Return

Our friend Tenn has been away for a couple of days, but came back home this evening. She did not go to a dog show, so I am not jealous of her. Why would you want to go anywhere, if it is not to be shown at a dog show? Tenn had enjoyed it, she said, and I am glad she did. If I am not at a dog show, however, I would rather just stay home all the time. There is no place like home.

Japanese Influences in European Art

Japan has influenced Europe in many ways. Long before Shibas came to Europe, Japanese art made a huge impact in Europe. This was just after the Meiji restoration, in the late 19th century, when Japan was opened up to the rest of the world after two and a half centuries of isolation. It is interesting to read about this. I cannot believe this was as significant as when the first Shibas came around in the 1970's, but it was important, nevertheless. Japan has a fascinating culture, where there is still much to learn for Europeans. I will help in anyway I can.

A Real Polly

Hello, Karstuhl here!

In the Swedish qualification round for this year's Eurovision Song Contest, my favourite was the band Dolly Style. One of the three members had the stage name Polly, which fancied me, since I am called Polly myself. It has now come to my knowledge that the first Polly has left the group, to be replaced by another member. The new member will adopt the same stage name, Polly.

This is silly. If you want to have a stage name, this is fine by me, but I believe there should only be one Polly in each context. If the original members where called Molly, Holly, and Polly, the new member could easily have adopted a similar, but slightly different name. Now, it is just a folly.

Well, at least I am a real Polly. This is what I have been called since I lived in the litter box.

Spring

Spring is really here. It was warm and sunny today. I like this weather. I have come to like it more and more, as I grow a little older. Not that I fully understand why, I just do. Then again, you do not have to explain why you like sunny days in the spring, do you?

Second Day of Easter

It is Monday, but still, Daniel has been home from work. The second day of Easter is a public holiday in Sweden. Paula has been to work, but for extra pay due to the holiday. I like it, but it feels strange. We are used to Monday being just another work day. Well, life would not be as interesting, if everything just followed the habits that you have.

Happy Easter!

Today, we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. A lot of religions around the world come with a belief in afterlife. Christianity is the only religion I know, where the diety himself, God, dies, but comes back from death. This is litteraly a resurrection, a defeat of death. Happy Easter!

Fewer Crackers

We have experienced an Easter Eve with fewer crackers than usually. This is good, even for us, where there are no dogs who are afraid of the noise. It is still disturbing and unnecessary. I hope this is evidence of a trend, where Easter crackers will soon be a thing of the past. Good ridance, I would say.

Upcoming Easter

It is Easter this week. I like Easter, because it is the big holiday mostly associated with candy. Anything that brings a lot of candy is good. Do I need to elaborate on this? I would not think so. I wish all of you will have a happy Easter!

It Was a Joke

My blog entry yesterday was, of course, a joke. There are no EU regulations outlawing April's Fool's jokes. This is good, I would not want to live in a World where such jokes could be outlawed. Freedom of speech is important, even for jokes.

New EU Regulation: No More Jokes

The European Union has issued a new regulation stating that there will be no more April's Fool's Jokes. There is no tradition for these jokes in the whole Union, so everybody does not understand them, hence the tradition to make jokes impairs the free movement of goods, dogs, and people within the Union. This regulation takes effect immediately. The Member States have to issue new rules penalizing anyone who makes jokes, with fines or, in more severe cases, prison.

I do not like this new regulation. I have always devoted my blog to an April's Fool's Joke on the 1st of April every year. Now I will not be able to do this anymore. I cannot see the harm in friendly jokes. I hope the regulation will be challenged in Court and not upheld. In my mind, it is an infringement of the freedom of speech. Freedom of movement is also important, but not as important as freedom of speech.

Closing TV Channels?

Our TV cable network is in a fight with a global TV company. This may result in several TV channels closing down for us by midnight. Paula is upset. I do not mind as much, we do not see many programmes about dogs or wolves anyway. There should be more dog programmes on TV.

Evening Snack

Hello, Orange here!

My pups and I got minced meat as evening snack. It was as tasty as ever. My pups are real Shibas, trying to eat as much meat as they can. I got most of it myself, though. I am the largest one of us, so I am the one who needs the most meat. It is also a way of learning the pups they cannot sit around waiting for food, they need to eat it when it is placed before them. I believe I am a good mother, teaching my pups important things like this. They will be well suited for life away from home.

Another Aangenaam Champion!

Great news just reached me! My son Gonza, Aangenaam Iki-Kokuhou, with Kenny as a father and born on the 22 of June 2012, became Swedish Champion today. I just love it when my dear pups go in the paw prints of me and their father and show the world what great Shibas should look like. I am so proud of Gonza tonight.

