How it all began.

Years ago I was in search of a small dog with a BIG attitude. I have never really been a fan of the small dog breads. They are alright, but to me, dogs are supposed to fill a large role within a family. One role being a guardian and a protector. While small dogs generally make nice house alarms they don't generally make very good protectors against what ever evils your loved ones may face. But in that point in my life, I had no choice but to find a dog that was small in size, very cat like, quiet, and yet filled that gap that I had in my heart reserved only for a big dog.

Like a lot of people I had always been in love with the wolf. Everything about the wolf I felt a familiarity with.

But wolves were not small, nor were they suitable to have as a house pet around small children.

I have cared for many dogs in my life both big and small because I often find myself as a foster parent or a final care taker for a retired K-9. But out of all of them my favorite and the one I came to call my "guardian angels" was the Shiba Inu.

These little dogs are the smallest of the six original and distinct Japanese breeds of dog. But don't let their small size fool you. The Shiba Inu was originally bred for hunting small wild game, boar and even bear. They are fearless, strong, brave agile and most of all lightning fast. Though they are also one of the most intelligent dogs accepted in the AKC and CKC rings. They tend to only respect those who respect them and show strong leadership.

Most people think the Shiba Inu resembles a fox, though they are actually descendants of the Miniature Japanese Gray Wolves called the Shamainu and the Honshu wolf. The Shamainu was the worlds smallest wolf, it measured 2 feet 9 inches in length and it had a dog like tail that measured 12 inches and stood only 14 inches tall at the shoulder. While most wolves are tall with long legs the Shamainu was short with very short legs appearing more like a dog than a wolf.

An extension of this semantic affinity of the wolf with the dog is the image (in myth and legend) as a protector of mankind -- a sort of banken (watchdog) in the mountains. This watchdog role appears in the benign okuri-okami (sending wolf) stories. "When someone is walking along mountain roads at night sometimes a wolf follows without doing anything. On nearing the house the wolf disappears." Sometimes the ubiquitous okuri-okami tales also mention the danger of looking back or falling over while being followed by the wolf, acts that may invite the wolf to attack....Nonetheless, what is usually stressed is that the wolf's purpose is not to prey but to protect, to see the lonely human being safely home through the dangerous night-time mountains....Even today many villagers claim to have had such experiences in their youth.

Though the Shamainu was small more of a guardian of the people he was also greatly feared by the aboriginal Japanese people. They called him the "Howling God" because he often howled for hours from the hilltops and mountains. Japanese often displayed charms on their doors and windows to ward off this mysterious Mountain Dog.

Sadly for the Shamainu, this obsessional fear would be detrimental to their survival and led to their downfall. Shamainu's were hunted and trapped persistently for their skins; they were also offered for sale to gluttonous Europeans. Eventually in 1905 the last Shamainu was killed near Washikaguchi in Honshu and it's skin was presented to a European traveller named Malcolm P. Anderson. That was the last the world saw of the "Howling God"

Later though skeletal remains of a small dog with a curled tail were discovered by an archaeologist. Many Japanese scholars have expressed the opinion that pure-bred specimen of the breed previously called the Shamainu is now known as the Shiba Inu.

Despite its official status the Shiba Inu found the wolf at its back door again in this century. During the last desperate days of World War II food was so scarce in Japan that those animals which managed to avoid starving to death were eaten. By the end of the war dogs were virtually nonexistent in urban areas. Fortunately the few shiba’s remaining in the outlying districts was relatively “purebred.” These dogs were used to populate the breeding program set up to resurrect the breed. That effort - along with most of Japan’s canine population - was decimated by raging distemper epidemic in 1959, and Japanese dog fanciers were forced to begin another period of reconstruction.

The first Shiba inus brought to the United States may have been imported by servicemen returning from tours of duty in Japan. Absent any records of previous importations, however, the first officially recorded Shiba arrived in this country in 1954 with an armed forces family. Although the shiba’s stuffed-toy appeal was undeniable, any notion of registering the breed with the American Kennel Club (AKC) came a cropper because the AKC did not honor registrations issued by the JKC. Thus Americans did not import Shiba inus with any serious thought of breeding them until the late 1970s. Finally in April 1992 the AKC added JKC to its primary list of foreign dog-registry organizations, and interest in the breed skyrocketed. In 1993, on the eve of the year of the dog in Japan, the Shiba Inu became eligible to compete in regular classes at AKC shows.

The Japanese have three words to describe the Shiba temperament. The first is "kan-i" which is bravery and boldness combined with composure and mental strength. The opposite side of "kan-i" is "ryosei" which means good nature with a gentle disposition. One cannot exist without the other. The charming side of the Shiba is "sobuku" which is artlessness with a refined and open spirit. They combine to make a personality that Shiba owners can only describe as "irresistible."

If a Shiba could only utter one word, it would probably be "mine."

It is "mine" food

"mine" water

"mine" toys

"mine" sofa

"mine" crate

"mine" car

"mine" owner

and "mine" world.

Sharing is a concept he feels others should practice.

