Freedom for Shio

The first thing you see when you walk into our apartment is Shio's wire crate sitting the living room. You could only imagine my surprise when I opened the door on Friday evening after a long day of work and saw the door wide open with no Shio inside! Where was Shio?!  I took a couple of steps in and saw Shio hanging out on the couch in the middle of a glorious mess he created during the afternoon. He saw me and instantly ran over to greet me and let me know how proud he was of the interior re-decorating he did that day. Turns out that the replacement dogwalker I used that day decided not to put Shio back into the crate when they came back from their afternoon walk.

After surveying the damage, we found that we lost one throw pillow, two separate corners of a wall and several different spots on the floor to teething. Needless to say, J and I were not happy campers and will not be using that dogwalker again... ever.

On the up side, Shio has excellent bladder control.

Shio vs. Magic

Shio and Co. will be supporting Kobe and Co. in the NBA Finals.

Shio vs. Water

Prior to getting Shio, we have read that Shibas do not like water. So, we made a conscious effort to expose Shio to water as early as possible, including giving him a bath the first night he arrived home.

Despite our efforts, the Shiba in Shio is too strong for us to fight -- he now hates water. He will walk around wet spots on the pavement, he will walk right by buildings to avoid getting wet in the rain, he will pee right outside the door of the building to avoid having to get wet when it is raining, and when we try to give him a bath, he will take every available opportunity to attempt an escape.

To give one final test of Shio's hatred of water, we tried to get him to dip in the lake at Bear Mountain 2 weeks ago. And yes -- he hates water alright...

So now, when it rains, Ting will exercise Shio in the hallway...

Shibas will be what shibas will be...

Shio and the Bath Mat

I read somewhere that sometimes dogs rub themselves on things (e.g. grass) because there is a scent that they like, and they want to cover themselves in that scent. Shio apparently really likes the scent of our bath mat, because when we allow him into the bathroom (which is not often) he will go nuts rubbing himself all over the bath mat.

Stranger things have happened, I guess...

The Shio Guide: Walking on a Leash

Fortunately for J and I, Shio had made training him how to walk on a leash a unforgettable event as evidenced by the pictures.

1. Resist by flipping self over and using legs to hold down the leash
2. Sit and refuse to move
3. While sitting, prove your point of not moving by looking in the other direction
4. Finally, give in and walk