Shio vs. Poop

/

Not sure why it has taken so long for this to happen, but recently Shio has experienced some issues while pooping... issues that I find hilarious. Between my long hair, Shio's fur and anything shaggy that Shio can get his mouth on, he has a lot of strings and hair passing through his digestive system. The problem starts with when his poop cuts off mid-string and won't come out... leaving Shio with a stringy butt. Luckily, I found this post about Loki when I was researching Shibas and was aware of the stringy-butt problem. Our first run-in with the stringy-butt happened on the way to the dog run. We walk from our apartment in the direction of the dog run (normal), Shio poops and runs away from it (normal), I grab a plastic bag to pick it up (normal) while Shio runs around in circles at the other end of the leash chasing his tail (not normal). I watched Shio try to run away from himself, frantically chase his behind and drag-walking his butt down half an avenue (while Shiba screaming for the neighborhood to hear) before I swooped in to help him out.

I don't feel the need to describe the next couple of times because it's the same story, different type of string. And each time, I'm equally as amused as the last.

Hope you weren't eating while you read this entry. :)

Shio Loves Hot Dogs

/

We've taken advantage of the long holiday weekend by spending more time with Shio and working on training him during his walks and on his recall. Shibas are notorious for being stubborn fools and chasing after whatever merry whim strikes them, making them inaccessible to obeying simple commands. Shio is one of those fools.

Our solution: Lots of weiners.

Shio is a complete sucker for bite size pieces and we couldn't be happier with the training progress. Now, he will stop in the middle of what he is doing to turn around and run back towards you when you tell him to "come."  Before, he would turn around to look at you, cock his head to one side, ignore you, then resume what he was doing before when you told him to come to you.

Awesome!