Sweden Won

Sweden won its first game of the World Cup, against Chile. Sweden was ranked higher and was a favourite, but it was not until the end of the game that the Swedish team scored for the first time. Then the Swedes scored again in overtime.

The end result was 2-0, which is a result that takes Sweden on the first steps towards the knock out phase. We know if Sweden plays excellent, if Sweden goes on to this phase.

World Cup

The FIFA football World Cup has started. There was a World Cup last year, and there is another this year. The difference is that last year, the men competed, this year, the women compete.

Some say men’s footballhas higher quality. This might be the case, since there are more male than female players. I do not care about this. A World Cup is a World Cup.

Unfortunately, Japan just played a tied game with Argentina. Sweden will play its first game tomorrow, I hope the Swedes will win.

Bad Air

After a long night, we mayhave stale, bad air inour bed room. This is nothing compared to the air in some places in South Korea, that is so heavily polluted that both humans and dogs wear masks to protect them when breathing outdoors.

This is insane. Air should not be allowed to be so polluted. Not anywhere. Not in peace time, anyhow (if you need it in defence in war time, it may be different). Things must be done to come to terms with this problem. Sometimes, I wish I could do more.

Paula Is Back Home!

Paula has had a high fever due to septic chock. She has been to the hospital for ten days. She came back home again today. Needless to say, we are all very happy.

It is not that Paula is fully back to normal again. She is still tired and needs medication. Still, I believe she can become better much quicker, when she is at home and we can help her.

Welcome home, Paula!

Thunder

We had a heavy rainfall with thunder this afternoon. At night, we could see there had been more than 13 millimetres of rain in the short time that we had rain.

There was thunder, but it was probably far away. We did not see any lightning. The thunder came back on and off for a while, though. I guess the warm weather yesterday and this morning was a cause of the thunder. It is not so hot outside anymore. I like the weather better this way.

Sweden

It is the national holiday of Sweden. It is to commemorate when King Gustavus I came to Stockholm, having liberated Sweden from a Danish controlled union; and the Constitutionof 1809, which is no longer in force; and the flag of Sweden, which was officially hoistedin its present form for the first time in 1906.

I am proud to be Swedish. It is a beautiful country full of nice dogs and humans, and we have good laws and traditions to take good care of dogs.

Hurrah for Sweden!

Denmark

It is the Constitution Day of Denmark, their national holiday. I have been to Denmark, it is a nice little country. I wish all Danish dogs and humans a happy Constitution Day!

Noise

Noise does not have to have a high volume. Noise is the sound that annoys you. We have a fly in our house, or whatever flying insect it might be. It makes a noise when it flies. This is really annoying. I wish I could catch that insect and make it stop doing this noise. it does not just annoy me, it annoys all of us. Putting an end to the noise would be a blessing. Ijust do not know how to come around to it. Meanwhile, I am glad that the insect is not flying constantly, but just occasionally. You have to be happy about the small. lessings as well.

Police Dog on Duty

A police dog in the north of Sweden was left at home. His handler had forgotten to bring him to work.  This did not stop the dog. He ran to the police station by himself. When his handler opened the boot of the car and realised he had forgotten the dog, he received a phone call and was told his dog was waiting outside the police station.

This is what I call sense of duty. Dogs do this.

Rain

We have had a lotof rain lately. It is good for everything that grows in our garden, even though Danielhave to struggle with mowing the lawn. It is also good for the amount of water in our well. It is not easy having a private well, when there is such a draught as last summer. I believe it will be better this summer. It would not be probable that it would be as drythis summer as the last one. We will have to see, though. Nobody can predict the weather for the whole summer.

Second Place

The running contest Stockholm Marathon was held today. A Japanese runner came in second in the ladies’ class. There are representatives of Japan all over the world, in every kind of competition. As a Shiba I have held the Japanese colours high in the dog show rings. I am proud to be a Swede of Japanese origin.

Tick

Hello, Karstuhl here!

This evening, Daniel picked a tick from me. At first, I got a little angry, because it hurt a little. Then I got happy. It is always good to get rid of ticks. It hurts having them, more than getting rid of them, because having them hurts constantly. If there is any animal I would like to have extinct, it is the tick. Ticks are just useless and hurts.

Feast of the Ascension

Today is a holiday, the feast of the Ascension. It is the celebration of when the resurected Christ litteraly ascended up into Heaven.

Daniel has been at home with us most of the day and we have had a nice and calm day. I like days like this, when you can just take it easy and do a little what you feel like.

Lunch

Daniel came home on his lunch break today. He gave us lunch.

I think giving your dogs lunch on your lunch break, is the best use you can have of the lunch break.

