At 3:00 AM this morning I put fabulously fresh sheets on my bed. I _love_ fresh sheets. This act is only noteworthy because I had to do it around Snickers. He’d already "gone to bed" in the pile of clean sheets I’d left there after I did laundry. He didn’t want to get off the bed, so I shooed him from side-to-side as I put on the sheets. Then I just wrapped the comforter around him as I covered the rest of the bed.

At 7:10 AM every week day, T puts Secret in my room before she leaves to catch the school bus. Secret hops on the bed and curls up with me & Snick till we wake up several hours later. I love this arrangement because I get to wake up with both warm, fuzzies each day.

Around 10:30 AM today I realized Secret was licking the sheet. When I checked to see what she was up to, I found several small spots of smelly, poopy stuff. UGH! (To her credit, she was apparently trying to clean it up.) So much for my clean sheets (and my leisurely morning).

So… Secret seems fine, the bed is stripped and the washing machine is running.

Life with Dogs. What a pain sometimes! On the upside, I get to go to bed in perfectly fresh sheets, two nights in a row!

PS If you haven’t visited our new site, Jenna & Snickers (.com), please drop by and let me know what you think.

I received a welcome and gratifying email today. Kayla (the doggy formerly known as Kaos) has been with Rick and Colleen for over a year now. They sent photos, a video and a note saying that she’s happy and healthy and they couldn’t be happier that she is part of their family.

Stuff like that makes it all worth it.

A few of you know I’ve been working on a new website recently. Well… ta da! It’s here.
nycgadgetgirl.com isn’t going anywhere. I still plan to use this site for my freelancing. All the archives will remain online and I will probably blog occasional personal and geeky things here.

All the dog stuff is moving over to the new site though! Please visit Jenna & Snickers and let me know what you think by commenting on the first post.

OMG, these are the cutest squirrels you can imagine. Unfortunately Snickers thinks they look incredibly tasty. If I am not VERY careful he is going to break one of my fingers and/or get away from me when he sees one of these cuties dashing across the park.

Debbie clicked this photo with her phone when we were walking. Click through to see the next one!

My last few days in NYC were busy and stressful and difficult, but also amazing and illuminating. I spent several days feeling loved, appreciated and valued.

• Wednesday, the 23rd, my boss took me and some coworkers out to dinner.. FOR ME. Since I expect Japanese food to be something I will desperately miss, we went to one of the top sushi spots in town: BONDST (Bond Street). Sooooooo delicious! It was a unique happening and made me feel super appreciated.
• Thursday, the 24th, was my last day at work and, of course, I worked till 2am trying to finish everything. Wonderful things happened that day too though.
  • My boss gave me a "half year bonus!" Who gives you a bonus when you’re leaving? (I almost cried.)
  • I got lots of hugs and special words from coworkers one by one as they left for the day.
• Friday, the 25th, was mine and Snick’s last visit to the Gillen Brewer School. (I’ve been stuck at this part of the entry for over a week.) These kids are just amazing. When we started visiting them a few months back, several of them were really afraid of dogs, but when we saw them on the 25th, they were hugging and kissing Snickers goodbye. They made a wonderful card for us (mostly for Snickers. LOL) to say goodbye. This was also when Snickers realized something big was happening, because he could feel the energy from the kids. I am going to miss our school visits very, VERY much.
• The rest of Friday I packed. Or at least I tried to.
• Saturday, the 26th… mine and Snick’s last time to enjoy our regular weekend routine. We dropped off laundry, picked up coffee, went to the dog run and hung out on our bench. We went to the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market to hang with our friend Judy for a bit and then off to the neighborhood pet store for TREATS. This routine has been a shared favorite part of the week for a long time.
• Saturday afternoon was our last meetup with the NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions. For anyone who may not know, Snick and I founded this meetup group in June 2006 and it’s grown to 240+ members and had 50 meetups. NYCSR was founded by a group of Shiba-owned humans who met in the meetup group and the group continues to support NYCSR in many ways. Some of my BEST BESTEST friends are people I met through this group and I owe a lot of happy times to them, the group, and NYCSR. About 40 people and 25 Shibas showed up for our last meetup at Animal Haven and Snickers had SO MUCH FUN. What I was NOT expecting though was for most of the Board of Directors and key volunteers of NYCSR to be there and have gifts for us. They gave me one of those digital photo frames and they had preloaded it with a slide show of ALL the NYCSR rescue dogs so far. It was incredible. They brought a treasure chest of treats and toys for Snick also and he loved all of it. All of it really touched me and showed me that Snick’s impact on people’s (and Shibas’) lives extends way beyond just me.
• For the rest of Saturday, I packed. And packed. And PACKED.
• Sunday, the 27th. Moving Day. After about 3 hours sleep, Snick and I dashed to the dog run and back and then I was off to pick up the U-Haul. My bestest buddy Zennia and her fiance, Scott, met me at the U-Haul place in Chelsea so Scott could help park the truck back at my apartment. Long story short… we got back to the apartment around 9:45 AM and my other peeps started showing up around 10am to help. Besides Z and Scott (and 2 paid helper guys), I had my good buddy Brian, my wonderful friend Mary, another wonderful friend lulu and her main man Joseph, my good neighborhood friend Drew (the human “dad” of Snick’s buddies Benno and Lily), and last but but never least, my best friend - who I’m "maybe just a little bit in love with" - Jack. Having so many friends come over to help me finish packing and move (out of a FIFTH floor WALKUP) really meant a lot to me. I love all you guys. THANK YOU so much for being there.

So, those were my last few days in NYC. They were filled with friends and love and good things and I’m very grateful for that.

PS I know I haven’t been blogging much since I moved. My life/world is just sooo different now and I miss my friends desperately. I will probably set up a new blog for inspiration. When the words return, I’ll blog. I promise.

Sorry guys. I’ve tried several times since I got here to write a “now I’m here” kind of post, but my heart just isn’t in it. I will post later, but for now, yes, we’re here safe and sound and trying to settle in.

At least that is how I am thinking of it. Let’s please not call it “leaving NYC.”

<sigh>

I moved here 21 years ago, still a teenager and totally in awe of everything around me. I made the mistake of leaving in 1991 and spent the next few years desperately trying to find my way home from SoCal and then MS. In 1995, I landed back in midtown Manhattan and swore I would never make the mistake of leaving again. Over the years, the city has become an inextricable part of who I am. Sometimes it feels like the city has woven itself into me. It’s not a "place." It is more of a being. NYC is a friend and it is home.

Although there are many things I love about NYC, it’s a tiring, expensive, and challenging place to be a single parent. As most of you probably know, Miss T went to Florida last summer to live with her dad. The choice was hers regarding whether to stay there for high school or come home. At first, she said she wanted to stay in Florida, but then she decided a few months ago that high school in Florida was not in her plans. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about a bigger place to live and a decent place to enroll her in school. (She was in private school up until the year before she went to Florida. We tried one year of NYC public school and it was horrendous.) I really can’t afford to put her back in private school for four more years or to move to a neighborhood with a rocking public high school. (There are specialty public high schools, but the application and enrollment process takes a year and a half.)

What’s a single mom in the city to do?
Read the rest of this entry »

Almost a year and a half after Kaos landed in the Miami Dade shelter, Benedict finally called. He didn’t call me, so I wasn’t able to ask him what the hell happened to him. He called one of the other people from the neighborhood that helped him and Kaos get to Florida back in Nov 2006.

Apparently he has been back in New York for two months. He’s living in the Bronx with his girlfriend and working as a painter. He told her he’d given Kaos to a family in Florida! She told him not to lie and told him about the time/effort/money spent to save Kaos from the shelter.

It’s a bit frustrating that he would lie about what happened to Kaos, but it is nice to know he’s alive and well. I’d pretty much given up on ever knowing what happened to him.

PS I got an email from Kaos - now Kayla’s - new family a couple weeks ago and she’s doing great. They sent video of her running around in the back yard and she looked sooooo happy.

We’ve now been accused of scamming people to make money on their dogs.

About a week ago, I received the following email. (Please forgive the horrid spelling and grammar. I’m posting it all as I received it.)

I just received a six month old Shiba Ina from a Ohio breeder last Thursday. The dog will not eat or drink water. It hasn’t deficated since we received it. It hides befind my livingroom sofa. I have placed numerous phone calls to her and she refuses to call me back. I just spoke with her vet and was told that the dog was introverted during the exam last Wednesday. I have three children and they are devasted by the behavior of this puppy. Would you be able to take him. I cannot keep him under these circumstances and don’t want him to waste away behind my sofa. Also, do you know if there is a group in Marion Ohio who could visit this breeder. From what the vet was telling me she could be a puppy mill. Many thanks for your help.

I emailed her back, very concerned that the dog wasn’t eating or drinking for several days. I didn’t hear anything from her. A couple days after that, the following showed up on craigslist.

6 MONTH OLD SHIBA INU NEEDS TO BE REHOMED. HE WILL COME WITH ALL HIS VACINATIONS INCLUDING RABIES. HE IS A VERY CUTE PUPPY BUT HAS NOT BEEN SOCIALIZED WITH PEOPLE. I PAID ALOT OF MONEY FOR HIM TO BE SENT FROM OHIO TO NY AND WHEN HE ARRIVED HE WOULD JUST HIDE BEHIND MY SOFA. THE BREEDER WILL NOT TAKE HIM BACK. UNFORTUNATLEY, I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME OR EXPERIENCE TO SOCIALIZE HIM. HE REALLY NEEDS SOMEONE WITH THIS KIND OF TALENT. I BELIEVE IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF PATIENCE AND TIME BEFORE THIS PUPPY COMES AROUND. SINCE HE HAS NOT BEEN AROUND CHILDREN THE BREEDER HAS SUGGESTED HE BE IN A QUIET HOME. HIS ADOPTION FEE IS $50.00 AND YOU WILL GET HIS MEDICAL RECORD FROM OHIO ALONG WITH HIS RABIES TAG. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE BREEDER’S EMAIL AND TELEPHONE NUMBER AS WELL AS THE VET’S TELEPHONE NUMBER IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH THEM.

Emails were sent. Nothing. Our intake director and another board member managed to get in touch with the poster using the telephone number from the original email. Several long discussions were had. The woman seemed genuinely interested in surrendering the pup to rescue instead of selling him. We had a foster home all set up who was willing and able to work with him for however long it would take to get him socialized, healthy and happy. A transport time was arranged. And then canceled. And then… the board members talking to the owner received the following email from her.

I AM SORRY BUT I AM NOT GIVING THE DOG AWAY TO YOU. INSTEAD I WILL BE WORKING WITH SOMEONE WHO WILL SOCIALIZE THE DOG. IT IS A GREAT GIMICK TO TAKE A PURE BRED DOG AND GET SOMEONE TO PAY YOU FOR IT AND NOT PAY THE OWNER. I ALREADY LOST MONEY ON THIS DOG AND MY HUSBAND WAS ASTONISHED THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY GIVE THEIR DOGS TO YOU FOR YOU IN TURN TO MAKE MONEY ON. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN UNDER ANY CONDITIONS.

How do you explain to someone like this what rescue is all about? She thinks we’re scamming her and she doesn’t want to hear anything we have to say. Explaining how much time, effort and money we spend on our dogs - and how little of it we get back in adoption fees - won’t mean anything if she thinks we’re liars and crooks. She didn’t research the breed or the breeder before buying the dog, so why would she research rescue in general or our organization in particular now?

The sad part is that it’s the dog who will lose out in this situation. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

One our volunteers created this nifty widget that anyone can use to show off our adoptable dogs. Check it out! You can add this to your site too by clicking “share” in the bottom right corner.

Thanks to Snick’s virtual buddy, and fellow NYC Shiba meetup member, Higgs for this great idea!

hmmmm… How can there be a show with that name and it not be about Snickers???
And apropos to absolutely nothing, I just had to find an NYPD officer to haul the big, drunk guy off my front step so I could get inside with the dogs at the end of our walk. Best part was, he thanked ME for rescuing him from the drunk, belligerent suit who was talking his ear off.

For the last month, Snick and I have been visiting a small school for developmentally challenged children once a week. We visit three classrooms ranging in age from four to nine and each class has about 10 kids in it. Each visit is only about 20 minutes long. One class has invited us to the playground with them for the last two weeks, so our morning has been like this

9:00 to 9:20 - 7 to 9 year olds
9:30 to 9:50 - 5 & 6 year olds
10:00 to 10:15 - 4 year olds
10:30 to 11:00 - playground with the 5 & 6 year olds

I think Snickers has mixed emotions about his school visits so far. Parts of it are fun and other parts are really hard work. It’s been a great learning experience for both of us.

When we first started, a large percentage of the kids were nervous with Snickers and would only reach out tentatively to pet him. He figured that out pretty quickly and would become very still. The kids sit in a circle and take turns asking if they may pet him and then approach to pet him. Snickers can tell who is the most nervous and will lie down and turn his head away from them. (I’ve explained to all of them that in his doggie body language he’s trying his very best to tell them he is not a threat.) I’m amazed at how sensitive Shibas are to human emotions. I feel sort of bad for Snickers too though, because he loves kids and he wants to PLAY. I can tell he is working hard at being non-threatening and also that he is disappointed/sad that we’re not romping around having fun. I feel guilty about making him work so hard, but I think he trusts me enough to know there must be a reason for it.

With each visit, more kids become comfortable with him and we have progressed to things like letting them give him treats (which of course he loves). He’s even given a few high fives and KISSES on command to the most comfortable children. There are still a few that are very scared but he makes himself small and still and they have all at least approached and petted him now. One girl who was scared to get near him a month ago gave Snickers (and then me!) a HUG last week. It was awesome.

Last week, most of the students in the older class walked him around the roof. (They held his leash. I walked behind them holding a long line.) That was fun. I played a little squeaky toy fetch with him in the hallway - on his long line - between classes and that was lots of fun for him. The second class mostly still just pets him and talks. Snickers laid down in the middle of the circle this week while we talked. The third class was having an emotional melt down this week, so we didn’t do much. We’d done some team dog walking around the classroom the week before, but this week they were too worked up. Snick said hello to the ones that aren’t afraid of him and we left.

Between the last class and the playground time, we sit in the front lobby and chat with the receptionist. Snickers hops up on the bench next to me and sits so quietly. Everyone who walks by stops to pet him and tell him how beautiful and well behaved he is. He gets lots of extra treats and love from me.

Going to the playground the last two weeks has been the most fun, because Snick can stretch his legs and also only has to interact with the kids who are really comfortable with him. There are two boys in this class that really love him. One of the boys sticks with us the whole time at the playground - hugs and pets Snickers, talks to him, and has walked him around the playground (with my help of course). This class has asked us if we’ll “come and play” some during the summer term too and, of course, I said that we will!

We were planning to go this week (their last day) but their schedule for the day changed and we had to skip it. We’ll be going back for the summer session though, beginning July 11. Overall it has been a good experience. I’m so proud of Snickers for being so good at reading the kids - knowing which ones are scared and which ones are comfortable. They can’t fool him either. When they are only pretending to be brave, he knows and is very careful not to move too quickly.

If it is possible, I think I love him even more than I did before we started.

Recently, my favorite Shiba mailing list erupted into some nasty bouts of name calling and misunderstandings. The whole thing was brought about by a troll who apparently joined the list just to start trouble. What’s the fastest way to start trouble on a list? Bring up a hot button topic!

Shibas are notoriously untrustworthy off-leash. They were bred to hunt… not to hunt and retrieve mind you; they were bred to hunt and kill. When the Shiba prey drive kicks in, you seldom know what has happened till it’s too late. For this reason, responsible breeders and rescuers always, always, always recommend that Shibas are NEVER off leash except within very secure areas. There are a lot of long time, experienced Shiba fanciers on this list. There are also several hundred lurkers who simply listen to (and hopefully learn from) the conversations. Into this comes said troll posting merrily about walking around with his Shiba off-leash and how she had perfect recall.

The firestorm was unleashed (no pun intended)! It started with people posting what a bad idea it is and why. Some excellent and informative posts were made explaining the nature of Shibas in particular and dogs in general, asking “what about other dangers to your dog” and generally trying to get him to change his mind and protect his companion appropriately. Nothing made a difference though and he maintained that his Shiba was too perfect and too well-trained to ever make a mistake.

