I fixed her wagon......

well sort of.  If you read my post about the temper tantrums, this is sort of a continuation of that.  To refresh your memory, Sami has her ways of getting me to come into the kitchen and give her ice cubes.  First she scratches on the door of the fridge and if that doesn't get me out there, she starts chewing on the door.  From there, she knocks down all the pop and water bottles in front of the cabinets.  If I don't get out there by then, she then starts opening cabinet doors and drawers and looks for things to get into.  And, as a final resort, she rakes her nails across the metal heat vent cover.

All of this is pretty harmless, but I can easily see someone having an accident with the water and pop bottles all over the floor.  So tonight I decided to put an end to at least part of her obnoxious behavior.  I was going to get a milk crate to put all the bottles in. I have seen them many times when I'm not looking for them, but tonight, I couldn't find them.  But, I happened to go by the isle that had the laundry baskets and decided that would work as well.  So, I did my shopping and came home to set the stage.  First I wanted you to see what she does with the bottles, so I set all the bottles in front of the cabinets like I always do and went back to the dining room and got on the computer.  Pretty soon, Sami went into the kitchen and started in with her antics.  I waited until I heard several bottles hitting the floor and then went in to see what all she had done.
 

Here you can see her with her handiwork. LOL

Now I bring in the basket and she watches me while I put all the bottles in it.  Sami and Miko both go over to the basket to check it out.

Miko is still checking out the basket, but I think Sami is really thinking about this.  You can almost see the wheels spinning in her head.

I think she now realizes her bottle knocking over days are through.  Now she is giving me that look.  Not sure what that look means, but I'm sure I will find out sooner then later.  LOL

Two is more fun then one.  LOL

A couple cute cat videos. LOL

  

A Sad Tale

Our weather this week has been unseasonably warm and I decided to take Thursday night off to enjoy the weather Thursday and today.  Thursday I spent the day in the yard which Sami and Miko liked as well.  I hooked them up to their leads and they played and dug holes and had all kinds of fun while I worked.  Today I decided to spend some time at the Toledo Zoo to do some photography.  I really wasn't having a good day up there so I didn't stay long.

I got home to find a rather large raccoon in my front yard next to one of my maple trees.  It didn't seem to be in any hurry to go anywhere.  I didn't have a good feeling about this.  I saw the neighbor guy across the street and just jokingly I asked him if one of his pets had gotten loose.  He was just as surprised as I was to see the raccoon.  He came over and started talking to it.  It acted like it was going to climb the tree, but after only going up about a foot, it slid back down.  About this time, the two guys next door came home from work on their motorcycles and they came over to see the raccoon.  Three more people came over from next door and then the guy that lives on the other side came home and soon I had quite a few people there checking out the raccoon.

We stood and watched it for a little bit.  It did a little bit of twitching and panting and I was pretty convinced at that point that there was definitely something wrong with this raccoon. So, while I went inside to call Animal Control, everyone else stayed to keep an eye on the raccoon.  Well, they only had 1 officer on duty so they said it would be awhile before he would get there.  So, we watched the raccoon some more.  A couple times he would fall over and it looked like it was having some kind of seizures.  Then it would get up and start walking around, I should say stumble around as it wasn't moving very good at all.  I ended up getting one of my rakes out to corral it back if it tried to stray very far.  After about an hour, it just laid down on it's stomach and occasionally it would twitch it's ears or open it's eyes.  It didn't seem like it was going to live that much longer.

It took Animal Control 1 1/2 hours to get to my house. He got the stick with the noose to grab the raccoon.  At that point, the raccoon did some growling as he was put into the cage.  I asked the officer what he thought might be wrong with the raccoon.  He said it was most likely Distemper.  He said that they have had a lot of raccoons this year with Distemper.  In fact, he already had 2 raccoons in his van that were acting the same way and he said he had another one to pick up just around the corner from my house.  I have read that Distemper can really become bad in the raccoon population to the point that it will completely wipe out the raccoons in large areas.

So, since Distemper can be transmitted to dogs, that's a very good reason why you should make sure your dog has been vaccinated against it.  I did take a few photos of the raccoon before he took a turn for the worse.  In fact by looking at the pictures, you wouldn't think there was anything wrong with it.

  I hate to see any animal put down, but when you have a diseased animal like this, I think it's for the better.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  I plan on doing some things with the girlies.  It's going to be another nice day so we will take a long walk in the park and then go to their favorite store.  We are also going to see about getting some of those AntlerZ.  I did find one store so far that carries them, but it's not one that we normally go to.  We will see if PetSmart carries them first and then if they don't have them, we will go to the other store.  I really think Sami needs something like this to keep her occupied when she starts into one of her ice cube binges.  She has really been driving me crazy today.  LOL

Two is more fun then one.

An Almost Trajic Event Has A Happy Ending.....

Last weekend we had a dog show in town, the Old Fort Cluster Dog Show.  They had 13 people showing Shiba's.  When one of the owners was finished showing her Shiba Nara, she went to leave and the dog got spooked and slipped out of it's slip leash and ran outside, down the street and ran across one of the busiest roads here in Fort Wayne, Coliseum BLVD.  After crossing the street, Nara ran into the wooded area behind the Red Cross Building. 

The woman searched for Nara all day, but didn't find her.  She lived in Wisconsin and instead of heading for home without Nara, she decided to stay at the Holiday Inn next to the Red Cross.  She went into the woods and set up 3 dog cages like the one Nara was used to sleeping in.  Monday morning she went to check the cages and thankfully, Nara was curled up in one of them.  I'm so glad there was a happy ending!

Do dogs have temper tantrums?

Has your dog ever had a temper tantrum?  If so, I would like to hear about it.  Sami had what I would consider a temper tantrum this morning, this is how it went.

I got home this morning and took the dogs out, fed them, gave them their medicine and then took them for their morning walk.  We get home and we have the Shiba 500 for about 10 minutes.  They wrestle, pull the blankets off the bed, shake up the kitchen rug and chase each other.  When they are done, I make their bed and Miko climbs on and lays down.  I had a few things I wanted to do on the computer before I went to bed and Sami goes into the kitchen.  Here's where it started.

Sami goes into one of her ice cube binges.  She starts scratching on the refrigerator door and I tell her, just a minute!  She is not satisfied with this and starts chewing on the door.  I yell, Eh Eh, No!  I tell her to be patient.  Still not happy, she starts knocking down all the water and pop bottles.  Again, I tell her to be patient!  Now she proceeds to the big box fan that is standing in front of the utility card.  She takes her paw and with her nails, starts pulling on the fan.  It starts to fall and she jumps back and when it hits the floor, the sound makes her jump again.  I don't think she was expecting that!  LOL

I finally get finished with what I was doing, go into the kitchen and pick up the fan and the water and pop bottles and throw her a couple ice cubes, grab a handful of ice cubes and put them in her cup and go back to the computer and throw her one when she starts scratching on the door again.  We go through this ice cube thing, several times a day.

One time we actually looked up ice cube craving on the internet and they said that some people or animals that crave ice cubes could be iron deficient.  So, we had her tested and the results turned out just fine.  So, I guess she just loves to eat ice cubes.  It used to be that she would only do this a couple times a day, now it is all the time.  Sometimes by the end of the day, I just feel ragged.

Two is more fun then one.

I just cringe.....

