I can… which explains a lot about why I have been working for the same firm for five years. When I was younger, my average tenure at a job was about 18 months. That is roughly how long it takes for me to learn, master, and become bored with a job. The first place I stayed awhile was my job before this one and that was only because I was promoted through four positions in three departments AND we went through a huge merger, all of which kept my job new and interesting for six years.

My current employer is the only place I have worked for multiple years in essentially the same position. The company has grown, so my responsibilities have also - quite a lot really. That does make a big difference - I am all about learning and growing on the job - but I doubt it would be enough to keep me there all this time if my boss weren’t an all around good guy to work for.

Why do I say he’s a good boss? Well, other than being generally personable and human, he recently approved my request to take several hours off once a week to visit classrooms with Snickers as part of a humane education program. He knows I will always work the hours and do the work that needs to be done, but it is inconvenient for the firm’s only tech support to be away during business hours, so it is a sacrifice. I’m very grateful that he’s willing to support my desire to do this!

Work/life balance is important and, even though I work for a small firm that doesn’t have any official policies on flex time or community service, my boss supports those things. That carries a lot of weight when I compare my current compensation to other positions.

PS Snickers and I actually visited classrooms for the first time this morning. More on that later.

I learned what could have been a devastatingly difficult lesson this morning. Snick’s leash broke while we were out for our morning walk. He was running at the time (he does this weird “run away from it” thing after he poops) and the end hardware attached to his collar just POPPED out of the hardware piece sewn into the leash. You know the part where it swivels? Just popped right out! I guess the metal must have worn over time.

There are few things quite as frightening as seeing your heart dog running away from you on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk during the morning rush hour!

Luckily, I’ve done some training in case the leash ever broke or I dropped it. I keep him close to me and then suddenly release all but the end handle of the leash so it feels suddenly loose. Then I drop to the ground, call him, and give him big rewards for returning. I think that’s what brought him back to me this morning because shortly after it popped, he put the brakes on and turned back towards me, instead of continuing to run. He stopped to say hello to two pedestrians, who - even though I asked nicely and quite desperately for them to grab him - just looked at me, looked at him, and kept walking. Then I started calling him and he trotted back to me and started playing the “dancing just out of reach” game. I chose my moment carefully and managed to lunge for him and grab his collar. At most, he got about 50 feet from me and he never left the sidewalk, but I think my heartbeat and breathing completely stopped from the time the leash broke until the time I had my hands on him again. When I caught him, I just sat down on the sidewalk until I had recovered enough to stand up again.

I learned two things:

1. Check equipment regularly for wear and tear!!!
2. Training him would work better if I had learned too. He did the right thing (turned and came back), but I DID NOT. I did not drop to the ground and cheerfully call him with “Snickers, Come,” and then give him a handful of treats. I totally panicked and froze and didn’t even reward him after I caught him! I need to train MYSELF better.

Rescue, that is.

As you all know, I’m just a bit involved in NYC Shiba Rescue. You may or may not know that my sister, Debbie, had the rescue bug long before I did. She fosters and transports for Above and Beyond English Setter Rescue and she is also a moderator for the online transport community, Drive for Life. If it weren’t for Debbie, I never would have survived my first foray into rescue - saving Kaos from Miami Dade Animal Services and bringing her home to the northeast.

Even Miss ~T~ (jaqi now for those of you not in the know) has done her part in the past by donating a few drawings to raise money for Animal Haven Shelter.

Well, this weekend, T went on her first rescue transport. In Florida. Who was driving? None other than her father, my ex-hubby. They picked up three Shibas from a surrendering owner and drove them over 150 miles north to meet the next driver in the transport.

Rescue. It’s a family affair. Let’s spread it around.

We have a new little foster dog, Penny. She makes the fourth confused Shiba girl that has moved in to Snick’s territory. (Counting? Secret, Shayna, Lola - who didn’t stay long - and now Penny.) I’ll write more about Penny in a day or two… the point is that watching Penny and Snick made me realize what a great host and teacher Snickers has become.

To add to that feeling of pride, when I opened the mailbox today, mine and Snick’s Delta Society Pet Partner IDs were in there! We are registered Pet Partners now. I’m excited because that means Snickers can go into the public schools. We’re one step closer to my goal of being involved in humane education.

Good boy Snickers.

One of my readers pointed me towards a new blog a couple weeks ago and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. The most recent post is excellent and must be shared.

Please go enjoy The Dog Whisperer Might Be Right This Time at I Am Shiba.

