Happy New Year!

Reflecting back on 2012 after ringing in the new year is surreal. We have moved forward in so many ways with our dogs and survived our first year with two Shibas! In the years prior to 2012, we posted many entries about our day to day lives with Shio (these were pre-Emi days) and life couldn't have been better. As a first time dog owner, everything about Shio growing up fascinated me and it was our goal to document every little move he made from the goop in his eye corners to his twitchy little curly tail. At that time, sharing our life through this blog was the only means of announcing our lives to the world.

In 2012 we started exploring other options in social media realm and dared to share our world in other ways. We began playing on twitter and and meeting new Shiba owning friends, many of whom we met in real life and adore as much as we ever dreamt we would! Instagram was our next step and we've had a great time posting behind the scenes photos of the Shibas playing at home. Then there was my short-lived 365 days of Shibas project on Tumblr filled with photos of just the two Shibas sleeping or playing. At the end of the day, there are only so many photos of those two pups you can take. I also took up the task of helping NYC Shiba Rescue write about their beautiful foster dogs available for adoption.

It seems like our lives are overwhelmed by constantly telling you how much we love our dogs. So we stepped back and started posting only the more significant events and projects! Boy, was this a fun year!

As I have in the past, I'm going to wrap our 2012 with a short list of my favorite posts of the year. Here are my Top 5 posts from 2012.

1. Breaking Bad in Shiba form? Why, yes please! Each of the costumes were handmade and I couldn't be prouder of my handiwork. The Shibas on the other hand, could not be any less pleased by having costumes forced upon them. http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/2012/11/breaking-shiba/

2. This was a near tie for #1. Why? Because SHIO STOPPED PROTESTING! Though his rolling-on-the-ground-in-protests reputation preceded him on many fronts, it's been a complete relief to have him walk with us rather than against us like a real dog. Who says that old dogs can't learn tricks that they should've known since they were a pup? http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/2012/08/shio-vs-walking-2/

3. My crazy international Shiba key cover ordering project! I wound up ordering over 60 key covers and send them all around the world. This was a great way to bond with all the Shiba friends that we met on facebook, twitter, and the blogosphere. It's amazing that the internet has made the world so flat and allowed people of so many backgrounds to find a common connection. http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/2012/04/shiba-key-covers/

4. There's no year complete without a true look at how much your dogs mean to you. This was mine. http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/2012/04/mind-heart-soul/

5. Best part about the end of the year is that we have so much to celebrate besides just the holiday season. Emi's Gotcha Day and Shio's birthday ends our year! http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/2012/12/shios-birthday-nycsr-donation/

Looking forward to sharing another year of Shiba loving fun with you all!