Of course, some people couldn’t control themselves, the name calling started and the nastiness ensued. Fortunately, in the middle of all this, a fellow Shiba rescuer (with much more experience than I, by the way), chimed in with a wonderful story illustrating - with humor - why even our best trained companions shouldn’t be expected to go against their own nature 24/7. With her permission, I’m reposting it here for all three of my loyal readers to enjoy:

In addition to the shibas, I have a few other dogs. Tippy was my 12 year old border collie mix. The most well behaved dog I’ve ever met. It was very rare that she was ever on a leash. She was always next to me, always came when called. If it weren’t for the fact that she was a mixed breed with only 3 legs, you would have seen us in the obedience ring. A couple of months ago I was loading up the dogs for a trip to the vet. 2 shibas, a husky and Tippy. The shibas and the husky were on leads and me with a death grip on the handles. Tippy was walking with us off-leash to the truck. Now these shibas are fairly good shibas and generally I’ve never had a problem with them bolting. But on that day, the husky spots something in the driveway. A burger king bag is blowing across the end of the driveway. The dogs bolt and I fall down. Leashes are ripped out of my hand (along with a bit of skin!) and the dogs are off. I jump up, throw open the door to the truck and yell “load up!” The shibas and the husky corner at full speed and nearly knock me down again while they jump into the back seat. Tippy, my super obedient girl who listens to my every word, is completely ignoring me. She is hopping down the driveway at full speed to get that bag. I call her- nothing. I close the truck and run after her (she is surprisingly fast for and old crippled dog!). I catch up with her and she still hops on. I grab her and give her a heel command. She looks at me and turns back to the bag. I had to carry the silly dog back to the truck. Then I ran back inside for another leash. It is the only time in her life that she has ever ignored me. I have to say I was furious. My perfect dog ignored me. It was like a betrayal. 12 years of love and training and I was no better than a burger king bag. Severe kick to my ego. But I use that story as an example when I’m teaching obedience classes. You can be a great trainer and have a great dog, but none of us are perfect. You never know when that burger king bag is going to come along!

Elizabeth

On April 26th, NYC Shiba Rescue took in two Shiba Inus from a shelter in Kentucky. When their transport arrived, it was decided that both dogs should go straight to the vet and they’ve been boarded there ever since.

Bea is about 12 years old and lived her entire life on the end of a chain before being left at a high kill shelter. She was severely underweight, starved for affection, and had hookworms. You can read more about Bea and see her before and after pictures on her blog page.

Rusty is about 4 years old. He had kennel cough when he arrived, but he’s all better now. Rusty is soooo very sweet. You can read more about Rusty and see his before and after pictures on his blog page.

In addition to paying for their boarding and veterinary treatment to date, we still need to have Rusty neutered and both dogs REALLY need their teeth cleaned. This is going to be a BIG vet bill and NYCSR could really use help paying it.

If you’re able to make a donation to help us cover the bill and continue saving Shibas, please do.

• Donate through Google Checkout (use the donate now button on the top right)
• Donate through our Facebook Cause (does not require a fb account)
• Join our Facebook Cause (does require a fb account)

NYC Shiba Rescue, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your donations are fully tax-deductible and will be used to help us fulfill our mission. Please also consider asking your employer to match your donation if they have a matching program. Match qualification forms should be sent to NYC Shiba Rescue, 200 West 39th St. #192, NYC 10018.

Something I did not know until last week… this is National Dog Bite Prevention Week. I received an email asking if I would blog about it and at first I thought "I’m not a dog trainer. What do I know about dog bite prevention?" Then I realized, it isn’t about training dogs so much as it is about training people and I do know a little about preventing dog bites!

First off, the statistics… according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention each year, 800,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites; half of these are children. Of those injured, 386,000 require treatment in an emergency department and about a dozen die. The rate of dog bite-related injuries is highest for children ages 5 to 9 years, and the rate decreases as children age. Almost two thirds of injuries among children ages four years and younger are to the head or neck region.

Educating Dogs to Prevent Biting

One thing I’ve learned for sure in this past year with NYC Shiba Rescue… most dogs bite because they were not raised, trained and socialized properly by the humans who were supposedly their caretakers. We’ve had a few tough cases that we’ve taken into NYCSR and we’ve rehabilitated each one of them.

Our first, and most serious, was Ella. Her name was Sheba when she arrived. She was less than a year old and had lived in the basement of her "home" for most of her short life after being purchased from a pet store as a Christmas gift for children. Ella had serious resource guarding issues and was also a fear biter. The worst part was that we couldn’t figure out her fear triggers, so training her was challenging. With the help of a great trainer and several amazing foster homes though, Ella learned SELF CONTROL and SELF CONFIDENCE and after about 8 months with NYCSR she was adopted out to a wonderful couple who have continued her training very successfully. You can read more about Ella here.

Our latest case, is my little foster dog Penny. She was surrendered to NYCSR because she was an ankle and foot biter, snapped at visitors in the home and pretty much tried to bite anyone if startled. Her owner was going to put her to sleep if we didn’t take her. When I met her, I saw PURE FEAR in her face… not aggression! She’s been living with Snick and me for about a month now. She learned very quickly that we will protect her from the scary world and she stopped trying to bite everyone. I’ve been introducing her slowly to the things she fears (really big dogs, men who move toward her quickly, things that roll on the sidewalk) and she makes HUGE improvements every day. Now there is one less biter in the world! You can read more about Penny here.

Educating Humans to Prevent Dog Bites

Of course, the flip side of socializing and training dogs correctly is socializing and training humans correctly. Kids need to learn

• to treat dogs humanely, so they don’t become fear biters, and
• to approach strange dogs with respect and caution.

A lot of kids are not raised around dogs or, even worse, are raised in neighborhoods where the only dogs they see have been trained to fight and/or protect. How can these children be raised with a respect for, and appreciation of, dogs? Is there a way to teach them that dogs are living beings who deserve to be treated with kindness? How can they know what wonderful companions well-trained dogs can be if they are never exposed to them? This is where a good humane education program can help.

Our school system, unfortunately, is asked to take up a lot of slack these days - teaching so many lessons that ideally would be taught by extended families and neighbors - and humane education is on the list. Snickers and I recently became a Delta Society Pet Partners team, specifically so we could get involved in humane education. When Snickers and I walk around midtown Manhattan, we get mixed reactions from children on the sidewalks. Most kids react appropriately - neutrally - and will ask if he is friendly if they want to pet him. Some are afraid of him and will freak out trying to avoid him. (This, of course, makes him notice them and try to check them out.) A few will simply reach out to touch him without any warning. I never let that slide. I immediately stop them, get on eye level with them, and explain that reaching for a strange dog can get them bitten. They usually jump back at that point and then I explain that SNICKERS is friendly and they can pet him if they approach him nicely, but that doesn’t mean ALL dogs are friendly. Then I ask "what if he weren’t so friendly and you reached out without asking and he BIT YOU?" That’s when their parents invariably chime in and agree with me. (Although, once, a woman got really upset with me when I started talking to her son, but it was only because she didn’t see that he had tried to grab Snickers as we walked by. When I told her why I stopped, she thanked me for being understanding and helped me talk to her son about asking permission and petting nice.)

As Pet Partners, Snick and I spend one morning per week visiting three separate classrooms. The students range in age from about 4 to 9 and they are following a curriculum created by the ASPCA. Last week was our second visit and their first lesson, entitled "May I Pet Your Dog." During our visit, the students took turns approaching us, asking politely if they could pet Snickers, and then approaching him gently. There were a few students who were especially afraid and Snickers laid down for them. When we go tomorrow, we’re going to review that lesson and then let the children interact more with him. As the lessons progress, they will get to groom him, feed him, walk him, and play with him. I think this kind of exposure to animals is incredibly important in avoiding both dog bites and animal abuse.

Dog Bite Prevention Tips

Susan Daffron, the founder of the National Association of Pet Rescue Professionals, has these
great tips to help children avoid dog bites. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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.

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, 2026
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 tell us anything about before we picked him up. The vet we originally went to wanted a fortune, so I called my vet and they squeezed us in at closing time. They examined him and gave him pain meds and an anti-inflamatory and kept him overnight. They ran blood work to rule out thyroid problems or testicular tumors that could be causing the skin condition.

My vet doesn’t think he has any fresh fractures but he has a good bit of muscle deterioration and arthritis. Mostly likely scenario is that this guy never recuperated from a previous accident (notes from the shelter say he has a plate in his hip from before they got him) and then was injured again recently. His general health checks out pretty well though except for the back legs and the skin. The vet thinks with some exercise and physical therapy he could build his muscle tone up to compensate. He’s only about 5 years old, so he’s got some good years left in him if we can get him healthy and neutered and adopted out. He’s definitely adoptable. He was an angel for us. He never complained when we picked him up. He walked as much as he could and we carried him when he got tired. When we were waiting at the vets he laid down and put his head on my leg. He was just so sweet. He’s got the Shiba pride and stubborn streak though. It showed through even though he was tired and in pain.

**The vet decided to keep Hero a second night. He’s resting comfortably. He has Lyme disease and a low thyroid. Nothing serious though. Vet changed his antibiotic to cover the Lyme disease. He got a bath and will get treated with Revolution in the morning. Vet thinks with good nutrition and exercise he’ll be ready to be neutered in a couple weeks and we’ll redo the blood work then too.

***Terra said he’s walking way better already and she has him settled in at her apartment. Her female Shiba wants to PLAAAAY with him, but she’ll have to wait.

I’ve been busy. OK? Just busy, that’s all. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my pre-cocktail pawty post.

And that’s just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head!

A few days ago, I logged into Meebo and found this message waiting for me:

[12:45] Bibby: Hi, I have been enjoying Snickers Blog for a while. I have a Black and Tan Shiba called Lily, she is 5 months old and we just started puppy classes. Shibas are a new breed to me, I had big dogs in the past. i am amazed everyday how intelligent and brave my little dog is and often forget how young she is. I have also enjoyed the links on to other sites, especially about Shibas escaping, we laughed as Lily could not be held in a puppy pen and baby gates only slowed her for a few days.

[12:45] Bibby: look forward to your new piece

I just want to say "thanks Bibby! you made my day." I know I have a lot of lurkers, because I can see all sort of stats on the hits on my blog each day. It’s nice and fun to get a note now and then though.

Yes, I am certifiably insane.

People ask me sometimes how I deal with the whole single mom with two dogs and two jobs thing all whilst living in midtown Manhattan. I usually shrug and go “eh, it’s not so bad,” meanwhile knowing it probably isn’t normal that I (1) almost never sleep more than 6 hours a night, (2) haven’t had time to sit down and read a book in several years, and (3) only take vacation time from my real job when I need to do something for Miss ~T~, catch up on my freelance work, or clean my apartment. Oh, and have I mentioned that I’m also the treasurer for my local, private dog run and the organizer for the NYC Shiba Inu meetup group?

So… that said, I suddenly decided about six weeks ago that it would be fun to have one of my Shiba meetups be a "canine cocktails" event.

Ahem. Yeah, right. Me and my SIMPLE ideas.

On Tuesday, March 20, at 7pm, the NYC Shiba Inus are hosting EIGHTY PEOPLE - yes, that’s 80 people - at a fund raiser for Animal Haven Soho. If you google canine cocktail pawty, you’ll get an idea why so many people have bought tickets already. Plus, this doesn’t show up in Google yet, but we were featured on a FULL PAGE in Time Out New York! How awesome is that? (It looks better in print.)

If it goes well, which it seems that it will, it may become a regular event. It has its own website and I may even have a corporate sponsor lined up for next time! (More on that if it pans out.)

Anyway, wish me luck. I’ll be taking a LOOOONNNNG NAP when this is all over.

OK, Snicks isn’t in this one, but it’s from the same people and same meetup as the last Shiba video I posted. I noticed it today and had to post it. When this happened, I was standing about 4 feet away, saying "Wow, I can’t believe she has treats and none of them have…."

and then they did. LOL

On a related note, the couple that made this will be at the Cocktail Pawty next week so maybe we’ll get some interesting video documentation of that too!

or feisty little Shiba Inus, either, for that matter.

Kaos isn’t settling is as well as we’d hoped she would at Ami’s and it is looking like she needs to (1) not live with cats and (2) possibly not live with other dogs. Although she seems to get along great with other dogs when she’s on leash, it hasn’t gone that well with her and Dakota at Ami’s house. (Dakota ended up in the ER with a seriously banged up eye this morning.)

Kaos spent the majority of her life tethered to Benedict. She never had to worry about pack order or protecting herself or other dogs feeling they needed to protect themselves, etc. Benedict, as her leader, took care of all that. Subsequently, she’s an angel with people and totally agreeable when she’s on leash. However, in an off leash (especially off leash in new territory) situation, she apparently feels insecure enough to fight if she feels she needs to. That could probably be managed/trained away over time, but besides worrying about the safety of Dakota (who is about 1/2 Kaos’s size), Ami also has two cats and two daughters to watch out for.

So, basically, Ami and Mike have agreed to keep her (and deal with all that entails… keeping the animals all separated, etc.) until we can find her a more appropriate home. I really appreciate that they are willing to do that; a lot of people would not be.

So, any takers, ideas or leads?

Kaos met her new forever family this afternoon. I got some very excited and happy text messages from Ami and then I disappeared into the hell that is Microsoft. (I had to go to work to patch computers for DST - yes, I know I’m LATE - and do various other updates.) Ami assured me there were pictures forthcoming, so… I’m waiting for pictures and updates. Patiently. Sort of.

What good is having a blog if you can’t use it to promote your favorite causes???

What: Cocktails and Hors d’ouvres
When: 7pm, Tuesday, March 20, 2026
Why: to raise money for Animal Haven
Where: Animal Haven SoHo

For more information and to purchase tickets online (before March 12), please visit caninecocktailpawty.com.

Miss ~T~, Snickers, Secret and I are looking forward to seeing all of our New York friends (human and canine) at the party!

UPDATED March 09, 2026 9:41 AM EST
almost there!!!

Anyone who can help get Kaos to her new home this coming weekend, please let me know ASAP!

Sat Mar 10

Leg 1: Orlando, FL to St. Augustine, FL 105 miles 2 hr FILLED
THANK YOU CHRIS
Start 7:30 am
Arrive 9:30 am

Leg 2: St. Augustine, FL to Savannah, GA 163 miles 3 hr FILLED
THANK YOU RACHEL
Start 9:45 am
Arrive 12:45 pm

Leg 3: Savannah, GA to Walterboro, SC 60 miles 1 hr FILLED
THANK YOU GAIL
Start 1:00 pm
Arrive 2:00 pm

Leg 4: Walterboro, SC to Santee, SC 45 miles 50 min FILLED
THANK YOU GLORIA
Start 2:15 pm
Arrive 3:05 pm

Leg 5: Santee, SC to Florence, SC 66 miles 1 hr 15 mins NEEDED
Start 3:20 pm
Arrive 4:35 pm

Leg 6: Florence, SC to Fayetteville, NC 86 miles 1 hr 30 mins FILLED
THANK YOU CASEY
Start 4:55 pm
Arrive 6:25 pm

Leg 7: Fayetteville, NC to Sims, NC — 76 miles -1 hr 30 mins FILLED
THANK YOU SUSAN
Start 6:40 pm
Arrive 8 :10 pm

OVERNIGHT IN THIS AREA FILLED
THANK YOU SUSAN

SUN 3/11

Leg 8: Sims, NC to Emporia, VA 74 miles - 1 hr 15 min FILLED
THANK YOU SUSAN
Start 8:00 am
Arrive 9:15 am

Leg 9: Emporia, VA to Chester, VA 54 miles — FILLED
THANK YOU BRIAN
Start 9:30 am
Arrive 10:30 am

Leg 10: Chester, VA to Fredericksburg, VA 67 miles - 1 hour - FILLED
THANK YOU JENNIFER
Start 10:45 am
Arrive 11:45 pm

Leg 11: Fredericksburg, VA to Alexandria, VA 53 miles — FILLED
THANK YOU PAT
Start 12:00 noon
Arrive 1:00 pm

Leg 12: Alexandria, VA to Aberdeen, MD 77 miles - 1hour 45 min— FILLED
THANK YOU CHRIS
Start 1:15 pm
Arrive 3:00 pm

Leg 14: Aberdeen, MD to East Petersburg, PA 48 miles1 hour FILLED
THANK YOU AMI
Start 13:15
Arrive 4:15 pm

A couple weeks ago, the NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions (that’s our Meetup Group name), held its first inter-breed meetup. We got together with The Beagle Pack. There were about about 40 dogs there and they had a blast. This video was posted by a Shiba meetup member today and the choice of music really made me laugh.

PS How many times did you spot Snickers?

Edit: To learn why the song choice makes me giggle so (and the Shiba owned will get this best), check out some of the lyrics:

One, two, three and I come with the redneck style
cause you know I get paid by the mile, like Avis
I pave this, fast save this, everybody smile. . .
And act gracious
See I rob banks, I pull pranks, sometimes I eat
Franks and knishes - best wishes - I’m vicious
but here I am again like CNN delivery my friend.

Stick em up punk, it’s the fun lovin criminal
Stick em up punk, it’s the fun lovin criminal

Yes we bug a lot and my friends is loud and. . .
I’m more freaky than disco 2000
I scream, I yell, I bark, I bite
I’ll hit you with an egg on a hot summer night
I never let the cops get wind of me
And I never, ever, ever say die
I never take myself too seriously
cause everybody knows fat birds dont fly

We need help getting Kaos from her foster family in Orlando, Florida, to her forever home in Pennsylvania. It’s been too cold to make plans to fly her and her foster family has folks moving in soon. Her forever home is anxiously waiting for her to arrive.

