Video of the First Snow of the Season!
Video of the pups enjoying the first snowfall of the season. Loki is the one who keeps on digging and offering play bows. It's so much fun to watch them enjoy themselves!
First Snow of the Season!
Loki Digging!
Loki in a Play Bow!
What a pretty boy!
Where's my girl?
There she is!
What kind of sleeping spot is that!?
Last night, Loki slept in a crate as usual, and Jujube hopped on the bed as usual.
But where does she decide to settle down??
On my foot! Not near my foot. Not leaning against my foot. Right smack on top of it. What kind of sleeping spot is that? Does she not notice that my foot is there? It can't be comfortable! The entire other half of the bed is completely empty! (Yun comes to bed later than me.) Of all places to circle and plop, she decides my foot is the best place?
But where does she decide to settle down??
On my foot! Not near my foot. Not leaning against my foot. Right smack on top of it. What kind of sleeping spot is that? Does she not notice that my foot is there? It can't be comfortable! The entire other half of the bed is completely empty! (Yun comes to bed later than me.) Of all places to circle and plop, she decides my foot is the best place?
A doggie stressful weekend
What a weekend! Lots of yummy food and good company, but full of doggie stress. We had not one, but two incidents!
My family came over for Thanksgiving. The family was nice. All of the food was super yummy. Thank you to my lovely, non-stressed cook, Yun! I especially liked the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The dogs got some scraps of turkey from the table. We were all very happy on Turkey Day!
Incident Number One: Loki bit my sister.
So, maybe this is going to sound bad, like I'm a terrible owner or person, but I'm not the least bit sorry that Loki bit my sister. For years (or as long as we've had Loki), I've been warning her to be careful with him, and she never listens to me. She had always carried around this idea that she's special, that Loki won't bite her because he loves her, that Loki has never bitten her before, so she doesn't need to be careful. To be fair, he does love her. She's great with him. She gives him lots of doting attention. But she also discards our warnings, even after I've told her about how he's bitten us in the past. Somehow it didn't matter to her that he's bitten us before, because in her mind she was special.
So what happened? Loki was sleeping in the corner while our family was playing Scrabble. When it was not her turn to play, my sister went over to the sleeping Loki and tried to pet him with her foot. Now, I don't know about you, but a big giant foot hovering over me while I'm sleeping seems pretty threatening. Sure you could do that to Jujube, and she wouldn't care. But definitely not Loki. He bit her foot.
No one was upset over it. I think Loki was a bit stressed, but we all left him alone. It wasn't his fault. I hope next time my sister will heed my warnings.
Incident Number Two. The dogs got into a fight.
This fight was over rawhide. They have both amicably eaten rawhide together many times before, so we were not supervising them particularly closely. Jujube finished hers first, and we think that she must have went for Loki's. No one was there when it started, so we can only guess as to what happened. I asked Yun, "Why do you think Juju that actually went for his rawhide? I mean, she could have just gotten too close to him as he was eating?"
His reply, "Because after I broke up the fight, she picked up his rawhide." (Of course, Yun took it away from her.)
The scene looked worse than it was. We had blood splattered over Loki and on the carpet. But where was it coming from? This question took a very long time to figure out. The fact that it took us so long to figure out where it was coming from goes to show how small the cut was. We must have looked Jujube over three times before Yun noticed that it was her nose. Actually, it was the area where the side of her nose meets her furry face. We cleaned it up and Yun applied a little bit of pressure there to stop the bleeding. It stopped shortly. Without the blood, you can't even tell that she was hurt at all.
Trying to assess Loki was a much bigger ordeal. We had to first muzzle him. Then one of us held him down while the other looked him over. He was not a happy camper. We cleaned off the blood on his fur, and tried to figure out if he was hurt. Nope, not hurt! It was just Juju's blood on his fur.
In a matter of hours, I went from "OMG, we have to go to the emergency vet!" to "Oh, you know, I don't think we need to go to the vet at all." Today I called the vet to ask about the risk of infection. They told me to just keep my eye out for any signs of infection, such as puss or swelling. If there are signs, then bring Juju in. If not, then don't worry.
