Shiba Party 2010

Saturday, we attended the Shiba Party in Novato, CA, hosted by the Shiba Fanciers of Northern California.

It was a big potluck style picnic, where people could show off their shibas and meet other shiba lovers. It was also an optimal place for potential future shiba owners to meet breeders, owners, and shibas to determine if they are right for the breed.

Kumo did surprisingly well. We were a little wary about taking him to such a large function.  However, he jumped right in, eager to meet and play with the other shibas and people.  (I think our dog park/meetup trips are really helping.)

Kumo made a lot of friends and even started trends. He ran around crazily and dug in the sand, so followed other shibas. Kumo jumped on and across the rocks, so folloed other shibas. So cute!! Kumo was so comfortable there, he even put himself in a family's picture with their shiba. He just scooted in and sat next to the other shiba, then moved to the other side of the kids and sat in a second (more balanced) shot.

We entered Kumo in three of nine competitions: tallest shiba, reddest coat, and most naked.  Kumo got to walk in a "show ring" and everything. It was kind of silly, but still fun.

He actually won second place for Reddest Coat and fourth place for Most Naked. So proud of our Kumo!

The Shiba Party was a lot of fun. Definitely worth the two hour drive. We sort of hope the next one will be at an actual dog park. It was a little difficult letting the dogs play while trying to keep their leashes untangled.

Shiba Inu Meetup May 2010

Today was another fun-tastic day at the dog park with our meetup group!

Kumo still had a slow start, but he did better than last time. The first time he was overwhelmed by all the other dogs that were eager to greet him and their barking scared him.  He cowered, hid behind people's legs, rolled over submissively any time another excited dog approached him and even ran away with his tail between his legs.  I felt like a bad shiba mommy, like as if I didn't socialize him at all. :(

At this meetup, Kumo made great progress.  He was only really timid for the first 15 minutes.  He found his buddy, Kouki, from last time and ran around with him. Over the next hour he was running around playing with all the others.  He even got over his fear of Sulu. Now, Sulu is a chihuahua-shiba mix and a super-barker - which scared Kumo and made him roll over (even mid run) in submission when ever Sulu came running after him, barking. Kumo finally realized that Sulu is all bark and there's nothing about him to be feared.  He even played with Sulu in the end too.

Kumo playing with Leah

I think these meetups are really helping Kumo - and me.  He's getting used to large groups of people and dogs.  He's also building confidence as he finds his place in their pack.  Confidence enough to get a little cocky even...

Kumo punks a dog at the park. And he's not sorry.

Can't wait for the next meetup!

Kumo Meets Mr. Black Kitty

Amongst the many new neighbors moving in this past few weeks, Kumo made a friend. Kumo named him Mr. Black Kitty. They seemed to get along pretty well.





Hope to see Mr. Black Kitty again. He reminds us of Bella - very friendly, meows loudly. Wish we could keep him.

Stalker Kitty

On our walk back to the apartment, Tim and I got stalked by Mr. Black Kitty, who came out of NOWHERE! And followed us home.

Kumo is always really hyper when we first get home, so he was a little too rambunctious and scared him off. So Mr. Black Kitty just chilled on the edge of the stairs.

Left in the Quake of.. Destructo-Puppy

Kumo got a hold of my camera case for the second time..

Mine

I bought some new sheets and (finally) a new duvet cover from Ikea. I've been looking for a nice, affordable duvet cover for almost two years so I was really excited to find it. (My duvet has been sitting in the closet for almost that amount of time..) I washed the sheets and duvet cover and threw them on the bed right away!

Kumo, of course, thinks I did it all for him.  He spent all day snoring away on my clean, new duvet.

As the Snow Melts..

Winter came and went so quickly.  Too quickly.  Looking back, most of it was spent at home training and bonding with Kumo.  I summarized our few ventures out of our hometown here.

 Snow Day One

 Kumo's first reaction to snow: wth is this?!

He was not digging the strange texture and sinking sensation of fresh powder. It took a good deal of coaxing to get him to follow us through the snow. He whined and scuttled around uneasily.  He looked kind of like a lizard; legs and toes sprawled out to increase his surface area. And it kinda worked! He didn't sink quite as much, but he looked ridiculously funny doing it.

After about half an hour of trudging, Kumo just plopped down and refused to follow.  Tim had to picked him up and  carry him out of the powder back to the parking lot. We walked him around the parking lot for a while, making him walk through a little snow now and then until he got used to it.

During our walk, we saw a family with a beautiful white German Shepherd.  It was huge! And so friendly. Maybe Kumo figured if that ginormo-doggie could have fun in the snow, so could he.. because all of a sudden Kumo was running into the snow on his own. lol.

He followed us easily after that. Sometimes he'd wander off a little to sniff a tree or dig a little snow then run to catch up with us.