I'm sure a lot of you have watched the Shiba puppy cam.  I came across it when the first litter was about 2 weeks old. It was fun watching the Shiba puppies grow up and move on to new homes.  There is one thing that really bothered me by the cam, the fact that they let their dogs destuff the toys.  And, everyone thought is was so cute!  I don't think a lot of people realize how dangerous that seemingly innocent action can be!  There is a reason why most if not all toys for dogs have warning labels on them.

Dogs don't have the same abilities as humans to get things out of their mouths.  They are either able to spit it out, or swallow it.  Fluff tends to stick to wet surfaces like the mouth and most times it can end up being swallowed.  And, some dogs just seem to like to eat things that are not edible.  While small amounts of fluff rarely causes a problem, if large amounts are ingested at one time, it can lead to some pretty serious complications.  Let me tell you a story.

Sami and Miko were going on 2 years old when we decided to expand their horizons around the house and let them go upstairs.  Not the bedrooms, but the hallway and bathroom.  They had great fun going up and down the stairs.  One day it just seemed a little too quiet upstairs and I went to investigate.  Here Sami had figured out how to get the vanity doors open and she pulled the trashcan and it's contents out into the hallway.  I shooed her down the stairs and picked up the mess and closed the bathroom door.  The door remained shut to them until I could install baby locks on the vanity doors.

Fast forward 2 months and the girls celebrate their 2nd birthday with a venison and potato cake decorated with kibble and treats.  We used Sami's food since she has to eat a special diet.  She was diagnosed just a little over a year earlier with Inflammatory Bowl Disease.  She was doing great, so it was really a nice celebration.  But, little did we know that the damage had already been done when she got into the trash can 2 months earlier.

A couple weeks later, I noticed a change in her stools, they were the consistency of pudding.  I thought maybe she had eaten something she wasn't supposed to have and gave her just a little more prednisone.  By Friday morning, it didn't seem to be getting any better, but otherwise, she seemed to be doing okay.  I work 3rd shift and on Fridays I try to get as much done as I can before I take a nap.  Well, I was right in the middle of my nap when my daughter woke me up to say that Sami had thrown up.  She said other then that, she seemed fine.  Well, our vet was closing in just a few minutes, so I told her we would just keep an eye on Sami and if it got worse, we would just take her down to Indianapolis Veterinary Referral.

Saturday comes and she threw up a couple more times and her stools were not any better. So, I called down to Indy to see if Dr. Speiser was going to be on duty Sunday.  He was not, but they said a Dr. Smith would be there and that she had helped with Sami the year before and was familiar with the case.  So, I told them we would get there around noon on Sunday.  Another thing I had noticed that Sami had been doing the last couple days was pull her stomach up when I would put her harness on.  I thought that was just her way of protesting us putting the harness on.  (We later found out that that was a sign that her stomach hurt)

Sunday morning I got up thinking I would take a shower before heading down to Indy, but that was not to be.  Sami kept throwing up, over and over.  So, we just grabbed what we needed and headed down to Indy.  We took a trash can with us and Sami was very good about throwing up in the can.  We called on the way down and Dr. Smith was waiting on us.  She said that Sami was getting dehydrated and they would want to keep her on IV fluids at least over night.  She said she would run a few test so see if she could determine what the problem was and would call us if they found out anything.  So, we headed back home.

We were barely in the door when she called to tell us that Sami had Pancreatitis.  The only way to treat it was to keep her on an IV diet for three days to keep the pancreas from working.  She said she had never seen pancreatic values that high.  They actually had to dilute it to get the results.  Dr. Speiser called me the next day and he felt it was caused by the prednisone.  He said she was on such a small dose that he didn't feel she needed it anymore.  So, they took her off of it and after 3 days, the pancreatic values returned to normal and they had me pick her up.  They told me it might take a couple days to get her appetite back since she hadn't eaten anything by mouth for 3 days.  

Well, after a couple days, we still were not able to get her to eat much and when we did finally get her to eat something, she threw it up.  So, we called Indy and they said to bring her back.  They wanted to do an endoscopy to see if they saw signs of the IBD.  If they did, she would have to go back on Prednisone.  We had already discussed options on what to do if she still needed something for the IBD.  There were only 2 other options, the one medicine was known to cause Pancreatitis and the other medicine was so expensive, I would not be able to afford it.

So, they did the endoscopy and that is when they found the reason she got the pancreatitis.  They found a blockage in the duodenum which is the first part of the small intestine.  The pancreatic duct is located there.  Dr. Speiser called me and said it looked like a big wad of hair.  He said he tried to remove it with the endoscopy tools, but it wouldn't budge.  He said he would have to surgically remove it.  He said that since she didn't have a good appetite, he also wanted to install a feeding tube to use until her appetite returned to normal.  So, she had to stay there 2 more days and then we went to pick her up.

Poor thing, she had the big cone of shame on to keep her from messing with her staples and her neck was all bandaged up with a feeding tube sticking out.  He said he wanted the feeding tube to stay in at least a week after she was eating well on her own, just to be on the safe side.  He saved the hairball to show us and said it was the biggest hairball he ever removed from a dog.  It was human hair.  My daughter and I both have long hair and my daughter cleans out her hairbrush and throws the hair in the trashcan in the bathroom.  So, what we didn't know was that the day she got into the trashcan, she ate a big wad of hair.  Then over time, other things started accumulating with it.  This hairball was the size of my closed fist.  I ended up taking the hairball home to show my vet.  He in turn took it to one of the classes he teaches to let the students look at it.

So, something as innocent as hair caused a life threatening situation for Sami.  It was also a very expensive experience for me, her total vet bill came to just over $6,000.  But, she is so worth it.  She is such a good dog and she and her sister make my life so much better.  After all this, my daughter found a case on the internet about this dog that kept getting pancreatitis and they kept treating it.  The dog eventually died and they decided to do an autopsy.  They found out that the dog had chewed off the top of a rubber kong toy and swallowed it.  It too was stuck in the duodenum.  It has now been a little over 1 1/2 years since this happened and Sami has been healthy ever since, eating her special diet and taking a small dose of prednisone everyday.

So please everyone, keep an eye on your dog when they are playing with toys.  If they start tearing the fluff out or are chewing off pieces of the toy, it's cheaper to fix or buy a new toy then to have to go through what we did.  I don't want anyone to have to go through what we did.

Two is more fun then one.  

Where are all the other Shiba's?

Before I got Sami and Miko, I had never heard of the Shiba Inu and had never seen a Shiba Inu.  When my boss came to work and told me his daughter had dropped off her two Shiba Inu to keep until she could find them homes, he looked Shiba Inu up on the computer so I could see what they looked like.  They were a certified breeding pair.  Now, I really wonder what exactly that means.  I never asked, but given the medical problems that we have had with both dogs, she must have gotten them at P*****d, you know that one store that sells puppies.

Before we decided to take them, I did a lot of research on the breed.  The two things that stuck out to me was that they needed to be socialized with people and other pets and they needed obedience training.  Not that they will always do what you want them to do, but I really think it makes them better behaved.  LOL  Another thing I remembered reading is that while they are the most popular breed in Japan, they are still considered a rare breed in the United States.  Still, you would think you would see one floating around here or there.