A Japanese Historic Town

Today, I just want to recommend you to read a story about the old, preserved Japanese town of Kanazawa. Please read that instead of anything I write at length today. Japanese history is always interesting, since it is Shiba history.

Daylight Savings Time

Humans have this obsession about time. It is not enough to know if it is in the morning, midday, afternoon, evening, or midnight. They often have to know the time by the minute or second. It is kond of weird, then, that they all turn their watches one hour every spring, and turn it back again in the autumn. The spring turning of clocks will happen tonight. I try not to care at all.

Qualifier

The Euro 2016 qualifying games continue this weekend. Sweden plays Moldova tonight. I believe Sweden will win. In football, however, you can never be sure. This is what makes football interesting.  Tonight, we are all rooting for Sweden. There is none of us who feel any affiliation with Moldova.

Golden Poop?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

A couple of us had this odd discussion today about dog poop. Since we are many dogs, we produce quite some amounts of it. We figured that if it was valuable among humans, Paula and Daniel could sell it and buy more dog treats for us for the proceeds. Unfortunately, it is just waste.

On the other hand, if poop were really valuable, there could be more ruthless humans than there already is, exploiting poor dogs just to get dog poop to sell. Imagine kennel upon kennel loaded with trapped dogs whose only purpose would be to produce dog poop for these ruthles humans to sell. I guess it is just as well dog poop is just waste. There are too many humans taking bad care about dogs as it is.

Pups

Hello, Orange here!

My pups have become registered in the Swedish Kennel Club today. This is the P litter of Kennel Aangenaam and they have names from Paddington bear books. I like that.

Both pups have been spoken for. The girl will live here in Örebro, while the boy will move to Stockholm. They will stay with me for about three weeks before moving, though. I am so happy to have them.

Getting a Dog

We heard the resigning governor of Örebro County, Rose-Marie Frebran, on the radio this afternoon. She told the reporter who interviewed her that now that she would get some more time, she would get herself a dog. I think this is a splendid idea. Is there any better way for a human to spend her time, than spending it with a dog? Well, that would be spending it with more dogs. I wish Mrs. Frebran good luck in her pursuit of a dog.

Lost the Quarter Final

The ice hockey team from our home town, Örebro, did not make it through the quarter finals in the Swedish natinal ice hockey championship. Still, this is the best ice hockey result ever for this town. We have to be happy about this result and hope that this is just the beginning of a long era of ice hockey success in Örebro. Örebro will be back next season.

New Family

Hello, Milou here!

Today, I got to meet a couple of new humans. These are the humans I will move to in a week and a half, when my time with my mother Polly is over. They were the ones who picked my name, Milou. There is a Shiba living in this family already, I have been told, a sister of my grandmother Hailey. These humans were very nice. I wonder what life is like at a different place than here. It feels exciting that I will get to diacover new places.

Best Looking Car

You can ask what the very best looking car in history is. For me, cars are mostly a necessity for journeys to dog shows, but they can be beautiful. Cars are, however, built for a limited time. If you want beauty that is renewed time and time again, look for dogs at dog shows. Dog breeding gives you beauty for eternity, while the technical improvements of cars makes old beautiful cars a thing of the past, no matter how beautiful they are. Still, I think the beauty of cars is important. It is a vital part of human-dog civilisation. We do have a beautiful Chrysler and a beautiful BMW for our journeys to dog shows. It is nice to go and show our beauty at dog shows in beautiful cars.

No Eclipse Could Be Seen

There was supposed to be a partial Solar eclipse in our sky today. We could not see anything, however, except that it was a little darker for a while. The sky was overcast. There was nothing we could do about this, of course. On the other paw, it is not such a big deal. It would be worse if we would miss out on a Lunar eclipse.

Solar Eclipse

There is a Solar eclipse tomorrow. The total eclipse can only be seen from the Norwegian Sea and Svalbard, but we can see a partial eclipse in Sweden, if we are careful when watching the Sun. Even during an eclipse, staring at the Sun can damage your eyes.

Solar eclipses are rare. If you want to watch a Lunar eclipse instead, just look for me at the next dog show, because my name is Lunar Eclips!

Coming Home

Kenny, a.k.a. Kuro-chan, came home today. He has been away on a trip to see another bitch. As much as I like him, I cannot like the purpose of his journey. He is, after all, the father of many of my pups. As a result of this, he is also grandfather of Karstuhl's pups. He did say there is no place like home, but I know what other bitches can do to turn the head of my dog. Nevertheless, I cannot help but liking that he is back home.

Six Weeks

Hello, Polly here!

My daughter Milou is celebrating her six weeks day today. I helped her finish the ham she got to eat for the celebrations. It is important to teach pups not to linger too long when they have got food to eat. Basicly, it is a question of survival, but it is also a way of showing your humans what you like, thereby hopefully receiving more of it. Milou is a good daughter, she did accept that I participated in the celebrations with ham. I love her.

