Introducing Ms. Brandywine

by jenna November 29, 2009

One week ago today, my daughter and I added a third Shiba to our pack. Please welcome darling little Brandy (who we’ve affectionately started calling Ms. Brandywine, as it seems to really suit her). Last Friday, I received an email about this little girl. She’s 16 years old and had been surrendered to a shelter in Connecticut. This is a good shelter in a nice area with a policy of only putting dogs to sleep “that suffer from medical or behavioral conditions that are beyond treatment and render the pet unable to be placed with a family.” Basically, she wasn’t [...]

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A Thankful Giving Birthday

by snickers November 24, 2009

hi peeples! snickers here. did you know that i was born on thanksgiving day? well, i was. my birthday is not on thanksgiving every year, but mom says she gives thanks for me every day. this year, my birthday will be the day after thanksgiving and i will be six years old. and this year, me and mom have a special request. we are trying to help nyc shiba rescue raise some money. they had to stop taking in new doggies because of the economy (and a couple dogs with health problems – one with cancer, one with cushings). i [...]

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Snickers First Real Lure Coursing

by jenna November 23, 2009

Oh. My. God. This may be one of the most fun things you can EVER do with your dog. This past Saturday morning, Snick and I trekked to Central Jersey with friends Catherine and Nick and their two dogs Wylie and Tigger. I believe the course was about 700 yards long. No one was officially timing the dogs, but we used Cathy’s iPhone and clocked Snick’s second run at just under a minute. That’s a polo field they’re running on and, no, there’s no fence. I was terrified to let Snickers take off like that without a leash, but after [...]

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Vote for NYCSR in the Care2.com Shelter Contest

by jenna November 16, 2009

Care2.com is sponsoring their third "America’s Favorite Shelter" contest to give away $25,000 to deserving animal shelters and rescue groups. PLEASE VOTE FOR NYC SHIBA RESCUE The top ten rescue and shelter groups with the most votes at the end of the contest will win anywhere from $500 to $10,000. That can go a long way for a smaller rescue organization such as NYCSR. We fully recognize the competition we face against larger shelters and rescue organizations in this contest, but please do not be discouraged or consider your vote a wasted effort. Every little bit helps. Just participating offers [...]

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Championing Humane Education

by jenna November 8, 2009

I’ve been spending all my “free” time (of which there is very little) working on the restructuring plan for NYC Shiba Rescue and recruiting volunteers to fill the new positions. Snick and I manage to post tidbits on twitter and facebook occasionally, but finding time to write a whole blog post has been difficult. One thing that has been on my mind a lot is Humane Education. I was very excited during the summer, because Snickers and I had plans to work with our local shelter’s humane education program. I was really looking forward to starting school visits in the [...]

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2009 Meet the Breeds Wrap Up

by jenna October 24, 2009

Multiple people, for various reasons, have asked me for a post-event review of Meet the Breeds, so I decided it would be easiest to post it here and just point people this way. I’m going to include some of the pre-planning information also, as I’ve been asked by a couple folks for advice on planning similar events. Before – Planning for the Event Meet the Breeds is an AKC event, with only the national breed club for each recognized breed being invited to participate. The purpose of the event is to help the public understand the differences between breeds directly [...]

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Meet the Breeds Oct 17 & 18 in NYC

by jenna October 13, 2009

What will Snickers and I be up to this weekend? We’ll be at Meet the Breeds! The National Shiba Club of America – along with volunteers from the Shiba Club of Greater NY, NYC Shiba Rescue, and the NYC Shiba meetup group – will have a booth FULL of Shiba Inus for the public to meet. Aimed at helping the public understand the differences between breeds directly from breed experts, the Meet the Breeds event is the world’s largest showcase of dogs and cats with 160 dog breeds and 41 cat breeds being represented. The event will host 115,000 square [...]

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We’re Going Lure Coursing!!!

by jenna October 4, 2009

In August, Snickers tried lure coursing for the first time and LOVED IT. I immediately (literally, within minutes of his first three runs) started searching and emailing to find a way to get involved in lure coursing. I got really lucky. My first email was to the American Sighthound Field Association regional director for this area. Within an hour or two, I’d received a reply and we were corresponding back and forth on how to find all-breed lure coursing events. They put me in touch with Mickey Stoble who runs all-breed lure coursing practices and competitions in central NJ. So, [...]

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What Blackberries Are Really For

by jenna September 12, 2009

ok mom did you get that? type into my twitter"ize havin fun at this event. do send treats"got that? k thx. oh you can put that on my facebook too thx  

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Supply and Demand: Puppies as Commodities

by jenna September 9, 2009

I get email once or twice a week asking for advice on finding a Shiba puppy. I’m glad when people ask, because it means they are trying to buy a pup the RIGHT way, but on the other hand, I know there aren’t enough puppies from good breeders to go around and that frustrates me. So many people buy puppies from pet stores and back yard breeders because they don’t know any better, but then – even worse – people who DO know better, to some degree, get frustrated and impatient and end up buying a dog from a less [...]

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