We did not get anything out of the ordinary, it was just our traditional dog food. Still, we usually get our main meal in the afternoon, not at noon, as we did today. This made the lunch hour special, thus, the food felt a little special.

Apparently, some dogs get food at the same time every day. This must be boring.

New Food

Daniel ordered new dog food last week. It was delivered to us today. It is the same food as usual, but I really like it. It is, thus, worth writing about. It contains herring, which is tasty and healthy.

Business Trip

Daniel went on a business trip to Stockholm today. He combined it with a visit to his father, who lives there.

Almost all of Daniel’s business trips go to Stockholm. My business trips have taken me many places in Sweden and abroad, it has been dog show trips. When Daniel comes home from business trips, he is tired. When I came home from mine, I was happy. Dog shows are so exciting events, boosting me with energy. I guess Daniel’s business trips are not quite as exciting, though he does not complain.

It is better when Daniel works in his ordinary office. He is closer to home. A business trip now and then is no danger, however.

Mother’s Day

Today was Mother’s Day in Sweden. I got to come withPaula and Daniel for a small celebration at Paula’s parents’ place. This suited me, as a mother of many dogs.

Polly, my dear daughter, celebrated me as well, at home. I liked this. She is very dear to me.

Vera

We had visitors here today. Vera, who is the oldest daughter of Orange, and two of her humans were here. It was a long time since the last time I saw Vera, but she was nice and friendly.

The humans sat down and talked for a long time. I am not sure what they were talking about, dialogues like this usually bores me, so I did not listen. I guess they had a nice time, sitting there for so long, though.

Vera also got to see her father Javier. They did not have much tosay to each other, however. Javier is a dog of few words.

Day Off?

Daniel had the day off and stayed home from work. I am not so sure what he means with a day off, however, since he was busy doing this and that almost without any break. He sorted and organised papers, finished some unfinished business with the kennel, cleaned, gave us food, washed clothes et cetera. Meanwhile, I could take it fairly easy. Sometimes, I am glad I am not a human, it seems like they are always busy doing things.

Birthday

It is the birthday of Daniel today. We celebrated it in part at our house, then Paula and Daniel also visited Paula’s parents and had more celebrations there.

Daniel told us he had a nice birthday, but he added that any day with us dogs is a day more happy than a birthday without dogs. I liked that he said so.

Birthday Presents

A dear friend of Paula and Daniel has a horse who turned ten years old. We collected funds and gave the horse some carrots and apples for his birthday.

Horses are nice animals. They have contributed greatly to the human-dog civilisation. I would even go so far as to say that horses are the second most important animals to humans, after dogs.

Daniel told me that his and Paula’s friend was very happy about the present. I hope the horse is, as well. I believe he is.

Mosquitos and Ticks

The worst things about summer are here. Mosquitos are flying around. Ticks are stalking us in the grass. I wish those would be endangered species. Is anybody of a different opinion?

Allram

A pup came back to us today. It is Allram, who left us earlier this spring, but whose human has turned ill. Unfortunately for Allram, it seems like his human has a bad prognosis. Allram is welcome back here, though.

Allram was happy to be back here. We are happy to see him, too, but I had to put him in place. He was polite enough and recognised my authority right away. He is a nice lad.

Loading

All of the mobile units these days need electricity for their batteries. The downside is mainly that chargers may get broken without any recognisable cause. Daniel is really mad about chargers which have just spontaneously become broken. I do not say it is so bad. I have no problem writing my blog entries, anyway.

The Lawn

Daniel mowed the lawn today. It was the first time this season, which was rather late. I guess Daniel has just himself to blame for being late. It looks good now, though.

Norway

It is the national holiday of Norway, Dad’s home country. Dad always celebrated the 17 May. I do too, but not really to the extent that Dad did.

Norway also celebrated by winning against Austria in the ongoing ice hockey World Championship today. This was a good way of celebrating. It was also important for Norway’s chances in the tournament.

Late Train

Daniel was in Stockholm today for his work. He went by train. The train home was cancelled, so he had to take a later train.

Late or cancelled trains are annoying things that happen in life. We can lose some time because of them. They are, however, not really bad. Daniel is not wounded or sick, he is just late. We miss him for a bitlonger, but he comes home. When people complain about late trains, they better think that there are a lot of worse accidents that canhappen to them.

Garbage

Once every fortnight, the garbage lorry comes by and empty our trash cans. This is a good community service.

We have two trash cans. One is for food waste, such as peels from fruit and potatoes. The other is for other garbage. We seldom have much food waste. I guess this is a good thing, it means we consume almost every piece of food we buy. There is, of course, nobody in this house who do not regularly finish her or his meals.

