Leo is One!

Leo is already one year old!  Time flies!

Here are some pictures of our little whirlwind of naughty (so-christened by a friend from the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab forum).

Baby Leo:

Leo today:

Leo still enjoys agility, and though this picture is from the early fall, when he was younger, he’s still just as eager to run through a tunnel or over a jump, or go over the A-frame (his favorite!).

Leo in the tunnel at his agility class

We’ve found agility to be great for general training too–in some ways!  He got off leash one day on a walk, and my heart stopped–there have been too many lost Kai.   So I said “let’s go” which we say in agility and pointed the direction I wanted him to go and started walking, and he came running, and sat.  I clipped his leash back on.  Good boy, Leo!

Of course, he also sees most of the furniture in the house as part of an agility field now, and happily jumps and climbs on things whether I want him to or not.  I think he’d have done that regardless; Kai Ken are climbers.  But now, at least, he’s quick to jump off something if I want him to, as he’s used to watching my hands and responding to commands.

Leo in a rare moment of repose (on the back of the sofa)

He starts a new group class tomorrow:  advanced obedience, which is only really as advanced in that he had to have another class before it.  I don’t think he’ll enjoy it as much as agility–at 1 year old, he is still puppyish in many ways, including impulse control.  I don’t think he’ll enjoy stays, for example.   But it will be good practice, and then we’ll go back to our agility trainer later in the spring.

I took him to a loose leash walking seminar recently too, because he pulls like crazy.  They used a gentle leader head collar on him, which worked quite well.  In fact, in about 5 minutes he had stopped pulling, and was heeling like a champ.  One of the trainers remarked to the other how smart he was, and how clicker savvy he was, and how he watched my hands so attentively.  We talked about his agility class, and how good he is, and just as I was congratulating myself for having a brilliant boy, the trainer suggested a change of venue.  We went outside.  Leo saw some agility equipment and started pulling like a sled-dog, even in the head collar.  All semblance of focus on me was gone.  Ha!  Now that’s more the Leo I know!

Why do we call him the whirlwind of naughty?  Because he’s always into something:

Like that!  He just jumped right up on to the table in front of me, because wow, that mouse looks tasty!  (Leo loves to chew plastic).  He’s also a crafty little planner:  he often checks things out to figure what he wants to steal, and then if I go out of the room (even for a minute!), he’ll grab it.  This means he can’t ever be unsupervised, because he’ll get into something!  Library books, cameras, phones, my kindle–these are all favorite targets.

I think he wants to read.  Maybe he’s heard that Toby writes and he wants to try too!

The Nihon Ken forum? I have things to say!

Thoughtful Leo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But naughty or not, he’s a wonderful dog.  He gets along with the other dogs, and is a little peacemaker.  He is smart and funny, and more loving than the others, and he is endlessly entertaining.  He even tries to charm the other dogs into giving up things he wants (like the toy Bel has) and though it never works, it is fun to watch:

Silly Leo

Happy birthday, Leo!  We’e so lucky to have you in our lives!

And thanks to Brad and Jen Anderson at Yamabushi Kennel for entrusting him to us!

No More Yearly Vaccinations!

I’m hoping that this year, I’ll be able to keep up with the blog a bit more regularly, so I’ve decided to keep myself motivated by writing some posts on general topics related to canine health and behavior.

I’ll start this with yet another story of why I love my vets.  I went in with Toby to run some tests to see if he had Cushings syndrome (the answer?  Probably yes.  But that will be another post).  As we were there, my vet said in passing, “I notice that Toby has not been vaccinated for almost 2 years.  Toby is almost 9.  I see no reason to vaccinate this dog again, except for his rabies vaccination which is required by law, but I wanted to tell you that if you need to board him, you will not be in compliance, so this is just so you’re aware of his status.”   I was delighted not to have argue about my decision not to continue to vaccinate my adult dogs.  I thanked her, and we went on with the exam.   My vets, in case anyone wonders, are old-school in the extreme.  They don’t even use computers.   They are hardly out there on the fringe.  But they’ve been practicing for over 30 years, and they’ve seen and learned a lot.  They do not feel that animals need to be vaccinated every year.

