A Staring Triangle
Every time I feed Baby solid foods, we end up in a staring triangle. I look at Baby, because I'm trying to feed him with a spoon. Baby looks at Loki, because Loki is so very interesting to look at. And Loki looks at me, because I have a spoon full of food in my hand.
Texts about Loki and Baby
Yun picks up Baby after work. During this time, I am still at work, so everyday Yun gets to spend a couple hours with Baby alone. Every so often, I get random texts updating me on their latest adventures.
One day last week:
One day last week:
Yun: Baby punched loki in the face =POne day this week:
Me: Oh no!
Yun: He was just surprised not angry
Yun: He got to pet both dogsYun tells me that Loki is actually very curious and well behaved around Baby. He reports that when Loki sniffed Baby, their noses were almost touching. And Baby was laughing and happy. I was and still am apprehensive about Loki being around Baby. We are always careful to monitor them when they are together. I get nervous when I receive these texts, but it seems like everything is going well. Maybe it's the start of a wonderful relationship between Baby and Loki.
Me: How'd he do?
Yun: Well
Addendum to The Mint Review
I tried The Mint Cleaner
in our living room and it didn't fare as well. It got stuck under our couch. The Mint Cleaner is a little bit higher towards its back compared to its front. So, the front of it went under our couch, but then the back wouldn't fit under the couch. This confused the machine, and I had to manually rescue it.
I also wanted to mention that this machine won't be good if your floors have A LOT of pet hair. It doesn't really "pick up" pet hairs. It's not a vacuum. It is an automatically rolling Swifer. Pet hair does stick to microfiber cloths pretty well, so I think it still does a good job. But it won't be able to handle too much pet hair. If you use it daily or near daily, the hair won't have time to accumulate and The Mint Cleaner can still handle the job.
It's not perfect, but I still love it.
in our living room and it didn't fare as well. It got stuck under our couch. The Mint Cleaner is a little bit higher towards its back compared to its front. So, the front of it went under our couch, but then the back wouldn't fit under the couch. This confused the machine, and I had to manually rescue it.I also wanted to mention that this machine won't be good if your floors have A LOT of pet hair. It doesn't really "pick up" pet hairs. It's not a vacuum. It is an automatically rolling Swifer. Pet hair does stick to microfiber cloths pretty well, so I think it still does a good job. But it won't be able to handle too much pet hair. If you use it daily or near daily, the hair won't have time to accumulate and The Mint Cleaner can still handle the job.
It's not perfect, but I still love it.
Loving the Mint Cleaner
We tried out the Mint Cleaner tonight and I love it! It is basically an automatic Swifer. You attach a microfiber cleaning cloth (or disposable Swifer cloth) onto the machine and it rolls around your floor. It has two modes: sweep and mop. Sweep means you put a dry microfiber cloth on it, and mop means you put a wet one on.
It did a great job at navigating around my kitchen, dining room, and hallway. It even made it into the powder room because the door was left open. I've read some reviews in which their Mint got stuck, but mine never did. Moreover, it didn't fall off the stairs. And it maneuvered around the rug, dog beds, dining table, dining table chairs, baby swing, and the kitchen trash can. There were only two issues: (1) The dogs' empty food bowl was light enough for it to push out into the hallway. (2) And a relatively empty wastebasket was also pushed out into the middle of the kitchen. I thought these were pretty minor issues. The biggest drawback is the battery. On one charge I was able to get one complete sweep of my kitchen, dining room, and hallway. But then the battery died out after mopping all of my kitchen, half of my hallway, and half of my dining room.
In terms of cleaning, I think it did a fantastic job.
More importantly, how did the pups do? Well, Jujube was curious for about a second and then she didn't care anymore. She didn't try to attack it or anything. Basically she ignored it. Loki's reaction was much more animated. He barked at the intruder for quite some time. He was clearly afraid of it. Finally, he retreated to the safety of the basement. After awhile, Loki got used to it and ceased his barking. He's still afraid of it and stays far away from it, but he no longer barks. Yay! Overall, I'm surprised by how easy it was to get the pups used to the machine. No problems at all!
It did a great job at navigating around my kitchen, dining room, and hallway. It even made it into the powder room because the door was left open. I've read some reviews in which their Mint got stuck, but mine never did. Moreover, it didn't fall off the stairs. And it maneuvered around the rug, dog beds, dining table, dining table chairs, baby swing, and the kitchen trash can. There were only two issues: (1) The dogs' empty food bowl was light enough for it to push out into the hallway. (2) And a relatively empty wastebasket was also pushed out into the middle of the kitchen. I thought these were pretty minor issues. The biggest drawback is the battery. On one charge I was able to get one complete sweep of my kitchen, dining room, and hallway. But then the battery died out after mopping all of my kitchen, half of my hallway, and half of my dining room.
