Slow Internet Connection

Sometimes, the Internet is so slow loading my blog page, that I forget what I was going to write about. Fortunately, this do not happen often. It did tonight, though. What a disappointment.

Some Snow Is Still There

Hello, Orange here!

Thé older dogs told me the other day, that the newly fallen snow would soon disappear. I am not sure what they meant, because there is still snow left on the ground. "Soon" usually means the same day, at least. Sure, most of the snow is gone, but not all. I like the snow and want it to stay. I am also intrigued by the silence on the subject of the disappearance of all snow, when I try to address it. The older dogs are not always completely right. They know this, and they understand that I have come to realise this as well. I love them, nevertheless.

Great Result for Karstuhl's Daughter

My granddaughter Puma, daughter of Karstuhl, participated in a match show today. Among three Shiba pups, she was best puppy. Then she won the puppy group final for group five. She went on to become second best in show. It may have been just a match show, but there were many pups who participated. It is a great result. Karstuhl, Mum, and I are very proud of this new star in our lineage. What more may come in her future? Probably a lot of good show results. We are looking forward to hearing about it.

Full Moon

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have a full Moon in the sky tonight. I like that. It reminds of my official name: Aangenaam Full Moon Eclipse. There is, unfortunately, not a Lunar eclipse every time there is a full Moon, but you cannot get everything. The full Moon is beautiful as it is, too. I guess this is one reason for our wild cousins, the wolves, to howl at the full Moon. We do not howl ourselves, the dogs in this family. It would not do, being indoors, even though the full Moon light is shining in through our windows and curtains. I show my appreciation for the full Moon by writing a blog entry instead. It is quite possible that this blog entry gets more readers than I would have gotten listeners, had I howled at the full Moon.

Something Called Snow

Hello, Orange here!

As a pup, I know I have still a lot to learn about the world. Some of the knowledge based on personal experience came early this morning. This early, the ground was covered in a white sheet, about two centrimetres thick. It was soft, cold, and parts of it did just barely stick together. The older dogs called it snow. I noticed that some of it, somehow, could turn into water. It was strange, though not in any frightening way. It was just fun. I was told, however, that the snow would likely melt and disappear soon. Apparently, a lot of it was melting already. This was the word used by the older dogs to describe the event when the snow turned into water. It had something to do with the temperature. I would learn more about this in the winter to come, whatever a winter is. It sounds interesting, anyhow.

Lack of Gender Equality in Communistic China

China is a communistic country, at least its only legal political party says so. According to communism, all humans are supposed to be equal. Still, there are a lot of jobs in China, that women are not allowed to have. These includes many forms of engineering. I guess this is what communists in China claim to be gender equality. I would laugh, if I was a human.

Breeder's Group

We got a letter from the Småland-Öland Kennel Club today. This club arranges the dog show in Växjö in November. We will go there, and for the first time ever, there will be enough of us with the Aangenaam name, that we will make up a breeder's group. This will be fun! It gives all of us an extra chance to enter the show ring. I love that.

Animal Cruelty

An old woman in the area around Timrå, north of us in Sweden, has killed a fox with her bare hands. I believe she should be prosecuted for animal cruelty. She swung the fox by its tail in the air, then hitting it against her stone staircase on the outside of the house. The fox had done nothing wrong, just walked outside of the fence where the woman held her hens. The hens had been scared, of course, but that is in the nature of hens. I hope a prosecutor takes care of the case.

Blog Entry from Mobile

We had already gone to bed tonight, when I remembered I had not made any daily blog entry for this day. Fortunately, Daniel's mobile was close by, so I borrowed it and made this entry. Modern technology is fantastic!

Plastic Bottles

Hello, Orange here!

Plastic bottles are fun toys. They give you just the right feeling, when you chew on them. The trouble is, they also make noise. Sometimes, when I feel like chewing on a bottle late at night, Daniel just takes it away from me. He says I am disturbing everyone who tries to sleep. Perhaps I am. I think the bottle manufacturers should consider this, when developing new bottles. Could a bottle be manufactured, that is not noisy when you chew on it? I sure hope so.

Entertainong a Guest

Hello, Orange here!

We had a guest here last night, a dog whose human is a friend of Paula and Daniel. She stayed in our guest room. I guess you are supposed to entertain your guests, but could not do that. Perhaps this is just as well. It was just one night, so there was little time to become friends anyway. Maybe we will meet another time, another place, and become friends. Time will tell.

No Food Have to Be Wasted

It has been estimated that 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year. This is about one third of all food produced in the world. I do not believe anybody can have the opinion that this is a good thing. On the other hand, there is an easy solution to this problem. Instead of throwing food away, humans would give more of it to their dogs. If there are no dogs in the household, dogs should be acquired. Of course, not all humans like dogs (even though all dogs like humans), and these humans should not have dogs. In these cases, the waste disposal fees should be higher. With more dogs in society, less food would be wasted. It does not have to be more complicated than this.

Rain

Hello, Orange here!

