Kayaking with Tierce

Today, Mischa and I took Tierce to First Lake, one of the Nanaimo lakes south of the city. We had never been there before and ended up driving longer than we thought. However, it was a fun outing.

Kayaking with Tierce had some problems to be solved. He's come a long way from the four-month-old puppy who I popped in the front hatch with ease:


In fact, it seems like the front hatch is now kind of cramping his style:


This could end up being a problem, because kayaks have this little issue concerning balance. It's really easy to tip one over and I can't have Tierce doing cartwheels while I'm paddling. At one point, Tierce was balancing on the top of the kayak, which ended up badly for him, as he tumbled into the water after slipping on the top.


So, we put him in Mischa's kayak, which has a wider front hatch.

Later, I tried to make a bed for him on the kayak, but it made the kayak too top heavy.


The interesting thing is that Tierce didn't overbalance the kayak when he was balancing on it himself so much as being in the "bed".

So, at this point, I think I have a few options:

- stick a non-slip surface on the kayak so that Tierce can balance on the top easily. However, for sea kayaking, this is not the safest idea.

- teach him to lie against me on the spray skirt or in the cockpit while I'm paddling. Not a lot of room there, plus, there's the danger that he and I could get stuck in the cockpit if we were to capsize.

- let Mischa take him in his kayak's hatch, since it's wider than mine

- figure out a way that he can sit and lie comfortably in the hatch without needing to wriggle, get up, turn around, fall out of the kayak, etc.

I've been searching on the Net for ideas, but haven't got very far. I'm going to see if there are some creative things I can do with waterproof foam padding.

The Vacuum

Tierce: What are you doing?

Me: Getting out the vacuum.

Tierce: It's evil.

Me: It is not evil; it's what stands in the way of your undercoat staging a coup of the entire house.

Tierce: It growls at me.

Me: *sigh* Sure. That's because it hates you.

Tierce: See? It's evil!

Me: Maybe it would be less evil if you stopped trying to bite it while I'm sucking all your hair out of the carpet.

Tierce: I keep trying to warn you about these things, but you never listen to me! It's bad, I tell you.

Me: Ahuh [turns on vacuum]

Vacuum: Growl.

Tierce: Growl.

Vacuum: Just you wait... one day I'll sneak up behind you and suck you right up!

Tierce: Just you try!

Me: Tierce! STOP biting the vacuum!

Tierce: But did you just hear what it said to me?

Me: No! Leave it!

Vacuum: Ha! Your human can't understand my plan to dominate the entire world! Mwahahaha!

Tierce: You'll never succeed! I'll fight you until my dying-

Me: NO! Stop it! You wanna go into the pen?

Tierce: But...

Me: Leave it ALONE.

Vacuum: And then, when I'm done with you, I'm going to suck up all the pizza, all the cheese and all the hamburger...

Tierce: NoooOOOooo!

Me: That's it! Pen!

Tierce: But-

Me: PEN!

Tierce: You don't under-

Me: Fine! [picks Tierce up and deposits him in the pen] And you can just stay there until the cleaning's done!

Vacuum: Mwahahaha...

Vacuum: Mwahahaha! Look at you! You're in the pen! And look at me! Free to cause mass destruction!

Tierce: You'll never get away with this!

Vacuum: Watch me.

Me: Is that a knock at the door?

Vacuum: Hehehe

Tierce: [jumps against pen and knocks the ends askew]

Tierce: Ha! I'm out!

Vacuum: So, we meet again!

Me: Guess there was no one at the door- aw, crap, how did you get out?

Tierce: I'm about to save you from certain death!

Me: We've had this discussion before. Get away from it!

Tierce: No, I can't in all conscience let it do its devil's work any longer!

Me: Good thing I'm pretty much done in here.

Vacuum: Now, know fear!

Tierce: Now, know pain!

Me: STOP IT! [turns off vacuum]

Tierce: I won't let it threaten this house any longer!

Vacuum: Glarg.

Tierce: ha HA! I killed it!

Me: I just turned it off.

Tierce: You should be more careful with these things; you could have been seriously hurt. Good thing I was here.

Me: Uh, yeah, sure.

Tierce: So, now what are we doing? How about a walk to celebrate my victory?