A few days later, I came across a great link on vaccinations on the Shiba Inu forum, posted by an alert forumite.   This is a great video about vaccinations, over-vaccinating, and immunology.   It is an interview with Dr. Ronald Schultz, of the University of Wisconsin, whose speciality is immunology.  Dr. Schultz is not “out there” or part of the fringe of veterinary medicine; he is a doctor, teacher and scientist who has been working in this field for 29 years.   And he firmly believes that we are hurting our animals by over-vaccinating them.  (Coincidentally, my vets both went to vet school at UW.  They may well have worked with Dr. Schultz at some point!)

You can watch the whole interview, which is excellent, below.  It runs about an hour.

If you’d like to read parts of the interview and watch it in shorter chunks, this link has the interview broken up and has important points summarized as well:   link to interview with Dr. Schultz.

There are several important points to this, and it’s worth your time to watch the video, but I’ll try and summarize some of the things I found most important (and note, I’m simplifying this, and any mistakes below are mine):

• There are core vaccinations that every animal should have.  For dogs, these are the so-called “puppy shots” of distemper, parvo, rabies and adenovirus.   (There is a lot more in the video about how and when to give these shots, but no one argues that these are important).
• After the puppy shots, one adult booster is useful.
• Beyond that, most dogs do NOT need more vaccinations, but one year after the adult booster, it would be good to titer test the dog to see how much immunity they still have.  If it is low, you may revaccinate (see below), but if it is not, you do not need to revaccinate.  (Note the video goes into much more detail on how titering works).
• According to Dr. Schultz, the MOST anyone should vaccinate their dogs is every three years.  To do more is not to make them any “more” immune (as that is not possible) but it is possible to compromise the dog’s health with over vaccination.
• Both vets agreed that any dog who has had a reaction to a vaccination should NOT be revaccinated using the same vaccine, and probably should not be revaccinated at all (watch for more details on what to do in cases where the titer test suggests an animal may not have full immunity).  This is especially the case if the animal gets a lump at the vaccine site.
• Both vets believe that over-vaccination is hurting our animals, and it may be one contributing factor to a rise in autoimmune disorders in animals (there’s more to it than just vaccinations, but this is one component they believe), as well as other problems.

There’s a lot more to the interview, but those were the important points I took away.

I should note that Dr. Schultz is not the only one who believes we are over vaccinating our dogs; so do many vets, and finally some bigger organizations are following suit.  From this article (scroll down to the postscript, though the whole article is interesting), I discovered that “World Small Animal Veterinary Association now advocates a minimal 3-year interval between core ‘booster’ vaccinations.”  (Note three years is the “minimal” interval, and note that the producers of the vaccines do not agree with that.  Now I wonder why that would be? Could it have something to do with money?)

I wanted to start with Dr. Schultz, because as far as I can see, no one much argues with his conclusions, which are drawn from years of research.  (He started recommending in the late 70′s that we stop vaccinating animals every year, noting that the vaccinations are supposed to create life long immunity, as many vaccinations do in humans).

I’ve long also been a fan of Dr. Jean Dodds, who is a specialist in canine health (especially thyroid issues) and who has long recommended a minimal vaccine protocol.  Some people do see Dr. Dodds as being a bit more on the fringe, and some conservative vets get up in arms even at the mention of her name.  (My vets are a husband/wife team, and the husband is not a fan of Dr. Dodds, even though I note that his thoughts on vaccinations are almost exactly the same as hers!)

Still, she’s the go-to doctor for information on a more minimal vaccination protocol.  This page includes Dr. Dodds vaccine protocol.

In addition, here is a link to an article by Dr. Dodds on vaccinations (it’s pretty technical, but has a lot of useful information):

I got interested in this because Toby had a bad reaction a vaccination about 5 years ago.  He seemed very ill immediately afterwards, and was lethargic and off his food for a couple of days afterwards (which you all know is NOT like Toby at all!).  I’d already heard of many people recommending less vaccinations, so I started reading.

