New Guinea Singing Dog

My owners recently saw a New Guinea Singing Dog at the San Diego Zoo. It was remarkably like a Shiba Inu. The NG Singing Dog had the same red coloring, slanted almond eyes, pointy ears, and fluffy tail just like shiba's. Unlike shibas that bark and sing, the NG singing dogs only "sing", with an unique howls that was eerily similar to shibas. Based on genetic testing by the researchers at the San Diego Zoo, the NG Singing Dog is the missing link between wolves and modern day dogs. I wonder if Shibas are kind of in that category too, which could explain our unique personality and our stubbornness (ie, untrainable to be off leash).
photo source www.rarebreed.com/breeds/ngsd/ngsd_buna.jpg

ho! ho! ho!

I refused to wear the santa hat, so my owners pretended that I was wearing it. Merry Christmas.

Second Dog

While the President-elect Obama still trying to figure out First Dog for his daughters, his VP already chose a puppy, a German Shepherd. What? No Shiba Inu? We shibas are much cuter, although this one is pretty cute.

nice towel

photo source: www.moillusions.com

bye bye, puppies

Well, 3 of the shibas went to their new owners this past weekend, so only 3 left. Two more will be leaving soon. All the puppies no longer have the shiba pup's "black mask", and now all look like adult shibas. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

last chance for shiba pup cam

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

So far the site has had close to 9 million hits during the past 7 weeks. The puppies are 8 weeks old, and will be going to their new homes this weekend. The owners of the puppies have decided to keep one, but the next few days are the last chance to see all of them together. Check out some older clips of them too so you can see how much shiba pups change from tiny stubby nose furball into a fox like dog.

graduation

Check out my graduation picture from my intermediate training class. I aced the test. I was able to be off leash while my owners left. I did the "down" command which none of my previous 4 trainers were able to get me to do. I knew to "go to bed", "leave" the food on the floor while walking pass it, and of course, the "sit" and "come" commands. The only one I am still not sure of is the "return" command where I had to go to my owner, and turn around and sit next to my owner. Next month I will be in advanced camp, where I will be AKC certified (that's Amercian Kennel Club). My owners are not sure I can get that because Shiba Inus are nortorious for running loose when off leash if we get distracted by a bird or something because we are such natural hunters.

puppy pics

With all the excitment of the popular shiba pup cam on the Internet (see post from last week) I thought I would share some of my puppy pictures. Yes, all shiba pups look like giant furballs and with a big appetite for chewing. I was 7 weeks old in these pictures, on my first day in my new home.

return of furby

When I was a young pup, my owners used to annoy me with this talking Furby toy that spoke gibbrish. I used to bark at it because it would not quiet down. I was so happy the toy finally broke (mysteriously). Scientists recently found a real furby in Indonesia. Cute little thing. Hope it does not make annoying sound like the other Furby.

shiba pups cam

This site got 2 million hits since it launched last month. The six shiba pups are five weeks old. Check out
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

and info about the pups
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1858007,00.html

hungry White House dog

One of the presiding dogs in the White House decided to take a bite out of a reporter's finger. Don't they feed the President's dog there? I would imagine there are tons of lizards and birds in the Rose Garden. Hmmm.

White House Dog-Elect

President Elect Obama had promised his daughters that they get a dog if he wins. I don't understand why he does not have a dog already. Everyone should have a dog, especially presidents. Anyway, MSNBC is running a poll of what type of dog Obama's daughters should get, and wouldn't you know it, Shiba Inus are not even mentioned. How sad.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27556702/

let yourself be heard

All you dogs out there, remind your adult owners to get out and vote!

holloween candy rules

By this time you should have collected lots of candy. as I said, chocolate is bad, but there are much other candies that are great to eat. Let me give you a preview.

Chocolate-----------------a no-no!!! i told you.
Licorice-------------------big dogs like this.
Jelly Beans---------------yum!
mints--------------------okay... so-so...
Skittles------------------ooooh!
candy corn---------------just like jelly beans!
Lollipops-----------------easy for owners to extract from mouth.
M&M -------------------you kidding!?!?
Hersheys----------------i warned you.
Cadbury-----------------ooooh la-la!
Gobstoppers-------------take long time to consume.
Hot Tamales--------------hot! hot! hot!
Twizzler-----------------twizzy.
bubblegum--------------sticky. dont eat it.
Ring Pop-----------------easy for owners to extract from mouth.
Baby Bottle Pop----------for puppies.
Starburst----------------just like bubble gum.

of course, I don't eat candy myself because I vainly need to watch my waistline. But make sure that after this you sit very still so your owner can brush your teeth. Remember, don't eat chocolate. And if you find a candy that smells fishy... don't eat it. trust me.

halloween

Hey you dogs out there! Happy Halloween! Wait, did i say happy? Halloween is not happy. Why? As you guys know, It isn't nice that this evening, kids like to boldly arrive at other dog's territories begging for candy. Well i have some advise. There are the three steps toward no more kids coming. I use them every year.