We’re trying to set up a transport for THIS WEEKEND, so if you live near the route (I-95 up through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania) and have a couple hours to help out, please check out the transport schedule and volunteer. Thanks!!!

(PS If you live near Sims, NC, we need a place in that area for Kaos to spend the night on Saturday night.)

The NYC Shiba Inus are throwing a party! A fund raiser to be exact. Shibas may be a stubborn bunch, but they’re generous to their friends and our Shibas have decided to raise money for one of their favorite places… Animal Haven. Let’s help Animal Haven raise the money they need to finish their Soho facility!

There will be catered food, drinks (ever had A Screaming Shiba?) and gourmet dog treats. Well-behaved dogs attend for free. Well-behaved people are $40/person. (Bad dogs and bad people should stay home.)

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are non-refundable. Please click here to purchase your tickets by March 12, 2007.

woohoo!

Kaos is going to a great, great home. I couldn’t have asked for anything better for her. My blog friend, Ami, is going to adopt her. Go visit her blog to get to know Kaos’s new family!!!

I think we can safely say that Kaos still gets along fine with other dogs. I was planning to have her temperament tested by a trainer, but I’m realizing that really isn’t necessary. What a sweetheart!

 

 

This is clearly a dog enjoying her new found non-homelessness.

  

Latest update from Jeanette (foster mom) says:

We really need to change her name from KAOS to MELLOW YELLOW! lol She is so mellow. I can take her bone and/or her food away while eating and she does nothing! That is the sign of a GOOD dog, good temperament!

The cough is all gone, but I am still giving her the antibiotic till they are done

OK, so here’s the latest update from Jeanette:

She is doing great! Her cough is getting a little better, she did not cough much last night but when she gets excited I notice she coughs more.

As far as adjusting… WOW what an awesome dog! Housebroken for sure. When she needs to go out you know it , she jumps on you and looks for the leash. She has not had an accident yet.

Truly a friendly, affectionate, loving dog. Someone will be very happy when they adopt her. Also she is not a chronic barker either. She is protective too, I made believe I was getting hurt in another room and she came flying in to see what was happening. Terrific dog I swear!

And, a few other things of note:

• I am looking into having someone temperament test her, so hopefully we’ll soon know how she gets along with other dogs, kids, etc… (She was great with my daughter (then 12) and my two dogs when she was younger, but I just want to confirm before placing her.)
• The vet said she weighed 59 pounds.
• I’ve spent $483.91 on this little rescue so far, not including the donation I intend to make to Miami Dade Animal Services for being so proactive. (That is just my personal cost and doesn’t include the time, effort and cost donated by transporters and the foster family. Kaos owes her life to a lot of people!) If anyone would like make a small donation to offset costs, I’m certainly too broke to be above accepting it, so let me know.

And, last, but not least, please help spread the word that Kaos needs a home. Feel free to swipe the great icon above (or smaller version here) created by my sister Debbie. Post the icon on your blog/myspace/LJ/whatever and link back to nycgadgetgirl.com/jg/tales_of_kaos/ so people can read her story and contact me if they are interested! THANKS!!!

Apologies to anyone who (you know who you are, my Israeli friend) thinks I need to write some non-dog posts… you’re RIGHT, I DO need to do that. Right now though, I need to do this more.

We’re just having so much fun in the comments on the post before this, but it’s time for pictures. Here are a couple pics of Kaos taken by Anne. Anne is one of my new, most favoritist people because she really was tenacious about helping Kaos. She lined up Tom and Becky (who normally don’t do rescue stuff, says Anne) to pick Kaos up from the shelter Saturday and she also coordinated - and drove two legs of - the tranport to foster care.

 

And here are some new pictures, taken by Jeanette, Kaos’s foster mom. It would seem that Kaos has settled right in to life in a home.

  

If only Mike and Jeanette could adopt Kaos… I know they would be great guardians. They have family moving in soon though and an “only dog” is moving in with them. So, Kaos still needs a forever home. She’s been a great guest in foster care so far and even seems to be housebroken! Hopefully Jeanette will keep leaving comment updates for all of us (hint, hint).

Still no word on what happened to Benedict.

I got a call awhile ago from the transporter that dropped Kaos with her foster family. They will send pictures later. Just now, I got an email from the foster mom..

We have KAOS and she is a very sweet dog. She does listen to commands like sit, no and she loves affection! She came into the house and just ran around looking and sniffing. I will keep in touch and Please let me know when you have a permanent home for her.

and she sent PICTURES!

And, while we’re here, I missed an IM on meebome while I was out running some errands, so I’m going to answer it now…
meeboguest209093 asked

"hey. i didn’t understand how did the dog get to Florida if it was yours? and why can’t you take it back?"

The answer is contained in my blog, but a synopsis is…. Kaos was never mine in the sense of being my pet. Kaos belonged to a homeless man in my neighborhood. Myself and a few friends helped him take care of her and then flew them to Miami (where he had family) back in November, because they wouldn’t have survived a winter on the streets of NYC. Benedict - her companion - has disappeared and the shelter called my vet (from her rabies tag) and the vet called me because their records showed her as "mine" since I took her in for her exam and vaccinations. I still don’t know what happened to Benedict, but I feel responsible for Kaos and I know what a wonderful dog she is, so I’m doing everything I can to save her. Unfortunately, I can’t adopt her myself, because I already have two dogs (one more than allowed) in my apartment!. I hope that answers your question meeboguest209093 and please visit again.

Update (4:18pm): The foster just called and apparently Kaos has a cough, so she may have picked up kennel cough at the shelter. She said she’s a real love. Whenever they sit down she runs over and puts her head and their lap and stands there to be petted. Awwww….
Update (5:16pm): Added a fourth picture from Kaos’s foster family. Gotta love those ears!

In about twenty minutes, Kaos will be picked up from the veterinary hospital and start her trip to Orlando to her temporary foster home.

While we’re on the subject… I have to say that dog people - rescue people in particular - are the most amazing people on earth. What giving, selfless people! You want to find out who really loves dogs? Start asking for help with a situation like this and you’ll find out fast. 99% of the people I called and emailed said nothing or some variation of “oh, how awful. I wish I could help but (fill in the blank).”

If you care about something, get involved people. There is always SOMETHING you can do to help. If it is dogs you care about, I can give you some hints right now on how to help.

• Volunteer with a local rescue group. Provide a foster home if possible, do shelter pulls, take part in transports. Can’t do that? MAKE A DONATION.
• Get involved in EDUCATING consumers about how to add a dog to the family.
• Don’t support pet stores that sell dogs. EVER.
• Investigate your local and state politicians positions on pet ownership, breeding, breed-specific legislation, etc. and support the right people.
• Got a car? Check out the numerous rescue transport groups and start volunteering to drive a leg of a rescue transport when you can. Help a dog get to safety. (Don’t have a car? MAKE A DONATION.)
• Last, but not least, MAKE A DONATION. Rescue isn’t cheap and most of the people I know that are involved in rescue and transport are working hard to make ends meet. If you can’t donate your time, donate your cash, because they could sure use the help.

(Jenna steps quietly off her soap box and wanders away…)

I received this email earlier this afternoon:

Jenna, Tom and I picked Kaos up from Animal Control in Miami this morning and delivered her to the vet. She was happy to leave that place, She took the time to smell all the blades of grass and trees she could manage to get close to… She’s a great little traveler. The people at the vets were very nice and were expecting her… BTW, we left her tags with them. I sure hope Kaos finds a good home with someone worthy to have her. She has a great disposition, aims to please and would be very easy to train. We are glad we could help out. We wish you and Kaos the best. Regards, Tom and Becky

I spoke to the vet hospital today too and they said Kaos was very sweet and seemed healthy so far.

Next step is the transport to the temporary foster home. Still looking for someone to adopt her. Any takers?

We have a WINNER folks and her name is Kaos!

Woohoo! I just got off the phone with the volunteer that will be picking Kaos up from Miami Dade and transporting her to VCA!!!

More information later after I’ve had a chance to rest my weary brain, heart and fingers. There will also be a long list of people to whom I owe great gratitude.

OK, here’s where we stand:

• Kaos is still in Miami Dade Animal Services (7401 NW 74th Street, Miami). She’s safe there until tomorrow (Saturday) at 4pm. Here’s her current photo from the shelter. She looks so sad.
• An animal hospital 45 minutes north of Miami (4181 West Hillsboro Boulevard, Coconut Creek) is waiting for her to arrive.
• THERE IS STILL NO ONE TO PULL HER FROM THE SHELTER AND TAKE HER TO THE VET!!!
• I will provide all the necessary details to anyone who can volunteer to go get her and drive her to the vet. Please contact me by commenting.
• A friend in Seattle has offered to pay gas money to anyone willing to pull and transport her.
• After she’s bathed and vetted, I have a short-term foster home for her in Daytona.
• The short term foster MIGHT even have a lead on a forever home.
• I have a friend in NYC willing to pay to fly Kaos (when it gets warmer of course) to a forever home anywhere in the country.

Surely someone in the Miami area has two hours to spare to save Kaos. Someone. Anyone?

She’s still in Miami Dade Animal Services. They agreed to hold her until Saturday afternoon. Through a jillion emails and phone calls (I swear my friends and I have talked to every rescue organization in Dade and Broward Counties.) I’ve located a veterinary hospital that will take her in and board her for a reasonable rate. I had to give them a hefty deposit of course, but at least she’ll be safe while I look for a long-term foster or adoptive home for her.

There is a new wrinkle though… the volunteer that had said she would pull Kaos from the shelter has disappeared so I’m SCRAMBLING to find someone that can go today to get her from the shelter and transport her about 45 minutes north to the vet. If anyone has any contacts in Florida that might be able to take a couple hours out of their day to help save Kaos’s life, please contact them. If you find someone to do this, let me know and I will give you all of the details they will need.

Well, I have someone 500 miles from Miami that will hold Kaos for a week and a group of transport folks that will coordinate moving her up there. I even have someone in Miami that will go get her out of the shelter. HOWEVER, the transport can’t happen for a couple weeks and the person that can pull her from the shelter has nowhere to TAKE her in the meantime. I called the shelter this morning and they’re going to make some phone calls to see if any of their contacts will board her for a reasonable cost. At this point, I just need someone in the Miami area to keep her for a couple weeks. Miami is a big place… why is this so difficult? Well, from what I’ve learned there is a serious overcrowding problem there. There are no spay/neuter laws and all the no kill shelters are fully loaded with animals. I can’t send her anywhere that isn’t no kill because as a medium to large mixed breed she wouldn’t be considered “adoptable” and wouldn’t be held long.

HELP!!!!!

OK, Kaos is in trouble and I need your help.

Most of you probably already know about Kaos… the homeless dog that I took under my wing. (If not, go here to read about her.) Well, yesterday I got the call… Kaos is in the shelter. Miami Dade Animal Services. They’ve had her a few days now so I have one day left to get her out before they put her up for adoption and potentially euthanize her if they need the space. They know I’m the owner of record and will let me send someone to pick her up, but she becomes the property of Dade County if I don’t get her out of there today.

Apparently Benedict left her at a human homeless shelter a few days ago and didn’t return for her, so they called Animal Services. Something must have happened to him. The shelter had his name and everything, so it’s not like he dropped her and ran. Anyway, he didn’t go back, she went into the shelter, and he hasn’t tried to get her out. I don’t know why it took three days for them to get in touch with me, but I’m just happy that they called me.

I have a contact in Shiba Inu rescue in Tallahassee that has located someone in Miami to go pull Kaos from the shelter for me. All their fosters are full though, so I need somewhere for them to transport her. I need a foster home for Kaos and it I need it now.

I’ve emailed dozens of people who have emailed dozens more people. I have emailed and called no kill shelters in Dade and Broward County with no luck.

I want to find a forever home for her, but right now I’ll take even a short term foster to be able to keep her off the euth list. She’s up to date on all her shots. She’s wearing her rabies tag and NYC license tag. (I have her records here and can fax them to anyone who needs them.) The shelter says she’s been spayed since I last saw her. She’s a great dog. Very smart, loyal. She’s about 14 months old now.

If anyone knows anyone in the Dade or Broward County areas that can foster this dog - even just for a few days while I find something else - PLEASE put me in touch with them.

So, yesterday I spent the day out in New Jersey (AUGH, THE HORROR) at the Shiba Specialty. I got to meet some great Shiba people and was able to love on some awesome Shibas. I learned so much sitting ringside with Kathi Melton of Bali Hai Kennels, watching the 42 Shibas that were entered. I must have been asking her the dumbest questions… I’ve never even BEEN to a dog show before, but she was great.

When I got home last night, Snickers was soooo happy to see me. He even forgave me for cheating on him with all those other Shibas. But then, with all my new found Shiba knowledge, I looked him in the eyes and I said to my darling dog "Snickers, my dear… your ears are too big!" Luckily, he doesn’t expect me to be Cindy Crawford and I don’t expect him to have a perfect rusty black coat (he’s a little too blue black) or tiny teddy bear ears! He adores me with all my faults and I adore him with his teeny tiny little faults!
Today, I spent the day at Westminster. I met a few more people and kissed some more dogs. It was absolutely great. I have to say thanks to Kathi, Valerie, and Alex for putting up with my non-expert-Shiba-ness for the two days. I had a great time hanging out with you guys (and Miss ~T~, Snick, and Secret enjoyed meeting you too)!

Miss ~T~ has a bean bag in her room. She got it from my folks for Christmas about five years ago. It’s gotten a lot of use -double as much for the 3 years that we’ve had Snickers. The zipper is broken, enough beans have somehow disappeared for it to be about 2/3 it’s original size, the cover is looking sort of worn… you get the idea.

So, a week or so ago, we briefly discussed the idea of getting rid of it. It takes up a lot of room and she doesn’t really use it anymore because she’s always at her computer or playing her guitar. Snickers used to play in it a lot, but not so much. A day or two after T and I had this conversation, she walked into her room and saw this… click for the cuteness.

I guess that ends that discussion.

Secret has really adjusted a LOT since I posted her first update. She’s so much more confident walking in the city now and she’s much less skittish when people reach to pet her. She seems like a different girl from the one that came to live with us a few months ago. She’s definitely gained some confidence. When she first arrived, she would stare at us with this look that said "what’s going on?" and we felt like she was unsettled and concerned. Now, the look we get is more like "can I have treats?"
She still barks at noises in the hallway and gets worked up when someone comes to the door, but not the way she used to. Plus, the protective/fear biting seems to be a non-issue now that she is settled in. At first, she was very wary and on guard with anyone that came in the apartment, especially men. She’s calmed down a lot though - between us having visitors (and watching and managing her with them of course), us taking her and Snick along to visit friends for dinner and other occasions, and also taking them both with us for the family holiday get together (4 days in a mountain cabin), she seems to have learned to "roll with it" when strange things happen.

The neatest thing about all of this though is that it wasn’t really anything we did. The majority of it came from her relationship with Snickers! Case in point, Miss ~T~’s father (we’ll call him Marc) came to visit recently. This was the first time he had met Secret. I was at work when he arrived, but ~T~ said that Secret hung back and just watched the way Snickers interacted with him for several minutes. (Snickers knew Marc when he was a puppy, before Marc moved to Europe.) Then Secret went up to him, sniffed him a little, and then KISSED him; she was totally fine around him the whole weekend! That is a complete shift from the way she watched and followed men with complete suspicion (and then bit them) when she first came to live with us. Yay, Seeky!

Now, if T would just teach her to STAY…

WOOF! LET’S PLAY!!!

I know, I know, I only posted twice in December. Well, my knee is almost healed, the holidays are over, and I caught up on about half of my past due work this long weekend. I logged into Bloglines today to find over 400 posts that needed reading though (eek), so I’m not QUITE caught up on everything yet. As soon as I can stop to breathe, I promise that I will post.

My sister took lots of great photos (including the one above of Snick) while we were all together for the holidays. I will post the ones of the pups soon.

…and Speeding Shiba Inu Owners too!

I’ve told this story so many times now - verbally, in IM, and by email - that I’m losing track of who knows and who doesn’t! I only just told my SISTER about it today and it happened on Saturday morning. As I was just answering “what happened” again by email, I realized I should POST it and then I can just point people here instead of rewriting.

Snickers and I went to the NYC Shiba Inu meetup this past Saturday morning at the Madison Square Park dog run. Snickers was having a BLAST because it was COLD out, so he was playing chase with a bunch of dogs. He kept coming up to me and asking ME to play though, so finally I did. I took off chasing him. We made it from the west end of the run to the east and had turned around running back and just as I was picking up speed, I crossed paths with a Pit Bull that was also playing chase. The Pit was solid muscle, about 60 pounds maybe and going WAY faster than I was. I collided with him and went up and over. I was airborn and then crash landed (in pea gravel) on my right knee.