While I didn’t find any information about Shibas, I did find that Akitas are a breed that is considered predisposed to vaccine reactions, so I was very careful with vaccinating Oskar.  I also suspect that ALL the Japanese breeds may have this problem–it’s only that Akitas are popular enough in the US to have this been taken note of.  (This is just a theory of mine, but there is much overlap in conditions in the Japanese breeds, hence my supposition).

Here is a link to breeds predisposed to problems, and what those problems can be, and it includes a discussion of Akitas.

Dr. Dodds notes the small orignal gene pool of the Akita as a possible reason for predisposition to problems (as well as other inheritable conditions) and I think that would also be true of other Japanese breeds.

This next page includes many links on problems with vaccinations, particularly rabies, and it discusses adverse reactions to the rabies vaccine.   It cites many sources, something I particularly appreciate.

So I will continue to follow Dr. Dodds protocol and be conservative in vaccinating my dogs.  I wish I had learned this a lot earlier, but at least Oskar and Leo will have the benefit of my new knowledge, and Toby and Bel will not get any more vaccinations, except for the rabies, which is required by law.

Toby says “I’ve had enough!”

Merry Christmas to All…..

Leo’s first Christmas at the House of the Fox Dogs, and I think he enjoyed it!

There were lots of interesting things to look at and unwrap:

And at first, even Bel had fun–what’s in this bag?  (There were dog treats in there–a gift from my mother).

But the holidays can be stressful, too, especially when others climb all over you in a rush to get at the presents.

And then Bel starting getting a little anxious:

Leo was enjoying checking out the stockings, but Bel thought, When will it ever end?

Leo loved it!  He loves the limelight too.  Bel?  Not so much.

Handsome Oskar had to have a timeout with his presents upstairs.  Oskar doesn’t share well, and at some point he decided he should have ALL THE THINGS.

I’ll be good now, I promise!

He had taken his Himalyan chew upstairs, and was torn between coming down to be with us, and guarding his chew.

Toby had his chew and a quacking duck toy in his room.   He came in to investigate the wrapping for a bit, but decided that he would prefer to spend the holiday alone with his stuff.   We could hear him quacking his toy merrily from his room.

Toby says “Hmmm…..nothing to eat.”

Bel had been in and out several times by then, but still seemed to be anxious, and was now frozen in front of M’s chair, where she stayed for most of dinner:

Bel says “the holidays are so stressful.”

Leo decided that holidays are about eating ALL THE THINGS and decided that he was willing to eat anything and everything, including brussell sprouts and then salad:

Leo says “That looks tasty!”

Leo says “Lettuce! My favorite!”

“Hey, what about me?”

Overall, Bel was less than thrilled with the holiday.  Either that, or she was just stuck:

Oh god, is it STILL Christmas?

But the rest of us had a lovely day.   And we wish you all wonderful holidays, and peace, blessings, and abundance in the new year!

Toby’s State of the Shiba Address

Toby here.  I haven’t checked in for awhile, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading and thinking.  I have.

And a lot of what I’ve seen distresses me.

The state of the Shiba is not good.

I have to admit that even I, in all my magnificence, have had some better times.  I got bit by the little crazy bitch dog Bel way back in the spring, and my fur still hasn’t grown back, so while I’m still a very handsome Shiba of course, I have looked better.  And I also have to admit that it may be time to rethink my goal to be the world’s largest Shiba.  All this weight is making it hard for me to run around, and I’m not even enjoying my walks that much these days.   I think I may have to leave the World’s Largest Shiba to someone younger, with more stamina.   I am not only magnificent, but I am magnanimous, and am willing to pass the title on to someone else.   And don’t tell my person, but I don’t actually mind my “spa diet” she feeds me of fish and veggies.  I was also getting too big for the sofa (but I’ve lost some weight since then):

But my real concern is not with me.  I’m concerned for the state of the Shiba in general.  Those of you who know me, know that years ago, when I was a young, innocent puppy, I wanted to send to Japan for more Shibas.  Well, of course, that went bad wrong with Bel, but she wasn’t from Japan anyway.  These days, I think the Shiba might be too popular.

