Birth Control App

There is an app that can help humans not getting pregnant, if they not want to and still want to have sex. It works on measurements of body temperature and algorithms. It has been found to be quite effective in clinical studies.

The app can also be used to pinpoint the time when humans are most likely to get pregnant, if they want to.

I figure it would probably be possible to evolve the app, so it can be used for dogs. This would be a great help, when the male is living quite far away from the female. It would suggest what day would be the best to travel to the male. This could prevent long, unnecessary trips to be mated. I hope such an app will come.

Godzilla Actor Dies

One of the most famous Japanese contributions to popular culture is the giand lizard monster Godzilla. The very first actor who played Godzilla n 1954, and returned to the role in eleven sequels, Haruo Nakajima, has died at the age of 88. 

Horror movies are not my cup of tea. It is still interesting to note that probably most people around the world has at least heard of Godzilla. The Japanese are good story tellers, regardless of how high cultural value the stories may be deemed to have. If the original actor behind Godzilla dies, Godzilla will still survive for the foreseeable future. This is cool.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

There was a partial Lunar eclipse at Moonrise this evening. We do not have a good view of the eastern horizon from our garden, there are tall trees in the way.

I did not look for the Moon, eclipsed or not. After all, I am a full Lunar Eclips all the time, a partial Lunar eclipse is not so much to see compared to this, is it?

Joke aside, I hope there were many people interested in celestial events who took the time to watch the eclipse. It is special, even if it was just a partial eclipse this time.

Rain

At last, this weekend, we have received a lot of rain. We got twenty millimetres yesterday and a lot today as well. It is still far from an annual average, but it is a start.

I have written a lot of blog entries lately about the laxk of precipitation since last autumn. We had just a little rain throughout the late summer and autumn, not much snow in the winter, and just a little rain in the spring. This summer, we have hardly had any rain at all. By the start of summer, experts said to the newspaper we needed to get at least hundred millimetres of rain in the early summer. We never got that. Months have passed with hardly any rain. This is why about forty to fifty millimetres of rain this week is just a start. It is a good start, but we still need a lot of rain in the days and weeks to come.

Let us hope for even more rain, even though it is uncomfortable being outdoors when it is raining.

Upcoming Pups

Hello, Karstuhl here!


Daniel asked me and Mommy why none of us wrote a blog entry yesterday about the result of my ultra sound examination.


The examination confirmed to Paula and Daniel that I am expecting pups. There will be at least two pups, perhaps three.


Well, there is a simple answer to Daniel's question. Both Mommy and I already knew I was with pups. I knew it from the start, of course. Mothers know this, and I have had litters of pups before. My own mother soon suspected the same, and I confirmed it to her. Consequently, the confirming result of the ultra sound examination was not news to us. It was, thus, nothing to write a blog entry about.


It is good that we have ultra sound examinations. They show our humans whether we are expecting pups or not.

Weekend

It is weekend, starting with Friday night, today.

The best weekends are those when we go to dog shows. This is, however, not common enough for my taste. The second best weekend is when both Paula and Daniel stays very mich at home. The upcoming weekend is not such a weekend.

Daniel will be home most of this weekend. Paula wil, however, not. She is working tonight, coming home early tomorrow morning. Then she will work the next night as well, Saturday to Sunday.

It is good that Paula and Daniel are working. They earn money from it, with which they buy dog food, treats etc. Still, parts of me cannot help wanting Paula to be back home. We will greet her with great joy, when she is coming home tomoorow and the day after tomorrow.

Final Teams Decided

In the UEFA Women's 2017 tournament, there were semi finals tonight. Denmark played Austria and the Netherlands played England. Javier rooted for Denmark and England, because he has got brothers who live in those countries. Denmark beat Austria, but the Netherlands beat England. It will e an interesting final game this Sunday.

Romans

Europe may have been founded, culturaly, by the Roman empire. It ruled all of the southern part of Europe, and more, from Rome and then Constantinople. A new, spectacular archaelogical discovery of Roman houses has been found outside of Lyon in France. it is an area of about 7,000 square metres with very well preserved remains.

I wonder if there are any remains showing dogs.

Is This a Boring Blog?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It happens that I ask Mommy why she writes this blog on a daily basis. The statistics provided by the blog host shows there are not many people who read it. There are very seldom any comments on the blog posts.

Well, the answer I get is that Mommy thinks it is fun. She writes down her thoughts as much for her own sake, as for the sake of her readers. She likes her readers, but could have a journal without them.

I guess this makes sense. It must make sense for any writer. No matter how many readers you have, you must think it is fun writing, for your own sake, as well as for the writers.

So, is this a boring blog? Is this why there are not many followers? I do not think so. I believe there is just so many things out there on the World Wide Web to read, that a blog by a dog is just so odd it gets few readers. It is far from boring. I know, I enjoy reading it.

