Week 3 with Goo Goo

Just finished up our third week with Goo Goo. She's doing a great job coming out of her shell. Instead of hiding in or under shady places now, she is ready to meet the world with her bad ass Shiba self. I originally thought she would be okay with meeting new people but she's more Shiba than I thought. Goo Goo will duck away from being pet by a stranger like Shio! She's much more comfortable in our local dog run too. Still no playing with other dogs but she's running around and exploring the space and is much better at walking with me while leashed.

We've given her a bath as well. She doesn't like baths but is very good about tolerating them. No Shiba screams or scratching to climb out. Same temperament at the vet's office.

She's also successfully learned two new commands: 'Sit' and 'Paw'. More training will come as she becomes more comfortable.

Goo Goo also loves playing with Shio. They run around in circles in our living room and uses our furniture as a jungle gym. Our jumbo sized ottoman has become their personal wrestling platform.

Goo Goo really enjoys following me around everywhere in the apartment. Shio will now follow her while she's following me so I constantly have a Shiba train when I walk around.

Our favorite nicknames for her so far are Lady Goo Goo, The Goo-ster, and Goo Goo 2S.

This girl is awesome!

The Blame Game

I don't know what it's like to have a child but I imagine that having a dog helps prepare a couple for one. For instance, Josh and I sat around playing the blame game today.

Me: Shio kept me up all night. Josh: Because he's been sitting at home the last three days and has a lot of energy. Me: I would've taken him out to play this morning had he not kept me up by barking at lights outside all night. Josh: That's because you left him at home all day yesterday. Me: But I made sure to run around until he was tired before we went to bed last night. Josh: Maybe you got him all excited before bed so he stayed up all night. Me: *rips hair out*

This conversation was just a no-win situation. For me.

Meanwhile, our lazy Shiba sleeps in until noon today.

Shio's New Play Move

Dogs really do learn from each other! Shio now sits on his butt and waits for his play opponent to bust-a-move before leaving his position. This was a trick shown to him by his friend Grizz.

Drama!!!

This morning, I took Shio to the dog run next to the Museum of Natural History for a quickie play and was pleasantly surprised when I saw that there were only two chocolate labs (one puppy and one adult) frolicking in the big area. I thought, "Score!!! Now Shio can run and play as he pleases!" Shio went in and sniffed around. Then he marked a few things. Then proceeded to run with the chocolate lab puppy. The lab puppy was about 50 lbs and a very goofy little girl. They chased each other around and ran... and ran... and ran. At which point I thought, "Score!!! Now Shio will be extremely tired by the time we get home!"

Their little game of tag was working well with Shio being "it" all the way up until the silly lab ran him over like a two ton bulldozer to which Shio cried for mercy and held up his front right paw. He cried... and cried... and cried while sitting still and holding up his limp paw. My Shiba owning friends that are reading this blog know that by cry, I mean SHIBA SCREAM. Under any other circumstances, I would say that he wailed like a banshee but I'm not sure that a banshee's wailing could compare to the infamous Shiba screams.

I ran over and checked his paw for anything that may have gotten stuck in between his paws. Nothing. Stretched  his paw out and to the side. Nothing. Pushed on the paw as if to apply downward pressure. Nothing. I let him go and called him over to me and he gimped over with his tail hanging down. Something.

I kept him in the dog run for another 5 minutes and he limped around for a little bit before bringing him home. We walked around our neighborhood before returning upstairs to our apartment and saw a friendly puppy who wanted to play. Shio felt a bit better by that point so he started playing back and hopping around as to antagonize the puppy. Waitaminute, hopping around?! There was nothing wrong with his paw or his leg! What a little drama queen!!!

Though I don't doubt that the initial shock of the tumble combined with awkwardly positioned paw during the fall made him scared enough to scream, I can not believe he screamed like that without a serious injury! I'm feeling very blessed that it wasn't anything serious but I'm so so so surprised. We haven't heard that scream for a year and thought he had grown out of it. Now, I sure hope he's not growing back into it!

Currently, he's resting from his overly dramatic morning:

J's Brilliant Idea - Part II

It's 7am and NYC is covered with a foot of snow. Up wakes J all giddy like it's Christmas morning. Off we go to play in the snow again. J will update with pictures and videos later tonight.

Nap time for meeeee!