In terms of cleaning, I think it did a fantastic job.
More importantly, how did the pups do? Well, Jujube was curious for about a second and then she didn't care anymore. She didn't try to attack it or anything. Basically she ignored it. Loki's reaction was much more animated. He barked at the intruder for quite some time. He was clearly afraid of it. Finally, he retreated to the safety of the basement. After awhile, Loki got used to it and ceased his barking. He's still afraid of it and stays far away from it, but he no longer barks. Yay! Overall, I'm surprised by how easy it was to get the pups used to the machine. No problems at all!
The Mint Cleaner
Prior to Baby, I didn't really care that our entire home was covered in dog hair. Of course I kept our home somewhat clean, but it didn't really bother me that we lived in dog hair. Now with Baby, I find myself caring a lot more about the cleanliness of my home and I clean much more often than I used to. Baby hasn't started crawling yet, but he should in the next couple of months. With working full time, I don't have the time to keep my home as clean as I would like. So, this afternoon, I decided to buy the Mint Cleaner from Bed Bath and Beyond. (Bed Bath and Beyond has the best price, and on top of that you can use their 20% off coupon.)
It is basically a robotic Swifer. I haven't tried it out yet, as it takes 16 hours for the initial charge. But I'll let you know how it goes. I'm mostly afraid that it'll drive Loki nuts and that Jujube will attack it as if it were a rodent. But I hope that eventually they will get used to it.
It is basically a robotic Swifer. I haven't tried it out yet, as it takes 16 hours for the initial charge. But I'll let you know how it goes. I'm mostly afraid that it'll drive Loki nuts and that Jujube will attack it as if it were a rodent. But I hope that eventually they will get used to it.
Upside Down Bowl
Loki, why is the bowl upside down and on the floor? What did you do?
And I know it wasn't Juju, because she was outside in the backyard.
NatGeo Dogtown Book Winner
Using the random number generator at Random.org, the winner is commenter number five:
Anonymous said...Congratulations Anonymous! Hm... I do wish you left a name, because "Congratulations Anonymous" just doesn't sound very congratulatory. Anyways, please email me at lokitheshiba@gmail.com to claim your winnings.
What a great resource for a Shiba owner! I know my 2 would benefit from mamma being better educated.
NatGeo Dogtown Book Giveaway!
Hi blog readers!
Guess what? The lovely folks at National Geographic have offered a copy of Dog Tips From DogTown: A Relationship Manual for You and Your Dog
.
About the book from the publishers:
Leave a comment if you want to participate in the giveaway. Entries must be entered by Tuesday, October 17, 2010, 5pm Eastern Time. I will pick a random winner on Wednesday.
Guess what? The lovely folks at National Geographic have offered a copy of Dog Tips From DogTown: A Relationship Manual for You and Your Dog
. About the book from the publishers:
Following in the paw prints of the successful first DogTown book, companion to the hit show on the National Geographic Channel, Dog Tips from Dogtown is the pet owner's practical guide to building a healthy, happy relationship with a dog. Relying on the unparalleled expertise of the trainers at the Best Friends Animal Society, this manual shows, with step-by-step illustrations, how to apply the power of positive reinforcement to train a pet. From adoption tips to canine communication lessons and training strategies that make a regimen fun for everyone, Dog Tips from DogTown is a complete guide to the tried and true methods that work miracles every day at the Best Friends Animal Society.In my opinion, it is a wonderful training book filled with practical training tips, a compassionate relationship-based training philosophy, and realistic expectations. And by realistic expectations, I mean that the book outlines things like how much money you should budget in order to care for a dog. I thought this was a nice addition that you don't see in other dog books, because many times people underestimate the cost of owning a dog. Anyways, the book covers a wide range of training issues from the basics to common problem areas.
Leave a comment if you want to participate in the giveaway. Entries must be entered by Tuesday, October 17, 2010, 5pm Eastern Time. I will pick a random winner on Wednesday.
Our fearless fly catcher
We were backing out of the parking spot when all of a sudden we see Juju in the rearview mirror. So we stop the car, and shout out, "What in the world are you doing?" Apparently she was catching a fly or something like that.
On Toys
Is that a baby toy or a dog toy? They all look so similar! Dog toys have squeakers. Baby toys have not just squeakers, but also rattles. Rattles seem like fun for dogs too. Some of the stuffed animal toys in our house are for dogs and others are for baby. Dogs have ball toys and baby also has ball-like toys. It’s so confusing, how can you tell the difference?
