Looking Out for Your Pup

Small puppy dogs are not always to be trusted. They have yet not learned what they may or may not play with and chew upon. A man in New Zealand nearly lost a winning lottery ticket this way. He had won $ 1.3 million (New Zealand dollars). The lottery ticket was lying on the sofa, but his puppy snatched the ticket and took off with it. Fortunately for the man, he got the lottery ticket back. I guess the pup can get a lot of toys and chewing bones instead with just a tiny part of the amount won.

My Daughter Meja

Meja, my dear daughter, has been hiking the mountains of northern Sweden with her family, including my brother Kiko. She posed for a nice picture when she was there. She looks great, does she not?

Puppies Behind Bars

It may sound harsh, the name Puppies Behind Bars, but it is a successful programme for rehabilitation of prisoners in high security jails in New York State in the USA. The pups are trained by the prisoners to become police dogs and the like, while the prisoners have a useful purpose during their time behind bars and learn to take responsibility and aquire skills that are asked for on the outside. I believe this is great. It is yet another example of how dogs make very valuable contributions to the human society. Programmes like this may prove useful in other countries as well.

More from the Weekend Show

As I wrote in my previous blog entry, the show this weekend was a success. It was a long way to go there, by car and by ferry. Considering the results, it was worth it.

Here are some pictures from the dog show this weekend.

In this picture, I sit in the lap of Paula, beside human and dog friends on the Åland islands.

I was granted the use of these pictures by Sofie, who showed me in the Best of Breed final. She is a good handler. I have the link to her blog in mine.

Getting Home Late

We got home late from the Finnish dog show, but with great results. I must have made a good impression on the judge, she was the one who gave me my very first CAC in 2007. Now I got a Finnish CAC, thus becoming a Finnish Show Champion, a title I can put beside my Swedish Show Champion title. Kuro chan also got a CAC, and I beat him in competition for Best of Breed.

Since it is very late, I write this past midnight, I am rather tired. I am excited and have shown the others my prizes, but still tired. I have to come back tomorrow to write more about the weekend and the show.

Show

I have, finally, gotten the opportunity to go to a dog show again. Kenny and I are in Finland now. I am so excited, I forgot to write in my blog yesterday. Paula and I have trained a little before the show, but it turned out Paula thought I did not need much training. She was impressed, she usually have to train a lot with April before each show where April participate. I say it is like "riding a bicycle" - once you have learned it, you will always remember it. The knowledge on how to act in the show ring is there, inside of me. Thus, it does not require much for me to get back into the game. All I need is a couple of nice treats.

Water on the Moon

New research has revealed that there is more water on the Moon than has previously been thought. In an average cubic metre of lunar soil, there is about one litre of water. This could be important for future missions and settlements on the Moon. I do believe humans and dogs will eventually settle the Moon, and I hope it will be sooner rather than later. The discovery of this amount of water in average soil samples may speed the process up, if only just a little.

Wait

I had to wait for a while before writing this blog entry. We installed a new version of a picture editing software, and it took some time. I never use such software, I just type away in text. Paula uses it quite often, though, when updating our web page (http://www.kennelaangenaam.com/). She makes a great job at it, too. I am not sure it made any difference that I had to wait, I did not really have any great plans on what to write in my blog today.

There is one thing I would like to tell you, though. It is about my Dad, the great male dog in my life. He must have been hurt while digging in our yard, digging is something he likes to do from time to time. Perhaps his claw was caught in a root or something, nevertheless, it was broken almost straight off. It must have hurt, because Dad limped, but true to his Shiba Inu pride, he never complained. Paula took him to the veterinarian yesterday, who took the damaged claw away. Today, Dad acts as if nothing has ever happened. He runs, climbs, and eats treats like always before. He is my hero. A small injury like that is nothing to my Dad.

Show Training

Paula and I trained showing today, since I will be shown this weekend. I stood on the kitchen table, since our show table is lent to Suri's family. Paula and I still have a great cooperation. We believe that if I do not win this weekend (and you can never be sure), it is not because we are untrained.

I could have trained for a longer time than we did. It is fun, but since I am so good at it, Paula thought I did not need more training. She put Calvin on the table instead. He did all right as well.

End of Leave

I have not been shown at a dog show since August last year. Paula and Daniel claims I have been on maternity leave, though it was many months since my pups left. Meanwhile, the rest of the dogs have got opportunity upon opportunity to enter show rings. This has been quite unfair. In these days of gender equality, one would also think my pups' father, Calvin, would take some paternity leave, but no, the leave has just been forced upon me. Is life not unfair sometimes? Well, the coming weekend, I will finally enter a show ring again. How I have missed that! Beware of me, competitors!

