The Cutest Thing Ever Is...

A pipsqueak Shiba Inu herding pipsqueak Babydoll Southdown Sheep. It's like a (very small) match made in heaven.

I had wanted at some point to get some Babydoll Sheep. They always seemed very "charming" with their faint little smiles, small size, and gentle nature. Now I can get my fill by visiting them at Ewetopia!

Shiba Inu are not what can be considered a herding breed, as in, they have not been specifically bred to specialize in that task, in contrast to Border Collies. There is no native herding dog in Japan. I like to consider this breed, however, as more of a jack of all trades dog. For me, this describes a dog that is not a specialist, but a generalist, a multipurpose dog who has many potential uses, such as pest control, hunting (baying, pointing, flushing, retrieving), companionship, watch dogging and alerting, and garbage disposal.

The term "proto-collie" seems very apt in describing the behavior I observe in my Shibas, and I have had a lot of opportunity to compare and contrast as my dogs have competed and been successful in traditional Collie/Cattle Dog/Shepherd/Sight Hound events. All the instinct is there for herding, hunting, guarding, etc, but it just has not been heavily selected for and is often buried (in some cases deeply) due to stronger selection for conformation, with more focus on selecting for an "easier" companion temperament.

So, while I can't title or compete with any of my dogs in Herding Trials, I can certainly give them the chance to explore their primitive instincts in between dog shows, and marvel at how versatile this breed truly is.

Interview For Japanese TV

Today the Shiba Inus and their people were the stars of a pilot episode featuring Japanese things in America for a new Japanese television series out of Osaka, Japan. We spent over 2 hours shooting in several locations. Now Ike, Beebe, Farrah, Grym, Penny, Pip, Eli, Maluko and Koji, with their people Sandra, Pam and myself, are super awesome Japanese TV stars! 

They basically asked us why we chose Shiba Inus (clean, small, quiet-ish, primitive, not in your face) and how we think they represent Japanese culture (they are a National Treasure, number 1 companion pet in Japan, reserved, naturally beautiful, artless grace, discussed Kan-i, Ryosei, and Soboku and learned how to pronounce them correctly!). They asked what their names were and why we chose American names over Japanese names (the dogs were born in America afterall).

The director was also interested in where we got our dogs (insert multiple shameless plugs here), if strangers approach us looking at our dogs and what do they say (are those foxes?), and if they are becoming more popular in America (mentioned puppy mills and pet stores!!!!). For some reason, they were particularly interested in our Shiba Inu bumperstickers and wanted to know what they ment and if people commented on them.

In turn, I learned about some very interesting cultural differences via their American liason. He indicated that his apartment was considered spacious by his Japanese friends, and it was basically the size of my kitchen. Holy cow, that's why they all nodded their heads in approval when I stated the Shiba Inus small size makes them a popular pet in Japan, and I believe it if their living quarters are that small. No wonder so many Japanese train their dogs to go on pee pads indoors in their crates.

Lastly, they were duely impressed by (frightened of) the Caucasian Ovcharka, but he was not so fond of them. I was suprised that several of the Japanese film crew asked if he was an Akita. Fail. They must not see too many Akita up close. Sadly, we were too busy to get many pictures of ourselves, however, we will be getting a DVD copy of the shoot to share with everyone, hooray!

Rawr!

I luvs you Koji

Koji, I win

Eli

Ike

Ike

Agility Fun with Eli

Ike, Farrah, Koji

Eli and Pam get interviewed at the park. Thanks to the asshat
who drove by us during MY interview yelling "Ha, I ruined
your interview!" I apologized on behalf of the American
people for this guys rudeness.

Random Show Photos

Ike's too sexy for his shirt. Can anyone say "Beefcake!"

FYI, for anyone who is interested, Susan Norris Jones of Sunojo Shibas is a very nice breeder and really fun to chat with. Her dogs are also beautiful.

New Ike Pictures

He is in his summer duds:

Picture Post

I iz Sleepy Puppy

Too Sleepy to Play

I iz Tired

We iz Tireds

I Take Nap Now, You Come Back Later

Beautiful Expression!