1. When someone comes, bark. naturally.

2. if you are let out, steal *ahem* i mean borrow some candy. it makes them get scared and they go away. usually.

3. chocolate? dont eat it. trust me. (for more information, visit the post: poisonous food for dogs in cats from march)

i guarenteed that if you are ferocious enough, you will suceed.

crazy Holloween costumes

Need I say more?

photo source: http://news/yahoo.com

math genius

Scientists did a study of honeybees and found that they can count to 4. When will human learn that other creatures are good in math too. For example, I am called a "geometry dog" by my owners because I always lie equal distance among my owners. If one is upstairs and one is downstairs, I lie at mid point between them in the middle of the stairs.

Ahh! That feels good

October is almost over. With the cooler weather, my owners are using the hot tub more. They don't let me go into the hot tub because they think it is not safe for a dog. But these Japanese monkeys seem to be having a good time relaxing in the natural hot spring.

photo source: msnbc.com

Food, glorious food!

If only catching those lizards and crickets in the backyard is that easy.

photo source: msnbc.com

bully in training camp

Today I went to my training camp again. There was a big black dog there that has been terrorizing all the dogs in the camp. One tiny teacup poodle was so scared last time that he would not come out from under the bench. Well, this dog was getting really close to me, right at my face, so I growled and snapped at her but did not touch her. Wouldn't you know it, the dog backed off even though that dog was twice my size. Ha! That dog did not go near me again. Shiba power!

adorable me

This past weekend, we had two birthday parties, and I was the center of attention (and Hoppy too). I was friendly, cuddly and cute. I used my big brown eyes to make people pet me. I pawed them to make people scratch my neck. I ran around them to make them gawk at how athletic I am. Once in a while, I stealth lick people hands because they smell like potato chips, cookies, and pizza. For all you attention loving shibas out there, these are good tactics to get people to love you.

my kind of lounging around

Rough life these pandas have!

blessing of the animals

Once a year in October my owners take me to their church for the blessing of the animals day. Yesterday I got a bath and a nice brush with the furminator so that I can look and smell nice for today's service. Hoppy refused to be on her leash so my owners took her in her pink carrier.

There must have been over 100 dogs of all breeds in the church, along with cats and hamsters. Every year there were these horses there but this year the horses did not come. I met a lot of very nice dogs, and most dogs behaved so niced during the sermon and stood in line nicely to receive our blessing. I like going to church for the blessing. I think every church should have it.

another day at training camp

Today I learned the "leave it" commend. My owner leaves a doggie cookie on the floor, and I was to ignore it and go straight to my owner when called. I had no problem with the command since I am not that into doggie cookies. But if it were blueberries, that would be another story.

this is why shibas cannot be off-leash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O8_1SUcqqg&feature=related

Shibas are a bit strong willed!

good-bye, summer

This past weekend was really hot, high of almost 100. So my owners and friends took advantage of the nice weather and went swimming a lot. That meant I also went into the pool a few times and did a few laps. While I am innocently sunbathing outside, my owners would sneak up on me, pick me up, and dunk me into the pool. They think I look cute when I swim. I don't mind going in when it is hot out. My owners make sure I know how to get out of the pool on my own and which direction to swim towards. I am glad they train me to swim because the number one cause of death for dogs is drowning in the backyard pools. Eeek!

the "down" command

Today I went to the training camp again. The trainer tried to have me go down to my stomach. Of couse I refused. That is a submissive position and there was no way I would do it. I had three other trainers during the past five years and I had never done the "down" command. This trainer was so determined. After tricking me with a treat where I went down once, I figured out and stood my ground, literally. Shiba inus are not submissive on command, doesn't she know that?

dogs, the superior species

The truth finally came out. Scientists found that dogs are the most superior in aerobic exercises, adapting to needs for endurance, and better at using oxygen to generate energy. They found this by testing dogs from the Iditarod dog race. Overall, we dogs are just superior to all other mammals physically, including human.