Because too many are coming from places like where the little crazy girl came from.

I’d heard my human talking about mills before, and saying the “squirrely girl” as She calls her, came from a mill.

I didn’t know what that was, so I decided to look it up, and I read some terrible things.    Some of these Shibas never get out of their tiny cages.  They don’t know what it’s like to walk on the ground, even, and they certainly don’t get to lay on the sofa or have their own nice chairs like I do.  They don’t even have names–they just have numbers.  I read how some Shibas were injured because they left a bunch of Shibas in one cage and they fought with each other.   This shook me up, because I know what it is to be scared of other dogs.  I don’t like to be around any other dogs because of how Bel has hurt me, and it scared me just to think of being locked up in a cage with other Shibas!

I know my human gets very frustrated, because I hear her talking to her friend (the one with the tasty looking birds), about how some people try to justify their puppy mill purchases.  She says even after hearing about how unhealthy these dogs can be, and how badly the dogs are treated, they don’t care, which I find that hard to believe.  No one who loved Shibas would want to support a place that is so cruel to Shibas, would they?

Well, I think if people just knew about these places, they would not buy from them.  So here’s some things I read:

ShibaScout Rescue on the mills

TriState Shiba Rescue at the dog auctions

Those two are rescue organizations, by the way, and if you have any extra money after making sure your dogs get lots of food and toys for Christmas, you should send some money there!

I also found this blog about puppy mills, (by someone who has a Shiba and a funny looking non-Japanese Shiba with short hair.  My human says that other dog is NOT a Shiba, but a Basenji, whatever that is, but I just don’t believe that):

Shibasenji on puppy mills

And of course, I live with one of these dogs from one of those places.  And she’s crazy, and she nearly killed me, and she’s sick a lot of the time!  When I said I wanted more Shibas, I never thought my human would get a Shiba who would almost kill me.  And I never thought humans would be so cruel as to treat other Shibas so badly.

It makes me sad.

Toby says NO MORE mills!

On a lighter note, though, the human got this other dog that she says came from Japan.  Or his parents did or something like that.  (My father came from Japan too, of course, and he is very handsome indeed, like me!).   I don’t hate this dog, because when the other dogs tried to attack me, he didn’t.  I don’t like him, but I don’t hate him.  But he is by far the ugliest Shiba I have ever seen in my life:

His tail does not curl at all, and he’s too long, and he has funny stripey fur.  The human says he is a Kai Ken, whatever that is, but like I told you, I don’t believe everything she says.   Next time I am at the other human’s house, I’ll take a quick peek in her dog book and see if I see such a thing.

Ok, that’s my State of the Shiba address.  Toby out!

In Memory of Gideon, Who Left Us Too Soon

“She…buried that old dog Gideon…”

 –Emmylou Harris, “Red Dirt Girl”

I said there were some changes I would have to report on, and we’ll start with the saddest one first.  Gideon, my friend M’s German Shepherd Dog, had to be put to sleep. He was only 8 years old, so unlike the song he was named after, he was not an old dog.   It’s a pretty sad story,  and it has a cautionary note, because of why he died.  Note to everyone:  be very, very careful about what kind of landscaping materials you use in your yard.

But let’s start with the happier things.  Gideon was a lovely dog, and he was born just 25 days earlier than Toby.  I picked up in Dallas from his breeder–she delivered him to the airport, and I carried him on the plane and brought him home.   He also went with us to pick up Toby from his breeder in Colorado, so they were puppies together, though true to form, Toby, at 7 weeks of age, took one look at Gideon and decided he did not like him much at all.   They tolerated each other for a while:

Puppies together

Though eventually, they had a fight and could not be together anymore, as is the case with Toby and almost every other dog he’s met.

Gideon was a sable German Shepherd (which according to one dumb comment, meant that he’d “be all black when he grew up” which is of course not what it meant it all!)  He was from a great breeder who does not appear to be breeding anymore, but he was from Czech working lines, and was larger than typical “AKC” type GSDs, and did not have a sloping back.  She raw fed all her dogs too, and a lot of them went into Schutzhund or Personal Protection Dog training.