National Bird?

in Britain, there is a campaign and votes to elect a national bird. I think this is unnecessary and silly. If they want to chose a national animal of some sort, why not the dog? After all, modern breeding and dog shows were invented in Britain.

Points

The first Formula 1 race of the season was aired live from Australia today. Australia is in time zones many hours before us, so Daniel got up early to watch the race. I accompanied him in the sofa. The Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson scored the first points for a Swedish driver since 1989.

Lewis Hamilton won the race, but it is far from certain he will keep the title of world champion. The whole championship is determined on who is the best over all the races of a season. In this way, it is similar to the Dog of the Year competitions. I like this, the championship does not depend upon the chances that are inevitable in single competitions.

We are looking forward to more races.

Strängnäs

Strängnäs is the small city where the cathedral is to which we belong. It is also known for having dog shows now and then. Paula and Daniel went there today. Unfortunately, I did not get to go, but my granddaughter Soya did. Soya is one year old and does not compete in Open Class yet, but she got Excellent in quality and got a CAC. It is a splendid reault for a bitch her age. I am a proud grandmother!

Obesity

Dogs can become obese, such as the Ohio Dachshund Dennis. His former human fed him nothing but junk food and he weighed way too much. After a human relative took care of him and put him on a diet and gave him excercise, he has regained a healthy weight and is happy again. Humans who have dogs must be concious of the risk of giving their dogs too much and too unhealthy food.

Pie

Paula and Daniel had pie for dinner. When they were done, a lot of pie was left. Daniel put it in lunch boxes and went to the fridge with them. However, he dropped one on the floor as he went. The usual lunch box is made of plasic with well fitting lids, but the lid on this lunch box fell of and the pie landed on the floor. Calvin was lucky, he was the only dog in the kitchen as this happened and got to clean the whole piece of pie up himself. I can still feel my envy towards him. A piece of pie is not important in the long run, but it is really tasty as you eat it. I would like to have been there and being the one to clean the pie up,

Generations

I met my youngest granddaughter today, Polly's laterst offspring, the little bitch puppy Milou. She is black and tan, just like me and Polly. She is also very cute and mature for her age. She walked around on the lawn as if there was nothing special about it. Polly is taking good care of her, I have raised Polly well. We will certainly meet a few more times before Milou will move to her new family. I am looking forward to this,

New Season

Spring is not only the start of the dog show season, it is also the start of a sloghtly less important season of competitions: Formula 1 car races. Daniel believes Formula 1 is the peak of human competition. This would make it the human equivalent of dogs' shows. I do follow the races, because Daniel does. We have a Swedish driver to root for in Marcus Ericsson, but I miss Japanese drivers. Well, it is bound to be an interesting season, nevertheless.

Planning

Planning is an important part of every successful endeavour. Tonight, we have made plans on this year's dog show season. We have read the schedule carefully, assessing the time of shows and distance to the places where the shows are. We are not yet sure who will be shown at what show. I have made myself clear: I want to be shown at every show we go to. It remains to be seen, however, if I am allowed this. There are a lot of things to consider, and I have to let the other dogs be shown as well. I am generous in this way, I am happy for them, when they are shown instead of me. The plans are not yet finished, we will have to see when I go into the show ring.

Road Trip

Paula, Daniel, April, Kenny, and I went on a road trip today. April got off in Vallentuna, where she will live with a different family for a while. Unless she hates it there, which she doubts she will, she is going to stay there for the forseeable future. I wish her all the luck. It is good to have a family of ones own. In the family here, I am the alpha bitch, so April could never get that rank here. She can in her new family, though.

Kenny got off a little later. He will just be away for a week, this is already settled. It is said he will meet a bitch who is in heat. I do not think Kenny will be very interested. After all, he has had pups with me, what bitch could ever match this?

When the other dogs had left, I got to go with Paula and Daniel to Daniel's parents. Daniel's sister Linda was there too. These are nice humans and it was fun. The funny thing was, they have a clock there which chimed once an hour in a tone that sounds just like a door bell. I thought someone would come, but noone did. Then I realized it was not a door bell.

We got home in the afternoon. It was an eventful day, I like days like this.

Hello

Hi!

Hand Outs

Paula showed us a short film tonight about a dog of a poor family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This dog was given a hand out of dog food in a park every day, from a wealthier human. She ate what she needed, then carried the rest of the dog food home to her dog and chicken friends.

A Shiba would not do this. A Shiba would be smart enough to take care of all the food herself.

