He’s learned really quickly to settle down in his crate and go to sleep at night. The crate is right by my bed. He whimpers a bit, but then he’s fine. When I wake up in the morning, he’s very sweet about waiting till I get out of bed and let him out and then he’s VERY ZOOMY!

I think he’s completely house trained. He hasn’t had an accident in the house since a few days after he got here. During the day, he goes outside every 5 or 6 hours, but at night he’s inside for 10 to 12. When we wake up, he plays, eats breakfast, waits for me to get my coat and THEN goes outside, without any issues.

He’s learning rules really quickly. He takes food VERY nicely. He does NOT beg. He sits for treats, because the other dogs do it, but I haven’t taught him to sit on command yet. He knows he is allowed on the couches, but not on the bed (or the dining room chairs, which he jumped on a couple times the first day or two). He’s learned to take turns with the other dogs when I’m handing out goodies and he’s learning what “wait” and “I’ll be right back” mean!

That’s all of the new news I can think to share about Murphy. Someone adopt him soon. Please!

I have a better photo that shows that my mom is passed out asleep too, but she would kill me if I posted it. hee hee

Of course, if you think it is cute, you should click through to IHasAHotdog and give it five cheeseburgers!

This is Murphy (in the green collar in the photos). He is eight months old and he’s been with us for four days now. All I know about him is that he was part of a big group of Shibas let go by a puppy mill. It couldn’t have been a typical mill though because he’s pretty human-social. He enjoys being held and petted, doesn’t mind being held upside down (like a baby) and doesn’t mind having his feet handled, so he’s had plenty of human contact.

He clearly hasn’t lived in a house… for example, he walks to the wrong side of the door almost every time I open one and he barked at the television a lot the first couple days! He wouldn’t take any treats from my hand when he first got here; I had to put them on the floor, but he was taking them by yesterday. He learns fast by watching Snickers and Secret. He’s learned to sit for treats, to be quiet and wait when he wants something and he even started lifting his leg today! (He was peeing like a girl when he got here.)

Murphy is learning FAST about living the good life. He’s enjoying lounging around the house and playing in our big yard. He is very snuggly and will let me snuggle him in my lap, upside down like a baby. He follows me from room to room and he gets super excited when T comes home from school. The downside to all this affection though is that he screams and cries in his crate at night. He wants to sleep on the bed with us. Snickers isn’t ready to allow him on the bed though. He’s also teething and chews on everything, so he has to be watched. Poor Murphy. Tonight his crate will be in the laundry room so he doesn’t keep me awake.

He’s a great little boy and is going to make someone VERY happy. (And I hope we find them soon before we all get too attached to each other!!!)

I promise I’ll be posting more about Murphy soon.

Wednesday, we went to the Crossroads Easter Seals Adult Day Program to meet the volunteer coordinator and visit with their clients. Before we left NYC, Snick visited with developmentally challenged elementary children. I was so happy with the way Snickers read the children at the school that I looked for just the right new job for him here in Indiana. I think I’ve found it… we’ll be visiting with adults with a wide range of disabilities. This is going to be a challenging and rewarding job for us.

Snickers is incredibly empathetic with kids and will match his actions to what they need. If a child is afraid of him, he’ll move slowly or even lie down and wait for them to approach him. (He actually shows them the whole range of calming signals - turning his head and body, yawning, lying down.) He LOVES kids and will play with them as boisterously as they want and loves to kiss faces, but he’s always gentle. Most dogs know children are different though, so I wondered how his skills would translate to working with special adults.

Wednesday was an intro visit, so the Easter Seals people could meet us and Snick could get a feel for the facility. We were probably only there an hour and only about half of that was spent with the clients. (They aren’t really patients; it is basically adult day care for people with disabilities who can’t stay home while their peeps are at work.)

Snickers didn’t let me down. I could see him thinking and working on figuring things out. The clients’ mental and physical abilities were extremely varied, so I think sorting it out was difficult for him. He did really well though. He took it easy. He said hello to almost everyone I asked him to. (There was one person, who said she wanted to pet him, but he didn’t believe it. He kept turning his head, so he must have sensed she was nervous.) He licked the hands of the people who were comfortable with him. He kissed up to the employees who were making snacks.

