Catching Up on Pics

Here's what it looks like when a rotweiler decides to eat a sumo dog:

on a much happier note, his staples have been out for a few weeks, and the fur is now growing back.

a much better option to see (a few weeks after the attack):

Interesting Weekend

we had to send chibi and sumo to a dog sitter this weekend (thurs through sunday). we usually use one of our friends who know the doggies, but since she was going to be with us this weekend, that wasnt going to work.

we were lucky enough to have our dog trainer (who also provides other services -- dog walking, dog sitting, etc.) available to watch them. she's known both doggies since they were puppies so we figured it was a win/win situation. she has a male golden retriever, which we figured would be good for the dogs (so in addition to each other, they have someone else to play with)

key learnings:

• sumo isnt quite as doggie social as chibi (not that he's anti-social, just not as anxious or enthusiastic about playing)
• chibi got in trouble a few times during the weekend for playing too rough/aggressively with the retriever (we always have suspected that our shibas play rougher than normal/happy play dogs. chibi and her brother tomo still go at each other pretty hard and loud everytime they meet, sumo and chibi are fairly aggressive in their play as well)
• chibi does have some food protection issues (which we have been noticing, but we usually dont have to deal with since we feed the dogs seperately across the room)
• both dogs are now famous for hating water/rain (our sitter noticed that they really acted like a bunch of pansies when it was time to pee/poop and it was raining outside)

like usual, when they got back 'home' with us, they pretty much slept the entire day and ate 2x their normal amounts (usually when we leave them, they dont rest much and they hardly eat).

it was nice getting to clean the house of most doggie fur, not have to worry about opening and closing doors with an eye to where they dogs were, and have some peace and quiet for the days they were gone. we're just as happy to have them back now too though.

More Observations

sumo has definitely learned the sounds and patterns around the house. late at night around bedtime, any time we get up to go someplace or he hears the sound of the tv turning off, he bolts to the bedroom door and waits for his treat to go to bed.

the other night, he was sleeping on munchkin's bed. we were in the living room watching tv. turned the tv off to go to bed, and heard him jump off the bed and come rumbling down the hall to meet us at the bedroom door.

as he gets older he's also challenging chibi more for "who's the alpha doggie". he still loses. he's also started making new and unique noises. a cross between barking, yelling, and screaming. definitely fun to hear...like a whining cry of complaint. the best description is scooby doo with a voice about 50 octaves higher.

chibi dog is still chibi dog. she's getting fluffier every winter. someday i'll get around to posting some updated pix (as well as the "frankensumo" pictures after he got his staples). his staples were removed a week or so ago. the scars are healing well and the fur is growing back now :)

Sumo Cuddling His Hot Dog Toy