Survived the 4th...

I have to say this is my favorite time of the year. So it really bugs me that Farley is scared by fireworks. While we were gone at the local Parade, Farley tore through his metal crate and was running loose through the dog room. His stress level when we got home was very high. I didn't put him back in the crate. Instead, I kept him with me and kept going through my daily chores, like taking out the garbage, picking up the house. Even threw a few balls for him. He was sticking pretty close to me just out of fear, so I ignored his stressing and went about life.

By the end of the night, when the fireworks were the loudest, he was doing fine. Not entirely calm, but for anyone who knows Farley, this dog doesn't know calm, so as long as his tounge was back in his mouth and he was more like his normal self, I felt like we came along way in overcoming this fear. Or at least surviving it until next year.

But I have to give big KUDOS to Miss Tama. This dog is bomb proof. I took her to the parade with us. So that included about 5 miles of walking, being touched by hundreds (and I'm not kidding on the number - HUNDREDS) of people, both adults and children. She not only handled it with her special style of grace and dignity, she actually ate it up. She loves to meet people. I actually had several people walk up to me while we were walking in the Parade and walk down the street with me asking about her and her breed. She is a really special shiba, with an exceptional personality. And a great representative of the breed. She greeted the last person with the same tail wag and shiba smile as she did the very first one.