There is one issue I have to work on with him. At least half of the people we talked with were in wheel chairs and were not physically able to lean down to pet him, so I had to pick him up to their level. Those of you who know Shibas, know that they don’t typically enjoy being picked up! He tolerated it, but he clearly liked it less and less each time. He knows a command I call “perch” which basically means to stand with his front feet on whatever I point to. He was totally comfortable with the wheel chairs in general, except that he didn’t want to “perch” on them (probably because he’d seem some of them moving). I need to avoid picking him up much because it will shorten the amount of time we have for visits. Visits like this are hard work for him as it is, so I don’t want to make it harder. I’m going to work with having him perch on all different types of objects and surfaces. I’m also going to take cheese next time we go and reward him each time he perches for petting.

So, that’s part of what we’ve been up to. I think we’ll have some good visits there. I’ll certainly post more about in the future.

today was my fifth birthday. mom made a big deal of it. she said something about five being special. also, there’s thing day called Thanksgiving where the people eat together. the day I was born was Thanksgiving and this year it was Thanksgiving again. (I have no idea why it isn’t that way every year, so don’t ask me.) anyway, after all the people ate - and I had some of that, don’t worry - seeky and I got to eat a special kind of cake, just for us! I never had a cake of my own before. the top tasted like peanut butter and it was really yummy. mom was ridiculous and took pictures of us eating. she added them here at the bottom.

when your dog has a special birthday, think about treating them with doggy birthday cake. it was really yummy!

luv,
Snickers

Birthday TEASE		Cake PLEASE?		Mmmm, peanut butter!
Sharing w/Seeky				Almost done

People often ask me what I mean when I say my dogs are on a limited vaccination protocol or I mention other limited medications. Basically, I try to give my dogs the least amount of prophylactic chemicals that I feel will still do the job. This does not mean that I am not responsible in the care of my pets. I have put a lot of thought, research and consideration into these decisions.

NOTE: I am not a vet or a medical professional of any type. This is my personal opinion. I’m writing about it because people have expressed interest in my choices and why/how I made them. You should talk to your vet before changing the dosage or frequency of anything you give your dog.

Vaccinations

Canine Distemper & Parvovirus
After his initial puppy shots, Snickers had a distemper/parvo vaccination at one year and hasn’t had one since then. I had him titered in February of this year and he showed sufficient levels of antibodies for distemper and parvo, which means he doesn’t need to be vaccinated. I adopted Secret two years ago and she had just been vaccinated. I had her titered last month and she has plenty of antibodies also. She’s eight years old now, so I actually hope to never give her a distemper or parvo vaccination again. (There is some controversy regarding the usefulness of titer results. My vets trust them and I trust my vets.)

Most vets use a combination vaccine. I prefer that my dogs receive the least number of diseases in the vaccine. The only diseases I’m OK with being included in my dogs’ Distemper and Parvovirus vaccination are Parainfluenza and Adenovirus.

Rabies
I follow the LAW regarding Rabies vaccinations. Luckily, NY and IN are both 3 year states, so that’s how often my pups get their Rabies shots.

Other
I do not have my dogs vaccinated for Bordetella, Corona virus, Leptospirosis, Lyme disease or Giardia. My vets (one in NYC, one in Noblesville, IN) are both fine with that.

Related Links

• WebVet article explaining vaccinations in general
• Dr. Jean Dodds’ recommended vaccination schedule
• American Animal Hospital Association article on dog vaccinations
• WellVet.com’s recommended vaccine protocol
• Blogging vet, Dr. Patty Khuly, discusses difficulties of measuring a pet’s immunological status

Heartworm Preventative

My Shibas get heartworm preventative (brand and dosage as recommended by my veterinarian) every six weeks, during spring, summer and fall. Once the first frost comes, I discontinue until spring. The only time I make an exception for this is when Snickers and I are actively doing animal assisted activity visits. When we were visiting elementary school classrooms, my vet recommended we continue hw preventative year round because it also protects against roundworms and hookworms. (Apparently, most roundworm victims are children.)

