Shio vs. Shedding
Did we mention anywhere on our blog that Shio is shedding? Cause he was. and he still is.
Shio is still shedding!
From this morning:
If I could ask Shio just two questions at this moment (assuming that he was able to respond) they would be:
1. Where the eff does all this fur come from?!
and
2. How are you not bald?!!?
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.
Shio’s Fur
It's been two months now and no signs of the end of shedding season.
We furminate him and put his fur in a pile next to him.
He turns around and eats the ball of fur.
Do we have the only weirdo Shiba or is this normal?
Shio @ 16 months
I actually had to sit here and count how many months old he is... which means that its just about time to stop calculating the months!
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!
5 Inevitable Truths
...of Being a Dogowner
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.
Shio @ 10 Months
Whoa... we are now officially two months shy of Shio's first birthday. I'm not looking forward to Shio not officially being a puppy anymore. They grow up so quick *tear*.
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.
Happy 10 Month Birthday Shio!
We promise to stop counting the months after you turn a year old. I'm lying. We'll always count the months.
Shio @ 9 months
Let's see... from last month til this month there haven't been much changes at all.
-Shio almost housebroken. We only had one accident his month.
-He is much more playful in the dog run a lot more now that its colder.
-Lots of shedding.
-Continues to wait for us outside the bedroom door every morning.
-Losing his puppy face and looks more like an adult Shiba.
That's about it!
Happy 9 months to our little guy!
The Shio Storm
This is what I call Shio's ability to blow coat. For what feels like all of April and May, Shio has shed enough to build two new Shibas.
I'm not sure where he gets all that fur from, but he sure looks a helluva lot skinnier now than he did before. The furniture and floor in our apartment is always covered in a blanket of fluffy white hair and when Shio shakes, its like a mini fur storm in the apartment. What makes it worse is that all our furniture is either black or grey.
I don't remember what our apartment looked like before Shio came along!
Shedding Shio