You want what for that?

In the post below, Nikko's Momma posted a link to a site she thought I would be interested in. And I was. It's a set of stuffed Shiba toys, made by Piutre, an Italian company that sells in the U.S.

Aren't they cute? Unfortunately, the price is less adorable:

Puppy, Lying Down (16") $145
Standing (22") $598
Lying Down (22") $460
Puppy, Sitting (16") $145

Nnngh?! Five hundred and ninety-eight DOLLARS? For that price you can get a real Shiba! Of course, these ones don't have to be neutered and they don't wriggle past the barrier and through the fence into the neighbours' yard, like a certain Shiba of my acquaintance did this morning.

Toby visits for the weekend

Toby comes to visit

Me: Remember Toby? He's Chris' dog.

Tierce: Hell, yeah. He's the Golden Retriever that I can beat up.

Me: He's 75 pounds. He'll eat you.

Tierce: Yeah. Whatever.

Me: Hey Toby!

Toby: HIHihi!

Tierce: I could totally take you.

Toby: Let's play!

Tierce: GRAAAHRRR!

Toby: GRAAAHRRR!

Tierce & Toby: Growl, growl, growl, bite, bite, bite.

Me: So, how's that bullying going?

Tierce: Mmmf.

Me: Can't hear you.

Tierce: Mmmmf! e'z mffing uh mmm HEAhn!

Me: Speak up.

Toby: I think what he's trying to say is that I'm sitting on his head.

Me: So you are. Look at that little bugger flail.

Tierce: Mmmf! MMMMF! EnnhHHh! -OFF OF ME!

Toby: Oh, there you are.

Tierce: GRAAAAHHHRRRRR!

Toby: You're funny!

Tierce: I'm your ALPHA!

Toby: Let's play!

Tierce: Let's me dominate you!

Toby: Okay. I'm on my back now. Let's play!

Tierce: No! We're supposed to fight for supremacy!

Toby: Okay, I'll get up.

Tierce: mmMMMMFFF!

Toby: Are we fighting for supremacy now?

Tierce: MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFF!

Me: I think it would facilitate the bloody battle of ascension if you stopped lying on him.

Toby: Oh. Oh, yes. Yes, I suppose it would.

Tierce: MMMmffFFF-KILL YOU!

Toby: Okay, let's fight to the death.

Tierce: YAY! GRAAAAHRRRYAAAAWWWWNN

Toby: Graaaahrrryawn?

Tierce: Never mind. Let's- YAAAAWWWN. I'm tired.

Toby: Yeah, me too. Let's nap and kill each other later.

Tierce: Fine by me. Hey, later I can show you how to jump off the couch and hit somebody in the crotch on your way down.

Toby: Cool! Then I can show you how to stick your head between someone's legs so you trip them while they're carrying food!

Tierce: Yay! Best friends forever!

Me: Now you'll be begging me for sleepovers.

Shiba Room Escape

Dog Room Escape: It's all in Japanese (of course), so I have no idea what I'm doing. However, there is a little dog with a familiar smirk on its face:




And there's what looks like a Shiba in rigor mortis:



Enjoy!

Walkthrough

Update!

Well, Tierce is much better on the Cyclosporine, although I'm not a fan of giving him a pill that requires an anti-nausea pill to keep it in him. Here he is next to one of many jellyfish that washed up on the shore beside Departure Bay Terminal (BC Ferries).

Shassi (forgot to get a picture tonight) is... a 15 year old dog. My aunt took her to one of the best vets in Nanaimo and got a complete blood panel done. Verdict: Shassi is in good shape for a 15 year old dog, but her kidneys are failing. Not entirely an unforeseen thing. Fortunately, my aunt is determined to take care of her and is feeding her the lowest-protein dog food that she can find.

Katana, the subject of my last post is, according to Petfinder, still looking for a home.

Bella, the Shiba missing since this April, is still at large.

Wow, lots of good news, huh? Well, I'm just glad that Tierce isn't scratching as much and he can stop wearing the cone most of the time!

Katana needs a home!

Photo from PAWS

From Phyllyist:

Katana has one of those stories that breaks our hearts. She's a loving 10-year-old Shiba Inu whose owner surrendered her because he "didn't have enough time for her anymore."

I love how people abandon their pets, then wring their hands and say how sad that they are that they didn't have enough time/couldn't find a place/couldn't train it. Yes, I know that there are always exceptions where the dog and owner just aren't working out, but I also think that in the majority of cases, the owner doesn't want to work things out. Basically, they get a dog and then tire of it.

Excerpt from the Petfinder entry for Katana:

This poor girl is so terrified at the shelter that she will not look at anyone. She stares at the back of her cage all day and all night long. If you can help out a senior that spent her entire life in a home environment and is now in a very scary place, please come meet her.

(who wants to find this guy and kick him several times in the gonads? The line starts here!)

Meanwhile, the dog knows no other life, has no inkling of other possibilities and, as in Katana's case, is too old for most people to consider bringing her home. If Katana was in Nanaimo, I would probably be bailing her out on Saturday.

Katana (via Petfinder) gets along with most other dogs, but really is not interested in them too much and she doesn't seem to know what cats are (she could probably learn to live with them). She is an older girl and has a pretty low energy level. She is independent and it takes her some time to warm up to new people.

Typical Shiba... she would probably make a great companion for someone who wants to go for sedate walks and just wants some company in the evenings.

I would like to point out that Shassi is 15 and still in decent shape (for a 15 year old dog!) 5 years is a long time - a lot of people don't keep their cars or houses that long! So, if you're in the Philly area and looking for a Shiba, but aren't sure that you can handle having a young one, why not consider Katana? What's a short time for you is going to be a lifetime for her. You could make it a happy one.