Beebe Hunting Bees



Farrah the Débutante Shiba

It finally came in the mail! Farrah's first show picture. San Jo Lillith Fair, June 12, 2011, Tacoma Kennel Club, Mr John Madieros, Winners Bitch for 5 pt Major win her first weekend out. I love this picture of her, she is just beautiful and showed well. I luvs my little baby. She is 9 months in this photo.

Farrah's Big Day (Show Win Brag!)

Farrah (San Jo Lillith Fair), made her AKC debut in Puyallup this weekend. As she is a 9 month old puppy and this is her first show, I didn't expect an outstanding performance. My goals for her were for her to have fun, pay attention to me, and mind her manners. Boy was I thrilled when Judge John Madieros awarded her Winner's Bitch on her second day for a 5pt Major! Woot! The weekly handling lessons and classes are paying off. Early socializing is such a huge deal with this breed and can help make happy, confident dogs that are enjoyable to take anywhere. Good girl Farrah.

Just starting to drop her gorgeous puppy coat

Blurry shot of her awesome reach

The Judge loved her movement and front and asked to see her
go around several times, really studying her

Head shed and false eyebrows!

She has a toosh like her mommy, Lillith

She had a great time

Tail drop on the table is ok, it comes right up as soon she is baited

 

Farrah's First Hunt

Firstly, this was such a pretty little batch of eggs I had to take a photo of them for comparison. The dark red egg is from one of the Cuckoo Marans. Cool huh?

 Now here is a little Farrah brag:

The rain has flushed some worms to the surface and the moles are going to town. The four shibas have been stalking the little mole habitrails which are now only inches below the duff layer where the worms are. They flushed one to the surface and Farrah took the honors, making this her official first hunt. She really wanted to eat it, but I wasn't sure if it had been poisoned or not, so no mole meal for her this time. She is such a little prey drivey stalker/huntress which I love. What a good girl!

Inus at the Beach

We went for a little beach walk at Dash Point, true to our Northwest roots, in the rain. Not much to add, so on to the photos. Ok I lied, I want to add that walking 4 dogs is much easier once they braid their leashes together. Now the pictures:

Flyball News and Pack Updates

Exciting news from the pack: Beebe and Farrah made the long journey north to Canada in our brand new SUV to participate in the Seattle Flydogs flyball tournament in Cloverdale, BC. Beebe was a champ. I can not complain in any way about her performance. She averaged just under 7 seconds for each run, and ran about 30 races thru the day which is a lot of hard sprinting for a small dog. It is a team sport, so although her individual performance was outstanding (only 2 incompletes), the team was not awarded as many points as there were new dogs running and with that went quite a few overall no-scores. As a team, we aim to always get a time, but some newer dogs like to skip jumps or interfere. Oh well, better luck next time :)

Not exactly speed racer, but I am going to take the tortoise and hare approach here. She is accurate and reliable, so the speed will come later. We get no points for incomplete runs or fouls, so I would rather have a slower time than no time. She is 9th in breed rankings for points, and is in third place for points in active dogs (not retired or inactive). She seems to really enjoy it, and was thrilled to work for a brand new pen light. She got a long rub down and massage when we got home, and ate like a champ too.

Farrah had a blast. I bought a new fur tug and she went to town with it while ringside. She was not bothered by the crowd or noise at all, loved all the attention and new dogs, and did some dead ball retrieves for the tug. I have really high hopes for her in this sport, and she is a real speed demon, much faster than Beebe so I hope she turns out.

The boys stayed home with Grandma while the girls were away. They are all much quieter and comradely when the girls are out.

Grym is SOOO good with our new fellow, and they are the same goofy age which is entertaining to watch. The new lad has become Grym's personal cleaner fish and just loves to wash his face for him.

They all get along really well. It makes management much easier, so I am grateful to their respective breeders for sending me some nice temperaments and great dogs in general to work with.