Shibas in love

Today was our introduction to Beginners obedience. No dogs; our trainer just went over the concepts/purpose/schedule and gave us our first week's homework. Along the way, she stated that "dogs don't love". In other words, she believes that dogs don't have human emotions as we see it and that they operate on "what behaviour will get me what I want".

When I was in the sixth grade, I had a teacher who insisted that dogs were stupid and that if he fed and was kind to my dog, Buddy, that Buddy would follow him around just like me. When I disagreed, he sneered "Don't be naive!" By the way, Mr. Prentice, it's been nineteen years and I hope you are or will be in a nursing home somewhere, being indifferently cared for by light-fingered nurses.

For me, the idea that dogs can't love like humans is rather painful but makes sense. Kind of like my attitude towards higher powers, an afterlife and the supernatural - it would be really cool if it did exist and I really wish it did, but I really don't have any evidence that it does. Then I get depressed, wondering why I keep a dog, especially a Shiba, who probably wouldn't fake giving a shit even if he could.

One issue is that people need for things in their lives to have meaning. We can't just accept the fact that a dog may not care about us the way we care about him/her. We have to have some perceived return on the investment that we make in loving our dogs. Which, for a Shiba owner, can be very, very difficult when the dog is throwing a full-scale temper tantrum at the mere hint of attaching a leash to his collar. Or ignoring you after you walk in the door without a slab of beefsteak in one hand.

I have come to the conclusion that Shassi and Tierce probably don't remotely give a shit about me like I do about them. They would happily go on with their lives as long as they ate, got walked, slept (Shassi) and occasionally (Tierce) had a toy to chew on.

Should it matter whether a dog loves you? It is a human choice to bring in another animal to the family circle and it has to be a human realization that the animal won't value what humans do. I believe that you can (and should) teach your Shiba to respect the things you wish them to respect, but expecting them to value you like you value them is unreasonable.

But it would be nice if it was true.

It's that time again...

Well, so far, we have not seen any lethargy, tarry stools, coughing, aching, stuffy head, so I am pretty sure that the chicken that Tierce got into came out in record time.

Speaking of time, it's shedding season again. I've taken a good-sized Pomeranian out of Tierce today, while my boyfriend and other guy friend watched "Balls of Fury". I started out watching it, but it quickly paled for me. The grooming rake quickly paled for Tierce. He wriggled around until I got a firm grip on his scruff or his tail and held it to keep him still. However, he is not protesting with his teeth, which is a Good Thing.

I don't know how this much fur hides inside this little dog. It reminds me when I moved from my apartment in Victoria up to Nanaimo. The whole apartment was supposed to take up half of the large U-Haul truck that I rented. Instead, we wearily lifted the bikes up against the huge pile and barely got the door shut. I had a lot of stuff. Tierce has a lot of undercoat. Maybe I should have collected it to have a picture to show, but I'm just not that dedicated.

Speaking of grooming, the second show handling class came and went. We have to work on stacking. One paw goes down, he moves another one. Damn dog.

Pictures!

It's my beanbag and don't you forget it.



Look, it's 1 AM and I'm sleepy and cute!


Tierce knows what you did last summer.

Tierce and the bones

Fool that I am, I left some chicken wings alone long enough for Tierce to snag a couple. Agggh! So I phoned the vet and was somewhat reassured to know that most dogs weather accidents like this with no problems. Supervise him and bring him in if he seems lethargic or weird or if his stools are tarry. I fed the chicken hound a stomach full of the new potatoes that we had baked up and am crossing my fingers. Might feed him a can of dog food to further cushion any splinters working their way through his little body. Results will probably come out (har-de-har) in a couple of days.

Now: worst case scenario. The worst is if the bones actually pierce the intestine and cause peritonitis. From what my boyfriend experienced when Tierce chowed down on his dialysis line, this is not a comfy way to go. An operation can cost upwards of eight hundred dollars. I am not worried about the expense, as I have ensured that I have enough to take care of Tierce in the event of an emergency. But I am kicking myself for letting him anywhere near bones like that.

So, it looks like we're in for a couple of days of eagerly waiting for my dog to take the magic shit.

Sato has been found!

Anonymous found this long before I did...

Trucker reunited with his best friend

Michael Risinit • The Journal News • January 12, 2008

EAST FISHKILL - Maybe someone will sing this story someday, a twangy lament with a happy ending: Trucker loses dog, trucker pines for dog, trucker finds dog.

