. The weird thing is, that the little icon in the top left corner seems to show the same available band with all the time, regardless of how quick or slow the connection is. Why is that? Well, I shall not ponder anymore, I feel more like sleeping now.

Huge Volcano Eruption A.D. 536?

There might have been a huge volcano eruption in Central America in the year A.D. 536, where a lot of debris was ejected into the atmosphere, affecting the climate for many years to come. Archeological evidence supports the theory, though there are little written evidence to anything but a strange sky and cold summers. Still, it is interesting to read about stuff like that. Some humans boast about them causing the global climate to change, when a single volcano can do so much more. We are all at the mercy of nature, at least until fully artificial biospheres can be constructed.

Daily?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy did not feel like writing anything in het blog today, so she asked me to do it instead. What if neither I, nor any of the other dogs, would have wanted to write anything either? It is Mommy who has a blog that she wants to call daily. Well, I could not really come up with anything good to sat, but it was a daily entry, anyway. It might be more interesting tomorrow.

Strange Things Happen

We had a strange experience on the morning walk today. Part of the walk is always along a road with regular traffic. This time, a car braked close to us and stopped by the side of the road. We were curious, wondering if the driver or passengers were people we knew. As we came a few steps closer, we saw that this was not the case. We could not remember seeing the driver or the child in the back seat before. The child stared at us, not happily, as a child who loves dogs, but just a stare with his mouth open. Then, just as suddenly as the car had stopped, it started to move again. It did not get away directly, the driver was not experienced enough to get the car rolling sooner than at the third attempt.

We do not know what this was all about. Did they just want to watch us dogs? As I wrote, they did not look happy, the way people do who watch something they find cute. I guess it will remain a mystery.

Pancakes

Daniel made pancakes yesterday. There was a lot of them left today. Guess who were lucky enough to share them? Yes, the dogs of our household. Pancakes are great food.

Does Fame Lead to a Shorter Life?

An Australian research into obituaries in the New York Times seem to suggest that performers and sport stars die a few years younger than people who are successful in other careers. If this is really true, and what would cause this, remains yet unknown. It might be due to the stressful life of people of fame. Whatever the cause, I do not believe it would affect dogs of fame. Dogs have a very straightforward way of looking at the world, those of us who become famous never think much about it. Famous or not, the important things in a dog's life are still sleep, food, and love. A famous dog is never more stressed than other dogs.

Leaving

Hello, Karstuhl here! My second and last pup, Suzuki, left us for his new home today. He will live in Finland. His new humans were here to get him, and they were really nice people. While it is sad that Suzuki has left us, I am sure he will get a good life. It is only natural for most pups to leave and get a life of their own.

Stomach Ache

Paula still suffers from her bad stomach. She and Daniel were supposed to go to a party tonight, but she felt less well than usually, sonthey staied at home. While I like it best when both our humans are at home with us dogs, it is sad that the reason was Paula's bad stomach. It is getting generally better, but I wish it would do so faster.

Superman

Today, seventyfive years ago, the first ever story about super hero Superman was published. He was the first super hero, and is certainly the best known. My favourite, however, is Superman's dog, Krypto. Small wonder, isn't it?

Thaw

There has been a lot of snow this winter, and it has been lying around for a long time. This week, however, spring is really here. There is not much snow left now. One advantage of getting rid of the snow is, you find a lot of toys that have been gone throughout the winter, hidden in the snow. This makes for nice reunions. This is one reason to love springtime.

Early mornng

We had to get up for the morning walk an hour earlier than usual today, just because Daniel had avtrain to catch really early. It was no fun, enough said.

Puma

We have received reports that Puma is doing very well in her new home. Polly and Puma's brother Suzuki misses her, as do I, but it is easier when we know she is doing all right.

Puma Moved

Hello, Karstuhl here. Today is a sad day, my daughter Puma left us for her new family. I miss her. Still, I believe she will get a good life, and it is only natural for pups to get their own lives. My son Suzuki will stay a little longer.

Early Night

We are taking an early night tonight. This is because Paula and Daniel will get up very early tomorrow, to take April's som Jackpot to the airport. He will move to his new family in the United Kingdom. You migt think it is a little late for Jackpot to move away from home, he was born on the 16th of December and is four months old now. Normally, this would belate for a pup to move. However, the UK has special rules for importing dogs, in order to keep some diseases out. I understand this. The weird thing is, nevertheless, that Jackpot had to have a rabies vaccination before moving, even though Sweden in a country free from rabies. This year, I hope the UK will win the European Song Contest. Their song, sung by Bonnie Tyler, is great. If they win, Jackpot can take part in the celebrations.

