The Downside of Training
Ting and I have very different training philosophies.
I think training should only be done to the extent the skills taught benefit Shio in real life situations; I am not into tricks. Ting, on the other hand, is an obsessive trainer (and that is why she rightly should take almost all credit for Shio's good behavior) -- she will try to teach Shio as much as possible.
"Target" (Jump)
Recently, Ting started to teach Shio how to jump on command. When she told me she was going to do this, I immediately said: "Well that doesn't really count as a life skill now, does it?" My sly remark was ignored and she trained Shio to jump on command pretty much in 2 days.
Shio is now jumping up and down and on people way more often than he used to -- so much that Ting is completely annoyed with him.
Potty Bell
Shio has always been pretty good about telling us he needed to go outside for potty break. He would go to the door and scratch at it to let us know he needed to go. We decided to buy him a bell that sits on the floor so that he can press it and let us know he needed to go out vs. having to scratch the door. Being a smart Shiba, Shio mastered the art of ringing the bell in ~2 days as well.
Shio now rings the bell whenever he is bored, knowing we would take him outside -- even if only for a quick walk around the block, driving both Ting and me crazy.
Such is life with a smart Shiba...
The Calm After the Shio-Storm
It may be risky to say this so soon but Shio is finished with his fur storm...
The amount of fur that he's lost compared to the last two months has been light and we can see that he's slowly changing into his adult Shiba fur. He's losing his fluffy baby look. 
Changes that we see so far:
- The black mask he had when he was younger has diminished
- His white mask is starting to show around his eyes
- Fur on top of his head is starting to look and feel more like velour fabric
- The fur along his spine is coarser and darker than the fur on the rest of his body
I can't wait to see the finished product!
There is no doubt that Shio rules the household 80%+ of the time.6 months
Today is Shio's 6 month birthday!
Looking back, it's been a lot of fun (and sometimes stressful) to watch him grow. Back when he was only 3 months old and untrained, it seemed like the 6 month mark would never come.
He's peacefully sitting next to my computer desk right now.
What a great pup... we're all so lucky to have each other.
Shio’s Expressive Face
One of the cutest things about Shio is the marking above his eyes. They're like open quotation marks for the expressions on his face.
What do you think he's trying to say to us here?
Shio's Shiba Face
Shio vs. Bird
Today our Shio got a taste of raw meat -- and it wasn't because we wanted to give the BARF diet a try...
When Shio went to a dark alley around the building tonight, he managed to pick this up...
Dead Bird
I had to yank it out of his mouth. The piece I managed to get out first was the feet -- once I saw it I knew it was trouble... Luckily, Shio spat the rest of the body out...
We freaked out and called a friend whose girlfriend is a vet-in-training. She reassured us that Shio should be fine, and that we should monitor his behavior to make sure everything is ok...
Hopefully, our baby boy is alright...
Shio-Cam: Playing with the IntelliBone
J picked up his iPhone 3G S today and put the new video recorder to work. Here's a video of Shio playing with his IntelliBone.
height="525" codebase='http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab'>
controller="true" loop="false" pluginspage='http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/'>Shio vs. Neutering
When I went to pick up Shio from the vet this afternoon, I expected a limp and tired Shio. To my surprise, Shio bolted from the back room into my arms in the waiting room. He was happy and ready to go!
I was stunned by the fact that Shio was so hyper and was afraid that the doctors had skipped him and forgot to neuter him! I flipped Shio over and saw the one inch incision that was made and the sutures (stitches that will dissolve on their own) were there. Phew.
We made it home and I let Shio sleep for most of the evening. I can tell that he's happy to be back home. :)
P.S. Shio now weighs 20.3 lbs
A Sad Day for Shio
Shio is getting neutered tomorrow.
Funny because whenever I say that 'n' word around men, they cringe. You really can't blame a guy for that since they are just reacting to the thought of being castrated themselves. Quite frankly, some of them should be. Anyway, I've talked to people who are not pro-neutering/spaying and most of the time, they think that it keeps the dog intact and happy. Don't be one of those ignoramouses who think that your dog should stay intact when you don't plan on mating your lil friend! There are so many reasons why you should spay/neuter your dog. Here are ours:
- We will not be contributing to the overpopulation of unwanted pets in the United States. There are 3 million dogs and cats that are euthanized every year. Shio will not have offsprings that will participate in that statistic. It's too heartbreaking.
- We've seen too many dogs in dog runs that are testosterone driven and become aggressive. We bump into at least 5 dogs each time we take him out for a potty run alone and we do not need to increase the risk of him being harmed.
- Reduced chance of testicular cancer. Also, neutering nearly eliminates the risk of perineal hernias and penile tumors.
- I'm tired of Shio marking e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Although this habit may carry on long after he is neutered, we still have reasons 1-3.
Neutering is our responsibility to our dog as a pet owner. It will be painful to see him during the week that he's healing, but there will be a lifetime of benefits for Shio.