Late Sunday night - after midnight - has always been one of my favorite times to walk Snickers. Other than Christmas Day or in the middle of a blizzard, this is the quietest time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. Last night, Snick and I were enjoying a quiet minute on “rat plaza” (don’t ask) and I suddenly realized that I hardly ever see any pigeons when we’re out walking at that hour. They’re usually EVERYWHERE. So, where do they go at night?

(And, if they’re all congregated somewhere at night, wouldn’t that be a great time/place to, um, exterminate a bunch of them?)

Snick and I Got to Meet Janet Yesterday

Janet is in NYC for the weekend and stopped by our Shiba Meetup yesterday for her Shiba fix. I didn’t know she was coming, so when she introduced herself I was like "oh, hi" and then "wait! oh, hi!" I’ve known Janet online for a few years now, so it was cool to meet her in person.

Even My Dog is a Fire Sign

I’ve always thought it was interesting that almost all the significant people in my life are fire signs (as am I). My parents and my daughter are all Sagittarius. All three of the men I’ve been "serious" about in my life are Aries. I’m a Leo. I just happened to realize that Snickers is a Sagittarius too! That’s a little weird, eh?

And not just on the humans who do it.

When I speak with one of my partners in NYCSR in particular, the topic of our own dogs comes up a lot. We both have male Shibas that are at the centers of our canine universes. Or, at least, they WERE until we started NYCSR. These days, the rescue seems to be center of everything except the time I spend to earn a paycheck. It has taken over my social time, my SLEEP time, and, yes, my time with Snickers. I notice myself taking shorter and shorter walks with him, working longer hours at the office and at home, and sleeping later in the mornings when I should be walking him.

Yesterday another rescue person that I know was listing all the poor dogs that had been through her rescue in the last few weeks and then said

In all this, my Min Pin was neglected by me - not meaning to - and he died this Friday past… the 14th. Sometimes in rescue you neglect your babies without meaning to. I will never forgive myself… I never will…

Now, he didn’t die of neglect or abuse of course. Today she said

I am still crying and totally heartbroken. He was old, fragile, and very sweet. Had I not been so crazy busy I would have secluded him and given more gentle touch and love….

Now he’s gone and she’s full of sadness and regrets.

This morning I woke up late - again - showered, dressed and RUSHED Snickers through a quick walk. This one was even faster than usual because it was raining outside. When we got home, Snickers was very excited and I realized it was because we normally play in the apartment after our walk if it is raining. I was almost late for work already though and Snick had peed… I had to go. I change clothes, threw on my coat and gave Snick his "bye bye" treats. He was watching me the whole time, like "what are you doing?" As soon as I headed for the door, he started to whimper. When the door closed behind me, he started to howl. It only took a second for me to realize that I had disappointed him and that I’ve been doing that much too often lately.

Well, no more. The rescue can have my sleep time and it can have my social time, but it can not have my Snickers time any more!

My sister lost her heart dog, Chase, last night. He was a good boy and will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him, but most of all by my sister. We’ve both had a lot of pets through the years, but Chase was the dog for my sister and even though she knew his time was short, she wasn’t ready for him to leave just yet.

He and Miss T were pups together. (Well, he was a puppy - she was a baby - but you know what I mean.)

April 1994

December 2006

Why did I not choose an easier breed to fall in love with and start a rescue for?? It’s bad enough that a majority of dogs (mixed and purebreds) that come into shelters and rescue are under-socialized and under-trained, but combine that with the Shiba Inu tendency to be dog aggressive (a lot) if they aren’t super socialized as puppies and… OY! SHIBAS!

Our need to play musical foster dogs never seems to end… it seems like someone is always trying to give us another otherwise-perfect-but-very-dog-aggressive Shiba. <sigh>

cross-posted from NYCSR’s blog

OK, first off, I have to say that the sound of two Shibas merrily destroying roasted lamb bones is almost as soothing as a stable full of horses chomping on their feed.

Today is Shay’s birthday. She’s THREE today. My special birthday present to her is… a brand new, wonderful, forever home! The main reason we’ve had Shayna as long as we have is because I took her off the available list over the holidays while I contemplated adopting her myself. It was a TOUGH decision because Snick and I are very attached to her and she’s clearly attached to us too. I finally decided that I’m too busy at this point in my life to give two dogs all the attention and training they need though. Shayna is sooooo affectionate, too; she needs a lot of loving from her humans, so I decided to find her a home where she would be LAVISHED with all the affection she could possibly ask for.

We’ve received a lot of applications for Shayna and one really jumped out at me a few weeks ago. After getting through the approval process, they came over this past weekend and spent several hours getting to know her. She was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and kept checking in with me, but she was definitely warming up to them by the time they left. I love that they understand it will take time for her to adjust to a new home and they’ve been asking me all the right questions about how to help her with the transition.