Daniel took the trash cans out tonight, because they will be emptied tomorrow. We do not like to have them standing by the road at other times, it does not look good. Putting them out for the garbage lorry is quite enough. I am grateful I do not have to put them out, though, because the trash can withother kinds of garbage can be heavy sometimes.

Repairing the Roof

We have builders here, who repair parts of the roof on our house. It seemslike they are doing a great job. We have kept an eye upon them, but they are just working outdoors, so everything is fine.

I would like to have a house that stood forever, until you actively tore it down. Nothing lasts forever, though. If you want to keep your house, you have to repair parts of it now and then. It is good that we have humans who make sure our house is kept in a good shape.

A Prelude to the Anniversary

On the 20th of July this summer, it is fifty years since the first manned Lunar landing. Here is an interesting article about a BBC documentary dealing with the anniversary.

Landing menon the Moon was one of the greatest feats ever of humans. This is especially true since it was done within a decade of a political decision to do so and with the relatively limited technology and computer power of the 1960’s. I am amazed they pulled it of. We should all celebrate the anniversary, I think.

Ice Hockey

The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship has started.

Sweden has played two games so far. There was a loss against Czechia, which is not nice, but Czechia is one of the great ice hockey nations and it is not embarrasing losing to them. The next game was versus Italy, a team which Sweden should beat. Sweden did, easily, 8-0. So far, Sweden is ranked last in its group, but there are more games to win. We believe there may be medals, perhaps even gold, this year again. We do hope so!

Joy

Here is a short film about a dog welcoming his human, who is back home after spending days at the hospital. Watch the film and get inspired and happy.

I can understand the dog. This is always a reason to be happy.

Extra Work

Paula has been called upon to make extra nights at work this weekend. It starts tonight. We are proud of Paula, who accepts this. It does involve extra work for us dogs as well. We have to keep watch when she prepares by sleeping.

Roaming Freely, With Dogs

It is often interesting to read about your own home country from the viewpoint of foreigners. Here is an interesting piece about ”allemansrätten”, the Swedish right to travel and visit most of the country, as long as you do not come too close to someone’s home. The article states that this right, and a high level of gender equality in Sweden, alows women to roam freely on their own. Note, however, that the woman in the pictures is not alone. She has a dog.

Speeding Pidgeon

A pidgeon flying low over a street in a German town was caught on an automatic traffic control camera. It was speeding, flying at 45 km/h where vehicles were just allowed to go in 30 km/h.

It is funny how animals can get mixed up with vehicles like this.

A driver would have had to pay a fine. The pidgeon will certainly not have to.

Botan

Daniel purchased a beer today, called Botan.

My firstborn son is called Botan, Aangenaam A Hero Comes Home. Daniel told me that as soon as he saw the tin in the store, he came to think of Botan. He said he wanted to try it out, just because it had the same name as Botan. I think this is a fine idea.

According to Daniel, the Botan beer is a double IPA with a rather sharp but nice taste. I do not drink beer, so I would not know.I am glad Daniel enjoys it, though. Botan is such a lovely boy.

Lost Idea

There are times when it is time for me to write a blog post, and I have this nagging feeling that I have had a great idea for a blog post earlier in the day, but just cannot recall what it was I thought I would write about. This affects me most of all. I also like to think, however, it affects you, my dear readers. If there were great ideas for blog posts, but these were forgotten, you lose the ideas just as I do. There may be times when I find an old idea again, and the blog post comes to be. Other times, the idea keeps eluding me. I am not sure I ever had the idea, but there is still a feeling I did have it.

I believe I lost a good idea today. I hopeit will come back to me. Otherwise, odds are I get other ideas worth writing about. Either way, I hope you stay tuned. Whatever happens with my ideas, blog posts will keep coming.

Ticks

Hello, Li’l Gertrud here!

It is the season for ticks. Paula pulled a tick off of me this afternoon. Ticks hurt. Even after they are gone, their bite hurts. It is good that we have humans who take care of ticks, when they find them on us.

Yesterday, Grand Mum Hailey wrote a blog post about the extinction of humans, that may or may not happen. I wish ticks would become extinct, this would be a help for many other animals.

After Extinction?

There was this odd article about a human exploring what Earth would be like after humans would be extinct. Do we have to care? Dogs will probably survive, unless humans would be extinct because Earth would become uninhabitable for all of us living here.

I do not think humans will be extinct anytime soon. Not dogs either. Humans are too clever and resourceful to get extinct. Give humans a few centuries more, and they will expand into outer space and bring biospheres with them. They will make Earth’s life survive Earth and the Sun, I believe. Daniel says so, anyway, and I believe him.

