Faith the 2 legged dog

This dog was born without her front legs, so she learned to walk on her two hind legs like a human. Amazing.

new nest

it is getting cold outside, so last night I decided to make myself a nice warm nest to sleep...in the laundry basket. I dugged all the linens out, and settled myself in comfortably. It was so warm and cozy until someone woke me up with the camera flash.

cutest kitty video

Even though I am a dog, I do have a soft spot for cute little kitten. check out this video

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/the-cutest-video-of-all-t_n_372535.html

eewww!

another kill, from yours truly.

a lazy Sunday with Hoppy

Hoppy moved indoor for the winter, so I get to spend more time with her.

who you are calling an air head?

Every morning I go to each of my owners' rooms and jump on the bed to wake them up. This morning I went to one of their bedroom, walked right past her who was right by the door without seeing her, went to check out her bed to look for her, then realized that she was already up. I quickly howled and tried to greet her. She called me an air head. Humph! Just because I did not see her and thought she was in bed still. It was early in the morning afterall.

alpha and omega dogs

I know who the alpha dog is in my pack. Everyday she gives me food and I wait till she starts eating before I eat. Today she accidentally left a plate of chicken on the coffee table, and I just sat there and did not touch it. But when my alpha dog accidentally left a cup of Hoppy's pellets on the floor, I quickly helped myself with it. Afterall, I see Hoppy as the Omega dog, so her food is free for all, hee hee.

persimmons

The persimmon tree in the backyard yielded over 100 fruits this year. They are really sweet. Hoppy, my rabbit buddy loves it, but I just can't get into it. I am a blueberry eating shiba.

the rat hunt continues

Must be the warm weather we have been having. My owners put out some gopher traps at the entrance to some holes in the backyard. We got a rat instead. I got so excited I tried to get it, but of course my owner kept the fun all to himself again. Now I circle the gopher traps all the time, and he had to put some buckets over the traps to prevent me from trying to get the traps. No picture of the dead rat this time. Apparently it was too gross. May be next time.

shiba yarn

http://www.vipfibers.com/collect-store-fiber.htm#collect

This place can spin dog's fur into yarn to make hats and stuffs. My owners had collected a huge bag from the shiba they had before me. And now they are thinking about collecting fur from me. I shed big time after each bath, with bags of fur. Has any you shiba out there ever had your fur made into a sweater or hat or scarf?

the "shiba lean"

Whenever I am scared or I want to cuddle, I sit up properly on the couch with someone, then I start leaning towards the person until my weight is completely on the person. My owners get a good laugh out of that because apparently my predecesor used to do that a lot, and my own shiba mom did that to my owners when they went to pick me up at my breeder. The other day during that big rain storm, the wind was so strong that the whole house was shaking, and I was doing some serious leaning. I did not want to show that I was scared, so I sat up properly, but I did some heavy duty leaning there.

it was a dark and stormy night

Boy, oh boy. Did it rain last night. Supposely leftover of a typhoon from Japan that came across the Pacific and hit our area really hard. Things were blown around all over the yard, tree branches broken all over the place. Today is 60 miles an hour wind and a lot more rain. I got so wet going to the backyard to do my "business" that I ran right back in the minute I am done. My pretty fur is all matted down from the rain storm. And now the roof is leaking right near my food bowl. Eeek. Not my precious foods!

bunny in the backyard

We have had hummingbirds, racoons, rats, lizards, and gophers in the backyard, but never have we thought there would be wild bunnies. No, not my buddy of 6 years Hoppy, who is living in this huge hutch. Today we saw a bunny freely hopping around the backyard. We noticed that it was hopping much faster and higher than Hoppy, who is a bit overweight and not as agile. I hope the bunny comes back so we can get a picture of it. I did not chase it or try to kill it like my owners were afraid I would do. I know bunnies are friends and I just sat there and left it alone :-)

where the wild things (lizards) are

This is where I hunt for lizards in the backyard. Everytime my owners stackup the bricks nice and neat, I knock them down and sniff through the bricks for lizards. Last week I found a big nest of them and killed about a dozen of them, which upset my owners greatly. But I am not going to let that stop me from knocking down these bricks. The hunt continues...

pigs smarter than dogs?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33205603/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/

Acoording to this article, teacup pigs are the new fad in UK. People like them because they are smarter than dogs? Huh? Well, at least I will never become bacon. Plus do pigs hunt? Guard the yard? Shed all over the rug? Never mind, forget that last one.

pics of rat hunt

pics from last weeks hunt. First one is a pic of one of the four (prob 5) rats I killed (ewww, pretty gross). And that's me searching for more rats.