So, this Sunday I will be driving her to her forever family in NJ.

Happy Third Birthday Shayna. Snick and I will love you forever.

A quick, to-the-point, article about the pet industry and the animals who suffer because of it.

We’ve talked about responsible breeding of companion animals on this blog a couple times in the past (see here and here for two good examples).

Today I managed to let myself get sucked into a "conversation" on the same topic with none other than a PETA employee. I started off thinking that my "we have different opinions on some things but similar on others" approach was pretty undeniable, but I ended up remembering that people with extreme opinions and closed minds don’t listen to the other side. She was basically echoing the PETA position posted here, without listening to anything else.

Along the way, she deleted a couple people’s comments without letting them state their opinions. I figured I’d give them a place to publish what they wanted to say and I’d also ask… what do you think?

NYC Shiba Rescue, Inc. (NYCSR) is participating in Super Pet Expo this coming weekend. We will be there to help educate the public regarding purebred rescue in general and Shiba Inu rescue in particular. Education is an important part of our mission, so this event is a key step for us. In addition to educating consumers about breed rescue, we hope to also recruit new foster homes and raise funds for NYCSR!!!

If you will be - or can be - anywhere near Edison this weekend (Friday 4pm to 9pm, Saturday 10am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm), please stop by to say hello.

Super Pet Expo takes place in the NJ Convention & Exposition Center in Edison, NJ, and 20,000 people are expected to visit during the three day event. Visitors will be able to peruse 200+ exhibitors and will be inspired and educated by wildlife and pet presentations including:
- Ultimate Air Dogs. Led by former Major League Baseball player Milt Wilcox and his dog Sparky. Dogs run at speeds in excess of 25 miles per hour leaping into a 30,000-gallon swimming pool. Prizes are awarded for distance and height.
- Faith, The Biped Dog. Disabled since birth, Faith is a ‘You Tube’ favorite because of her amazing ability to walk on two legs.
- Pony rides, alpacas and more!

Visit superpetexpo.com for directions and for all show details including a list of all entertainers and demonstrations.

Snickers and I will be there the whooooole time (egads!) and we hope to see lots and lots of you there too!

Well… I’ve decided not to keep her. As much as Snick and I love her, I can’t handle - or afford - another full time dog. Shayna isn’t getting the leash training or the attention that she needs. I realized my primary reason for wanting to keep her was to keep Snickers company and that just isn’t enough of a reason. If there was another human in the house to give Shayna the kind of loving she wants, I would find a way to make the money piece work, but there isn’t. When I have more time for another dog, then Snick and I will adopt a friend for him, but not right now. In the meantime, we will find Shayna an awesome home and we’ll foster every now and then (with sanity breaks for me in between).

Recall is tough with any dog - some breeds more than others - and, well, I think the Northern/Spitz-type breeds probably take the cake on this one. Ask most owners of a Shiba Inu what happens when they call their dog and they’ll tell you they get one of two looks from the little darling… either “F you. Try and catch me!” or “Why? What’s in it for me???”

This topic has come up 3 times in the past week. Once on a Shiba mailing list, once on the meetup message boards, and just now by email from a new reader of this blog. Since it is such a hot topic, I decided to post here about it also. Snicks recall is fairly good - exceptional for a Shiba really. Here are a few things that helped get it that way.

• I have a life or death recall (”Snickers, COME!) and a common recall (”Come here Snick”). He knows the common recall is optional but the other is definitely not. This keeps me from “wearing out” his recall.
• He always, always gets yummy treats and happy praise when he responds to “Snickers, COME!” and I practice at random times so it isn’t just pattern trained.
• You should never give them the opportunity to fail when you train recall. Although I despise Flexi leads in the city, I started teaching him on a Flexi. I would let him get way ahead and then call him. If he didn’t turn back immediately, I would reel him in and then treat and praise. Be cautious in expanding their range. When I started doing it off leash, I started from about 3 feet away! First we did it at home and then at the dog run, but only when it was empty. I expanded the distance very gradually and waited until I was VERY confident before trying it with distractions. Add the distractions in slowly and always give big rewards.
• Don’t get in the habit of always using the life or death recall to make him leave fun things (like the dog run). Often, I will call Snick, treat and praise him, and let him go back to what he was doing. I want him to always feel like the reward for coming is greater than the potential for loss of freedom.
• Never, ever, EVER call them to you to punish or admonish them (even if they didn’t come the first time you called and you’re mad). If you need to correct your dog, go to him. The last thing you want is to teach your dog that he’s going to get in trouble when he responds to you!

