Downside of Pickled Herring

Pickled herring is very salty food. Salty food makes you thirsty, so you drink a lot. When you drink a lot, all of that water, mixed with the salts, needs to get out of the body again. This needs to happen outdoors. It does not happen to everyone at once, and yesterday night, it happened after bedtime. We really made Daniel upset, forcing him to get out of bed over and over again to let us out. He does prefer this to us not being housebroken, but we understand that he was not happy. On the other side, he was the one who served us all of that tasty pickled herring, so who was he to complain, really?

Pickled Herring

We got great food this Friday afternoon. There were some jars of pickled herring in the refrigerator, that Daniel emptied in our food bowls. Herring is really tasty. It is like the Swedish equivalent to the great Japanese dish known as sushi.

Justified Answers to Chinese Aggression

Communist China has declared an "air defence zone" over parts of the South China Sea and Japanese islands in this sea. China demands that anyone who wants to fly through this zone must first file the flight plan with Chinese authorities. This is, of course, outrageous, aggressive, and unjustified behaviour by China.

Japan, South Korea, and the USA have all flown through this zone without complying to the Chinese demands. This is good. It is a justified answer to the Chinese aggression.

One has to wonder what China wishes to accomplish. They have claims to the Japanese Senkaku Islands in this unilaterally declared zone, but the islands belongs to Japan and are controlled by Japan. There are certainly natural resources in the sea. Does China want to provoke others to start a war? Does China, perhaps, even want to start a war itself?

In the case of an armed conflict between China on one side and Japan, the USA and South Korea on the other side, I am sure China could not win. I would still wish that more countries would openly defy this air defence zone, showing China that it is moot because nobody cares about it anyway. Sweden does not have any aircraft carriers to go there and defy the zone, but the United Kingdom and France have. I hope they show up. All countries with diplomatic contacts with China can express their view that they believe the zone is moot.

Pigs

Hello, Orange here!

A woman on TV just told the audience that pigs are more intelligent than dogs. I do not believe that. If this was true, then why is it that dogs eat pigs and not the other way around? No, we are on the very top of the food chain, together with humans, because our wit and intelligence have taken us there.

Sick

I felt sick in my stomach last night. It was so bad, I threw up before I got outdoors. Sometimes, the things you eat are just not good enough for you, though you think they are. I hope there will be nothing of that sort tonight.

Thankfully, Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse

A man in Sweden used a prong (also known as pinch collar, or "stackelhalsband" in Swedish) on his dog. This is a type of collar with spikes, or prongs, on the inside, directed at the dogs neck and throat. It is illegal under animal protection laws in Sweden to use prongs.

According to a judgment by the Svea Court of Appeals on 25 November 2013 (court case number B 3857-13), the man has now been sentenced to fines for this.

In his defence, he said he did not know it was illegal in Sweden to use prongs. Neither court that tried the case considered this an excuse. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. In this case, I believe this legal principle worked better than most times.

My only regret is that he did not get a more severe sentence than fines.

Veterinarians' Journals

The Administrative Court of Appeals of Jönköping has decided (judgment 18 November 2013, case number 1635-13) that it is not possible for the Board for Animal's Health and Hospital Care to demand that a veterinarian has a journal on the care that she or he gives to animals. This may seem strange, but it is what the law says. I believe a veterinarian should have journals. It is important to know the history of the health care for an animal. Good veterinarians will certainly have journals whatever the law says, but I believe the law should still say that every veterinarian should have journals. The law could and should be changed!

Police Films

We watched a police film on TV tonight. There are often things about such films to object about, though they can be entertaining. It is not just that there are few dogs in the films, police dogs or other, but there are other things as well. In this film, a lorry carrying a lot of money would be robbed. The lorry and its escort cars had a look which would have made it easy to spot them. This does not seem realistic. At the end of the film, two million Swedish crowns from the robbery ended up with the Salvation Army, which was a humoristic, divine justice. Still, would the Salvation Army just accept such a big donation, without asking themselves if this was spoils from a crime? The film did not show how the Salvation Army members reacted to the donation, but I do not think they would just have put it away on the account for donations. Oh, well, it may be easier watching a movie without these thoughts, but I just cannot help having them. I enjoy the films, nevertheless.

Puma

We got to see pictures of my granddaughter Puma today, Karstuhl's black and tan daughter. She has turned out really nice. We always expected she would, but it is nice to see pictures showing this without doubt. I am sure she, too, will eventually become a show champion.