Sometimes, I wish I would live for centuries, just to see what will come to pass.

Birthday

Paula’s sister Mia celebrated her birthday today. Paula and Daniel were there. The rest of us sent our greetings by them.

According to Paula, Mia was very happy about the celebrations. This is good.

Pop Corn

We had pop corn tonight. Pop corn are tasty and nice.

Pop corn were invented by native Americans. They brought dry cornon their journeys, and popped them over bonfires to increase their volume.

Pop corn with salt and butter is my favourite.

New Emperor

Japan has a new Emperor.


The old Emperor Akihito abdicated yesterday in favour of his son Naruhito. Formally, Naruhito became Emperor today.


In a way, Naruhito is also the Emperor of every Shiba in the World, whatever country we live in. Our breed is from Japan. The Japanese Kennel Club decides on the breed standard. This is in accordance with the rules of the International Kennel Federation FCI, which says the kennel club of the home country of a breed decides upon the breed standard. The Japanese Kennel Club is incorporated in Japan, where Naruhito is now Emperor and Head of State.


I am born and raised in Sweden and registrered with the Swedish Kennel Club. Still, I am also Japanese, since I am a Shiba.


Long live the Emperor!

Spring Celebration

It is the last evening of April, when spring is celebrated across most of Sweden. We call it Valborgsmässoafton (Valborg’s Mass Eve), since tomorrow is the name day of Saint Valborg. On this day, large bonfires are often lit. With the dry April we have had, many bonfires have been left unlit this year. I hope it will be better next year, and that we get a lot of rain in May to compensate for the dry weather in April. Draught is no fun.

Something Might Be Broken

There is an ugly sound coming from the back of the car, when itis on the move. We are afraid something is broken, probably the suspension or something in that area. It is difficult having a car that is not working properly, especially since it usually cost a lot of money to have it fixed.

Sometimes, I wish technical stuff would just not be so complicated, so they would not be torn or broken as often as they are. A car will not heal, either, as a dog, a human, or other animal does. I am glad they work most of the time, though.

An Excellent Start

My granddaughter Gertrud and grnadson Harry started their dog show careers yesterday. Both of them won CAC’s.

This is an excellent debut in official dog show classes. I wish them both good luck on their upcoming dog shows.

Gertrud told me she had liked going to the show. Thisis just like Ihave always done myself, so I enjoyed hearing this. Perhaps Gertrud is my true successor in the show rings?

Certificates

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

I went with Paula and Daniel to a dog show today. My brother Harry and his humans were there as well.

We both competed in intermediary class, both winning the respective classes. Harry was best male and won a certificate. I was second best bitch, but I lost to a bitch who was already a champion, so I won a certificate as well.

It was a great day. Harry and I had not met for a very long time, it was nice seeing him again. The great reaults in the show ring for the both of us were also terrific. On top of this, we got good things to eat.

I can understand why granny Hailey is so fond of going to dog shows.

A Nice Japanese Movie

Daniel and I watched a Japanese movie tonight on C More. It is called Your Name. It is a love story with supernatural ingredients. Even though there are just a few images of dogs in it, it is a lovely story of human love. If you have C More and like love stories, do watch it!

Peace Gift Puppies

A dog in South Korea has given birth to puppies. This is not any South Korean dog, it is a peace gift from the President of Norh Korra to the President of South Korea. The dog was given less than two months ago and must have been bred before this.

This must be one of the finest peace gifts ever given. There are good things coming from North Korea.

I presume the pups will be registered with the South Korean kennel club.

Draught

We have had warm and sunny weather for months, no rain in sight. There have been reports about forest fires in other parts of Sweden, the kind of fires normally just heard of in the middle of the summer. Rain might come next week. I sure hope it does. I do not like to be outdoors when it is raining, but I am tired of this draught now. Nature needs rain.

Rain Over Notre Dame?

There is a risk that the fire damaged cathedral Notre Dame in Paris may be further damaged, if rain wound fall upon it. Parts of the carhedral have been covered, but sufficient cover for all of the cathedralis not yet in place.

We yearn for rain here in Örebro. We have not had a drop of rain in weeks. I wish all of the rain that the forecasts predict for Paris in the comming weeks, would fall on Örebor instead. This would preserve the old cathedral, and it would give much needed water to all the growing things in Örebro, as well as to our well.

You cannot predict the weather, but you can hope.

We Are Shibas

Hello, Orange here!