Orienteering

Paula and Daniel has started a course in orienteering. This is a human sport where the aim is to find your way through the terrain in the shortest possible time. Humans use maps and compasses to do this. As a dog, I think this is unnecessary. If I want to find a way, I do it anyway, with the help of my nose, ears, and eyes. There is no need for map and compass for me. Well, we all have different skills.

Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning

Most of us dogs are blowing our coats, now that spring is here. The snow is melting and it is muddy outside. This means we have to clean the floors every day, to keep them reasonably clean. I rather do that, though, than having my paws dried everytime I am coming indoors.

Grandchildren

I had some quality time with my grandchildren today. Polly, their mother, was also there. This is quite understandable, they are still of an age that she feels the need to protect them. Polly is a good mother. Her pups are great pups, well behaved. I guess I have raised Polly well, when she raises her pups this well.

Successful Daughter of Mine

My dear daughter Anzu, Aangenaam Valencia, got an excellent result at a dog show today. She lives in Bergen in Norway, and on a show there, she won Excellent, won her competition, and became fourth best female. I am so proud of her. For me as a mother, this result also show me something more. Anzu must have a great life with her humans in Norway. If she wouldn't, she couldn't have done well on a show. This makes me happy.

Hello, Peanut here! We have been cleaning the house today. This is something we often do in the weekends, when Paula and Daniel are home. It is not easy, I guess we have to work a lot, we dogs, when Paula and Daniel do not...

Internet Traffic

In my blog application, I have statistics that show how many readers there have been each day and what Internet sites have been the greatest contributers of traffic to my blog. I normally recognise the sites, but not today. It said pezajop.dynamic-hosting.org, itplatib.hostoi.com, and www.vampirestat.com today. I had no idea these sites existed. I do think it is nice to get readers, so I am just happy about this, but it still makes me wonder a bit what made these sites point to my blog. When following the links, I did not find any clues. On the other hand, life is full of mysteries, so I might just as well consider this another mystery and let it be.

A Man Eclipsed By the Moon

It has been said that the Apollo astronauts who were alone in the command module, while their fellow travellers went down to the Moon surface, were the loneliest humans ever. This is because when they were sitting there alone on the far side of the Moon, they were very far from the other two astronauts and further away from Earth than any human had been before and has been since. You can say that they were eclipsed by the Moon, vis-a-vis the Earth. I read an interesting article about one of these men, Al Worden, who was the command module astronaut on Apollo 15. He rather enjoyed being there alone, he said. I understand that. A lunar eclipse can be a rather good thing.

No Dogs

No, there will not be portraits of dogs on new Euro notes. I certainly would like to see it, but it was just my April's fools day joke for this year. However, it might be just as well, because it would involve a cost to change the looks of the Euro notes.

New Euro Notes

The EU has decided to issue a new line of Euro notes. Instead of pictures of bridges, like on the current notes, there will be pictures of dog breeds native to EU countries. I believe this is a great idea.

There will, of course, be no Shiba Inus on any notes, because Japan is far from being a member of the EU, and this is understandable. Seeing Euro notes with the faces of European dog breeds is good enough for me. They will not do like they did with the bridges, draw up generic bridges that was not supposed to depict any real bridges. The pictures of dogs will be of real European dog breeds.

In a statement from the EU, it is said that since many people love dogs, having dogs on the notes will hopefully make people love the Euro more. This could be useful, given the current Euro crisis.

Some Even Smaller

Hello, Peanut here! I have grown accustomed to my little brothers Javier and Jackpot, and their size. Now I have met even smaller pups. Polly got pups about six weeks ago, and they have started to be introduced to the rest of us dogs. They are so small, I am not really allowed to play with them, but very cute. I like them already.

Disturbing the Neighbours

Hello, Karstuhl here! The other night, Daniel was vacuuming really late. This morning, he was vacuuming really early. As is the case with all vacuum cleaners, ours is noisy. I asked Daniel if he was not afraid he would disturb our neighbours. He said he was not, since we live in a detatched house quite a bit away from the nearest neighbours. I then asked, what about the gnomes who live above the ceiling. Daniel was not concerned that he would get complaints from them, though, because they pay no rent to him as owner of the house anyway. This makes sense, I believe, so I said this settled the matter.