It was raining today, at lunchtime, we had to go out in it. I did not like it, but you have to do what you have to do. I wish for better weather tomorrow. The older dogs say it will only get colder from now on. Winter is coming, they say. I do not know what that is, but I hope it will not rain much in the winter. I guess I will have to wait and see.

Party!

Paula is at a party at Örebro Castle today. I am sure she is having fun.

Meanwhile, we are having fun at home with Daniel. It is a more common night for us, but fun all the same.

Daniel actually had an invitation for dinner downtown tonight. Some of his colleagues who usually work in other towns came to Örebro this afternoon for a meeting tomorrow. They asked Daniel if he wanted to join them for dinner, but this was late this afternoon. I understand that he said no, he already had plans for things to do at home tonight. I believe it is impolite to ask so late. Well, they are bound to meet later, anyway.

Apple Juice

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula's parents have bought an apple juice machine. You put apples in it and get apple juice out of it. This is supposed to be good. I do not realy see the need for it, but I have never been that fond of apples, either. I would rather have a machine producing meatballs.

New Bag of Food

We are a relatively large pack of dogs, here in this house. Daniel came home with a new bag of dog food today. I do not think it was long ago he brought the öast one home. It must be a bigger thing for those dogs who are just one or two in their family to get to start on a new bag of food. Perhaps they often get smaller bags, but I think the bags may still last longer. Well, I do not care that much, the main thing is always to have food, not how often your humans bring home more of it.

Anniversary

Today, Paula's family celebrated the anniversary of their family, when Paula and her sister first met their parents. This was in Colombia, where Paula and her sister were born and where their parents went to get them. Adopting children is not that common, but I have a good understanding of it, since my litter brothers and most of my pups have been adopted by other families. Adoption is a good thing to do, it is a way of giving love to children who would often have had much less space or love but for the adoption. I congratulate Paula and her family on the anniversary.

Sorrow

We celebrated Linni's birthday with her yesterday. Today, we are mourning with her instead. linnis father Kenzo passed away today. I know how this feels, I have also lost my father. We try our best to comfort Linni.

The Perils of Reruns

We missed the live airing of the Formula 1 qualification this morning, Swedish time. We thought we would watch it this evening instead, in a rerun. We had intentionally not read any reports. However, the person reporting from the show just prior to the rerun reminded the viewers of the race tomorrow, while revealing who would start from the pole position. What was, then, the point of watching the rerun? We turned the TV set off instead and prepared for bed.

Aunt Linni's Birthday

My dear Auntie Linni is turning twelve years old today. This is a respectable age, not least because she was diagnosed with severe hip problems in her youth. These problems have never stopped her from taking walks with us, doing the occasional Shiba Inu rush in the garden or jumping up into the sofa in the living room. We sometimes wonder whether her hips ever were as bad as they were diagnosed to be. Her joints are a little stiffer these days, but this could just be due to her age.

Auntie Linni is not really my aunt. I just call her this, because she was the adult dog living with us besides my Mom and Dad when I was born. We are not related. We are, however, very good friends. It is easy to become friens with Auntie Linni, because she is such a friendly dog herself. She has always been very helpful raising pups, as well, even though she has never had any herself. I sincerely hope she will live on for many years to come.

Happy birthday, Linni!

Ice Hockey

The ice hockey season started a little while ago in Sweden. Daniel is disapponted that his team Djurgården does not play on the highest league. Djurgården is a team from Stockholm, and there is, in fact, no team from the capital playing in the highest league. This feels a little strange. We have our hopes for Örebro, though, the team from our home city which does play in the highest league. Örebro won tonight, 3-0, against Frölunda from Gothenburg. This was good. Djurgården also played a game tonight, against Karlskoga, the town just to the west of Örebro. Djurgården won. It was thus a good night for both the teams we root for.

A Little Extra

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have taught Paula and Daniel a trick. When They want me to get indoors, they give me some candy. I usually stay outside until they do this trick, to make sure they do not forget it. It happens, however, that I go indoors without insisting on them giving me candy. It annoys me a little, but then, sometimes, I want to go in without needing to think of this training. I have to follow my whims once in a while, and I have noticed that neither Paula nor Daniel does forget the trick. They can always do it when I insist upon it. This is good. I have a great couple of humans.

Old News

When surfing the Internet today, I encountered an article about wolves and research on why they howl. Even though I believe I understand wolves better than the average human does, given that I am of the same species, I thought the article was rather interesting. It was, however, old news. The article was from August this year. I will gladly post links to new articles, but not to old news like that. It would not stand up to my personal sense of quality. Some may have a different opinion, but this is the way I rule my blog.

Blowing Coat

I have started blowing my coat. It is all right to do this now, since the show season is over. Of course, there are a few shows left this year, as always, but the summer time with its many shows is over. I just wish I have a nice enough coat again once it is time for another show. It might not be until November, so I can make it. Is this not a sign of a professional?

The World's Smallest Dog

The Guinness Book of World Records has declared a Chihuahua bitch living in Puerto Rico, USA, as the world's smallest dog. She is called Miracle Milly, she is 9.6 centimetres high and weighs half a kilogramme.

