Hello friends:
Did you have a nice Christmas holiday? I did, but for me it was not much different from the usual schedule. The only difference was that the entire house smelled like candles, and I was only once allowed into the living room. And when I entered, they had brought in a tree and decorated it with all kinds of things, including candles. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day the whole world burnt down, considering the joy people feel when playing with fire. And Chris is certainly included. She always has a candle burning in here.
Yesterday we went to the city where the entire Christmas market had been removed. Thank God, for walking is much more comfortable. However, I am sure Shadow would have loved strolling around and looking at all the items for sale. And I am also sure Chris and Shadow would finally have managed to have Glühwein together. Doesn’t smell like something drinkable to me, but that’s what makes the difference.
So anyway, yesterday mom, Chris and I went to the city, where we spent most of the time in a department store. And sooner or later one of them disappears in a kind of cabin. I have not found out what they are doing there, but from time to time the curtain opens and a conversation about colour, comfort or disliking starts. I have to stay outside and am not allowed to run away to look around myself, but I will try to spy one of the next days this happens.
And when we returned, mom did not come with us. She just took us to the train and put us in, and that was it. And when we had to get off, I did not need to look for the exit, but it was just in front of us. Thank you, train driver, that makes things easy.
We also walk with grandpa Ajax, but I am a little worried about Chris, so I never run too far from her. Mom is not accompanying us, so I have to make sure nothing happens to my master. He seems very pleased with me. I am not pleased with the fact that the snow has disappeared so suddenly and been replaced with mud and water all around. I think it’s cheating just to give way to water! However, this has been long section for a change, and I am, as you can expect, tired, so I will go and sleep a little, have a wonderful time, yours, Hapoo.

Hello and merry Christmas to all friends out in the wide world:
How are you keeping? Stomach aches? Fed up with your own families?
Not me, not me!
I am never fed up with Chris, though she sometimes annoys me. And Chris makes sure I don't get a stomach ache.
Last night she left me for about an hour without telling me where she went. Later I found out thatall people but one had left for the church. And when Chris returned, it was not for long. Then she went upstairs, where she had dicious smelling fish, how cruel!
And after that she did not even come downstairs, but they went into the living room where they spent all night. I later found out from phone alls Chris made, that she had gotten nice presents and had given away some things, too.
Today she stayed with me for most of the time. Have I told you that I am not too fond of getting my paws washed? So today Chris made me sit in front of the bucket she uses to clean my paws. She put pieces of food inside and put in my paws when the bucket was empty. I guess she wanted me to get used to it. And I believe tonight I was a good girl, I did not run away from the water.
The weather here is still chilly, and Chris still does not like it. Folks, do you think it is unfair that I did not get any presents but the bucket treatment? I wonder why my paws have to be bathed in winter
Have a wonderful night all and enjoy the remaining holidays, your, Hapoo.

Hello my patient friends:
I am sorry I won't be writing much today either, but when heaters don't work, even dog paws get cold and don't feel like writing much. To heat the room Chris has put a number of candles out on her table. I hate firee, but I like the warmth, strange, eh?
Lately Chris has started bathing my paws after the long rounds. How I hate getting my paws wet! She puts them in a bucket, massages and cleans and finally dries them. I always try to run away, but I am not successful, of course. However, if I have behaved well enough, I get a treat afterwards.
However, I managed to get around this treatment today, athere was no warm water for my paws. That was nice, as I am really tired after our shopping trip to the city. Christmas seems to be coming near, Chris and mom have bought their final missing presents, and I think tomorrow sister Suse and her family are invited to celebrate with us. I don#t think I will be invited, but I am sure Chris will treat me nice.
So to all those readers who celebrate it (I have learnt not everybody does), enjoy your holiday and have wonderful parties, yours, Hapoo.