Moose

We really got good food today. Daniel pulled a bag of moose meat out of the freezer yesterday night, and when it was time for us to eat today, he put it in our bowls. When getting moose meat to eat, nothing can be bad today.

Crufts

The World's biggest dog show is taking place in England now: Crufts. I have been Crufts qualified more than once, but we have never gotten around to going there. This is one of the biggest disappointments of my life. I guess we all have places and events we would like to go to, but do not. I love going into the show ring, and what would be better than the greatest event there is? It is supposed to be bigger than the World Dog Show, where I have been a few times. Well, it is nice being at home, too.

Hormones

Some of the bitches here at home are in heat. I am not. It is always a pain to watch the male dogs and the bitches in heat, when I am not in heat myself. They seem to be so stupid. Still, I know what it is to be in heat. Sometimes, I wish I was the alpha bitch in a wolf pack instead of a dog pack. In wolf packs, the alpha bitch has more to say about other bitches' ability to get into heat at all. On the other hand, there are so many other advantages of being a dog. I like being civilised enough to live in a warm and dry house. You have to take the disadvantages with the advantages.

Wanting to Get Out

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My pup Milou is getting older. She will soon turn four weeks. Today, she whined about not being able to get out of the litter box. She is not yet big enough to do this on her own. I think this is just as well, for now. She will be quite a pawfull once she learns how to get out and explore the whole floor. I will enjoy a little peace and quiet until then.

Understanding Humans

Some human scientists are researching how dogs interact with humans. It has now been determined that dogs can learn whether to trust a human or not. This comes as no surprise to me, as a dog, of course. It also comes as no surprise for humans with a lot of experience with dogs. We know whom to trust. This is essential for us, as part of human society, so it should not be a surprise to anyone. It is still fun to read about it.

TGIF

TGIF stands for "thank God Its Friday". We had a very good Friday evening, Paula, Daniel, and I. We were at Paula's parents'. It is always fun going there. I just wish I had had at least one of the ribs that the humans had for dinner. They claim these kinds of bones are not good for dogs, but I am not sure. Perhaps the real reason is just to save all the ribs for themselves? Well, all the rest of the evening was great,

Brother

Hello, Soya here!

Even though I moved away from Aangenaam, and my grandmother Hailey with her blog, I have been allowed to make a special guest appearance today. The thing is, I got a little brother last Sunday, when my humans got a child. He is called Arvid, is very small, and the cutest human I have ever seen.

Arvid came home from the human hospital today. He was born there and he and his mother stayed for a while. Upon his arrival, I got the opportunity to get to know him. I oversaw a change of diapers, I believe I helped making everything right. It is important to look after a little brother and make sure everything is done in the right way for him. I loved him from the very first time I saw him.

The Bed

Paula and Daniel put clean sheets in the bed tonight. When one of us dogs tried them out, Paula exclaimed that she did not want a dog in her bed yet. I am not sure what she meant. It is not jjust her bed, the bed belongs to all of us, doesn't it? We all usually sleep in it, more or less often. It is Paula's bed too, but not just her bed.

Runt

When watching the news on TV, there was a piece on using dogs in human health care. A children's hospital had bought a dog to help get the spirits up for the children.

While I applaud this initiative, I cannot condone the dog purchased. It was a cross breed, thus a dog who had come to this world without any deeper thought by the humans who had the parents. It must be much better for the children to meet a dog of a recognized breed, who would have been responsibly bred and raised. I would recommend a Shiba.

Child

Humans do not call their offspring pups, like dogs do. They call them children. Paula's sister Mia gave birth to a child yesterday. Paula and Daniel went to see the child at the human hospital. I am not sure why Mia gave birth at the human hospital, I have always given birth to my pups at home, not at the hospital. I guess humans have other traditions than dogs. As a dog, you are not expected to visit the human hospital. From what I have heard, not even Mia's own dog, my granddaughter Soya, has seen the child yet. We just have to believe Paula and Daniel, when they say the child is cute. It will be interesting to meet him, eventually.

Greek Reforms

Greece has made a deal with its creditors. The Greek government has until Monday to agree on reforms to solve the crisis. I hope they agree on things. I do have my doubts, though. The Greek Prime Minister won the election recently by promising an end to necessary reforms for the short term relief. How can the creditors rely on such a man? How can they rely upon that he will back down from his election promises to make the creditors happy? I do not think I would.

No Snow

We have not had any snowfall tonight. The blog entry before this was not published until some seconds after midnight, because there was some problem with the Internet connection. Today, the snow that fell yesterday evening is gone. There is not much older snow left, either. I guess spring is here soon. I like that.

Snow Again

We have had temperatures well above the freezing point for the last couple of days. Most of the snow has disappeared. Still, late tonight, some more snow fell from the sky. It was just a thin layer, mixed with rain, and it will certainly be gone soon, as well. Still, you can never be sure winter will come to an end, despite mild weather, in February.

