Freedom?

I am a typical Shiba. I am a little over sixteen inches tall, I weigh about 29 pounds, and I shed.

I also suffer from the Shiba condition known as "Selective Hearing."

The People find this mildly amusing. They can be somewhere in the house, and call my name. I will remain in my spot. My name can be called three, four, five times, and I will not answer. I am not something that can be summoned for your amusement.

Open the cheese drawer of the refrigerator, however, and I will be proudly sitting at your feet before you turn around.

Because I suffer from this well-known Shiba condition, I am not allowed off leash when The Woman and I take our daily constitutions. While I find this confining and frustrating when the squirrels are just so close, The Woman believes that it will keep me from injuring myself in the next county as I pursue squirrels from tree to tree.

So we were walking in the woods. Ahead of The Woman and I, was a man with two German Shepherds. Both dogs were loose and sniffing around the trail, moving back and forth. We kept a safe distance back although I did find them intriguing and I was concerned that they might damage my property, when we witnessed something rather disturbing.

The Man With The Shepherds started to call in his dogs. They did not respond, but rather continued to sniff and investigate. He proceeded to call them several more times, and they refused to respond. He then caught one of the dogs, and hit it on the head, calling it a bad dog. This happened several more times on the walk, before he finally yelled at both of them, and stated loudly, "okay you both have lost your freedom" and he immediately leashed the two girls.

Freedom? That is Freedom? To be yelled at and scolded for enjoying oneself in the woods? To be hit in the head when called? To be mauled when a response to a vocal command is not immediate?

We caught up to them about half way through the trail, where The Man With The Two Shepherds was sitting on a bench. The Woman greeted him, and continued to pass by when one Shepherd started to pull and bark at me. The Woman reminded me to be good, and continued walking when one of the Shepherds turned and attacked the other Shepherd, biting it so hard on the ear that it drew blood. The Man With The Two Shepherds started to hit and kicked the more aggressive Shepherd when The Woman and I noticed that the second Shepherd could not escape- she was leashed on a dual leash so as This Man was punishing the first Shepherd, the second was attached and being dragged along as well.

The Woman at this point yelled to This Man, "Do you need any help?" which distracted him away from "his girls" as he called them later in conversation. They shared conversation for about five minutes, where This Man explained that he wants to give "his girls" their freedom, but they just don't come when they are called. The Woman listened and explained that she has excellent results being trained by a woman with a particular agency, and she could give him the name and number if he was interested. This Man stated that he would just return to using the shock collars; that seemed to work best with "his girls."

The whole time this conversation took place, "his girls" were looking at me like I was lunchmeat.

I was very relieved when The Woman ended the conversation and continued our walk. The whole time, she spoke softly to me, telling me that I was a good boy. As we got into the car, she gave me a big hug and again, reminded me what a good boy I was.

At home, The Woman told the Man what she saw and The Man also told me that I was a good boy. Both of them were very angry at this man. Me? I just feel sorry for "his girls." Even when I was destroying the bathmat or tried to take the present from under the Christmas Tree, I merely heard my name associated with a particular tone of voice, and I knew it was time to cease and desist. The harshest command I get is "Leave it!" and while I will never know the freedom of running loose in the woods, at least I don't worry about what will happen if I jump on the bed because I am excited or bark because I hear the neighbors playing basketball.

I know what Freedom is.



I Am Shiba. Freedom Is Not Living in Fear.