The dogs were mostly back to normal within an hour. I fed them dinner together as I always do. They were fine and mostly acting normally. Dogs are resilient. Juju's extremely resilient. Loki's less resilient than Juju, but I can't imagine anything or anyone being as resilient than Juju. We left Loki alone for the rest of the night. We didn't want to add anything else to his stress level. If the fight didn't traumatize him, the body assessment with muzzle definitely did.
Although we still think Loki is alpha (and still support him in that role), Juju going after his rawhide seems like an alpha thing to do. Don't you think? I actually don't think that she will contend him for alpha status; I think that she's just an opportunist. If Loki left his rawhide unguarded for a second, she'd go for it.
Lesson learned: Supervise very carefully when giving rawhides.
Our last dog fight was in July. This one's at the end of November. And the behaviorist came back in May. It's not a bad track record. It's not perfect, but it definitely shows improvement.
My family came over for Thanksgiving. The family was nice. All of the food was super yummy. Thank you to my lovely, non-stressed cook, Yun! I especially liked the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. The dogs got some scraps of turkey from the table. We were all very happy on Turkey Day!
Incident Number One: Loki bit my sister.
So, maybe this is going to sound bad, like I'm a terrible owner or person, but I'm not the least bit sorry that Loki bit my sister. For years (or as long as we've had Loki), I've been warning her to be careful with him, and she never listens to me. She had always carried around this idea that she's special, that Loki won't bite her because he loves her, that Loki has never bitten her before, so she doesn't need to be careful. To be fair, he does love her. She's great with him. She gives him lots of doting attention. But she also discards our warnings, even after I've told her about how he's bitten us in the past. Somehow it didn't matter to her that he's bitten us before, because in her mind she was special.
So what happened? Loki was sleeping in the corner while our family was playing Scrabble. When it was not her turn to play, my sister went over to the sleeping Loki and tried to pet him with her foot. Now, I don't know about you, but a big giant foot hovering over me while I'm sleeping seems pretty threatening. Sure you could do that to Jujube, and she wouldn't care. But definitely not Loki. He bit her foot.
No one was upset over it. I think Loki was a bit stressed, but we all left him alone. It wasn't his fault. I hope next time my sister will heed my warnings.
Incident Number Two. The dogs got into a fight.
This fight was over rawhide. They have both amicably eaten rawhide together many times before, so we were not supervising them particularly closely. Jujube finished hers first, and we think that she must have went for Loki's. No one was there when it started, so we can only guess as to what happened. I asked Yun, "Why do you think Juju that actually went for his rawhide? I mean, she could have just gotten too close to him as he was eating?"
His reply, "Because after I broke up the fight, she picked up his rawhide." (Of course, Yun took it away from her.)
The scene looked worse than it was. We had blood splattered over Loki and on the carpet. But where was it coming from? This question took a very long time to figure out. The fact that it took us so long to figure out where it was coming from goes to show how small the cut was. We must have looked Jujube over three times before Yun noticed that it was her nose. Actually, it was the area where the side of her nose meets her furry face. We cleaned it up and Yun applied a little bit of pressure there to stop the bleeding. It stopped shortly. Without the blood, you can't even tell that she was hurt at all.
Trying to assess Loki was a much bigger ordeal. We had to first muzzle him. Then one of us held him down while the other looked him over. He was not a happy camper. We cleaned off the blood on his fur, and tried to figure out if he was hurt. Nope, not hurt! It was just Juju's blood on his fur.
In a matter of hours, I went from "OMG, we have to go to the emergency vet!" to "Oh, you know, I don't think we need to go to the vet at all." Today I called the vet to ask about the risk of infection. They told me to just keep my eye out for any signs of infection, such as puss or swelling. If there are signs, then bring Juju in. If not, then don't worry.
The dogs were mostly back to normal within an hour. I fed them dinner together as I always do. They were fine and mostly acting normally. Dogs are resilient. Juju's extremely resilient. Loki's less resilient than Juju, but I can't imagine anything or anyone being as resilient than Juju. We left Loki alone for the rest of the night. We didn't want to add anything else to his stress level. If the fight didn't traumatize him, the body assessment with muzzle definitely did.