Different Times for Food

We never get food at the same hour and minute every day. It is not that I normally care. Wolves in the wildernes do not have fixed times for their meals, they eat whenever they have hunted some game down. Today, however, we had to wait until it was almost nine o'clock in the evening, before we got our main course for the day. This is a little to late, in my humble opinion. Fortunately, the late hour was an odd occurence. we usually have our main meal much earlier than this. All is well that ends well.

Exo-moon

The first moon in orbit around a planet orbiting another star than the Sun may have been discovered.

There are many planets by other stars already accounted for. These are called exo-planets, exo meaning it is a planet outside of the Solar system. Consequently, a moon orbiting an exo-planet is called an exo-moon.

This is an interesting discovery, but not surprising. The more exo-planets we have found, the higher probability there would be also to find an exo-moon. In this case, it seems to be a moon the size of Neptune, orbiting a planet much more massive than Jupiter. The size of this moon is probably part of the cause it was discovered, if indeed it is. More observations are needed in order to confirm the discovery. I hope the exo-moon turns out to be there.

Night Guest

Paula's nephew Arvid has a sleep over at our house tonight. He is a sweet little child, one of the humans who belong to my granddaughter Soya. He remembered me from last time we met. We had some fun together in the evening.

Arvid is and a half years old, which is equal to being a puppy in dog terms. Humans are children for a much longer time than dogs are pups. This is equal to the average longer life span of humans, compared to dogs. Sometimes, I wish I could also have such a long life.

I am sure I will see Arvid many more times. It will surely be fun.

No Rain

I could have guessed, there was no rain today. The forecast yesterday said it would be rain today, but we never get rain this summer, or so it seems. Perhaps I would have put a bet on it, but I never do. I guess the odds would have been low. We want rain.

Rain?

Once again, the weather forecast says it will be rain tomorrow. We have had many forecasts lately promosing rain in a day or two, but when that day s come, the weather conditions have changed and no rain has fallen. I guess we will just have to see if the forecast is correct this time. I hope it is, but I still doubt it. We need rain, but we do not seem to get any.

Wedding Cake Eaten by Dog

A Labrador Retriever in England started the wedding festivities early for a couple of humans. Bella, which she is called, lives with close relatives to the couple who were getting married. Her humans had baked the wedding cake. On the morning of the wedding, Bella ate it. Every wedding guest was told the story and appreciated it as funny. The humans got a replacement cake, so the party was not spoiled.

Bella did the right thing, I believe. If she was allowed near the cake, of course she had every right to eat it. This is the right of dogs vis-a-vis food.

There is a short video on the story.

Good Day's Sleep

We had a good day's sleep today, once Paula came home from her night shift st the hospital, We sleep with Paula during the days and with Daniel during the nights. I could really get used to this lifestyle!

Working at Night

Paula is working tonight. There is need for nurses around the clock at the hospital, so Paula does the night shift once in a while. It was long ago now, due to her long illness. She likes working at night, however, so I am glad for her sake that she has been able to resume this habit. Meanwhile, we stay at home with Daniel. It is nice to sleep at night with him, and sleep at day with Paula,

Waffles

We had waffles tonight. It is very tasty. I really liked that we had jam and whipped cream as well. Jam and whipped cream is a Swedish tradition, whenever waffles are served.

It is not that I got to taste a lot, but even a little bit of a waffle is great.

Pre-history of Dogs

Science is making progress, when researching the pre-history of dogs. This is good, not only for all of us dogs. It is also good for all humans. If there is any animal living in near symbiosis with humans, it is dogs. Dogs and humans are very important for each other. Civilisation is our common culture.

A Giant Step for Mankind

It is the anniversary of the first Lunar landing. On this day in 1969, the Lunar lander called Eagle landed on the Moon. Its two man crew of Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans who ever sat their feet on another celestial body than Earth. They were followed by a few other men until December 1972. We are still waiting for the next manned Lunar landing.

The first Lunar landing is worth celebrating. It was a great feat and every human may be proud of it. It truly was a great step for mankind, as Neil Armstrong put it.

The Lawn

One good thing about not getting much rain, is that the lawn is not growing very fast. For the first time in many weeks, today, Daniel mowed the lawn.

The lawn mower has not been functioning properly. Daniel has managed to repair it, however. This is good. A well mowed lawn makes it harder for ticks getting at us. The lawn is well lowed and nice now.

Hamburger

I got a hanburger this evening.

Do I need to say more?

Floods in Cornwall

There are floods in Cornwall in England, due to heavy rainfalls. This is not as far away as Fukuoka in Japan, where there were floods the other week.

We still have a draught in Närke, Sweden, where we live. There were some millimetres of rain over the last couple of days, but this is nothing in the big scheme of things.