We didn't see our first Shiba until the girls were several months old.  We were at PetSmart at the obedience class and we met this guy that had a very tiny female Shiba named Isis.  Now, I remember questioning to myself if she was really full blooded or not.  There was just something not Shiba like to me about her.  Besides being very small, her coat pattern really didn't look Shiba like and the coat itself was not thick like a Shiba.  The guy asked me where I got my two Shiba's as he was looking to get a second one.  If I'm not mistaken, he also got his Shiba at P*****d.  And, he also eventually got his second one from there too.   He got another female and called her Meeka.  I guess he had some medical issues with Meeka at first that are often associated with puppy mill dogs, but they eventually got her all better and then they just disappeared into the woodwork.

About a month ago, this guy at work told me that had a black and tan Shiba puppy at P*****d and that weekend I decided to take the girls out to see it.  When we got there, there was this guy in one of the cubicles holding an Australian Cattle dog puppy.  It was really cute and sweet.  I went over to see it when one of the employees came over to see Sami and Miko.  I told them I heard they had a Shiba puppy, but was then told they had already sold it.  The guy holding the puppy asked me if I liked Shibas, he of course couldn't see Sami and Miko because he was sitting down.  I said yes and he then told me he had two.  Really?  What colors do you have?  He then tells me that he has a Black and Tan and a Cream Shiba.  I then tell him he needs to stand up and see what's on the other side of the wall.

He stood up and he couldn't believe his eyes!  He said Miko was bigger then his Black and Tan, but besides that, they looked very much alike.  He had one of the employees take the puppy from him and then we sat on the floor while he checked them out and petted them.  He went on and on about how he couldn't believe how calm they were.  He said his wife wouldn't believe him when he told her, so he took some pictures of them with his phone.  I asked him why he didn't bring his Shiba's to the store and he told me that they can't take theirs out in public like this because they don't behave.  What a shame!

Then 2 weeks ago, I went back there and as we were leaving, this woman stopped me so she could see Miko and Sami.  She said she has a Black and Tan Shiba at home.  I asked her why she didn't bring hers to the store and she tells me she can't because every time she puts the leash on, the dog just wants to run.

So, I now know that there are other adult Shibas around here, but I guess I'm the only one that will take theirs out in public.  LOL  Maybe someday.

Two are more fun then one. 

Slumber Party!!!!

I guess the girls decided to have a slumber party and they invited Calista to join them.  She is the only one of my 3 cats that really seems to enjoy being around the dogs.  When she walks by them she rubs on them and she even lets Sami clean her ears.

I think one of the reasons why she started spending so much time with them is because I spend so much time with them and she likes to be where I'm at.  And, generally they are pretty good to her except for a couple times she got run down in the heat of the Shiba 500.  LOL  But, she has never been hurt and it hasn't deterred her from wanting to be around them.

So, I had been busy doing things on the computer and when I turned around, this is what I saw.

I guess in this case, three are more fun then one.  LOL

Scary time with Calista

Besides my two Shibas, I also share my home with 3 cats.  Buzby is an 8 year old female Torte, Beau is a handsome 5 year old orange and white tiger and Calista, who is also 5 years old.  She is a mitted Torte Point Snowshoe.  She is my baby.  Some day I will have to share the story about how I came to have her.

It's that time of year to get her yearly shots.  In the past, I could tell the shots affected her a little as she just seemed to lay around a couple days afterward.  So, since all my cats are strictly indoor cats, I asked the vet if all the shots were necessary.  My normal vet is on maternity leave so had to see a different vet in the group.  She told me that the rabies and distemper shots had to be given, but the feline leukemia shot could be skipped.  So, she just got the 2 shots.

Later that night, I was out in the living room watching some episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and must have dozed off.  The next thing I knew, I heard some retching and opened my eyes just in time to see Calista vomit on the living room floor.  So, now I have to corral both the dogs into the dining room and put the gates up. I wiped up the mess and mopped the area.  It was getting pretty late, so I decided to check a few things on the computer and was then going to bed.

I took the girls outside one more time and then noticed that Calista had thrown up again in the living room.  I cleaned that up as well and my son came down stairs and told me that Calista had thrown up in my bedroom.  Cleaned that up and got ready for bed.  I collected up Calista and put her on the bed as she loves to sleep with me.  Well, she was definitely not acting very good at all.  She hunkered down on the shelf of my waterbed headboard and within a few minutes started retching again.

So, I picked her up to put her on the floor and that is when I really noticed how hot she felt.  That was when I decided we needed to make a visit to the emergency vet.  So, I call them up to let them know I was coming and got ready to go.

Now, I really hate going to our emergency vet.  Not just the cost, ( $125 just for the exam) but I have had problems with them in the past with Sami.  I won't go into that as it just makes me so mad just thinking about it.  Anyways, I took the papers from my vet in so they would know what shots she got.  Well, the vet was not convinced that this was from the shots.  Her temperature was 105.5 which is very high for a cat, normal being between 100 and 102.  She thought maybe she had some kind of infection going on.  I told her she was just fine before she got the shots, but since my vet failed to take a temperature, she said there was no way knowing.

Now comes the guilt trip, the vet says, if she were my kitty, I would have x-rays and blood work done and some other test.  Now my blood is boiling.  I tell her, I'm almost positive this is from the shots and she tells me the only thing she is willing to do is give her a Benedryl shot to help bring down the fever.  I told her that if she was not better in the morning, I would take her into the vet and have her rechecked.  So, she gives her the shot and out we go minus $147.

She said the shot would probably make her sleepy, so when I went to bed, I put her next to me.  Didn't get a whole lot of sleep, didn't get to go to bed until almost 4:30 and got back up by 7:30 so I could call the vet and take care of Sami and Miko.  It was then I remember seeing a sign on the door to the vet that they would be open Saturday from 8 to noon, but only to get prescriptions filled and sell food.

So, I call them up and tell them what happened and asked if they knew any other vet I could take her to.  Just so happens there is another vet close to them that has Saturday hours.  So I call them and luckily they could get her in at 10am.

When I get her in there, her temperature is now down to 103.  The vet said this was definitely a bad reaction to the shots.  She recommended another Benedryl shot, a shot of Fomotidine to keep the nausea down and some subcutaneous fluids injected between the shoulder blades to keep her from getting dehydrated.  Now, why couldn't they have done this at the emergency vets???  Total cost for this was $102, but I felt this was well worth it.

She went to one of her sleeping spots and slept for a few hours and later she was roaming about, acting more normal.  I could also tell her fever seemed to be gone.  I was afraid she would be a little mad at me for all she had been through.  She has her ways of getting even, like opening up and taking all the clothes out of one or more of my waterbed drawers.  LOL

I had called my Mom to tell her what happened and she told me that in Indiana, the rabies shot is only required every 3 years.  Now, why don't they tell you that at the vets office.  I am definitely going to make an appointment to have a talk with the vet and try to get some of this straightened out.  I'm definitely going to get some of my questions answered and possibly have Calista exempted from getting shots since she had such a bad reaction.

So, I think everyone should find out what the requirements are for immunizations in your area.  Why get unnecessary shots for your pets?  Especially when there are side effects involved.

Two is more fun then one.

Not very tasty

August was a very dry month for us.  Especially the second half.  But last night, shortly after I got to work, the rain finally came.  So, it seemed logical that some things that depend on the rain would be out and about this morning.

