In preparation for her arrival, we’ve gone back to the basics.

1. Crate for training

Having very little idea of Goo Goo’s background, we are prepared to crate train her, just as we did with Shio. When Shio was a puppy, he was only allowed out of the crate under supervision and was crated when we were out of the apartment and bedtime. I remember for the first two nights after we picked up Shio, he wailed all night. If Goo Goo does the same, it’ll be a loooong weekend.

2. Potty training

Not sure where to start with this one. I’m sure that Goo Goo will experience some sort of anxiety and her whole system will be thrown out of kilter for the first couple of days. If she’s 11 months old, I anticipate four breaks a day like Shio had when he was that age.

3. Leash training

Being that the NJ-22s did not have room to run and were not walked, I’ve been told that though they are generally good dogs they lack the training for walking on a leash. We’ve stocked up on treats for that!

4. Puppy proofing 

Spent all morning making sure that the things that are touching the ground are moved to higher ground or run the risk of having it destroyed. Fingers crossed for this one!

Wish us luck!

Thanks to our little Shiba community for the well wishes. Hope you are just as excited to meet her as we are!

PS - Please consider donating to help with medical expenses for these Shibas on the NYC Shiba Rescue site: http://nycshibarescue.org/donate/

In this new place, we also gained an unfenced back yard. This would’ve been a dream if we had an area dedicated for Shio to run around in but we’ve been training him not to run out when the door is open to the back because it’s not fenced. He’s not allowed to run out for squirrels, birds or even a toy that accidentally rolls out the door.

We  have neighbors that live upstairs and often here them walking around their hardwood floors. Shio is slowly adjusting to the sounds although he does have his freak out moments where he goes into a barking fit if he hears our neighbor’s door slam shut. Every once in a while, he can hear voices upstairs and has been on edge about that.

We also have the mail man, UPS/USPS/FedEx package deliveries that come through our front door. We had the luxury of a doorman accepting all of this for us previously but now we’re on our own. So far, Shio hates all of them.

On the up side, we’ve made a new Shiba 8 month old friend name Boozer from the dog run. They play and fight like brothers! They also dig like Shibas and have created many ditches in the dog run in their attempts to get back to save their friends in Japan.

Shio is checking in to the golfing range right now!

We’re staying with the Kobe and the Lakers.

Booyah!

Let’s see… updates from February until now…

- Allergies are back! We’ve determined that he has seasonal allergies, just like his human daddy. I have two sneezy and snotty men in my life.

- Shio likes to grab his toys with his mouth and smush them into our legs as his way of beckoning us to play with him.

- Since I’m at home a lot more than Josh, Shio is actually very clingy towards me in the way that Shibas can be clingy. This means that he will become anxious and stared at the door I walked out of until I return or look for me after I walk away from him.

- We learned a couple of new tricks: “Play dead” and “beg”.

- He is a bit afraid of dog runs/Shibas now. Since the incident in the Union Square dog run, he is much more hesitant about walking into a new dog park. During the last Shiba meetup, he was not as friendly has he used to be and even got into a fight with an intact male Shiba. I’m not sure if he’s afraid of dog runs, Shibas, or both.

- He’s been testing his limits. He keeps on trying to jump on the couch even though he knows that he’s not allowed to. Of course, there’s also the lay down protests during his daily walks.

- He will sleep til 10am. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! We haven’t had an accident since January. Yayyyyyyy!!!!

- We are shedding. And we don’t stop. Ever.

That’s about it. Happy 16 months Shio!

1. You will find random poop bags in your coat pockets.

2. There will be crumbs from doggy biscuits sitting in the deepest corners of your pockets.

3. No matter how much you clean, there will always be fur everywhere.

4. At some point, your dog will poop in the middle of the street while you are crossing and there will be an audience of cars lined up at the red light watching.

5. You point at the Shiba owner with a Shiba that doesn’t walk and laugh, all the while being thankful that the schmuck isn’t you.

I saw this picture on fyeahshiba, one of our favorite Shiba sites for Shiba pics, and laughed when I saw this cute puppy mid-squat.

I remember when Shio was 3 months old, we were too busy rejoicing whenever he pooped or peed successfully outside to enjoy the cuteness of his crouching.

Look at his cute floppy ears and serious expression! I could just melt into a little puddle. Shiba pups are so cute!!!

Last time I wrote about the monthly updates was when Shio was 10 months old (how embarassing!) so let’s list the changes from then up until now.

- Shio has significantly calmed down since October. When J and I are busy at home, he will entertain himself with the toys that are lying on the ground and not bother us at all.

- The morning wake up calls have ceased and he will now walk into the bedroom (we hear the “tap tap tap” from his nails walking on the hardwood floors) to check up on us. He makes sure we’re still alive and breathing and walk out the after he sees that we are still asleep. No more jumping on the bed.

- I can sleep til 10am without feeling guilty about not waking up at 8am to drag him out for a potty break. Yes, I’ve been pushing my limits. :X

- He’s been telling hyper-active puppies off like a grumpy old man when they jump in his face.

- Thanks to proper exercise in Central Park in the mornings, Shio has trimmed down around his waist and his Shiba tummy tuck and leg muscles are showing. He is a big and healthy Shiba – the vet clocked him in at 29 lbs during our annual visit last week.

- His face has lightened and shows little blackness around the snout. The eyebrows have also disappeared. This is what he looked like when we picked him up: http://www.shiotheshiba.com/blog/?p=194

- The amount of loyalty that he has shown to J and I has increased exponentially. He trusts very few people and rarely lets a stranger pet him without shying away.

- No more testing his limits and boundaries.

- We had our last potty accident in January. The end of February will mark (haha) the first full month where we have not had an accident. For us, potty training was much tougher than anticipated.

- No more tearing up every rug he sees! Paper is another story however.

We love him more and more every day. He’s such a wonderful dog.

Okay, I’m getting way ahead of myself. 

Here are the most recent changes:
-The incessant banging on the bedroom door prior to 8am has been restored.
-Guess who has the balls to jump up onto the bed now? That’s right, Shio does… figuratively speaking when it comes to the balls of course.
-He’s losing his puppy face. 
-We had a day full of potty accidents this month. I call it an isolated incident since we think he was unhappy about a friend that crashed at our apartment one weekend.
-Shedding has slowed down significantly.
-He’s very curious about everything that J and I do. He follows us around the apartment like a shadow when he’s not napping.
-This is the most surprising and happy development. Shio will now… wait for it… COME ON COMMAND! I’ve been hardcore training him in the past month with treats. More on that later.

Instead of going out 4x a day (8am, 12pm, 5pm, 10pm) we now skip the noon potty trip and go straight from 8am to 5pm. I don’t know if anyone is excited as I am but it is so AWESOME not to have to get up from your desk every couple of hours during the day just so he can pee.

I’ll just tack that onto the long list of reasons why I love my Shio.