Just little old me

Today one of my owners was trying fix the irrigation system in the backyard. He was driling a hole through the fence. After he drilled it, he stucked his finger through the hole trying to clear the hole. So I sneaked up to the fence and licked his finger from the other side. Because we have been having rats, racoons and gophers in the backyard, he thought it was a rat and screamed (like a girly girl). Hee, hee. It was just little old me.

longer lifespan for dogs and cats

Apparently we are living longer, just like humans.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33076736/ns/health-pet_health/

This MSNBC article mentioned a dog that is 26 years old. Wow. The shiba inu my owners had before me lived till she was about 17 years old. I heard she was very active hunting in the backyard and going for walks every day until the final 2 months. This is a picture of Uni three months before she passed away. That's Brownie (Hoppy's brother) who passed away a month later because he ate through the dry wall one day and ate the insulation inside the dry wall. So unfortunately he did not live very long. But Hoppy is over 7 years old now. So hopefully she will live a long time.

the killing spree continues

Yesterday my owners were moving some bricks to prop up the tool shed in the backyard. I always knew there were lizards amongst those bricks, but never realized how many. It was a whole nest of them. Maybe 10 or 12. I went after them so fast, they were dead bodies all around. I did not eat them, just kill them all. Needless to say, my owners started screaming because while they do not like rats, they like lizards and were trying to protect them from me. While I got praises the other day for killing those rats, I got nothing for killing the "cute little" lizards. What can I say, I am a hunter. Just like the other night, no kisses from my family last night and more teeth brushing and disinfecting wipes.

Kura the Mighty Hunter

Today my owners were cleaning out the tool shed in the backyard. They noticed the birdfood bag had a big hole in it, so they moved the tool shed trying to clean things out. As always, I was sniffing around checking things out. Four rats scurried out from underneath the shed. I caught them. One! Two! Three! Four! Four in a row in less than 10 seconds. I got them just like that. I killed them and dropped them immediately. Later another big fat one ran out. But this one was fast, and I took off after it. Later on, my owners found blood drops along the wall in the back yard, but could not locate the rat. Tonight for some strange reason, no one wants to kiss me, and everyone keeps trying to brush my teeth and clean my nose with anti-baterial wipe. What's up with that?

getting wet

I did not go into the pool all summer until yesterday when my owners launch a surprised attack and grabed me and put me in the pool. It is important for dogs to learn to swim just in case we fall into the pools by accident. Most common accident for dogs in the backyards is drowning because many dogs were not trained to find the exit for the pools to get out.

I hate getting my pretty fur and paws wet, so I made sure I swam directly to the steps as I was taught where I can get out. Once I got out, I automatically ran to away to a dirt pile and got as dirty as I could. My owners got their revange by catching me and giving me a bath. I have video of my swim that my owners will post soon once they upload it.

vitamin effervescent water, yuck!

My owners got this crazy idea of buying these vitamin effervescent tablets that dissolve in water. It would not be such a bad idea except it is chicken liver flavor. The water bowl now looks like there is pee in it, and it smells terrible. I refused to drink from it all day yesterday eventhough it was 106 outside. Finally I drank a little from it, and it was so gross. What were they thinking?

Doggie IQ

According to this, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32349079/ns/health-pet_health/ dogs are smart. Nothing new there. Now researchers have determined that an average dog knows 165 words, the level of a human 2 year old, and the smarter 20% of dogs know 250 words. For me, I know my name, "Hoppy", "eat", "food", "treat", "are you hungry", "walk", " let's go out", and "car". Not much else are worth knowing.

doggie seat belt

My owners tried to put this new seat belt harness on me so that I do not have to be in a crate when we travel in the car. But I did not like anyone touching my dainty paws to put my front leg into the harness, so I yelped as loud as I possibly could and cried bloody murder. I even snapped at them, a big no-no. Oops. I am the same way when they tried to cut my nails. Anyway, they gave up on the idea of the seat belt, and I am back using the crate when travelling in a car. Used doggie seat belt for sale, anyone? :-)

Singing Shiba

My owners found this video of a singing shiba online. I wish I could sing! Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXQDMDobHc

Raccoon hunting

Last night I woke up everyone with my feroucious barks. I had cornered a raccoon in the yard, and was trying to get it while it hid high up on a planter. It was about twice as big as me, but, hey, I am a hunter. When it made its escape, I chased after it, with my owners screaming for me to get away from it. I wonder why. Did any of you shibas out there ever try to hunt for animals bigger than you? How did your owners prevent that? We also got Bobcats in the area, so now they are scared that I will be going after these bigger "preys". They rather I stay with birds and lizards....and those silly tennis balls.