In the FCI breed standard for this breed, 500 grammes is the minimum weight for a Chihuahua; anything less, and she would be disqualified on dog shows. I do hope she lies above this limit. We would not want to have a Guinness World Record holder for smallest dog, who would not fit the breed standard, would we?

The Result

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I did not win at the Eckerö dog show. I received Excellent and a CK, but was second best bitch with a reserve-CAC and a reserve-CACIB. I fell on the finishing line, so to speak. Well, the winning bitch was a fine representative of our breed, so I am far from embarrassed losing to her.

Show

Polly is with Paula and Paula's mother on a dog show in Eckerö, Finland. i wish Polly's mother would also have been going there. It is no fun staying at home.

Essential Elements

There are essential elements in many things in the world. An essential element in a blog post are words. In the body, most elements are essential, in one way or the other. One example is potassium (abbreviated K for the latin word kalium). Paula has too little potassium in her body. This week, she has been at the human hospital and received some potassium boosts. The human medicine veterinarians examining her now has a theory on why she has had constantly low amounts of potassium lately. They will evaluate their theory and we might have an answer in a week. If they are right, the problem may be solved. We all hope for this. It is no fun knowing that a loved one lacks essential elements in her body.

Pets Rescued After Flood in Colorado

There have been floods in the American state of Colorado. When rescuing families, the motto has been that no pets shal be left behond. The rescuers learned this from the rescue operations after the hurricane Katrina, where humans would not allow rescue parties to bring them along without their pets.

I believe this is the right approach. Dogs and cats are as much family members as the two legged individuals. We are as much a part of human culture and society as humans are themselves. Thus, we have earned the right to similar treatment as humans get. I like the Colorado rescuers' approach.

Cat and Kittens Abandoned on a Train

Personel on a regional train on Sweden discovered a female cat and five small kittens of her in a railway cart they were cleaning. It is unlikely the cats were forgotten, they have probably been abandoned. They did not even have any water to drink, though the kittens could drink their mother's milk. I cannot understand who would do such a thing. I have had small pups, you are never more vulnerable as when you have pups, and it must be the same with kittens. If they find the human responsible for this, I hope he or she will be sentenced to a harsh punishment for animal cruelty.

Growing Strawberries Indoors

The Japanese corporation Sharp is known for its electronics. Their newest idea, however, is growing strawberries in a controlled, indoors environment in Dubai. This is interesting. If you could grow strawberries and other farm products indoors like this in a larger scale, imagine how you could lower the transportation costs and make products more available across the world. I especially like melons, but I guess melons are too big to consider growing indoors in the most immediate future.

Big Cat Genome

Human scientists have mapped the genome of lions, tigers, and snow leopards. This is a vital part of trying to preserve these big cats. While I have more sympathy for wolves than for big cats, I feel some kind of kinship to these carnivores as well. We are all top predators, as are humans.

It is interesting to note, however, that the most successful top predator besides humans are dogs. There are a huge amount of dogs in the world. Our ancestors did the right choice in teaming up with humans instead of competing with them. The big cats and the wolves are competitors of humans, hunting for big prey and threatening humans, while we dogs help humans and get help back. The domestic cat did a similar thing, though they do not stand as close to humans as we dogs do.

I do hope the big cat species will survive. They are beautiful animals and there should be room for them on Earth.

Past Midnight

I mostlu have no trouble deciding upon what to write in my blog, but inspiration never came to me this Sunday. Now it is already past midnight. It annoys me, since the blog is supposed to be daily. Oh, well, better luck this Monday, I hope.

Wrong Link

When I wrote my Thursday blog post, I did it on a borrowed iPad. I find it hard to work with iPads, especially when I try to copy and paste things. It went terribly wrong this time, and the link to the source of the knowledge behind the blog post did not work. I am now working on a normal computer with Windows and have been able to mend the broken link.

(Somehow, the link had ended up with two times "http:/" in the beginning. No wonder it did not work. I suppose that the iPad provides one "http:/" by itself, when I want to add a link, so if I have copied a whole link, there will be two "http:/" at the start. I cannot see the user friendliness in that. In a normal computer, a "http:/" is provided, but it is marked, so if you just paste a full link, that "http:/" vanishes. This is user friendliness.)

Well, here is another link to the same article about how wolves, the future dogs, domesticated humans rather than the other way around.

Wolves Domesticated Humans

An exciting new scientific theory stated that humans did not domesticate wolves into dogs, it was rather wolves who domesticated humans. I cannot say I had suspected this all my life, but it does make a lot of sense. It is like a theory that I have been looking for without really understanding it. Read the article that I have put a link to and judge for yourself. At the very least, it is interesting.

No Rain

Hello, Orange here!

The news paper has stated that there would be rain both yesterday and today, but no rain has fallen. The older dogs have explained to me that nobody knows what will happen in the future, even though meteorologists can make an educated guess based on their observations and knowledge about how weather usually evolve. You can never fully trust what is said, though. This feels good to know. Life is more exciting, if you do not know what will happen, not even about the weather.