At home, it is so obvious that I am superior. I paw my owners, they rub my ears. I sit by my food bowl, they rush over to fill it. I sit by the door, they take me out for a walk. Of course dogs are superior.

source: msnbc.com

training camp..part 2

My owners are determined to train me to be "off-leash". Ha! Dream on. Yesterday I learned the "wait" command as my owners and I learned in the doggie training camp to not run out the door and to sit by the door patiently until my owners gave me the signal. I performed beautifully at camp, but at home is a different story. Havn't they realized that shiba inus are strong willed?

let the shedding season begins

The weather has gotten much cooler now. The temperature dropped from high of high 90's to high 70's in one week. This means my fur start to get kind of loose. Every time my shake myself, my summer fur starts flying all over the place. My owners are groaning about having to lug out the vaccume cleaner to clean after me.
We shibas are awlful cute, but we do have this fur problem twice a year because we got 2 layers of fur, and the undercoat sheds every start of summer and winter. Soon my fur will start clumping and these clumps will hang off my body where my owners will try to pull them off. My predecessor, Uni, used to lie there for half hour and just let my onwers pull all the clumpy fur off. But I am kind of stubborn and would not let them touch me. They sometimes use the furminator (see earlier post about it), but sometimes they give up and just let me walk around looking like a molting, mangy dog for a couple of weeks till I am done shedding.

"D" is for drama queen

So it is not just me who yelps so loud when I am getting my nails cut. This is a clip of a shiba screaming when having her nails cut! We shibas are pretty good in being dramatic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT2p5latG6o

"C" is For Cookie

Cookie Monster from Sesame Street would not have liked my owners because they do not give me doggie cookies. The cookies get stucked on my teeth, then they have to brush me otherwise I get ugly looking plaque really quickly. But I do love the taste of doggie cookies. Yum.

favorite treats

My trainer at doggie boot camp was complaining to my owners that the normal doggie treats did not work for me. She could not figure out how to reward me as typical beef jerky stuff does not thrill me too much. She should have known that to get me to do anything, I take only fresh blueberries and rabbit pellets. My owners have been using the pellets from Hoppy's feeding bin (Hoppy is my rabbit buddy) to entice me to do various things like sit down the moment I run to them, leaving foods they dropped on the floor alone, etc. I wish they give me blueberries, but I am pretty satisfied with rabbiet pellets, for now :-)

graduating from doggie training class

Today I graduated from doggie training basic boot camp. With my trainer's help, I was able to show my owners how I sat, came, and heel with hand signals. My owners used to train me with a leash and I did not like that. Now with the new training, they do not use the leash. I still have not learned to be off-leash. That would be in the intermediate class.

organic flea killer

Although I do not scratch, so I do not have fleas, my owners thought we should still use flea killers on me just in case because I romp around in the back yard so much. They put some smelly oil on my back, which is made of peppermint oil, thyme, cinnamon, lemongrass, and clove. It is supposed to be a natural flea killer. Smells more like they are ready to cook me by marinating me in all these spices. Now I walk around smelling like a piece of stake ready to be BBQ'ed.

"B" is for nasty bees

b
Today, one of my owners got stung by a bee. I was laying down sunning myself enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather, and she and her mom were pulling weeds in the backyard. Then a bee tried to sting her. She and her mom made a big deal, while I kept sunning myself. Later, I went over to investigate her neck, (where she got bitten). I think that the bee tried to sting her, but she pulled it off half way. My owner told me Uni, the shiba inu they had before me, was stung by a swarm of bees and had to be taken to the emergency room for several days. I hope I never get stung by one.

welting backyard

It has been so hot the last two days that the peach trees in our backyard are welting, with hundreds of yellow peaches dropped to the ground all shriveled. It is like a desert out there with drying leaves and grass. Yesterday the thermometer in my owners' car read 108 for outside temp and today high 104.
Well, I am not terribly fond of peaches anyway with the fuzzy skin. It is like licking a catepillar. Urg! The blueberries are all gone (sniff!), but the plants seems to be ok thanks to the weed covering that my owners put around the blueberry shurbs.

My owners said they had never experience such high temperature except when they were in the Grand Canyon when it was 125 degrees. Well, at least it is not humid, so in the shade it is ok, but in the sun, it sure is hot. I stopped my usual sunbathing and spent my days cooling off in the hardwood floor.

"A" is for alpha dog

α
My owner learned that three are three golden rules for a human owner to make sure that he or she is the alpha dog in the house, not the dog.
Rule 1: Never let the dog walk out of the door ahead of the owner.
Rule 2: Never let the dog eat before the owner.
Rule 3: Never let the dog win when playing tug-a-war.