Birthday Yesterday

Hello, Karstuhl here!

So, My birthday passed yesterday. Why would I need to celebrate it? I already have something much better to spend my time on: a little pup who is just mine. I love her.

Internet Fame

We got an advertisement leaflet in the mail today, where there was a short text about pets who had gotten famous on the Internet. All three of them had many more followers than my blog. Apparently, they do things that appeal to more people than I do. I have run this daily blog for many years, and I know I have some faithful readers. Still, I can get a little jealous at these other pets, who have really become celebrities of sorts. Well, at least I think my blog is the best blog there is.

Slippery Slopes

Our house is built on a little hill. Now that there have been many days with temperatures below as well as above the freezing point, the drive ways down to the street has turned into icy slopes. These are litteraly slippery slopes. On four lega with claws, all of us dogs manage, but it is hard for Daniel. On the other hand, he is seldom out on metaphorical slippery slopes, as he is very firm in his ideological beliefs. Slipping on icy drive ways might not be that bad, in comparison.

Open Eyes

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The most important thing that happened here at our house today, was that my pup Milou has now definitely opened up her eyes. She looks at the world with fresh, beautiful eyes. I wonder what she makes of it. I have learned so much about the world, it is hard to imagine what a pup is thinking, when seeing for the first time. I can see a lot of potential in her, anyway.

Chip Your Pet!

A cat in Devon, England, has been reunited with his human, after being lost for eight years. This was thanks to the ID chip he had. A veterinary scanned him and discovered who was his human. It is unknown where he has been during the past eight years, but he has been taken care of, because he is well fed.

This story shows how important it is to put chips with ID numbers in your pets. A pet who goes astray cannot explain where he or she really lives. ID chips can do the trick. If you have not already put an ID chip in your pet, I think you should.

Battery

The battery in my mobile device was almost empty earlier today, so Daniel put the cord in the power outlet. Unfortunately, though, he must not have pushed it in far enough. When I would use it to write my daily blog entry tonight, the battery was still almost empty. I am not as good as humans at putting cords in power outlets, I do not have the hands they do. It is a pity, then, that they do not succeed in something as relatively trivial as pushing the socket all the way in. Daniel usually manages to do this. Still, nobody is perfect and once in a while we all fail at trivial things to do. I am a little disappointed, but I could use the ordinary computer for my blog entry, so it was posted anyway. I forgive and forget. Tomorrow, nobody have any reason to care.

Gay Gala

There is a gay gala on TV tonight. I think more focus could be on dog breeding. There are a lot of prominent dog breeders who are gay.

Cutting Claws

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula cut claws tonight. Not my claws, but the claws of my little pup Milou. It went well. I am glad I did not have claws that were so long they needed to be cut. It is good to have short claws, but having them cut is not comfortable. Milou did not complain. She is yet not so self aware that she does this, but I expect her to be more careful about her claws further on. It is a good thing Paula is such a good claw cutter, it makes a harsh ordeal easier. I am sure Milou will notice this as well.

Australia in Eurovision

This year, Australia will compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Apparently, Australia is a member of Eurovision, which is a prerequisite to be able to compete. Auntie Linni, whose father was from Australia, is looking forward to it. She says she will probably root for Australia, believing the country will have a great song to compete with. I also think it will be fun, though I mostly root for Sweden or my Dad's home country Norway. We will see what songs there will be.

Pop Corn Science

Scientists in France have researched the perfect conditions for popping pop corn. The ideal temperature is 180 degrees Celsius, at which 96 % of the corns popped.

Paula has always been a great fan of pop corn. I guess she thinks this is more important science than I do. I like meat or water melon better.

One Week

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My pup is growing and doing fine. She is so cute. An interesting thing is that some of her claws are white, even though she is a black and tan. We have to see whether this colour will change as she gets older. Nevertheless, she is the cutest there is.

Slow Net

sometimea, the Internet is so slow, I forget what I had in mind for my blog entry. This was one of those days. I do not like it.

If I can recall my idea for a blog entry, I might write it tomorrow instead. Stay tuned!

Milou

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have not yet told the blog readers what my newborn pup will be called. She has a new family to move to already. Her name will be Milou. This name is mostly connected with comic book dog hero Milou, from the comic books about Tintin. Milou was a male dog. This does not matter, however. There are other female dogs called Milou already. I think Milou is a fine name.

Song Contest

Hello, Polly here!

The Swedish qualification round for the Eurovision Song Contest started today. One of the groups who participated had a member called Polly. Despite this fine name, their song was not very good. As a matter of fact, none of the seven songs tonight was that good. I guess the ultimate Swedish contender is yet to be heard. There are many more songs to come. We hope there will be a real winner among them.