Toilet Rolls

Cardboard must be one of the best human inventions ever. It is so fun to chew on, and you can destroy it, but not too fast. One of the best items are toilet rolls, when the paper is all used up. It is a kind of waste disposal that really is fun. If you have yet not tried it, just go ahead. If you are a human, let your dog try it, it will soon become a favourite.

Typhoon

A typhoon has struck Japan, flooding big cities like Kyoto. I hope the dogs and humans of the affected areas will make it through the hardships caused by this typhoon. We are lucky not to have this kind of wheather in Sweden.

Birthday

This is the day when I turn veteran. I was born eight years ago today. The celebrations have already started, with a nice breakfast from McDonald's. I love the McToast.

Turning a veteran may also be a new beginning for my dog show career. I can now compete in veteran's class. Mum did some of her very best results in dog shows in veteran's class, e.g. winning two veteran world winner titles. I hope I can make this a great family tradition.

This is me when I was four months old:

Paddington Bear Film

Hello, Polly here!

I am named for a children's book character, the badger Polly, from the Swedish translations of American author Russell Hoban's books about Frances the Badger.

Another great children's book series is English author Michael Bond's Paddington Bear. This character will now become a feature film hero, with voice done by Colin Firth. I guess this will be a good film.

New Japanese Space Rocket

Japan has launched the first of a new generation of space rockets, the Epsilon. This rocket is much cheaper than its predecessors. Artificial intelligence inside it helps reduce the number of people needed to monitor the launch and journey. This is a good development. Space exploration is important, but needs to get cheaper. I am not surprised it is the Japanese who really start cutting the costs for it. After all, the Japanese have done the same in many other areas. They are good at quality for great prices. I am looking forward to reading more about this exciting development.

How to Avoid Smuggled Dogs

I have all the sympathy for smuggled dogs that I can have. I feel really sorry for each and every smuggled dog. However, the only way to stop dogs from being smuggled, is to put an end to the demand for smuggled dogs. This requires that humans learn not to buy these dogs.

The Swedish Kennel Club has published a good article on the subject on its homepage. I recommend it for everyone who knows how to read Swedish.

If you consider buying a dog, have patience, research the breeds you are interested in and make contact with a dog breeder who is a member of a national kennel club. The national kennel club should either a member of the FCI or be the English or the American Kennel Club (who are no members of the FCI but the KC and AKC cooperate with the FCI and have mutual recognition of each others' pedigrees et cetera). If buying a dog bred in Japan, the breeder may be a member of Nippo instead of the JKC.

Buying a dog is about the most important thing you can do. You must take it seriously.

Haiku

I don't write haiku
The harsh rules are not for me
Exceptions happen

Recalling My Younger Days

Hello, Orange here!

I wanted to write about this yesterday, but Hailey thought it was more important to write about the Football World Cup qualification. I do not know what the Football World Cup is, so I cannot make a judgment on its relevance. I was given the opportunity to write a second blog post today, though, so here it is.

We got some raw minced meat in our food yesterday evening. This was great. It reminded me of my really early days, when I was but about four weeks old and Daniel started to give me and my sister real food instead of just our mother's milk. Raw minced meat was the very first thing we got to try. I have loved it ever since. We do not get it often, but it always remind me of those early days of my life. Those were happy days, carefree and comfortable. I miss them sometimes, even though I love the life I have now too.

I wish we could get minced meat more often.

The Results

When I wrote yesterday, not all qualification games were finished. Austria has the third place in the same qualifying group as Sweden, and also won its game. Still, Sweden is three points ahead.

This is what it looks like:

Country......Games.....Scores.....Points
Germany.............8......28-7..........22
Sweden..............8......14-8..........17
Austria.............8......16-8..........14
Ireland.............8......13-13.........11
Kazakstan...........8.......4-17..........4
Faroe Islands.......8.......3-25..........0

Sweden has a game against Austria left, on our home turf. If we win that game, it is certain that the second place and a place in the play off games is Sweden's. This is good.

Another Qualifying Game - Another Win

Sweden won another qualifying game for the FIFA football world cup 2014 today. This time it was against Kazakstan on their home turf. This means that Sweden is second in the group with a good gap down to third. Sweden does have one more game played, but more than three points up to the third team in the group. If Sweden ends second, it gets to play a play off against another group second, and winning there means a place in the World Cup. I do think this might happen. I sure hope so.

Cutting Hair

Hello, Orange here!

I am glad I am not a poodle. Poodles do not shed their coat, but have to have it cut. Our toy poodle friend Laila has had her hair cut today. She did not like that. I understand why. She looks different now, but I like her as much anyway.

2020 Olympic Games

The Olympic Games in 2020 will be held in Tokyo. This is bound to be great. I am full of confidence that the people of the home country of my dog breed will do a great job hosting the games. The Japanese people are effective and hard working, they know what it takes. Japan stand for quality, not just when it comes to dog breeds, but for almost anything.

For the moment, I am making plans to live to see the TV broadcasts from Tokyo in 2020. If I live that long, I will almost be fifteen years old. This is a respectable age for any dog, but Shibas can often become as old as fifteen, or older. With the promise of seeing so much from Japan on TV in 2020, I have a goal to focus on and will take the best care of my health in order to see it. Stay tuned to this blog seven years from now and you will get my thoughts on the Olympic Games in Tokyo as they happen.

