Shio vs. Boots

Several people have been warning me about the treacherous salt conditions in NYC after snowfalls and asking me what I'm going to do with Shio when this happens. For those of you that don't know, the rock salt that is used to melt snow and ice will irritate a dog's paws. Their paws also become susceptible to icing in between toes and that can make walking quite painful. Think of trying to walk with marbles in between your toes.

There are many ways to care for this issue, but I've heard that the best is to avoid having the dog's paw touch the ground altogether by sticking booties on them.

So I've been testing out the best option out there and here are the results. A dog that acts like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time. We call this the "baby giraffe dance". Good thing I also bought Musher's Secret as a backup solution.

The Other Side of Shio

J and I rarely discuss any serious behavioral issues that we have with Shio on this blog because there haven't been any... until recently. We've always noticed that Shio has some aggression towards his "high-value" treats. This category includes Merrick Flossies and fresh marrow bones. The aggression can be as simple as him growling at dogs that try to take his treats away to getting angry with us for taking it away. We've managed to desensitize him from getting angry with us when we take his treats away and we've tested him when other people take his treats away. So far, so good. Until two weeks ago.

One night, we gave Shio a marrow bone as a treat and he was happily gnawing it all night. We stopped him at 10pm to take him out for his usual "last potty before the day is over" run. We saw the other Shiba that lives in our building and he's the same age as Shio (they were both born in the same month). Even though many dogs don't get along well with this other dog, I've always been happy to see them because Shio gets along so well with this other Shiba. But that night, Shio snapped and started baring his teeth and lunging at the other Shiba whenever we came near him in the lobby. I was very upset and couldn't figure out why. The owner said that it happens frequently because his Shiba has not been neutered and I had to accept that explanation since there was no other apparent reason. Shio went back upstairs and finished his bone and went to bed. This was two weeks ago.

Tonight, I saw the other Shiba while on our walk around the neighborhood and cautiously approached the Shiba and his owner. They winded up playing for 5 minutes outside and behaved nicely. I was shocked and so happy!

My guess is that he was trying to protect his unfinished marrow bone that was upstairs while he was downstairs for his last potty run. I'm surprised that he would be so protective when I don't associate the rest of the apartment building as our home, but my friend said that Shio does so he was protecting his bone. It's possible I guess. Definitely something that we have to closely monitor whenever we give him a marrow bone.

More Toys (This Time For the Humans)

I recently purchased the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. At first, I was skeptical of its capabilities. Having been spoiled by my D700, I didn't really think a tiny camera with a much smaller sensor would really produce images that I fall in love with. Having used the camera for about a week now, I have to say that from a pure image quality perspective, the smaller sensor does limit the technical qualities of the images. However (and this is important), the GF1 is so fun to carry around, so fun to use, and so fun to shoot with, that I end up with a lot more fun and memorable shots with it.

Going back to my first point - from an image quality standpoint, the GF1 is still shockingly good when shot at low ISOs. Coupled with the Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 lens, you can get some very good images with good bokeh.

ISO 100 @ f/1.8, 1/4000s:

ISO 100 @f/1.7, 1/1250s:

Not bad for a camera that easily fits in the palm of your hand, right?

Next, when I have a chance, I will demonstrate the superior video recording capabilities of this little machine vs. the D5000...

More toys for Shio...

I must say... we're pretty big fans of the Jax and Bones rope toys. They are not only cute to leave out in the apartment but Shio also has a great time ripping it apart. They do cost a bit more but that's Josh's way of overcompensating for being the absentee dad.

http://www.jaxandbones.com/pages/ropetoys.html

Shio's Treat Dispensing Toys

To keep Shio out of trouble, we've been hunting down treat dispensing toys to keep his mind busy and his belly full. This is the perfect equation for a dog that will stay happy. With these toys, we don't buy special treats to put in although they are available to buy. We just use the dry food to fill up the toy and he's happy as a clam to work for his food.

Here are the ones that we've had so far:

Premier Busy Buddy Puppy Twist 'n Treat Of all the treat dispensing toys that we have so far, this is our favorite. This toy allows you to adjust for the difficulty rate and you can easily load the treats into the toy. The rubber makes it easy to grip onto hardwood floors that we have and it rolls around the apartment with ease. It is easy for Shio to learn how to play with it and dispenses the treat at a good rate. Highly recommended.

Premier Busy Buddy Tug-a-Jug We had ordered the Tug-a-Jug but returned it before trying it out. The reason why we returned it is because the toy itself is pretty clunky and given that Shio would have to obtain his treats by swinging the bottle around by tugging a rope, we didn't want to have broken furniture. I put this toy on the list because it would've been a great treat dispensing toy for Shio if we had more space in our apartment for him to play with it.

Classic KONG We have 3 KONGs sitting in our freezer at any given time. These are amazing for freezing peanut butter in and giving to your dog as a treat. We used these as a special crate treat (only got these when he was put into his crate) and a "We're leaving you for a couple of hours... sorry" treat. The unpredictable bouncing of the treat and the  endless number recipes that you can use to fill the KONG up are enough to keep us and Shio occupied.

KONG Dental Stick This toy was interesting for Shio but also messy and boring. If we were to fill up all the ridges with peanut butter, there would be one side that would touch the floor when Shio was eating it and it would make our hardwood floors all sticky. When Shio finished the treat, we would have a hard time cleaning our the residual peanut butter. It is supposed to be a dental treat but it did not work as a dental treat since Shio would never gnaw at it.

Atomic Treat Ball This is another treat toy that we would recommend for dogs. It dispenses treats and is easy to load and clean up. Shio has a great time rolling this toy around on the floor and working for treats. The shape of it makes it easy for him to pick up and move around. Only complaint is that the opening is just a big hole and it is easy for the dry food to fall out so it only entertains Shio for 5 minutes before he finishes all the food.

Buster Mini Cube I would also recommend this toy if you have carpeting on your floors. The complex interior of this toy makes it difficult for Shio to get all the treats out (even I have trouble!) and it is the perfect size for the apartment. It is a bit tedious to load in the dry food if you're on the go, but it's worth the time if you want to keep your dog busy. Only complaint (and this is a serious one) is that the designers of this toy did not realize that hardwood floors make the cube slide without turning. Shio will slide the cube straight across the living room and the cube will not turn because of the material it is constructed out of. Huge disappointment. I hope that they update this flaw soon.

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