It hurt so bad when I hit the ground that I couldn’t do ANYTHING at first. Someone came over and gave me a pull up and put me on a bench. When I finally stopped going “ow ow ow ow” and caught my breath, I realized my jeans were ripped open and my favorite pair of silk long undies were torn and my knee was bleeding profusely. That was when I made a serious, second error in judgement. I peeled back my bloody jeans to look at it. on an empty stomach with no coffee yet that AM. Oops. Suddenly everything looked like I had wax paper between me and the world and everyone sounded reeeeeeealy faaaar off. Apparently I was about to faint. I finally came to my senses and there was Snick, sitting next to me on the bench staring into my face. I’d like to think he was asking “are you ok?” but it was more like “why did you stop chasing me?”

During all this, one of the meetup members went and bought supersized bandaids and antiseptic. I couldn’t use the antiseptic because my knee was filthy and I was queasy, but the bandaids were a lifesaver. After much debate about the hospital, I accepted an offer of a ride home from another couple of meetup members. I felt SSOOOOO guilty for cutting Snick’s morning short, because he’d been having so much fun and he was kind of like “why are we leaving” but he was so, very good.

After I got home (and up to the fifth floor), I managed to get out of my clothes and into a hot bath to get some of the dirt out of the disaster formerly known as my knee. There are a lot of gross details that no one needs to know, but I went to my doctor on Monday afternoon. She gave me a tetanus shot and strict instructions to stay off of it while it heals. She was impressed with my cleaning and bandaging, so that was good. It appears that I haven’t done any new internal damage; it’s just soft tissue damage. The massive pain when I hit the ground was more from an old injury (calcified cartilage from a horseback riding accident years ago) than the current impact.

You know what the craziest thing was? The woman that owned the dog I collided with never even bothered to come over and see if I was OK. It totally wasn’t her dog’s fault, or her fault, but if your dog was involved in a hit and run and came out unscathed while the other party was down for the count wouldn’t you at least say something out of common courtesy? When I was limping out to go home, she was merrily watching her dog play chase like nothing had happened! Very bizarre.

I go back to the doc (I keep wanting to say vet) for a recheck on Monday.

Anyway, that’s the scoop! Sorry I haven’t been writing or reading much for the past week. I’ve been super busy at work, busy with freelance stuff, busy with the holidays and then busy with healing!

Those of you outside NYC probably don’t realize there is a RAGING debate going on here about off-leash time in the city parks. Even so, I think any dog person can appreciate this Op Ed in the Times today. I’ve said for years that having dogs somehow makes us more human…

Op-Ed Contributor
My Life as a Dog
By JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
Published: November 27, 2025

FOR the last 20 years, New York City parks without designated dog runs have permitted dogs to be off-leash from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Because of recent complaints from the Juniper Park Civic Association in Queens, the issue has been revisited. On Dec. 5, the Board of Health will vote on the future of off-leash hours.

Retrievers in elevators, Pomeranians on No. 6 trains, bull mastiffs crossing the Brooklyn Bridge … it is easy to forget just how strange it is that dogs live in New York in the first place. (read more)

Snickers Then

And Now

He’s all grown up and he’s my "heart dog."

I never would have guessed that the silly, squiggly, mouthy puppy we brought home back in January 2003 would grow up into such a confident, wonderful adult. He is so self-assured and so loving. He’s reserved with most folks outside the pack, but he turns into such a silly boy when he is greeting one of his favored few (human or canine). There is just so much to love about this guy, I could blog about him for years (and probably will) without covering it all.

Happy Birthday Snickers. I love you.

Secret has her own photo gallery. It didn’t seem fair to have one for Snick and not add one for Secret, so I started it even though I didn’t have much to put in it.

I’m sure we can convince Miss ~T~ to take some more photos of her sweet little Shiba girl though!

Note: Edited October 24, 2008, to change gallery link.

I wrote a long email to Shiba-L tonight about Secret and then realized “duh, blog post” so here ya go (edited a bit to make more sense to the blog audience)!

Secret (6 years old) came to live with us seven weeks ago. She lived in a backyard in the country most of her life. The city has been a BIG change for her. My daughter and I have a pretty tight schedule, so the best we could do was throw Secret into the mix and hope she could adjust. She’s been dealing with a lot of new sights and sounds and rules and, well, EVERYTHING. On top of all this, she had no training when she arrived. She was housebroken (pretty much anyway) and walks really nicely on a leash (except for balking at crossing busy intersections), but she didn’t have any basic obedience - not even sit or wait.

At first, she wouldn’t take treats. She would sniff at them and turn away. She finally realized - watching Snick devour treats and bits of food - that we were trying to hand her good stuff. Then she turned into a PIG. We couldn’t get her to stop trying to grab everything we had, whether it was meant for her or not. I started reminding ~T~ every night that she needed to get serious about teaching Secret some manners and self-control.

After a couple weeks of just bonding and loving, she started training Secret. Every night she would wrestle Secret into a sit (we couldn’t guide her into a sit with a treat or even nudge her butt down - she would squiggle all over the place trying to figure out what was going on) and gleefully exclaim "Sit Secret! Good girl!" after she managed to hold her in a pseudo-sit position. Finally, after about two weeks of that, the light bulb went off and Secret SAT. Now she sits like nobody’s business! You tell her sit, she sits. You have anything yummy, she sits. You call her name, she runs over and sits. She sits so earnestly that her little butt goes BANG on the floor. During the same time she was finally learning to sit, she stopped peeing in my room. (Five times in the first four weeks, she walked into my room and purposefully peed. Usually when I was loving on Snickers.)

Secret has really bonded with my daughter and follows her everywhere. They are the cutest pair. My daughter does all the training with her and walking her (except first thing weekday mornings). At first, I didn’t do anything extra with Secret because I didn’t want to interfere with their bonding, but now I’m spending more time with her also. She and Snick get along great. They don’t play much, but they kiss each other and sleep side by side and that sort of thing. They eat well together. They walk well together. She’s started going out with Snick and the dog walker even. (I didn’t let him take her for the first month because she was so skittish and unpredictable outdoors.) And, now that Secret is here, Snick isn’t lonely when I’m out, which is the BIG plus in my mind.

She’s been very skittish with new people but she’s making leaps and bounds in that area also and has even shown some affection towards another dog owner that she sees each morning at the dog run. Her personality is starting to emerge now that she’s been with us almost two months and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it. She’s started inviting us to play chase with her if we’re at the run and there aren’t any other dogs there besides her and Snick. She gets playful with us and with Snick at home some now too.

Her personality is decidedly different from Snick’s. He is so confident and self-assured. Nothing shakes him. He’s a serious dog and very standoffish with most dogs and people, but OH SO playful with the dogs and people he deems worthy. Secret seems shy and insecure, but she has a sweet and charming personality when you get to know her. She leans into Snick when they walk side-by-side. He provides the assurance she needs to deal with new situations.

Anyway, I’m babbling now. That’s the history. Here’s the issue… We have one problem with her that I’m not completely sure how to handle. She bit someone in my apartment a couple weeks ago. He’d been around her a couple times already - once just a couple days after Secret moved in and once the night before the she bit him. The night before, he was here for about 2 hours and Secret was following him and watching him intently the whole time he was here. We’ve had a number of other people over also. Deliver people, a friend from work, the dog walker, etc. She’s always very observant, but she never showed any signs of fear or aggression. The night she bit my friend was the same. She was watchful, but seemed comfortable. However, at one point we started laughing and acting ridiculous and Secret jumped up and dodged in and out and BIT him on the leg! ~T~ took her to the side and held her till she calmed down and we attributed it to our sudden weird behavior and her being new and unsure of what was happening. BUT then, about 15 minutes later, as he was getting ready to leave, she pulled away from T, ran across the apartment, and chomped him on the back of the leg! She bit him hard enough - through relatively heavy pants - to draw blood.

I thought about it a lot and decided that she must have been disconcerted by him because the pack order dynamic in the apartment changes when he comes over. He and I have known each other for years and he’s like family. When T and I went to get Snickers, he was driving the car. Snick grew up with him and tends to defer to him as leader (instead of me) when he’s here. T adores him too and I think we all treat him differently than the average visitor. Maybe she was completely freaked out by the shift in pack order and her solution was to try to chase him away? That was my original assessment. I spoke with a dog behaviorist (is there such a thing? a canine behavior expert, maybe?) a few days later and she suggested that now that Secret is feeling like she actually belongs here, she might be planning to assert herself and move up in the pack and she saw him as a threat. Someone also suggested that it could mean Secret is very happy here and she was worried something might change because he was here.

A few days after this incident, there was a photographer here for 4 1/2 hours. She had all sorts of (odd to a dog) equipment and we moved furniture around and did (strange to a dog) things. Secret tolerated most of it really well, but there were a few times when T and I were worried that she was getting over-anxious. We watched her very carefully and distracted and/or restrained her when we thought she needed some calming time.

I’ve asked my friend that was bitten to come by when he can spend some time with Secret and hand feed her and get to know her. I need to see how she reacts to him when he’s actually paying attention to her. The thing is though, I’m not sure if the problem is just about him or if it might be a problem with other visitors going forward. I’m not sure how to find out though without putting other people’s calves at risk! I’m certainly not going to stop having people over because of this, so I need to figure it out.

Now that I’ve written all this and I’ve thought about how much she’s adjusted since she came to live with us, I feel better about it. Hopefully, as she becomes more comfortable with us, we’ll have less to worry about. She’s such a darling little girl most of the time.

If anyone has any thoughts, input, things to look for, advice or otherwise, I’d be happy to hear it.

Benedict just called Bettina! Part of her email…

Kaos did really well on the plane, so no problems there. He said it’s really warm and that he’s on the beach, so that’s good. He says hello to you.

He also said he hasn’t hooked up with his cousin yet and that the cops have hassled him four times already, so let’s all keep hoping things go well for them.

I’m especially glad he called, because I had a dream two nights ago that Miss ~T~ and I were walking the dogs one night and ran into Benedict and Kaos. In my dream he said that something had gone wrong at the airport with Kaos’s paperwork, that they couldn’t go and it had taken him a couple days to get back to Manhattan. I’m relieved that was just a dream and that they’re really in Florida!

subtitled Bye Bye (for now) to Benedict and Kaos

Benedict and Kaos have a 3pm flight out of LGA to Miami. TODAY. They’re getting out of here before it gets cold again!!! I’m so happy for them. They were sleeping in various places (like ATM vestibules) that couple weeks when it was so cold. The cops mostly left him alone. (He’s a nice guy.) He can’t go in any of the shelters with Kaos. He’d been getting some day work here and there too, but only when he had someone to leave Kaos with. (It’s hard to go to work when you have no home to leave your dog in!) He’s been talking about trying to get to Florida (he has family there) before the cold set in, but (1) he didn’t have his ID and (2) traveling with the dog is next to impossible - it makes hitchhiking way harder; Amtrak won’t take dogs; Greyhound doesn’t take dogs - dogs can fly but only when it’s above 45 degrees, plus flying is expensive. We’d talked about trying to find a place to keep Kaos while Benedict hitched down to Florida (besides being cheaper, he hates to fly) and then fly her down to meet him, but he didn’t want to leave her behind.

Well, then, "How did this happen?" you may ask. Apparently, Benedict and Kaos have angels watching out for them. About two weeks ago, he and I were talking and he asked me if I knew Bettina. "Bettina, with the little Chihuahua? Sure, I know her." (All us dog-folk know each other, after all.) He proceeded to tell me that Bettina had offered to buy him a plane ticket as soon as he had his ID in order, which he had just accomplished. Wow! I ran into Bettina a few days later and told her what he’d said. That night, she bought him a ticket and arranged for Pet Chauffeur to pick the two of them up at 11:30 this morning. Then, another neighborhood friend, Mary, who I’ve blogged about before, donated Rafter’s kennel for Kaos to fly in. Benedict took Kaos back to the vet to get her health certificate and Bettina picked up the kennel from Mary. This morning, Benedict and Kaos met up with Bettina, got the kennel and the e-ticket info, and hopped into the pet taxi to LGA!

He promised he’d call me after they get settled, to let me know they’re doing alright. I sure hope he does. I’m going to miss having them around the neighborhood, but I’m SO GLAD they’re headed somewhere warm now.

Last, but not least, Bettina took on a big expense (Benedict’s ticket, Kaos’s ticket, Pet Chauffeur, etc.), so if anyone wants to make a donation to help cover her costs, let me know.

Periodically, on my way to work, I see a woman walking two older dogs, I think one is a Yorkie and the other, a Maltese. I don’t know how often I pass her - maybe not so often - but periodically for over 3 1/2 years is enough to have a sense of recognition. I hadn’t seen her for quite awhile actually and then a week or two ago, I passed her and she only had one dog. I thought “oh. oh no.”

This morning, I saw her again. I was already running a few minutes late for work, but there she was, walking one cute little old dog (the Yorkie) I walked up to her and explained that I see her walking her dogs every now and again and I noticed she only had one with her that last couple times I saw her. I asked “Did he… ?”

She said yes, he was killed by a cab just a block from where we were standing. She was waiting at the corner for the pedestrian light about 6 months ago and a cab turned the corner cutting really close in front of her. He killed one dog and sent her and the other dog to the ER and the vet. We talked for a few more minutes about how she was dealing with it, her remaining dog, etc. I told her I was really sorry and then I went to work.

I’ve had close calls with cabs myself. They don’t see dogs that are low to the ground and they cut SO CLOSE to pedestrians. I saw a cab run over a woman’s foot one day outside the Port Authority! There is one intersection near my apartment where the cabs just WHIP around the corner and Snickers has almost been hit twice as we’ve started to cross the street and had a cab cut in front of us.

Walking dogs in the city can be a real challenge with the traffic, the crowds, people pulling out of parking garages without looking, construction sites, electrified grates, etc.

This woman seemed like such a nice lady and her remaining dog was so sweet and well-behaved. I just feel terrible that that happened to them.

Snick’s Canine Good Citizen certificate came today. He’s a certified good dog. (Secret, on the other hand is a CDB - canine dumb blonde - but we love her anyway.) Just for fun, here’s a silly picture of Snickers at the dog run a few weeks ago. He had just yawned, I think.

I was thinking today about a couple of my favorite Snickers moments that ended up as blog posts. They were:

• Snicks, The Valiant Hunter (or something), and
• Shibas are Fierce

One of these days when I’m not so busy, I’ll go back to blogging about stuff other than just Snickers. Really.

A few weeks ago at one of my NYC Shiba Inu Meetups, someone asked me “do you know who owns this dog?” He was pointing to a poor quality male Shiba standing near me. I replied “Sorry, I don’t. Is something wrong?” He said “No, I’m planning to breed my female and he has all his parts.”

Apparently the only requirement for a mate for his female (which I didn’t see) was a male with balls. <SIGH> I’m not saying the male Shiba in question wasn’t a great pet; he seemed friendly, healthy and well behaved. But this dog was not breeding material! His color and markings were completely wrong, he was not double-coated, and he had a skinny chest. (AKC Shiba Inu breed standard)

I found myself in a tight spot. I wanted to tell this person why what he was considering was a very, very bad idea, but I was there as the organizer of my meetup group and it didn’t seem like a diplomatic time to start a dog run brawl. I ended up holding my tongue, but in a way I regret that. After all, as we’ve discussed here before, the solution to the dog overpopulation problem really is education.

I was thinking about all this a couple days ago and it reminded me of an email I wanted to publish on the blog. Several months back, someone sent an inquiry to a Shiba list that I check sporadically.

Subject: Looking for male shiba in NYC/NJ to breed my sweetheart shiba

Hi,

My sweetheart is a 1.5 year old female shiba (cream). She is belownormal size (only 15 lbs) and perfect for NYC size living condition.several friends of mine seriously urge to have a baby of my shiba. Idiscuss it with my vet and she thought it is fine as long as I havefriend to adopt the babies.the problem now is to find a male shiba for her.Do you have a cream or light brown male shiba around the area? Pleasecontact me and let discuss further. thanks…

Many of the responses to this inquiry were blind outrage and, unfortunately, not very helpful in educating this person. One response however was so thorough and well-written that I asked permission to post it here. This is what it said:

I’m sure there are others who will sugar coat this, but as a former breeder and as someone who rescued Shibas for over 10 years, I have a few comments/suggestions.

1. Clearly, you do not know the breed standard for the Shiba Inu. If you did, you would know that the cream color is considered a fault and there is NO brown Shiba. I presume you are thinking of RED. It may appear to be a light brown color, and that is improper, too. Ideally, it should be a flame orange red but can go all the way to a deep mahogany red. NO responsible breeder intentionally breeds creams.

2. Size. Weight is not the important indicator of size. A Shiba bitch should be between 13.5 to 15.5 inches at the withers. If it is smaller or taller, it is a DQ in the standard. That means it doesn’t reflect what a Shiba should look like.

