The Dog Made Me Do It

Since getting my first Shiba Inu, Snickers, I have become increasingly involved in the canine community in New York City. Until recently, my name was on my freelance site, but not on my blog, and the two weren't connected. People were landing on my freelance site when searching for "Jenna Gates" and wondering if they had, in fact, found the owner of Snickers. (Yes, I realize my dog is more well known than I.) I have since given up on keeping any portion of my online persona separate from any other and therefore have connected the two sites (as you can see). So, yes, if you came here searching for the crazy Shiba lady, you found me.

Here are some of the things - some serious, some not so much - that Snickers (a.k.a. the Puppet Master) has managed to get me involved in since he took over my life in January 2004.

  • From August 2004 until May 2006, I was the Coordinator for the local, private dog run and managed to initiate and complete a complete resurfacing project with nothing but donations and volunteer time. We also bought all new park furniture and completed several other improvements.
  • In June 2006, Snickers and I founded a meetup group called, NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions
  • In July 2006, I "adopted" a homeless dog (not a dog without a home, but a dog that belonged to a man without a home) named Kaos. My sister, my friends, and I are still taking care of her.
  • Snick's section of my blog was #9 in Urban Hound's newsletter titled "The 10 top reasons why New York City is great (for dogs)."
  • Snick and I appeared in Urban Hund's Fall 2006 catalog.
  • In March 2007, with a little help from our friends, we threw the first (but not the last) Canine Cocktail Pawty. In the process of promoting that, we appeared in a full page photo in Time Out New York!
  • In April 2007, we founded NYC Shiba Rescue to fill a desperate need for a Shiba Inu breed rescue organization in the NYC metropolitan area.
  • I'm currently (July 2007), testing out a little Shiba Search.

Stay tuned. I'm sure Snick isn't done getting me in over my head.

       Dogster