Personally, I have no problems with these rules. I do my "shiba dance" when they come home, and I bring them a gift to welcome them. I never walk out of the door ahead of them (except when I try to sneak out), and I always wait for them to eat first. I figure, what the heck, they do provide me food afterall. If they think they are the alpha dogs, let them. We all know that at the end, I, Kura the Shiba Inu, am the alpha dog because I have trained my owners to rub my back and scratch my ears whenever I ask them to.

four-eared cat

This four-eared cat named Yoda lives in the Chicago area. Pretty neat. Shiba Inus got pretty sensitive hearing, but if I got four ears, what an awesome hunter I would be.

source: msnbc.com

egg shampoo

My owners learned that using raw eggs, scrambled, as doggie shampoo can make a dog's fur shiny while not bother the dog's eyes. Talk about being organic. I think they are contemplating trying it on me. I am not so sure....Could taste good though.

in doggy training camp

Hey pups out there! I am sorry I have not been posting. I have an doggy training camp, training to being off-leash. So far, they put me on 20- foot leashes that are loose and give me commands. They also have me socialize with other dogs big and small, and learn various tricks and commends. My doggy camp goes on for one week. And by the way, feel free to post comments. You can do it anonymously! Remember that your comments help me have a better blog!

Shiba Off-Leash

Shiba Inus cant be offleash, guess why? WE RUN AWAY! let me telll you a little story...
Once there were two shiba inu brothers. They grew up in western virginia but were sold seperately. One brother was taken to his new home in eastern Virginia. The next day, his owners let him offleash, an he ran away. He was found on the highway that leads back to his brother in western Virginia. He was actually going in the right direction, but could have been lost forever. This is a true story. Now, as you watch this clip, you may realize that we shibas can come back. My owners plan to send me to a trainer in which i will be trained to not run away.Watch a shiba inu that comes back!

immortalized with paw prints!

Puppy abuse! My owners were making a Mosaic of my and Hoppy's paw prints. I was alright as I watched them mix the cement and pour it into the mold. Then one of my owners escorted Hoppy over. They pressed her paws into the wet cement, took them out, and wiped her paws clean. Hoppy told me that it felt like quicksand. So she tried to struggle. But then to my horror my owner reached for me. I fought bravely, yelping, scratching, slobbering... Later, I gave up, and they pushed my paws in. A day later, (today) it dried, and i must say my paws look good. I am immortalized with paw prints! Mua ha ha ha ha! And so is Hoppy!

giving a helping "paw"

Today my owners were busy in the backyard digging a ditch for drainage pipes. I faithfully followed them around where ever they went in the yard, sat next to them, and once in a while even help them dig with my little paws. But most of the time I just sat on the pile of dirt and occassionally barked and sniffed at the ditch to give them moral support while they sweated away under the hot sun. I am such a helpful dog.

fly catcher

Today the door was left opened a bit and 3 house flies came into the house. Within half an hour, I caught all three, after quite a bit of acrobatic jumping and snapping at them. I did not eat them, just smashed them with my teeth and left them on the floor, on the couch, etc. so that my owners screamed when they almost sat or step on them because they were so disgusting. Kura the mighty hunter strikes again!

Christian the hugging lion

This is a really neat video about a lion cub raised by 2 guys in London, and was then set free in Africa. The guys who raised the lion went to Africa to look for the lion.

Click on the video to watch the reunion.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25797678/

Hachiko movie

I learned that they are making a movie about Hachiko, the loyal Akita in Japan that waited at a train station for his master for 10 years even after his master died. An actor named Richard Gere is going to play the part of Hachiko's owner. If you missed my posting about Hachiko, check out my posting on April 1 titled "world's second most loyal dog". Akitas look a lot like Shiba Inus, except they are bigger and the face is a little less fox-like. The coloring and temperament are the same. Also check out this link about the movie. There are some shots of a cute Akita puppy that looks a lot like me when I was a puppy. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2008/03/24/quest.canine.co.star.bk.d.cnn?iref=videosearch

picture source: http://www.gimundo.com/Articles/Daily/914/27/03/2008/Hachiko:_The_Worlds_Most_Loyal_Dog

the ferocious shiba

Pretty wild looking picture of me, eh? Look at the long teeth I got.