I wish we could have a lot of rain. Our well needs it.

Darkness

We are getting dark nights again. We are getting further away from the summer solstice, and nights are getting darker. There are advantages, it is easier to fall asleep. Not that I have ever had trouble falling asleep, but still. Life goes on. Autumn is here soon, when no bugs will bug us.

Snowfall in Santiago

Snow has fallen in Santiago de Chile, capital of Chile, for the first time in two decades. A lot of people have lost electric power.

Santiago is situated on the southern hemisphere, so this is the right time of the year for winter and snowfall. Still, the city lies way up north and not up in the Andes mountains, so snow is rare.

I hope the cold weather and power shortages does not cause dogs much harm.

Late Night Snack

Paula made some sandwiches late at night. I love a late night snack. I also got to taste a little.

Snacks are always good, but there is something else about eating just before you will go to sleep. It makes you very satisfied and you go to sleep with a nice and warm feeling in your stomach. This is great. Late night snacks should be more common.

Dual Citizenship Makes Australian Senator Resign

An Australian Senator will resign, since it was discovered he is a citizen of New Zealand as well as of Australia. Under the Australian constitution, you are not eligible to hold such a public elected office, if you have another citizenship as well as your Australian citizenship.

Apparently, the senator was born in New Zealand, gaining citizenship there at birth, but moved to Australia with his family when he was three years old and became an Australian citizen as a teenager. He claims he thought he had relinquished the New Zealand citizenship when he became an Australian citizen. He had not, and has to relinquish it now or resign as senator. He resigns as senator

I believe this is a good rule. Dual citizenship does not have to be a problem, but if you will be a legislator, your loyalty to the country cannot be put into question. A legislator should only be citizen in the country where he legislates.

Warning for Heavy Showers

We watched the news on TV tonight. They issued a warning for heavy showers, a lot of rain could fall tomorrow. We were happy, since we have a draught. The nature and our well needs rain.

It turned out, however, that the warning was for a lot of rain in the northern parts of Sweden. This is far away from us. There is no chance we can get any of this rain. It will be sunny here tomorrow, too.

Weather is nothing we can control. It is a chaotic system. No matter how much we wish for a certain type of weather, it is out of our control. In a way, this is comforting, because nobody can blame anybody else for bad weather. It would still be nice if we could wish for more rain.

Best Prescription Ever

A veterinarian has given me a prescription to eat a slice of blood pudding every day. This is the best prescription I have ever heard of. It is so tasty!

Over the last days, I have not felt really well. I have been more tired than usually and I have breathed more heavily. Paula, Daniel, and I discussed this and decided I needed an appointment with a veterinarian. This is not a thing I usually like, bit the results can be good.

Daniel and I went to the veterinarian today. There were nothing wrong with the way my heart and lungs sounded, no lumps or scars, and I am flexible and allert for my age. They got a blood sample from me and ran some tests. It turned out there was just one thing that was not really good: I have a lower count of erythocytes (also known as red blood cells). These cells transport oxygen to the cells of the body and carbondioxide from the cells. With a low level, there is less oxygen reaching the cells, less carbondioxide leaving the cells.

The veterinarian said there were a couple of different possible causes for my condition. She said this required further investigation. Part of the investigation was to help my body produce more erythocytes. I would achieve this by eating blood pudding. the high level of blood, and thus iron, in blood pudding would probably boost the production of erythocytes in my bone marrow. We will then return to the veterinarian in two weeks.

On our way home, we stopped by the supermarket and purchased some blood pudding. This is a prescribed medicine I look forward to taking. It tasted great today and will taste great in the days to follow.

Shrimp Sandwiches

We went out to a summer cafe by Lake Hjälmaren today, at Ässundet a few kilometreseast of Örebro. They make great shrimp sandwiches there. It was a beautiful day and great company. This really made our day. It is a great way for having a holiday close to home.

Name Day

It is Paula's second name day today. She has the names Paula Andrea Johanna, all of which is in the official Swedish calendar as name days, Today is Andrea. Thus, we celebrate her.

Dogs seldom have name days. Hailey is not in the calendar. I am not that disappointed, there are always other reasons to celebrate, anyway.

Another Bottas Victory

Valteri Bottas, from Finland, in his Mercedes, won the Austrian Grand Prix in Formula 1 today. It was his second victory of the year and of his career. He is now not far away from the two leaders of the championship, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. It would be great if he could compete for the title. He has certainly showed he is good enough to do it, his first victory was not just luck. It would be great if a driver from our eastern neighbour would win the title.

Road Trip Rain

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Paula, Daniel, and I went on a road trip today. It was raining a lot, while we rode the car. This did not bother us. It was a lot of rain, bit not so heavy that the sight or the grip on the road was impaired.