Although we still think Loki is alpha (and still support him in that role), Juju going after his rawhide seems like an alpha thing to do. Don't you think? I actually don't think that she will contend him for alpha status; I think that she's just an opportunist. If Loki left his rawhide unguarded for a second, she'd go for it.
Lesson learned: Supervise very carefully when giving rawhides.
Our last dog fight was in July. This one's at the end of November. And the behaviorist came back in May. It's not a bad track record. It's not perfect, but it definitely shows improvement.
Shiba Meetup at the Dog Park
We had a shiba meetup this past weekend at Shirlington Dog Park. This place always seems to generate the best turnouts for our meetups. I don't know how many dogs showed up, but we had 15 people with an RSVP of yes. We had many reds and sesames. Only a couple black and tans. And no creams.
Unfortunately, I can't figure out who's who in these pictures.
At least I can identify my own dog. Here's Jujube soaking up attention from the people. She's more of a people dog. Sometimes she participates in the dog chasing, but most of the time, she seeks the attention of humans. The funny thing is that petting is always on her terms. She'll demand attention from some people, and ignore others who call for her to come.
Shiba meetups are great places for people who are considering the breed. You can see their behavior in person and ask owners questions. It's striking to see how different shibas can be. Surely, you can read about common characteristics of shibas online or in books, but each dog is unique. And in a meetup you can see both their commonalities and their unique traits.
At our meetup, I saw the shiba that loved to be chased. The shibas that loved to chase. The shibas that love to wrestle. The shibas that are mellow. The shibas that stick to people. The shibas who ignore people. The shibas that are anxious and the shibas that are fearless.
Unfortunately, I can't figure out who's who in these pictures.
At least I can identify my own dog. Here's Jujube soaking up attention from the people. She's more of a people dog. Sometimes she participates in the dog chasing, but most of the time, she seeks the attention of humans. The funny thing is that petting is always on her terms. She'll demand attention from some people, and ignore others who call for her to come.
Shiba meetups are great places for people who are considering the breed. You can see their behavior in person and ask owners questions. It's striking to see how different shibas can be. Surely, you can read about common characteristics of shibas online or in books, but each dog is unique. And in a meetup you can see both their commonalities and their unique traits.
At our meetup, I saw the shiba that loved to be chased. The shibas that loved to chase. The shibas that love to wrestle. The shibas that are mellow. The shibas that stick to people. The shibas who ignore people. The shibas that are anxious and the shibas that are fearless.
Potty training regression
Grr... I'm so frustrated! Our potty training has taken a huge step backward ever since we got back from vacation. The dogs (probably just Jujube) were not used to the new schedule of the pet sitter. We had the sitter come three times a day, but her schedule was still different from ours. We found accidents in our home in a low traffic area. No one ever seems to check that spot.
I'm not actually frustrated over the accidents themselves, but rather frustrated because the behavior has continued this past week. I thought once we resumed our regular schedule things would be fine, but unfortunately not. The peeing is continuing in the same spot. I had cleaned it as well as I could and sprayed it down with Nature's Miracle, but we're still getting accidents there.
On top of that, after I had cleaned that spot down, I tossed the soiled paper towels into the low and open wastebasket in the bathroom. A few days later, Yun tells me that Loki marked the wastebasket. It couldn't have been Jujube; she's a girl. And even though we're having a handful of potty problems, we both think it's really funny that Loki marked the wastebasket in the bathroom.
The dogs were doing so well for such a long time too. Our last accident was in mid-June. Now, I think we have to re-potty train them, especially Jujube. Her peeing habits have also changed. She used to always pee very quickly as soon as we let her out into the backyard. Now, she's adopted Loki's behavior of sitting outside and not doing anything. She also pees on walks much more regularly nowadays. She used to never pee during walks, preferring to go in the backyard. Actually, I guess the more I think about it, her potty habits are slowly changing into Loki's.