Eat Sticks

in Japan, humans eat with sticks. In Europe, they eat with knife and fork. Paula and Daniel want to go to Japan in the not so far future. They want to learn more about Shibas in the home country of the breed, in truth a noble cause. They also eat with eat sticks sometimes, like when they eat sushi. This is good, it will make it easier for them in Japan.

Personally, I do not really understand why humans have to make eating so complicated. As a dog, all I need is a bowl of food.

Pup

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I now have a newborn pup to take care of. She sleeps a lot, and when she does, I have time to write blog entries. She is so cute. Taking care of pups is the best thing you can ever do. I wish everyone could experience this joy. Male dogs never do, I am sorry for them.

There is also a fringe benefit: I get more food.

Another Granddaughter

My dear daughter Polly gave birth to a beautiful little black and tan pup early this morning. I am now a grandmother of yet another dog. It makes me very happy! You might think it makes me think I am old, but today, there is only joy.

So Much Snow

Snow is fun, but now, snow has been falling constantly for days and nights. Many centimetres of snow is now laying on our lawn. It feels like it is enough now, at least for a while. It is February, so snow is to be expected, but does it have to be this much?

Another Dog Hero

In the harsh winter weather of Gothenburg two days ago, a police dog and his human went out searching for an elderly lady. The heavy snowfall and wind made it impossible to see any footprints on the ground. The dog, however, could smell the missing human. He wanted to pass a fence, but they could not pass it, so they had to walk around it. Once they found a way through the fence, the dog ran straight to a dark shadow on the ground. It turned out to be the missing woman, who had tripped, hurt her foot, and was very cold. She would probably not have survived, if it was not for the brave police dog. He is a true hero. Once again, a dog has showed how valuable dogs are for humans.

Helicopter Rescue of Dog

If you want to watch a video with a happy ending, just watch this video of a dog rescued out of a river in California. A helicopter flew in for the rescue. When saving dogs, this is the way to go!

Younger Sister

Hello, Orange here!

My mother has a new pup to take care of, since early in December. I have just seen this pup a couple of times. She is cute, as any pup, bit obviously not cute enough to stay here. Rumour has it, she will move to a new family on Sunday. I think this is good. As the pup is my younger sister, she is a good pup, but there is not room for every pup here. We have to be picky. On Sunday, we will go back to our ordinary lives again, without this pup. I wish her all the luck with her new family!

Laziness

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, it feels like the Internet is lazy. You open up a browser or another program which depends on the Internet, but it just stands still, working. As far as you can tell, nothing is really any different from an ordinary day. The Internet is an inani ate object, it does not have thoughts or feelings. Nevertheless, on days like this, it feels like the Internet is lazy. At the very least, it is a nice metaphore.

Surviving Against the Odds

A cat in Florida was so hurt, when hit by a car, that he was presumed dead. A friend of the owner buried the cat. Five days later, the cat was found by a neighbour, hurt but hungry. He has now been taken care of by veterinarians and is getting better. A horrible story with a happy ending. I hope this cat gets to live a good life for many years to come.

A Day of Remembrance

This day is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Seventy years ago today, the Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz in Poland was liberated. Auschwitz is the most known of many concentration camps, where the Nazis imprisoned and methodologically killed Jews and other humans of peoples they considered less worth, as well as political opponents. It is horrible to think of. You know the human is the most intelligent species on Earth, it is horrible some humans use this intelligence for such destructive actions. No other species would do anything like this. It is a good thing most humans are good, using their intelligence in much better ways. I hope nothing like the Holocaust will ever occur again.

At the Animal Hospital

i had a small, routine procedure at the animal hospital today. After the sedation, the ladies at the reception desk needed some help, so I volunteered and helped them out. It was interesting. I believe I made a difference.

Newly Discovered Ancient Human?

Fossil remains of what appears to be a so far unknown species of humans have been discovered in East Asia. It is assumed they lived about 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. If this is the case, I can understand why they became extinct. Wolves became partners with humans, and became dogs, about 40,000 years ago. The newly discovered ancient humans could, thus, not have had dogs. Humans and dogs are a formidable partnership, so it is understandable humans without dogs did not survive. Modern day humans are lucky to have survived long enough that they got dogs.

Restaurant

This evening, Paula and Daniel went out to eat at a restaurant. They need to get away on their own once in a while.

Restaurants normally do not allow dogs. I find this policy strange, but as long as they do not, I would not dignify them with my presence anyway.

When Paula and Daniel came back home, the evening was just as nice as Saturday evenings usually are. We had a good time without them, as well, but it is always better when they are around. It was today, too.