We were disappointed when we came home, though, there was not a single millimetre of rain in the rain gauge. We want to get more rain to water our garden and fill our well. Now all we got was a cleaner car. Oh, well, I guess this is a little thing to be happy about, anyway.

Floods in Fukuoka

There are floods in Fukuoka, due to heavy rains. We have draught in Närke, Sweden, because we have had so little rain. Life is not always fair.

Well, at least this should be ecidence against the draught being an inevitable cause of the climate changes.

Eino Leino Day

It is the day of poems and summer in Finland, or Eino Leino day, after the Finnish poet Eino Leino, who was born this day in 1878.

If Finland would not have ceased to be a part of Sweden in 1809, perhaps we would have celebrated this day here too. Poems can be exciting and invigorating. Summer is warm and nice. I believe it would be nice to have a day for summer and poetry in Sweden as well as in Finland. Perhaps we can import the celebrations?

Just a Little Rain

We read in the news paper this morning that the water in the ground is at a very low level. We are a bit worried about the amount of water in our well. There was a little rainfall this afternoon, bit we only got 1 millimetre. We are a bit annoyed about the lack of rain, but what can we do?

Mum's National Holiday

It is the 4th of July, and we celebrate the national holiday of Mum's home country, the USA. Mum always celebrated, as long as she loved with us. Calvin celebrates too, of course, he was also born in the USA. I celebrate mostly because my Mum was American. The USA seems to have been a great country to live in. Long may the USA remain!

Europeans in America

The first confirmed European settlement in America is in what is now northern Newfoundland. Vikings from Iceland and Greenland settled there around the year 1000. They lived there for about a decade, then went back to where they came from.

It is interesting to imagine these settlers, travelling in open viking ships across the North Atlantic Ocean. I wonder what dogs they had. They must have had dogs, I think.

History is interesting, About this time, Shibas only lived in Japan. We have spread across the world in the last century. Dogs have always acompanied humans, though, at least since we teamed up with one another many millenia ago. Exploring new lands is exciting for us too. I still have more to explore in my life

Germany Won

Germany won the Confederations Cup. My bet would, therefore, be that Germany will not win the World Cup next year. As I wrote the other day, no country has went on from winning the Confederations Cup to winning the World Cup as well. It is also very rare that a winner of the World Cup can defend the title.

I hope Sweden wins the World Cup, or that Japan does. I do not think this will happen, though. It is not yet clear which countries will participate in the World Cup, so I will wait until I may make a prediction. One of the best things about football is that it is not easy to predict results.

Celebrations

Paula, Daniel, Morran, and I went over to Paula's parents this evening. We celebrated the 45th wedding day of Paula's parents. It was great that I got to come.

Celebrations are also due this day, because it was the birthday of Dad. He knew and loved Paula's parents, just as I do.

We had a great time today. There are no bad reasons to celebrate, but we had great reasons today.

Beer Sausage

It is the day of Pilsener Beer Sausage. This is celebrated on the 30th June every year, on the initiative of Bullens Pilsnerkorv, the most well known beer sausage of Sweden.

We did not have any beer sausage today. I regret that. We will have to remind ourselves of this day by the end of June next year. Beer sausage, just like all sausage, is very tasty. It is well worth celebrating.

Confederations Cup

Ome year ahead of the FIFA World Cup in football, the Confederations Cup is played. Germany will face Chile in the final.

Germany won the last World Cup and now has a chance to win Confederations Cup. Regardless of whether Germany wins the final on Sunday, odds are there will be another country winning the World Cup next year. It is very rare that a country wins the World Cup twice in a row. Italy did it in 1934 and 1938, Brazil in 1958 and 1962. It has not happened since. The winner of Confederations Cup has never won the following World Cup.

Well, odds are one thing, the actual tournament is something else. I hope for a good game on Sunday and a great World Cup next year. Time will tell who wins.

Coming Home

Daniel came home this afternoon. This is great. The whole family is at home again.

Daniel's father is doing good, under the circumstances. He only had to stay for one night at the human hospital. He will go back for additional tests on a bigger hospital this Friday. The prognosis is actually not bad. We have hope. Daniel does not feel anxious.

Cutting Hair

My Poodle friends Laila and Momoko need to have their hair cut once in a while. They do not like it, and it does look uncomfortable. I am glad I shed my coat instead. Sometimes, I guess our humans are not happy when we shed coats, but this is because they do not like the shed coat hairs lying around. When they cut hair of the Poodles, some of it end up lying around too. I guess there may be advantages and disadvantages both with shedding and having to cut coats.

Not in Full Health

Daniel went to the west coast today, alone. His father is there, and not feeling well, admitted to the local human hospital. Daniel's brother is there as well, but Daniel wanted to help. It seems like things are not very bad, but we will know more after some tests tomorrow.