A member of my son Fuji’s family had posted a picture on Facebook of Fuji. Naturally, a lot of people commented on it, stating that he is cute. One friend of Paula and Daniel wondered, however, what breed is was. She wrote that shehad forgotten. Daniel answered that Fuji is a Shiba.

We are Shibas. I tend to forget that not everybody knows this. As I am a Shiba, and a lot of my family and friends consist of Shibas, it is easy to forget that there are so many families around the world who does not have a single Shiba in their household. I feel sorry for them, and I can understand why people forget that we are Shibas. I wish more people would remember this. Perhaps they will in the future. I have helped populate the world with Shibas.

Late Night Easter Cake

Late at night after Easter Day, we got up and Paula let us taste an Easter cake.

There is not a single type of cake called Easter cake, as far as I can tell. This cake had an Easter yellow top and was similar to a Princess cake. It was quite tasty.

There can be many reasons for getting up late at night. Having a late night snack is one of the better reasons, especially when the snack is cake. I really enjoyed this cake.

Happy Easter!

It is Easter Day. We celebrated mainly by having a nice and quiet day at home.

Easter is the holiday when Swedes eat the most candy. We have had a lot of candy this Easter, and had it today as well. Life is good.

The Day in Between

Good Friday was yesterday, Easter Dayis tomorrow. This day is Easter Eve, the dayin between the two fundamental and great days of Christian worship.

It says in the Bible that on Good Friday, Christ died for the sins of humanity. He made the ultimate sacrifice to God, so that anyone who believes in him will be saved. On Easter Day, Christ rose again from being dead, thus defeating death and promising eternal life for those who believes.

Is this salvatio. there for dogs too,or do we not need it? If sin is something essentially human, perhaps dogs do not need to be saved from sin. Will we have eternal life? Paula says she is sure we will.

Nevertheless, Easter is a nice holiday with a lot of good food and candy. I wish you all a Happy Easter!

Bread Rolls with Cheese

One of the exciting things about feeding time is that you can never be sure what your humans put in your food bowl. It is often just your ordinary dog food, but quite often as well, we get something extra in the bowls. The extra treat today was rolls of thin bread with cheese. This was quite tasty. Bread is quite all right, cheese is great. It formed a very good combination. I wish we could have these kinds of treats more often.

Winning a Series of Games

Daniel is happy tonight. His favourite Swedish ice hockey team, Djurgården, has made it to the finals and has a chance to win gold.

I am not that interested in ice hockey, but I am happy for Daniel’s sake.

It is interesting to note that although Djurgården did not score most goals through the seven games, they won most of the games. This is what counts in the end. It is the same under many circumstances, you do not win for scoring the most, you win for scoring at the right time.

Birthday

Daniel has a sister who turns another decade old today. Congratulations to her! She does not have any dogs, but she is still Daniel’s sister and when I have met her, she was a very nice person. We have sent her a birthday card by mail, I hope she liked it.

Notre Dame

The great, old Cathedral Notre Dame (Our Lady, a.k.a. the Virgin Mary, mother of God) in Paris is on fire.

The fire probably started as an accident, in conection with renovations.

This is a great tragedy. Notre Dame is a symbol of the Church, one of the greatest such symbols. It is also a symbol of Paris and, thus, of France.

I hope most of the Cathedral will be saved and that the burned parts will be rebuilt.

Home Again

Hello, Orange here!

This weekend, I have been away, but I am back home now.

It has been a good weekend. I have learned to know a new family, very nice people. They liked me as much as I liked them, as far as I can tell.

It might be, that I will move to this new family. I would like this. I love it back home, but with the new family, I would be the top ranked dog. We will have to see what happens.

Coffee Maker

We got a new coffee maker today. Paula and Daniel rarely drink coffee at home, but often serve it when they have guests here. None of us dogs drink coffee. Our coffee maker was fairly old, so Paula got a deal for a new one. I guess this is important, since it is always important to impress guests, and good coffee is, apparently, something toimpress guests by. Thus, I hope the new coffee maker will be a success.

Weekend Journey

Hello, Orange here!

I will spend this weekend with another family in our town. They are nice people, it will be an adventure.

There are times when I have been envious of the dogs who have moved from one place to another, where the other place may be our place. I was born and raised here and still live here. It will be quite interesting to see someplace else. I will let you know more when I am back.

Floors

This time of the year, the floors tend to get dirty. It is not so bad this year, since itis so dry outside, but there are dirt coming in from outside. I guess it is one advantage of the dry spring we have. Still, the floors have to be cleaned now and then.

We helped Daniel clean the floors tonight. It feels better walking on cleaner floors. Perhaps we should clean the floors even more often than we do? It is, however, a boring thing to do. You can do it often, but not too often, in order not to be too bored. The floors are clean enough most of the time.