"Macho stud muffin" has been used to describe the male Shiba. The body may look "muffin," but the mind is all "macho stud." The Shiba takes the "spirited boldness part of his temperament quite seriously. Most Shiba owners learn to deal with the difficult aspects of the dog's temperament to enjoy the delightful ones. With "sobuku" the Shiba sets his hook into the heart. This is "artlessness" with squinty eyes, airplaned ears, and a vibrating tail. It is "charm" standing in your lap, washing your ears, and "dignity" plus "refinement" born of the knowledge of superiority. Shiba’s “love to live and live to love”

Though it wasn't the Shiba Inus wolfish bloodline, godlike attitude, or cat-like mannerisms alone that won my heart. Those were just some of the qualities I took into consideration when I adopted my first Shiba Inu; Prince Tsunami Darkfire.

Tsunami was a black and white Shiba Inu who was already two years old when I had adopted him from his first family because they feared the worst would happen when they simply could not convenience him that he was no match for their six year old Great Dane. He loved camping, hiking, (though he hated water) and simply being with his family. I had done extensive research for over a year before deciding on the Shiba Inu for my family it was just a matter of finding the "right" one. I had put letters out to all of the adoption centers and posted many wanted adds and it didn't take but maybe two months before his mother contacted me desperate to find a loving home for her little boy. She was heartbroken that she had to give him up but knew it was in his best interest. I drove three states away to meet Tsunami and his family and fell in love with him the second I laid eyes on him. Though he wasn't so sure about me he knew something was wrong and seemed very depressed.

Like the wolf the Shiba is very loyal to his family and takes it hard when being moved around. I knew this from extensive research so his mother and I went ahead with the adoption hoping that with time, love, patience and stability he would warm up to me. The drive home and following few months were heart breaking. He would hardly eat and would never play, or even show any interest in going outside. I had hand fed him every day because he simply had no spirit or care to go to his food. Eventually one day when I was sitting on the floor beside him feeding him his dog food piece by piece he laid his head in my lap and looked up at me with his Japanese eyes filled with sadness. I held him and cried and made him the promise I'd never leave his side. He sniffed my face and slowly licked my tears away and from that day he too never left my side.

Two years later though after he and I both were secure in our bond and I had suffered though my horrible divorce he and I had taken on fostering other dogs so that they would have a second chance at life as he did. Together we had cared for and found homes for more than a dozen dogs and were happy doing so. But than one day we received a called from one of the shelters who asked us if we could take in an Akita Chow mix we were ecstatic.

Shiba Inu's are also know to be miniature Akita's. On the drive there we talked about the possibility of adopting this Akita for whom had spent his entire life passed around from shelter to shelter and foster home to foster home. I simply could not understand when I saw him why anyone would not fall in love with this handsome creature. I entered his pin and sat with him for awhile before deciding to take him out where he and Tsunami played for hours. We took him home that night and found he was simply too big to keep in the house so I moved him to my fenced in back yard. Months had passed and all was well though by adopting the Akita for whom we came to call "Cub" because he looked like a black bear cub we had decided we simply could not foster any more dogs.

We were a happy family that loved to romp in the back yard and cuddle on the couch watching movies together until one dreadful day I had went to the back yard to feed Cub. Normally I poured his food in the house and took it out to him but on this day I was in a hurry for a business meeting and left my mind elsewhere. I grabbed the bag of dog food and went to his bowl and began to pour his food where he forced his massive black head in the way. I always fed my dogs separate so that there was never any chance of fighting over food as some dogs do. So I had always made Tsunami stay in the house while I fed Cub. Fearless and trusting of my dog I had bent over and pushed Cub back away from his food bowl and he attacked knocking me to the ground. Tsunami watched the entire event from the kitchen window and had leapt through the glass, screen and the screen of the outside porch and lunged at Cubs throat knocking him away from me. I laid there unable to move with several gashing wounds and broken bones as my two boys fought for death. I awoke later Tsunami had won the fight and had dragged his broken body to my side and laid his head upon my breast. At that moment I knew it was Tsunami that had given me the second chance at life.

Years have passed and Tsunami has passed on and though it took me many years to find it in my heart to love another, three years ago my dearest Raven decided the best mothers day gift he could give me was another little guardian angel. We named him Tien'kou which means Celestial/Heavenly Dog. He is red and white and comes from three generation of show dogs. But our little Tien'kou is much more than a show dog to us. He is our third son.

In addition to our Tien'kou on Friday November 7th 2008 the same day we buried our beloved cat Chimera our long time prayers were answered and we adopted "Roxy". A Red AKC Shiba Inu that is just two months younger than Tien'kou. We have always wanted a female Shiba to adopt and become playmate not only for the kids but for Tien'kou as well. The fact that she came to us the same day our cat passed away made it seem more like she was an angel sent from heaven to help sooth our pain. Though the name "Roxy" didn't seem to fit her nor or family and we come to call her Asa A.K.A. "Asha" which is "Morning", "Dawn" or "New beginning" in Japanese.

Asha to my surprise has become "mommies little shadow". Both of my mates say she is the K-9 version of myself. I guess they always have said that dogs resemble their owners, who would ever expect that would go for personality as well? She is very stubborn yet loving and dominate. The vet has suggested we get her spayed. But before that happens we plan on allowing Asa to become a mommy just once and we will keep at least one pup.

Shiba Inu's usually only have three pups to a litter any less than that we will keep any more than that I shall endeavor to find suitable parents. Adoption fees usually range between $500 - $2500 for a Shiba Inu depending on male or female, color and show quality. However, I care nothing for the money. Only that they are loved and cared for. If you or someone you know may be interested in a shiba inu puppy please contact me and we can discuss an adoption.