I fully understand Daniel's concern. I have lost both of my parents. It is sad and nothing i wish for anybody, though it is bound to happen. We all hope for a full recovery.

Lawn Mower

Daniel mowed the lawn today. He was, however, angry with the lawn mower, which does not work properly. It is not an old lawn mower, but it is still not fully functional.

I can understand that Daniel is not happy. I am not, either. We need a working lawn mower, because high grass is only good for ticks. Ticks climb high on the straws of grass and jump over to us dogs. They are bad little creatures. With a well mowed lawn, we get fewer ticks.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Tomorrow is the Azerbaijan GP in Formula 1. It is a race in Baku, the capital of this western Asian country.

The race at this circuit last year was called the European GP. I never really understood why. Azerbaijan might have a corner of the country which formally can claim to be part of Europe, but Baku is in Asia. The former Grand Prix races of San Marino and Luxemburg were held outside of these countries, but this is understandable since the countries are so small and do not have race tracks fit for a Formula 1 race. Europe, however, have many race tracks fit for Formula 1. It is better this year, when the race in Baku is called the Azerbaijan GP.

Midsummer Eve

It is Midsummer Eve. We always celebrate this in Sweden. This Midsummer Eve, Paula and Daniel were supposed to go away for a while. Paula did not really feel well, so she considered staying at home instead. Eventually, they did go away. They were not gone for long. It is not that I wish that Paula will feel sick, but I would still have preferred it if she would have stayed at home. We had a nice Midsummer Eve anyway.

I wish all of my readers a happy Midsummer!

Fish Pate

Paula cooked some fish pate tonight. I like fish pate. There was none of it for anybody to eat today, though. Paula made it for tomorrow, when it is time to celebrate midsummer. I wish we would have celebrated tonight, it smelled really tasty.

Flowers

Hello, Karstuhl here!

There are a lot of flowers in our garden at this time of the year.

Daniel likes the flowers. He finds them beautiful. Paula is more indifferent.

I do not care much about flowers. To me, they are just a display of reproductive organs for plants. It is like me, when I am in heat, and give the males part of my scent and tease them. I would rather see a steak than a flower, a steak is just as beautiful, smells just as great, but you can also eat it and get a satisfied stomach.

However, plants would look more dull without the flowers, so there is this advantage.

Disturbing

It happens once in a while that one of us dogs needs to get out late at night. This is quite disturbing for those of us who do not need to, but who would rather go to sleep. There can be whining, paws moving about, and the odd barking. Regardless of the type of sound, it is disturbing. I guess I have become more sensitive to disturbing behaviour like this with increased age and wisdom. In my younger years, I was more eager to follow the other dogs out late at night. I am wiser now, finding the comfort of the bed or sofa better. I wish there would be less disturbances late at night, however rare it is.

Bright Nights

It is near midsummer. The sun sets very late in the evening and rises again very early in the morning. It never turns really dark. In a way, I like this. It may be a little hard to fall asleep, though. With a lot of rest, this does not matter much. Life is still good. The weather is nice and warm.

Cheesecake

Daniel had some cheesecake for dessert late tonight. This is an American cake, and since I am half American, I believed I should have some. I actually got to taste it. It was great. Cakes are always great, but some are greater than others. Cheesecake are among the very best.

Nadja and Arvid

Paula's sister Mia was here this evening, with her hubby Stefan and her children Arvid and Nadja. Human children are very cute, almost as cute as Shiba puppies.

Arvid is two years old. He and Daniel sat with me and some of the other dogs in the living room for a while. He is a really nice little boy. You can tell he is used to having dogs around. This is thanks to my granddaughter Soya, who lives with him and his family.

Nadja is also very cute, but she is just half a year old, so she is not old enough to i teract with us dogs. I love her anyway.

It was a nice evening.

Candy

Hello, Karstuhl here!

I have taught my mother Hailey a valuable lesson. Whenever Paula or Daniel want us to go inside, we wait until we get some candy. I started this, Mommy learned from me. Now she is even more eager to get candy in order to get indoors than I am. If we want to get indoors ourselves, we do not demand candy, of course. It is just when our humans want us the get inside, but we do not, that we demand candy. It is still a great way to get some extra treats. I like it.

Music

Paula is often playing music in the evening. It makes her happy. I like some music, but I am not as interested as Paula. I believe music is more of a thing for humans.

There is a lot of music that comes with lyrics. I would wish more lyrics would be about dogs. A lot of lyrics is about love, but it is about love between humans. Dogs love humans as well. Why is there not more songs about dogs and the love of dogs and dogs' love of humans? I would like such songs.

Tuesday

It was Tuesday, but the day came and went, and I missed the opportunity to write my daily blog entry. This rarely happens, but happened this Tuesday. Crap!