3. Do you know WHY your female is so lightweight? Does she have normal thyroid levels? Have you checked?

4. Have you taken her to a canine eye specialist to have her eyes examined for cataracts and glaucoma? Either of those diseases IS hereditary and can have devastating consequences. Like blindness or loss of an eye!

5. Have you had your bitch’s hips x-rayed and the x-rays submitted to OFA to be certain she doesn’t have hip dysplasia. This is also hereditary, and can cause lameness severe enough to require surgery.

6. Have you had her patellae (knees) checked to be certain they do not luxate (slip out)? Luxating patellae can require surgery as well.

7. IF you choose to ignore all the above and breed anyway, do you have the money for an emergency C-section, if needed? If the dam cannot produce enough milk, are you available to tube feed 1-5 puppies every 2 hours for several weeks? Puppy replacement formula is VERY expensive. Do you have a plan for what you will do if your female doesn’t survive the labor or delivery? Can you afford the vet care for 1-5 puppies? Can you afford to feed a high quality feed to the pregnant dam and her puppies? The female would be pregnant for 9 weeks, and you must keep the puppies until they are 8 weeks before you can legally sell them. Can you afford to advertise your pups for sale for weeks? I hope you don’t plan to make a profit, as breeding is very expensive!

8. Do you have firm commitments from 1-5 people who will accept a puppy, regardless of gender or color, since you can guarantee neither? What if everyone wants girls and you get only boys? What if everyone wants a cream, and you don’t have any? Breeding cream to cream may not produce cream. Do you have any idea of the quality of the parents of your female? Are there any champions in the first 3 generations? Is she AKC registered? Does she have limited registration? If not, the breeder who sold her isn’t a reputable breeder!

9. A regular vet telling you your dog is healthy is NOT enough. That simply means that it doesn’t APPEAR to have anything wrong during a brief, cursory exam.

10. Do you KNOW how many nice Shibas and mixed-breed Shibas are out there right now, needing to be rescued or re-homed? There are hundreds!

11. If you love your little girl, then do what is best for her. Spay her and enjoy her company for the years to come. Breeding DOES shorten the life of a female and failure to spay DOES dramatically increase the likelihood of mammary cancer.

You are fee to do as you wish, of course, but I hope you will consider the best interest of the Shiba Inu and your female.

Chris
Clarkston, WA
IF you won’t rescue, DON’T breed!

I’m writing a silly post because I’ve been very emotional about Snickers the last few days. I’ve realized he’s really my “heart dog” (a phrase I found ridiculous until recently, btw) and I can’t bear the thought of what I’ll do without him when eventually leaves me. Tonight, a friend sent an email to Shiba-L about finding out her elderly male Shiba has an enlarged liver and spleen - possibly cancerous - and I’ve been teary and sniffly ever since.

So, on to the silliness… this weekend my NYC Shiba Inu Meetup group wore their bandanas for the first time. They were custom made for us by Barb at bandanamania and they ROCK. If you need pet bandanas for any group or occasion - or even just for a single dog - she is the woman to talk to.

Snickers passed his Canine Good Citizen test today. Yay Snickers!!! We went to the My Dog Loves Central Park Country Fair with our NYC Shiba Inu Meetup group today. He was scheduled to take the CGC test on October 24th but they were doing testing in the park and I thought “what the heck! we’ll take it and fail and know what we need to work on.” So we did, and HE PASSED!!!

The one part I thought he might not pass was the “supervised separation” where I have to leave him alone with the evaluator for THREE MINUTES. Yikes! We have a hand signal for “be right back” though, so I told him to sit (so I’d have his attention, but didn’t tell him to stay) and then I told him I’d be right back and walked off where he couldn’t see me. I think I was fretting more than he was for that 3 minutes. The evaluator said he whimpered when I left but not loudly and he didn’t get anxious or pull on the leash or anything, so he passed.

If you want you can see the ten components of the Canine Good Citizen test on the AKC’s website.

Oh, I have to cancel our appointment for the 24th. Hee hee!

Back in March, I wrote an entry titled "When You Realize What You Don’t Know." It took five days to find the words for that post. It was worth it though, because the response was AMAZING. It turned into a great conversation which lasted two or three days.

And then, that was it.

For the past couple months, I’ve had a draft titled "What We Learned" sitting in WordPress while I attempted to devise a brilliant summary of what was gained from that original conversation. I have come to the conclusion that there is no brilliant summary. It was a great conversation and I think a number of us learned a few things, but I can’t say it changed anything.
I’m still trying to figure out what I can do to make a difference. A real difference. Educating consumers about where their pets come from seems like the most important step to me. It’s all about supply and demand really; if people didn’t buy from pet stores, puppy mills would go out of business and there would be a lot fewer animals in shelters. Then there is spay/neuter education and, finally, the cons of backyard breeding.

Someone I know recently suggested writing a book and I’ve been thinking over whether there would be a market for it. Could it make a difference? The real question, I guess, is could it reach the people that really need to be reached???

Some of them are a bit fuzzy because we were mostly avoiding using the flash. We figure she’d been through enough yesterday without getting flashed in the face too!

Click to embiggen*

*I’ve totally stolen the word embiggen from Lachlan and plan to use it every chance I get.

Snickers knew something was up when we left the apartment. He could smell Secret’s kennel in the hallway. He walked so nice with me to Bryant Park, looking up at me at every intersection to make sure I saw how good he was being. When we got to the park, I spotted ~T~ and pointed her out to Snick who made a FAST BEELINE for her across the park. He was most concerned with giving her kisses, but then he wanted to check out Secret. Secret was still a little dazed and confused and mostly ignored Snickers except to shy away from him a couple times. He decided that was no fun and hopped up next to me on a park bench. As soon as T and Secret walked off though, we were on our way after them. He didn’t let them out of his sight!

After a few minutes of wandering the park together, we decided to walk the few blocks west to the dog run. Luckily, Sundays are relatively quiet in my neighborhood, so the sidewalks weren’t too loud or crowded. Both dogs were wonderful on the walk and I gave T some advice on how to navigate the streets, people, traffic, etc. with a dog.

When we got to the run, it was empty, which was probably a good thing. Both dogs dashed in happily off leash. Secret sort of wandered and sniffed and explored a bit. Snickers mostly sat by me. Secret came over and sniffed at him a few times, but now it was his turn to ignore HER. After about a half hour, we put them back on leash and headed home.

When we got to the apartment, Snickers was VERY EXCITED that Secret was coming in. As soon as we got inside, he tried to get her to play, but she wasn’t interested. For the next few hours, she mostly napped in a corner of T’s room while Snickers napped by my feet. We fed them dinner and Secret ate most of hers and then we all went back to the dog run. Secret seemed much more confident about her surroundings this time around and she and Snick even did a little mutual sniffing while they were at the dog run.

One thing we have to work on… Secret can’t manage all the stairs up and down to our apartment. The stairs are ceramic tile, so they’re a little slippery for dogs that aren’t used to them. I’m sure she’ll adjust. She’s slipping and sliding all over the apartment floor right now too… she can’t seem to figure out how to walk on the hardwood. She’ll be ok until something startles her or Snicks bumps her on his way by and then she’s like a little cartoon doggie suddenly running and getting nowhere.

After we got back home, T and Secret went to bed. Secret’s crate is right by T’s bed and Secret went right into it for the night. I didn’t hear a peep out of their room until I woke them up this morning. Snickers seemed totally OK with her being there. He followed his normal routine… stayed by me till I went to bed and then went and slept in T’s room for awhile and then came and got on the bed with me for the rest of the night. He stayed with me till I woke up this morning, like usual. He didn’t seem overly concerned or curious about Secret being in T’s room.

More later… waiting for T to email the pictures to me!

What a day! When I woke up this morning it was raining. What could be worse on a day that I needed to introduce two water-hating Shibas to each other on neutral territory?!?! Snick and I didn’t even go out until about 11:30, but luckily the sun came out shortly after we went out. I told ~T~ to “wish really hard and maybe we’ll have a sunny afternoon for the dogs.”

Secret’s flight was supposed to land at 1:50, so we left home at 12:40 to catch the 12:50 NY Airport Service bus (which is only $12 to LGA)!!! When we got to PABT though, they said the bus left at 12:40, not 12:50! Grrrr. Anyway, the next bus was at 1:10 and we were on it, happily emailing and IM’ing away on our Sidekicks on the way to the airport. Luckily, when we got there, it turned out that it was an easy 3 minute walk from where we got off the bus to Delta Cargo. BUT, they said her flight had been delayed and she wouldn’t be available until around 3pm. Back to the terminal we went for OVERPRICED (but yummy) pizza and cheesecake (just T) and coffee (just me). We wandered back to Delta Cargo around 2:50 and they said she’d landed, but it would be a bit before we got her. We finally got her at about 3:25. T went to where she was and took her out of her crate while I finished the paperwork to claim her. She seemed more than a bit shell shocked at first - she was wobbly and had this glazed look to her. When we called her name, she just stared past us. T fell instantly in love with her though.
Pet Chauffeur was there to take us home (first time I’ve used them because of the cost, but so glad I did for this situation). The driver was so, so, so nice. He loaded the crate in the van while T walked Secret for a minute. Then we got on our way with Secret in T’s lap. The ride home was completely stress free. The driver dropped me and the kennel at the apartment and swung back around to Bryant Park to drop off T & Secret. I took the kennel upstairs, grabbed Snick, and off we went for the introduction.

You’ll have to check back tomorrow for the rest of the story - and pictures. I’m off to bed now!

We will be picking Secret up at the airport this Sunday at 2:00 PM. Hee hee!!!

I’m not ready. Her leash and collar are here though and she’s coming with an initial supply of food. ~T~ and I have a plan for introducing her to Snick before bringing her into the apartment and T has Monday off from school. We’ve got our daily walking and feeding schedule worked out and Secret may start her first Obedience class in mid-October.

But I’m not ready. Eek!

If you could see my to do list… we’ll you would likely cry with sympathy.

Saturday morning, I made three lists: mine, ~T~’s and ours. T even added a few things to hers after I finished. It was a very aggressive collection of to do items, but I must say that T and I did some SERIOUS damage to those lists this weekend. I also did a few things that I’d forgotten to write down. What did not happen however was work for any paying clients. I had a bunch that coulda/shoulda been done too. <sigh> There just isn’t enough time in a weekend to do everything that needs to be done. Is that what weekends are supposed to be about?

I also haven’t had time to blog, but here are a few notes:

• ~T~ and I both got T-Mobile Sidekicks (Hiptops) this past Wednesday. We’re both quite enamoured of them. I’ll write about it later this week.
• Secret gets spayed tomorrow, so we’ll be setting a ship date for her soon!
• Benedict and Kaos have NOT left town. They were up in the Bronx for a bit, but I ran into him in the neighborhood a few days ago and several times since then. I met up with him today and gave him Kaos’s paperwork from the vet and got his signature on the city license app, which I’m mailing tomorrow. Plus, he has my phone number again, so he can stay in touch. Kaos looked GREAT, btw.
• I finally admitted to myself that I’m not young anymore… I used moisturizer before bed last night! Since when did I become my mother?
• My list of draft posts keeps growing and they’re so much better than the stuff I actually post. No time. No time. Does that happen to you guys?

That’s it. Got a little more work to do and then I’m off to bed. G’night!

EDIT, EDIT! News Flash! (sort of)… 11:51 PM: I just checked Urban Hund’s website and the new pictures are up and (this is the news) I don’t hate the picture of me and Snick! LOL. Check it out. (From the home page, click into the fall collection and wait for the third slide.) Pretty cute.

I understand that there are terrible things happening to people all over the world and even in my neighborhood. I care very much about those things, but that doesn’t mean I can’t care about less dire things. I also realize that only a relatively wealthy society like ours can afford the “extras” we give our pets in the U.S. . . . the beds, the clothes, the extraordinary medical measures. (I once knew a dog with a pace maker.) However… every living creature deserves to die free of pain and suffering if at all possible. Now, go read about Doogie.

via: The Blog Pound

Non-Shiba people don’t believe me when I tell them how careful you have to be with Shibas. They can’t be off leash - NOT EVEN IN SOME FENCED AREAS. My parents have a regular (4 foot?) chain link fence and when Snicks has visited them he is NOT allowed off leash in their backyard. FOUR FEET? That’d be like no fence at all. He went over a dog run fence once that was almost 5 feet. Anyway… back to the point. If you don’t believe it, check this out. Hee hee!

A few days ago, I referred to a photographer, but gave no detail. Well, the detail is that Snickers got to be a model for a day (unpaid, just for fun) for Urban Hund’s Fall 2006 Collection.

The photographer, Kent Henderson, emailed me a few days ago to say that a picture of Snickers made it into the catalog! hee hee! I don’t know if Snick will be on Urban Hund’s website too, but if so, I’ll link to it when the fall collection goes online. In the meantime, click the pic to the left to see my six favorites from the shoot.

The best part was that we got to keep one of the collar & leash combos and it is really, REALLY nice stuff!

Note: Edited October 24, 2008, to remove link to photo gallery that no longer exists.

The pictures to the right are (1) Kaos getting a belly rub from me and (2) Kaos hanging out later that same day. These are from the last day that I saw them in the neighborhood.

I think Benedict and Kaos took off for Florida. It’s been 3 weeks and a day since I’ve seen them. I hope that’s what happened anyway. The thing that really SUCKS though is that when I saw them last, Benedict said the business card I’d given him was in a bag that was stolen and he didn’t have my number. I didn’t have any cards on me at the moment and told him him I’d give him one next time I saw him. Now I think he’s gone and he doesn’t have my number to give me updates on how he and Kaos are doing! ARGH!!! Plus, I still have his copy of Kaos’s shot records and health certificate.

I hope if he’s gone to Florida, he’ll get online and get in touch with me. Since I don’t blog anonymously, googling me and Snick is a sure way to end up here. (Of course, googling himself and Kaos would get him here too, but I doubt he’d think there was any reason to try that.) Anyway… Benedict, when you eventually get online after you get settled, I sure hope you’ll get in touch to let us know how you’re doing!

A few weeks ago, Snickers had his first sleep over. He goes to the dog run, he has playdates, he goes to doggie daycare, but this was new. His friend, Bean, spent a whole weekend with us! (Bean’s companions - Beth & Jeff - had to go out of town. We were dogsitting.)

Snickers and Bean met when they were puppies and they have been fast friends ever since. Bean used to live in our neighborhood, but he moved to Brooklyn, so now we have to coordinate visits. They get so excited to see each other. They had SUCH a good time that weekend. They were both completely exhausted when it was over. We spent a lot of time outdoors and at the dog runs. We also met up with a photographer (more on that later) who took these nice pics of the boys.

Bean and Snick even signed up for their first Agility class together, which started tonight, but unfortunately Bean had to drop out. He had a problem with his back about 6 months ago and he’s started limping again when he gets too tired. Class tonight was FUN, but it would have been so much better with our friends Beth and Bean.

Snickers doesn’t know yet. ~T~ and I have a secret… actually, we’re getting a Secret. A dog named Secret!

She is a six year old, red Shiba Inu. She been living temporarily, as a foster dog, with the breeder that owns and shows Snick’s brother in North Carolina since January of this year. She needs a forever home and we’re it. We haven’t set a ship date yet. (More on that later.) In the meantime, here are two pictures of our soon to be family addition!

PS There’s still work to be done on the blog, but it is nitpicky functional stuff. The format is done. I know a few of you commented on it already. What do the rest of you think? I based on on the look of the old blog, but updated it with some round corners and a little bit different layout and some neat plugins.

Sorry it has taken a week to get around to writing this post. I’m working too much and sleeping too little. I think my brain is too tired for anything coherent, so I’ll just bullet point the vet visit and what I learned about Benedict last Saturday. K? K.

• The vet said Kaos is quite healthy and has great teeth.
• Kaos was very good for her shots. The vet muzzled her for the blood draw and temperature. Kaos didn’t like that much but she was REALLY good. She just stared into Benedict’s face. He said it was OK and she believed him. She’s really devoted to him.
• Kaos was SO GOOD with the other dogs in the waiting room. Another dog there was aggressively barking at her, but Kaos took it all in stride.
• There were about 6 of us in the waiting room talking about the dogs. Benedict said something about Kaos being protective when he’s sleeping and I saw a couple of confused faces. They hadn’t realized he was homeless. Didn’t faze them at all though. :)
• Benedict is planning to move to Florida before winter. I knew that before Saturday but we talked a lot about his plans to get there and what he’ll do then. (It’s a mile walk each way - lots of time to talk.)
• He has stuff stored with a cousin in Florida and a small piece of land (no house though). He wants to build something there.
• He’s a college grad, which didn’t surprise me AT ALL.
• He gave up a ride to South Carolina that was offered to him on Saturday morning, because he didn’t want to miss Kaos’s vet visit. Now that she has her rabies tag and a health certificate though, he’s good to travel if he gets the chance.
• I’m going to take him a city dog license app to fill out and then just mail it in with my address on it and give him the tag when it comes.
• I haven’t seen him and Kaos ALL WEEK, but I haven’t seen the guys he normally hangs out with either so we probably just haven’t crossed paths.
• I gave him my cell phone number after our walk to the vet and back. He promised he’d let me know if an opportunity to leave the city arises and that he’ll give me an update after they get settled in Florida.
• Someday he may even read all this and I hope he won’t be mad that I shared so much about him with "strangers."
• Oh, and, btw, thanks to a 10% discount from the vet and donattions from you strangers… the $251 vet bill only cost me $56. :) THANKS!