First Time at Beach

This weekend, I went to the beach for the first time. When we got out of the car, I was afraid of the waves because they were loud and made my dainty little paws get wet. My owners cruelly forced me to get into the water, and I tried with all my might to get back to the car. I did enjoy sniffing at all the seaweed, and catching flies that hung around the seaweed. After about an hour of being cruelly forced to stand in the water, I made a little game of jumping over the waves and running around. After i finished hanging out at the beach, I spent the whole car ride home grooming my dainty little paws. My owners made a video of me at the beach. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-eTodMJe-o.

A minute in the life of a Shiba

My owners created another video of me. This time it was of me chasing frisbees and balls. Watch it at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwibP7mLAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwibP7mLAA

Hoppy and I

My owners created a video of Hoppy and me playing! They took Hoppy inside, and we hung out for a while. They filmed me chasing my tail and running around too. See my video at youtube also, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2bpCLQ3Eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2bpCLQ3Eg

tennis ball thrower

My owner got this and started launching a bunch of tennis balls at me. Since I am not a retriever, I went after the first ball, ran around the yard with it in my mouth, and had enough of it. I stopped chasing the balls. My owner was really disappointed and kept trying to bribe me with doggie cookies, but I stood my ground and refused to be trained. Finally my owner gave up, for now. But I know they are going to try again. Round 1, Kura 1, owners zero.

cats do control human

this just in today on Yahoo! news. Researchers found that cats control human through high pitch cries (get me food) and purring (am i cute or what? let me cuddle up with you where it is warm). Of course my cat friend Raven already knows about this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090713/sc_livescience/catsdocontrolhumansstudyfinds;_ylt=AutCPXP6QgzdjwGVT4FPHg8DW7oF

Soon researchers will verify another well known fact, we shibas control our owners too with our shiba howls when they come home and feed us, and our silly antics so they would massage our backs. Hee, hee.

dental treats

Today we went shopping for my dental treats. As we were leaving the pets store, we walked past these glass cages full of plump juicy, chirping, bouncing birds. Forget those dry dental treats my vet wanted me to eat. These birds look delicious. I think they are great for my teeth too. The glass cases had so many of my nose prints on them as I pressed my face against them. Yum!

Pets Hotel... Again?

My owners went on a vacation to Greece, Rome, and Turkey, and they put me at the Pets Hotel. When they came back, they picked me up from the Hotel and discovered I was unnaturally skinny. While they were on vacation, I didn't eat my normal large amounts of food, and lost weight. I felt sad that I didnt have people to play with even though I was in doggie playgroups. For a few days after I got home, I acted weird to my owners, avoiding them, but soon, after a lot of treats, I became back to normal and decided to post on my blog!

Hoppy is okay

Hoppy went to the vet about her eye infection, and he said that

1. 1. Hoppy is not fat

2. 2. Hoppy’s eyes are okay, and they just need to heal

3. 3. It is common for dogs and rabbits to get along

Even though we Shibas hunt rabbits, lots of dogs and rabbits hang out together. The vet told my owners that that Hoppy’s double chin is natural. I hope that means I’m not fat either! When my owners brought Hoppy home, they let me play with her. I tried to eat her treats and her food, so my owners then brought Hoppy outside to her cage.

Hoppy's Eye

My owners went out to visit Hoppy a couple days ago, and they found out she has an eye infection! I hope Hoppy is okay though, because her pupil doesn’t change when hoppy goes in the sun. My owners say that it’s because hoppy is old, and that they will take her to the vet. Boy, I hope Hoppy’s okay!

shedding time

With the strange cool weather here in northern California (yes, it actually rained in June), I did not shed my winter fur until this week. My owners washed me so now I look like I am molting, with clumps of fur hanging off my behind. I also look fat as the undercoat is coming lose. However, I still act like a drama queen whenever my owners go near me with the brush. I yelped bloody murder so that they cannot properly brush me. I know I look ridiculous with all these clumps of fur on me, but I just don't like being brushed. How about you shibas out there?

first blueberry of the season

Ahh! The sweet taste of blueberries. Today my owner harvested the first batch of blueberries for the season, one for her, one for me, one for her, and one for me. Yummy. Too bad we did not get that many. I could have eaten a whole bowl.

