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I Am Shiba.

Dedicated to momentary thoughts and musings of A Shiba Inu.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

We Are Still Shedding!


So The Woman tricked us into the backyard and gave us both baths!

It was horrible- horrible I tell you- because my paws got wet.

The back patio is filled with wet dog fur.

The house now has that lovely aroma of "Ode du Canine."

The Woman is considering getting us shaved because we still have more fur coming off.



I Am Shiba. But You Loved Our Furry Coats In The Winter!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Dog Fur


Yesterday, The Woman brushed an entire bag full of our fur.

Today, there is still more.

Belle and I both look like we have mange.




I Am Shiba. She May Have Won The Battle But We Are Winning the War.

Thursday, June 24, 2010


17 pounds, 10.5 years.



27 lbs. 9 .5 years.

Kinda hard to believe that the two of us are basically around 10-11 years old.



I Am Shiba. We Look Marvelous.

Monday, June 21, 2010

What Does A Shiba Do In 80F?



We shed!

Lots!

We make you vacuum more than you have vacuumed all year.

We make people stop you on the street and ask if we have mange.

You brush us, and this only makes it worse. You think you are done. We wander off and shake in a patch of sunlight. Fur flies in every direction.

You can't have people over for dinner. You are afraid of where our fur might end up. Forget about their clothes; you are worried about the spaghetti.

There are dust bunnies in places you never dreamed of looking.

There are dust bunnies sitting in the middle of the kitchen that you clean up at least three times in the last hour.

You can tell what we have done and where we have been. There are patches of fur on everything. Doing laundry is a nightmare. The drier can't get all the fur off your clothes.

And then this morning, it starts all over again.



I Am Shiba. Remember, You Love Us When We Are Cute And Fuzzy.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Failing Cesar Milan's Lesson Number One


Um, sorry, but we go through the door first. Must check for squirrels, chipmunks, and any other dangers before we let you through the door.



I Am Shiba. Last One Out Is A Rotten Egg.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Shibas on Dogs 101!

Shibas on Dog 101!!

Join the bandwagon and let them know the superiority of the Inu over all other dogs! The Woman has already written a brief letter; I look forward to hearing what everyone else will say! Also go to Dogster and check out what everyone else is doing to say such wonderful things about us while we shed all over the furniture!

=============================================

This was forwarded to me from a friend on the Shiba Network- Masako and Winnie, and she asked for responses.

First and foremost, let me state that both my husband and I watch and enjoy Dogs 101 (and Cats 101).

Second, just the other day, we were watching and the Poodle was featured. Your program stated that these dogs were intelligent and eager to please. I turned to my husband and said, What will they say about the Shiba Inu? Intelligent and not eager to please?

The Shiba will be a difficult dog to summarize in under ten minutes but it will be entertaining. I know of a shiba agility kennel in New Hampshire - http://shibas.nozomifarm.com/ - who are more than helpful in talking about working with such an independent breed that needs to keep busy and is a natural as an active or a couch potato. I have one of their retired agility dogs and she is more of a handful than my other shiba- who happens to be a working therapy dog. The agility dog was trained to think and figure things out, and she does. She knows exactly how far to push every rule in the house and not get into trouble. Shibas don't relish attention- they need to be adored like Gods and then they give themselves to you like a blessing from Buddha himself. For five minutes. And then they go off to do whatever they feel like until they hear a cheese packet open up.

You have to mention the importance of socialization with humans and other dogs. The expression that we use among shibas is that they may not start the fight but they will end it. But all shiba people will tell you- you have to socialize your dog *all*the*time* or else you will have an overly determined dog who is not much fun to take anywhere.

But for human interest stories, almost anyone who owns a shiba can tell you something about how their shiba did something that completely embarrassed them, despite all the years of training and socialization that we give them. Feel free to puruse my blog for some examples, and there are links to other shiba blogs as well- The Misanthropic Shiba being the most famous.

But thank you for giving our breed its day on your show. I truly hope that you mention also that there is a serious shedding issue at least twice a year also. And include a commercial for Dyson vacuum cleaners because all Shiba owners have $500 vacuum cleaners because they are the only thing that works.
Sincerely,

Christine Gilbert
The Blog of the Shiba: http://i-am-shiba.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 07, 2010

/Sigh The Return of the Medicine


The Woman is taking no chances this time. She says that both of my ears are smelly and dark gunk in them.

She also says that I have that cock-eared look again, hardly a look of dignity for a Shiba Inu.

But I don't like ear drops! So I make sure that She and That Guy both have to participate and Belle pokes her nose in my face and makes fun of me. My amusement wanes. But we do get nice treats afterward and I am most certain that my treat is bigger than Belles.



I Am Shiba. Greenies > *.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Camp Shiba

This was the backyard where we got to hang out for Memorial Weekend. One acre entirely fenced in where we could run, hunt, and overall enjoy ourselves. It was awesome!


Unfortunately, we did not play well with the other dogs so there was lots of rotating dogs in and out of the yard but when I was there, I ruled as King!


I can never tell if Belle is showing off or just has never forgotten all her agility training.


However, she is very good at finding rodents which made the weekend that much more entertaining!



I, of course, had to make sure that all those other dogs knew that I was here!




It was a great country vacation for those of us Shibas who lead urban lives. We had so much fun running around that by the end of the evening, my legs actually shook from tiredness.

4 hours up and back, but worth every minute.



I Am Shiba. Life Is Good.