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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

• 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!

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!

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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

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!!!

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 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 and Snick and Snickers 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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.
Read more »

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.

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.