• I’m porting the blog to WordPress and redesigning the templates sometime in the next couple months. Fun fun.
• I received some photos last week from a high school reunion that was held this summer. (I’ve never made it home for one.) I’m sad to say I only managed to recognize 4 people out of about 40.
• WATER, IT DOES THE BODY GOOD!
• Snickers is scheduled to take his AKC Canine Good Citizen test on October 24. We have some work to do between now and then.
• Did someone shorten the days to less than 1,440 minutes each and not tell me about it? Lately, I can’t seem to keep up with everything that has to get done in one day.
• A neighborhood friend gave Benedict some dog food for Kaos a couple days ago.
• Why do tourists insist on trying to flag down cabs that are occupied???
• ~T~ is getting a Sidekick. She’s paying for it herself from savings. WOW!

First, it turns out that Benedict spells her name Kaos and it’s not just a cute misspelling. It’s an acronym! Kicks Ass On Spot, which is just that much cuter to me really because she’s such a sweet dog.

Secondly, here are a couple pictures of the two of them. Click to embiggen, as Lachlan would say.

Thirdly, yes, we went to the vet today! More on that later. I’m exhausted.

I just realized that Snick’s diet has changed again since I last posted it, so I thought I’d post an update. (I’m amazed at how many people come to my blog after googling “what to feed a Shiba Inu.”)

For the history of how we got here and some general things I learned, see this post. Here is the current recipe:

• Put 1 3/4 cups of water on high heat.
• Add 5 scoops of Dr. Harvey’s Canine Health while waiting for water to boil.
• Bring to boil then lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring to avoid burning.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• Add the following:
  • 6 to 8 ozs of protein (usually tuna, sometimes salmon)
  • 3 tsp of oil (canola, black currant, safflower, borage, hemp or soy)
• Mix well and put into storage container.
• Spread 1 cup of Wellness Simple Food Solutions Duck Formula* across top.
• Sprinkle 1 oz of shredded cheddar cheese on top.
• Seal and refrigerate.

Serving Instructions for Snickers? Food

• Do not feed warm. (Always cook it with time to refrigerate before feeding.)
• Snick eats twice a day. Approx 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.
• This is 6 days worth of food, so use about 1/12 of the total amount per meal
• Immediately before feeding, add the following:
  • with breakfast:1/2 teaspoon of Prozyme enzymes
    with dinner: 1/2 the contents of a probiotic capsule
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Quaker Quick Oats (100% Natural Oats)
  • 2 squirts of Grizzly Salmon Oil

*I just bought Wellness Weight Management Super Mix instead, but by the time it arrived and I opened it, he really didn’t need it. He’s slim and trim and looking good!

Alright gang, a few of you asked what you could do to help Benedict and Chaos. I’m going to tell you. On Saturday, August 19th, Chaos is going to the vet for a checkup, her second distemper/parvo shot, her rabies shot, a fecal, a heartworm test, and 6 months of heartworm preventative. The receptionist at the vet’s office estimated $250 for all of this. I have, oh, I dunno, about $15 at the moment, so whoever wants to help, please comment and I’ll email you. (I’m not setting up a paypal thingie, cz paypal sucks in a huge way.)

It would be cheaper if we took her to the ASPCA, but I can’t trust them not to try and take her away from Benedict. I promised Benedict we’d go to my vet, cz I trust them. I told the receptionist the situation and she said another client actually brought in a homeless person and their dog recently too. Kewl!

More than anything else, this is what really needs to be done for this dog. She needs healthcare and she needs her city license, which she can’t get without a rabies shot.

I think it’s also important that I add something here about my philosophy on helping homeless people. I’ve befriended a few homeless people in the 14 years that I’ve lived in NYC. I have never once given any of them money, but I have given them some of what they needed - conversation, food, blankets, etc. In choosing to help Chaos, I am not supporting Benedict’s decision to live in the streets (yes, he has other options). Benedict is a pretty good guy though and he’s taking the best care of Chaos that he can in his situation. The animal shelters in NYC are crowded and dogs are euthanized here EVERY SINGLE DAY. Chaos is a BIG dog and wouldn’t have a chance of being adopted if she were taken into the shelter. With Benedict she’s getting love, training, food, care, etc… that is what I’m supporting by helping Chaos - one less dog euthanized in the city shelter.

Please help if you can. Thanks.

Malcolm Gladwell posted a follow-up on his blog regarding the Cesar Millan profile. The entry - and the comments - are quite interesting.

If you like Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point) or Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer) or both, you’re going to love Gladwell’s profile of Millan for The New Yorker, May 22, 2006.

A couple months ago, someone posted information to Shiba-L regarding a convicted animal abuser and a whole conversation followed regarding the way animals are treated right here in the good ol’ USA. Our government may not go around beating dogs, but we certainly have our share of people that think animals are worthless and without feelings.

One of the listers posted the following response and I found it to be so well-spoken that I requested permission to post it here.

In my honest opinion, until everyone learns to respect animals in general, there will never be an answer to this ongoing problem of animal abuse. We are sickened by the actions of the abusers who are caught, wanting to make them pay for what they’ve done, but that doesn’t address those who abuse their own pets daily, both physically and emotionally, while outwardly showing no signs of being an abuser. In some respects, these types of pet owners are bigger offenders, in my opinion, because it can mean a long, painful life for a pet who is actually dying a slow, miserable death daily.

The lucky ones are removed from the situation, but how many aren’t given that opportunity, yet those abusers are allowed to remain in society to abuse as many pets as they want until they’re caught or until their life ends.

In my opinion, education is the only way to overcome this terrible situation we’ve allowed to gone on way too long, and we need to target the children, starting with the very young. How we punish animal abusers, especially those who are undoubtedly mentally disturbed needs to be handled in a way that also educates the public.

I don’t really know if there is one right answer to the horrors that seem to be increasing with regards to animal abuse, but I do believe too many adults lack respect for animals in general, and until this changes we will continue to see cases like this, or possibly even worse. JMO

Carolyn
Portsmouth, NH

(Thanks Carolyn)

I guess I forget - because he has such a big personality and heart - but just now I turned the corner into my room and saw Snick sleeping (and shedding) on the corner of my bed and thought “Gee, he’s really quite small.” So, I went over and gave him hugs and snuggles and kisses just for being so cute and wonderful. Of course, that woke him up and put an end to my leisurely afternoon (because now he wants to eat, play, walk, something.)

I ran into Benedict and Chaos this past Saturday and gave them the new harness and Snick’s old leash (a nice mountain lead I got this winter, but it was too heavy for Snick). I saw them again tonight and Chaos looked really nice in her new black gear.

The "Realfeel" is supposed to get up to 113 degrees tomorrow and 116 on Wednesday, so I’m worried about how they’re going to fare in the streets. Dogs aren’t allowed in the shelters so they won’t have many options for cooling off.

There’s a battle going on in NYC regarding off-leash time in the parks. The Parks Dept. allows dogs to be off-leash in many large public parks (that don’t have dog runs) before 9:00 AM and after 9:00 PM. (Sadly, as any fellow Shiba owned will tell you, I can not take advantage of this cool privilege so Snick and I stay home whenever our friends go to Central Park.) Not long ago, a lawsuit was started to force the Parks Dept. to end this privilege.

I followed a link today to a blog that calls itself "Prospect Park Advocate" and almost gave myself a headache rolling my eyes over and over. Whoever writes this blog is clearly completely clueless about dog behavior and is most likely terrified of dogs. She (I assume she from the writing) posts pictures of well behaved dogs playing and exploring the park with their owners and then says things like "…that they have no problem with fighting unleashed dogs in Prospect Park," (under a picture of dogs wrestling in the snow) and "Can someone explain how an owner is ‘in control’ of their dog when it’s running loose?" (under a picture of the off-leash rules that state owners must be in control of their dogs).

<sigh>

This started off to be a post about how funny I thought it was that the writer thought the two dogs in the snow were fighting, but now I’m frustrated. I don’t understand why people like this think it’s OK to try and take away rights and pleasures from whole groups of people because of their own fears and prejudices.

For more information on what’s happening with the lawsuit, go here.

~T~ is in town for the week between visiting her grandparents most of the summer and going to visit her dad for a couple weeks, so I took today and tomorrow off work to hang with her. We’d just come home this afternoon after manicures and pedicures and I was checking my email before dashing out to see The Devil Wears Prada. Mostly routine stuff in my inbox: email from a client scheduling some computer work, email from Shiba-L, newsletter from UrbanHound. Interesting newsletter title: “The 10 top reasons why New York City is great (for dogs).” Let’s read that. Click. It opens. I start reading…

Dear urbanhounders,

Outsiders believe that anyone with a dog in New York City must be crazy. But we know better. And so we dedicate this issue to the top 10 things that make New York City great (for dogs):

10. The boom in local Meetup groups for breed enthusiasts;

9. Blogs like NYCityPets and NYCgadgetgirl’s Snick the Dog that chronicle a dog’s life in the Big Apple;

8. Hound-friendly stores…

Wait a second! Snick the Dog?!?!?! Cool!!!

When I picked Snick up from doggie daycare this evening I said “Snick! Guess what? You’re famous!” He looked up at me and said “Neat. Wazzat? Can I go smell that pile of garbage over there? Please?”

So, there you go. Snick had his 15 minutes of fame and, like a true blue New Yorker, he blew it off and got on with what needed to be done. Good dog!

PS to UrbanHound - I’ve been visiting UrbanHound for almost three years now and I’m flattered by the link. Thanks!

Snickers and I met a homeless man this weekend named Benedict. He has a 6 month old puppy named Chaos. Chaos is one well-kept, good looking dog and she is clearly devoted to Benedict.

He said he took her from a man that was training her for the dog fights. (For those of you that don’t live in NYC, yes, we have underground dog fights here. Pets get stolen for them sometimes. It’s definitely A Bad Thing.) Anyway, Benedict took Chaos away from that and you can tell he takes very good care of her. His backpack, which was mostly all he had, was full of dog food. Chaos looked healthy. He said she’d had distemper, parvo and rabies shots, but he needs to get her on heartworm preventative. I told him he also has to get a city license for her ASAP so he doesn’t have to worry about her being taken away from him as a "stray"

If a homeless man can take such good care of his canine companion, what the hell is wrong with the people who surrender dogs to the pound? Don’t they understand that they made a commitment to a living being? Don’t they realize their former family pet will most likely DIE because they couldn’t be bothered? Maybe they just don’t care.

Benedict cares. I like him.

A fellow New York dog owner, Amanda Soto (and her dog Butch, of course), started a group on Dogster recently called "NYC - Let me get on that train!" It did not take long for that group to start growing!

Long story short, discussion was had and then Amanda did a lot of work to put together a great petition to the MTA. It asks for the right for leashed dogs to be allowed on the subway and suggests ways to make sure the dogs are not a nusiance, such as only allowing dogs that have passed the Canine Good Citizen test. She even talked with the AKC and got permission to use their CGC info/language in the petition!

So, huge props to Amanda (and Butch for inspiring her). Also, if you are in NYC, make copies of this petition and start spreading it around. Get signatures. Send them to the MTA. Let’s make big waves. Snickers says "Let me on that train!"

I couldn’t resist. There were so many people on meetup waiting to see if someone would start one, that I finally joined meetup.com and started a NYC Shiba group. For any NYC Shiba folks out there, check it out and join if you’re interested: http://shibainu.meetup.com/101/

The first meetup is scheduled for June 24th at 11:00 AM in the dog run at Madison Square Park.

The evening of the May 24th - Snickers was acting weird at the dog run - breathing fast, staying right next to me. He was stung by a bee at the run last summer and flies made him nervous after that (till it got cold and they went away), but this was a bit extreme.

The morning of the 25th - We were at the dog run and he started looking all around like something was after him and then he started to shiver and shake and whimper and cry. I also noticed him pawing at the sides of his mouth and realized he’s been doing that more and more for the past few weeks. I took a close look and noticed that his bottom lip on both sides of his mouth is red and inflamed. The right side looked like he’d scratched some flesh away.

The evening of the 25th - Around 5pm, T called from home and said he was freaking out, crying and shaking and looking all around. I went home and he was so intent on whatever he was imagining that I couldn’t even get his attention. Eventually he calmed down and I took him for a walk. He acted weird again at the run after our walk and we went home.

The morning of the 26th - He was sleeping more soundly than I’ve ever seen him sleep. He didn’t wake up when I petted him or even when I moved his head with my hand. His ear finally twitched a bit when I said his name (rather desperately, I’m sure, as I thought at that point that he might have curled up and died during the night).

Saturday, the 27th - Snicks went to the vet. She did a full exam and drew blood and the tech went with me to walk him outside and get a pee sample. She prescribed Clavamox (antibiotic) for his lips, along with Chlorhexadine solution to clean his lips with once a day. She also prescribed Tramadol, which is a mild sedative and pain killer. He acts freaky sometimes with sedatives, but she said this is mild and also if there is something bothering him the pain killer part will help also.

Her initial ideas were:
- Focal seizures,
- Internal discomfort of an unknown source,
- Thyroid problems, or, simply
- FEAR.

Tuesday evening the 30th - After a long discussion with the vet Tuesday evening, I am treating Snickers’ issues as fear-based, not physical. All his test results came back normal. There is still the possibility that it could be focal seizures, but the vet and I both think from the timing of the incidents that he is having panic attacks.

I treated his infected, chapped lips (from drooling, then scratching) and they’ve slowly gotten better. We only stay at the dog run briefly now. If he starts to stress out about the flies (or imagined flies), we go for a walk instead. If he freaks out at home, I give him the Tramadol. I’ve only had to do that twice. I’m going to order Rescue Remedy to use instead.

It’s going to be a long summer…

I talk to so many people since I got Snickers. (Mostly because tourists are more likely to ask someone with a dog for directions, but also kids that want to know if they can “pet the puppy” and even the random Shiba owner or enthusiast that we run into.)

Tonight, as Snick sat in one of his favorite people watching spots, I had a conversation with a nice Japanese lady. She came over to say hello to Snick. She was familiar with Shibas, but when I asked if she’d ever had one, it turned out that she has a Labrador Retriever in Japan. I thought it was sort of nifty that she has a dog from North America in Asia and I have a dog from Asia in North America.

That’s all… I know I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks, but I’ve really had so much going on. I’ll be back. I promise.

Received this a few days ago. If any of you in the southeast are looking for a Shiba, here are two females looking for homes.

Subject: Re: Shiba Inus needing rescue?   Date: April 13
From: SBigThumbs@aol.com   To :jg

In January you listed three shibas that needed rescue from Polk County Florida Animal Control. They have all been rescued or adopted, thanks for your help.

I just pulled two others from that same shelter. They are with our rescue and safe but they do need homes.

Two females - shelter estimates 2 yrs old. Heartworm neg, chipped, spayed and shots. They were confiscate from owner with over 100 dogs, mostly pit bulls……

They are on our site…. A New Beginning Pet Care & Rescue, Inc.

Thanks!
Debbie
A New Beginning

Some of you can tune out… I know I blog about Snick a lot. However, I noticed I’m getting a lot of visitors that have searched for things like “what can shiba inus eat” and “feeding a shiba.”

I’ve spent a LOT of time formulating the right diet for Snickers so I think I should share what I’ve learned about feeding a Shiba Inu. I posted his diet once a few months ago, but it has changed again since then. First, here’s the actual recipe: This recipe will feed Snick for 3 to 4 days, depending on his current level of exercise and number of treats received.

• Put 1 1/2 cups of water on high heat.
• Add 4 1/2 scoops of Dr. Harvey’s Canine Health while waiting for water to boil.
• Bring to boil then lower heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring to avoid burning.
• Remove from heat and let cool.
• Add the following:
  • 6 to 8 ozs of protein (tuna, salmon, chicken, turkey, or lamb*)
  • 3 tsp of oil (canola, black currant, safflower, borage, hemp or soy)
• Mix well.
• Sprinkle 1 oz of shredded cheddar cheese on top.
• Refrigerate.

Serving Instructions for Snickers’ Food

• Do not feed warm. (Always cook it with time to refrigerate before feeding.)
• Snick eats twice a day. Approx 7:00 AM and 7:30 PM.
• Use about 1/8 of the total amount per meal
• Immediately before feeding, add the following:
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Prozyme enzymes
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Quaker Quick Oats (100% Natural Oats)
  • 2 squirts of Grizzly Salmon Oil
  • Periodically, also add 1/2 contents of probiotic capsule

*Snick receives lamb jerky treats on a regular basis. This is why the protein ratio on his food seems low and also why lamb is the last protein choice for his meals.