Succession

I like it when assets are inherited within the family. It is a natural way of succession, common with dogs and wolves as well as humans. Wolves often inherit their parents' territory, the alpha bitch status being succeeded from mother to daughter. It is the same with dogs who live together. Among humans, ownership of items and land, names, the throne of kingdoms, and also the ownership of companies are inherited by the children of the previous holder. Such will certainly now be the case of the Williams formula 1 team, where team principal and founder Sir Frank Williams has named his daughter Claire Williams deputy team principal and future successor to the position as team principal. The Williams team has a great heritage, I hope it also has a great future.

Easter

It is Easter. This is one of my favourite annual holidays, because it involves eating a lot of Candy. Sure, there is the torment of Jesus, resurection, and saving of mankind, but this does not have so much to Do with dogs. God saves dogs anyway. Candy is, however, always a Good way to commemorate the saving of our humans.

Food for Pups

Hello, Karstuhl here! I still have to help my pups to finish their meals of food. This was especially tasty today, when they got minced meat. I guess this will not last for long, they already eat much better now than when they started to get food a week ago. I have to take advantage of the situation while it lasts. You may believe Shiba mothers are bad mothers, stealing food from their pups. This is far from true. Taking food from my pups will make them learn the valuable lesson that food needs to be protected and eaten fast, lest someone else take it. This is something that will serve them well throughout life.

Paula Is Home!

Paula is home. I cannot write more, have to catch up with her.

Is It True?

The latest news is that Paula will come home permanently tomorrow. We have had long discussions on whether this will turn out to be true. There has been so many bids before on when Paula will come home, that has eventually been proved false. We all hope the news about tomorrow is true, but how can we be sure yet? We will have to see tomorrow.

Concern for Japan

I am deeply concerned, when I read about the Shiba home country Japan these days.

For the eighth month in a row, Japan has a trade deficit. Japan is a country dependent on its exports, more than many other countries, so a trade deficit is worse for Japan than for many other countries.

Then there is the disturbing fact that Japan may very well be the worst developed country in which to become a mother. By this I mean human mother, dog mothers that I know of has a good life. Since Japan is not a good country in which to be a mother and also working, the result is that many Japanese women do not get children, or do get children, but stop working. In the long run, this is bad for the Japanese economy, because educated women do not use their education and because the population will shrink.

I hope things will get better for Japan.

Getting Better

Paula is getting better. Kokuhou and I got to go and see her for dinner tonight at her parents' house. It was a very nice evening. I am just disappointed that it ended so quickly. I want Paula to regain all of her health and move back home soon. It actually seems like she will be able to in just a few days. We just have to hope so. Celebrating Easter would not be the same without Paula, no matter how much Easter candy we would have.

0-0

We were very disappointed with the World Cup qualifyer result last night. Sweden is supposed to have a better national team than Ireland, but did not score a single goal. It is a poor comfort then, that Ireland did not score any goal either. Sweden needs to win these games. Our team did four goals on Germany this autumn, why was it so hard to score any goal on Ireland? The Swedes got to learn how to push and how to make the game their own. It should not be that hard to football professionals.

World Cup Qualifyer

Sweden is playing Ireland in the FIFA football World Cup qualification tonight.

Ireland has had a special place in my heart, ever since an Irish judge gave me my Best in Show Puppy victory at an international dog show. Still, it is definitely not enough tonight. I hope Team Sweden crushes the Irish team.

Cold War

Hello, Peanut here!

We have a long winter this year, or so they tell me, who have been around before. I turned one year old just a couple of days ago, so I would not know.

Daniel told me he remembered many winters when he was younger, in the 1980's, that continued well into the month of April. We are still just in March. I had heard before that there was something called "cold war" during the 1980's, but Daniel explained that this term had nothing to do with the long winters. A cold war is a period of tension between different countries, that still do not turn into a fully fledged war. Thus, we cannot say we have a cold war during this long winter, even though we feel like we are battling the cold weather every day.

Home Again!

Paula came home again this afternoon, and stayed for a bit longer, a couple of hours. It is so nice to see her and she is definitely getting better. It cannot be many days before she can move home again. We are waiting for it, patiently but eagerly.

Japanese Architect Wins Prize

The Japanese architect Toyo Ito has won a prestigious annual prize for architects, the Pritzker Architecture Prize. I do not know much about architecture, but I know Japanese people can be very good at what they do, so I am not surprised. Toyo Ito is the architect behind buildings in many countries of the world, not just in Japan.