After the girls ate, I took Sami out for the second time.  As we were walking across the yard, I saw something move on the ground just ahead.  Just as I figured out what it was, a toad, Sami snatched it before I could pull her back.  I told her to drop it, which she did, but before I could pull her back, the toad moved and she grabbed it again.  I told her to drop it again, but I really don't think I needed to tell her that, for as soon as she dropped it the second time, she started shaking her head, spewing saliva everywhere.

Toads can be dangerous for your pets.  Toads have a few defenses to avoid being eaten.  One thing they do is take in air and puff up to look larger then they are and make it hard for say a snake to swallow them.  The other thing they do is secrete a toxin from the large glands behind the eyes.  Well, I think that is what happened and Sami didn't think it tasted too good.

The toad was curled up in a ball on it's back and I was hoping that she didn't hurt it.  After a few minutes of shaking her head, she finally got her business done.  On the way back to the house, I went over to where the toad was and it appeared unharmed and hunkered down by the oak tree.  It then jumped and Sami really wanted it.  It was all I could do to pull her away.  On the plus side of this, this was the 4th toad I've seen in the yard this year.  So, if you have toads in your area, be careful that your pets don't get a hold of them.  I plan on keeping a close eye on Sami today to make sure she is not suffering any side effects from the toad.

Two is more fun then one.

Mole number 2!

Now that Sami has caught her first mole, they now know what they are all about.  They are so anxious to get to that spot in the park, that they literally drag me there.  The day after Sami caught the mole, we were down in mole central and both Sami and Miko saw the ground move and immediately they pounced on it.  They were both digging and sniffing, sticking their noses into the tunnels and breathing in so deeply that I was sure they would inhale dirt.  Well as hard as they were working to get the mole, I knew they would come up with nothing.  For while they were busily working away, I saw the ground moving a couple feet away, slowing moving farther away.  The mole wins this time.

The next night, the mole wasn't so lucky.  Before I knew what was going on, I heard a squeak and there was Sami with another mole!  The head and front feet sticking out of one side of her mouth and one foot and the behind sticking out of the other side.  Don't worry, the other foot was inside her mouth.  This one was much more lively and was squirming around.  You could tell Sami was so proud of herself.

So proud in fact that she did not want to give this one up.  I kept telling her to drop it and she would start shivering.  It made me feel bad.  So now I'm trying to figure out what to do, she was not going to drop this one.  So, we continued our walk around the park area and I was hoping that I would find someone on the next street to help me out.  We finally get back on the road and Sami is just prancing down the street with mole in mouth.

It was just my luck that Bob was sitting in his garage cleaning up his motorcycle and I asked him if he could help me out.  He really got a kick out of Sami.  A few years back, Bob had a Beagle that loved to go to the park and hunt moles.  It brought back memories for him.  He told her a few times to drop it, but that wasn't happening.  Bob was a little concerned that if he tried to take it from her, she might bite him.  I assured him that she would not do that.  She has never even acted like she would bite anyone.  She's the attention seeker and goes to anyone for some attention.  So, he gets a pair of work gloves out of the garage and with a little work, was able to extract the mole from her mouth.

Now the story gets a little ugly.  Bob does not like moles, especially since they can be very destructive to your yard.  He and his wife spend many hours in their yard, they just did some nice landscaping and planted lots of new plants.  So, Bob did the mole in and disposed of it.  I didn't particularly care for how it ended, I would have preferred to see the mole released back to the park, but since he did help me out, I didn't complain.

So, I looked around and found  my garden gloves and plan on taking them with us on walks in case Sami or Miko catch another one.

Two is more fun then one.

EWWWWWWWEEE Yuck! Or.....Sami gets the prize

I guess it all depends on who is looking at it.  This morning we went for our usual walk.  We go down into the park area more since we found the stolen items there.  We have had a rash of thefts in the area that is escalating and everyone in the neighborhood is on high alert.

There is one area of the park in particular that seems to have a lot of mole activity and Sami and Miko love to sniff around there.  Well, Miko was sniffing at this one area and Sami rushed over there to see what was going on.  They were sniffing and sniffing and sniffing.  Then in the blink of an eye, BAM!!!!, Sami plucked a nice plump mole right out of its tunnel!

I of course was freaking out, trying to get her to drop it.  She was not going to give up her prize that easily.  I was not wanting to try and open her mouth to get her to drop it.  Finally after telling her numerous times to drop it, she finally let go of her prize and I pulled both dogs away.  It just laid there, so I'm not sure if she hurt it or if it was just playing dead.  Just goes to show how strong their natural instinct to hunt is, no training required!  And because of that, I did tell her what a good girl she was, we just weren't going to take it home with us.  LOL

Two are more fun then one.

Our good deed for the day

Yesterday morning we went for our usual walk around the back way by the park.  When we got back to our street, that is when I started seeing things strewn along the side of the road.  There was a plastic bag that looked like it had cosmetics in it.  There were several small tubes of what looked like lotion.  There was one big bottle of lotion, some perfume, then a hat, some gum and what looked like an unwrapped McDonald's toy.  It was when I saw the plastic huggie container containing baby wipes that I suspected that someone had been walking a stroller down the street and the stuff fell out.  Later, I found a cheap mens sports watch which I took inside.

Later that day after I got up, I found out the couple down the street had had their car broken into and a diaper bag which she also used as purse was stolen.  The watch was one of the items that was in the bag. 

So, this morning on our walk, I got to this point in the road that looked like someone had slammed their brakes and then there were two trails that led down to the park area, like someone had gone off road.  I had noticed this yesterday morning, so the girls and I decided to investigate the park. 

The first thing we found was some papers and a few store cards.  Not credit cards, but the kind of cards that get you discounts, like a frequent shopper kind of card.  Then I saw something on the other side of the park and we went over there, but it was just some junk food wrappers.  Then I spied something that looked like money and went over there and found a $5 dollar bill and a set of car keys.

I knew of this one area that lead into the woods and just before we got on the path, I found a small coin purse.  Inside was a bank card and a drivers license.  When I pulled out the license, I expected to see the one ladies face, but no, it was someone else in the neighborhood.  So, we walked down to her house.

She was ecstatic to get her things back, the keys and money were hers also.  She said I saved her a ton of money as she was just getting ready to go to the dealer to get her locks tumbled and new keys made.  Here her car had been broken into the same night as the other one.  She had spent the day yesterday getting a new license and new bank card, but she felt so much better knowing that someone else did not have the old ones.

It was very rewarding to find these items, I just wish we could have found the other ladies wallet that had her license and credit cards in it.  I took them down to show them where I found the other stuff, but we didn’t find anything else.  Hopefully it will show up.

Two are more fun then one.

I am Sami......

And I’m a ice cube-aholic! They say admission is the first step to a cure…..I don’t think so! I have always loved ice cubes and my Mom says I get a little obnoxious at times. She really doesn’t like giving them to me after what happened last year.

I had gotten really sick and Mom noticed that my breath was getting a little stinky. Two different vets said I had a little plaque buildup and that when I got all better, it would be a good idea to get my teeth cleaned. Well, when I had a checkup with my new vet to see how I was doing, again my Mom mentioned the stinky breath.