Adoption info:

If you'd like to save Katana, e-mail natalie@phillypaws.org. The adoption fee for a PAWS dog is $40, plus an $8 city license fee if you live in Philadelphia. The fee includes spaying/neutering, which will be performed before your new companion comes home with you, and microchipping. Also, make note of Katana's ID number above, and bring it with you when you go to the PAWS shelter, which is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave (map).

More pics! at the Petfinder Profile for Katana

Allergy central

Tierce went back to the vet's today to get his stitches out. His skin biopsies showed no sign of any disease or other problem and the "most likely cause of his itching is atopy or food allergies".

The vet advised a "hydrolyzed protein" diet. From what she told me, "hydrolyzed protein" means the protein breaks down into components too small for the body to form an allergic reaction to. This is the only thing Tierce can have. No treats, even his toys have to be put away. He can, however, have sticks to play with.

She wants me to keep Tierce on this diet for two months to rule out food allergies and I agreed, because nothing is working so far. However, I can't wait for two months to be over. The food looks like CORN POPS, for Dog's sake.

And just wait until you read what's in this stuff:

Starch, hydrolyzed soy protein isolate, coconut oil, calcium phosphate, canola oil preserved with TBHQ, powdered cellulose, corn oil, potassium chloride, vegetable gums (gum arabic, guar gum), choline chloride, DL-methionine, salt, magnesium oxide, lecithin, taurine, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, calcium carbonate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, garlic oil, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

Starch??! Yeah, that seems like a REALLY healthy main ingredient... oh, but look! Canola oil preserved with TBHQ! Charming. I know that some dogs do really well on this kind of food, but the ingredients make me throw up a little in my mouth. Typically - it's full of crap (I know, I know, sometimes this kind of thing is the only food a dog can handle) - and he LOVES it. He hated the pinto-bean-and-sweet-potato test food we had him on and lost half a pound.

1 bag and that's it. We're going back to RDD Herring once it's proven that it's not a food allergy. He loves that, too.

I'm pretty convinced that it's the vaccine that has caused this, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that's what it is. Problem is, we don't know if the vaccine triggered another allergy. So we might as well put him on this diet and see if he does any better.

He also has a new and exciting pill to take: Cyclosporine. The vet said it was better than Prednisone, especially since he is so young. After a look at the side effects of Prednisone, I'm inclined to agree.

So that's where we are with Tierce: pills and Corn Pops. Hope it helps.

It's about damn time

Pit-bull owner charged with felony

It's a pity the dog was euthanized and not the owner is all I have to say about this. Bella is still at large but we're all hoping that she makes it back home.

Wordle!

Something cool you can do with your blog: Wordle

Why didn't I pick a stupid dog?

Me: Okay, go run around in the yard.

Tierce: Yay! What are you doing?

Me: Sitting with my laptop on the couch outside to make sure you don't try to get through the gate again.

Tierce: Spoilsport.

Me: Yup, just here to ruin your day.

Tierce: Fine. Think you could take off this cone and this stupid dog T-shirt?

Me: No, because then you'll lick and scratch yourself to death.

Tierce: But I'm ITCHY.

Me: I'd rather see you suffer than get a massive infection. The last vet bill was 183.46.

Tierce: Fine, be an autocratic dictator. I'm going to see how many things I can pee on before I run out of urine.

Me: That's what you're here for.

Tierce: Do-dee-doo-dee-do.

Me: Tierce... what are you doing?

Tierce: Sniffing around the back fence.

Me: Oh. Okay.

Tierce: *push*

Loose Fence Board: *creak*

Tierce: Wow, there's a whole other yard back there!

Me: Tierce! What are you up to?

Tierce: Sniffing around the fence!

Me: Okay, that's fine.

Tierce: *push*

Loose Fence Board: *CREAK*

Tierce: COOL!

Me: Tierce?

Tierce: WOW! There are other dogs that come in this yard!

Me: Where are you?

Other dogs (in the house): WHATTHEFUCKAREYOUDOINGINOURYARD

Tierce: Hey! I'm out here and you're in there! Sucks to be you, doesn't it?!

Other dogs: DEATHDEATHDEATHDEATHDEATHDEATH!

Me: How did you get in there?

Tierce: So... many... new... smells...

Me: TIERCE! FRONT!

Tierce: Can't front... sniffing!

Me: GETYOURASSOVERHEREKILLKILLKILL!

Tierce: Did you know these dogs had leftover steak last night? Why don't I get leftover steak?

Neighbor: Here puppy!

Tierce: Why do your dogs get steak and I don't?

Me: Thanks, can you just pass him through where this loose board is?

Tierce: I'm not done!

Me: Yes you are.

Neighbor: Here you go!

Me: Thanks so much. Sorry about that!

Neighbor: Oh, no problem.

Tierce: I was just exploring your yard and then you grabbed me and sent me back to prison. *I* have a problem!

Me: Oh, you have no idea. You know how to get by the gate and now I can't let you run around the yard because you'll find all the loose boards and get into other people's property!

Tierce: I was just conducting canine urban reconnaissance.

Me: Well, you can conduct another reconnaissance in the tub. You need a bath.

Tierce: *gasp*

Me: You know, this hurts me more than it hurts y- oh who am I kidding. You're going to be miserable and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

Tierce: You really are here just to ruin my day!

Me: Now I am. Want a rubber ducky?

OMG EDITOR RETRACTION!!! WTFBBQ!

Correction to the post New Shiba Comic!

The comic Letters from Us is NOT by Jim Freiberger, but by Carole Hogan; Jim was just letting people know about the newest Shiba goodness available on the 'Net.