Shio vs. Kaiju (+ Goo Goo)

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Today we went to meet up with Kaiju at his grandpawrents' place. They were all very accommodating, allowing the three shibas (that's right -- Goo Goo was there too) to run around the backyard. Kaiju and Shio were fast friends -- they immediately starting playing with each other with no issues whatsoever. They were destined to be brofurs.

After about 90 minutes of playing in the sun, Shio and Kaiju were exhausted.

Thank you Kaiju for letting us hang out with you!

Shio, of course, found something to roll in...

Kaiju is so cute. He loves having his belly rubbed.

Goo Goo hanging out with the boys:

Photos taken with Nikon D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8G, Leica M8 + Summicron-M 35mm f/2.

Back to Basics

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Our foster, Goo Goo 2, will be here in an hour! In preparation for her arrival, we've gone back to the basics.

1. Crate for training

Having very little idea of Goo Goo's background, we are prepared to crate train her, just as we did with Shio. When Shio was a puppy, he was only allowed out of the crate under supervision and was crated when we were out of the apartment and bedtime. I remember for the first two nights after we picked up Shio, he wailed all night. If Goo Goo does the same, it'll be a loooong weekend.

2. Potty training

Not sure where to start with this one. I'm sure that Goo Goo will experience some sort of anxiety and her whole system will be thrown out of kilter for the first couple of days. If she's 11 months old, I anticipate four breaks a day like Shio had when he was that age.

3. Leash training

Being that the NJ-22s did not have room to run and were not walked, I've been told that though they are generally good dogs they lack the training for walking on a leash. We've stocked up on treats for that!

4. Puppy proofing 

Spent all morning making sure that the things that are touching the ground are moved to higher ground or run the risk of having it destroyed. Fingers crossed for this one!

Wish us luck!

Thanks to our little Shiba community for the well wishes. Hope you are just as excited to meet her as we are!

PS - Please consider donating to help with medical expenses for these Shibas on the NYC Shiba Rescue site: http://nycshibarescue.org/donate/

Fostering Goo Goo

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Josh and I thought a lot about the possibility of a second dog when Shio turned 2 years old in December of last year. The problem was that even if we were ready emotionally to take on another dog, the timing was still off. We didn't have a car and it would be difficult to live with two dogs in a small Manhattan apartment. Then, we moved to Brooklyn in March and started having some behavioral issues with Shio because of the drastic change for him. Shio was stressed from the move and started fights with dogs in the dog run. After 4 months he finally settled in and the breeder we leave him with said that he would pair well with any dog that we welcome into our new home. In Brooklyn, we still have no car but a lot more space and a large local dog run in a community where everyone jumps to help each other out if there is a dog in need or trouble. In September, we started thinking about fostering a dog instead of adopting one. This decision was largely influenced by one blogger, Jen at Inu Baka blog. She details the chronicles of her experiences with each of her fosters, beginning with the basic training issues to the emotional bond that she builds with each dog. Reading her blog helped ease the fear of having a strange temporary dog and the sadness that I might feel when the dog is adopted out. Thanks to Jen's blog, we know that the sadness that we feel when we let go of our foster would be replaced by the joy of him/her finding the perfect home and knowing that we have him/her a second chance.

When we heard that there were Shibas in New Jersey were confiscated, it was the perfect opportunity to assist the organization and we applied to foster. (Thank you Jenna for the wonderful recommendation.)

The foster program director matched us up with a female black and tan Shiba. She's approximately 11 months old. Her name is "Goo Goo 2". Unfortunately, all the Shibas have simple names like our foster's.

After this long and sappy post, here is a picture of our foster to lift your spirits:

Goo Goo arrives on Friday at 3pm. We think that she has the sweetest face and from the pictures we've seen, an equally sweet disposition.

Before I saw Goo Goo's picture, I was sure that this we would foster and give up the dog to a better home but after seeing Goo Goo's face, we are preparing for the prospect of failing Foster 101. :)

Read more about 10 of the 22 Shibas (Goo Goo's in there!) confiscated from NJ on the NYCSR website: http://nycshibarescue.org/category/nycsr/