The new vet, Jill, looked at my teeth and found a big problem. I had a fractured molar that was getting infected and she said looked very painful! She showed my Mom and part of the tooth below the gum was sticking through the gum! So, I was put on antibiotics and scheduled to have my teeth cleaned and have that tooth pulled.

We are not sure how it happened, but my Mom mentioned that I loved to chew on ice and Jill said that ice was not really good on our teeth. That may or may not have caused it. But, since I still love ice, my Mom now only puts less then a half inch of water in the trays and makes very thin ice cubes that are easier to crunch! The best part is, I can now eat more of them!

I am so smart that I figured out where the ice cubes come from and how to get all the ice cubes I want! First, I scratch on the door like the picture shows here. Usually she will come in and throw me a couple cubes.

If that don’t work, I then proceed to chew on the edge of the door. Mom says, thank God that the refrigerator is 22 years old, otherwise she would not be so happy with me scratching and chewing on it.

It that doesn’t work, I find other obnoxious things to do like knock over all the pop and water bottles that are on the floor by the counter. Or, open the cabinet doors that she hasn’t Sami proofed yet and get into the Tupperware.

Usually I don’t get that far before she comes into the kitchen and throws me a couple cubes. She has even gotten a little smart. When I go into one of my ice cube binges, she will get out my cup and put a few cubes in it and throw them to me from her computer chair. She says she even hates to think what would happen if our fridge had a crushed ice cube dispenser on the door. LOL


Two are more fun then one.

Vicious Miko and the Alligator roll.

We always have great fun with Sami and Miko.  Today it was Miko's turn.  It was very warm today and that would probably explain why she was laying on the hard kitchen floor instead of her bed.  She always gets into the funniest sleeping positions. 

So, she was sleeping against the doorway and Evanita pulled her upper lip back to reveal her "smile"  LOL  And she will just keep it there.  So, I go and get my camera.  She really looks like a vicious dog here, but we know better.

We decide to have a little more fun.  We bring in one of their favorite toys, the Alligator and place it on her.  The Alligator is a really neat toy.  We have found out that they seem to prefer the bigger toys.  They are after all, big dogs in little bodies.  Also, it makes it a lot safer to play with them as they tend to jump and grab the toy.  The Alligators body is flat and has 16 squeekers in it and there is also a rattle in the head.  You probably can't see it, but one of the nostrels has been chewed off.  LOL

This toy is especially good when you have two dogs.  Sometimes they play tug-of-war with it.  It's kind of funny when you go toy shopping with them.  You hold toys out to them and they just don't seem that interested in anything.  So, I just have to use my judgement when buying toys.  If it looks like something they would like, I just buy it.  And, usually after all the tags come off, they are really ready to check out and play with their new toy.

Two are more fun then one.

Ouch!!!

I guess I should have known that it was going to happen, sooner or later. I should know that after hitting the half century mark last year, I should try to be a little more careful. But, that isn’t always easy when you don’t feel that old. Here’s how it happened.


When Evanita and I take the dogs out together, we often make it a little game to see who can get to the house first. Who’s dog actually gets inside the door first. And, there is often some cheating involved, like blocking the other dog or grabbing the other dogs leash so your dog can get inside first. LOL Also, it’s not always a good idea to run across the yard when it’s dark. We have many trees in our yard and there is always some kind of branch or twig that you can trip on. And, the dogs in the 3 years have dug a few small holes that you can trip in. During the day when it’s light, it’s easy to miss them, but I always try to keep the holes in mind if I’m running back to the house at night, even with the security lights on.

So, we take the dogs out and Sami usually gets her business done first. So, I take advantage of that to get the head start to the house. We sprint across the yard and make it to the stairs and that’s when it happened. Not exactly sure just how it happened though. The beginning happened so fast I’m not sure if I tripped going up the cement stairs onto the cement porch or if I just lost my balance. But down I went and then it was slow motion.

I’m sure my right knee hit first as it hurts the worst. Then the left knee and then I think I tried to save myself with my right hand and then the left hand. I did manage to roll to the right to keep from hitting my face on the cement porch. Must have been quite the sight! LOL So, I’m laying on my right side, both knees and hands stinging really bad and Sami is just looking at me like, what happened? What are you doing down here? LOL I finally manage to get back up and get inside. I sure hope the neighbors next door didn’t see that, they probably got quite the laugh!

Evanita and Miko have not yet begun to start back up to the house, so I go inside to survey the damage. Both palms and knees are a little skinned up, but thankfully no bleeding. I’m sure I will really be stiff in the morning. Evanita and Miko finally get to the house and here Miko just about got herself a bunny! Evanita took Miko around the Lilac bush and this bunny darted out in front of her. I’m sure Miko was wishing her leash was just a little bit longer. LOL

Two is more fun then one.

Morning Walk Interrupted......

I thought I knew all the dogs in the neighborhood, apparently I missed one. Either that, or the people just got a dog.


We start out on our morning walk as usual, going around the back way by the park. Sami and Miko are walking along the edge of the park sniffing things. We get just past the second house and that’s when we hear and see it. This little black and tan number, looked like it might have been a Chihuahua. It starts barking and the girls stop in their tracks and are now looking at this dog. It is up by the house. Now it is really barking at us and the girls are starting to bark back and the hair on Sami’s back is all raised up into her Mohawk. The dog starts heading for the road and I’m not liking this at all. It stops about half way to the road and I’m trying to get the girls to move on down the street.

Let me just say this now, I have never seen any dog aggression from either one. They really don’t like dogs getting in their face or jumping all over them. They have never growled or tried to bite another dog, instead they just try to get away. As long as the dog is on a leash and they just let them sniff at each other, both are perfectly fine. So, I’m just hoping that this dog stays in it’s yard and doesn’t cause any trouble.

Well, the dog decided to come out into the street about 10 feet away from us which was ten feet too close. I’m really getting nervous now, still trying to get the girls to move. I look up at the house and notice that the door is open with just the screen door shut. So, I pull my glove off and start whistling, really loud, hoping that someone in the house hears me.

No such luck, but the whistling seems to scare the dog and it goes back into it’s yard and I manage to get the girls to start going down the street. As I look back, I see someone let the dog back in.

The whole thing just makes me mad. Apparently these people are not aware that you have to have control of your dog at all times. If they can’t keep the dog in it’s yard, then they either need to tether in the yard or take it out on a leash. A third option would be to fence in their yard. I just hope this was an isolated incident, because the next time it happens, I will be calling Animal Control.

The rest of the walk went off without much of a hitch until we almost got home. Miko stopped and started barking at this house. The guy that lives there is usually leaving for work as we are going by. I don’t see the guy and I don’t see the dog that lives there, so at first I’m not sure what she is barking at. Then Sami joins in and she has the Mohawk thing going again. That is when I figure out what they are barking at. They just put a flag on the front of the house and it’s flapping in the breeze. LOL

We get home and I take the harnesses off and they get a drink of water. Then it is usually time for a quick Shiba 500. The rugs get messed up and the blankets are usually pulled off their bed and in about 5 minutes it’s over and time for the morning nap. And, now it’s time for me to go to bed.


Two is more fun then one.

Looking out the Window.....

My daughters bedroom window is very popular with the pets.  They can see what is going on out front.  Calista, the cat in the box really loves to lay in the windowsill or in this box that my daughter attached to the headboard of her bed.  She loves to watch the birds and squirrels.  Sami and Miko of course like to look for the people and dogs.  Here is Sami and Calista looking out the window.