Sausage

We got some sausage in our food this afternoon. Sausage is great food. It mainly consist of meat, and it is easily eaten. I love most sausages. The sausage we got today was lovely. I wish we could get sausage more often. We often get extra food, but few things are better than sausage.

Finnish Champion

One of the Aangenaam dogs who lives abroad is Hannes, in Finland. He became Finnish Show Champion today. Hannes is not related to me, but as a fellow Aangenaam dog, I root for him anyway. It proves the value of all of our breeding strategies, whenever anyone of us succeeds in the show ring.

Congratulations, Hannes!

How Civilisations Could Evolve

New anthropological finds indicate that the modern human is much older than previously thought. Instead of being about 200,000 years old, the species may be about 300,000 years old.

We could ask ourselves, if humans are this old, why did civilisations not evolve until the last 10,000 years?

Humans teamed up with wolves about 35,000 years ago. These wolves evolved into dogs.

My theory is that civilisations could not evolve until humans had dogs. Thus, dogs are an essential part of human civilisation.

We Have Had Rain

Over the last few days, we have had considerable amounts of rain.

This does not seem like an exciting thing to write about. Normally, it would not be; normally, I would not write about it. Over the latest months, however, it has been very dry here, relatively speaking. It is far from a desert, but the water levels in the ground, in the lakes and the rivers, have been very low. We need much more rain for the water levels to rise to normal levels.

I normally do not like being out in the rain, but under these circumstances, I can endure it. I even hope there will be more rain soon. We will see what happens. Daniel does not want rain tomorrow, he wants to be able to mow the lawn.

Scent

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Humans struggle to understand why dogs sometimes roll around in excrements from other animals. There are a lot of theories, but they really do not know. I would say: let them wonder. Some of our behaviour is better kept an enigma.

Day Off

Paula had a day off today, after working throughout the weekend. This was nice, we could sleep together with her until late in the day. Sleeping is comfortable, especially when you do it with humans and dogs you love. We all love Paula. She is such a great person. She deserved this day of rest.

National Holiday

We celebrate Sweden today. It is our national holiday.

Daniel gave us dogs minced moose meat. Eating moose, perhaps the most iconic Swedish animal, seems fitting on the Swedish national holiday. It was also very tasty, of course.

Sweden is a great country. We have a fantastic nature and culture, and we have great laws against animal abuse. It is worth celebrating.

Hamburger

Life as a dog may seem easy to humans. We are often easy to please, we live here and now. Tonight, Paula and Daniel cooked some hamburgers for dinner. I got to taste a little bit. It was great, as it always is. Iwas easy to please tonight.

Busy Day

It is Pentecost and Sunday, so most of us have taken it easy and celebrated moderately. Paula has been off to work at the hospital, however. The injuries and diseases do not take any days off, so neither can nurses or other staff on the hospital. Paula had a very busy day. She did not come away from work until half an hour after the end of her watch. We commend her for being a heroine at work. She is needed there. We understand this, though we like it better when she is at home. Everything is fine now, in the evening.

Baptism

My granddaughter Soya's youngest human, Nadja, was baptised today. Paula and Daniel were there for the baptism.

Baptism is a way for humans to become members of a church, thus coming closer to God. Dogs are never baptised. I believe we are close to God anyway.

All of us dogs sent our greetings to Nadja for the baptism.

Good News

The world is becoming an increasingly better place to live. One example is that the number of children who dies from diarrhoea is down by one third from 2005 to 2015. A lot of children still die in this gruesome way, but not as many as before. Clean water and better hygiene amounts for much of the improvement. I guess this also has a positive effect on the health and survival rate of dogs. I hope it is so.

Black

Paula got a tip from a colleague about a red wine that was supposed to be very tasty. She bought it and she and Daniel tried it tonight. They agreed it was a great wine. It was called Black Stallion. I understand it was a great wine, with a name like this. The love of my life was Kuro-chan, a black and tan male shiba. He was my black stallion. Once you go black, you never go back. Black is great.

Cake

Daniel had received a coupon for a free cake from a grocery store in our neighbourhood. He got it, because he had his birthday this month. He had to fetch it before the end of the month, though, or losing it, This is why he went away late today, all he did was getting that cake. I can understand him, if you are entitled to a cake, you should use it. Cakes are tasty.

Cleaner

We always keep our little house clean and tidy. It is so important to us, that we cleaned and vacuumed the floors late tonight.

Polly claims, amusingly, that when we vacuum late at night, we disturb the gnomes who live between the ceiling and the roof. I claim there are no gnomes living there. We have a constant, friendly debate over this. It is fun.

Veterans' Day

Apparently, it is veterans' day in Sweden today. This is not to celebrate show dogs in veterans' class, like me, even though it sounds like it. Celebrating old show dogs would be a great thing. Instead, it is a day to celebrate humans who are veterans after having served in the Swedish armed forces. I guess these veterans are also worthy of celebration. Cheers to all the veterans!

