Time Lapse Pictures

I was just looking at an old picture of the first day we had Chibi (Mid April 07 last eyar), it's amazing to see how much she's grown in less than a year...

note her height relative to the wall on her left (your right)

NOW, look at her next to the same wall taken the day we got Sumo last friday...(same wall)...

also notice in the pics, Sumo IS bigger at the same age...fatter at least...Chibi fit through the baby gate we put up to keep her out of the bigger areas of the house....Sumo = "bonk" cant fit

Der Der Der...

mom just told me about something that happened after i left for work this morning....

chibi was sitting in her exercise pen, door closed, just chillin.

apparently, chibi walked in, sumo somehow managed to just push the door closed (not latched, just closed), and chibi hadnt figured out, all she needed to do was push the door back open.

random funny dog event of the day

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

well, sumo isnt taking to house breaking as quickly as chibi did...definitely could be us being more casual (or not as stressed, or thinking we can read the puppy better) with the 'taking the dog out'.

he actually did 2 good things yesterday, he peed on the pee pad by the door (which indicates walking towards the door), then he scratched at the door and went out to poop (which may or may not be because he had to poop, chibi had been outside and i cant tell if he just wanted to go out and play too)

on the downside, he woke up from a nap, walked over to the big dog bed outside of his pen, layed down again like he was resting, then popped up and just peed. this morning, instead of the normal raucous dog play we hear while getting ready, was replaced with dead silence after 5 minutes. we get out to the play area, chibi had a "not me dude, you are SOOOO busted" look on her face, sumo had a "oops...my bad, if im quiet they wont notice" look on his face and demeanor...yeah, huge dump pile on the carpet.

both incidents probably would have been avoided with chibi, i was much more paranoid/strict/regimented in taking her out after every waking nap, after eating every time (or any snack)...even if it meant walking outside for 30 minutes with no results, she got the idea quicker from that (i think). then again, it wasnt freezing cold and raining (which is still no excuse for a dedicated owner who doesnt want poop/pee in the house ;) )

starting today, new regimen for sumo:

1. although "free feeding" is encouraged for puppies to grow (and is even on the food bag of the puppy food we bought), sumo is going on the eat now or dish gets put away plan (like chibi), so we can monitor his poop output and food intake
2. morning ritual begins strictly for sumo - mom will make sure he gets awake, out to pee, feed, out to poop (all while i take chibi out for her morning walk)
3. out to pee after every long nap, long play session, long drink/food period

think that's it for bathroom doody

let's see....what else....ah yes! he did his first "sit" on command. actually may be his 2nd or 3rd time, as we've been making him relax and sit before he gets out of his exercise pen. i started the formal basic puppy comands last night, "sit", "down", "off", "leave it". so far, he's been able to respond to the "sit" and "down" command very well...the other 2, not so much. but hey, it's all about repitition. i definitely think it helps to have chibi around doing the same commands with him watching right next to her.

on the chibi note, kiki finally got her wish (though she was passed out and didnt notice) after a year of training. chibi fell asleep in a ball right next to (actually nuzzled head on top of) kiki. hopefully, this means chibi will be allowed to sleep in kiki's room next to her soon.

Busy Busy Busy...

I guess i had forgotten how much work a new puppy is....havent had a lot of free time to collect and document much. Each puppy is different, every dog has a different personality, breed similiarities aside....a few quick pics and observations:

more pics when we can get them all posted.

quick observations:

1. i remember chibi being much more timid than this puppy, sumo had no fear of chibi and instantly started the doggie ufc play sessions
2. sumo hates his harness much more than chibi did
3. sumo DOES sleep better than chibi (then again, that could be due to having someone to play with and tire him out)
4. potty training hasn't been as smooth, he has shown no inclination of moving towards the pee pad by the door when he has to go, though he tries to use the pee pad in his pen
5. he does like his crate more than chibi did/does...he sleeps in it and goes inside whenever he gets tired (vs. chibi, who just plopped down on the ground
6. each dog eats the other's food (though it's the same food in each dish)
7. he hasnt/doesnt object to having his nails clipped, paws played with, or food messed with

Chibi is adjusting well, only a couple "incidents" over toys, which were resolved instantly by us...for the most part chibis ignores us now and looks for Sumo to play with when we get home to let her out. She sleeps by his pen when he passes out, and goes to see if he's awake to play when she wakes up from her naps.

Did some minor training...VERY minor....Sumo is learning to 'sit' to get out of his pen, and 'sit/off' when he wants to get pet (vs jumping on us).

We plan to continue the basic sit/stay/off commands every night like we did with Chibi, as well as start the nightly "brushing" ritual.

D-Day or Zero Hour...

Picking up Sumo today from the breeder around lunch time...


Chibi will be at Gma and Gpa's today, we'll pick her up and bring her back home later to meet the puppy.

Shiba for sale?

ok, not really serious about that...but, just when you think the dog isnt a crackhead puppy anymore (or just a crackhead in general), she pulls some stupid stunt again.

im actually wondering (since we get to pickup sumo tomorrow), if getting 2 dogs will be as much of a benefit as we hope it will be to the overall mental fitness of the first dog, or just 2x the "WTF are you doing and thinking moments" (or WTF were we thinking in getting a dog in the first place)

short summary:

• raining all last night heavily
• chibi wanted/needed to go outside to do some business (pee, poop, not sure which)
• once outside, wouldnt do business in the rain
• go in/out/in/out 3-4 times
• finally poops
• i get out of the shower, find dog has just unleashed a flood of pee on the bed (OUR BED not hers)
• i go to the hall to put our pee soaked comforter in the washer, find paint chips and drywall shavings on the floor from the newly placed gashes in the wall (from her gnawing on the wall - 2nd time in 2 weeks)

yes, she's still not quite a year old yet (birthday in 2 weeks)....let's just hope getting sumo to keep chibi company is the textbook "dogs are pack animals and are happier when there are more than one of them", vs. "2 dogs will cause 4x the destruction and frustration to the owners"

-Dad

Old Videos of Chibi

Found some old video posted when we first got Chibi.

This is at 14 weeks






at 4 1/2 months, digging for crack bugs in the pillow...


at 5 months...she had started to learn her stealth ninja shiba inu skills...

And It Begins...

A little bit about this blog...the idea is to keep a diary/journal about the day to day events in raising/owning a shiba inu, or in this case, 2 of them. We missed the opportunity to document our first shiba (Chibi), but figured it would be fun to try to document the second (and all that will happen when we bring the second shiba (Sumo) into the family.

If you want to know what it was like the first time around (even down to the ages/timing of the puppy), take a read through this blog...http://lokitheshiba.blogspot.com/ . This pretty much sums up the macro view of what it was like for us.

We are T-3 days until we are able to pickup Sumo from the breeder. I think we have all that's needed from Chibi's old stuff (collar, harness, leashes, etc.) that she didnt eat or destroy. Anything else, we've purchased from our local Petco/Petsmart.

We're a little nervous, still trying to figure out the best way to introduce the 2 dogs...but after talking to our dog trainer, reading many articles, and talking with friends who have done this, I think we have a pretty good plan....but we'll see. I'm pretty sure the first day is important, but not life altering.

Btw, and it is official, we did pickup the customized dog tag for Sumo today at lunch....Everything is ready...let's see how this goes :)

I'll try to post some additional details later, but just wanted to get started....

-Dad