Sweden Won

Sweden won against Ireland in yesterday's qualification game. There is hope for participation in the World Cup.

Qualifying Game

Sweden is playing a qualifying game for the 2014 FIFA football world cup tonight. The game is against Ireland. It is quite an important game, because Sweden has not done so well in the earlier games of this qualification round. Over the years, Sweden has often done well every other decade. In 1938, Sweden was fourth. In 1950, Sweden won bronze and in 1958 silver. In 1974, Sweden was fifth, and very close to a medal. In 1994, Sweden won another bronze. Thus, it would be about time for another really good result in a football world cup. This has to start by getting to the world cup in the first place. I hope the national team wins tonight and makes this the start of a winning streak ending with another medal.

Standards

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Daniel is spending time reading breed standards. I do not think this is necessary, he already has a lot of dogs of the most important of breeds. However, it is not up to me to decide what he will waste his time doing.

Visit of a President

The Head of State of Mum's home country is visiting Sweden for a couple of days. roads where he is supposed to travel have been closed for ordinary traffic for security reasons. He is not a King, nor an Emperor, but merely a President. Mum says this is better than a King or Emperor, but I disagree. Nevertheless, he is a Head of State and it is right to treat him as such. Thus, it must be all right to close roads.

Life Sentence for Murder

For some years, the normal sentence for murder in Sweden has not been lifetime imprisonment. The Government now suggests that the law returns to normal, thus making life not an esceptional punishment for murder, but the punishment which will probably be the sentence in the majority of cases. I think this is right. Murder should be punished harshly. Just consider that a dog can be punished by death just for biting a human. If one human kills another human, life in prison is a proper sentence.

Macaronies

Hello, Orange here!

We got macaronies in our food today. I always like it, when we get extra food in addition to our ordinary dog food. It makes the food more interesting and it is often very tasty. These macaronies were well seasoned. I hope we get something like that tomorrow as well.

Nippo Show

The Swedish Shiba Inu Club, Shiba-no-kai, held a specialty show with a Nippo judge from Japan today. One of my sons competed in one of the junior classes, where he became second best. Kuro-chan, who is the father of two of my littera, including that of my daughter Polly, came in third among over twenty adult males. These are great results. - Oh, and I guess a daughter of Kicki got a good result too.

Better Japanese Economy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Prices in Japan are rising. This is supposed to be good. The economy is speeding up. Mommy writes about these things in this blog sometimes. I understand her interest of Japan, but I cannot say I am as interested in economy and domestic Japanese politics as Mommy is. If you want to know more, just follow the link I supply in this blog entry. I hope you find it interesting.

European Winner's Show

Paula is in Geneva, Switzerland, at the European Winner's Show 2013. I would have liked to go there and enter the show ring, but I had no place on the aircraft. The only dog from us who will be shown is Kuro-chan. I like him and he is a great representative for us and the breed. However, we have no female representing our kennel. Oh, well, life is not always the best imaginable, you have to make do with the nice life at home sometimes. This is good, too.

Dog "Weddings" in Sri Lanka

The police in Sri Lanka has performed a ceremony where nine couples of police dogs were "married". The aim was to make domestic breeding of dogs more popular. The police in Sri Lanka is now importing many dogs, which is expensive.

I believe most acts that promotes good and healthy dog breeding is good. The purpose of this act was good. It has, however, caused protests among believing Buddhists, who think the police desecrated Buddhist symbols of marriage. I do not know enough about Buddhism to comment on this, but perhaps there is some truth in it. Dogs do not need to marry in the human way, we have other forms of forming family bonds. A dog marriage that causes protests could, therefore, have been bad publicity. I hope this does not fall back on the dogs.

Early Morning Walks

Hello, Orange here!

A while ago, Daniel started to bring me on the morning walks. Weekdays, he gets up really early. I have never been against going out in the garden this early, if I just have to do what I have to do, then go back to sleep again. The morning walks is a different matter. They last much longer. You cannot go back to sleep right away when coming back, because you have to wind down first. On the other hand, it is fun to walk with the adult dogs and my older puppy friend Xavi. It makes me feel more like an adult myself, and this makes me proud. I have also discovered that once you do wind down from these walks, you sleep better than if you just spend some time out in the garden. All things considered, I see more ups than downs with these walks. I like that and I will continue to walk these walks. I can recommend early morning walks to everyone.

CACIB

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I am quite happy about my show results this last weekend. I did lose to Mommy, but I got Excellent and CK both days. If I would not have won my Swedish show championship last Sunday, I would have won it this Saturday. I also got reserve CACIBs both days, but since Mommy is already an international champion, I will get the CACIBs eventually. These are good steps towards a possible future international championship for me. I like that.

Wolf Policy

The national committee on sustainable predator policy for wolves handed over its final report to the cabinet last Friday. It was on Paula's birthday, which was fitting.