I’ve read multiple articles about 45 day schedules being acceptable, but I can’t find any of them right now that don’t require subscriptions. Talk to your vet. My vet in NY said that the meds recommend 1x per month because (1) it is easier for people to remember and (2) a monthly schedule is still safe if you forget and do it late.

Flea & Tick Preventative

When we were living in Manhattan, I didn’t use topical flea & tick preventative regularly. If I was taking the dogs outside the city, I would treat them with Frontline Plus a day or two before leaving (unless it was winter time and therefore unnecessary). Now that I’m living outside the concrete jungle, I follow a six week schedule for flea & tick preventative. I treat them the Sunday after their heartworm preventative is given.

If you live in an area where fleas and ticks live year round, you should continue preventatives year round also.

in case you are wondering, I am writing this the way I do most things… making mom do it with Shiba mind control. she wants me to share my point of view on things. I told her ok as long as she does the work of typing it. typing on the laptop is impossible when you have paws. I told her to type the way I tell her though without editing to make it perfect. besides, jaqi said that mom agreed not to edit her posts, so I don’t think she should edit mine either.

today I’m thinking about how city dogs live. I lived as a puppy and most of my life in our apartment with one bedroom near Times Square (that’s in new york city, the best place to find fresh meat on the sidewalk). now I live in a big house with corn and soybean fields all around but not many people or fresh meat. (I watch the cows across the street, but they don’t look so tasty.)

in new york city there are these people called tourists. they’re like regular people, but they don’t seem to know where they are, they act strange and wear bright colors. I have heard tourists say things like it is cruel to have a dog in the city and a dog can’t live in a small apartment. I’ve even heard new people (sort of like tourists but they don’t go home), say I miss my dog. I gave him away when I moved here. It would have been selfish to bring him.

first, for those people who move without their dogs… if my mom moved anywhere and left me behind, I would have a broken heart. luckily, she loves me too much to ever do that.

now, for anyone who thinks dogs can’t live happy in the city… you are nutty. I loved living in the city. our small apartment was great because I could see mom almost no matter where she went. now, in the house, I have to get up and follow her when she changes rooms. when we went outside, there were lots of people around to pet me and lots of fun things to do. I got to go in stores and eat at sidewalk cafes. we had dog runs that we played in. I had really close dog friends and human friends that I visited and played with a lot and a big group of shiba pals to play with too. we went for really long walks around midnight every night when the streets were quiet. mom took me to lots of places with her. I even went to the office a lot and played with mom’s work friends.

I live in the country now. we have something called a yard. it is sort of like a dog run but it is way bigger and no one visits it but us. I like it a lot because I get to chase squirrels and cats and chipmunks. mom and aunt debbie build fires and cook hotdogs sometimes, which is almost as good as scavenging street meat! I don’t get to go for long walks though because mom is afraid of the dogs that are outside without humans. she’s also afraid of the dark. it gets dark here at night, so we can’t take our long bedtime walks like we used to. I don’t like that we have to get in the car and drive to go to a real dog park to play. I do have a small group of shiba pals here and we go hiking, which is fun. mom says I’m healthier here from clean air and my fur is cleaner too. my skin itches right now though; our nice new vet said that’s from something called ragweed and it will go away soon. something I don’t like about the country is that people don’t take their dogs many places here so I can’t go in the stores and stuff. mom says I probably can’t go to work with her when she starts working again either.

anyway, I am saying that I would be happy living anywhere with my mom and the two places I’ve lived both have good and bad things about them for dogs. I hope I get to live in other places. as long as mom is there and we’re doing stuff together, I’ll be happy. I think most dogs who love their humans probably feel the same way, so don’t move without your dog. and don’t say it’s mean to have a dog in the city. city dogs live great lives!

that’s all for now,
snickers

Although tags are the easiest solution for someone to see and read if they find your dog, collars can break or slip off and are not always enough. According to the American Humane Association, only 17% of lost dogs find their way back to their owners. 17%!!!!! Microchips and tattoos are more permanent solutions than ID tags and give your dog a much better chance of being returned to you if they end up in a shelter.

I recently received an email from a Shiba friend suggesting I write about microchips. She said: "I have been involved with several Shibas and 2 Schnauzers that were lost. I took them to a vet to check for a microchip. They all had one. However, when I contacted the number on the microchip it was outdated. … These dogs were all re-homed because no one thought to change the pertinent information."