Gideon, however, was a sweet, silly boy, who would not hurt anyone (even his fight with Toby happened because Toby pushed and pushed him).   He got  along with the birds, and he was a good foster-father to M’s border terrier, Truman.  Except for Toby, all my dogs were friends with him as well.

One of my favorite stories about Gideon is something M. told me:  one day she heard him making a sound to alert her that something was not right.  She came in to find that he was herding something very carefully between his paws, like he’d done on occasion with the birds.  It was a mouse.  A wild mouse that had gotten in the house, and Gideon had a look on his face like, I guess this is a new pet, so I better be careful with it!  That was typical Gideon behavior!

Gideon’s passing was both unexpected and really stressful.  He seemed ill, and because our regular vets were out of town,  M took him to another vet.  I went with her that first visit, and to say there were incompetent would be putting it mildly.  The vet had a list of things she needed to give him (a wormer, something for the diarrhea he didn’t have) before she even examined him, because she’d heard “raw food diet” and made assumptions.  They eventually “diagnosed” him with a UTI and sent him home.  He didn’t get better, and we noticed he looked disturbingly bloated.

He was.  Because his abdomen was filling up with blood.  Once M. got him to our regular vets, they were able to come up with a diagnosis, which, quoting M, was:  ”He has a stomach 1/2 full of rocks, stomach lining torn, battered bladder wall, rocks in his intestines, and blood and pus (peritonitis) surrounding his intestines and most of his organs–and that’s just some of it.”   And yes, it was something he ate, but it was not his raw chicken:  Gideon had been eating the lava rocks used for landscaping in the backyard.  It was these lava rocks that killed him.  He was diagnosed on Friday, and on the following Monday, we had to make that last trip to the vet with him.  It was utterly heartbreaking, and everyone cried, including our vets.

(Cautionary note:  lava rocks are very abrasive and if ingested, can kill dogs.  Gideon was a poop eater–he was probably eating the rocks with feces on them.  But any dog might find them appealing to chew.  Also, another popular landscaping mulch is made from cocoa, also deadly to dogs.  Please be super careful about what you use in your yard, if you have dogs.  You never know what they’ll eat.)

Gideon, of the many names:  Sensitivity Wolf, Pencil Toes, Gideon Xmayal, Very Large Array, you are sorely missed.

In memory of Gideon, GSD extraordinaire, I am reposting Toby and Gideon’s correspondence from 2007.  This was probably the last time Toby and Gideon got to spend any time together, after they got in a fight (instigated by a certain Shiba….and not Bel, though she did jump right in).

Gidion, you weren’t a good writer.  But you were a wonderful dog, and even Toby misses you (if only a little).

email one:

Tobe,
Gideon here. The Lade who lives here says I need to right to u. She says u got hurt real bad when I bit u the other nite. She says I o u an apology. So here it is.

I’m sorry. The Lade has a bird–u no her, Rube is her name–and sometiems she says Sweet Bird Sweet Bird over and over. Both the Lade and the bird say this Sweet Bird Sweet Bird. Anyways, lately the Lade and that other Lade who lives with u r talking about how sweet u r. So when u came over I thought that meant u’d want to play with me. But the Lade I live with talked to me and said Sweet doesn’t mean Play. Sweet means Bite. Like the bird would bite if I tried to play with her, just like u bit or wanted to bite but I bit first.

I know it’s not much. The Lade made me do it, right this when I don’t really feel so sorry because u’ve never been Sweet to me, u’ve always been meen. Mostly I’m sorry because the Lade says I’m costing her more munny than she has right now, but she’s glad u’re okay. She says I can’t see u again.

Little Jezebel was here, and she didn’t get any popcorn or other sheebs, so maybe that’ll make u feel better.
Love,
Gideon

That was the first one.

