Happy after playing fetch in our living room.

Physical Appearance

Emi was 11 months old when she came to us so she didn’t have much growing left to do but her physical appearance definitely had room for improvement.

Emi is a petite Shiba but when she arrived she was a little too skinny. You could feel each rib under her skin (not in a good way) but she was not starved. Emi would also tire easily after short periods of play time with Shio at home. I’m proud to say that since then, she has gained a pound or two and added a lot of muscle to her tiny frame. She can now run circles around Shio and still have energy to play fetch. Her legs are so muscular that she can gracefully leap onto any piece of furniture she wishes to and bounces around our living room with ease. Emi has such a high energy level that we started feeding her the same amount as we do for Shio and she still doesn’t gain weight!

When she first arrived, her belly was shaved from her spay surgery and the fur from the base of her tail was missing thanks to a flea infestation. Her fur was brittle to touch and her skin was noticeably flaky. She looked a little scraggly but still beautiful. Since then, we switched her diet to home cooked meatloaf and added a squirt of salmon oil and ground flaxseed to her meals. We use oatmeal shampoo on her during baths. Her fur has grown back in and improved dramatically though her skin still flakes here and there. I’m a proud mama when people who met her during the first week with us compliment on the huge improvement in her fur condition since then! About two weeks ago, the fur on the back of Emi’s head started turning red. She may actually be a redhead!

Emi’s teeth were also covered with plaque when she first arrived. It was obvious that her teeth had never been brushed and likely that she didn’t have any dog approved chew toys or food. When we took her to the vet, they told us that it was unlikely that the molars would ever rid itself of the plaque no matter how much we brushed with chicken flavored dog toothpaste. We’re happy to report that she has sparkling white teeth after we let her gnaw on marrow bones! It was an amazing transformation and almost instantaneous! It was probably true that we would’ve never gotten rid of the plaque by brushing alone but allowing her to chew on bones made all the difference.

Personality Changes

Emi came to us as an extremely shy Shiba with very little exposure to the outside world. She would violently shake when we walked outdoors and hide under anything available or lay down and protest. She still shakes when she is outdoors sometimes but stopped breaking down during walks. She’s now very comfortable in both our home and the dog run. For the first time this week, I watched her initiate play with a dog other than Shio outside while at the dog run! She will still shake when we are outdoors and there’s a lot of people walking around but it has improved a lot. We’ve taken her almost everywhere with us to let her see and experience more of what the world has to offer. She’s been to beaches, grassy parks, played in snow, shopping with me and visited my family on several occasions. She stayed with our puppy-sitter during our vacation earlier this month and our sitter said that she was amazing and sweet.

Emi the beach peach.

She’s a very sweet dog and will jump up onto the couch and lay down next to me. She leans her head or body into my hand when she’s looking for scratches and nibbles on my finger tips when I stop petting her. Emi has no sense of personal boundaries and will often leap and land on you when you’re in her way while she’s chasing after a toy. She’s bonded with me but is still wary of Josh, especially when Josh is wearing a business suit. We’re still working on that issue.

Emi can also be an off leash Shiba! She loves to run after balls and run back towards you, especially if she thinks that she’ll be receiving a treat or scratches in return.

Emi has no sense of personal space.

I can’t believe that he’s already 3 years old! Time flies when you’re busy getting owned by a Shiba.

Shio and Emi a huge bone to celebrate Shio’s birthday. And by huge, we mean bigger-than-Shio huge!

In honor of Emi’s Gotcha Day and Shio’s Birthday, we previously held a small blog post commenting fundraiser to earn money to donate to NYC Shiba Rescue.

Thanks to our friends and family for taking time out of their busy days to comment. You’ve helped raised $200 to donate to NYC Shiba Rescue!

Thank you also for all the well wishes for Emi’s adoption. I’d like to point out that our favorite post was from Joanna, a volunteer at NYCSR. Her comment was, “Great story and beautiful pictures! I have already spoken to one couple who found the rescue, NYC Shiba Rescue, from reading your blog and have since applied to foster to adopt! Thanks for being out there and spreading the word for beautiful shibas looking for loving homes like yours!” In the beginning, we created this blog to document the process of raising Shio so we had something to look back on. As time passed and we met more and more people around the world with Shibas, it became a way to share our Shiba stories with the world. I’m so happy that we are now helping others that stumble upon this site to experience volunteering and fostering experiences through our eyes. Fostering is really a priceless experience!

Funds are still needed to help pay for the 10 of the NJ-22 Shibas rescued through NYCSR. If you would also like to make a Christmas donation, you can do so through this site: http://nycshibarescue.org/2011/11/funds-needed-10-nj-22/

Photos taken with Leica M9, Summicron-M 35mm f/2.