The ears in comparison…

Ears are not as easy to compare as feet, for the difference is not numeric or functional, but the shape is much different. The matter is further complicated looking at dogs ears. My own ears, as you may know by now, are floppy soft ones. Look ad grandpa Ajax and you will find that his long ears are standing up. And when he listens intensely, the tips of his ears are meeting in the middle of his head. Other dogs have, which I find really strange, one standing and one floppy ear. I don’t know the use of that, but I know this phenomenon exists. And then the shapes vary too, dogs can have small or big ears, long or short ones. Their use is always the same: hearing.
I noticed that humans, too, use their ears to receive sound, just like us. But apparently humans don’t have as wide a range of hearing as us. I hear somebody passing somewhere, but Chris sits still and thinks nothing has happened. Don’t misunderstand me; human ears have different shapes as well, but not as significantly different as you may watch it on dogs. Chris covers her ears when it is cold, but she never offers me an ear cover. I might not need it so much, but Ajax with his standing ones might be happy about such an offer, especially since he lives outside all the time. Or maybe, which is more likely to be the case, humans are just softer and more sensitive about cold. In my training school I used to live in a compartment of the dog area that was not heated, even during winter. Here the heater is on every day of winter, and Chris has a lot of hot tea. She wears warmer shoes and even puts shoes on her hands, although she does not walk on them.
You see, there are strange differences between dogs and humans, however you turn the issue. I am only looking at them from my point of view. It would certainly be interesting to find out what humans think about those things. So you go and think while I get a fresh bone with a bit of meat on it, yours cheerfully, Hapoo.

Hello friends:
Have you ever given the thought a little time that feet and legs are a strange thing? I mean just look at that a dog is not higher than a uman leg! I just reach up above Chris' knee, when I am on all four of my paws. However, I have never seen Chris walk on all four of her feet. Sometimes she crawls on the floor when she is looking for something, but that is the exception.
I always walk on four, with the exception of me jumping up on somebody when I am extremely happy. Or, of course, when I look for a seat for my master.
It s only logical that my four feet are better than Chris' two. When I run too far, she never runs after me to get me, she stands and shouts her voice out of her brain instead. I do not doubt a single second that I am faster than all humans.
Another strange thing I noticed is that Chris calls her front legs hands. She uses them to hold me, pick up items and do most other things, like typing on her computer keyboard. Her real legs - as she calls them - are mainly only there for walking. And next time, if I remember, we will look at noses or ears or the general body shape. Have fun reading while I am going to get my food, yours, Hapoo.

Hello everyone:
Is it still as cold as the previous time I wrote? No, because Chris no longer uses the scarf to protect her neck. Currently she is only worried about her ears.

Here is an adventure I need to tell you about, a negative one from my point of view, but adventure anyway: This evening mom, Ajax, Chris and I went walking the longer route through the fields. Chris made sure I did not stay back. Suddenly, while I was waiting for Ajax to play with me, I discovered that he was running after something. I thought it might be fun to follow, so I did. Before I knew I found myself alone, running after the shadow of a wild animal. The bad thing was that this thing was faster than me, and eventually I had to return to Chris. She had kept on calling, and I already heard no good out of her voice. So tough I immediately lay down beside her she punished me for not coming immediately, and it was scary to hear her shouting like she has never shouted before. All the way back she made sure I obeyed 100%, and even when we were inside I had to show that I do obey. Chris then ignored me, until I came and asked for pets.
The nice thing about Chris is that she gives pets when I ask her to forgive me. She is never angry for long, and not too often, but when she is angry she has a reason, and you’d better obey!
You know what I can do? I can tell when Chris is finishing phone calls. A year ago, when she still had her other phone, putting down the phone would make a typical noise. So I learnt to associate her words with this sound, because after it she would have time to pet. Tonight she was talking to Shadow. I can tell from the way she smiles and speaks, and after this she gave me pets.
Although I don’t understand what is so bad about hunting other animals, Chris must have her reasons. I believe in her, because she is my master, treats me fairly, and most importantly, gives me food. But more important than this: I really love her. I am sad when she leaves me alone, and I wish she won’t need to do this too often.
I will go sleep now; I won’t keep Chris from writing emails any longer. Have a wonderful third of Advents or nice weekend, Yours, Hapoo.

Hi friends:
I don't feel like writing much, just wanted to tell you that I am still alive. It is so nice to lie on my mat near the heater, having the sun shine down on me. Outside it is still wonderfully cold, so I can roll in the frozen grass and cool and air my hair. However, Chris still does not like it much. Last night she walked both Ajax and myself. Because she keeps him on trhe leash she could not put her hands into gloves. When we came back, her hands were so cold that she ran back home with us. Poor poor Chris, I really pity her.
Whenever we go outside now, she puts on a scarf and even covers her ears. Rarity for Chris, never seen that before. So you can see how cold it is ere. I hope you are having better weather and wish you all the luck you deserve, yours, Hapoo.