Now, here are some random things that I learned along the way.

• If you add dry Quaker Quick Oats immediately before feeding, it slows digestion and the dog gets more nutrients from his food.
• Itchy butt, feet, and ears are an indication of food allergies and/or yeast infections.
• Fish oil has a natural anti-inflammatory in it.
• Adding enzymes and probiotics aids in digestion and keeps the yeast population in check.
• Shibas have been eating diets high in fish for thousands of years.
• Eggs, olive oil, yellow corn, white potato, beet pulp, beef, horse meat, avocado, and citrus products are not good for Shibas.
• Fresh food should be fed cold as warm food promotes bacterial growth in the tummy.
• Wild Pink Alaskan Salmon is lower in mercury than other salmon.
• The smaller a tuna is, the less mercury it has absorbed, so you can buy low mercury tuna.
• Iodine and Sea Kelp are good for dogs, but Snickers is allergic to something in Solid Gold Seameal.
• Pork products give Snick the runs.

If that doesn’t satisfy the curiosity of anyone searching for diet info, I don’t know what will!

will be long enough for Snickers to be in our lives.

Ever have those moments when you realize there is so much you don’t know about something? I get so frustrated sometimes when I believe I have an opinion about something and then I realize I don’t have all the facts and then when I try to LEARN all the facts it turns out there are WAY TOO MANY facts and opinions and I just can’t learn it all!!!!! AUGH!

So, this is one of those times.

You saw that coming though, right?
The story of what I don’t know starts with a confession. I worked in pet stores that sold dogs for about 5 years when I was much younger. I started as a sales person when I was 18 or 19 because the pups were so cute and it was a fun job. I’d had dogs and horses all my life and I missed being around animals. In less than a year I was managing a store. The thing was, I believed what I was told about where the animals came from. I was fed a whole line about the distributor that sent us dogs and cats from the midwest and how they got them from good breeders. I guess I was too young or naive to realize what a crock that was. My main rationalization for working there though was “if I don’t do it, someone else will and they won’t care about the animals as much I do.” Seriously, the animal care in my stores was over the top. We spent as much cuddle time and exercise time with the dogs as we could. We kept them all as clean, healthy, socialized and exercised as you CAN in that environment. Looking back now though, I can see how far from ideal even our best efforts were. Plus, some of thing things we were doing were compounding their bad start of being born in puppy mills; we were over-vaccinating them (of course, I didn’t realize that at the time) and overutilizing antibiotics when they were ill. And even with all the care and attention we tried to give them, that just is NOT where a puppy belongs in the developmental stages of their lives.

In my defense, I tried mightily to discourage impulse purchases and also made sure everyone that worked for me knew as much about the different breeds as possible so we could avoid matching the wrong dog with a customer. Unfortunately when a retail establishment offers something for sale, they can’t then REFUSE to sell it! I did refuse to sell to a couple of people over the years because they were intoxicated, but other than that all we could do was try and convince people they were making the wrong decision if we felt like they shouldn’t be buying that particular dog.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m just busy, busy, busy these days! I hope I’ll still have some readers when I get back to blogging more than random comments and links.

Speaking of links, wanna see a CUTE Shiba Inu? Check out Kishi’s Run for the Money, his siblings and his other pack members.

If the trailer for a movie makes you cry, don’t go see it.

Seriously. Don’t.

I just thought it was really weird. That’s all.

Coincidentally, when I went out to walk Snickers last night, the RealFeel temp was EIGHT BELOW! Seriously.

Anyhoo…

My mom emailed me last night and said I have to see this movie, Eight Below. At first I couldn’t place it, so I looked it up on imdb. That jogged my memory. I saw a trailer for this when I went to see Good Night, And Good Luck. My reaction when I saw the trailer was "Ooh! It has dogs in it! :)" and then "oh, what a hokey looking movie. :(" What’s with the big Barnum & Bailey-ish tag line "The Most Amazing Story Of Survival, Friendship, And Adventure Ever Told" (emphasis mine)???

Other than the cute dogs, I wasn’t much interested. However, my mom liked it, so I checked out a longer trailer online. This looks like a good movie. The thing is… I started CRYING about halfway through watching the trailer. How can I see this movie without bawling? ~T~ says I’m a wimp. I dunno. We’ll see.

By TED KERASOTE
Published: February 13, 2026

THE 130th Westminster Dog Show comes to New York today, with its thousands of contestants, ranging in size from two-pound Chihuahuas to 120-pound Great Danes. As the highly groomed dogs prance down the runways of Madison Square Garden ? the floor-length coats of the Afghan hounds swaying, the teased coiffures of the poodles bouncing ? it’s hard not to think of a fashion show.

In the case of dog shows, a given breed’s parent club sets the standard for the breed’s look or style. These standards describe an ideal specimen and are supposed to relate a dog’s form to the original function it performed. But given that dogs are the most plastic of species, and people are inventive, some remarkable varieties of dogs have been created to serve our notions of beauty, novelty, companionship and service.

Unfortunately, in some breeds, form has trumped function. The Pekingese and the bulldog, whose flattened faces make breathing difficult, are two examples. Such design flaws ? often perpetuated by breeders trying to produce a dog with a unique look ? have enduring consequences for individual dogs, their progeny and the people who love them.

Of the 180 breeds listed on one popular Web site for choosing purebred puppies, 42 percent have chronic health problems: skin diseases, stomach disorders, a high incidence of cancers, the inability to bear young without Caesareans, shortened life spans. The list is as disturbing as it is long, and poses a question: dazzled by the uniqueness of many of the breeds we’ve created, have we ? the dog-owning public ? turned a blind eye to the development of a host of dysfunctional animals?

Fifteen years ago, I was just such a starry-eyed dog buyer, poring over dog magazines and litters of pups registered with the American Kennel Club. Fate intervened. While kayaking on the San Juan River in Utah, I met a 10-month-old pup roaming free and making his own living in the desert. He wore no collar and looked to be a cross between a yellow Lab and who knew what ? a golden retriever, a redbone coonhound, a Rhodesian ridgeback ? a dog who seemed to shape-shift before my eyes. It was love at first sight.

He jumped into my truck at the end of the trip, and I brought him home to Wyoming, named him Merle and gave him his own dog door so he could come and go as he wished. His mixed genes and native intelligence took care of the rest. Merle would never have won a dog show, but his vigor and steadiness demonstrated what good genes can do, whether under the influence of a skillful human breeder or that oldest breeder of all ? chance and natural selection.

On the other hand, buying a purebred dog from a reputable breeder is no guarantee of a healthy dog, since the existing guidelines for purebred dogs are highly subjective. Consider the German shepherd. Current American Kennel Club show standards favor those with extremely low-slung back ends. But photographs of German shepherds from earlier in the 20th century show a dog with a high rear end, one that even a lay person would call a normal-looking dog. The makeover was done to create a German shepherd that certain breeders believed would have strong forward propulsion while being aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately, as many experts have noted, such low-slung dogs have nagging balance problems and look crippled. Dog buyers who want a shepherd ? or many other Kennel Club-recognized breeds ? must sort through such biomechanical and stylistic disagreements among breeders.

So if the pageantry of Westminster moves you to bring a new pup into the household, here’s a few tips that can save you some heartache and vet bills, particularly if the dog you have in mind is purebred. Investigate the track records of breeders. Meet both parents of the prospective pup. Talk with people who have bought from the breeder. And learn about the idiosyncrasies of one’s chosen breed.

If every dog buyer did such research, it would also help shut down the 5,000 puppy mills that, according to the Humane Society, provide most of the half-million purebred dogs sold through pet stores and the Internet. Poorly regulated, unsanitary factories in which females are imprisoned their entire lives, puppy mills survive because people get charmed by that puppy in the window.

Unlike the wrong computer or an automobile, however, faulty dogs can’t be readily exchanged or resold. They can be “given up” to an animal shelter, and they are, at the rate of about four million dogs each year, this soothing phrase disguising the end of 50 percent of them ? a gas chamber or a lethal injection.

We owe our dogs more than this. After all, it is we who have shaped them. Even when we err, they continue to put their trust and their lives in our hands.

Ted Kerasote is the author of the forthcoming “Merle’s Door: How Dogs Might Live if They Were Free.”

via Tails & Tales of New York

Tonight, Snickers got to do something only country dogs usually get to do. He trotted proudly home with a prize held carefully between his teeth.

He didn’t exactly hunt this down and kill it, but he certainly proved himself to be capable of procurring dinner.

We were outside for our bedtime walk. As we were walking north on 8th Ave we started to pass two ladies carrying identical shopping bags. These weren’t just any shopping bags though; they each had a big picture of a DOG on the side. As Snick came along the lady in front, he slowed down and looked at her bag. Then he slowed down some more until the 2nd lady came up beside him and he looked her bag. Sped up to 1st lady. Sniffed bag. Slowed down to 2nd lady. Sniffed. Sped up to 1st lady and nudged. Of course, by this time they had slowed down and were going “oh, how cute! he’s looking at them!” The next thing I knew, Snicks must have sent out some subliminal messages, because one of them was searching around in her doggie bag for something.

I almost protested but it was so cute, I had to let it play out. She handed him a BONE (which I later learned was a Pedigree Dentabone). He put it down on the sidewalk to check it out and the ladies walked on. He then picked it up and practically DRAGGED me several blocks home, carrying it all the way. We passed the ladies on the way; as we went by, I heard “oh, look, he’s carrying it!”

So, to make a long story at least marginally shorter, we got to our building, I took off his leash and he trotted up to the fifth floor, bone in mouth and proceeded to immediately polish off half of it.

I didn’t get a chance to say thank you to the nice doggie bag toting ladies, but I wish I had. They created a memorable moment for me and made Snick VERY happy.

AUGH! NYC is COVERED in snow and it’s WONDERFUL!!! Snick and I spent almost two hours outside this morning running around and diving through snow drifts. We finally made it to the dog run and there were other dogs there and Snick had SO MUCH FUN running around playing chase in the snow. He’s a snow dog at heart. He looked so proud and regal when he would stop and stand and look around. Thing is, I didn’t take my camera because it is just too big. ~T~ met up with us about halfway through, but she didn’t have HER camera either because she lost her charger and the battery’s dead. I must get some pictures of Snick in the snow. I must must must!

Shibas? Evil? Never!

Um, well… maybe! Talk about evil eyes!

(These were taken back in October when Snick’s buddy Toshi was over to play again. No Shibas were actually harmed during this playdate.)

OK, I know I should be sleeping now, but I’m goofing around with the blog instead. What’s it to you? Sheesh!

This was just a few days ago. This is clearly Snickers’ favorite toy. I just HAD to share this. He was furiously playing with his hedgehog one day and then basically just collapsed into a nap with it.

And here is Snickers enjoying the brand new conference room at my job last Friday. (I guess this is proof that he’s a good boy. The company just completely renovated and remodeled the entire office space and no one hesitated to let the S Dog continue coming in on Fridays.)

I am so impressed with my good dog. After reading Bones Would Rain from the Sky and then reading some other training booklets by the same author, I have been working on teaching Snickers more self control. He’s at work with me today and it is lunchtime. One of my co-workers (who IS a dog person) won’t tolerate Snick being in his office while he eats lunch. Each time I call Snick away, he will check in and then run back over there. Today, I called Snick to me and put him in a down stay right next to my desk. He stayed there for 10 minutes without budging. (Then I released him, because I didn’t want to push my luck and ask for more than he’s capable of quite yet.)

What a good boy!!!

9:30 AM: Just received the following answer to my inquiry:

From: SBigThumbs@aol.com
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2026 09:00:46 EST
Subject: Re: Shiba Inus needing rescue?
To: JG

Yes they are still alive. You can contact Polk County the girl there is also named Debbie….888-275-8941 x 230 for an update to see if anyone has pulled any of the dogs yet.

Thanks for your help.
Debbie

9:43 AM: Just received the following email from Janet.

J, I just wanted to let you know I contacted the local shiba rescue folks here to ask if they’d heard of these shibas. Here is the answer I got:

Yes, this was posted to Shiba Rescue and a few other Shiba lists today. A Shiba rescue volunteer in FL has been in touch with the shelter, and is working to pull these Shibas. She’s asked for anyone in her area who can help foster to let her know. So, as of this afternoon, there is someone working to find a place for them.

Thanks for forwarding, it never hurts to contact as many people as
possible to keep these little ones from falling through the cracks.

Hopefully they will find foster homes for them and be able to pull them out of the shelter in time.

11:54 AM: And another update from Janet’s contact at the Northeast Shiba Rescue.

Addtional info about those dogs in FL came through the rescue list this morning. From the information gathered, these dogs have been at the shelter for a long time. The three were found running together. At least one, a red female, is known to be a Shiba, and will be pulled on Monday. The other two are questionable as to whether or not they are Shibas, Shibas Mixes, or another breed or mix. The person pulling the female will also check out the other two, transport is in place for all of the dogs, and they’re working on finding foster care for the other two. Sounds hopeful

12:30 PM: Ami has posted this on her site as well. Let’s find some foster homes!

This was posted on Drive For Life today. I don’t know anything about it, but wanted to share it in case anyone has any ideas or contacts. If I find out more, I’ll edit.

From: SBigThumbs@aol.com

Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2026 7:57 PM
Subject: Three Shibas that are going to be put down at a shelter in
Central Florida

I was asked by Polk County Animals Services in Winter Haven FL to make a last ditch attempt to get these three rescued. There used to be a rescue here… Central Florida Shiba Rescue, but the woman died.

These three were all impounded together and range from 5-8 yrs old. They are fully vetted and heartworm negative and need to get out of there ASAP!!!

Please contact me with ANYONE that might be able to help.
Debbie
A New Beginning Pet Rescue
321-303-7077

I know my Shiba readers will understand. He’s not spoiled. He’s just, um, well loved.

First, this is Snick enjoying the king size Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed while we were away for the holidays.

Second, this is the recipe for Snick’s food. I’m not exactly sure what it says about me that the ONLY time I cook is when I prepare Snick’s food.

Snick just walked out of the bathroom with a piece of tissue stuck to one paw. I swear, I am not making this up.

aka How To Stop Traffic in NYC

Snick and I just went for a long bedtime walk. We walked and walked and walked. He rounded the corner onto a street he walks on almost every day. There was still some snow there. He started sniffing around and checking it out. All the sudden he started to run back the other way. Then he abruptly stopped, sat, lifted a paw, and started to SCREAM.

Have you ever heard the Shiba Scream? No? Well, if you live in my neighborhood and you thought you just heard a dog get hit by a car, that was Snickers. With cold salt in his paw apparently.

I knelt down and held him. And he screamed. I put my hand around his paw. And he screamed. I started to gently rub it to see if I could get whatever was in there LOOSE. And he screamed. Less. Finally he whimpered and then he stopped.

Meanwhile a group of pedestrians stopped in their tracks across the avenue. People stared out of two cars stopped at the intersection. A lady walked over and asked if he was ok and then said she’d thought I was beating him (from the sound) until she saw I was holding him. A Con Ed crew stopped working and a woman on the fifth floor of the building across the street opened her window and was calling out something about “dog” and “hurt” and “?”.

And, yes, I had to carry him most of the way home.

lt is a beautiful morning here in NYC and I am combining several enjoyable activities, I am

1. sitting in the sunshine with Snickers,
2. enjoying my morning coffee, and
3. catching up on my email and my reading list.

This is all made possible by my Palm T|X, because now I can be online at the dog run! Yay!!!

And now, for one of Snick’s favorite weekend activities, we’re off to the local pet store!

While researching dog food for Snickers a few months ago, I ran across Flying Dog Press. The site belongs to a dog trainer (who, according to my sister, is quite well known, but I didn’t know that at the time). The trainer, Suzanne Clothier, wrote a book which was featured on the website. It sounded interesting. I bought it. I read it. I loved it.

I just finished reading this today and I plan to start re-reading it tomorrow. This is not a training book. It is about learning to listen to what your dog is saying to you.

In addition to having some great things to say about our relationships with our dogs, Suzanne Clothier has a great way of saying them. Her writing style is engaging and enjoyable. This may sound corny, but I have to say it… This book made me laugh, cry, and think.

Buy it. Read it. You’ll love it.

Let me know.

So, I’m off tomorrow (Wednesday) on a roadtrip with ~T~ and Snick to visit my sister and her two dogs in Indianapolis. My parents will be there from down south and I’m sure a merry time will be had by all. Of course, I’ll have both my laptop AND my Palm with me, but I will probably be too busy to blog. Before I go, I leave you with the following:

PS This apparently isn’t working right in IE, so if you’re using Bill Gates’ crap, I’m sorry, but I’m just too tired to figure out why you can’t see the inside of my card!