Get ‘em while they’re hot! This is our first venture into fund raising. Please help us NOT crash and burn. (Click the preview below to visit the NYCSR Shop and buy yours today.)

OK, so I have a dilemma now. I’ve been through the pre-adoption process with two different adopters for Shayna so far and they’ve both fallen apart at the last minute. The first had a family emergency and the second found out they are about to be uprooted by the military.

Should Snick and I adopt Shayna?

• Yes, definitely. (82%)
• Maybe? (10%)
• No, you’ll regret it. (8%)

Total Votes: 71

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Of course, Snick and I have become more attached to Shay every day and vice versa. Most of you remember how upset Snick was after ~T~ and Secret moved out? Well, he’s loving having a buddy around every day again! A few mornings ago I was watching the two of them tear around the dog run so fast that both their tails were sticking out behind them and laughing at how much they enjoy each other. I started thinking maybe I should adopt her!

A couple nights ago, I took Shay to my friend lulu’s for a test run sleepover because it looks like I’ll still have her when Snick and I are supposed to be in Indianapolis for Christmas. lulu signed up as a temporary foster and said she’d keep Shay while I’m gone, so we were testing to see how lulu’s dog feels about that. lulu emailed me the next morning and said

She sat in front of the door for about an hour after you left. Then she curled up on the couch and went to sleep. she misses you and you can tell she doesn’t know why you left her here.

and then in reply to my reply a little while later

She wouldn’t sleep with me. I put her in the bed, but she got out. She slept on the couch. At the dog run, she sat at the fence and looked for you guys. I think it would be good if you adopted her. She’s very attached.

I keep bouncing the pros and cons around in my head and I just can’t figure out what the best decision would be. Please help me decide!

I think, if it were just about me and my own convenience, I wouldn’t do it. However, when I think of both Snickers and Shayna, I want to do it. Snick is very happy with a pal and Shay is obviously very happy living with us! Someone emailed me yesterday and said "Shayna was unhappy where she was and now she is happy and content. I would say go for it!!!" That makes sense. Yesterday I was leaning towards doing it. Today I am leaning towards not doing it. What do you guys think? At the very least, please vote. I’d love to see your comments or email on the subject also!

I have to show you these photos of Snick and Shay. They love each other!

Besides, you can’t go wrong with cute doggy pictures when you have nothing to blog about.

A friend of mine just sent me this photo, taken before Miss ~T~ and Secret went to live with T’s Dad.

I was crating Shayna at night and whenever I wasn’t home until she and Snick got to know each other better (and stopped fighting). Friday night, I let her sleep outside the crate for the first time. After I went to bed, Snick joined me as usual and a few minutes later Shayna hopped up on the bed too. I thought Snick might chase her off, but he didn’t. She’s done well… she stays on the opposite side of the bed from Snick and he doesn’t seem to mind. I had to go out a couple times without them today so I left them alone in the apartment with her out of her crate and that went well too. So, tomorrow, I’ll leave her out all day when I go to work. I think they’re fine. I took her bed out of her crate and put it by Snick’s (because she was stealing his bed when she wasn’t crated), so now they’re happily curled up side-by-side in their beds!

Snickers and I have our first NYCSR foster dog! Shayna was surrendered by her owner because she didn’t like sharing her home with puppies. (Her owner had other dogs that had puppies recently.) Shayna was apparently very unhappy and needed a place to live where she felt more comfortable. She’s definitely comfortable living with me!

And, as my friend Judith said when she met her yesterday… “She’s certainly Shayna!” (Shayna means beautiful in Yiddish and she is, indeed, quite beautiful.)

So… I’ve had a couple people email and IM me asking about Secret in the past few days and it made me realize just how little I blog lately. An aside to Janet in NC, owned by Teddy: I didn’t respond to your IMs because I was offline and didn’t receive them until several hours after you left them.

The Divine Miss ~T~ has gone to live with her father for a year and she took little Seeky with her. They spent the summer with my folks, as usual, and then went “home” to T’s dad’s place instead of coming home. It’s been a weird transition, since the longest T & I had ever been apart before this was a little over 4 weeks. The worst part of the transition was for poor Snick though. He MOURNED. He’s used to T going away for the summer, but this time all her stuff and her furniture went with her. He mourned her and Seeky for a few weeks. He kept looking for them and crying. It was really awful, but he finally adjusted to our new routine. T came home to visit, sans Secret, for Labor Day weekend and he was SO happy to see her.

