What my Shiba has taught me.

Trust is earned. Fight for what you want (treats).

Fight against what you don't want (baths).

When you see/smell something you like, throw your whole body weight into it.

Always stare blankly at an incredulous request (cuddling).

If you think someone is going to take food out of your mouth, chew faster.

If someone has wronged you, let the world know by screaming like you are being tortured.

There is no displeasure that can not be communicated with the whale eye.

The vacuum is the frenemy.

Shiba Scream

I thought I'd follow up with my previous post by talking a little more about the Shiba scream. <Begin>

You've read about the scream because you are a diligent pet owner to be and did your research on Shibas before you picked yours up. But how to you know when you've heard it live from your very own puppy's mouth?

Is it that sound? What about that other sound? What about this one?

Let me tell you, when you hear it, you'll know.

That's all I have to say about the Shiba scream.

<End>

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:

Shio vs. Poop

Not sure why it has taken so long for this to happen, but recently Shio has experienced some issues while pooping... issues that I find hilarious. Between my long hair, Shio's fur and anything shaggy that Shio can get his mouth on, he has a lot of strings and hair passing through his digestive system. The problem starts with when his poop cuts off mid-string and won't come out... leaving Shio with a stringy butt. Luckily, I found this post about Loki when I was researching Shibas and was aware of the stringy-butt problem. Our first run-in with the stringy-butt happened on the way to the dog run. We walk from our apartment in the direction of the dog run (normal), Shio poops and runs away from it (normal), I grab a plastic bag to pick it up (normal) while Shio runs around in circles at the other end of the leash chasing his tail (not normal). I watched Shio try to run away from himself, frantically chase his behind and drag-walking his butt down half an avenue (while Shiba screaming for the neighborhood to hear) before I swooped in to help him out.

I don't feel the need to describe the next couple of times because it's the same story, different type of string. And each time, I'm equally as amused as the last.

Hope you weren't eating while you read this entry. :)