Summer!

Summer is starting, and my owners are going into the pool alot more. Sometimes, they bring me in and make me swim. brrr!

dogs do laugh

Shibas always have a smile on our faces. Sometimes my owners wonder if I am really smiling. This article showed that dogs do laugh. Of course all shiba owners know our emotions, especially our loyalty and our mischeviousness. But we also laugh out loud. According to this article, dogs' laugh is a rhythmic pant. check out http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009226383_dogs16.html

pancake breakfast

I went for a walk this morning, and there was a thing in the middle of the road that looked like a flat pancake with a string coming out of it. Being a curious shiba, I dragged my owner over to check it out. It was a pancake rat, flat with some red "syrup" on it. My owner got all grossed out, and would not let me stick around to sniff it. Party pooper.

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms of shibas. I hope your shibas brought you a nice gift today, like a bone or something. This morning when I saw my mom, she used the "gift" commend, which told me to bring her a gift, and I picked up a tiny piece of paper on the floor and gave it to her. Hey, it's the thought that counts. You don't think I was going to give her one of my precious doggie cookies or a blueberry, do you?

lizard feast

Wow, it seems that my online shiba buddies Mika and Winnie also like lizards. Today I found a bunch of them, and caught another one, but my owner quickly made me drop it again (that dreaded command), and built a "lizard sanctuary" to block off an area of rocks and dirts where a bunch of lizards were hanging out so I cannot get to them. No worry, Mika and Winnie, next time I hit a stash of lizards, I will let you know and we can chow down together while no one is looking :-) Woof.

lizard! yum!

Yesterday I was out in the backyard enjoying the sun and I caught a lizard. I decided to eat it. My owner caught me with lizard tail and legs dangling out of my mouth and made me drop it. Don't know what is the big deal. It's good protein.

ode to Kura

In the wild wild west of Silicon Valley,
Lies a shiba inu named Kura.
Who loves eating blueberries in a way that is sloppy,
And hangs out with her best friend Hoppy.
She prowls the backyard for field rats and gophers,
Then catches a flying bird in a single bound, a blur.
Her passion is her family day and night,
Whom she loves and protects with all her might.
Her fearsome barks can scare a burgler on the prowl,
If not, at least charms him with her shiba howls.
. . . . . . . . . . by Kura's owner

allergies

According to my online shiba buddies Winnie, Mika and Jen, shibas do get allergies from pollens such as oak and dandelion, and even cockroaches. Wow. My allergy is probably from the pine trees from our neighbors where whenever there is a gust of wind, there is this thick yellow cloud of pollens that lands on our deck. With such a wet winter here in northern California, we got a lot of stuffs blooming. Sometimes I sneeze 10 times in a row, and once in a while hit my nose on the floor. Ouch! My allergy seems to be getting better, but my owners will keep benedryl and eye drops in mind next time I get an allergy attack.

Home

I just got back from the PetsHotel. A few days ago, my owners dropped me off, claiming to have some family emergency. I was really popular there, and all of the PetsHotel Staff loved me. The hotel had playgroups where I hanged out with other dogs. They even got doggie ice cream and phone time where owners can call up their dogs and talk to them on the phone. My owners never did that though. I got a great report card for being a social dog. Glad I am back!

Yarn

Today my owners found a ball of yarn, and one of them rolled it right in front of my face. Naturally, I pounced and played with the ball of yarn. Soon I got tangled up and uninterested. My owners laughed at me, and called me a cat.

dogs also have hay fever?

I have been sneezing a lot every morning when I wake up. It is allergy season here in northern california with everything blooming and tons of pollens. My owners are all having runny nose and sneezes. Now I get them too. I did not realize dogs are allergic to pollens too? Or is it just me?

happy birthday to me

It's my birthday!

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday to me,

Happy birthday dear Kura,

Happy birthday to me!