Mistaken Identity: Shiba Inu released into the wild.

July 27th of 2010 Copper an 11 year old AKC Shiba Inu was mistakenly released into the wild due to her resemblance to a coyote.


Copper lived in Kentucky and was owned by Lori Goodlett and somehow escaped from her fenced in backyard. When her disappearance was discovered, Goodlett called the Frankfort Humane Society and was dismissively told that no stray "dogs" were turned in that day.


The next day Copper’s owner posted “Lost dog” signs, featuring a photo of Copper around the area. A Frankfort Police officer called and told her he had picked up the dog and brought her to the Humane Society the day before. He later received a call from the shelter stating that the Shiba Inu was not a dog but a coyote and could not be kept at the shelter. Shortly after the phone call a humane officer picked up the senior dog and released her in the woods behind a Home Depot. The police officer was told by a wildlife service that coyotes are “nuisance animals” and could only be released or shot. But that they could only be relesed in a 

Cooper has been missing ever since. Reports read that Copper did not resist handling while in the shelter or when following the police officer. Copper was very gentle and had a polite demeanor. 


I know that not everyone is as obsessive over dogs as some of us are and have a hard time telling the difference from a German Sheppard and a Yorkie but ca'mon a coyote?
Since when do coyote's have "curl q" tails? Sad... I feel so bad for Lori in her loss.

The horrors of the backyard.

On Saturday April 14th my beloved Aizen joined his brother Tosen in heaven. He was a strong boy and fought to stay alive up until the end. I can't even begin to express my pain or the emptiness I feel without my Little Aizen and Tosen nipping at my heels. Everywhere I turn I see something that reminds me of them and their happy Shiba smile. Every now and again I still hear their little howls and yips to get my attention and find myself looking around for them.

After Tosen passed I began some detective work and discovered that our new wonderful house with it's lush wooded back yard isn't quite the heaven I wanted it to be. In it I've found at least 4 poisonous plants all very deadly.

The Vet had said that Renji and Buddha had been poisoned by something like rat poison, and being as our neighbor had said that prior to us moving in the property had been treated. But now the same symptoms appear and it's been a year, the poison should all have been washed away.

Alex came to me asking if the pups were poisoned had I considered by plants, because everyone had seen them eating them several times. So I began researching the plants and weeds in my back yard thoroughly. I suspect that this is indeed what has killed my pups.

Because of my ignorance I have lost a total of 4 shiba babies. I had no idea what any of those plants were before or what they did. I had grown up around them all my life and never thought one thing about them.

I ask all of my readers if you have pets that go outside or even children, please research the weeds and plants around your homes. Even something as simple as a buttercup can be and is deadly.

Aizen & Tosen

Rest in peace my little Angels, we may not be able to hold and cuddle you

but you will always be with us in our hearts.

            01.01.12 - 04.14.12

Tragedy Strikes again...

I mournfully announce that Tousen passed away this morning... Symptoms began to appear a couple days ago. He just didn't seem like himself. But I was not too concerned with it, until yesterday when I noticed that his feces was mostly blood. Then I got worried. We wouldn't have had the money to take him to the vet until this afternoon but that was not sufficient.

Now Aizen has had me up all night with him vomiting. I think it may have something to do with the de-wormer medication I gave him. But I fear he may have the same thing Tousen did. I'll see how he's doing when the sun comes up and I can call the vet.

The guys and I have been going over what could possibly be wrong with them. The symptoms are similar to that of what Renji and Buddha suffered from. Which makes me think that there is something poisonous in my back yard. A plant or something.

Easter Shiba

The shiba's had a wonderful Easter this year. I wanted to make them each their own Easter baskets and get them their own Easter bunnies but I ran out of time trying to plan the whole event. But there is always next year.

The shiba's loved their first Easter bone hunt anyway. I bought a box of milk bones the ones that have all the different flavors and colors and hid them around the house. All of the shiba's ran wild trying to race each other to the next bone. Is was so adorable.

Tien'kou found the most bones, but that was mostly because Aizen and Tousen thought that they were supposed to bring the bones back to me. It was so sweet, they would find a bone, run over drop it at my feet and then race to get the next bone. But then, Tien would run up, grab the bone they had dropped at my feet and go and hide it under the table. So the pup's didn't get very many of the hidden bones. But because they were all so sweet and asked so nicely I gave in and let me have all the milkbones they wanted. They even got to eat a few easter egg (hard boiled of course.)

Shiba Ball

So back in February when we were going though mourning we also went though my son's 8th birthday and he wanted a football party. Well, I wanted to share with you that to my surprise even Aizen and Tousen had a blast at the party playing their own game of football. 

I had given each of the kids these mini foot balls in their treat cups. One of the kids must have either given the pups their ball or dropped it and never picked it up. But I turned around hearing the pups tussling behind me and watched as Aizen charged Tousen who had the ball first. Aizen scooped the ball up and made a run for it. Tousen chased behind him then tackled him nabbing the ball. They tussled and finally one would break free with the ball and make a run for it and they other would chase after him and they would do it all over again. This went on for a good 45 minuets.

In the end Aizen ended up with the ball and I didn't really think that was very fair so I gave Tousen his very own football and after that they both seemed to be very pleased. Still from time to time they like to play what I've come to call "Shiba Ball" because it's not really foot ball when the goal changes to what ever safe place the Shiba's think they've found. But to me it's much more interesting than football any way.