Successes in Denmark!

April and Kuro chan came back from the dog shows in Denmark as winners. While they did not win everything (as I did as a pup in Hässleholm in 2006), they did won a lot! Both won each a Danish champion title (DKUCH) and with this, a Nordic champion title (NORDUCH). April also became an International Champion and won the title Copenhagen winner '09 (KBHV-09). Kuro chan can't be an International champion until the end of this year because his first CACIB was won in Japan November 2008.

Next weekend, I will get to go to a dog show in Finland. Finally, I say! I hope I can get a Finnish champion title.

Human Pedigree

There is a lot of focus on canine pedigrees, and for good reason. Without belief in and research into pedigrees, I would probably not walking the earth. The pedigrees are a support of good breeding and makes for sound, nice dogs. Sometimes, humans have interesting pedigrees as well, without there being quite so much thought given to it over the generations. For instance, genetic research has shown that Scottish actress Tilda Swinton is a direct decendant of Scottish king Robert the Bruce. Well, if those would have been dogs, we already would have known, because the records would have told us.

No, Not Again!

Once again, Paula has managed to drive off to a dog show with some dogs, but leaving me behind at home. I love dog shows and being shown at them. I have to figure out a way to make sure I can come along more often. If you have got any ideas, please tell me! Now I will ponder upon this some more, therefore, my blog post today is fairly short. Stay tuned!

The Ironies of Life

Our Pharao Hound friend Primus is in mourning. His grandmother, who celebrated her twelfth birthday yesterday, suddenly passed away last night. Pharao Hounds rarely live as long as Shiba Inus, and Primus' grandmother did not die young. Still, it must be one of the ironies of life, that she passes away unexpectedly on the night immediately after day of birthday celebrations. It might have been a great end to her life, those celebrations, but they were certainly not meant to be festivities before passing away. I would not want to pass away like that.

We all mourn with Primus, of course.

New Japanese PM

As all of us Shiba Inus are of Japanese decent, we are interested in what happens in Japan. We now know that Japan has a new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama of the Democratic Party of Japan. Our hope is that this will revive the politics of Japan and make for a better country in the long run. Future will tell.

Autumn

It was rather cold this morning. Not that I care, I have a great coat, but Daniel had to locate his gloves before riding off to work on his bicycle. During the day, the sun was shining from an almost cloud free sky, so it was rather warm in the afternoon. Leaves have started to turn yellow and fall to the ground in our garden. This is my fourth autumn, since today is my fourth birthday. It was nice weather for a birthday.

Can a Dog Really Be Worth This Much?

A rich woman in China has paid the equivalent of $ 600,000 for a single dog of the breed Tibetan Mastiff. This is a rare breed, but according to breeders they typically go by prices around $ 2,000. Is a Tibetan Mastiff really worth $ 600,000. My reports come from the BBC, a news company you usually can rely upon, but I still have a feeling that this is a hoax. Who would put up this amount of money for a Tibetan Mastiff? I would not even think one of my own Shiba Inu pups would be worth that much money.

Celebrations

Paula's mother Gertrud celebrated her birthday again, today, when relatives from the south of Sweden was here. Consequently, Paula and Daniel were gone for several hours, while the four legged members of the family had to stay at home. It would not be much of a problem, except that they got home late, thus making our food late. Well, now we have eaten, and I am again in a good mood. You have to let your humans get away to have some fun on their own, once in a while, it makes them nicer to you too.

Suddenly, off to Work

We had a nice Friday night tonight. Paula and Daniel watched a movie and sat with us in the living room. Everything was calm and nice (except in the movie, which was a crime story). Then, out of the blue, Paula got to know over the telephone that she was expected to work today and was about half an hour late. She had to go immediately. Dutiful as she is, she did. We all usually know before, if Paula will work night, but none of us knew tonight. It was, apparently, all due to a missunderstanding, Paula had not received notice that they wanted her to fill in tonight. Well, she will get paid, but we miss her more tonight than her ordinary work nights, since we had thought she would be home. We hope this will not be repeated.

Japan in the Space Race

Japan participates in the international cooperation of the International Space Station (ISS), and has now launched the first space frighter of a new type. Although the freighter is meant to supply the ISS, it also proves the ability of the Japanese space industry. Japan is a member of the space faring nations in its own right, and this freighter proves that. It is what to expect of the nation that brought the Shiba Inu to the world.