When we offer new foods to her, we also hold out a piece for Shio too. Before accepting her piece, she always sniffs Shio’s first to see if he’s eating the same thing. When she determines that it’s edible, she takes it gingerly in her mouth and rolls it around on her tongue. Then drops it on the ground. Then picks it back up with her mouth and bites down with her teeth to break the surface of the treat. A little flavor comes out. She rolls it around in her mouth some more. Eventually after much experimentation and examination, she decides that it’s palatable and chews the treat. All the meanwhile Shio stares at her waiting for her to drop or abandon her food on the ground. So far she’s tried mango, apple, cottage cheese, marrow bone, pig’s ear, blueberries, and bananas.

Goo Goo hasn’t gotten the concept of toys yet. I don’t think she had any toys in her previous home. She doesn’t really know what to do with a stuffed squeaky toy or a ball. She always observes Shio chase down a thrown toy and carry it back to the living room rug for a squeak fest. She’s starting to take initiative to finding toys on her own and experimenting with them. Experimentation includes chewing lightly on the toy. Her favorite toy right now is a squeaky beaver ball with tail.

Here at Shio’s home, we have so much to be thankful for!

Goo Goo wants to make sure that she lets the world know that she’s happily waiting for her turkey scraps.

As mentioned before, Shio started wolfing down his food like there was going to be a famine tomorrow. He would finish his meal in less than 5 large gulps and then lunge for Goo Goo’s. If Goo Goo so much as looks at him, he would let out a little growl to let her know that he’s not sharing. They even had two barking fights where I had to step in over food. As time passed, he realized that GG is his housemate and she’s going to have to eat whether he likes it or not. I separate them when I give them bones to work on but with food, they eat side by side. I sit in between them and occasionally lift Shio’s head up so that he remembers to breathe. He has slowed down during meals but that doesn’t stop him from checking out GG’s bowl when he’s finished for leftovers. He’s much better about GG coming over occasionally to see if he’s having a more delicious meal than she is.

Shio and GG also have very different personalities. Whilst GG has a flight mentality when she hears or sees any altercations, Shio will run towards it to police the situation. When our doorbell rings for deliveries or guests, Shio will run towards the front door while Goo Goo runs upstairs to safety. In the dog run, Shio will not allow any dog to sniff his butt whereas GG will let them sniff but any more than that will result in her on the ground showing her belly with her teeth baring. Shio is happy to school a rude puppy while Goo Goo avoids being abused by a puppy entirely by scampering away.

Shio’s a tough guy for sure. A protector. Bodyguard.

But at home, he follows his foster sis around and begs her to play with him. When Goo Goo does play with him, he knocks her down to wrestle but always lets her back up so that she has a fighting chance. She nips at his face and pulls at his scruff and Shio reciprocates with dinosaur-esque growling sounds. He is always close behind her when he thinks that she’s going to get a treat, thus making his recalls in parks absolutely fabulous since GG is always next to me. Nobody is allowed to eat if he doesn’t get a bite too. Shio also makes sure that he bonds with his foster sister by grooming her. He licks the insides of her ears and stays close by her when napping. It’s rare for them to be in separate rooms.

Shio’s really a softie.

First order of business after awakening: Play time.

It’s a love story really.

She’s doing a great job coming out of her shell. Instead of hiding in or under shady places now, she is ready to meet the world with her bad ass Shiba self. I originally thought she would be okay with meeting new people but she’s more Shiba than I thought. Goo Goo will duck away from being pet by a stranger like Shio! She’s much more comfortable in our local dog run too. Still no playing with other dogs but she’s running around and exploring the space and is much better at walking with me while leashed.

We’ve given her a bath as well. She doesn’t like baths but is very good about tolerating them. No Shiba screams or scratching to climb out. Same temperament at the vet’s office.

Bath time for Goo Goo!

She’s also successfully learned two new commands: ‘Sit’ and ‘Paw’. More training will come as she becomes more comfortable.

Goo Goo also loves playing with Shio. They run around in circles in our living room and uses our furniture as a jungle gym. Our jumbo sized ottoman has become their personal wrestling platform.

Goo Goo has grabbed hold of Shio's forehead!

Playing with Shio

Goo Goo really enjoys following me around everywhere in the apartment. Shio will now follow her while she’s following me so I constantly have a Shiba train when I walk around.

Our favorite nicknames for her so far are Lady Goo Goo, The Goo-ster, and Goo Goo 2S.

This girl is awesome!

Smiling for the camera!