M.I.A. Puppies Post.

First let me say I am sorry I abruptly stopped writing about the puppies. Our family has suffered through many deaths in the last couple of months and I just have not been myself.

The puppies are getting big and are showing a lot of spunk. Although they are now 9 weeks old neither of them are ready to stop nursing. I try to keep them away from their mother as much as possible but there are still those odd occurrences where I let my guard down, and when I turn around, there Asa is nursing the puppies again. It looks ridiculous too. Aizen is half the size as Asa and here he is still nursing. Though I can't say I blame her. I see that familiar look in her eyes as she stands in the middle of the room after having tried with all she has to get their attention and they zoom past her as if she were invisible. So of course from a mother's stand point she's going to want to keep them as long as she possibly can.

In my moment of insanity from all of the stress (my husband going back to work, all the deaths in the family, my son being conically ill.), I put the dogs...all of them up for adoption on craigslist. I had every intentions of re-homing them or at least as many of them as I possibly could. After all, there was no way I could take care of 5 dogs, 4 cats, 5 turtles, a water dragon, snake, tarantula, and two kids and do all of my house hold chores, shopping and errands all by myself. I cried as I hit the "submit" button. And of course I had dozen's of replies from people wanting to take my precious shiba's off my hands.

 But no promise or dollar amount made me feel at ease so much that I could even consider letting any of them go... These are my babies after all. I may not have been the one they were brought into the family for but in the end I have been the one who has raised and loved and cared for each and every one of them.

I even received a nice email from a lady that works with the Shiba Rescue center offering to help me spay/neuter and rehome my shiba's with adoption applications. But once she started asking questions...
Specifics... Like which shiba's did I want to rehome? I looked down into their sparkling eyes and found myself unable to choose. Each one of them had their flaws that made them imperfect. But each one of them also had their hearts leashes firmly clasped to my heart.

Tien'Kou, how I could I even begin to consider to rehome him. He was a token of love shown to me from my husband in times that were so dark I couldn't even see my feet on the ground. He is the only one of my shiba's that never messes my carpet. He never makes a fuss or gets in the way... He's so sweet, gentle, kind, and loving. And he asks for so little.. There is no way I could let my Tien'kou go.

Asa, my little girl... the one that I describe often as being so very much like myself. Asa the one that lays at my side every single time I get sick. She comforts and protects when she knows I am weak.

Aizen, sure he's new to the family... but my husband adores him. After the loss the Buddha I didn't think he would warm up to another dog ever again... but Aizen, something about him... it's like him and Buddha are reincarnates of one another.

Tousen, he's such a sweet boy, he snuggles, and loves, and looked into my eyes as a baby would look into his mothers eyes for guidance.

Sure I could rehome the puppies.. But why? Aizen and Tousen are meant to stay together. And so much grief would come out of their absents. I would miss them, Alex would miss them, Dale would miss them... Asa would miss them... There has to be another way.

That is when it hit me... My problem is not with the dogs. I have wonderful dogs. Even my Great Pyrenees who I had also listed. Is a wonderful dog. He is everything I need him to be. My dogs are not perfect but neither am I, but my dogs are my family. I would never rehome my husband, Alex or the kids, so why am I trying to rehome my dogs?

The problem is there simply is not enough of me to go around. So how do I make more of me go around...?
I stop taking all of the responsibility on my shoulders and put my foot down and do what needs to be done that's how!

Week 5: Puppies Fifth Week.

One more week to go and then the puppies will be able to find their new families... The guys want to keep both puppies and I do too... but the practical side of me says that I really need to let them go. Especially now that I just found out from Alex that we are not going to be able to put the fence up like we had been planning ever since we bought the house. It's so not fair to any of the dogs.

Yet this time I promised myself that I was going to say screw what everyone else wanted and screw what was the practical and reasonable thing to do. I was going to do what my heart really wanted to do for once. I have to be honest, I love these two little guys. They are the sweetest little pups that I have ever known. They are very smart too.

Aizen is an escape artist he will jump, climb and dig his way through just about anything to get where ever he thinks he needs to be. Which has been both nerve racking and amusing all at the same time. Especially when he is supposed to be in the puppy pin while I'm running around doing chores and he decides that it is an absolute must that he follow me around. All the while leaving little piles of puppy surprise for me to clean up.

I have been trying to break the pups to can puppy food. Tousen seems to be taking to the puppy food better than his big brother. Aizen still seems to want nothing to do with food or water. You can tell Asa (their mother) is getting tired of nursing them. She spends very little time with them and when they are free to run through the house she spends her time trying to get away from them or up on the couch where they can't get to her. But still, there are those times when Aizen is determined that he will have his meal and stalks her until she is least expecting it and then he latches on. If she is standing he will hang on her until she lays down. She looks at me with the most pitiful expression as if to say "help me" then she gives in. I really feel bad for her. But I know once it is time she will let him know.

I gave the pups their first bath yesterday. They both took it a lot better than what I had expected. In-fact neither of them really seemed to mind the bath at all. Aizen wanted to play just as soon as he was done. Tugging on the towel as I tried to dry him off and running around in circles barking at me. While little Tousen got really sleepy and cuddly after his bath. I dried him off and then wrapped him in another towel like you would wrap a baby in a blanket and we snuggled on the couch and fell asleep for a couple of hours. It was a good bonding time I think for both of us.