There is a summary in English in the beginning of the report. An even shorter summary is the list of proposed measures, as written like this:

The Report's proposal for measures can be summarised as follows:
- clarification of the policy direction and purpose of the predator policy
- development of comprehensive wildlife management legislation
- creation of conditions for adaptive management
- simplification of the culling process
- increased compensation for damages caused by predators
- further development of damage-preventing measures
- concrete definition of the management plan for wolves
- decision for an action plan for genetic reinforcement of the wolf population
- curb on illegal hunting
- introduction of opportunities for licenced hunting of wolves, when favorable conservation status is achieved
- allocation of sufficient resources to the responsible authorities
- conduct of socio-economic analysis related to predator presence
- establishment of a permanent wolf committee

I believe there are some great proposals here, not least the establishment of a permanent committee. If I could, I would like to be a member of that committee, but I do not think they will appoint any dogs, regardless of my experience of breeding. Hopefully, at least one experienced dog breeder will be on the committee, knowledge from breeding dogs must be valuable when it comes to preserving the wild breed of the canine species. i do not like licence hunting, but believe it is better than the illegal hunting that would certainly be the result if all the hunting of wolves would be outlawed. I will follow up what happens and I might write more about it in my blog later.

...and Yet Again

There are always two shows in Visby, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. I won Best of Breed on the Sunday show as well. There was not much luck in the Group Finals either day, but I went into the final ring anyway. I have to use my position as Best of Breed to promote the breed in the final ring. With enough great Shibas there, sooner or later, one of us will be placed in the group. Calvin was, a couple of years ago.

I am happy about my results this weekend. It was definitely worth going to this show.

Best Again

It was a fun dog show today. For the very first time, I was up against my daughter Polly in Champion Class. I won. Both of us was fit to be champions, according to the judge, but I was the better one. My experience matters.

A little later, I also won Best of Breed against Gunde. I just dominated among many excellent Shibas today. It is a great feeling.

Think About the Gassed Dogs!

There have been news articles and debates about gas attacks against humans in Syria, where they are fighting a civil war. I believe we should also consider the animals, they must have been gassed too. Dogs in the Middle East do not have an easy life, many humans there consider them "unclean". They must have an even harsher life, if hit by the gas. I hope aid goes out to the dogs, as well as to the humans, hit by the gas attacks in Syria.

Happy birthday!

We are celebrating Paula's birthday today. She is worth all the celebrations she can get. Hooray!

Busy

We are busy today, preparing for two dog shows this weekend in Visby. We will go there tomorrow. I am so happy that I get to go. It will be so much fun to enter the show ring again. Now I have to continue my preparations.

Late car ride

Paula was on After Work with people with whom she works tonight. She did something similar this spring. Daniel went by car to pick her up last time, and I got to follow along. We did the same this night. It feels like the start of a pleasant tradition.

Stew

Hello, Orange here!

We got chicken stew in the food today. Small wonder, then, that everyone licked their foodbowls clean. It was really tasty. We have to thank Paula for this.

Bathing

Hello, Orange here! Gunde is one of my male Shiba friends. He is a really nice fellow and I am glad to follow his lead in a lot of things. This evening, he had a bath. This is, however, not a thing I would like to have, despite Gunde having it. There has to be limits to the things we do voluntarily, regardless of who go before us and do it. Bathing is not a nice thing to do. I wish you could do without baths altogether.

Champion Today

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I went in the pawsteps of my parents today, winning a third CAC and becoming Swedish Show Champion. It goes in the family, being excellent enough to become a Swedish champion, I guess.

I was also Best of Breed. My half brother Yamasakura's Oliver wom CAC and was Best of Opposite Sex. We have the same father, and a great father he is!

Pies

Paula baked pies tonight. I offered to help her, preferably to taste it and to make the firat rinse of the dirty dishes. I did not get to taste any, though. The pies are for a little party tomorrow. Perhaps there will be some left-overs for me after the party. I do hope it will.

Killing Healthy Animals?

I was deeply concerned, when reading this article about British animal protection association RSPCA. It says that the RSPCA kills perfectly healthy animals and rather pursue humans whom they think abuses animals than helping the animals. One story is about five perfectly healthy cats put to death. The RSPCA does respond, but I am still not convinced. I do think it is important to bring animal abusers to justice, but the most important thing is to take care of the abused or abandoned animals. Things can be done in a better way.

Upholding a Contract

A cat breeder in Sweden had put her male cat with another family, who could care for him as their own family member. However, this came with a contract stipulating that the cat would be surrendered to the breeder for breeding. When the family with whom the cat lived did not want to provide the cat, the breeder asked the authorities for help. She got the help she needed, the authorities will get the cat, thus making sure the contract is honoured.

This is a good move by the authorities. Contracts must be honoured. If a contracting party does not honour his or her obligations under a contract, the authorities should use its power to help the other contracting party. If you have a contract, you want this, or the contract is of no value whatsoever.

The principle is the same with similar contracts on dogs. I hope no dog breeder will ever have to use the authorities in this way, but if they do, I am all for it.

As Daniel quoted in latin: pacta sunt servanda. Contracts must be upheld.

Death in the Dutch Royal Family

Hello, Karstuhl here!