Friday

Fridays are good days. You know your humans will normally be home in the weekend.

This Friday night, I got to go with Paula and Gunde to Paula's parents. It was a nice, soft evening.

Hostages

the terrorists of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq have taken two Japanese citizens as hostages. They demand a huge ransom. Japanese officials say they do not want to give in to the demands, but want to make contact with the terrorists to talk to them. I hope they will succeed. Nobody deserves to be imprisoned by terrorists.

A Short Trip

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This evening, I was the one who got to go with Daniel in the car to pick Paula up. Mommy or Auntie Linni are the ones who usually get to go. I have always been curious about what it is about, and it was fun to greet Paula prior to any of the other dogs. The rumour that you always take a detour through a McDrive, purchasing a cheeseburger for the accompanying dog, turned out to be false, however. We were nowhere near any hamburger joint, not even talking about it. Well, I got some treats when we came home. It was a nice trip, nevertheless.

Local Celebrity

My daughter Anzu is a local celebrity in Bergen, where she lives. She and her human Mathias were on a photography in the news paper, when they enjoyed sunny weather on the mountains close to the city. It is nice to see that Anzu has such an enjoyable life. She keeps the memory of my father alive, in the city where he was born. I love her, like I love all my pups.

Snow

Hello, Orange here!

We had a snowfall this evening. There is now enough snow for it to be fun to run around in.

I love snow. The only slight downside is the white colour. I would prefer it if it came in my facourite colour: orange.

Reunited After Three Years

A California Shiba disappeared from her family backyard three years ago. She has now been reunited with her family. Nobody can say where she has been, but she was pcked up as a stray dog on the 9th of January, and the shelter identified her thanks to her microchip.

The main lesson of this story, is that it is necessary to have microchips in your pets. A human who disappear can tell other humans who she is. A dog has to trust other means to be identified. The microchip is the best way.

I am really glad for the Shiba and the rest of her family.

Important Things to Do

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There are more or less important things to do in life. Eating, drinking and the like are essential for staying alive. Then there is cuddling, just feeling well close to your humans and fellow dogs. This is also very important. Daniel once said, petting your dog is never a waste of time. I wholeheartedly agree. Pet your dogs every day!

Antarctica

Some people go to Antarctica on holiday. They want to visit this desolate landscape, which is certainly beautiful, judging from the pictures I have seen. The environment there is very delicate and fragile, though. There are so many tourists going there, that voices have been raised on making it illegal for tourists to go there. I would not mind. There are no dog shows and no dog breeders there, so why would you want to go there?

Cheese Crackers

Cheese is good food, really tasty. Tonight, Paula did something she does once in a while, she created cheese crackers. It is really quite simple. You use a cheese grinder and put flat circles of this cheese on a foil in the oven for a while, waiting for it to melt and merge into crackers. These can be as soft or hard as you like them to be, dependent on how long you keep them in the oven heat. Ours were a little soft, which is how I like them. I got half a cheese cracker for myself. It was a great end of the evening.

Something

Hello, Orange here!

Sometimes, I am asked to contribute to this blog. I can write almost anything, but it has to be something. Tonight, I could not think of anything. Then I thought, writing that you have nothing to say, is still something. It might not be anything special, but I have never been asked to write something special, just something. There you go, it is more than nothing, anyway.

Wrapped Candy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula put a bowl of candy on the coffee table in our living room tonight. The problem was, most of the candy was wrapped in plastic wraps. It is hard to unwrap these without fingers.

There should be a universal canine right, that candy would never be served wrapped in paper or plastic.

Startling Socks

Paula usually wear all black socks. Today, however, she was sitting in the sofa in front of the TV, suddenly stretching out a foot from the blanket, which had a pink sock with Mickey Mouse images on. Javier was so startled, he barked at the sock. It was not long before he realised there was no danger, but he still said he did not like being startled in this way. I understand him. Nobody expect us dogs to change the colours of the coats we usually wear, so why would humans do, at least on bodyparts where they usually never change colours.

Going Back

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Sometimes, when surfing the Internet, I want to go back to the page I just left. It is often quick, but once in a while, it has to be completely reloaded. Reloading the page takes time. I do not know why it has to be reloaded, and when this happen, it seems to me like it just occurse now and then. I wonder why. Going back in my own trains of though, I never have to reload anything. Then again, a computer is nothing like a brain, far from it. If I was a computer genius, this is one thing I could work on trying to solve, because I think it is a little annoying to a lot of computer users. On the other hand, I am often content with the fact that brains are so much better than computers on so many things. I guess I would want to keep it that way. My genius is better used for other purposes.