Cold and Dry

We have had coldmornings this week. The temperatures have been well below zero. Still, there has been no frost. It is very dry. We had a little snow yesterday morning, but there has been no other precipitation for a long time. I hope our well will not run dry.

A Year of Food

My brother Jiro has won a competition. The prize was a year’s worth of dog food.

I hope Jiro remember me, his older sister from his litter, and that I might get a little piece of the prize.

Most of all, I want to congratulate Jiro for the victory. He is a great Shiba, well worth the prize. After all, he became Swedish Show Champion even before me. He deserves this victory.

New Family

Hello, Orange here!

We had visitors today, a couple of humans who wanted to be Allram’s new family. They were very nice people and had a friendly Lhasa Apso, so we decided they could be. Allram will move to them next weekend. A red male Shiba was just what they wished for.

I believe this will be great for Allram, though I will miss him. You have to let your pups get their own families and lives.

It Goes On and On

The process on Brexit, when and how Britain will leave the European Union, goes on.

Today, the debates in the House of Commons wereinterrupted by water flowing in from the ceiling. I guess not even the forces of nature think the prolonged Brexit process is anything to be happy about.

New Era

With every new Emperor in Japan, there is a new era. Each era has a name.

In May, the current Emperor Akihito will step down. His eldest son will become the new Emperor. The name of the new era will be Reiwa.

Some people in Japan believes it is unnecessary to stick to the old custom of naming eras for the Emperors. I disagree. I cannot see any reasonable reason to discontinue this tradition, thus, I cannot see any need to do so.

I wish the new Emperor and all of the dogs and humans in Japan good luck in the new era.

Joke

No, there was no meteorite that fell close to us. Nothing fell from the sky yesterday. It was just my annual April's fools joke.

Meteorite Struck an Old House

A small meteorite has struck down in the woods between our house and the house of Paula's parents. We went there and watched the crater on the morning walk today. The forces of nature are strong. We were lucky, though, everything that was struck was trees and one of the old, abandoned summer houses. Now, there is no need to tear this house down, the town can save some money.

Moving

Hello, Orange here!

My half sister Karen had a litter of pups in the summer of 2017. One of them has moved to a new family today. He lived with a family since he left here as a little pup, but they have had personal problems and have agreed with another family that the dog will move there.

It must be difficult for the humans not to be able to keep their dog. The dog will make something good about it. As dogs, we live in the here and now. Even though Karen and I are not the best of friends, I hope for the best for her son. I do think this will turn out to be good. It is better to give a dog a new home, that trying to fight on against high odds.

New Family

Hello, Orange here!

My son Fuji’s new family came by today. They were very nice people, I am certain Funi will get a great life with them.

Myother son in this litter, Allram, will live with us. I like this, it is the first time one of my pups will stay here. In this case, I know for a fact Allram will have a great life.

More Japanese

Sometimes, we Shibas discuss woth our Poodle friends whois most Japanese. While Fuji, Karen, and Gunde were born in Japan, none of the rest of us were. I have never set my paw in Japan. Our Poodle friends Laila and Momoko were both born in Japan, however. They are of a French breed, though, while we are of a Japanese breed. I believe there are arguments going both ways. This makes for nice, friendly, verbal fights. I like that.

Sleepy

Paula was so sleepy tonight, that she almost fell asleep eating dinner. I do not think this would ever happen to me, I like food too much. I have heard rumours about pups falling asleep while eating. Paula must just have been very tired.

Deep Sleep

Paula worked last night and tonight. She slept today. When Daniel came home late in the afternoon, we barked a bit, as usual. Paula did not wake up. This is very unusual.

She did wake up later, when her alarm clock went off. She toldus she had had a very deep and satisfying sleep, and was at a very good mood. I am glad for her. We all know the difference between a good sleep and a bad sleep. Hopefully, she has learned a trick and can get the same kind of sleep again, many times.

Not the Most Usual Evening Walk

This evening, I went with Daniel, as he gave Paula a ride to work. When we got home again, we went for an evening walk with Gunde and Fuji. I normally do not go on evening walks with them. It was quite nice, I could tell they enjoyed the female company that I contributed with.

Gunde and Fuji are both nice guys. Sometimes, I think I should hang out with them more than I do. It is not that I see them seldom, it just could be more often. It is like many other things you want to do more often, but just do not come around to. Life is satisfying, nevertheless, it is just that it could be even better.

Sick

Daniel came home from work feeling sick today. He said he thought he had eaten something bad.

Paula had been to the hospital for care of her hip. She really had reason to feel sick, with all the shots she had been given et cetera. Still, Daniel laid down in bed to rest.