Two is more fun then one.

Which food and why.......

With all the dogs and cats I’ve had over the years, I really never paid much attention to what food I fed them. The dogs usually got something like Gravy Train and the cats, Meow Mix. I never had any issues with food allergies. When we had decided to get Sami and Miko, I thought it was time to step up to the plate and feed them the best food possible. So, after a little research, we decided to go with Nutro Max puppy food.


At around 8 ½ months of age, Sami got really sick and for awhile we thought we were going to lose her. She was throwing up stomach bile and her appetite was not very good. My vet ran various tests and tried different medications and nothing was helping. So, he had me take her to Indianapolis Veterinary Referral and they got to the bottom of her problem rather quickly. She was having a severe allergic reaction to her food causing Inflammatory Bowl Disease. They said it would be time consuming and expensive to find out what it was in her diet that was causing the reaction, so the best route to go would be to put her on a limited ingredient diet or novel protein diet. So, she now eats Venison and Potato and takes a small dose of Prednisone each day. She has blood work done to make sure the Prednisone is not affecting any of her organs and so far she is doing great!

So, after we got that figured out, we got to thinking about what to feed Miko when she was a year old. Since we didn’t know what triggered the allergy in Sami, we weren’t willing to keep Miko on a diet that could potentially cause her problems as well. Then we heard about Blue Buffalo.

It all sounded really great with the life source bits and all and she seemed to really like it. Then we started noticing the inconsistencies with the amount of life source bits in the food. We got one bag that was at least half life source bits. Well, after a few days, we noticed her poops were black. At first we were alarmed as dark stools can be a sign of blood in the stools. Then I got to thinking about the extra life source bits she was getting which are black in color. So, we separated out the life source bits out of about 3 days worth of food and after about the second day, her poops were back to normal.

Then, this last bag had no life source bits at all! Well, if these life source bits are so important, you would think they would make sure the bags of food were consistent. So, we decided to change her food because of that and a couple other things we were noticing. One, she chews on her feet a lot more then Sami does. She could be just more of a clean freak then Sami, but on the other hand, some things in the diet can cause skin allergies. The second thing is that she seems to belch a lot after eating.

Well, I had noticed a few people lately talking about California Natural. Since a lot of dog food has chicken in it, I decided to go with the Lamb and Rice formula. I’m just now starting to mix it in with the Blue Buffalo, so it will probably be a couple weeks before we can tell any difference. Also, I can’t remember what we had the cats on before we also had them put on the Blue Buffalo. So, we switched them to the California Natural as well.

It would be nice if others would share what they feed their Shibas. And why…..

Two is more fun then one.

The Worm Walk

As reported by Sami.

Well, our walks are continuing, weather permitting.  For the most part it has been warm enough, but we've been getting some rain.  I wouldn't say I hate getting my feet wet, I just don't like to slop around in the mud or stand in driving rain.  When the weather is bad, I get my business done fast and I'm ready to go in.  Miko on the other hand, just hates going out in the bad weather and Mom says she would rather stand out in the rain looking as wet and pathetic as possible than get her business done.  And, when we come in, we have to stand on the towels for a few minutes to absorb the water in our paws so we don't track mud all over the house.

Well, we got more rain yesterday and luckily it quit over night and we were able to go for our morning walk.  When Mom gets home, she takes me outside as I'm on medicine that makes me drink more water.  Miko, if she knows we are going for a walk, she would rather wait until after we eat to go potty.  So, Mom takes me outside, then feeds us breakfast and gives us our medicine and then we get our harnesses on for our walk.

We always go the back way so we can go out in the park area and sniff around.  We follow the scents of animals that have come this way and also check out all the trees and sign posts.  The park is still pretty flooded from all the rain we've been getting, so it will probably be some time before we can fully investigate the park.  So, we just check things out from the side of the road.  I don't notice, but Mom has been avoiding stepping on something out in the street.  We finally make it down to the main park area and Miko finally decides to get her business done.

So, we are heading back home and now there are houses on both sides of the street so we have to stay in the street now.  Our Mom doesn't believe in letting us go in someone elses yard.  But don't worry, our neighborhood is very quiet and not too many cars go down the streets.  That is when I see it.  A big worm in the middle of the street.  Mom must not have seen me checking it out and I can't help myself and I roll around on the worm.  Okay, she gets disgusted and pulls me off the worm, but wait, there is another one and then another one, they are everywhere!  Now she is having problems keeping me off the worms, saying it's like walking through a land mine.  She's trying hard to avoid the worms, but I manage to roll around on a couple more before we get home.

We finally get in the house and Miko must have been feeling pretty good since she got her business done and she started it, the Shiba 500.  She turns into a mad dog and starts barking at me and getting into the play stance.  Then she charges at me and we jump up at each other with teeth flashing and making all kinds of noise.  The Moms are laughing at us.  We chase each other in and out of the kitchen and the dining room and Miko starts digging on the area rug in the dining room and then grabs it like shes going to do the table clothe trick.  We charge each other again with teeth flashing and pretty soon, it's all over and we are out of energy and ready for our morning nap.  Got to recharge for our afternoon walk!

Two is more fun then one.

The little boy Shiba

Last weekend was busy. About once a month, my daughter and a friend of hers go get a massage from her friends Aunt. Well, early last week, Leslie calls Evanita and says she has to cancel her appointment. I hear Evanita say, well, I will have to cancel mine too as Mom has to sleep. I told her, I see no reason why I can’t take you as I don’t work that night. Well, her appointment isn’t until 1pm and that is usually around the time that I start getting really tired. I work 3rd shift. So, I now need to find something to do to keep myself awake while she gets her massage.

That is when I remember that this pet store in town recently reopened, the only one in town that sells puppies. I want to go on record that I do not believe in buying a puppy from a pet store. If you want to read about puppies from pet stores, you can go here.


http://www.canismajor.com/dog/petstor.html


But, that doesn’t mean I can’t look at them. The thing I get a kick out of is this designer dog thing. Back in my days, they called them mutts. Now they give them fancy names and charge lots of money for them. Most of them I can tell what the dogs are by the name. For instance, a Labradoodle is a cross between a Labrador and a Poodle. A Chi-winnie is a cross between a Chihuahua and a dachshund. That was a new one to me this time. Then there was one I couldn’t figure out, an Ori-Pei. Okay, I figured out the Pei part as a Shar-Pei, but what was the Ori part? I finally had to break down and ask, it was a Pug/Shar-Pei mix. It sure was a cute puppy, but I’ve seen pictures of them grownup and they just don’t appeal to me.

So, we are walking along, looking at all the puppies. The place is not busy and the employees are coming over to see Sami and Miko. They are getting some attention while I’m looking at the puppies. Besides the designer dogs, they did have some purebred dogs. They had a few English Bulldogs that were adorable. They also had an Australian Cattle Dog that was interesting. It was just laying there and when we got close, he sprang into action. Startled me and the girls. They also had one of my other favorite dogs, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. When I see them, they look like Shibas with big ears and tiny legs. LOL

We walk a little further and then we see it, a Black and Tan Shiba all curled up in a corner sleeping. So cute, too bad it was asleep. Flash forward to the next day.

