Tell Me That Is *NOT* A Shiba ?!?

This morning The Woman turned on her internet and found several articles regarding Puppy Mills. This was the first one she read.

Shiba in a Puppy Mill

This next one is a raid on the largest puppy mill to date.

400 American Eskimo Dogs

Here we have some good news! Some teens rescued some dogs from a puppy mill in Michigan and are attempting to find them new homes.

Teens Rescue 41 Puppies

And in Chicago, there was another puppy mill raid:

70 dogs Rescued

The video that accompanies this story does not show the extremes but again, points out that the recent craze of "designer dogs" makes for a fertile ground for fast money making.

The following is an amazing long but informative article about puppy mills and designer dogs. Just reading the first page is enough to make any purebred, carefully lineaged Shiba gag.

The Modern Kennel Conundrum

There comes a point where we have to ask ourselves in the case of a designer dog, are we designing the dog to the benefit of the human race or merely making dogs to meet the needs of a single individual? As the NYT points out, men don't want "poofy" dogs, so Puggles become the designer breed of choice; women are making dogs into fashion accessories so we can assume that ideals such as house and obedience training are out the window.

Between Puppy Mills and the desire for a unique dog that meets your individual needs, we will never stop the overbreeding of dogs because we need to tailor make a dog for everyone who wants one. The remainders become disgarded, unadoptable, or merely classified as "mutts."

If one goes on Petfinder, there are a number of dogs listed under Shiba Inu but actually are most likely mutts. But because they are red, or have a curly tail and prick ears, that must obviously be the foundation breed. Most likely it is not. Most likely, it just looks like it could have been a Shiba, just like any dog that is black must have come from a Labrador.

Shasta

Chadwick

Jindo, the 50 pound Shiba

It is sad when the breed that I am gets mispresented just so that others can show off that they have a Shiba.

On my final note of this tirade, let me tell you about a woman I encountered at the park one day. She had a Lab/Shepherd puppy (a common mix up this way), but the woman added, "and a little bit of Pit." The Woman questioned the other woman about this, and She was told, that the grandmother of the puppy was 1/2 pitbull (and that is assuming that the breeder in that case correctly identified what a pitbull is!) But the interesting part of the conversation was that the talker kept emphasizing "the little bit of Pit" while ignoring the whole Lab/Shepherd mix which in and of itself, makes a fine dog. It's like calling yourself Native American when the Native American introduced into your family line was back in 1850.

Puppy Mills, Designer Dogs, and Fashionable Statements about what your dog is nothing more than fulfilling your own ego trip. At least those of the Shiba People who have carefully selected their opinionated furball don't do it for fashion. Shiba People own Shibas because they are paying for the sins of a past life, and have to relive this one with a Shiba in order to be ready for the next.


I Am Shiba. I Am The Higher Reincarnated Step.

Is This Normal or Obsessive? You Decide.

Like all animal owners, The Woman tends to be a tad excited about being a Shiba Inu companion. But let us examine just how excited The Woman is about being a Shiba companion. You decide if her position in society and reflection of enthusiasm is within normal standards.

First, you get a Shiba. That would be Me. You obtain your first Shiba because you think "OMG, this dog is really cool! It's like owning a cat! I have owned cats so obviously I will do well with this dog!"


Then you realize that Shibas are not exactly like cats, are definitely not Border Collies, and decide to do some research. This requires purchasing a few books.



And a new vacuum cleaner.

No household is complete without the token Favorite Animal calender of Cuteness. However, The Woman is not satisfied with just ordinary run-of-the-mill calenders; she has to import her calenders from Japan. That is, after all, where The Real Shibas are.


And because these calenders cost three times more than an ordinary PetSmart run-of-the-mill calender, she saves them.



Then she starts reading other websites and forums, and discovers really cool shiba things on these forums. On the Misanthropic Shiba there was an ad for a stuffed Shiba that was written entirely in Japanese. Well, we have our Japanese Calender Connection so The Woman sends Our Japanese Calender Connection the ad, and asks, is it good quality, price, can Calender Connection find it, etc.

Her $45 birthday present:



And, of course, with Ebay, you find cute trinkets that youjusthavetohaverightnow!




Now comes the fashionable wear. If anyone is looking for cool Shiba T-Shirts, Cafepress is a great place to start. That Guy can always find good Christmas presents for The Woman in this catagory.

And the originality of the T-Shirts is often outstanding.



And one can not forget car accessories. While it first started with a Half-Life bumper sticker that said Dog Is My Co-Pilot, other things get added as time goes on.



And then there are friends who always keep their eyes open for "Shiba Items of Interest." This hat was found by a co-worker who knew that TheWomanjusthadtohavethisrightnow!



My dog therapy bag is a Shiba bag, displaying three Shibas while carrying all my needed items to provide my volunteer work.

Finally, the ultimate item is added to the required Shiba items:

The Second Shiba.


So the question remains. Is this normal behavior on the part of a human companion to the Shiba Inu or is this merely the signs of a lost soul caught up in the consumerism of obsessive-compulsive Shiba Inu collecting, and therapy is required?


I Am Shiba. I Think Most Humans Are Wierd Anyway.

Fidelco Walk, May 16, 2009

Can you say "Let's invite every single German Shepherd in the surrounding area to one place and let them all march together?"

That is what the walk was this year! Over 100 German Shepherd puppies in training, 50 German Shepherd dogs in training, and over 15 actual Guide Dogs walking the path through Manchester Community College. Plus, a number of German Shepherd owners brought their own dogs to be a part of the crowd so there were easily over 200 German Shepherds of all shapes, colors, and sizes gathered together on one lawn.


I was The Only Shiba. As it should be. Little Miss Disaster was left at home since she thinks that German Shepherds are mere obstacles to be subdued and eliminated while I recognize that every dog has a job to do.


There were some interesting breeds present. There were two Gordon Setters, as well as a number of Irish Setters. There were several Siberian Huskies and 4 Klee Kai which The Woman found amusing as they resemble little miniature Siberian Huskies. The Woman appeared very interested in this breed, however, they are not Shibas and Shibas shall remain within this house. I walked next to a Miniature Pinscher who, like myself, started in the back of the pack and by the time we finished, we were way up in the front.

I like to lead, not follow.

There were the Labs, the Golden Retrievers, a few Pit Bulls, and one very slobbery English Bulldog. There was a Black Great Dane (I could take him) and the local Rottweiler Rescue Group was present. In fact, there were a number of Obedience Groups and Rescue Groups walking with their own colors but once again, I marched to my own beat.

I wore my coat of Bolton Veterinary Hospital Allan's Angels, and even had questions asked about my duties as a therapy dog. Uh, hello, I do therapy? I present myself and people automatically feel better about themselves and their situation? The Woman seems to think that there is more involved, but she hardly understands what it is that I actually do.

So the weather was good, the dogs polite and I was worshipped by the masses. I was only asked once if I was a Corgi, and as there were several Corgis present, I think that answer was fairly obvious.

No.


I Am Shiba. I Am A King Who Walks Among The Kings.

(The Woman notes: Thank you all for your donations. Together, we earned $240 dollars which will pay for a puppy in training for between 4-6 months.)

(Cortez notes: And trust me, those puppies need all the training they can get! The little imps tried to sniff my butt!)