Almost an hour later, it was time for Paula to go to work. Daniel got up and gave her a ride, as he usually does. This honours him. His hour lying in bed does not.

Later this night, Daniel felt better. This is good.

Pups Playing

April’s pups were playing in the living room for hours. They have got so much energy. I remember that I was once like this as well. It was fun, running around like this, discovering new things here and there. Nevertheless, I am more comfortable with my slower life now. I like to believe that life experience have made me wiser. I can take a little part in the playing, but this is quite enough. Life is good.

Qualifiers

The qualification round to the Euro 2020 championship in football has started. Sweden won its first game against Romania.

Norway plays in the same group as Sweden and faced Spain. Unfortunately, Dad’s home country Norway lost to Spain.

There are many games to go. Next week, Sweden and Norway will face each other. Norway is usually one of my favourites, but I will root for Sweden.

New Sheets

There are occasions when we have clean sheets. Tonight, we had something even better, we had new sheets.

It is great, having new or clean sheets in the bed. This makes us sleep better, rest better, and just hang around better.

Clean sheets is the shit – but the opposite of shit.

When Sweetness Is Not Wellcome

When you have a sandwich, you do not want sweet fruit in it. Whyisit, then, that some makers of the Swedish specialty sandwich cake (smörgåstårta) have sweet fruit in it? It is beyond me. People who design sandwich food like this should be sentenced to prison for battery or something like that.

Spring Equinox

It is spring equinox and full moon at the same time. This is the reason for the late Easter this year. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. When there is a full moon at the equinox, you have to wait until the next full moon to count down to Easter Day. Calendars are funny that way.

I am looking forward to Easter. There are many holidays and a lot of good food and candy. It is, however, not that far away.

Hair Dressing

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Paula has been a hair dresser today. She has cut the hair on our Poodle friends Laila and Momoko.

Poodles do not shed their coat, so it needs to be cut. I am glad I shed my coat. I would not want to stand on a table with the hair cutter for so long. I guess I am lucky this way. Laila and Momoko do not seem to think it is very unfair, though.

Snoring

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Someone is snoring, when the rest of us try to sleep. This is really annoying.

Even more annoying may be the probable outcome if I would wake the snoring fellow up to stop the noise. She would get angry, high volume arguments would be thrown around, and I would have to take the blame for it.

I just wish the snoring would stop.

Updated Toys

Hello, Karstuhl here!


Apparently, if you have a mobile telephone these days, many applications in it needs to be updated very often. These applications are often mostly used as toys for the humans. Updates takes time, band width, and electricity from the battery of the telephone.


I wonder if the applications are so bad, in all versions, that they need to be constantly updated. It is not like the functionality differs in a way that you can usually observe from version to version. Whatever the reason, it is quite annoying.


If you buy a dog toy, it stays the same until it is chewed to pieces, in which case you throw it away and get a completely new one. You do not have to update dog toys.

Recognition of a Champion

Daniel went to the annual meeting of the Örebro County Kennel Club today. He came home with a nice big prize for our Affenpinscher friend Morran, because she became Swedish Show Champion last year.


I think it is a nice tradition to offer this kind of recognition to all the new champion dogs in the county every year. I got one myself many years ago. Morran's prize has different colours, but the prize is still the same. Whether the new or the old style is better looking is a question of taste.


Congratulations again to your Championship title, Morran!
It was an extra spice to the prize, that this happened on Morran's birthday.

Dogs and Wolves

I am always interested in scientific studies about dogs and wolves. Here is an interesting article that shows that both dogs and wolves can cooperate with humans. Wolves cooperate a little differently, however. They tend to work more independently.

Other studies have shown that Shibas are the dogs who are most closely related to wolves. Perhaps studies like this can give a clue as to how Shibas are independent, for being dogs.

Pi Day

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The third month of the year, the fourteenth day of this month, is close to 3.14, which is an approximation of π. This means that this day is π day. The mathematical constant π is the ratio between the radius and the circumference of a perfect circle on a level surface.

In English, π is pronounced just like pie. Thus, you can celebrate π day today by eating pie. There is an extra touch to this, as pies are usually circular in shape, when seen from above.

We did not have pie today. You can celebrate π anyway. We did not, but you can. I just do not see the fun in it, if you do not have pie.

Gone for the Night

We are used to nights when Paulais not at home, because she often works at night. This is because she is an intensive care unit nurse and these nurses need to be on the job around the clock.

Tonight, Paula is not at home, but this time it is because she spends some time with her sister. She said she wanted somebody to talk to. I did not really understand that, Paula and Daniel often talk to each other. Well, I guess Paula may have wanted some new ideas and to see her talking points from a different angle. Her sister can surely help with this.