Found out that Aizen loves shoes just as much as I do today. I was cleaning out the boy's closet and happen to turn around to find Aizen as happy as could be in the middle of all their shoes. Too bad that he was eating them instead of wearing them though. To his dismay I had to take them all away. Without so much as leaving him one.

I think Tousen has a much better perspective on shoes and how they are supposed to be a fashion statement not a chew toy.

Dog owners do look like their pets, say psychologists.

When you see a sleek woman with long red hair walking her dog – an Irish Setter, you may smile to yourself thinking they kinda look alike. Not that she looks anything like a dog or the dog looks anything like a human. But that you can see each of their personalities reflect back at the other.

Study shows that’s no fluke. Many people, including scientists, have noticed that often dogs look like their owners. The phenomenon has inspired books, contests, and even scientific studies and now it's very own page on Shiba Shindig.

While no, we are not specifically talking about Shiba Inu's and their owners. We are talking about dogs in general. I did however find this group picture and if you ask me they all kind of resemble their Shiba's.

Continuing our research I found that many studies done by asking the public if they could predict which breed of dog a person would own just by looking at a photograph of their owners. They were correct 2/3 of the time. With the 1/3 that was incorrect was usually discovered to have not been pure breed dogs.

Mutts don't seem to apply to this study however due to most owners of mix breeds tend to either get their dog purely by accident or by spur of the moment decisions.

There was this one story I had found while doing my research about how a woman found a puppy on the side of the road. She and her family had no intentions on keeping the puppy due to her son having severe allergies to dogs but after keeping the pup for about a week she realized that the pup was so much like her youngest daughter she felt that their was no way she could possibly give the pup up. And so they ended up keeping the puppy.

I wonder how many of my readers look like their dogs? I am also curious about who would be the owner of this little guy? ----->

While I don't think that is a dog of any kind, I do think that the owner match up is pretty good though. :)

Appearently Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D., was at a dog show where she saw dogs and owners sitting side by side and she was struck by how much they looked alike. She grabbed a camera and started taking photos. She later wrote the book, Do You Look like Your Dog?

Hmm... I don't know if I look like my dog or not but I did think that maybe there was something more to all of this and that it was interesting enough to spend an entire week reading up on it and this is what I found.

Dr. Lance Workman

Dr Lance Workman, from Bath Spa University said: "There is a little bit of truth in the theory that owners look like their dogs.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. Seriously? "Bath Spa University" this has to be a joke, right? Wrong. Bath Spa University is located in Bath England and it was originally called "Bath Collage of Higher Education. It became a full fledged University in August of 2005.

I also found that Dr. Nicholas Christenfeld, Professor of Psychology at UC San Diego, conducted a test in a San Diego dog park where he took photos of dogs and owners separately, then asked people to match photos of dogs to photos of their owners. He too discovered that the public was right on the money.

Dr. Christenfeld says the accuracy in pure breeds is due to selection – when people choose a pure breed, they know what the dog will look like as an adult. With a mutt, you don’t know what he’ll end up looking like.

Dr. Workman figured that those who don't own dogs used stereotypes to match the dogs to their owners.
"These stereotypes persisted into judgments of the dog owners' personalities: non dog owners considered the owners of each breed to share certain personality traits, such as level of conscientiousness and emotional stability."

"But when we tested the dog owners' personalities, we found no strong links between any particular personality trait and choice of dog breed, so any shared qualities are only skin deep," Dr. Workman said.

But I also found that Prof Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, asked almost 2,500 people to complete online questionnaires about their characters and those of their pets. In order to figure out if pet owners in general shared the same personalities as their animal companions.

He found that many dog lovers, cat owners and even reptile keepers said they shared many of the same traits — such as happiness, intelligence, independence and sense of humour — as their pets. 

But he also discovered that the longer an animal had been with their owner, the more likely they were to have picked up their characteristics. 

Prof Wiseman said: "For years owners have insisted their pets have a unique personality. 

"Not only does this work suggest they might be right, it also reveals people's pets are a reflection of themselves."

Almost half of the respondents to his survey were cat owners, while 31 per cent had dogs, seven per cent fish, six per cent birds and six per cent reptiles.

Prof Wiseman found about 20 per cent of pet owners rated their own personality and that of their animals in similar terms.


Fish owners were apparently the most contented, with 37 per cent strongly agreeing that they were happy, compared with 24 per cent of people with cats and 22 per cent of those who had dogs agreeing.

Four out of 10 people with dogs believed they were fun-loving, compared to just two per cent of reptile owners.

Those with cats came out as the most dependable, but also the most emotionally sensitive, while those who kept reptiles were the most independent.



But for those who had owned their animal for seven years or more, the chance of them rating their pet's traits as broadly comparable to their own increased to about 40 per cent.  So longer you own your pet the more likely your pet will begin to act like you...or will you begin to act like your pet?

Now that I think of it my uncle Jim use to chase us around the house barking like a dog and he'd even stick his head out the car window when driving down the high way. He owned a Chinese Shar pei.

Prof Wiseman said: "Similarity promotes liking in humans. Research has shown couples that are like each other stay together longer... So what ever happen to opposites attract? - I guess that's is where all the failed relationships come into play.

Prof Wiseman believes that: "Extending this to the animal kingdom, someone who is fun and playful is more likely to go for a dog, for example.