Then he sent number two:

Tobe,
I forgot to tell u. Last nite some humans came over to have “inappropriate touching.” I didn’t see the humans touch that way, but Little Jezebel got inappropriately touched, I’m sure of it. The Lade I live with had Jezebel up on her lap and was rubbing and rubbing the Little’s chest and belly, and the Little didn’t look happe. Then later this boy named Jonathan tried the same thing and Little wasn’t having none of it. And when I tried to play with the Little, the boy named Jonathan got mad at me and shooed me away. Everybody’s mad at me cuz of what I did to u. So there. But at least u didn’t get inappropriately touched. And the Little didn’t get any good snacks. The humans were eating these teeny cupcakey things and Little got hold of two of the cupcake papers and ate them even tho they didn’t have cupcakes in them. U didn’t miss nothing. I would have liked to be inappropriately touched, I have just the chest for it, but no 1 loves me, they love u. I don’t no y. U’re a meenie sheeb. But I’m really sorry u’re hurt. I’d hate it too if I had to wear a necker chief and have a Lade stick a syringe in my draino.
Love,
Gideon
P.S. Y do u like to right? I hate to right. It’s hard.

Then this, because he is too stupid to figure out I might not want to reply to him:

I hate righting. I don’t no y u and the Lades like it so much. I keep pacing back in here to check email and see if u’ve written me and u havent. U r a meenie. Either that or u feel really bad and can’t even get up to check your email, but I don’t believe that. ANyways, the Lade says sheeb isn’t right, she says Sheepa Sheepa Sheepa, those other dogs r Sheepas. Now I really don’t no y u care so much about loosing a little fur if u’re a Sheepa u’d get sheered anyways. Please right back to me and tell me we’re okay Tobe and then I’ll leave u alone for all time.
Love,
Gideon

Then this, which I was finally forced to respond to:

Tobe, I’m mad at u still. The Lade told me I hurt u, but it’s nothing like the way I hurt. I’ve ritten and ritten and nothing. Nothing nothing nothing. If u can’t right back now surely u could make that Little or the Lade u live with right back. U no I’m sensitive, u no I’m the sensitivitewoof. I’ve been pacing and pacing and annoying the Lade here who’s trying to right, I don’t no y cuz it’s so boring and her paws are almost the size of mine. She tells me settle down. She tells me be patient. She puts me in a down stay and when that doesn’t work she puts me outside. I go outside and bark and bark and try to tell all the dogs to carre a message to u that u need to right back or at least bark back your message. To no a veil. It’s just footile. Tobe if I can’t never see u again u could at least tell me u’re all right. Stooped sheepas. The lot of u lack all German concern. Couldn’t u just once suck it up and right back? Or maybe tell Kite the other German dog who’s coming to live with us in March for a little wiles to right me and tell me how u r. At least he’s got morals. Some 1 needs them in your house.
Love,
Gideon

So here was my response:

Gideon–

SHE tells me I must write back to you, even though I
don’t want to. I don’t see why I should. I see no
apology here, just lots of insults, and besides that,
you can’t spell and you write badly.

I can’t believe we are the same age, though of course
you are of such an inferior breed I suppose I
shouldn’t be surprised. Even the German who lives
with me–Kai, no Kite–is smarter, though. Now I
really understand why the humans call you a galoot,
which is a human word for really really stupid.

Yes, I am hurt. I have to wear a neckerchief, which
is actually quite dashing, and lets me stand out from
inferior dogs. I think of it as a badge of honor of
my war wounds, for these are what these are. And this
war is not over. While I admit that this is a defeat,
I do not feel ashamed, because I still fought bravely
and hard against you, and if I was your size, well,
I’d already rule the world, opposable thumbs or no.
Not that you know what that means. In fact, I doubt
you will understand any of this. Get your human to
explain it to you. She is smart, even if she does
have bad taste in dogs. Well, I suppose that golden
dog is ok, though something is seriously wrong with
his ears.

