Stalking

Does your Shiba do this?

I swear, my Shibas think they are herding dogs. Maybe I should get them some sheep.

Upcomming Petapalooza

Attention pet friends and fans:
Save the date, Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 10:00am – 4:00pm at the Game Farm Park in Auburn, Washington for the Petapalooza. There will be Freestyle, Lure Coursing, Agility, contests, vendors, adoptions, and of course, my Flyball team the Seattle Flydogs will be hosting a demonstration of dogs doing Flyball. And....Beebe the Shiba Inu will be running if she can behave herself in public. Here is some more info about the Petapalooza. Please come and check it out.
In the meanwhile, please enjoy another video of the team doing a very good Flyball run with our Flying Dogs. If you look closely, you might see a little red blur with a curly tail amongst all the other traditional Flyball breeds. Oh yeah, the Jack Russell is seriously fast and seriously into tennis balls. He will dive head first into the ball bucket and tunnel into people's clothes while they are wearing them (charming) in search of hidden tennis balls in pants or coat pockets.

The Buddy System Worked in Kindergarten, How About with Shibas?

A day at Dash Point beach. A 50 ft tracking lead gives them a little freedom to run, that is as long as they don't move more than 50 ft away from each other. It works as long as both dogs are reliable with great recalls since they like to be with each other. It is not advisable if there are other dogs or people or if your dogs are not responsive to voice command.

Sort of looks like a smiley face :)

Handsome Ike and itchy Beebe in their Ruffwear harnesses

Showing off their log climbing skills

Eli (Ike's happy little brother), Ike (announcing his presence) and Beebe

Finally! A group photo of a bunch of curly tails. Pictured are Pam's Eli and Penny, along with my two.

Pasado's Safe Haven on the Kentucky Derby

Read Omi's story. Important to keep in mind if you're a betting person interested in the races. Pasado's is one of my absolute favorite rescue organizations.

Dominance and Dog Training

Here is a great article regarding the Association of Pet Dog Trainer's preference for use of positive training techniques instead of out-moded Pack Leader and dominance/alpha compulsion training. I think it's important for Shiba owners, well all dog owners but for spitz and ancient and primitve breeds especially, to use positive training methods, and never punishment based training. Learn more about Dominance vs NILIF, or Nothing in Life is Free.

Triple Crown: Remember Eight Belles?

On the day of the Kentucky Derby, let us not forget the anniversary of the death of Eight Belles, one amazing Thoroughbred filly who ran where few fillies have run before, and died for our entertainment.

I know this is a hard picture to look at. I also know it's in the nature of the horse to run and they love it, but what a price to pay. I used to be a big fan of the races and rooting for a Triple Crown winner every year (my favorite in recent history was Smarty Jones). After all, the Derby is an American tradition like no other, sort of like dog shows and apple pie. Can you imagine going to Eukanuba or Westminster however, knowing that  approximately 2 catastrophic injuries (fatalities) per 1000 starts occur? That would be unthinkable and the sport banned and people jailed, but when it eventually happens to a well known race horse, it's used to promote the next race!

I occasionally go to horse auctions to see what's coming thru. There is nothing sadder than watching the Thoroughbreds hot off the track, terrified, failures at racing juiced up on steroids, diuretics and artificial thyroid hormones. The people looking for cheap riding horses rarely pick them, so the slaughterhouses take them for meat.  Oh, it happens, not only to the washouts either. Remember the 1986 Derby Champion Ferdinand? Sad huh.

Speaking of Eight Belles reminds me of Barbaro, the Derby winner who was a contender for the Crown in 2006 but shattered only one leg unlike Eight Belles. His accident was romanticized by the fancy and he was honored as an equine legend. Too bad he too, suffered and died for a day at the Derby. Anyways, I used to get excited around this time of year. Now it just makes me sad.