So, anyway, that’s the reason I haven’t written about Secret for awhile. The good news is, that my concerns about her adjusting to being an only dog were unfounded. She seems to have really taken to it and a playful side of her personality has emerged. She’s also apparently taken QUITE a liking to T’s father.

And now you know… the rest of the story.

Snickers and I pupsat a couple of our buddies - Benno & Lily - this weekend. Snickers and Lily are in LUV. I got a couple quick videos of them playing together tonight.

Having the three of them in the apartment all weekend has been great, although walking them all together is often challenging! There’s a very primitive feel to having 3 Shiba wandering around the place, even in midtown Manhattan!

I have joked for a long time that Snickers is the Shiba Ambassador to NYC because so many people stop me on the street to find out what kind of dog he is. I have talked to people from all over the world about Shiba Inus.

Snick took his ambassadorial duties to the next level a couple weeks ago by deigning to be fawned over by hundreds of people at the AKC’s Responsible Dog Ownership Day in Madison Square Park. He was an incredibly good and patient boy and I couldn’t have been more proud of him. I’m so lucky to be owned by such a great dog.

 

To read more about what a successful event this was, please visit NYC Shiba Rescue’s blog.

Kaos has a new life and a new name. Colleen felt that Kaos didn’t really fit her loving nature and I agree that Kayla is a much sweeter and more feminine name! She is doing really well with Rick and Colleen. They are socializing her and exposing her to new situations slowly and she is living the good life on the Jersey shore. I’m still trying to adjust to the idea that she’s finally got someone else to take care of her, but it’s a lot easier when I see pictures like this!

PS Click to embiggen!!!

It takes forever to get a Petfinder account (when you’re as busy as I am).

If the window below doesn’t show a list of dogs, hit the “go” button and they’ll show up. No idea why it’s doing that…

I have to tell you all that Kaos has moved AGAIN. Erin love, love, LOVES her, but there was a bit of a problem when one of her friends came over with their seven year old daughter. Kaos was a total sweetheart until the little girl reached for her mom’s hand and then - for some unknown reason - Kaos lunged at the little girl’s leg. Erin’s reflexes were fast and she pulled Kaos back, but it shook everyone up. Erin has a young niece and nephew that visit frequently and everyone agreed it was just too risky for Kaos to be around them right now.

A wonderful couple named Rick and Colleen have adopted Kaos. They live not far from Erin. Colleen visited Kaos and fell in love with her. She took her to meet Rick and he loves her too! A home visit by a friend of mine in rescue in that area resulted in a glowing recommendation. They have a HUGE backyard for Kaos to play in. They have experience with large dogs. They are committed to working with Kaos on her impulse control and then desensitizing her very carefully to small children. It seems to be the perfect situation for Kaos. Erin was really sad to let her go, but also happy that a great home had been found. Maybe it was fate the Erin met Kaos and took her home, because otherwise Rick and Colleen never would have met her!

Here’s the first picture from Rick and Colleen and they’ve promised to send more. Look at that yard!

Pictures of Kaos in her new HOME. They speak for themselves…
(ps… click to embiggen)

I also want to say thank you to Erin’s friends and family for commenting on the Celebration Time post so we can all see what a great new family Kaos has.

OK, so I was trying to wait until she’d been home or a day or two, but my sister won’t let me. She tried to scoop MY GOOD NEWS today by posting it on her blog first! Therefore, she’s forced my hand and I must make the public announcement NOW…

Exactly six months after Benedict’s disappearance,

KAOS HAS BEEN ADOPTED!

Yup! You read that right. Our girl has a home to call her own. Big thanks to Wag On Inn for courtesy listing Kaos for us on their website. A very, very nice NJ’ite named Erin ran across that listing, read all about Kaos and got in touch. She went to visit Kaos at the boarding kennel this past weekend and fell in love with our sweet girl. All the formalities have been taken care of as of this afternoon and Erin will be taking Kaos home soon - maybe tomorrow!. And yes, she PROMISES me that we will be receiving photos and updates.

YAY FOR KAOS. YAY FOR ERIN. And thanks again to everyone that helped get Kaos here from Miami Dade Animal Control, Ami for taking care of her for 2 months (even though that didn’t work out quite the way we’d hoped), to my sister for setting up the deal with the boarding kennel and paying for it, to Wag On Inn for the listing, and to everyone that made donations along the way to help defray the costs. I love you guys.