Evanita’s Dad usually comes over on Saturday to spend some time with her. They were watching something in her room while I was making something to eat. After we ate we were going to watch a movie. I just happen to casually mention the Shiba puppy and now Evanita and her Dad want to go see it. So, we decided to go before we watch the movie.

We always take the girls to the pet store with us, so we put their harnesses on and their bandanas and off we go. We arrive at the store and this one guy that was working there the day before sees me and asks, are you here to get the Shiba puppy? No, we just came to see it. Then he offers to bring it out and I told Evanita I would hold the girls while she and her Dad go into the cubicle to play with the puppy. A couple of the employees ask if we want to see how our dogs would react to the puppy. Well, I already know how they are going to react. A couple years earlier they had a Black and Tan Shiba and it was all over the girls and in their faces and it totally freaked them out!

So, Evanita and her Dad are now playing with the boy Shiba and one of the employees gives them a knotted rag and they play tug-of-war with him and he is just so full of energy, I mean really rowdy! Evanita tries to pick him up and he wants nothing to do with that. He starts thrashing around and clocks her right in the chin. Dazed look on her face, she decides to put him back down. LOL She tries a little bit later and the same response. This is the best picture we were able to get of her and the Shiba

So, after they had been playing with him for about 15 minutes, her Dad decides to pick him up and surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to mind and you could see this big smile creep onto her Dad’s face. He was really liking this puppy and I’m pretty sure the thought of taking this puppy home was starting to enter his mind. We quickly remind him that in no way is his house puppy proof and he really isn’t in the position right now to be taking care of and raising a puppy, especially this rowdy little Shiba boy.

While all this is going on, this one guy that worked there was acting like he knew everything about the Japanese dogs. He told me that the Shiba was not the smallest of the Japanese breeds, the smallest was the Ainu Inu. Say what? I told him that if there was a dog called the Ainu Inu and it was smaller then the Shiba then someone must have recently bred such a dog because every book and just everything in general that I’ve read about the Japanese dogs is that the Shiba is the smallest and the Akita is the largest with 4 other dogs in between.

So, he decides to prove me wrong and looks it up on the internet and sure enough, there is a Ainu Inu, only it’s actually called the Ainu-Ken or Hokkaido Inu. So, I ask him to show me how much this dog weighs. And imagine this, it clearly states that the weight for this dog is between 40 to 70 pounds! Well, I think he was a little embarrassed that he was wrong. The Shiba is the smallest and this Ainu-Ken or Hokkaido Inu is one of the dogs that is between the Shiba and the Akita.

Now, here is the funny part. We decide to see how the girls react to the puppy. I told Evanita to put the puppy on the seat so he doesn't jump on the girls. So, she holds the puppy in her lap while we open the door and I take the girls in. I no sooner had the door shut and this tiny puppy starts doing the Shiba Scream. LOL I tell you, the whole store went quiet and the whole store was looking at us and I’m sure they thought we were torturing that poor thing or trying to kill it. LOL It was so loud and Sami and Miko were panicking and wanted out of there NOW!!! LOL So, I open the door back up and they fly out of there and immediately the puppy stops. I still think we were under suspicion of doing something to that poor puppy, it really was that loud. Of course I try to tell people that that was the Shiba Scream, but not knowing the breed, they have no idea what I’m talking about. We have only heard it ourselves a few times when Sami and Miko were pups. One day we put them in their crates and Sami was mouthing on her crate and got her jaw stuck. It really is hard to believe how much noise can come out of such a small puppy!

At any rate, I really hope that the person who takes this puppy home knows what they are in for because that little guy is really going to be a handful.


Two is more fun then one.

The Walkies have returned!

As reported by Sami and Miko


The Mom’s have said that since the warm weather seems to have returned, we can now go on our daily walks. One in the morning and one in the evening as weather permits. At the mere sound of the word “walk”, we both turn our heads, did we really hear that? Then we hear the magic word again and now we are excited.

Our harnesses are put on and we are ready. The back road on our walk has houses on one side and a nice park area with grass and trees on the other. We see all kinds of wildlife that for some reason we are not allowed to chase. This week we have seen many squirrels and birds. We also saw our friend Julia, a Jack Russell Terrier. Not very friendly we’re afraid. Last year she nipped Sami on the nose. We get to see lots of other dogs and stop occasionally to get some attention from the people in the neighborhood.

We saw a guy riding a bicycle. He said, Nice looking dogs! Okay, he didn’t know what we were, but he recognized the fact that we were nice looking.

We also had a squirrel tease us. It ran only a couple feet up a pole and went on the other side and peaked at us. So, Mom took us closer and we chased him around the pole a few times and then he jumped off the pole and ran across the street. We would have been all over him if it hadn’t been for the leashes.

One interesting thing we discovered on our walks this week are two different kinds of balls. The first one we found has all kinds of spikes on it. One of the Mom’s kicked one and Miko attacked it. Then I got one. Not sure I like it that well. It seems fun to play with, but has these spikes on them that makes them hard to chew. Did I mention that they have spikes on them? So, I just pawed around at it and played with it and was careful not to get stuck by it, I’m pretty sure I mentioned that they have spikes on them.

The second ball is about the same size, but much smoother. Easier to grab and play around with. We did find out the drawback of these smoother balls. If you play too hard with them, they have this tendency to fall apart. Kind of fuzzy inside, and don’t taste all that great. When the ball falls apart, it’s just best to find a new one.

We haven’t been able to explore the whole park yet as the ground is really mushy right now from all the snow that melted. Hopefully it will dry out soon so we can go down by the creek. At least we are able to make it to a couple different trees. Hey, us girls like to check things out also!

Today and tomorrow it’s supposed to rain, so our walks have been cancelled, but hopefully it will clear up tomorrow night and we will get to go on our scheduled walk Monday morning when Mom gets off work.

Two is more fun then one.

Dr. "MOM"

Why is it that when one pet has to go to the vet, at least one of the other pets has to go also? Does the saying, "Comes in Three's" also apply to this? The last few weeks have been expensive vet wise.

First it was Sami, she is on Prednisone and has to have blood work done every 6 months to make sure it isn't causing other problems. Everything turned out great!

Then it was Beaus turn. He started getting this black crusty stuff on his chin and I was wondering if it was related to the Eosinophilic Granuloma that he gets. The vet says no, it's chin acne. So, he gets a antibiotic shot and some antiseptic wipes.

Then it's Sami's turn again. Monday when we went for a walk, she kept squatting to pee and most times there was hardly a dribble coming out. I suspected a UTI and took in a urine specimen. Sure enough she did and was started on antibiotics.

Then it was Beaus turn again. The chin thing is not going away so made an appointment with a different vet at the clinic we go to and he thinks it is still the Eosinophilic Granuloma that I thought it was and so he got a steroid shot. Now we wait to see if that goes away.

Since it was so nice out the last few days, we have been opening the windows in the house and letting some fresh air in. Calista loves to lay in the windowsill or in the box on my daughters headboard to her bed and watch the squirrels outside. Well, she comes walking out of Evanita's room and her one eye was almost swelled shut! Now what?! So, I'm thinking I would probably have to schedule her an appointment when I took Beau in this afternoon, but by this morning it was looking much better and tonight it looks almost gone. So, I will just keep an eye on that for a few days.

So, right now I'm just hoping that everyone gets better and we have no more vet visits for the next couple months.

