Some Even Smaller

Hello, Peanut here! I have grown accustomed to my little brothers Javier and Jackpot, and their size. Now I have met even smaller pups. Polly got pups about six weeks ago, and they have started to be introduced to the rest of us dogs. They are so small, I am not really allowed to play with them, but very cute. I like them already.

Disturbing the Neighbours

Hello, Karstuhl here! The other night, Daniel was vacuuming really late. This morning, he was vacuuming really early. As is the case with all vacuum cleaners, ours is noisy. I asked Daniel if he was not afraid he would disturb our neighbours. He said he was not, since we live in a detatched house quite a bit away from the nearest neighbours. I then asked, what about the gnomes who live above the ceiling. Daniel was not concerned that he would get complaints from them, though, because they pay no rent to him as owner of the house anyway. This makes sense, I believe, so I said this settled the matter.

Succession

I like it when assets are inherited within the family. It is a natural way of succession, common with dogs and wolves as well as humans. Wolves often inherit their parents' territory, the alpha bitch status being succeeded from mother to daughter. It is the same with dogs who live together. Among humans, ownership of items and land, names, the throne of kingdoms, and also the ownership of companies are inherited by the children of the previous holder. Such will certainly now be the case of the Williams formula 1 team, where team principal and founder Sir Frank Williams has named his daughter Claire Williams deputy team principal and future successor to the position as team principal. The Williams team has a great heritage, I hope it also has a great future.

Easter

It is Easter. This is one of my favourite annual holidays, because it involves eating a lot of Candy. Sure, there is the torment of Jesus, resurection, and saving of mankind, but this does not have so much to Do with dogs. God saves dogs anyway. Candy is, however, always a Good way to commemorate the saving of our humans.

Food for Pups

Hello, Karstuhl here! I still have to help my pups to finish their meals of food. This was especially tasty today, when they got minced meat. I guess this will not last for long, they already eat much better now than when they started to get food a week ago. I have to take advantage of the situation while it lasts. You may believe Shiba mothers are bad mothers, stealing food from their pups. This is far from true. Taking food from my pups will make them learn the valuable lesson that food needs to be protected and eaten fast, lest someone else take it. This is something that will serve them well throughout life.

Paula Is Home!

Paula is home. I cannot write more, have to catch up with her.

Is It True?

The latest news is that Paula will come home permanently tomorrow. We have had long discussions on whether this will turn out to be true. There has been so many bids before on when Paula will come home, that has eventually been proved false. We all hope the news about tomorrow is true, but how can we be sure yet? We will have to see tomorrow.

Concern for Japan

I am deeply concerned, when I read about the Shiba home country Japan these days.

For the eighth month in a row, Japan has a trade deficit. Japan is a country dependent on its exports, more than many other countries, so a trade deficit is worse for Japan than for many other countries.

Then there is the disturbing fact that Japan may very well be the worst developed country in which to become a mother. By this I mean human mother, dog mothers that I know of has a good life. Since Japan is not a good country in which to be a mother and also working, the result is that many Japanese women do not get children, or do get children, but stop working. In the long run, this is bad for the Japanese economy, because educated women do not use their education and because the population will shrink.

I hope things will get better for Japan.

Getting Better

Paula is getting better. Kokuhou and I got to go and see her for dinner tonight at her parents' house. It was a very nice evening. I am just disappointed that it ended so quickly. I want Paula to regain all of her health and move back home soon. It actually seems like she will be able to in just a few days. We just have to hope so. Celebrating Easter would not be the same without Paula, no matter how much Easter candy we would have.

0-0

We were very disappointed with the World Cup qualifyer result last night. Sweden is supposed to have a better national team than Ireland, but did not score a single goal. It is a poor comfort then, that Ireland did not score any goal either. Sweden needs to win these games. Our team did four goals on Germany this autumn, why was it so hard to score any goal on Ireland? The Swedes got to learn how to push and how to make the game their own. It should not be that hard to football professionals.

World Cup Qualifyer

Sweden is playing Ireland in the FIFA football World Cup qualification tonight.

