Pictures of my Little Loves

For whatever reason, I just don't seem to snap as many of Beebe as I do the others, so the last pic is over a year old and at our old house. That was the summer where she had grown the nicest coat of her life at that point, after being on allergy meds and shots. Every day after that, her coat has only gotten nicer. Ike and the puppies are so photogenic, I can't stop taking photos of them. Ike is just over 3 years old and dropping his coat in these pictures, Grym is 8 months, puppy is 4 months, and Beebe is 2 years.

May Be Getting Another Dog Sooner Than Planned

Grandpa is a rugged sort well into his 80's. He loves Quarter Horses, rodeo, hunting, guns, and bird dogs. He has always had these or done these things, well before I ever came along. The rules whenever I went to visit his acreage were "Don't touch the Stallion", whose well earned name was Sweet Lips, "Don't touch the guns", and "Don't let loose the dogs, they will kill the cats". He has a big pasture and has always had at least 3-4 gun or pack horses, and has always had at least 3-4 English Setters. He loves Setters. However, in his declining years, he has had to give up his great loves and the kennels and corral have stood empty for quite some time.

That is, until my aunt bought him an English Setter puppy a few months ago as a birthday gift (he is about 85 I think). Well, as expected, the dog has been spending the last 8 months out in the kennel with nothing to do. His caretaker is too frail to manage Grandpa and the dog, so the dog is back with my aunt, who has too much on her plate to deal with her. So, they called my mom and asked if we wanted her "until Grandpa is back on his feet following heart surgery" or something.

She is a 10 month spayed English Setter girl, about 50 lbs, black and white, and is reported to be very good, but busy. What Setter is NOT constantly busy and on the move? Anyways, my mom is going to meet her and feels guilty now that my aunt has mentioned "the pound", so wants me to jump in and rescue everybody else from their bad decisions and potential guilt at having to dump the dog at a pound.

Ok, so I do have space (a fenced acre), I am home a lot, my mom is retired, I do have kennels, and I do have other dogs for company. Grym also really needs a bigger dog to romp with more roughly than he is allowed to with the Shibas. Although the dog has been kenneled when with Grandpa and tethered while living with my aunt, it's not a Shiba. I don't think the window has closed with her socially since Setters are so predisposed to be social and friendly. She is reportedly very friendly with people and dogs. If it's just a basic manners issue, I don't think I can in good conscience turn her away BUT, my focus is supposed to be Shibas. How can I give my time to my current working, showing, breeding dogs when people keep wanting to dump their problem pets in my lap?

I talked a bit more with my mom. She would like to keep the dog with her. She has a very elderly incontinent pomeranian however. Her husband is near fed up with Buddy pooping and peeing everywhere inside and biting. Buddy has dementia and wanders a lot while doing this repetative "I am lost" bark. There really are no lights on upstairs and he doesn't really eat but once every 2-3 days at this point. My mom is not motivated to take him to the vet, to groom him, or to give him pain relief. I told her it would be cruel for her to bring in a big puppy and expect Wayne and I and Buddy to be happy about it, knowing the burden of care would fall on me. Personally, I think Buddy needs to be sent to Heaven since he is not being cared for in his old age, but I DO NOT feel it is my responsibility to once again, jump in and fix it for her.

Basically, I feel she needs to take care of Buddy first before dealing with a relatives dog. I'm torn, this Setter seems like a good dog, but if Mom won't do what's best for Buddy, then I am going to have to be a jerk I guess and refuse to help with this dog and Buddy, because 6 dogs is too much for me right now especially when 3 of them would have special needs.

The Total Shiba

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Shiba-Gretchen-Haskett/dp/0931866987

A must read for Shiba owners and prospective owners. Buy it. Read it. Keep it and re-read it. Lots of photos of Ike's and puppy's ancestors, and their breeder. This has been my favorite Shiba read of all time.

Toddlers at Dog Parks

Why? Why do parents bring 3 year old toddlers to large breed off leash meetups and just let them run around amidst the unknown strange dogs?

Grym and I (and my dog friendly Shibas) were at the dog park this morning with a very small friendly crowd of larger puppies and dogs, when I spotted an off lead dog wearing an e collar running up to the entrance gate sans owner. About 50 feet behind him, was a 3 year old toddler, sans parent. The child let himself and his dog into the park while the 6 or so large dogs swarmed the gate surrounding the parentless child. Another 50 feet behind the child, the parent finally appeared, in no rush.