We have received notice that a brother of the King of the Netherlands, Prince Friso, has died after a year and a half in a coma. He suffered severe brain damage in a ski accident in Austria, when hit by an avalanche at off piste skiing. He never recovered.

Our thoughts go to the family, the Dutch people and Dutch dogs. We know one Dutch dog, of course, Botan, who was born and raised here at our kennel.

Off piste skiing is dangerous. This is but one proof.

Great Weekend!

Yesterday, my daughter Polly won CAC and was BOS at the dog show in Askersund. Today, my son Gonza won CAC and was BOB at the dog show in Ronneby. Gonza is not much more than a year old. They sure follow the paths of their parents. I am so proud over them. Do I need to say more?

CAC

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This was the day of the Askersund national kennel club dog show. It is the annual show hosted by our regional kennel club, so you can say it is home turf for us. Calvin and I did very well. Calvin went in champion class, of course, and he became best male. I won a CAC and was best female. Thus, we met each other in the competition for Best of Breed, which is good among nine Shibas. Calvin was Best of Breed today. I think I will beat Calvin sometime in the future, if we will go up against one another again, but I congratulate him for the victory today. My main goal was the CAC, another step on my way to becoming a champion. Look out for me in shows to come!

Hamburgers

Hamburgers are very tasty, especially those that Paula makes herself. She made some for dinner tonight. I got to taste. It was so good, I even got a little sauce on my ear. Well, eating slowly has never been a virtue, in my mind.

Blowing Coat

Many of us are blowing coats now. I do not. I know that there are dog shows left, blowing your coat before these shows will clearly lower your chances in the shows. It is best to do whatever you can do to preserve your coat. Good luck to Calvin, who has already blown half his coat and who will be shown in Askersund this weekend.

Aircraft Carrier

Japan has unveiled a new, huge warship. It is an aircraft carrier with a flight deck 250 metres long. Reports say it is the biggest Japanese warship since World War II. The carrier is supposed to be used in border-area survellance and anti-submarine missions. With the recent tension over the Japanese Senkaku Islands, which China claims, it is a good thing that Japan has a good defence capacity. I hope it will never have to be used in an actual war, but then, having a military strong enough to deter your enemies from making war with you is the main purpose of it.

Baking Bread

Paula has a new hobby. She is baking bread. It is not just any bread, but so called LCHF bread. This is supposed to be healthy. I do not know about that. LCHF stands for low carn, high fat. The best hing to eat, then, is meat. Bread can never be as healthy, nor as tasty, as meat. There is some value having a varied diet, as well, but I would not mind more meat, to eat more like the LCHF diet suggests.

Solar Powered Lights

We have had some solar powered lights in the garden since last summer. They have never worked. Daniel has now reviewed the construction and got rid of a seal that was hidden inside. You could not see this seal, unless you disassembled part of the lamp. As far as we can remember, there was no word or picture about this seal in the manual to the lights. However, they are shining tonight. We like that. Better late than never.

Good Ridance

We transported some garbage to the waste depot. It is good not to have it in our garden.

Concert

There is a concert playing a kilometre away, or what it is to Brunnsparken from us. We can hear the base at home, even indoors. It could be a little disturbing, but we do not care. These things do not happen often. It is also Friday night, when humans usually party more than other nights since most of them do not work Saturdays and Sundays. We let them do this, it makes them better people, and better people are nicer to dogs.

New Kind of Antibiotic Discovered

Antibiotics are good stuff. It helps both dogs and humans, and other animals of our liking, to fight off bacteria and the diseases created by them. There have, however, been more and more bacteria who are resistent to the antibiotics we know and use.

Scientists have now discovered a completely new kind of antibiotic compound in a microorganism living in the sea off the coast of California. This antibiotic compound seem to be effective on some bacteria who are immune to all other antibiotics.

This is great news. Fighting off bacteria can save many human and dog lives. I hope antibiotics can soon be on the market derived from this new discovery. Perhaps it is also grounds for a Nobel Prize, like Alexander Fleming got for discovering the antibiotic penicillin. Go, science!

Summer Is Still Not Over

This is the last day of July. Both Paula and Daniel have started to work this week after some weeks of summer vacation. The nights are getting darker and longer. Still, August is also a summer month. We are bound to have several weeks more of warm, nice summer weather. There are also many summer dog shows left, not least when we are going to Gotland by the end pf August. It is still summer, though signs of autumn start to show. I am going to enjoy what is left of summer.

Wolves Helping Bears

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Wolves are important in the eco system. In the American national park Yellowstone, wolves vanished in the early 20th century, making elks much more abundant. These elks ate the berries upon which bears get an important part of their diet. When wolves have now returned, decimating the number of elks, the bears of Yellowstone gets a better diet and feel better.

It is nice that our wild cousins can help bears in the forests. It is a little like us dogs helping teddy bears through life as toys.

Calvin Did It

Calvin became Best of Breed at the International Dog Show in Ransäter today. I congratulated him, when he came home.

April's son Javier became Best Puppy.

My daughter Polly and my son Zeus were also shown. They made fair results, but, unfortunately, nothing that will be noted for the future. Polly told me she enjoyed this show like none before, though, so she hungers for revenge and better results in the near future. I am looking forward to that. She deserves it.