"It's like with married couples. They grow to look like each other and to have similar personalities. It's possible we are seeing a similar effect."

Based on this study it's no wonder that I am so overly emotional. Maybe my family should consider owning one type of pet and then I could relax once in a while... Anyway.

Dale always said we were destine to be
together because we look alike.
I thought it was just a pick-up line.

The research continues to show that A similar phenomenon happens among couples. People tend to be attracted to those who have personalities similar to their own, according to a study done in 2006. And as time goes on, similarities in appearance grow, explaining why some older couples look alike.

But further investigation also said that those who think purebred dogs look like their owners are barking up the right tree, but matching a mutt to its master is another thing.

Research at the University of California, San Diego indicates that when people pick a dog, they look for one that, at some level, bears some resemblance to them. And when they get a purebred dog, they get what they want.

I guess this could be somewhat true. When Dale said he wanted to buy me a Shiba Inu he did request that I pick one with red hair instead of a black one like I wanted. When I asked him did it matter to him he replied "so that it looks like us"


While I am not certain that I look or act anything like my Shiba Inu's I am certain that all of my pets not just my dogs are a big part of who I am.

Week 4: Puppies fourth week

Well Aizen and Tousen are officially 4 weeks old now. We know what that means. Time for our first round of shots, which I still need to schedule.. The brothers have started tasting, not eating, can puppy food. I have to add that it is kind of annoying if I allow myself to think about it because they lick at it a couple of times and then they are done and waste the rest of it. Even though I just give them a single teaspoon at each feeding it is still being wasteful. I know I shouldn't do it but I can't stand to just throw the food out so I mix it in with Asa's food. Not to mention the fact that I have to warm it up before they will even go near it in the first place.

 Oh and yes, Aizen LOVES to eat my curtains not his food but my curtains. Sure it's cute now, when he can't do any real damage. But wait until he starts tearing into the $60 xbox games that Alex and Dale have been collecting over the past 10 years or so. Who's going to be laughing then? 

Aizen also loves to chase his shadow. It reminds me of the scene in Peter Pan when he first met Wendy and lost his shadow. It's so cute. 

 I noticed that the two brothers were also starting to leave me little surprises on my carpet that I wasn't too appreciative of either. So I built them a temporary play area to keep them in one area. I am so not looking forward to potty training. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will learn quickly. I hope.

I've been looking into finding some affordable obedience classes for Asa. She is still glued to my heel which makes me think she is still going though some baby blues. I've been giving her all the love and attention she acts like she wants and have been trying to give her special treats as often as possible but to be honest it don't seem to be helping much. It will be another topic I discuss with the vet this up coming week when I take her and the pups in for their check up and shots. I've been thinking that there is a good possibility that Asa has finally come around to being my companion... Ok, let me rephrase that. I've been "hoping" that Asa has come around to being my companion and has let go of some of her Shiba arrogance and is willing to be trained now that she is older and had two litters of pups. But looking at the courses they want to teach her I am not so sure I want to waste the money to put her in them because she already knows how to sit, come, and lay down and walk on a leash nicely. Which is what most basic classes offer. She needs the more advanced classes that teach her off leash commands but I'm not finding any that will work with her without first obtaining a diploma from the first class. Maybe I can convince to the guys to pay me to train her. Sure, I'll take $150 and train her to not run away. That's even giving a family discount.

Bath Time for Asa

My baby girl was seeming a little depressed today as she watched the kids play with the puppies and me snap picture after picture of them. I felt bad for her and tried to take her picture too but she was not interested in posing for me. Which is really not like Asa at all. She's the type of girl that loves to be brushed, dressed up in pretty dresses and prance around the house showing off. She loves posing for the camera and getting all sorts of attention. But today nothing was cheering her up. I tried to offer her a treat and she took it but she wasn't as excited about it as she normally would be. I even shared my dinner with her but still no luck making her smile.

So I decide she needed some girl time. Some good ol'fashion pampering. Just to show her that she is still "my girl" So first we started with a hot bath. Not too hot though but enough to help her achy muscles relax as she got my full attention scrubbing her down with her Aloe and Water Lilly shampoo and conditioner. Of course she's a Shiba and like most Shiba's she hates water but she certainly didn't mind too much after I started massaging the soap in and giving her all sorts of praise and compliments.


After her nice relaxing bath I dried and spent a full hour at least brushing her. Boy you would think that you could make another full grown shiba inu out of the fur that comes from them when you brush them. I had to take a break and change my clothes after that between Asa having decided that if she had to be all wet I had to join her and all her fur sticking to me like Velcro. I was pretty uncomfortable myself. I wasn't done pampering my little girl as of yet though. I trimmed her nails and put her best dress on her and snapped a few photos of her as I complimented how beautiful she was. But, she was still a little depressed at the end of the day over what would seem to be all the fussing over the pups. I need to make sure that postpartum don't take hold of my girl. That is hard on any mother, but especially on one that has no way of letting out her emotions. Now, I know some of you are thinking "Postpartum in dogs, your crazy." But I'm not crazy and I'm not kidding you. Dogs like humans suffer from postpartum and even regular depression.