Gideon, you should recall that after the fight I put
you in your place–a down stay. You should recall
that I would not have stopped fighting had the humans
not stopped us, and no doubt I would have eventually
got the best of you. And I am unimpressed with your
“pain.” You show no pride whatsover. I am a stoic
little dog–er, big dog–and I went to the horrible
place and had shots and had things poked in me, and I
fell asleep there and woke up in pain, and I never
once complained.

but of course, I knew you were an inferior dog from
the moment I met you and had to take your chicken from
you. Just because you are larger and can occasionally
get the better of me from sheer size–well, that is
irrelevent.

I have nothing more to say. this was simply one
skirmish in a longer war, and I have scars to prove my
dedication to the Shiba–not sheepa you idiot–cause.

Death before Dishonor,

Toby

Then I had to write again, even though I didn’t want to:

Gideon–

One more here too, though don’t mistake this for me
liking you.

I am interested in what happened to the little Shiba
bitch. She came back smellng of chocolate, and she
looked very happy, and went waltzing around the house
(waltzing is a human term for leaping and jumping,
which of course you wouldn’t know. I am stunned that
one dog could be so ignorant. What do you DO all day
while your human is gone? Obviously you don’t use
your time wisely, as I do, by studying and learnign
about human technology).

She did not say she had been touched inappropriately,
but she likes to be petted more than most dogs. That
is because she is a bitch.

And I must remind you, she is MINE. My bitch. I may
not always like her, but she is still a Shiba and
still MINE. Stay away from her.

Of course Jonathon pushed you away, and of course the
humans are mad at you. They love me. They are MINE.
Even your human liked me best–she recognized me
immediately as a REAL puppy.

And writing is not that hard if you apply yourself.
Of course you wouldn’t understand that. And of course
you don’t have lovely little paws like me.

I am going to continue to study human technology,
something YOU won’t do. Eventually I am sure I will
learn how to drive one of the human moving boxes, the
things they call cars. And when I do, I will come
down and bite you.

I want to bite you more than the grey bird.

Toby

After that, I got this, which I never responded to, because really, why bother?
Sheepa in u, haha!
The Lade walzed me in here to check the email but nothing. Nothing and nothing. She told me her email’s been bad latele cuz she’s getting things late, but I don’t no what that meens. Anyways, it took hours b4 your reply got here. I’m still thinking what I want to say. U’re crool. Not cool. Crool. Don’t go thinking Britney Spaniel Spears shaved her haed just cuz u did. ANyways, I spent all day watching the Lade tiperight. It’s hard. She hardle moves her paws, just her claws, and I can’t do that yet.
Love,
Gideon
P.S. Is Snoopy your righter hero?

Gideon 1-1-04 to 8-17-12 RIP sweet boy!

We’re Back, with a New Addition

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog.   Life got in the way–I was working full time and in school part time, and simply didn’t have the chance to do much of anything beyond that!

However, school is done, and work is busy but manageable, and so it’s time to update The House of the Fox Dogs!

First, there was a new addition who appeared here in May:

Leo at 8 weeks

Leo is a Kai Ken, one of the six native Japanese dog breeds.   The Kai Ken are considered one of the medium sized breeds and were used for hunting boar and deer.  They are sometimes called Tora Inu (Tiger dog) because of their brindle patterning, which looks like tiger stripes.  The Kai Ken are not a recognized breed by the AKC, but are registered in Japan with the The Kai Ken Aigokai  (Kai Ken Preservation Society).  Read more about them here .  Leo comes from Yamabushi Kennel, formerly in Taos, NM (and now in Flagstaff, AZ).   Leo is from the breeding of Akashi and Ayu, whose photos and pedigrees are available on the Yamabushi page.  You can also find plenty of information about the Kai Ken there

We were not expecting to add a fourth dog, but I’d gone up to Taos to meet the Kai and fell in love with them, and when there was a puppy available, we talked it over and decided to take him.

Leo is a very handsome young man now, at 7 months, and is a good friend to both Bel and Oskar:

Leo and Bel

He is about the same size as Bel right now, and last time we weighed him, a few months ago, he was 30 pounds.  He’s quite different in temperament than the Shibas or Akita, which makes him a good fit for our house.  He’s not at all dog reactive, and in fact is quite a little peacemaker–he wriggles on his back and gets very puppyish if there are squabbles in the house.

