Shio vs. His Winter Coat

I had some "uh... DUH!" moments last week. 1. After visiting a Shiba breeder, she kept mentioning that Shio's fur was still thick and full. I then realized that we haven't brushed him out in a few weeks so I proceeded to do so the Monday after we met her. I brushed him for a good hour and as a result, raked out a ton of his undercoat. Then, at the height of my frustration, I called the groomer and asked her how much it would be just to comb out his winter coat. She said, "$20." That's dirt cheap. We immediately scheduled him in for a grooming sesh the next day. Uhhhh... DUH! Why didn't I think of this before?

2. After we picked him up from the groomer, the several weeks of protesting and refusing to walk during walks suddenly subsided. Which means that he was extremely hot and bothered by the extra weight he had been carrying around and the poor guy just didn't want to walk with his winter coat on. Uh... DUH! Why had I not realized this before?!

And there you have it. I'm a moron.

Bestest Buddies Foreverest

We bought Buddy from our breeder when we picked up Shio. Buddy is a Snuggle Puppy stuffed animal had has a velcro underbelly that can be opened up to insert a “beating” heart and heated warmer. This gives Buddy the feel of a real dog next to your puppy when he may be experiencing separation anxiety. During the first night that Shio came to our home, Buddy was the only item in our home that Shio would acknowledge and has been with him ever since. Needless to say, we know that wherever Buddy goes, Shio is sure to follow. Here are some examples of their inseparable bromance:

Prison Break Buddies: When we first started crate training Shio, he thought he was being imprisoned. Shio would know that if Buddy was being put into the crate he would be following right behind so he would “rescue” Buddy from the crate. The whole “prison break” used to comprise of him making a mad dash for the crate, grabbing Buddy with his mouth and then speeding out of crate with Buddy. This would happen at least 5x a night before we were able to have them both settle in the crate and close the door behind for the night. The next morning, Shio would ignore Buddy because he sold him out to the crate.

Walking Buddies: If we have trouble motivating Shio to go out, we clip the leash onto Buddy and drag him towards the door. Shio will jump up from whatever he’s doing and follow us. Then we clip the leash onto Shio’s collar and carry Buddy out for our walk while passerbys tease us for having “two” dogs. I have to admit, we DO look ridiculous.

Grooming Buddies: This, by far, is the funniest Buddy story we have right now. On Saturday mornings, we groom Shio. We take his brush and try to pull out as much of his dead undercoat out as we can, pile it up next time and throw it out into the garbage when we are finished. One Saturday morning after his normal grooming ritual, I catch Shio pulling out Buddy’s fur with his teeth and piling it up next to him. No joke, this really happened.

Maybe one day we’ll get him a live buddy to play with. But for now, we have a warm stuffed dog with a heartbeat named Buddy.