That's the tale of Sato, a 2-year-old dog who left his owner with nothing more than an empty collar and some memories more than a week ago. But yesterday afternoon, they were reunited in the same spot where life went wrong.

Alen Nelson of Denver climbed out of the blue cab of his Freightliner at the Interstate 84 rest stop as the rain poured down.

Fox-sized Sato, a shiba inu, waited in the back seat of a Ford F-350 pickup. The only thing missing was some whisky or a cheatin' wife.

"Where have you been?," Nelson said to his dog. "I've been looking for you."

With that, the trucker scooped up his damp pet in a hug.

Sato, a reddish-brown dog, responded with high-pitched, throaty whimpers.

That, in turn, produced tears of joy and relief from volunteers who had spent days searching for him.

"This is all we wanted, just to get him back to you," volunteer Michele Dugan of Southeast told the trucker.

Nelson said he hadn't seen Sato since Jan. 2, when they pulled into the rest stop, on westbound I-84, not far from the Putnam County line and Sato slipped his collar. Since then, local animal lovers have searched for the dog.

The trucker speculated that his furry friend, who will turn 3 next month, had gotten confused by the new truck in which they were riding. Sato and Nelson have rolled across the country together since the dog was 8 weeks old.

"He just disappeared among all those cars," Nelson recalled yesterday. "I didn't see him after that."

Faced with losing his job, Nelson had to give up the search and hit the road. A load of frozen bread sat in his trailer and Atlanta beckoned. Later, he had to head west before he could turn his truck back to where his heart was.

"When he walks, he just gets his little feet going so fast," Nelson said, from somewhere in Pennsylvania, as he was heading this way about 9 a.m. yesterday. "I just want my dog back."

Nelson knew then that Sato -spotted two hours earlier -was back at the rest stop. And that's where the skittish dog stayed, as Kathy Hamilton of Kent, Dugan and others spent the morning enticing him with kibble. Hamilton, who is the Kent animal-control officer, volunteered her own time in the search for Sato.

Around 1 p.m., Rob Morrison of Mahopac was able to grab Sato and slide a leash over his head -then into Hamilton's pickup the dog went.

About 30 minutes later, Nelson blew two blasts on his air horn as he climbed the hill across from the rest area, heading east.

The next stop was his dog.

Sato and Tierce

In chronicling Sato's adventures and sudden fame, I was reminded of a little incident that occured just - and I do mean just - before Tierce's and my first show handling class on Monday. My boyfriend had just put him out on the cable outside the door so that he could pee. He was preparing supper and had a good view of Mr. Tierce inspecting the bounds of his tether. Until I came home and asked him where the dog was.

"Outside," he said.

"He's not there."

"Not there?! But he was there a second ago!"

The tether stays out all day and all night and is consequently stiff. Sometimes so stiff that one has to work the clip back and forth before it will move into place. The best we could figure out was that Tierce had gotten lucky and the clip had fallen off his collar.

So... no Tierce. We go out to the front. No Tierce. We call, yell and no doubt introduce new and interesting terms into the general vicinity. No Tierce.

Now all the worst things that could happen invariably flood the mind as one is trying to figure out where that dog could have gotten to. A limp body by the side of the road. A little face in the window of a car driving to Elsewheresville. A hole where whimpers can't be heard. A dog, raccoon or cougar swallowing a curly tail for dessert.

I can only imagine what Alen Nelson is feeling right now, especially having to abandon his pet to keep his job. It must be a comfort to know that a search is underway, but that doesn't stop the mind from going places where the dog suffers and dies because of one little mistake. And, the dog being a Shiba, that one lapse in attention ends up with the little brat revelling in sweet, sweet freedom and loathe to give it up.

I sure hope that Nelson gets his dog back. When Tierce came barrelling towards me to welcome me back from work, it was at the same time a huge relief and an I'm-going-to-fucking-kill-you moment. Fortunately the huge relief and the imminent show class won out.

Sato sightings

Search goes on for dog lost at I-84 rest stop

Michael Risinit • The Journal News • January 8, 2008

EAST FISHKILL - The 2-year-old dog who slipped away from his owner last week at an Interstate 84 rest stop was seen twice last night close by the highway.

A woman who was driving on Stormville Mountain Road, which runs parallel to the interstate near the rest stop, spotted the 23-pound red dog with a tan belly about 7:15 p.m. That followed a sighting about 45 minutes earlier on Grape Hollow Road. Both roads, as well as the Appalachian Trail, converge near the highway.