I was actually trying attack the air stream that came out of the leaf blower my owner was using. I did not like it blowing at my face and messing up my fur. Shiba Inus are hunters of small games, so we can get pretty ferocious if we want, as you can see.

Solar powered

The typical California summer has returned with bright blue sky every day with not a cloud in sight. Fogs in the morning, but no clouds. I am just a happy, hyper dog that needs tot lie in the sun frequently. Shiba Inu's are solar-powered you know! Now, it is time for me to go lie in the sun and recharge my solar battery. Renewable energy is the way to go.

potty training

Although I am still pouting because one of my owners, the one with long hair, left for her 2-weeks summer camp, I decided that it is ok for her brother to help me blog once in a while.

I joined my owners' household when I was 7 1/2 weeks old (pic.).

The moment I arrived at my owner's home that day, my owners used a dog treat to lure me through the doggie door. Once through the door, they picked me up and put me on the far end of the grass area in the backyard. I did my thing, then they called me through the doggie door. That night, my owners made a nice cozy bed inside a crate where I could sleep. They placed the opened crate door facing the doggie door and I had an accident-free night. The next night, they placed the crate a few feet away from the doggie door. By the third night, I was allowed to roam the house and I never had any accident in the house. I also never slept in that crate again...Now I sneak onto my owners' beds at night or I lie right on top of the stairs where they could potentially trip over me in the dark.

Shiba Inus are pretty smart, eh? Now if only I can figure out how to get into the netting in the garden to get some strawberries and blueberries.

I will not be blogging everyday as I am still pouting, but please read my older posts at the meantime and feel free to comment about what you like to know about my life here in Sunny California.

Time to pout

Normally when one of my owners (I got 4) is not in the house, I either sit on the stairs and pout, or lie near the door and wait for them. I can count to 4 (pretty smart, huh?), so I always know when one of them is missing. Usually it is the tall one with the deep voice that disappears for days at a time. But today, the shortest one with long hair is leaving. She said she will be going to camp for a little less than 2 weeks. Oh no. It is time to pout as I sit by the door the next 2 weeks. Since I will be busy pouting, I will not be blogging. This will give you some time to catch up on some of my previous postings if you have not read them all.

Canadian Shiba

Wow! I have a visitor from Canada to my blog! Sushi, another Shiba, is also a dog blogger...Like me! Sushi and Bonnie, (the owner) post on the blog about cool stuff like a Shiba Rescue GTA, learning new tricks, and Shibas up for adoption! This Canadian visitor may be far away, but any blogging Shiba is guarenteed great! Read this fun blog at http://lifewithashibainu.blogspot.com/!

Picture credits: Sushi's blog http://www.lifewithashibainu.blogspot.com/

Hoverdog

As you may know, I (and Raven) like to check these funny animal picture sites, (Hotdog is about dogs, cheese burger is on mostly cats):

http://ihasahotdog.com/
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Anyway, I found this picture little-dog races, and I would like to point out: "Hoverdog" the flying black dog on the left. Hee Hee Hee! It does not look like it has any legs.

Shiba Inu bobsled team!

Aww! Maybe I, (being a Shiba Inu) should start a Shiba Inu Bobsled team! We may be so cute that we can we can go into competition! We would run pretty fast, but facts are: 1. We would be hard to get in order. 2. No Shiba Inu can run in a straight line. 3. Each of us would want to be first. Wouldn't that be great?

miniature pumpkins

This year the miniature pumpkins in the garden came in early. It is July, and we already got little yellow baby pumpkins growing. My owners cut one of them and gave it to Raven's owner so Raven can play with it. My owners also found receipes on the Internet for stuffed miniature pumpkins. They are going to try to make the dish. Yummy!

trapped bird

Today a bird was trapped inside the netting my owners placed around the garden. No idea how the bird got in, but it was flying around inside the net. I guess it and it's friends were trying to steal our fruits. So of course I had to bark frantically until my owners came and opened up the netting so it could fly out. Cute little bird. Wonder what it taste like? Oops, did I say that out loud?

Ugly oysters

Oysters, I must say, are the most revoltingly, disgustingly, hideously ugly foods my owners have ever eaten. I mean, the shell is not pretty at all, it looks like a barnacle-covered rock! And once you crack the rock/shell open, you see this cream-colored slimy, shapeless thing that has little black and gross stuff in it. I tried to lick the shell of one of oysters. Excuse me but ewww. I can not believe that they have the nerve to make fun of me eating lizards. They must really love oysters....Okay I do admit that these oysters smell kinda yummy after my owners BBQ them. But they sure are ugly!