I'm not actually frustrated over the accidents themselves, but rather frustrated because the behavior has continued this past week. I thought once we resumed our regular schedule things would be fine, but unfortunately not. The peeing is continuing in the same spot. I had cleaned it as well as I could and sprayed it down with Nature's Miracle, but we're still getting accidents there.
On top of that, after I had cleaned that spot down, I tossed the soiled paper towels into the low and open wastebasket in the bathroom. A few days later, Yun tells me that Loki marked the wastebasket. It couldn't have been Jujube; she's a girl. And even though we're having a handful of potty problems, we both think it's really funny that Loki marked the wastebasket in the bathroom.
Can you see the yellow dribble?
The dogs were doing so well for such a long time too. Our last accident was in mid-June. Now, I think we have to re-potty train them, especially Jujube. Her peeing habits have also changed. She used to always pee very quickly as soon as we let her out into the backyard. Now, she's adopted Loki's behavior of sitting outside and not doing anything. She also pees on walks much more regularly nowadays. She used to never pee during walks, preferring to go in the backyard. Actually, I guess the more I think about it, her potty habits are slowly changing into Loki's.
Dogtown
A few weeks ago, National Geographic sent me a copy of DogTown: Tales of Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Redemption
to read and review. I had never actually seen the TV show, Dogtown, before, but nevertheless agreed to review their book. So here we go!
The book Dogtown is a collection of stories about resuced dogs at Dogtown, the canine part of Best Friends Animal Society, which they claim is the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world. Each chapter tells the story of at least one dog and the opening chapter features one of Michael Vick's dogs. The book does a good job of selecting a variety of stories, and this variety helps keep the book interesting. Some dogs are painfully shy. Others are aggressive. Some were found wandering the streets. Others were turned in. Many have an unknown history, but surprisingly some have a completely known history.
In addition to the dog stories, the book also features the staff members who work at Dogtown. The staff members write in the own words about what particular dogs affected their lives and how they came to work at Dogtown. The book also touches upon both the adopters and volunteers of Dogtown. I found it quite interesting to learn that there are a number of people who come to Dogtown for a volunteer vacation. What an interesting way to spend a vacation!
Because this book is a collection of short stories, it is easy to read in short increments of time. If you want to read for just ten minutes right before bed every night, then this is the perfect book. You can quickly read a complete story and then put the book down until next time. It's easy to pick up and put down at your convenience.
As I mentioned before, I haven't seen the TV show, so I don't know how the book compares to the show. My guess is that the stories in the book parallel the stories on TV. Some of the dogs mentioned in the book ended up being adopted after they were featured on the TV show.
This book is an enjoyable, heartwarming, light read. And it also makes a nice holiday gift for dog lovers.
to read and review. I had never actually seen the TV show, Dogtown, before, but nevertheless agreed to review their book. So here we go!
The book Dogtown is a collection of stories about resuced dogs at Dogtown, the canine part of Best Friends Animal Society, which they claim is the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world. Each chapter tells the story of at least one dog and the opening chapter features one of Michael Vick's dogs. The book does a good job of selecting a variety of stories, and this variety helps keep the book interesting. Some dogs are painfully shy. Others are aggressive. Some were found wandering the streets. Others were turned in. Many have an unknown history, but surprisingly some have a completely known history.
In addition to the dog stories, the book also features the staff members who work at Dogtown. The staff members write in the own words about what particular dogs affected their lives and how they came to work at Dogtown. The book also touches upon both the adopters and volunteers of Dogtown. I found it quite interesting to learn that there are a number of people who come to Dogtown for a volunteer vacation. What an interesting way to spend a vacation!
Because this book is a collection of short stories, it is easy to read in short increments of time. If you want to read for just ten minutes right before bed every night, then this is the perfect book. You can quickly read a complete story and then put the book down until next time. It's easy to pick up and put down at your convenience.
As I mentioned before, I haven't seen the TV show, so I don't know how the book compares to the show. My guess is that the stories in the book parallel the stories on TV. Some of the dogs mentioned in the book ended up being adopted after they were featured on the TV show.
This book is an enjoyable, heartwarming, light read. And it also makes a nice holiday gift for dog lovers.
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