I leashed my dogs and started leaving. Ike is terrified of children and Beebe would be more likely to nip if a child tried grabbing her (as they often try to), and Grym is just plain enormous and uncoordinated. The last thing I need is a lawsuit if my huge carefree dog plows into a toddler as he romps about, and I in no way want Ike stressed at all (my sweet sensitive little guy).

So what happens as we leave, oops, the 3 year old gets plowed over by someone else's giant breed and the parent gets angry at the dog, and says my dogs are bad because they don't like children. WTF? The dog park isn't a day care, leave the infants and toddlers at home and let the dogs enjoy their free space.

Sleepy Shiba Puppy



Let's all say it, "Ahhhhhhhhh!"



Video of Beebe's First NAFA Flyball Tournament

Happy Shiba Pictures

A New Flyball Title for Beebe the Shiba Inu and Spam

We went to our third NAFA tournament today. I got up at 0230 in the morning to pack and get the dogs ready for the day with grandma as babysitter. Beebe and I left at 0400 for the 3.5 hour journey to Abbotsford, BC, Canada, passport and vaccines info in hand, for a 0730 start time. I brought our brand new training toy, a raccoon tail braided fleece tug that she goes gaga for, almost as much as the penlight (which sadly broke during our last race). She really enjoys the sensation of real fur in her mouth. It issomething that really stimulates her prey drive, as her speed dramatically improves when this comes out. Good thing I came prepared.

 We had 6 races of 5 heats each, and for our team, that was a chance to earn 1-5 points for each heat given that we are not focusing on speed. Beebe enjoyed the outing, but it was still a very rigorous day. That's equivalent to someone running 30 sprints relay race style while jumping hurdles, all in one day. She gots lots of rest time and walks in between races. It never got above 35 degrees there all day, some snow piles still.

We came in 2nd and 3rd in our division out of 4, and Beebe earned 40 points, giving her a grand total of 104, which means she is the newest Shiba Inu Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX)! Only 396 more points until she is a Flyball Dog Champion! That will take us at least 4 tournament days if we manage to improve our times and coordination as a team, but all in all, our main focus is to have fun and we do not want to be a speed team.

She recieved many positive inquiries from other teams and some of the judges. Most people have never seen a Shiba Inu Flyball with good reason as there are only 4 dogs actively running in the sport, and my Beebe is one of them. They remarked how nice it was to see non traditional breeds enjoy the sport and do well in it. Flyball is something that can be enjoyed by nearly every breed, but it's usually Border collies, JRTs and Aussies (or their mixes) who dominate the sport. NAFA does not want to be perceived as only something those limited breeds or mixes of dogs can participate in. I think that is similar in a sense to the Standard Poodle always winning the non Sporting group; it gets pretty boring when you know what will happen.

We made a haul! In addition to getting some toys, flyball decorations, super premium food and treats from Go!, we won a rafle prize too. The bed may be big enough for puppy for a while, but I think the old Pom guy Buddy would appreciate it more. There is a chew hoof, organic shampoo, tennis balls, a travel cup, plush squeeky toys, frozen yogurt cups for dogs, and Nature's Miracle wipes. Also someone threw in some tear stain remedy, but none of them need that so I will give it to my vet Clinic.

Now everyone is tucked in for the night, happily chewing on prizes. Beebe is exhausted and had an ice cream cone at the drive thru for her efforts. Grym is in the kitchen with a new tennis ball, and Buddy is sound asleep in the other room with grandma. The Christmas tree in the living room is letting off a warming glow, and the Sheebs are one happy little family.

Ox Tails and Eggs (and Adorable Puppy Pics)

Ox tails may be my new favorite natural tooth cleaner. Turkey necks are great, but this little beefy by product is pretty darn nice too. This was from the grass fed baby beef we bought a while back. The fat is so yellow.



Grym likes raw meaty bones.



Ike likes it.



Beebe likes it. She can sit so pretty.




Puppy's first raw meaty bone. She has had raw snippets here
and there, but this was a great puppy size big snack for
her. She did regurg it as soon as she came inside however,
and Beebe ate the regurg in a nano-second. Oh well.

 

Ike likes the fresh eggs, the yolks are almost orange from
eating grass and bugs.




Beebe gets an egg also.

How I keep 5 dogs from stealing each others raw stuff.
We call this the dog trot, the covered walkway between
the house and garage. It is super easy to gate off portions
of it. Ike is in the Keyhole, or the outside puppy safety pen
where they can see, smell and hear outside things without
getting lost or injured while I do chores. It's also very easy to
bleach and clean.

  

The natural order of things. Shiba wins in post raw playtime.