He’s also quite active, and loves to run and play.  He’s been through a puppy class and an agility for fun class, and is starting to work on agility more seriously, now, as he really seems to enjoy it.

Leo in the tunnel at his agility class

We’re quite happy with him, and feel he is a wonderful addition to the pack at the House of the Fox Dogs.

There have been some other changes in the dog world, which I’ll get to in future posts, but right now, let this return to blogging also be Leo’s introduction.   The other dogs in the house are doing well, and we’ll be returning with more posts soon!

Leo on the sofa

Happy Birthday, Toby!

Today Toby is 8!

In honor of his birthday, I thought it might be time for a Toby retrospective.  Toby, this is your life!

Four weeks old

This may be the cheeriest he ever looked, and honestly, we’ve debated…is that really Toby?  Did he ever look that innocent?  (That was a picture the breeder sent).

Toby quickly developed the typical grumpy-buns Shiba puppy face:

Puppies together

Or maybe he just thought, what am I doing here with this Not-a-Shiba?

Of course, Toby’s interests and hobbies developed early:

And you may also notice, when you look at later photos, that his overall shape has not changed much either!

Well, that’s not entirely true.  Toby did have a svelte phase as a young dog, and he even had a phase when he got along with Bel (before she went all psycho on him):

(And wasn’t Bel a pretty puppy?  Shhh…don’t let Toby hear me say that.  This is really all about him, after all!)

Some of you will remember that when Toby first came to live with me, he was very concerned about the fact that there were not enough Shibas around, and he felt the need to call to Japan for some more.  He was initially at least sort of happy to have another Shiba in the house, though he knew all along that Bel was not from Japan, but from Nebraska, which in his mind, explained a lot about her.  I’m sure he would like me to say that he quickly got over the idea that there should be more Shibas, and now he believes that there are entirely too many dogs in the house.  And possibly in the world.  Because of course, he should be the ONLY one.

Soon Toby entered into the darker days of his misspent youth.  There was a lot of fighting.   Many of these fights he started.   Unfortunately, he didn’t win any of them, unless by winning we mean who got the most scars and vet visits.  There was the battle between Toby and Gideon that ended their friendship.  Toby started that, of course, and while Gideon would forgive and forget to this day, Toby has a very long memory indeed.

This was not the first time, nor the last, that Toby got an “outfit” from the vet to cover the wounds he had from a fight.  This was, perhaps, the most dashing of his outfits!

Then there were many “Very Large Array” outfits, in which Toby imitated a giant satellite dish:

And here’s what he looked like after coming very, very close to losing his life to Bel’s murderous attack:

It was quite an outfit, but as you can see, Toby still kept his spirits up, with the help of some Liberty Ale.  Oh wait, I guess I drank that!  This picture, by the way, was after he finally got to come home from his five-week stay at the vet.  We really did almost lose him, but as my vet sometimes jokes now “only the good die young” and we all know Toby is NOT a good boy!

Of course, Toby has had some other types of outfits too.  Not all of them were medically necessary.  The Toby Soprano look, for example:

Or  Toby as the Great Pumpkin:

Of course, Toby looks good in everything, and he knows it.  Even a sweater with the tag on it just accentuates his rugged good looks!  (And he really does prance around whenever he wears something).

After the attack by Bel, Toby never really did tolerate any other dogs again, and he still doesn’t.  In his life, he only had one true dog friend, and that was Kai, his foster father.  This is a picture of them together, not too many months before we lost Kai to cancer:

Yes, Toby has faced many challenges in his eight years, including baths:

Toby says "I hate this"

But he is always magnificent:

Even if, like so many of us, he’s grown a bit more plush with the years.

After all, he still has his same hobbies–foraging, sleeping, foraging some more.

Happy birthday Toby!  You’ll always be the dog closest to my heart.   I hope we have another 8 years together, and you become the old crotchety Shiba we all know you’re destined to become.

PS.  Toby was watching TV tonight, and has been inspired to write a “State of the Shiba” post.   Stay tuned for that!