Mother's Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

It is Mother's Day in Sweden today. I suppose this is why my dear mother asked me to write the blog entry of today.

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!

Monaco

One of the most classic Formula 1 Grand Prix races is on tomorrow: Monaco's Grand Prix. It may be considered the most classic GP.

Ferrari driver from Finland, Kimi Räikkönen, will start from pole position. The other Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, starts as number two. It will be an exciting race. I root for Räikkönen.

Dog Food

We were near a catastrophe today. We could have run out of dog food.

Paula and Daniel usually buy dog food online. The food is then delivered to our home. This time, it was Daniel's turn to place the order, but he had forgotten about it. What a terrible thing to forget!

Luckily, online orders can be placed any time of the day or night. Daniel did this. We expect new food early next week. We will not run out of food until then. All is well that ends well.

Summer

Summer is here now. It has been warm and sunny weather. I also heard on the radio that older generations in Sweden usually considered the Feast of the Ascension, which we celebrate today, the first day of summer. It is suitable, then, that the weather corresponds to this view. I like summer, it is nice and warm.

Poodles

We have got visitors tonight. A human friend of Paula and Daniel and two Poodles of his borrows our guestroom. The humans had a great time all evening, talking to each other, just like humans often do when interacting with each others. The Poodles stayed in the guestroom or went out in our garden by themselves. This is all right, we know they are just visitors and will leave again. It is still our turf. The night is just like any other night, nevertheless.

Birthday

Today was Daniel's birthday. He got presents from us as soon as yesterday, but we did congratulate him today as well. He is woth being congratulated.

The big party will be this weekend. I am already looking forward to it. I am sure there will be a lot of good things to eat.

Whisky

We gave Daniel his birthday presents this evening. He celebrate his 45th birthday tomorrow, but we did not want to wait. The present he liked the most was a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky, Glenmorangie. He loves whisky. We love to give Daniel things that he loves.

Final Game

Sweden plays Canada in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. We all root for Sweden, of course.

The USA defeated Sweden in the group, on the group but lost its quarter final game. I would have hoped for a final between Sweden and the USA. On the other hand, the USA has never been one of the great powers of ice hockey; these are Sweden, Canada, Russia, and Czechia. Russia won the bronze earlier today, so this year, great powers will win all the medals.

Sweden has defeated Canada many times, but never before in a World Championship final. We hope this will change tonight.

At Home Despite a Show

Paula and Daniel went away to a dog show just outside of Örebro today. I was not entered and stayed at home. This was just as well, since it was an unofficial show. These shows are mostly for dogs or handlers, or both, who are not used to dog shows and needs training. Nobody can say this about me, nor of Paula or Daniel (though Paula is the more experienced handler). Paula and Daniel were there as ring stewards. They had a good time, they told me afterwards. I am sure they did. For this show, I was just as glad staying at home, however.

Abdication Made Possible

The Japanese Emperor Akihito is veryold and physically fragile. He has expressed wishes to abdicate, but this is not possible under the current rules of succession.

The Japanese parliament has, however, gotten a bill about a special law allowing Akihito to abdicate. The law will be specially designed just to allow Akihito to abdicate, not anybody else in the line of succession.

I believe this is a good law. Your reverence for the Emperor has to extend to allowing him to abdicate, should he need to. This is what the bill is all about.

Long live the Emperor!

Late Train

Daniel has been away from our home town in the line of duty. He travelled by train. Unfortunately, the first train broke down and the replacement train was late. This is not the first time he is late coming home, when travelling by train. It must be terrible for people who often depend on trains for their journeys, that trains seem to be late so often. I am glad we usually go by car to and from dog shows. Our cars are much less likely of breaking down or running late for other reasons. Cars are good.

National Holiday

Dad would have celebrated today, had he still been alive. He was from Norway. It is the national holiday of Norway today. I always come to think of Dad, when I think of Norway. He was proud of his Norwegian heritage, thus, so am I.

To all of the dogs and humans out there who are Norwegian, have Norwegian roots, or just love Norway: happy 17 May!

Make Up Countries

Some people make up pretend countries, not just in fiction, but as a hobby or art project. The Slovenian based art collective NSK has done this. They even issue make up passports for this make up country. They claim the country has no territory, which all real countries must have.

I just wag my tail at make up countries like this. Fake countries are a bit amusing. Fake passports do not bother me, legal authorities will not recognise them anyway. The only thing I hope is that there are no made up kennel clubs and dog show championships from these countries – this would be fraudulent.

White Sheets

We have got a new set of bed sheets. They are all white. The sheet which we lie on is usually white, but not the sheet protecting the blankets. It looks nice when it is clean. I hope it does not get dirty too soon.