Complicated Life

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula has been working most of the day on writing a document about ten pages long. She reads a lot of different books and magazine articles, and processes this into one document. It is all due to her ICU studies. I think this only goes to prove, human life is sometimes just too complicated. Perhaps this is one reason why humans love us dogs so much? We do not make life any more complicated than it has to be. Life can be simple, yet lived and experienced to its fullest extent. By seeing us dogs do this, perhaps humans realise life can be so simple. Still, I think humans have a genetic predisposition not to take life easy, but to explore, discover, rearrange, and construct things, and through making life more complicated, feeling satisfied. I would not want to trade, but I am grateful humans have invented such things as the house, central heating, electric light, and many other things. They all help making the simple life easy. Then our humans go on in the quest to produce more knowledge. I love Paula for this, it helps me having a simple life, made easy.

Puppy Visitors

Our friend Tenn gave birth to a puppy girl almost five weeks ago. The puppy's future family was here today to see her and meet up with the rest of us. They were nice people. It is always a pleasure to give a puppy to nice people, you feel that they can take good care of the little one. In this case, it is not my puppy, not even a puppy of my own lines, but I still feel a responsibility for her. She will have a good life.

Better than Hubble

There is an acronym that may be used more this year: BTH. It stands for Better than Hubble. Hubble is, of course, the space telescope in orbit around the Earth. No matter how good Hubble is, it cannot beat close up images. This year, space probes will reach the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto.

Ceres is the largest object of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the only one large enough to be spherical from its own gravity.

Ceres is not at all as far away as Pluto. Dwarf planets are also called plutoids, after Pluto. This is the dwarf planet that was counted as the outermost planet, in its orbit that is usually farther from the Sun than the orbit of Neptune. However, it was reclassified because there were many other dwarf planets being discovered. Still, Pluto is the biggest of those and has many moons. It will be interesting to get to know more about Pluto.

Some time, in the far off future, humans and dogs may walk on Ceres and Pluto, but I will be long gone by then.

Spring?

Hello, Orange here!

We had heavy rain this morning and temperatures above the freezing point all day. The little snow that fell the other day is gone again. Still, it is the first half of January. I may be rather young, but I have been around before. Spring is not supposed to come this early, is it? I hope there will still be some winter, I love snow.

Je Suis Charlie

Terrorists attacked the office of a magazine in Paris today. They shot and killed people, because the people were utilizing their freedom of expression by making satire.

In my mind, nothing is worth so much, you cannot make fun of it.

As an expression of support for freedom of speech, I am inspired by others and say: Je suis Charlie.

Always remember, Islamic terrorists hate dogs for no real reason. I am a dog, but every bullet they fired today is a reason for me to hate them.

Success for Soya!

My granddaughter Soya is just ten months old, but she really succeeded at the dog show in Gothenburg today. She competed out of junior class, but got better result than many adult bitches. She was second best female, won the CAC, and was qualified for Crufts. This is a wonderful result for a lady of her young age! I could not be more proud of her. She really goes in the paw prints of her ancestors.

Newsroom

Daniel has got a new favourite TV series, the HBO series Newsroom. It is American, of course. My Mum's home country usually do the best TV there is. Tonight, Daniel has watched three episodes. He would not state this in his blog or anything, but I do. The series is quite all right, I suppose, but I do think you need at least one dog to make a really good TV series. Dogs are what is lacking in Newsroom, other than that, I can recommend it.

Am I Being Repetitive?

Am I being overly repetitive, if I am writing, once again, how disappointed I am that Paula goes away to a dog show without me? I have not written about this subject before, this year.

Today, Paula and her sister took my granddaughter Soya to Gothenburg and the great dog show My Dog there. I would have wanted to come. I always want to go to dog shows, I love being showed so much. Sure, I do hope Soya will do well, but this is beside my point. The point is, I want to go to the dog show. I guess I have to wait until spring.

Explosions

There is a tradition to use fireworks and crackers to celebrate the new year. If this just happened at midnight on new year's night, I would not mind much. Some dogs are afraid of the noise (though not in our pack), but if the explosions would be limited to a few minutes around that strike of the clock, it would not be so bad. The main problem are the people who use crackers many days before and after new year. What is the point? We heard some explosions tonight. It is just stupid. I wish humans would do better things with their time and money. Some humans just do not show they are part of the most intelligent species of the planet.

Junior World Championship

We have watched the Junior World Championship in ice hockey. Sweden won its quarter final against Finland. The Swedes will face Russia in the semi final. Russia beat the USA, which we thought was a pity. It was no surprise,  however, even thought there was one journalist on TV who claimed it was.  You can never rule out Russia in ice hockey. After all, Russia is one of the four great ice hockey nations, alongside Sweden, Canada and the Czech republic.  The USA is not. Now we can all hope for a Swedish victory in the tournament as a whole.