Jealous of Linni

Today, we are all a little jealous of Auntie Linni, because she got to go with Daniel to visit Paula. They were at Paula's sister Mia's place this evening, then Paula went back to the hospital.

Paula is making progress. This is good. We wish her quick recovery, but most of all, we wish her full and lasting recovery.

Coming Home

Paula came home today, for the first time in one and a half week. She was just here for about an hour, but we did enjoy that quality time. Now she is back at the human hospital. If I am correctly informed, the veterinarians are not really sure what is wrong with her stomach, that causes her constant pain. (I know humans do not call veterinarians who concentrate in the care of humans veterinarians, but I cannot see the difference between them and other veterinarians, so I call them veterinarians anyway.) Just being able to come home for a little while is a sign of progress, and it meant a lot to all of us dogs. We love Paula dearly, but it is hard to give her all the love that she deserves, when we are not by her side. Hopefully, she will come home in just a few days.

By the way, we did not get up in the middle of the night to watch the Formula 1 qualification, but we did get up early in the morning and watched the race. It was exciting.

New Season

The new Formula 1 season is here, with the Australian Grand Prix. Qualifying was meant to be today, but heavy rain postponed it until Sunday morning, local time. This will be in the middle of the night, European time. We are not sure we will watch it at that time, though we are curious about the new cars, new drivers etc. Perhaps we will sleep through the qualifying and just see the race early tomorrow morning, Swedish time. It will be nice, anyway.

Four Weeks

Hello, Karstuhl here! My pups turned four weeks old today. They celebrated with their first taste of real food, in their case minced meat. They did not eat it all, so I had to step in and finish it. It will not be like this forever, they will soon be true to their Shiba heritage and eat all the minced meat they can get. I enjoy what they leave behind until then.

Pi Day

Today is the unofficial, international Pi day. It is called the Pi day to celebrate the irrational constant that   starts with 3.14 and denotes the relationship between a radius and a circumference of a circle in a level plane. Today is day 14 of the third month of the year, which is suitable for a day celebrating the approximate value 3.14. I do not think I really understand the value of this mathematical constant, not even all adult humans do, but as long as you have something to celebrate, I am happy. Celebrations are always great.

A New Pope, Does He Love Dogs?

The biggest church of the world, the Roman Catholic church with over a billion members, have gotten a new Head today. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been elected new Pope. He will take the name Francis I as pope.

This is the first pope ever from the Americas, and he is the first person who is a member of the Jesuit Order to become pope.

We have to see what changes may happen in the teachings of the Roman Catholic church because of the new pope. This church is known for being very conservative, so the question might be if there will be any "modernisation" of the teachings.

For my part, I am happy if Francis I is a friend of dogs. It might be that he is a person who loves animals, if you can make out anything from his name as pope. The most known Francis of Catholic history is St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of all animals, who was a great friend of animals. It remains to be seen if this is so.

It Has Been Two Years

It has been two years now, since the large earthquake and tsunami hit north-eastern Japan. More than 18,000  humans died or went missing, and I do not know how many dogs. There are still dogs out there missing their humans. Even though many dogs have gotten new humans to love, you cannot forget humans you have lived with before. The society is slowly returning to normal, but the catastrophe should never be forgotten. Quakes and tsunamis of the size that hit Japan in 2011 have hit the country before and can hit again. Preparations are needed, because you can never know when another quake or tsunami will strike. I sure hope enough people take this responsibility seriously. They are Japanese, so most of them should, but you never know about everyone.

Caring of Sick Children

There is a programme on the radio where humans debate that they sometimes have to be home from work to care for their children. What a luxurious problem. When can anybody do the same with a sick puppy?

Vote for Bonnie Tyler!

We were a little disappointed yesterday, when Yohio did not win the Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest.

On the other hand, just before the final Swedish competition started last night, we heard the song which will compete for the United Kingdom this year, sung by Bonnie Tyler, Believe in Me. It is great. This means that while we have no feelings for the song which will represent Sweden, we can go all in to support the UK song.

Bonnie Tyler is, of course, the great singer behind songs like It's a Heartache and the unequalled Total Eclipse of the Heart. Her unique voice is still the same. One of the people talking about her Eurovision song yesterday night said this song was: "of course no Total Eclipse of the Heart, but it is very good". We could not agree more. It is self evident that no song can ever be better than the song which lent its name to my Mum, Ch Taichung Total Eclips of the HRT. Still, it is a great song and when it is time to vote in the Eurovision Song Contest, we know who we will vote for: Bonnie Tyler, Believe in Me.