Affenpinscher Specialty

Today, I accompanied our Affenpinscher friend Morran to a specialty dog show for her breed. Daniel worked as a ring stewart and Paula and I was hanging around the Affenpinschers and their humans.

I gave Morran some valuable tips. The main thing is to enter the ring with a positive attitude, because when you tell yourself you are having fun, everything becomes easier and youoften perform better. Morran did not do very well, but she had fun, and this is the main thing.

Over all, we had a nice day, even though I never entered the show ring myself. I guess there will be new opportunities for me later in the season.

ESC

It is the night of the European Song Contest, the ESC. In part, I root for Sweden, but I do not believe in the Swedish song. We will have to hear if any song is worthy of our votes.

Dance

There was the final of a dance competition on TV tonight, Let's Dance on TV 4. Dance is a little like freestyle, but for humans and without dogs.

Late Nightt Snack

We watched TV tonight, and Paula went out into the kitchen. she came back after a little while with grilled sandwiches. I love grilled sandwiches. Fortunately, I got to taste some. It tasted really good. Eatimg late at night is great, it is unfortunate that many humans and dogs have not discovered this.

Kennel Försvarsmakten

The Swedish Armed Forces breed German Shepherd dogs. For a couple of years, they have not fulfilled the higher standard required by the Swedish Kennel Club, so their dogs have not been registered. An agreement has now been reached and dogs can be registered under the kennel prefix Försvarsmakten again. This is great. I do not think I have to justify why I think so.

Allergies

Paula could not sleep last night. She got some allergic reactio, probably from some of the trees outside, this time of the year. We feelsorry for her.

I am glad Shibas do not get allergies of this kind, at least not that I am aware of. Shibas are, over all, healthy dogs. We do have compasion with humans and dogs who have allergies, though. I wish noone had allergies. Perhaps medical science can cure allergies in the future. I hope it will.

Gender Neutral Awards?

I read this article about perhaps scrapping the gender specific awards for actors and actresses. I think they take the wrong aproach. Why would you want just one gender neutral award? Learn from dog shows instead. We have a dogs class and a bitches class, then chose best of breed by pitting the best dog against the best bitch. Make one competition for best male actor, one competition for best actress, and then pit best actor against best actress. The winner in the last cathegory would be the over all winner. This would make the best of both gender specific and gender neutral competitions.

French Election

The French had a general election today, to chose a President of the Republic. There was a low turnout. A lot of voters did not like either of the two candidates who remained from the first round. As far as I am concerned, it is an unnecessary election. The French has a man who is a decendant of their Kings. They could reinstate the Kingdom. Then nobody would have to vote for a candidate they thought was bad, in order to avoid the candidate they thought was even worse. A king or queen stands above politics and is the Head of State for everybody, not just those who elected him or her. This even means that the king or queen is equally much the Head of State for the disenfranchised, such as children and dogs. I like monarchies better than republics.

Pizza

We got some pizza with our food tonight. It is always nice to get food you do not eat every day. There are a few things I like better than pizza, but not many. It made the evening great.

Working Late

Paula was working late tonight. She ended work at eight o'clock in the evening. This is what it is like being a trained nurse. The hospital has to be open around the clock. I think it is great that Paula and her colleagues do this.

Tacos

Paula made some tacos for dinner. Some Swedes would say tacos is a dish for Friday evenings, but there really is no old tradition saying that this is so. I believe tacos is tasty enough to eat any day of the week. Pancakes, on the other hand, is supposed to be eaten on Thursdays. In my granddaughter Soya's family, they had pancakes today. This is good.

Birthday Sausages

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My daughter Soya celebrated the birthday of her human Mia today. Mia is also sister of Paula, so Paula and Daniel went there to participate in the celebrations.

There were grilled sausages at the party. Soya got some. I wish there would have been a doggy bag with leftover sausages for me. It was not, Soya ate all the leftover sausages. In a way, I am disappointed, but I am even more proud. Soya is a true Shiba and true to her female line from me, Mommy, Granny, and probably further back through the generations. When you can have good food to eat, you eat it. You do not share. Soya did just what I would have done. This makes me so proud of her.

May Day

It is May, and sunshine and warm weather is here. We can say "May day", without sounding like an old time flyer in distress, because it really is a May day.

I wish spring will continue on, all the way until it is summer. It is May, so it is supposed to continue on. Now all we need is a bit more rain, our well needs it.

Flag Upside Down

Even the Royal Palace staff can do wrong, when hoisting a flag. At the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, the royal flag was hoisted upside down this morning. As soon as the fault was discovered, the flag was hoisted again, the right side up.

I wonder what my Dad would have said about this. He was born and raised in Norway and always a Norwegian patriot. I do believe he would have recognised it as the mistake that it must have been, however. When you think about it, it is quite funny. We all hope it will just be a one time thing, though. It is not funny if repeated.