Hi friends:
Are you living in houses that are warm? Be happy, like Chris is. She hates the cold. However, this morning mom and Chris took us for a long walk through the cold winter morning. The ground and grass were frozen, and the wind was really blowing cold. I really enjoyed it, ran around, smelled and jumped and chased grandpa Ajax. Chris did not like it so much, because she thought it was too cold. I loved rolling on the ground and running through the high grass. We must have been outside for 45 minutes or so, that was paradise!
Now Chris has put on a candle, and this morning Chris and mom had breakfast for too long in my opinion. They spent hours in the living room. When they are having breakfast in the living room, it always takes longer than the meals in the kitchen. But I wars rewarded, I won't complain. Have a wonderful weekend all you patient readers, yours, Hapoo.

Hi there:
I have had a talk with one of Chris’ friend and then asked Chris herself, but I still think Christmas is something strange. Why would hundred millions or even a billion people celebrate a child’s birth from 2000 years ago? I have come to the conclusion that it’s just for non-profit businesses to ask for donations, for supermarket chains and other business owners like this to make more money, for families to get together, and for kids to get presents outside their birthday. Chris has had a nice mother on this last aspect; there is almost half a year between her birthday and Christmas.
And what do they do for Christmas? Cut twigs off trees, bend and decorate them and then put four candles on. But no way are they going to light all of them! Just be patient and wait, one after the other! And that’s what they call another strange name – advents. And finally they cut a whole tree and drag it into their living room. Again it has to be decorated with various things, and the major difference would be the choice of electric or real candles. Chris says at her mother’s they always have real ones, which smells very nice and is warm and cosy. Probably very warm when the tree burns down! But in her 26 years of living this has never happened.
Why I am writing all that? Because yesterday we went to something they call a Christmas market. That is when the usual shopping street is turned into a noisy horror trip with extra shops standing in the middle of the street, nice smelling sweets I am not allowed to eat, and other little things Chris is fond of. She seems to have discovered that candles are nice, because she bought two. However, she also bought a telephone cable. Why that belongs to Christmas I don’t know. Maybe she puts it on the tree as well? For the moment it has replaced another one connecting her phone to the wall.
The thing with telephones is a strange story, too. I remember a time Chris would sleep on the couch in the living room, waking up in the middle of the night when Shadow called her. Back then the phone would have only two locations, either the couch table or the desk. Then came a day when everything changed, and Chris carried a new phone with a new ring tone with her, upstairs, on the balcony, in her bedroom. The time of sleeping in the living room was over, and I had to stay here on my own.
You see, people will always remain strange, no matter what you are telling me. I am just waiting for Christmas itself to smell and find out what exactly is going to happen, yours, Hapoo.

Hello everyone:
This is something I wrote on Monday, but Chris had computer and phone problems, so I am only able to post it now. I hope you are not too angry and wish you fun reading.
As promised, here are my thoughts about the past days.
In a way it was horrible, because Chris was not there. She locked me inside the apartment and did not even bother taking me with her. But I managed to open the door and went out, hoping I would find Chris. Where I searched I found nothing. Later Mom came back and looked at me in a funny way. She found a way to attach me to the outside leash, and then she went off for university again.
This went on for the next day, too, walking with Ajax, running back and stealing all his food. Then in the afternoon Mom made me jump into a car and we drove quite a while. I like cars, because people cannot run away while driving.
When we arrived I discovered that we had gone to see the sister who has this very playful and sometimes annoying male dog. It’s the one at whose hose I always have to stay in the dark and cold corridor. However, this weekend I was allowed to stay outside with the other dog most of the time, but honestly, I really missed Chris a lot.
Yesterday after the regular morning walk and sleeping during the day, as usual, mom and Lena took me walking the route to the train station. And when the train arrived I heard Chris calling my name. Lena was first to greet her, but then it was my turn, and I jumped and barked and trembled, so much I enjoyed seeing her finally. We walked home, and I could not control myself but had to jump up several times. It is so comforting to have Chris back!
And then nothing else happened. Chris spent her day as always. Only today mom and her cleaned the apartment and ran around with vacuum cleaner and water buckets. Have I told you that I hate vacuum cleaners? I will quit for now and tell you the next time what Chris has said about her job interview. All I will tell you for now is that it must have been all right. See you soon and have a wonderful week, yours, Hapoo.