Inu means “dog” in Japanese. I’ve known that for years. Akita Inu, Shiba Inu, etc. What I didn’t know until my mini me and I started researching breeds was that an obsolete meaning of Shiba in Japanese is “small.”

When I mentioned to a friend of mine last summer that Shiba Inu means Small Dog, she found it quite funny that when someone asks me “what kind of dog is that?” my answer is “he’s a small dog.”

Now, whenever I answer the question, a strange “Who’s On First”-type script plays in my head, especially if the person asking is Japanese.

Well Meaning Stranger: What kind of dog is he?
Me: He’s a small dog.
WMS: He’s not so small!
Me: No, he’s not. He’s actually a little larger than the small dog standard. He’s 27 pounds.
WMS: There’s a small dog standard?
Me: Of course. He’s a pure bred small dog.
WMS: Oh! What breed of small dog is he?
Me: He’s a small dog.

Or, something like that anyway.

I’ve recently started reading this great journal about the shelter/rescue/foster/adoption situation in NYC. It really makes you think about how irresponsible society is in regards to the well being of our pets.

It’s also made me guiltily think “I would help if I could,” which JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. I’m afraid I can’t foster in my tiny apartment with Snick, my daughter, and my already incredibly full schedule, but I have to find a way to make a difference.

We all should.

I still haven’t caught up on my work. I seem to have the developer’s version of writer’s block. Which sucks. A lot. <sigh>

Anyway, I just had to catch up on reading a few of my favorite blogs today. I am not going to let myself post (this doesn’t count!), so in the meantime, here is a picture of Snickers politely reminding me moments ago that I can’t go to bed until I cook his next few days worth of food.

I think he may have meant “can we go for another walk before bed tonight?” but it did, indeed, remind me to cook his food. He’ll just have to wait till tomorrow morning for that next walk. (Don’t worry, he spent 1 1/2 hours at the dog run a few hours ago.)

Spoiled dog.

• I have been awake for 3 hours.
• I’ve had breakfast with my daughter.
• I’ve had my first cup of coffee.
• I’ve probably dropped off, or picked up, my laundry or my dry cleaning.
• I’ve spent time with at least two of my good friends.
• I have walked 1.5 miles.
• I’m usually hungry for my second breakfast already.

If we were still sans dog, this list would look like this…

• I’ve been awake for 45 minutes.
• I’ve glimpsed my daughter in passing as I stumbled into the shower.
• I have walked .7 miles.
• I’ve incoherently purchased my breakfast and coffee on the way to the office.

I think I’m better off with the dog. Although I’m sure similar lists (say, about house cleaning or free time) might seem to slant the other way.

Today is Snick Dog’s Birthday! He’s TWO.

My dog - Snick the Dog - He knows the days of the week. I don’t mean that I think he knows the names of the days, but he knows the pattern of the week and he keeps track. He knows that for 4 days I go to work and leave him home, for 1 day he goes to work with me, and then for 2 days I generally stay home and hang out with him.

On normal Friday mornings, when we leave the dog run, he trots purposefully past the turn to our apartment and heads towards my office. I have always attributed his certainty of our destination to the fact that I take my laptop/backpack to the run with me on Fridays and that’s his cue that he’s going with me. However, when I was on jury duty a few weeks back, I did NOT have my backpack with me when we left the run on Friday and as I turned towards the apartment to take him home, he pulled toward the office! I told him “no, we’re going home. this way,” and he looked up at me like “nnooooo…. I go with you on Fridays!”

I convinced myself afterwards that it was probably my imagination. Or a coincidence. Nope. Nada. I was wrong about that. This morning he did it again.

We had clients coming in to the office today, so I had to leave him home. Walking home from the run today, when we got to the corner and I turned for home, he started PULLING and trying to drag me east towards work! We went upstairs and as I was changing into my work clothes and preparing to leave, he didn’t lie down and wait for his “goodbye treats” like normal. He kept watching me expectantly, like I was going to realize I had my days mixed up, grab his leash and take him back out with me! He knew today was the day he goes to work.

The good news though is that my mini me came home from a four day school trip today and he was there to greet her. I bet he was ssoooo excited to see her!

Lunch Break Blogging: It is almost 2:00 PM and I have spent my entire day so far working on one friggin computer that suddenly decided to stop booting up. I’ve had a VP in Investment Banking computerless all day and it looks like I’m going to have to reformat c:\. <sigh> I’m running some last ditch effort diagnostics right now while I eat a hamburger for lunch.

I am catching up on a little blog-reading while I eat and test and this post about Dakota (a Shiba puppy in Pennsylvania) reminded me of Snickers protecting me from the boogieman on Halloween.

We were walking home from the dog run around 10:00′ish. 39th St was pretty empty and these three (probably teenagers) guys in costume were coming towards us, yelling at each other, throwing things, goofing off, doing the things people do when they feel safe behind masks. Snickers was immediately wary of them when he saw them coming. One of them realized it and came up to us on the sidewalk. He was wearing all black and a Scream mask. Snickers stopped and crouched into an attack posture and all his hackles went up. The guy made a growling noise at Snickers who then burst into warning barks - roo roo roo, roo roo, roo roo roo. I couldn’t help but laugh at my fierce little dog protecting me from the Hobgoblin on the street.

Seriously though, Shibas bond VERY strongly with their owners and I can imagine Snickers doing just about anything if he thought I was in danger. He gets into the occasional fight at the dog run (when he thinks another dog has stepped out of line) and he’s a determined little thing, all muscle and teeth. Someone told me once he was like a wolverine. I hope I never have to find out if he’d defend me against a person, but I bet he would.

Lunch break blogging: I am still trying to figure out what to do about the holidays and Snickers. Last year (the first year we had Snick) my family came to NYC for the holidays. This year we are going to see my sister in Indianapolis. I am wary of planning to drive there as the Pennsylvania Turnpike can be awful that time of year. We should fly, but I don’t want to board Snick for a week. I don’t want to impose on one of my friends to dogsit. His last flying experience was terrible. I was sort of toying with the idea of flying with him anyway, but I changed my mind after reading the ASPCA’s pet travel tips and the pet travel incident numbers that the airlines are now required to make public.

[link via Modern Pooch]

If this GPS dog collar were just a little smaller, I’d be all over it. Snick’s never run off, but I totally stress and worry about it all the time. If there were a way to have this on him without the collar, that would be even better, because the most likely scenario if he is running loose is that he slipped his collar when we were out walking.

[via Gizmodo]

It’s raining today, so Snick has his buddy Toshi over to play. Watching them race maniacally around my apartment reminded me that I never posted pictures from the last time Toshi came over. So… with no further ado, my favorite pair of Double Trouble Shibas.

 
 

OK, this is a quick post from work (BAD ME), but I just could NOT help myself.

Snick come to work with me almost every Friday. Since half the office was out for Rosh Hashana today, he got to come for an extra day this week! I keep a fleece mat in my desk and unroll it for him when he’s here. He’s so cute snuggled up napping under my desk, that I had to take his picture. (Although, I only had my phone to take it with, so isn’t very good.)

I will never leave Snick behind. Never.

Dogs found shot in two schools in St. Bernard Parish

I couldn’t help myself. This is one of Snick’s puppy pictures that the breeder sent us when he was just a teeny baby.

And THIS was a week or two after we brought him home.

Gosh, this story of a family united with their dog almost made me cry.

Discovered this Shiba cutie yesterday. Love him already. His mom take lots of cute pictures of him. I’m suddenly motivated to find and post some of Snick’s puppyschmuppy pictures.

I’m working on a website for an off-broadway theater in my neighborhood. I was supposed to be finished yesterday, so, of course, I should be rushing, but as I was flipping through CDs full of photos to pick photos for the site, I found a series of the client and her dog goofing off during a photo call. I couldn’t help myself…

I haven’t been able to get this picture and the photographer’s comments off my mind for days.

T and I have periodically discussed and updated our evacuation plan over the years, so when we got Snickers in January 2004, he became part of the plan. (Darn, I keep meaning to buy a doggie backpack for him; I should do that right now.)

Anyway… we’ve always known most shelters won’t allow dogs and we’d have to sleep outside if we were hiking away from NYC towards the midwest (where my sister lives). After reading about Snowball (the poodle that wasn’t allowed to get on the bus out of New Orleans with her boy), T and I talked about it again. We’ve agreed that the only way in hell we will ever let Snick get separated from us during an emergency is if it is truly a matter of life-or-death.

Even then, I think I’d be hard pressed to remember I’m not allowed to sacrifice my life to save him. I know, I know, he’s "just a dog," but he’s also a big part of our little family. Truly, the only way I’d leave him behind is if I couldn’t save T otherwise. Her safety and well-being always come before everything else.

… a FAT SHIBA???

All the expert advice you read about Shibas will say that they are very smart, but very stubborn, hard to train, and never completely reliable.

Well, Snick is pretty well trained for a Shiba and he can be as stubborn as me. But he’s also fat. Why? Because Shiba Inus are extremely food driven. Someone asked me months and months ago "Isn’t it cheating if you have treats in your pockets all the time?" I said "If he slips his leash, I call him away from running into the street and he comes, does it matter that he came because I have treats in my pocket?" Seriously. Think about that for a minute.

Snick got fat almost immediately after he was neutered (14 months of age). I thought it was just a combination of the hormone change and his lower activity level from growing up. Well, it was - somewhat. I put him on a diet and cut his treats in half (half size, not half as often). He lost weight and looked great. Just recently though, he started getting fat again and it dawned on me… T and I are in the process of teaching him a new command! (New command, more treats, more weight. DUH!)

This weekend, I met a Shiba and her owner in my neighborhood (unusual, really - I know most the dogs in my ‘hood already) and the first thing her owner asked me was "is he really treat motivated?" I said "YES, can’t you TELL?" LOL

So, to summarize, Snick’s very well trained for a Shiba. And it SHOWS.

To donate directly to the efforts to rescue and shelter pets in New Orleans and reunite them with their families, see the home page for Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. They also need volunteers - vets, vet techs, and other animal handling/control personnel.

Which is what exactly?

A free event taking place Saturday, September 17th at Madison Square Park from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The event includes low cost microchipping, agility and obedience demonstrations, Canine Good Citizen testing, meet the breeds booths, balloon artists and caricature artists, plus free goody bags loaded with dog treats, bones, dog toothbrushes, magazines and more! They will also have contests and raffles for prizes from Sherpa, WagWear, Dogs for Dummies and Planet Dog.

(Thanks Niki.)

If you haven’t already, please consider making a donation to Noah’s Wish or the ASPCA. Volunteers in Louisianna and Mississippi are working furiously to rescue stranded companion animals and reunite them with their families.

I think I’ll try to see how many pairs of cute Shibas I can find online. I actually found this adorable pair about a month ago and have been enjoying Sumi’s mom’s blog ever since.

Since it was so BRUTALLY hot when Snick and I went out this morning, he decided to spend the rest of his day like this…

Just discovered two Shibas online named Yoshiro and Tsuki. Loved the pictures of them eating birthday cake on at the table!!!

OK, I must admit, sometimes on a Saturday morning when I’ve left Snick to wait in the apt building lobby while I run to Starbucks for a frap, I get in the LLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG line and I think "I wish I could call Snick and tell him not to worry, that I’ll be back soon." Um, but… then I come to my senses!

1. He’s a dog.
2. He wouldn’t know what I was saying even if I could call him and he could somehow answer.
3. HE’S A DOG.

So, when I saw this cell phone collar for pets (which hasn’t actually been released, by the way), I couldn’t help but wonder… if I put one of these on Snick and then called him from Starbucks, wouldn’t he be just a bit confused when my voice suddenly came out of the side of his neck???

I’m all for applying existing technology in new ways, but this one doesn’t make sense to me.

[product discovery via techiedivas]

Everyone asks why I didn’t kick the guy back. I HAD TO CHECK ON SNICKERS. By the time I knew he was OK (perfectly fine, just a bit befuddled), the jerk was almost a block away.

Besides, all that really mattered to me was taking Snick home and giving him lots of extra snuggly love.

Who goes to someone else’s city and kicks their dog??? Apparently, American tourists do.
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Shibas are such regal little dogs and they usually have nice, exotic sounding names. One of Snick’s Shiba friends is named Toshi and another is named Kaleo. People (well, adults at least) look at me a little sideways when they ask his name and I tell them "Snickers."

But what can I do? T and a committee of her friends picked his name. I suppose I had veto power, but who can veto the name an 10 year old picks for her first puppy?!?

His registered name is actually Kawakirei BNT Sweet ‘N Nutty. Of course, I’m not really sure if that’s better or worse.
Here’s his brother. He’s handsome too, isn’t he?

I was at Snickers’ girlfriend’s apartment early this afternoon saying (to her owner, not to her) how much work I need to get done this weekend and as I was saying it I realized that my entire weekend so far has been about the dog… doing stuff for and with the dog.

Yesterday, Snick and I left home at 10:30 AM. We ran errands, we went to the dog run, we went to the pet store, we dropped stuff off at home, and then we went to Brooklyn to see his best friend. Yes, his best friend Bean lives in Brooklyn now. Beth, Jeff, and Bean moved out of our neighborhood about a month ago. Bean and Snickers were SO EXCITED to see each other yesterday. I should have taken my camera. I was extremely jealous of how HUGE their apartment is. People in Brooklyn have a lot of space! We went to Fort Greene Park and hung out under a big shade tree. When Snick and I got back to Hell’s Kitchen, we went back to the dog run and then we were finally home around 7:30 PM.

Today, we went to the dog run and then to his girlfriend’s apartment. This afternoon, we’re walking to the dog park at Chelsea Piers with Snick’s friend Toshi (another black and tan Shiba; I’ll take pictures). Then tonight at 8:30 his potential new dog walker is coming by to visit!

This dog has a more active social life than I do. (Maybe I should do something about that.)

Shibas are the greatest little dogs. They certainly aren’t for everyone, but since T & I got Snickers, I have just fallen madly and completely in love with this breed.

I worry about the fact that they are so adorable though. Shiba puppies look like little stuffed animals. They are a stubborn and difficult breed to own though; they are categorized as a primitive breed, which, combined with how intelligent they are, makes them a handful to manage.

For anyone curious about Shiba’s personalities, here are a few of the best sites I have found on the subject:

• An Introduction to the Shiba, Part One
• An Introduction to the Shiba, Part Two
• The Misanthropic Shiba
• Is a Shiba Right For Me?

It’s not like I have nothing else to say or talk about. I have a fairly interesting life… at least I think maybe I do. The dog has a way of getting me involved with people I wouldn’t otherwise know or spend time with it. It has turned out to be an GREAT side effect of having him.

A few weeks ago, a group of friends took 7 of our dogs to Echo Lake Park in NJ and spent the afternoon hanging out and letting the dogs play. We took a potluck picnic lunch, which was amazing and generally just had a good time.

These pics were taken by my friend lulu, with her Palm.

OK, my DOG has play dates. My daughter didn’t go on play dates… well, not until she was old enough to arrange them herself! I’m not sure how this happened; Snickers and his doggie pals are obviously colluding to influence our behavior. And they say Shibas aren’t social!

The picture on the left is Snickers and his girlfriend Ill Nana. The one on the right is him and his best buddies, Bean. Bean’s mom Beth took that one.

With the RNC in town, I’ve been confronted with my minority status more than a few times in the past week or two. What minority status, you may ask? Heh. I may be a WASP, but - even with the GOP in town - Republicans are a minority on the west side of Manhattan. Supposedly, 1 in 5 New Yorkers are Republicans. Ha! 98% of them must live on the Upper East Side, because I certainly never run into any of them in my neighborhood.

Everyone is feeling a little overrun and overwhelmed by the 10,000 extra tourists and multitude of extra cops in the neighborhood. Of course, we all despise tourists of any kind (liberal, conservative, foreign, American, old, young, whatever). Somehow they always manage to be in the way. But, WOW, my neighborhood friends seem to have a special abhorrence for the Republicans. I feel like a spy when I’m listening to them bitch and moan.

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Snickers is the best little dog. This first picture is from a couple months ago. I just remembered it and had to post it. He jumps up on the cushions and watches the cars and people on the avenue below our apartment. When he was smaller, he thought they were something small to be chased and eaten. (I think, from the way he barked.) Now he seems to understand that he’s looking at the same place he goes when we go downstairs and walk outside.

This one was today. That’s my daughter he’s curled up against. She has a loft bed, so he sleeps with me at night. When she crashed on the floor cushions for an afternoon nap, it didn’t take him long to realize this was his chance to snuggle up next to her!

The photo that started it all. This past Saturday, I went to Bryant Park to take some pictures for a website I was working on (Bryant Park Capital). My daughter and her puppy, Snickers, went with me and I ended up with this great picture of him! At some point that day, I decided I wasn’t a half-bad photographer and today I decided I need somewhere to post pictures. So, there you go… now you know why this blog is here.