The I’s are not dotted and the T’s are not crossed.

but

it’s about Kaos…

sshhhhhhh

So… Kaos has been living in a boarding kennel for months now. My sister has graciously been paying for it, but at $13.50 per day, there is just no way to keep it up. We’ve talked to a few rescues about taking her and haven’t had any luck. We’ve had ONE inquiry from her petfinder page but that didn’t pan out either. Why doesn’t anyone want to adopt this sweet dog? And what the heck do I do with her now???

I’m telling you, Shibas know how to party and it involves a lot of running and a lot of eating. Canine Cocktail Pawty #2 had both and was therefore a big hit. The running is a given when you put a bunch of doggies together in the huge event space at Animal Haven and the doggie eats were DIVINE (according to the masses of dogs surrounding the table anyway) and were provided - as was this photo - by Culinary Crossing.

Stay tuned. Pawty #3 is already in the works for the fall!

Follow the link for The Misanthropic Shiba, back when it was still funny as hell.

One of my meetup members posted some new photos today from our last meetup and this was in them. Ahhhh…. that’s my beautiful boy.

Our Shiba meetup group was founded on June 15, 2006. Our first meetup was scheduled for June 24, 2006, but was rained out and took place on July 1, 2006. We had a really nice turnout for a group that had only been around for two weeks… 14 people! The group got off to a great start and it has continued to grow and evolve.

We have 185 members and we’ve had 21 meetups so far, including a full blown, catered cocktail pawty and a couple of Shiba-only training workshops. In late March, we spawned a rescue group that has adopted out 3 Shibas already and has eight more in foster care at the moment.

We had our first anniversary meetup this past Saturday and a couple of our members got together and made a video. I was just watching it and noticed one of our rescue dogs (was Blueberry, now renamed Kodi) trotting along and smiling and having a good time at his first meetup after joining his new family. It made me SO HAPPY that I needed to post the video and brag about the group a little.

The NYC Shiba Inus present “The Canine Cocktail Pawty” to benefit Animal Haven SoHo. The first Canine Cocktail Pawty was such a hit, that these mischevious dogs have decided to do it again. We’ll be getting together for drinks, hors d’ouvres, off-leash play time, and a raffle.

What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
Who: All the coolest dogs in town
When: 6pm, Sunday, July 22, 2007
Where: Animal Haven SoHo Adoption Center

Everyone is invited, regardless of breed or species! Well-behaved dogs attend free. Well-behaved humans pay $40 each. For details and to buy tickets online, visit caninecocktailpawty.com

This was Keiko. She was meant to be NYC Shiba Rescue’s ninth foster dog.

One week ago, I received an email… a real estate appraiser upstate had been to appraise a home and while she was there she saw a dog hiding under the house. Keiko was a four year old, female, red "wooly" Shiba. The owner of the home was being put into an assisted living facility by her daughter. The daughter was buying the home and Keiko was slated to be put to sleep. When the appraiser drove around to the back on her way out, Keiko came out to say hello.

 

Believe it or not, even though this was almost 200 miles away, NYCSR has a shelter contact nearby AND we were about to receive a dog from them. Said wonderful shelter contact agreed to evaluate Keiko for us. We contacted the daughter who agreed to let us help find Keiko a home and she put us in touch with her mother, Keiko’s owner. The evaluation took place last weekend and her owner asked us to “please find her a good home with a big yard.” Keiko was a sweet dog, although a little leery of the evaluator’s dog. The only problem we foresaw was that Keiko had never been leash trained. We were determined to take care of her though and a transport for both dogs was scheduled for tonight. We were making plans to take turns teaching Keiko to walk nice on a leash and then find her a great new home.

NYCSR’s Intake Director contacted Keiko’s owner yesterday morning to confirm the details, only to find out that her daughter had taken Keiko to be put to sleep the day before.

They said they would rather she be dead than not know if she was in a good home. How anyone could be so self-centered and have so little regard for the life of another being, I just don’t understand.

I’m so sorry Keiko. Rest in peace.

If anyone out there is willing and able to foster dogs in the NYC metropolitan area, please contact me. NYC Shiba Rescue is getting dogs faster than we are getting fosters. We have four dogs in foster care right now and two more on the way in the next couple days. Especially needed right now - foster homes with no dogs or only a female dog currently in the home. Long term (indefinite), short term, with dogs, without dogs, whatever… if you can help, please contact me. If you live elsewhere, but know someone that might be able to help, please drop them an email and send them to this post to get in touch with me. THANKS!!!

Thanks to those of you that have donated to help keep Kaos safely boarded while we search for a new home for her. Boarding is costing $13.50 per day. Clicking the button below will allow you to pay for as many days as you are willing and able to donate.

You can pay by paypal or - if you prefer - by credit card!