In our home, the dog toys remain the dogs’ toys and the baby’s toys remain the baby’s toys. They do NOT share toys. When Loki showed interest in the baby’s sheep cloth book, I only allowed him to sniff. I then removed the toy from Loki and put it in the crib. In general, the dogs’ toys are on the ground and the baby’s toys are stored in high places. Sometimes baby toys are on the floor, like when I put Baby on the floor mat to play, but I always pick them up afterwards. We haven't had any incidents yet of a dog picking up a baby toy.
I fully intend on maintaining the separation of toys as baby grows into toddler. So far, Baby hasn’t shown any interest in the dogs’ toys. But I plan on not allowing him to play with the dogs’ toys. The thought of him playing with dog toys is especially gross considering that everything that Baby plays with ends up in his mouth.
So far, we’re doing well. The dogs have their toys (and occasionally my flip-flop shoe). They show minimal interest in Baby’s toys. And Baby hasn’t shown any interest in the dogs’ toys. This whole issue has been a non-issue at our home mainly because we have very few toys. The dogs only have a handful of toys and Baby only has a handful of toys. We’ll see what happens as Baby grows in to Toddler. I know that I’ll be using the dogs as a threat to get our son to pick up his toys when he’s older: “If you don’t pick up your toys, Juju is going to chew it up.”
In our home, the dog toys remain the dogs’ toys and the baby’s toys remain the baby’s toys. They do NOT share toys. When Loki showed interest in the baby’s sheep cloth book, I only allowed him to sniff. I then removed the toy from Loki and put it in the crib. In general, the dogs’ toys are on the ground and the baby’s toys are stored in high places. Sometimes baby toys are on the floor, like when I put Baby on the floor mat to play, but I always pick them up afterwards. We haven't had any incidents yet of a dog picking up a baby toy.
I fully intend on maintaining the separation of toys as baby grows into toddler. So far, Baby hasn’t shown any interest in the dogs’ toys. But I plan on not allowing him to play with the dogs’ toys. The thought of him playing with dog toys is especially gross considering that everything that Baby plays with ends up in his mouth.
So far, we’re doing well. The dogs have their toys (and occasionally my flip-flop shoe). They show minimal interest in Baby’s toys. And Baby hasn’t shown any interest in the dogs’ toys. This whole issue has been a non-issue at our home mainly because we have very few toys. The dogs only have a handful of toys and Baby only has a handful of toys. We’ll see what happens as Baby grows in to Toddler. I know that I’ll be using the dogs as a threat to get our son to pick up his toys when he’s older: “If you don’t pick up your toys, Juju is going to chew it up.”
Winery with the dogs
Today was an extra special fun day with the dogs. They were all excited. Where were we going?
Here's Juju:
and Loki:
After a long car ride, we stopped at Grandale Farm for lunch. It was a beautiful day. Gorgeous weather. We ate outdoors and the pups were allowed on the other side of the deck, away from the dining area.
But Juju had other plans in mind. She couldn't understand why the humans were keeping her away from the food.
After lunch, we went to Breaux Vineyards. It was a dog friendly establishment and allowed our pups to join us inside while we had our wine tasting at the bar. We thought that it was really special that they were dog friendly, but then they told us that most of the vineyards around the area are dog friendly.
Juju decided to curl up between the bar and our legs.
But sitting by the bar wasn't for Loki. He wanted to sit in the middle of the room.
(Don't worry, we didn't let the pups eat any grapes. We know it's bad for dogs.)
We had a fabulous time and recommend both of these places.
Here's Juju:
and Loki:
After a long car ride, we stopped at Grandale Farm for lunch. It was a beautiful day. Gorgeous weather. We ate outdoors and the pups were allowed on the other side of the deck, away from the dining area.
But Juju had other plans in mind. She couldn't understand why the humans were keeping her away from the food.
After lunch, we went to Breaux Vineyards. It was a dog friendly establishment and allowed our pups to join us inside while we had our wine tasting at the bar. We thought that it was really special that they were dog friendly, but then they told us that most of the vineyards around the area are dog friendly.
Juju decided to curl up between the bar and our legs.
But sitting by the bar wasn't for Loki. He wanted to sit in the middle of the room.
(Don't worry, we didn't let the pups eat any grapes. We know it's bad for dogs.)
We had a fabulous time and recommend both of these places.
Dirty Window
Of all our window panels, guess which ones are the dirtiest? The two bottom corner panels. Gee, I wonder why? Maybe, it's because both pups do this all the time.
Random Shiba Links
Look! There's a shiba modeling a costume of ... wait, what is it? A cave man on a flying shiba?
Anyways, I saw this on CuteOverload.
Anyways, I saw this on CuteOverload.
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