Bonnie Tyler, we believe in you!

Swedish Song Contest

Today is the final game of the Swedish qualification round to the Eurovision Song Contest later this year.

If I must name a favourite, it would be Yohio, because he knows Japanese. This is, of course, the language of the home country of my dog breed.

On the other hand, I do not think any song is very good. If there would ever be a song about a dog or about the love for a dog, or anything like that, which I could relate to, I believe I would vote for it. Not now. While there are countless human songs about love, most are just about the love between man and woman, even though dogs have lived with, loved, and been loved by, humans for at least 40 000 years. Is there no songwriter who can turn all of this love into a winning song?

Waiting

Hello, Peanut here!

This will be the third night in a row when Paula is not at home. She is at the human hospital.

It is not that Paula is seriously ill, she will get well, it has just taken a few more days than expected. We miss her. The main thing is, however, that she makes a full recovery. We are all thinking about her, wishing her all the best. Meanwhile, we watch the house and take care of things at home.

Needs

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have my litter box and my pups in our bathroom. It is a good place to be with pups, because the rest of the dogs stay out. It has become clear to me, though, when living in the bathroom, that housebroken humans do not do their needs outside, like dogs do. Instead, they do it in this funny, white chair filled with water. They call it a toilet. When they have done what they needed to do, they press a button on top of the chair and fresh water flushes the wastes away. I think this is a little weird, but that is just me.

Beware of Adopted Stray Dogs

While I have compasion for every dog in the world, it is important that you know what you are doing, when trying to help stray dogs abroad. Adopting them to Sweden may cause the spread of diseases and parasites here, which have never been in Sweden before. It is better to help the stray dogs on site in the foreign countries. If you want to import a dog, import it from a registered breeder with an FCI kennel name, this is much safer.

Mercury Map

A NASA spacecraft has made the first complete map of the planet Mercury. While this is nice, I do not think humans and dogs will ever settle on that planet. If we are to conquer outer space, the Moon is a good start, and then we move outward from the Sun. (I have always had a certain thing for the Moon, since my official name is Lunar Eclips.)

Ivory

Are the Japanese interested in buying ivory? You might think so, when reading that the Internet search engine Google is targeting its Japanese pages with advertisements for ivory. I would have thought most Japanese people would not want to buy things that you can only get from endangered animals, like elephants. Nevertheless, I hope Google withdraws the advertisements. Just like the wolves in Sweden, the elephants of the world deserve to survive. If they will have a chance to do that, you should not buy ivory or anything else made out of elephants. It is uncalled for, especially as wood, plastic, or metal always works just as well, or better.

Warm and Cold

While the weather over the last few days has been warm for the season, making the snow start to melt, Daniel has gotten a cold. He is thus freezing more than when the weather was really cold earlier this winter. Isn't this ironic? I feel sorry for him, though.

The Others

Hello, Karstuhl here!

These days, I spend most of my time with my tiny pups. They are so cute. Once in a while, I go out and meet the other dogs, though. Life goes on in its regular fashion outside the litter box, but there is nothing much to say about it. Anything that happens is of minor consequence, compared to my cute pups. This is as it should be for all puppy mothers, of course, it is just that my pups must be the cutest pups ever, so it is more true than ever now. How lucky I am!

In Two Weeks

In two weeks time, the Formula 1 season will start. Formula 1 is Daniel's favourite sport, so he watches the races whenever he can on TV. This makes for nice times, when we dogs sit with him in the sofa.

There were pre-season testing of the new cars this week, ending today. Mercedes looks good, ahead of Ferrari. As far as I can understand, you cannot put too much faith in these test results. The cars are not finished until the season starts, and there may be upgrades on them as the season goes along. Still, it does give you an indication on where the season may head. It might be a very level playfield this year. I hope so, it makes for interesting races. Not to be rude to the champion of the last three seasons, Sebastian Vettel, but I do hope somebody else will be champion this year. Not that I wish Vettel any really bad luck, such as an accident, but it would be more interesting if the top races would be others than Vettel.

Dog Saving a Human Girl's Life

In Poland, a three-year-old girl's life was saved by a dog. She went missing from her home over night in freezing temperatures. The girl was found, however, having spent the night outdoors but with a dog lying next to her, keeping her warm. One of the fire fighters who found the girl in the morning said the dog kept the girl warm enough to survive.

This is just one out of countless examples of how important dogs are to humans.