Show Tomorrow

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Mommy is unhappy today. There is a dog show tomorrow, and I, Calvin and Javier get to go to it, but not her.

The show is in Ransäter, Värmland, halfway to Norway from us. It might be rain all day, and thunder and lightning, but Mommy does not care. Going into the show ring is still the best thing she knows. I am not quite so fond of it, but I like it, nevertheless. I will do my best.

Bad TV

We watched a little on the Tv series Spartacus this evening. It is quite bad. They fought in a battle, but whenever a friend was close to dying, the others could stop fighting to hear the last words and give a hug, without being attacked by any enemy. How realistic is that? We laughed a little.

Semi Finals

Sweden lost its UEFA Euro 2013 football championship semi final to Germany yesterday. It was a close call, but all in all, Germany was slightly better and worthy winners.

Today, Norway won its semi final versus Denmark. My Dad was from Norway, so I will hope Norway will win the final on Sunday. I am looking forward to an exciting game.

Nils-Olov

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula's father Nils-Olov has been here the last couple of days to help us build a terrace. I really like him. Whenever I see him, I bark a lot at first. Some people might think I am afraid of Nils-Olov when I do this, bit this is far from the truth. I just bark at him, because he is so good at responding to this by cuddling me. I love lying in his lap. Unfortunately, I cannot do that while he is building, but I like him anyway. There will be more times of cuddling.

Plastic Bottles

Plastic bottles are really fun toys. They bend and shoft shape with the pressure of your teeth, but not too easily, and they sound funny while you chew on them. They are cheap, too.

Yesterday, Orange was playing with a bottle of mine, but I took it back. She should be subservient to an older Shiba like me, and was, too. This is good. This bottle was extra fun to play with.

If you want cheap, noce tous for dogs, just buy pop in PET bottles, then let the dogs have them when they are empty. If you want a refund, you can, as long as the EAN code os intact and the bottle is not very deformed.

Building a Terrace

Hello, Orange here!

Paula's father Nils-Olov has been here today to build a terrace in the garden. Daniel has helped him. So did I, almost all morning. It was fun being there to help. I do think the work went more smoothly thanks to me.

I stayed indoors in the afternoon, but there were other dogs helping ot then. It was really hot outside by then, so I am thankful for being able to atay in the shadows indoors.

Taking Down a Bush

We took down a bush in the garden today. You have to do that sometimes, because bushes always grow. Mostly, it is enough if you cut it and get it smaller, bit this had become so big we decided it was best to take it down permanently. That corner of the garden has more space and light now, so it was an improvement. We may cut more in the garden soon.

In the Countryside

Hello, Orange here!

I got to go with Paula and Daniel to Paula's sister with boyfriend out in the countryside this evening. I have been there before and I like it. There are cats there. They have a slightly odd way of communicating, it is not the same as with other dogs or with humans. Still, I think I am getting better at understanding them and we are getting along well with each other. It was a nice evening.

Fish Stock Recovery?

A major scientific study suggests many European fish stocks are on their way to recovery, and are not overfished.

Some researches doubt the result, one says that it is premature to talk about recovery.

I would very much like to think the fish stocks are recovering. Fish is tasty, healthy food, and we can only have it for future generations if we fish responsibly and let the fish stocks have healthy numbers. I hope the report is right, but I am not sure. Time will tell, but I have hope for recovery of the fish stocks.

Fumi

Paula and Daniel visited my daughter Fumi and her family tonight. They told me Fumi has a great life with a great family. This is always nice to hear. As a mother, you always want the best for all of your pups. It definitely seems like Fumi has the best life she could ever have.

Beauty After Pregnancy

I read this story about human females and their view of their post pregnancy bodies. They would very much like these slightly changed bodies to be considered just as beautiful as their pre pregnancy bodies. I guess they are.

When it comes to dogs, many bitches have achieved their highest victories after having puppy litters. Mum won her Swedish and Norwegian championships after her first litters, not to talk about her double World Veteran Winner titles. I have also won champion titles after having puppies. There is no reason to believe human females would do worse than dog females, if humans had shows the way we dogs have. (As fun as it is to go into the show ring, I feel sorry for humans that they do not.)

All in all, I can see no reason why human females would not be considered beautiful, just for having had children.

Online Game

Paula is playing an online game about candy. She likes it, staying awake late to play. I cannot see the fun in it. Candy is supposed to be eaten, not seen on a computer screen. Oh, well, to each her own joy.

The Orange Team Lost

Hello, Orange here!

In the ongoing UEFA European Football Championship for Women, my favourite team lost its game today. My favourite is, of course, the Netherlands, since they play in orange jerseys. There is no better colour than orange. However, Norway beat the Netherlands, 1-0. I am disappointed, though it is not yet over. The Netherlands still has a chance to go further than the groups.

Hailey was glad Norway won. This is because her father was from Norway and always a Norwegian patriot. I never met him, but I can understand why Hailey has feelings for Norway due to her father. It is nice that some of us can be glad for the Norwegian victory.