Friday, February 26, 2010

Growing up

It's hard to see how fast puppies grow when you just see a photo of them all alone. I snapped this photo this morning of Edge sharing the dog bed with Tama (and Don Juan in the background). Edge is just slightly smaller than Tama at almost 18 weeks. He's still all puppy as evidenced by the teeth marks on the stair closest to Tama. Not to mention the handle on my husband's TV-watching recliner, hordes of papers from my office that look like they've been through a soggy paper shredder, My son's baby picture, lots of my son's toys and Edge happily de-fleeced my husband's favorite sheepskin slippers. No adult teeth yet, but I predict from all the chewing that they are coming soon.

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The things we are working on are:
1. Edge goes to a weekly conformation class so we get some ring experience before he begins to show.
2. He goes to a weekly puppy kindergarten.
3. He consistently will sit and down. We're past the luring stage with treats, and working on sits and downs by hand and verbal cues only.
4. He has a very consistent "watch me"
5. Putting on a leash is still an issue with the boy. He's in his "Don't touch my collar phase". But once the leash is on he loves the walks.
6. Doing nails are also not a pleasant experience for anyone involved. We practice touching the paws and pretending to clip or clipping a couple nails daily. Lots of screaming still going on!
7. Daily socialization. I take him everywhere I go.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Messin' with Momma

Tama: "Don't talk back to me kid."
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Edge: "Ya, Ya, Whatever mom..."
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Tama: "You really think you're cute. Don't you kid."
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Tama: "Anyone ever tell you you have a big mouth?"
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Edge: "Ha Ha Ha"
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Tama: "I'm warning you. You'd better keep quiet."
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Tama: "Message Sent."
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Edge: "Eeeek!"
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But the boy still has to get the last word in... (somehow this rings true in real life, too)
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Saturday, February 06, 2010

The last puppy remaining...

Avalanche is off to his new home, and that leaves us with Mr. Edge. He's a cutie pie with a big wide head and thick forward ears. Speaking of which, I do believe his ears are fully up!!!

And be still my heart... are those white eye dots peaking through?

As far as temperament, he's a cuddler and he's calm. He stays by my side. I must say I like that trait in a shiba. He's not fond of collars or leashes and will scream every time I hook a leash on. But he loves walks, so he'll tolerate the leash once it's on.

I took a few photos for his 15 week birthday. Here are some of my favorites...

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By the way, news from the Southwest is that Trixie won WB again today for two more points! Yahoo Trixie. Yahoo John!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Another Whooo Hooo Trixie!!

Trixie won Best of Opposite Sex and Winner's Bitch at the Saguaro State Kennel Club show today. A huge thanks to John for handling her, Valerie for her grooming expertise, Carol for all her love and support and Wendy for taking Kona in the ring while John stayed on Trixie! Miss all of you and wish I could have been there.

Video of Avalanche

Avalanche went to live with his new family this week. I was reviewing some old video of the puppies and found this one of Avalanche and Tama playing. That's our Betty screaming in the background!

Farewell to Avalanche. He's got a fantastic home!!!! And not too far away, so I'll get to see him occasionally!

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

My annoying bathroom buddy.

Dogs are cute when they want to be petted when you're indisposed. Possibly a little annoying at times, but cute never-the-less. I can't say that about my darling Don Juan. At 5:30 in the morning when my eyes barely have openings, he's not so cute. He's just downright annoying.

I guess I should backtrack and explain the situation. If you'll use your imagination here, you'll have to see the layout of my house. First there is the bathroom. When you leave that door you enter a little hallway and directly across from the bathroom door is the door to the bedroom where the puppies reside. In that room is a nice window that faces the front of my house, the walkway and the road. Some day I'll get the curtains up on the window, but right now the window in that room stands naked. With both doors open and the lights on in the house, from the outside, you can see all the way through the bedroom into the bathroom. So as you can guess, it behooves you to keep the doors shut tight when you are in the bathroom. You wouldn't want the neighbors to view the goings on.

I don't know if dogs can be claustrophobic. Don Juan has never liked to be crated, contained, or otherwise shut in. He can climb out of any fence. Open any crate and the latest and greatest, he has figured out how to open all the doors in the house, including the bathroom door. It never fails, on the toilet, the door flys open and there's Don Juan demanding his pets. But, I'm smarter than the normal dog - right? I know he's going to do that, so I shut the door to the bedroom and all is good. Ah ha.

But not this morning. He opened the bedroom door first, ate the puppy food, and then opened the bathroom door to expose me to the world in all my glory. Thanks Don Juan.

I looked up to see the door to the bedroom standing wide open. I'm sitting wide-eyed, exposed to the world, mad at a dog who thinks he's the most clever dog in the world. He then looks up at me, takes his furry paw and flips the big metal water bowl into the air, spilling what's left of the water. It crashes to the ground not once, or twice, but three times. He just had to let me know he was out of water with that metal bowl on tile sound at 5:30 am when the rest of the house is still asleep. The whole time I'm telling him in my stern voice, "Don't do that again.", "Don Juan, No." "No, Donny, No." really thinking, "Please don't wake up small child!"

He just smiled. What could I do from my perch on the john, the whole neighborhood watching? (OK, maybe not, I think everyone else was probably still in bed at that time. But if my neighbors are reading this please don't tell me that you were peeping through my window at the exact time this all took place. I don't think I really want to know.)

My Don Juan. My new training challenge is to teach him to close the doors properly when he enters or exits a room. Do you think at almost 11 years old he'll be up for that challenge?

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