Two is more fun then one, sometimes. LOL

Birthday #3!

Today we finally celebrated the girlies birthday with a cake. The cake was made out of one can of Sami's Venison and Potato and decorated with biscuits and kibble. I think they knew what was coming up as soon as I opened the can! After I formed the cake and put the decorations on, I let them lick my hands off. Kind of like licking on the beaters. LOL Then I put the candle on.

This year we decided to do a video instead of taking pictures. Here it is, enjoy!

Two is more fun then one.

Happy Birthday Sami and Miko!

Today the girlies are 3 years old! It's hard to believe we have had them for that long. We were going to do something for them this last weekend, but my weekend was short since I was going from 2nd shift to 3rd. I had to make sure I got some sleep on Sunday. So, we will probably do something for them Friday and Saturday. I would like to share some photos from their previous birthdays.

Right before Birthday #1, Sami was diagnosed with Inflamatory Bowl disease and was put on a special diet. So, the cake is made out of 2 cans of her food decorated with kibble. Of course Miko thought this was a very special treat!

Well, when Birthday #2 came, they both got rather excited because they knew what the cake was all about!



For the second year, the cake was made out of 1 can of food decorated with kibble and treats.



They are patiently waiting for me to tell them to dig in.



They start out slow.....



And then Miko really starts digging in.

Almost finished.....

Cleaning up the last few morsels....




This weekend they will get another cake and will probably go to their favorite store, PetSmart!

Two is more fun then one.

Snow, snow, go away…….

Well, it looks like winter may be losing it’s grip. While we are still getting days in the 30’s with a chance of snow flurries, over the next couple days it’s supposed to get warmer. At the end of 10 days, it’s supposed to be 46 degrees! Not exactly shorts weather, but I’ll take it!

I’m not much of a cold weather person. Before I got the girls, I only went outside to go to the store or work. So, I really didn’t get used to the cold weather. Since we don’t have a fenced in yard, I have to go out several times a day with the girls. I think it helps me get more acclimated to the weather. Plus, the girls love the snow so much, it has actually helped me enjoy the snow more.

The first big snow of the year is always fun. When I open the door and they see what is outside, they get really excited! Miko loves to attack anything sticking out of the snow and Sami just loves to plunge her whole head into it. I’m sure they will miss all the snow, I will not. LOL

Here is a video I took a few days ago of Evanita and the girls out in the snow. Towards the end of the video you will see a little squabble. For you Shiba owners, you know exactly what they are doing. To the untrained eye, it looks like they are fighting, but this is merely play. They love to wrestle with each other. There is a lot of noise and teeth flashing that goes with it. Usually it only lasts for a few seconds, but sometimes if they are feeling really energetic, it can last for a few minutes, usually in association with the Shiba 500.

Two is more fun then one.

Character Analysis - Miyako

Miko is our little Black and Tan Shiba and her name means Beautiful March Child. She is almost the complete opposite of Sami. She is super sweet and I sometimes call her Mini Miko or Charmin because she is huggable and squeezable soft. LOL She pretty much stays out of trouble. That is not to say Sami can’t convince of something otherwise. LOL If they are both into something, you can just about guess that Sami was the one that started it.

Miko does not have an active roll as guard dog, but if Sami is really riled up, she will join in. Just the other night, half the power in our house went out and we had to call the power company out. Well, this just about put Sami over the edge. At one point, both dogs went charging into the dark kitchen and when we went in there, we could see flashes of light out there. We opened the back door and here this guy was walking around the backyard looking for a bad spot in our line. Both the girls sounded like they just wanted to eat him up! LOL

I will say though that when I walk Miko alone, she will act as my protector. One time while I think Sami was in the emergency hospital in Indy, I decided to take Miko for a walk around the block. We have this old man that lives just around the corner that likes to take walks by the park area. Well, I don’t think she liked the way he was walking and she started howling at him and doing this foot shuffle thing. Not sure what that is all about, but I’m guessing it’s along the same lines as a cats hair standing up. I guess it makes them look bigger and badder. LOL

Miko is our little athletic girl. She was the one that jumped over the baby gate at just 2 months old. Not climbed, but merely sailed over the gate. So, we had to put a second gate up to prevent escapes. She was also the first one to run up the stairs. In doing that, she discovered that that was where the cat food was. So, it gave her more motivation to jump the gate and run upstairs and eat as much cat food as she could before one of us retrieved her. LOL

I think she has springs in her legs. When Evanita’s Dad comes to visit, she is at the gate jumping up. She jumps so high that she can see over the two gates. So far she hasn’t tried to get over the two gates.

She gets really excited when she sees someone she knows, but can be very shy around people she doesn’t know. When we take them to PetSmart, Sami is right up there soaking up any attention she can get while Miko keeps her distance. We are helping her get over this by taking treats in that we give people to give her. She is doing much better now, but does the best when the stranger gets down on her level and allows her to come up to them.

Don’t forget, Two is more fun then one.

Character Analysis - Masami

First I want to tell you a little bit about each of the girls. I will start with Sami as she is the Alpha. Yes, she is the boss and she lets Miko know that. A lot of people don’t understand a female dog humping another dog. This is just her way of showing dominance, nothing else. And, while I know this is the natural order of things, I do try to keep this at a minimum. I try to discourage it. One thing I will say about this is that you should never let a dog hump you. That is the dogs way of telling you he or she is the boss. When they do that, you have to get that situation under control ASAP! But, Sami does take care of Miko. She cleans her face and mostly her ears. Sami has this thing about ears and she will even clean our cat Calista’s ears if she sits still for it.

Sami may look so sweet and innocent here and don’t get me wrong, she is a very good girl. But, she has a mischievous side to her. She can be the trouble maker. I hear it was that way from the start. When they were first introduced to food, Sami wasn’t satisfied with just sitting or standing next to the bowl, she had to be IN the bowl. Sami was the one that just loved to pull Evanita’s hoodie strings. And worse, she liked to sneak up from behind and pull her long hair.

She is the one that will get into my pots and pans, my Tupperware and my towel drawer. She is the reason why some of my cabinet doors now have child locks on them. I can't leave anything close to the edge of the counter or she will get it.

She is my little protector and watchdog. She lets me know if she hears a noise outside whether it be the mailperson, a loud vehicle or the neighbors making noise. I’ll ask her, did you hear that? What was that? You can see the intense look on her face. When she goes into full alert, the hair down the middle of her back, which is darker, stands up and it looks like she has this Mohawk thing going on and she looks quite fierce. LOL And, when she gets really riled up, it may take her some time before she will settle down.

She does love attention and loves to go to their favorite store, PetSmart. She loves to meet new people. She just soaks all that in. And, when she sees someone she knows well, she will just lick them to death. I swear there are times that she is on the verge of hyperventilation she is so excited.

Before I forget, Masami is Japanese for Grace and Beauty. Not sure about the grace part, she can be a klutz at time. The last tidbit of information I would like to share at this time is that she is an ice-oholic. She is addicted to eating ice and at this time of the year, ice chunks or snow chunks. I recently read that eating ice can be a sign of an iron deficiency, so I just had her checked out and everything is perfectly fine. So, I guess she just loves to eat ice. I’m just glad I have an old refrigerator as she scratches on the door until I go out to get her some. LOL

And remember, Two is more fun then one.