Dogs, just like humans have their off days; they can mope around, spend more time sleeping than they usually do, go off their food or avoid everyone all together. Usually, they go back to being their usual selves just as quickly as their depression appeared.
The truth is, dogs experience a deep and varied emotional life mostly brought on by us humans, and we as dog owners often witness the expanse of these emotions throughout our dogs lives. Because dogs share a similar neurological make up to humans, they to are capable of experiencing a series of complicated emotions, such as depression.

Postpartum depression can occur in female dogs after the delivery of puppies. The depression can set in quickly or take several weeks. If your dog has depression, she may exhibit signs of sadness and lethargy. She will lose interest in her puppies, and she may even refuse to nurse them. In some cases, female dogs suffering from depression will also become aggressive with her puppies.

Loss of appetite is a sign of postpartum depression. Your dog may show less interest in food and water. She may not even respond to treats that she would normally crave.

A female dog with postpartum depression may show a lack of interest in her puppies. She will avoid grooming them and push them away when they try to nurse. She may refuse to nurse all of her pups. 

All female dogs sleep a lot after having puppies, but if your dog is sleeping excessively, she might be suffering from postpartum depression. All dogs are different, and some dogs are able to recover quickly from the hormone surges that come after pregnancy. While others take it harder. 

As with humans, dogs can experience depressive symptoms for a whole host of reasons, however, depression is usually a reaction to a stressful event such as:

• The loss of a human friend or the dogs owner
• The loss of a canine friend
• Illness
• Trauma
• Bad treatment
• Weather changes
• Environmental changes, for example, change of house or location
• Loss of attention due to a new addition to the family, such as a baby or puppy
• Separation from it's owner for long periods during the day
• Boredom due to being left alone
• Lack of exercise and mental stimulation balance.
• or a imbalance in the dogs neural chemical make up, usually referred to as clinical depression.

Depression in dogs rather it be postpartum, chemical or otherwise can be really difficult to diagnose. But some symptoms you should watch out for are.:

• Lethargy
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss, due to refusing to take food
• Loss of interests in play activity
• Withdrawal from people
• Clinging to owner
• Restlessness

As for my Asa she has been displaying 4 out of 8 of these symptoms over the past few days and I am quite concerned for her. The good news is though the pups will be old enough to start feeding can puppy food at the end of this week and that should take some stress off of her. Hopefully she will be able to start getting back to her old self again once she doesn't have to worry about nursing any more. 

Week 3: Puppies Third Week

Both of the pups have their eyes wide open now. Although the little brother was behind his big brother by four days. His eyes did finally open up. They are even more adorable now that they can look back at me with their sparkling eyes. Everything is still a little blurry to them though.

 They sleep a lot but they are also eager to explore. It's so cute to watch them try to walk and look around for a few moments and then they just lay down where they are as if to say "ugh this is too exhausting" and then fall fast to sleep and sleep for hours where ever they are. I've started to see into their sleeping patterns though. They tend to sleep a lot during the day and are awake more during the night when every one else is trying to sleep. So to say the least Dale and I haven't been getting very much rest. Big Brother Howls and whines a lot and it keeps us up all night. So I've been trying to not let them sleep so much during the day. By waking them up and rubbing their legs and backs to get them motivated. Then I sat them down on the floor so that they can have some free roam for a little while.

Neither of the pups like to be held or petted which is very different from our last litter. Those pups simply loved being center of attention. But Big Brother and Little Brother absolutely loathe human contact as all. They fuss, howl, growl, and try to escape with all their might. If I didn't know better I would mistake them for feral pups.

I plan to go at the end of this week and buy the puppies their first chew toys. Their teeth should be starting to come in this week and I want to be prepared.

We have Names!

So even though I am not completely thrilled about them we have settled on names for the puppies. I say settled because I was having the most horrible time falling in-love with two names. Dale had requested that when I named them that the names didn't sound like anything else. Such as on of my favorite names "Taka" which he insisted reminded him of "Taco".

Alex in his own round about way asked that the names held meaning and that they were easy to say. Which went along with what I wanted so there was no problem there. He was pretty easy going about the whole ordeal finding acceptance in a lot of the names I came to him with.

In the end though we agreed that all three of us should "like" the name. And after long nights on the Kinect we finally came to an unanimous vote.

Week 2: Puppies second week.

The second week has been simply adorable, the oldest puppy has displayed discontent for being hot. He barks, growls and even howls when he gets too hot. As of today he has also opened his eyes and taken his first steps.

Big Brother with eyes open

The little guys also known as "Squeaker" sleeps a lot. He doesn't take to well to being handled very often. I think I may focus on holding him more over the next week to get him use to being handled and hopefully that will help him warm up to me.

I am still trying to find a permanent name for both of the pups, but I think I am going to take a different approach to choosing the names.. I've know from the beginning that despite Alex's good intentions of saying he is going to help me with the pups as much as he can. The reality of it is that he is never home. Alex may have been the only one in the family that really wanted a puppy but it is going to be me that does everything for them.  So I have decided if I have to keep these puppies they are mine. I should have said that with Nanook and Inali but I didn't and I regret it. This time I have learned my lesson. These pups are mine and I am going to name them what ever I want. Of course I am willing to share the puppies with the family. ;)

Puppy even had his own theme music in the background.  lol 

Name that puppy!

Names are a very big deal to me. As they should be, after all they tend to stick around for all of your life.
The names of my Shiba's are no different. For me the names I choose always have to follow a few certain guidelines.