Ireland has had a special place in my heart, ever since an Irish judge gave me my Best in Show Puppy victory at an international dog show. Still, it is definitely not enough tonight. I hope Team Sweden crushes the Irish team.

Cold War

Hello, Peanut here!

We have a long winter this year, or so they tell me, who have been around before. I turned one year old just a couple of days ago, so I would not know.

Daniel told me he remembered many winters when he was younger, in the 1980's, that continued well into the month of April. We are still just in March. I had heard before that there was something called "cold war" during the 1980's, but Daniel explained that this term had nothing to do with the long winters. A cold war is a period of tension between different countries, that still do not turn into a fully fledged war. Thus, we cannot say we have a cold war during this long winter, even though we feel like we are battling the cold weather every day.

Home Again!

Paula came home again this afternoon, and stayed for a bit longer, a couple of hours. It is so nice to see her and she is definitely getting better. It cannot be many days before she can move home again. We are waiting for it, patiently but eagerly.

Japanese Architect Wins Prize

The Japanese architect Toyo Ito has won a prestigious annual prize for architects, the Pritzker Architecture Prize. I do not know much about architecture, but I know Japanese people can be very good at what they do, so I am not surprised. Toyo Ito is the architect behind buildings in many countries of the world, not just in Japan.

Jealous of Linni

Today, we are all a little jealous of Auntie Linni, because she got to go with Daniel to visit Paula. They were at Paula's sister Mia's place this evening, then Paula went back to the hospital.

Paula is making progress. This is good. We wish her quick recovery, but most of all, we wish her full and lasting recovery.

Coming Home

Paula came home today, for the first time in one and a half week. She was just here for about an hour, but we did enjoy that quality time. Now she is back at the human hospital. If I am correctly informed, the veterinarians are not really sure what is wrong with her stomach, that causes her constant pain. (I know humans do not call veterinarians who concentrate in the care of humans veterinarians, but I cannot see the difference between them and other veterinarians, so I call them veterinarians anyway.) Just being able to come home for a little while is a sign of progress, and it meant a lot to all of us dogs. We love Paula dearly, but it is hard to give her all the love that she deserves, when we are not by her side. Hopefully, she will come home in just a few days.

By the way, we did not get up in the middle of the night to watch the Formula 1 qualification, but we did get up early in the morning and watched the race. It was exciting.

New Season

The new Formula 1 season is here, with the Australian Grand Prix. Qualifying was meant to be today, but heavy rain postponed it until Sunday morning, local time. This will be in the middle of the night, European time. We are not sure we will watch it at that time, though we are curious about the new cars, new drivers etc. Perhaps we will sleep through the qualifying and just see the race early tomorrow morning, Swedish time. It will be nice, anyway.

Four Weeks

Hello, Karstuhl here! My pups turned four weeks old today. They celebrated with their first taste of real food, in their case minced meat. They did not eat it all, so I had to step in and finish it. It will not be like this forever, they will soon be true to their Shiba heritage and eat all the minced meat they can get. I enjoy what they leave behind until then.

Pi Day

Today is the unofficial, international Pi day. It is called the Pi day to celebrate the irrational constant that   starts with 3.14 and denotes the relationship between a radius and a circumference of a circle in a level plane. Today is day 14 of the third month of the year, which is suitable for a day celebrating the approximate value 3.14. I do not think I really understand the value of this mathematical constant, not even all adult humans do, but as long as you have something to celebrate, I am happy. Celebrations are always great.

A New Pope, Does He Love Dogs?

The biggest church of the world, the Roman Catholic church with over a billion members, have gotten a new Head today. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been elected new Pope. He will take the name Francis I as pope.

This is the first pope ever from the Americas, and he is the first person who is a member of the Jesuit Order to become pope.

We have to see what changes may happen in the teachings of the Roman Catholic church because of the new pope. This church is known for being very conservative, so the question might be if there will be any "modernisation" of the teachings.

For my part, I am happy if Francis I is a friend of dogs. It might be that he is a person who loves animals, if you can make out anything from his name as pope. The most known Francis of Catholic history is St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of all animals, who was a great friend of animals. It remains to be seen if this is so.