Michele Dugan of Southeast, who works to locate and reunite lost pets with their owners, speculated that the dog, a shiba inu, found the rumble of traffic familiar. His owner is a trucker.

"That's what he's known all his life," said Dugan.

Sato, the dog, slipped away Thursday from his owner at the westbound rest stop, which is in Dutchess County and not far from the Putnam County line. Trucker Alen Nelson was hauling frozen bread to Atlanta when the dog, who also answers to Little Toad, ran away from him. Nelson said the dog was spooked by the new Freightliner rig he was driving.

Sato was used to riding in a Kenworth. His employer told him to give up the search and keep on trucking.

Dugan has put up fliers at the rest stop. She is also driving along Stormville Mountain and Grape Hollow roads with the dog's favorite toy - a plush raccoon - and occasionally squeaking the toy in hopes of attracting Sato.

Anyone who might have seen the dog is asked to call 845-494-1519 or 914-329-6067. Nelson said he was offering a $500 reward.

The Search Continues...

Search continues for dog lost at rest stop

Michael Risinit • The Journal News • January 8, 2008

EAST FISHKILL - The search continued yesterday for Sato, a 2-year-old dog who slipped away from his owner last week at an Interstate 84 rest stop.

Sightings of the 23-pound, red dog with a tan belly have come in from Pawling and Beekman in Dutchess County, which are northeast of the westbound rest stop in East Fishkill.

Michele Dugan of Southeast, who works to locate and reunite lost pets with their owners, said yesterday that she was going out to post some additional fliers and look into the reported sightings.

Afterward, she said, she would check out the rest stop, where the shiba inu slipped from his collar early Thursday. His owner, trucker Alen Nelson, was hauling frozen bread to Atlanta when the dog, who also answers to "Little Toad," ran away from him.

Nelson, who was just outside Oklahoma City on Sunday night, said the dog was spooked by the new Freightliner rig he was driving and ran away. Sato was used to riding in a Kenworth.

Anyone who might have seen the dog is asked to call 845-494-1519 or 914-329-6067. Nelson said he was offering a $500 reward.

Reach Michael Risinit at mrisinit@lohud.com or 845-228-2274.

Laser pointers

During the quest to put up my new bookshelf, I found the laser pointer that I had bought to play with Tierce. I figured that I might as well see if it still worked, so I turned it on. As luck would have it, Tierce saw it and immediately pounced at it. This was not the problem. The problem was, after less than 30 seconds of exposure to this little red light, he was running around the living room looking for it - for an hour. I definitely urge anyone who has one of these things to rethink playing with their Shibas with them.

I'm not alone. A Google search for "laser pointers dogs OCD" nets thousands of pages. This page particularly warns against using laser pointers as play or training aids because of the behaviour that they encourage.

I notice that Tierce also chases shadows when we walk at night. It's not appearing to be a manifestation of OCD. Apparently he can understand that shadows come and go, but the light from the laser pointer appeared to have a weird effect on his mind. He even spent 10 minutes staring at my boyfriend's computer tower, at the blue light that indicated its functioning status. A blinking cycling light from MEC elicited only an initial period of excitement, followed by boredom. Kind of like a crack junkie being given a big chocolate bar. Nice, but nothing special and he doesn't really want to eat anyway.

Sorry Tierce, no more little red lights for you.

ALERT: Lost Shiba!

Trucker told to leave lost dog behind or lose job

By THANE GRAUEL
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: January 6, 2008)

Sato, a 2-year-old dog Shiba Inu, should be riding shotgun in a Freightliner cab tonight on his way home to Colorado.

But the 23-pound, red dog with a tan belly is instead on the loose in the Lower Hudson Valley.

His owner, trucker Alen Nelson, was hauling frozen bread to Atlanta early Thursday when the dog, who also answers to Little Toad, ran away from him at the westbound rest stop on Interstate 84 in East Fishkill.

Nelson, who was just outside Oklahoma City tonight, said the dog was spooked by the new truck and ran away. He was used to riding in a Kenworth. Nelson wanted to keep searching for his friend but said the freight company told him to keep on trucking or find a new job.

People living near the rest stop have been searching for the dog, and ask that anyone who might have seen it call 845-494-1519 or 914-329-6067.

Nelson said he is offering a $500 reward.