There is a old Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. This belief is call the "Kotodama" which translates into "the soul of language". I too believe this and always have, even before I became obsessed with Japan and it's Shiba inu's. 

1. It must have a meaning. I am not talking about a name like Dale (no offence darling.) which means " a broad lowland vally". Where is the emotion behind that? Nor am I talking about names like Kikiwimbazoo sure it has a bunch of unique letters and sounds but what does it mean? Nothing. The soul before me that requires a name is unique, it is special, and it deserves a name that begins the definition of their life's path.
2. When naming you must be careful its much like casting a spell or something. You inscribe their very essence with a definition of how they will be or will not be. Now of course if you name you kid or dog Kichirou meaning "lucky son" wanting to add luck to their life. There is a very good possibility that they will end up being very unlucky. Which of course we don't want that for our children of two or four legs. But there is also a good chance that they will be extremely lucky and simply have everything fall into their laps with little to no effort. That's not so great either. So when choosing a name, I try to keep this in mind and choose a name that will be tolerated on either spectrum. Something like Jirou meaning "second son". It's straight forward and no matter how it's taken it doesn't effect the balance of nature so much that it could cause havoc either way. But it still follows my first rule of having the meaning of second son. I love my second son, rather I am naming my second son Jirou or naming our fur baby in honor of my second son. 
3. Honor thy legacy. Now this is a very broad idea. You see, While of course we want the soul in question to be themselves and pave their own path. We also need to put a little touch of who we are and who their ancestor are in them. Remember, I did say this is much like spell casting... People may not like it and say that spells are evil. But if you take a step back and break it down. We as humans cast spells every single day of our lives without even thinking about it. The reason being is because spells are little more than the force of pure "will". It officially turns into a spell when someone consciously directs their will. But lets face the facts rather you consciously do something or subconsciously do it the point is, you still did it.  Now, in honoring ourselves as caretakers and parents and honoring our ancestors I try to choose a name of origin. For example, Shiba inu's are a Japanese breed. Thus I try to find a Japanese name that holds meaning for me or my family. Such as Asa which means "new beginning". In that we honored her Japanese ancestors and heritage all the while making her fit within our family because "new beginning" held a sentimental meaning to us.
4. Syllables. Sure it's easy to put together a single word that says "my bright prince" which would be "Akihiko" which would be pronounced "Ae k ee h ee k oh" which could be a mouthful and really hard to roll off the tongue in an emergency. If a long name or a name with many syllables is a must it needs to have the ability to be shortened such as Sephiroth to Seph. Trust me, It makes everyones life a whole lot easier. Because names, again, rather being our two legged babies or our four legged babies are public. If other people have a hard time saying them, kids will be cruel and adults will simply avoid you or make up something else less flattering. Rather it be what they hear or what they want. For dogs specifically you should try to keep the name to one or two syllables this will help to make it much easier for the dog to understand. The general rule of thumb is the longer a name is, the more confusing it will be to understand for the dog.
5. This is where it becomes more textbook, a dogs name should end a long vowel sound. So that they will have an easier time recognizing it's name from a command. Naturally we should stay away from names which sound Similar to obedience commands, like "sit", "down", "stay", "come", etc. Imagine giving your dog the command, "Bit, sit." Or “Faye, stay” You can see how the puppy could get very confused.
6. It has to be likable. The name is going to stick around for many years to come. It's going to be said thousands of times over and over again. It's going to be shouted, whispered and written.  

With all of that taken into consideration here are the facts about the pups so far.

• They are Shiba Inu's a semi rare, expensive, noble wolf-like breed.
• They are sesame colored.

                                                                    

Sesame Shiba Inu

• They are both males
• The oldest is kind of big boned 
• The younger one whimpers more often than the other (I nicknamed him "squeaker")
• The oldest has a low tolerance for warmth. He gets hot really easy and when this happens the howls begin.

I have been bouncing around a few names but none of them have really stuck. I know before I officially decide on a name I want to see what personalities they develop over the next couple of weeks.

But we still need a list of names to toss at the puppies to see if they actually like any of them or not.

I have made a list of names both Japanese and Non-Japanese that I an considering. I have color coded them
3 different colors rating them on a scale of "maybe, like and love" or 1-3. Three being love. Though I have rated a name lower than a 10 does not mean that it won't grow on me. I have to consider everyone in the family and what they may or may not like as well as when I like and don't like. Also as I have spent several days putting this list together I have found many names that I love for a day or two but then my love for them starts to fade into the background. Because of that I want YOU to help me out by telling me what your favorites from the list are and why. Also feel free to add suggestion that I may not have thought of.

       Color Chart                      :

1. Green "Maybe"
2. Orange "I like it"
3. Red "I love this"

• Aki 
• 
  
• Atsuko
• 
  
• Keiichi
• 
  
• Kiba
• 
  
• Nogitsune

• Onibi
• 
  
• Tsume
• 
  
• Taka
• 
  
• Ty-ohni
• 
  
• YuuJou
• 
  
• Zenaku 

Anime Character Names to consider:

• Koyōte Sutāku = Coyote Starrk 
• Tousen Kaname
• Aizen Sousuke
• Urahara  Kisuke
• Koga = Steel Fang
• Seikei
• Naraku  = Hell
• Kohaku

Week 1: Puppies first week.

The puppies are officially one week old today!

They are doing well, and Asa is a wonderful mother.