We look forward to seeing Paula tomorrow.

Ice Cream?

Last nigt, we had ice cream to eat. Tonight, all ice cream were all ready eaten. I love ice cream, so I am very disappointed when we are out of ice cream.

Of course, there are other things that are more tasty than ice creaam. Not many things, but some things. Meat,  sausages, meat balls, et cetera are tastier. Ice cream are among the best, nevertheless. I would love to eat ice cream every day.

Pups

We got to meet and get to know Orange’s latest litter of pups today. There are two boys, no girls. They are cute, as any Shiba pups, and full of life.

It was fun at times, but they also need to learn how to behave. I helped Orange to teach them some manners. I still knows what it is like rearing pups. Orange has done a good job, but since the pups are still so young, nobody could expect they would be fully behaved. They do learn and it was a nice time with them. It made the day special.

Show Training

Hello, Gerstuhl here!

Paula and I trained for dog shows today. Grand Mum Hailey says dog shows are the best events you could ever go to. Paula says I am a natural talent. It does seem like the future in dog shows may be on my side. I do not want to take anything for granted, but I want to try dog shows out. There may be a lot of dog shows for us this summer.

Perhaps a New Family

Hello, Orange here!

A human couple came here to visit us today. They were interested in becoming the new family for one of my pups. I liked them, they were nice people and both pups felt comfortable with them. They would not say now that they really wanted a pup, though, but we will hear from them in a day or two. Getting a pup is an important thing and I understand if there are a lot of things to think about and talk about, before they really make up their minds. I would entrust them with my pup.

Re-organising

Paula and Daniel believe they have had too littleorder. They wanted to get things together and re-organise them tonight. They moved things around, throwing some things away and putting other things in drawers. It ends up with fewer things just laying around on tables and shelves. I guess this is good. It does look better.

Head Injury

Our beloved Poodle friend Laila has had a small injury on the top of her skull. We do not know exactly how or why, and she has not been in pain. The trouble is that it has not healed properly. Paula took Laura to the veterinarian today and the veterinarian cleaned and stitched the wound. We are confident that Laura will be fully healed now. Even though she has not beenin pain, it is still good that the wound has been taken care of. It will be all right.

Cook Islands to change names?

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The political leaders of the Cook Islands consider renaming the islands. It is now named after James Cook, the British captain who was the first European who got there. The idea is to have a new name in the native Maori language.

A referendum in 1994 said no to a change of names. Even though many years have passed since, this result still must still be a factor against changing names. There is also no old name to revive, the people in favour of a change try to make up a new name in the native language. I think this is silly. Even though you believe the present name of your land is a foreign name, it is still better than a newly made up name.

My main reason for opposing a name change, however, is the nice name that the islands have now. A cook is someone who prepares food. Food is tasty, eating is a wonderful thing to do. Why would you want to remove a name which brings your thoughts to cooks and food? I would not want to. I just wish I would have a little say in the matter.

Noisy Pups

Hello, Karstuhl here!

Orange’s pups can be rather noisy, when they play with each other. I cannot remember any of my pups being this loud. We try to tell them to be quiet, but they do not listen to us. I wish Orange could tell the off a little better. It is disturbing, especially late at night, when we try to sleep. You have to forgive them, though, Shiba pups are so cute.

Cheeseburger

Hello, Orange here!

There are fringe benefits of having pups. This evening I got a cheeseburger. I got it all by myself. The pups had other things for dinner.

After dinner, we all went out. The pups are great at doing what they have to do outdoors. They are true Shiba pups.

Going Out

Hello, Orange here!

My pups are going out more and more often. They are good at it, they often do what needs to be done outdoors.

Accidents still happen. They are not yet six weeks old. This evening, Daniel brought us a late night snack. When we were done, but before Daniel had the time to take us out, his toes got warm and wet.

Daniel did not get angry, of course. Who could get angry with a little pup? He just took care of things. In the end, no harm was done.

Now, we can sleep tight.

Going to the Moon

Canada will join the USA in an effort to put humans on the Moon again in the 2020s. I am not sure I will live to see this. Nevertheless, I think it is a good endeavour. Civilisation needs to expand to other celestial bodies. I hope dogs will soon go there, too.

Asian Food

Paula and Daniel had some Asian food for dinner today, Gai Yang Chicken. There were some chicken left for us dogs, and it was quite tasty. I am certain Japanese food is better than this Chinese food, but it was not bad, not bad at all. Chicken is always chicken, it is difficult to imagine chicken not being tasty.