Me: No, I still want to vacuum the stairs and the bedroom.

Tierce: What?

Vacuum: Growl.

THIS IS SHIBAAAAA!

Meme evolution in action!

From this:



To this:



To arrive at:


You can buy the T-shirt. :)

Shibas in dog books

I have a collection of older dog books and keep my eye out for others. Being a Shiba fancier, I always check to see if there's any reference to the Shiba in any dog book (often I am disappointed; they are only now becoming popular enough to merit a reference in books outside of the kennel clubs' book compilations of the dogs they recognize). Most of the time, if there is a mention, it is somewhat akin to the National Geographic "Man's Best Friend" - [referring to dogs used for small game hunting] "In Japan, it's the little Shiba". Which is fine; at least they acknowledge that the breed exists.

However there are some weird notions about Japanese breeds and Shibas in particular that I have found in this one book, "The New Dog Encyclopedia" (The Stackpole Company, 1970, ISBN: 0-8117-1064-5)

The smallest dog of this type is called the Shiba, or the Shiba Inu. It stands 14 to 16 inches at the shoulder.

So far, they're doing fine. But then they stray into what I can only call a wild flight of fancy, or the result of experience with a very small percentage of the Shiba population.

The Shiba differs from the Akita and the Nippon Inu in that it is born tail-less or with a short bob- tail. In this, it is like another miniature Spitz, the Schipperke.

Huh?

Here's one of the earliest pictures of Tierce at 3 weeks (his breeder sent me a whole set of pictures that she took from birth to 8 weeks):

And notice the appendage that The New Dog Encyclopedia claims shouldn't be there:


And, since I didn't rectify this situation, it has only grown and become more obvious:


Do we actually have defective Shibas? Should we actually have red, red sesame or black-and-tan Japanese Schipperkes? Or, as I suspect, did the person who submitted this particular piece of information only see one "Shiba" who happened to be wearing a shorter tail than most?

Of course, if one reads further, one finds that the book claims that the Beauceron hails from South America, so I think that somebody was hitting the sauce during certain portions of the editing process.

Bella Website

Bella Website

Get updates on Bella here!

Shiba Dreams

My boyfriend and I have the flu, and apparently it's playing with his head, as evinced by the following dream:

We decided to go to a bookstore. We were still in our Toyota Tercel, but it was now powered by the driver running and stopped by him standing up, just like the Flintstones! The bookstore was in someone's house, so we avoided the corner with the bed and person sleeping in it. My boyfriend was poking around the books, but I knew exactly why I was here and bounded up a staircase to an upper balcony. I shouted down to Boyfriend, "Come up and take a look!"

He came up the stairs and saw a box of ten, eight-week-old Shiba puppies on the floor. I was standing beside it, with a huge smile.

"Look what I bought! Aren't they great?" I said.

"No!" Boyfriend replied.

"But, you'll learn to love them!" Boyfriend went back down the stairs. I followed him, a big box of ten Shiba puppies in my arms, repeating how much he was going to love them once he got to know them.

"You're not taking them home!" Boyfriend said at the door.

"Oh, it'll be okay!" I said, still smiling.

He got in the car. And drove away, leaving me and ten Shiba puppies at the bookstore.

Tierce (our present and only Shiba!) was glad to see him back home, though.

And that's how we broke up.


(he told me about this dream this morning and I laughed my ass off, between coughs)

More on Bella

Goldston: Owners seek help in searching for their dog
Linda Goldston
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/03/2008 01:33:46 AM PDT

Terri and Steve Belsley would give anything to get their dog, Bella, a Shiba Inu, back home.

They have searched non-stop since April 11, when Bella ran off after she and Steve were attacked by a pit bull about a block from their home, in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood of San Jose between Branham and Capitol.

They were attacked by an unneutered male pit bull running loose.

"We learned this was the third time this animal had tried to attack people," said Terri, who cried as we talked.

I understand completely. Her dog is missing - missing through no fault of hers, or her husband, or the dog.

So far no charges have been filed, but the pit bull was euthanized. It's sad for that dog, sad for the Belsleys, and terrifying and sad for Bella.