(Amount is $13.75 to cover the paypal transaction fees.)

NYC Shiba Rescue has three new dogs in foster care as of this weekend and at least one, maybe two, more coming this week. I wish I could buy a farm and start a Shiba Sanctuary.

I went to the WORST MEETUP EVER today. Short summary:

• The Washington Square Park dog run was wet (hadn’t drained properly and dried from yesterday’s rain) and smelly.
• Only 7 Shibas showed up. I’ve never had less than 20 for a dog run meetup before! I know it was SUPPOSED to rain, but it was actually a beautiful day for a meetup. I don’t know where everyone was today.
• Some dumb@$$ (not a Shiba person) let one of our dogs out the gate (why don’t people understand about double gates???) and we spent over an hour searching the neighborhood for him. He was finally found, but it was so frightening and emotional.

Snickers got out of the dog run at 39th/10th once when he was 7 or 8 months old (I was the dumb@$$ that day) and it was a HORRIBLE experience. I had him in my sight the whole time though and he only went a few blocks before someone grabbed him. Today when Cody was missing, we had no idea where he was. We just fanned out and searched the neighborhood, leaving our cell numbers with tons of people along the way. Everyone now and again, someone would say they had seen him but then the trail would run cold again. It was absolutely horrible, especially for his owner who was completely beside herself until he was found. The crazy thing is that at some point he looped around and ran back to the park. When he was found, he was just sitting in the shade across the street from the park! Anyway, we’re all exhausted and thankful tonight. Damn those Shibas. They just won’t cut us a break!

Kaos is in a boarding kennel now. She’s been there since Monday afternoon and that is where she’ll stay until we find her a new foster home or her forever home. Or we go broke. Right now, my sister is footing the bill but that can’t last forever. Kaos REALLY NEEDS A HOME. In the meantime, we reall need donations (email me for paypal info) to cover the boarding costs.

Will this sweet dog ever go home?

Three dogs coming into foster care this weekend.

Nervous breakdown being held at bay. Barely.

One of my partners and I have a running commentary in IM now about staying balanced (family, rescue, job, etc.). A couple days ago we had a conversation that went like this…

me: deep breath
zee: ommmm
me: bigger deep breath!
zee: inu balance ommmm
me: LOL!!!!

It actually helped!

hee hee
Dogfessions

The only times I have ever heard Snickers howl have been when I’ve left and gone out without him. He’s OK when I leave for work M-F mornings. He’s sort of OK when I leave at other times and T is here. BUT if I leave unexepectedly at any time that I would (should) be with him and T isn’t here to soothe him… he howls. He doesn’t bark, cry, whimper or scream. He howls. It’s pretty spooky because it sounds like a coyote is in the building, not my sweet little pup dog. It’s a long, low, forlorn wolf-like sound. So, why am I telling you this? Because I just ran across this:

We do know, however, that howling keeps packmates together, physically. Because wolves range over vast areas to find food, they are often separated from one another. Of all their calls, howling is the only one that works over great distances. Its low pitch and long duration are well suited for transmission in forest and across tundra, and unique features of each individual’s howl allow wolves to identify each other. Howling is a long distance contact and reunion call; separate a wolf from its pack, and very soon it will begin howling, and howling, and howling…

That makes me want to never, ever leave him again!

Ami just sent this to me and it was too cute not to post.

I’ve realized the last couple days, from emails that I’ve received about Kaos, that I’ve apparently given people the impression that she is dog aggressive. That is NOT the case. The disagreement that ended with Dakota’s eye being banged up the first day Kaos got to Ami’s was over food and it’s actually Dakota that is food aggressive, not Kaos. The two dogs didn’t know each other yet, Ami fed them near each other, Dakota got snarky (hey! he’s a Shiba!) and Kaos got mad at him. Just dog stuff.

To prove my point, here is a picture of Dakota and Kaos that Ami took last week. Click through for more pictures of Kaos.

The two main reasons that Kaos needs to move out are that (1) Ami and Mike’s daughter is afraid of her and (2) Kaos chases the cats. We don’t know if she wants to play with them or eat them and we’d like to not find out!

NYC Shiba Rescue has been around for less than a month and we just took in our third foster dog, Sabrina. Surely there won’t always be so many…?

Finding foster homes - and then adoptive homes - at this rate is practically a full time job. And, in case you don’t know, I already HAVE a full time job. And a ton of freelancing work. And a kid. And two dogs. Good thing I have no social life!

Anyway, you can read about Sabrina, and our other foster dogs, on the NYC Shiba Rescue Blog.

