Protection Shiba

Mika has been coming into the office with me for a while now, and she knows everyone that works there, since there isn't many of us in the office. However, she still gets worked up when she hears someone entering the building that she does not know. She usually never barks at Amy who works in the front office when she comes into my office to talk to me. Or if she does bark she calms down once Amy starts talking to her. Now that I have Kyuubi in the office with me as well, Mika does not stop barking at Amy when she comes into "our" office.

Making sure no one gets near Kyuubi

It's cute that she is protecting and guarding him from people other than myself and Kevin, but also annoying when I'm on the phone with a customer and she goes off full blast barking. Well, she is the big sister and I guess she has to take care of her little brother when the parents are a bit busy with work.

Happy Birthday Mika!

Wow! She is a year old! Time sure does fly! I cannot believe my little shiba pup is going to be an adult now! So what are the plans for her birthday? I was going to throw her a doggy party, but the time just isn't right. With the expo coming up this weekend, I will be too busy to plan anything for her. However, she will be having a fun filled time at Wags & Wiggles daycare.

There has been ups and downs with her, but she has taught me so much in the past 10 months that I've had her. Mika was my first dog on my own that was not a family dog. She triggered something inside of me, a passion I never thought I had before, and I just want to continue learning so that I can better educate myself in order to do good by her and any other pet that comes into my life. Thank you little Mika for helping me discover a new me.

Mika 10 weeks

Mika few weeks short of 1 year

Doggy See, Doggy Do

One of the best things about adding a puppy into a family where there is already a well mannered dog is that the new pup will pickup on good manners from the already established dog in the household. Well, it's the total opposite!

Kyuubi is very easy to direct. If he's chewing on something he isn't supposed to and there is a toy near him all I have to do is make the sound "ah, ah, ah", he stops what he's doing and goes after the toy or if there isn't a toy nearby I bring one to him and he forgets about whatever he is chewing on and goes for the toy.

Taking my dogs with me everywhere I go, I always have a bag full of their toys, treats, poo bags, etc. so little Kyuubi thinks it's okay to chew on the bag that has his goodies in it. Mika did see him chew on the bag, and she also saw me redirect him to an appropriate thing to chew on. Then an hour later when I put Kyuubi down for a nap, I find Mika chewing on the bag now! Something she's never done before. Oh well, doggy see, doggy do.

Introducing Yamabushi's Kyuubi no Yoko

Finally Kyuubi's formal introduction. He is a Kai Ken, which is one of the six native Japanese Spitz breed. We got him from Brad and Jen Anderson of Yamabushi Kennel. We are lucky to have gotten him from Brad & Jen as they have been trying their best to import new Kai Kens here to North America to help preserve the breed, bringing in new bloodlines and to add genetic diversity.

We were given updated pictures of Kyuubi and his littermates every so often since they were 3 days old, so it was exciting to see them grow. I will try my best to update as much as I can as he and Mika grow together, but now that I have both of them I am a bit more busy.

Here are pictures of him growing up. Pictures courtesy of Brad Anderson.

Day 3

Day 3

Day 20

Day 20

Day 20

Day 30

Day 30

Day 44

Day 44

Day 44

Day 44

Day 55

Day 55

Day 55

Will post pics that I took of Kyuubi this past weekend later on~

First Storm

Sunday night going into Monday morning was the worst experience I have ever had with Mika. It was pouring at night and there was a thunder storm. It didn't really hit until about 4 o'clock in the morning. I woke to a little bit of rumble, but it was nothing dramatic... yet. A loud boom went off, followed by distant roars of thunder and flashes of lightning. Car alarms went off, my bedroom shook and Mika startled from her sweet puppy dreams jumped up and started barking.

She wasn't going to go back to sleep. No way, not after that. I tried to soothe her to let her know that everything would be okay. She jumped off the bed and started patrolling the room, pacing back and forth. After a few minutes I no longer heard her walking around the bedroom. I called out to her and didn't get a response. I sit up and turn on the light on my nightstand, looking around the room for her while my eyes adjust to the light. On the floor, laying next to two blankets and a pillow, she was trembling. The storm was still relentless and Mika never experiencing a storm before had no idea what was going on, all she could do was lay there and let her body shake involuntarily. I got up out of bed, picked her up and put her back on the bed, she curled up next to me and I kept petting her until she fell asleep.

This isn't a very clear picture since it was taken from my phone in the middle of the night, but here she is before I brought her back onto the bed.

How do you doggy parents deal with things such as thunder storms when your beloved pet is scared?

Information For New Puppy Owners

I would have been lost raising Mika without the help of the Shiba Inu Forums & the Nihon Ken Forums. I learned so much about puppies and how to raise a healthy and happy pup. I never would have thought to pay for socialization classes for a puppy. I would have thought that visiting friends and their dogs would be enough socialization for any dog. Seeing as Mika is still a bit skittish of people, I'm afraid of what would have happened if I didn't put her through the socialization I did when I first got her.

The constant whines and nips of a puppy can make some people go crazy. A lot of people, not just myself turn to these support groups (forums) to find out if what they are doing with their puppy is correct. Even though it was less than a year ago that I started raising Mika as an 8 week old pup, I am still learning of new ways to approach different situations. Every dog is different, so things I did for Mika may not work for the new addition. So I spent the last few nights before bed watching playlists of helpful videos of Raising A Puppy and Playtime by Dr. Ian Dunbar.

I urge new puppy owners to visit Dog Star Daily and read the different texts that are available there. There is so much information to help owners who may want to give up and put their dog up for adoption. This is a way to help raise a puppy into a well behaved dog that can be your lifetime pal not just an out of control puppy waiting for a new owner to take on the challenge.

Irresponsible Breeding

Lately there have been more and more posts on the different Shiba Inu related forums I follow and there seems to be more people looking to stud or wanting to breed  their dogs. Heck, there was even one where a litter was produced from a non-standard shiba that no reputable breeder would have kept in their breeding program.

It just saddens me that people want to breed their dogs because it's cute and fun. There is so much more responsibility needed when bringing dogs into this world. There are so many dogs in shelters because of irresponsible breeding. Many people who breed for fun do not do the genetic testing to make sure their dog is free of any hereditary diseases, or breed dogs with an unwanted temperament.That in itself causes most dogs to go into shelters because some dogs are so fearful and some owners do not want to take the time to train their dog and to socialize them to get passed their fears, which can cause aggression.

If anyone is seriously thinking about becoming a breeder, I suggest you do a lot of research about the breed, the hereditary diseases that are in the breed, and do the proper testing to make sure your dogs are cleared from any of the diseases that make vet bills break the bank. Proper testing is recommended at 2 years of age. Anything before that will be too early to tell.

I just want to also make a note that I will be adding a male pup soon, and yes he will be kept intact. He is not a Shiba Inu, but is a different type of Nihon Ken. He will be kept intact in hopes to improve the bloodlines here in North America and add genetic diversity to his breed. The Shiba Inu does not need anymore genetic diversity as there are many of them in rescues looking for great homes.