Proof of Championship

Hello, Karstuhl here!

My Show Championship diploma has arrived from the Swedish Kennel Club. I have now written proof of my status as a Swedish Show Champion. The title has been in the public database too for some time, but the diploma feels more tangible. I am so happy to have it.

Some Mornings Are Odd

Daniel was away the night between Yesterday and today. He is usually the one taking us for the morning walk, but Paula did this today. She is equally good at it, but it is different. It feels odd, even though everything is right, in its own way. This is a strange feeling, when we have these occasional, odd mornings. It has been a good day, all in all.

Forgetful

I forgot to write anything in my blog yesterday. It is very rare that I do so, so it is all the more surprising for myself when I do. I am also greatly annoyed by it. I have asked Karstuhl and Orange why they did not remember either, they are often helpful. Both of them claimed, however, that it is my blog, hence my responsibility. I cannot deny that. I just have to be even better at remembering to update my blog. Stay tuned!

Full Moon

Hello, Orange here! We have had quite light nights lately. It is because of the full Moon. It is almost like having an extra street light, shining across the whole landscape. I like it, even though I have no reference to the Moon in my name, like Hailey and Polly have. I can understand why they say wolves howl at the full Moon. It is beautiful.

Wind

It is windy outside today. We should not complain here in Sweden, though. It is not like we have a typhoon, like they had in the Philippines recently, ruining houses and homes for a lot of dogs and humans. I hope things will soon get better there, they do get aid from around the world.

How Can He Be Satisfied?!

Sweden lost the first of two play off games against Portugal tonight. Portugal scored one goal, which was enough for them. They deserved the victory, because in the second half of the game, the Swedes stopped attacking and just backed down, defending themselves in a not very effective way. It was not sufficient that Sweden was close to scoring a goal many times in the first half, when there were no goals. a game is 90 minutes. Under these circumstances, I cannot understand how thé Swedish coach Erik Hamrén could say after the game, that he ws satisfied with the way the Swedish team played. It is OK if you lose a game, as Long as you fight to the end against a better team, but the Swedes just fought in the first half of the game.

There Are a Few Bad Humans

Most humans are good hearted individuals, good towards other animals, of their own species as well as other species such as dogs. Then there are those who are bad. Among the bad humans, I count the humans who have dogs, but when they get a child or more children, claim they have not got the time for the dog and give the dog up. How can you do this to anybody who is so faithful as a dog?

I cannot understand why giving the dog up would be the solution. If you have no time for the dog and the child, you should not get the child. If you get the child anyway, it is possible to put the child up for adoption in order to keep the dog.

Do you think it is heartless of me to suggest this? Well, I have given birth to a total of nine pups myself, eight of which have been adopted by other families. Putting these pups up for adoption was the plan all along. Why would it be harsher to put a newborn child up for adoption than a newborn pup, if this would mean you could keep the dog who has stood faithfully by your side for many years?

Back Home

Daniel was abroad yesterday and today, for a meeting in his line of duty in Copenhagen. He is back home again tonight. This is good, we all want him to be home. It also means he takes hos part in watching the property, whoch means the rest of us can relax a little. Life is at its best, when the whole family is at home together.

Dark Day

It is November and there were heavy clouds today. The Sun rises late in the morning and never comes high above the horizon. With heavy clouds, that the rays of the low Sun has a long way through, we never get real daylight. It is no fun outside. It is better to stay indoors in the warm house. It is on days like this I really enjoy not being a wild animal. I appreciate the comforts of civilisation too much to want to live in the wilderness.

No Veteran Winner

There Will be no veteran winner on the Swedish Winner Show where I will be shown in veteran class for the first time. This was a disappointment. Well, I will enjoy the show as such, anyway.

Poodle Breeders' Course

Paula is not at home this weekend. She is at a breeders' course. The odd thing is, it is a course for Poodle breeders. Poodles are dogs as well, so I am sure she learns a lot which can also be applied to our Shiba breeding. Still, I would think it was a little better, had she gone to a course for Shiba breeders. There are differences between different breeds. I have two dear and near Poodle friends, the Toy Poodle Love-chan and the Miniature Poodle Momoko, so I know about these differences. It is not that I discriminate against dogs of other breeds, but we have slightly different talents. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to hear what Paula has to tell us, once she gets home.