So, Miss ~T~ and I went to see this with a friend tonight. All I can say is DON’T BOTHER. This could have been a really good movie, but they missed every opportunity for the main character to learn anything about herself. The writer apparently thinks people who are crazy in love with animals are incapable of making connections with humans.

AAAAUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s how I feel. I can’t describe it any better than that. I’ve emailed and called everyone I can think of and I’m getting N-O-W-H-E-R-E on finding a new home for Kaos. When she was in danger, friends and strangers alike were willing to move heaven and hell to save her and that’s awesome. I still appreciate that to no end. However, it is a little frustrating that I can’t figure out what to do with her now. In addition to the fact that Kaos I want to get Kaos settled into a forever home, I feel like a bad blog friend to Ami because having Kaos there is difficult for her family and I haven’t managed to find anywhere else to move her.

I’m not even looking for a permanent home at this point… just a foster. Do you know anyone that could foster Kaos?

Help Snick and me Make a Difference

On May 6, 2007, we are participating in The American Cancer Society’s Dogswalk Against Cancer. As participants in this event we can help make a difference in the lives of our friends, families, co-workers, neighbors, and of course… dogs!

Funds raised support the lifesaving work of the American Cancer Society and ten percent of the net proceeds will go to the Donaldson-Atwood Cancer Clinic of the Animal Medical Center.

Snickers and I are dedicating our walk to two individuals - one human and one canine:

1. to my daughter’s second cousin Gina, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the jaw, and,
2. to Snickers’ canine buddy Tyra who is currently undergoing chemo for lymphoma.

Please join us in our contribution to eradicating human and animal cancers by making a donation. Simply click here to sponsor us!

Thanks!

One of the Shiba meetup members took this picture of Snickers on Saturday. It is a perfect example of him in his watchful referee/boss/mayor mode.

For now, that is all. (Unfortunately, I’m too busy to do the blog justice these days.)

Today was a Shiba Day. Snick and I went out this morning and he had a good romp at the dog run and then he sat on the bench with me while I had my coffee. We went to his favorite pet store so he could shop. After a few short hours at home, we headed to a Shiba Meetup at the dog run in Chelsea.

The meetups are almost always a blast, but they’ve become a lot more fun for me in the past few months as I’ve really gotten to know some of the other group members and their dogs. It was gorgeous out today and the dogs had a great time. Snickers got everyone riled up shortly after we got there and then he settled in to survey the crowd from his favorite hilltop perch. Several people commented on "king of the mountain" and "pack leader"" demeanor at the meetups, which I find amusing because one of the guys at our regular dog run calls him the Mayor. He has that attitude everywhere.

I was talking with several people during the course of the meetup about how the meetup group, and then the rescue group, got started and, of course, I blame it all on Snickers. He tells me to do these things for him, so I do. We decided he has some sort of telepathic abilities that he uses for the good of Shibas everywhere. A friend confirmed the mind control theory when she said she had just seen her dog - who tends to be pretty scrappy, especially with other male dogs - happily relinquish a tennis ball to Snick and then back away. Something is up with that!

Snick and I enjoyed a newly finished piece of the Hudson River Park, before stopping at our regular dog run on the way home. We had dinner with Miss ~T~ and Secret, took a nice long nap together and then, of course, we went for another walk! After all the activity, I guess I was too tired to resist the Shiba Mind Control, because Snickers talked me into starting a team for the NYC Shiba Inus to walk in the 2007 Dogswalk for Cancer. Speaking of which, click right on over to mine and Snick’s Dogswalk page and make a little donation to sponsor us if you can.

Edited 04/15/07 3:15pm to add video from the meetup. (I love that a couple members in the group do these videos… too fun!)

So… all that Shiba Rescue stuff I was babbling about during my vacation? Consider it the birth of NYC Shiba Rescue. We’re a group of about 10 people so far. We’re having our first meeting next weekend. We’ll probably incorporate so we can get non-profit status and also receive the New Hope list that AC&C sends out.

Of course, all that also means that I’ve started a website. There is still a LOT to be done on the site and for the group, but the first couple blog entries are up about our two current foster dogs - Suzie and Hero. Go over there and check them out!

So, I’m supposed to be on vacation this week. All I’ve done is work. It’s good though. It’s (1) getting a bunch of past due hanging-over-my-head freelance stuff done and (2) doggie rescue stuff. What have I been up to since my last post? Well, let’s see.

*Foster Mom Terra had already named him Hero when I got there. Poor Hero can walk but it’s pretty wobbly and he falls down sometimes. He has a terrible looking skin condition, which the shelter didn’t