I had similar experiences when I was working with NYC Shiba Rescue. Most of the dogs we received were not chipped. We received several who were, but when we checked, the chip’s weren’t registered. One chip led us back to a pet store. They tried to contact the people who bought the dog from them, but the info they had was out of date.

Microchips are more permanent tha collars, but what good is a microchip if you never associate any information with it or let that information get out of date? None whatsoever!!!

Moving is a hectic chore - so much to do, so little time. However, my guess is that when you have JUST moved to a new area is the time you are most likely to lose your dog. If your dog gets loose accidentally and runs, he won’t know where he is when he stops running and tries to go home. Nothing will smell or sound familiar and there is almost no chance that someone who recognizes him will spot him.

Please, please, please… when you get a new puppy, change vets, change phone numbers or move, update the personal information associated with your dog’s microchip. Also order new tags for your dogs collar ASAP.

How Microchips Work

A pet’s microchip is simply an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip. RFID chips are used for all sorts of things: tracking shipping palettes of merchandise, key cards for proximity locks, "tap & go" credit cards, and more. To identify pets and livestock, a passive (non-transmitting) RFID chip is put in glass capsule - about the size of a grain of rice - along with a tiny antenna and injected under the animal’s skin. Since it doesn’t actively transmit, no power supply is needed. A scanner is required to activate the chip, at which time it will briefly transmit its unique identification number via radio waves.

This, however, seems to be where people get confused about the value of a microchip. This unique ID number means absolutely nothing on its own. Just because a dog is chipped, it doesn’t mean the vet or shelter that scans your dog will magically know who he or she belongs to. Once the vet or shelter has the number from your pet’s chip, they can tell what type of chip it is and will contact the associated chip registry. The registry will look up the number and either provide the contact info to the caller or will attempt to call you themselves.

Chip Manufacturers and Registries

There are numerous microchip manufacturers, but there are three primary manufacturers of microchips for use in pets in the United States: Avid, HomeAgain, and Trovan.

The registry for Avid chips is PETtrac. PETtrac charges a one-time chip registration fee and registration is for the life of your pet. They charge a small fee for information changes. PETtrac only registers Avid chips in their database. PETtrac can be contacted by telephone at 800-336-2843 ext 4. They do not have an online registration option.

The registry for HomeAgain chips is… HomeAgain. HomeAgain charges a yearly fee for registration, but includes the additional benefits of 24/7 emergency medical telephone advice and lost pet emergency medical insurance. They will register chips from any manufacturer in their database. HomeAgain can be contacted by telephone at 888-551-3903 or you can register and change information in their database through their website HomeAgain.com.

There are two companies which sell and register Trovan chips. They both register chips from all other manufacturers also. They are InfoPET and AKC Companion Animal Recovery (AKC CAR). InfoPET charges a one time lifetime registration fee. Registrations and changes can be done by phone (952-890-2080 ext 100) or online (InfoPET). AKC CAR also charges a one time registration fee for life. Registrations and changes can be done by phone, fax, mail or on the AKC CAR website.

How I Choose to Identify My Dogs

My dogs are microchipped and have lightweight ID collars that they wear 24/7. These collars are separate from their walking collars and have their ID, rabies and other meaningful tags on them. I think a separate ID collar is very important. If your dog pulls against their walking collar and breaks it or pulls out of it, they could be running off and leaving their ID behind.

In addition to his rabies tag, city license tag and Delta Society tag, Snick has a stainless steel ID tag with my mobile phone number, the toll free PETtrac phone number and his Avid microchip number engraved on it. Snick’s microchip is Avid and has always been registered with PETtrac. Tonight, I also registered his chip with the HomeAgain registry (which was quick and easy online and only cost $15), since that seems to be the most popular and well-known registry.

In Conclusion…

I hope you will use more than one method to ID your pet and that one of them will be permanent. If you use a microchip, please make sure it is registered in at least one of the registries and that you keep the information up to date. And, most of all, try to keep your pet safely housed and leashed so none of this ID stuff ever matters!