Yes, there are good pit bulls who have been socialized and trained. They are owned by people who care and accept the responsibility of having a powerful dog. The jerks who own dangerous dogs should be prosecuted. And after they get out of jail, they should be banned from ever owning a dog again.

Terri and Steve can't even think about getting over the attack. Not with Bella still missing and Steve still recovering from his injuries.

Steve suffered major injuries on his arms and hands, including 20 bites, one nearly to the bone. He was rushed to the hospital, and Bella was seen limping off.

There have been several sightings of Bella, and Terri is hopeful they can bring her home. The
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thought of life without the dog who turned 3 on April Fool's Day, "our little April Fool's baby," is unthinkable.

Terri said two sightings occurred last weekend near Willow Glen High School, three to four miles from their home. Other sightings were at Hellyer Park and on Yerba Buena Avenue.

With the help of a search dog, Terri feels sure Bella has been in those places. Food, blankets and pieces of clothing with Terri and Steve's scents have been left in the hope that Bella will return to those sites.

People who saw the dog told Terri that Bella looks confused and scared.

Numerous folks have helped in the search, but the Belsleys hope more volunteers will step forward today to help. The couple is planning a search that will start at 10 a.m. at their house, 3859 Thousand Oaks Drive in San Jose.

Terri suspects that Bella might be traveling along creek paths, emerging to find food.

Terri had just gotten home after an eight-day stay in the hospital when the attack happened, and Steve still doesn't have the use of one hand. So they're really hoping they can get some help in today's search.

"She's terrified from the attack," Terri said. "I know she's out there. We just have to find her."

Bella is black and tan and stands about 12 inches high. She weighs about 25 pounds and has pointy ears and a corkscrew tail.

The couple have been careful with Bella, placing double locks on their backyard gate and even keeping Bella's tag on a separate collar, in case the one attached to her leash slipped off.

They didn't deserve what happened. But they do deserve to get their dog back.

If you see a dog who might be Bella, call the Belsleys at (408) 891-4239. They are offering a $1,000 reward.

**Volunteers Needed To Help Find Bella** (near Almaden Exp & Branham)

** PLEASE HELP US FIND BELLA...VOLUNTEERS NEEDED** Bella is the Shiba Inu attacked, along w/her owner in her neighborhood, by a pit bull roaming loose on 4/11. See attached SJMN article. We've had multiple sighting as recent as 4/26 and need your help to have an all-out search to get the word out and bring her home safely. We need volunteers to help search for Bella on Saturday 5/3 at 10 AM, starting at 3859 Thousand Oaks Dr, San Jose. We will have flyers and maps with the latest sightings to focus on. All volunteers and help is truly appreciated. We know she's out there and needs your help to find her way back home where she belongs. Please be part of bringing Bella home safe. Thank you, Terri & Steve

stevebelsley@comcast.net

Blogs of Note

I have added another section (finally!) to the Shibalog - Blogs of Note. If you have a Shiba or dog themed blog and want a link, let me know and I'll check you out. I will add links at my discretion, so this isn't an official link exchange. :)

We are still looking for Bella

Repost from email:

The Belsleys are still looking for Bella, the Shiba, in the San Jose, CA area. Bella went missing on 4/11/08 when she and her owner were attacked by a roaming pit bull. Yesterday, there was a possible sighting of Bella in the general area of an earlier sighting. They are bringing in a scent dog to do area search today of this area .Tomorrow they will meeting at the Belsley's house at 1:00 p.m. to do another area search with people. They have notified media of the Sunday search.

People interested in supporting the Belsley's search effort tomorrow (Sunday) should contact them at (remove space):

stevebelsley@ comcast.net

***

Search is still on for Sunday at 1pm at our house. Making more fliers and posters today, along w/searching. Left message w/local stations and paper...if you have time to call, please do, as I think the more people they here from the better chance they'll cover.

Had a possible sighting last night near Lincoln Ave. and Coe....about 1 mile from last sighting and 5 mile from our house. Search dog coming this afternoon to check for scent, so we can increase searching in that area tomorrow with the help of more people. Any help in passing the info on via internet etc. is appreciated. I am encouraged by last evening's sighting, we were out late looking and my husband went back this a.m. Hoping she will return to that area. Thanks again for helping to bring Bella home safe.