I am now 6 years old. It's now time for a nap.

evil gophers

We got a huge gopher infestation in the backyard. I tried to dig these little guys out of the gopher holes but it is just not working except I ruin the lawn even more. My owner put a few stink bombs into the holes, trying to smoke them out, and can you believe it, they kicked the sticks out of the holes. Shibas are good hunters, but I am afraid I am out of my league with these guys so deep in the ground.

iditarod winners

Maple and Larry won the Iditarod today. Yea for them. Oh,the guy in the middle of the picture is their owner who also won the last two years.
photo source: msnbc.com

iditarod ending soon

The Iditarod race is ending soon. The mushers and the poor brave dogs had to face severe blizzard and several dogs died. Oh no. It was apprently the worse many mushers had ever seen with really cold temperature and strong wind. Many mushers decided to stay in the checkpoint cabins much longer to wait out the storm rather than to risk the lives of the dogs. These dogs are so brave. Awesome.

a big fat rat

Today I was helping one of my owners in the backyard -- actually he was working and I was just nosing around. Then I heard a noise among the stack of cement blocks. I frantically tried to push away the cement blocks so I can catch whatever was inside. My owner pushed me aside and lifted the blocks, and there was this big fat rat inside. I tried to pounce on it because we shiba inus are ferocious hunters. My owner grabed me and locked me inside the house. While he was there playing with that rat with a shovel, I was inside whining and scratching the door as all good hunters do. By the time he let me out to the backyard again, the rat was gone. Darn! I missed all the fun.

Daylight Savings

Daylight Savings is today. I lost an hour of beauty rest! 

iditarod starting

The Westminster Dog show is like the beauty contest for dogs, while the Iditarod is like the Olympics for dogs. Only the strongest and most determined dogs can win. Check out http://www.iditarod.com/. It is starting this afternoon and the race will be 1500 miles. Wow, I get tired walking to the library which is a 2 miles walk. These are some awesome dogs.

Surrogate owner for a week

We got a visitor in our home for the past week. When he first came through the door, I did a really loud shiba howl and the shiba dance for almost 5 minutes. I could smell that he was related to my owners and seemed really liked me. He scratched my fur and pet me all the time. For a whole week, I followed him around, slept next to him on the couch, and pretty much ignored my real owners while the visitor was here. Now that he left, I guess I have to get back to being nice to my old owners. Afterall, we shibas are supposed to be really loyal.

A Rare Sunny Day!

After what seems like endless rainy days here in California, we finally had a sunny day. So I got to sunbathed outside. Tommorow the rain returns. Poor me!

bunny video

Another stormy day today so Hoppy and I hanged out inside the house and I helped her with her bunny food.

chicken is my middle name

Last night, there was a big storm. With all the patio furnitures got blown around the back yard, I got soo scared that I jumped on my owners' bed and hid under the blanket.

new top dog Stump

This Sussex Spaniel named Stump won the Westminster Dog Show this week. He is 10 years old. Wow, that's 70 human years. I am going to be 6 in a month, so I guess I am still a young pup compared to Stump.

photo source: msnbc.com

Top dog

This top dog from last year's Westminster dog show will soon be replaced by a new top dog for 2009. The competition is next week. I can't wait. I spotted a shiba inu in the show with name starting with "Copperdot" last year, which means that shiba was related to me from the same breeder. I doubt a shiba inu will win the top dog honor. But should be interesting to watch on TV.

More Puppy Pictures

Puppy Pictures

favorite passtime

Hoppy and I just love to look out the windows together and watch the birds in the backyard.

One blog visitor asked why I get along so well with Hoppy because shibas are hunters. Hoppy was one year old when I join the family as a 7 week old pup, so she has been my playmate all my life. I even make rabbit sound when I am with her and I just love rabbit food.

My buddy Hoppy

Hoppy and I had fun today hanging out.

Most popular dog breed

According to the American Kennel Club, Labrador Retrievers are the most popular dog breed in the U.S. for 18 years in a roll. What, no Shibas? Actually, we shibas can "sometimes" be "a bit" difficult to keep, and only those humans who are willing to put up with our unique personalities should look at getting a shiba, regardless of how cute and adorable we may be.

a shiba who can be off leash

My owner told me that another shiba inu, Winnie, can be off-leash. Wow. That is so amazing.

For me, my owners have to have double doors leading to the front yard. They call it our "air lock" so that I don't bolt out of the house.

Winnie is allergic to chicken but not ducks, which is interesting. My owners are going to check in on this as I eat a lot of chicken. Check out her blog at http://awinnieday.blogspot.com/

photo source: winnie's blog

Shiba Cartoon

Check out Mika's blog, (http://mika-gruffs.blogspot.com/) it is hilarious. I love this cartoon from his blog. It is sooo Shiba Inu.

Quick, Give me a boost!

Wow, if only shibas can do that too, I would be over my backyard fence so fast. My owner's previous shiba could jump 6 feet high, but I am smaller (only 18 pounds), so I can jump maybe about 4 feet high.

photo source: msnbc.com