About a week ago, Snick posted about how he spends his days and of course he included how much he loves to go to daycare to play. That led to a discussion a couple days later about the pros and cons of doggy daycare. To round out the topic, today we’re interviewing dog trainer, Colleen Safford, of New York Walk & Train. Jenna: Colleen, you have extensive experience with dogs, including in daycare/boarding environments. Do you feel doggy daycare is recommended for all dogs? Colleen: While it’s lovely to see more options available for “spoiling” our pups, a responsible owner [...]
Having grown up in the rural south, the first time one of my New Yorker friends mentioned doggy daycare to me, I was astounded. Why would you pay for such a thing??? Heh. Little did I know that in a few short years I would be doing exactly the same thing! (See Snick’s recent post about how he spends his days for more info on that.) Shibas being Shibas, I’ve met a lot of people over the last few years who were surprised Snick goes to daycare, but HE LOVES IT! His daycare in Chelsea called him "a party animal" [...]
Sometimes a topic for a blog post has to jump up and down in front of me waving its metaphorical arms, before I realize I need to write it. This was apparently one of those times. First, someone on Twitter asked Snickers (@snick_the_dog) about puppy nipping and teething, which we did cover in Dealing with Puppy Biting and Chewing. Then someone on Yahoo Answers, asked How to teach a Shiba Inu Bite Inhibition? Lastly, it came up briefly on my favorite breed-specific mailing list, Shiba-L. What Exactly Is Bite Inhibition? Pups usually learn bite inhibition – as it pertains to [...]
To kick off our new series of "One Question Interview" posts, today’s interview question is answered by Andrea Arden. Stay tuned over the next few days for more answers to the same question. Question: If you had the opportunity to communicate and teach one concept to all dog owners everywhere, what would it be and why? Answer from Andrea Arden, Dog Trainer and Author I would hope to help people understand that we often do a great disservice to our canine companions by "killing with kindness." That is, inadvertently allowing dogs to indulge in behaviors that are ultimately to their [...]
This morning one of Snick’s "anipals" (that’s what the animals on Twitter call themselves), who also happens to be a Shiba puppy, asked: @Snick_the_Dog what did your parents do to help you get over your nipping and teething phase? This was not a question that Snickers or I could answer in 140 characters or less (not to mention that I was at work and Snickers doesn’t actually know how to type without my help). I knew I’d answered this question before, so I searched both blogs, but I couldn’t find it. Then I searched my GMail. Ah ha! Luckily for [...]
A couple years ago at a Shiba meetup in NYC, there was a young, female Shiba. She was a bit overwhelmed by the other dogs in the run. From what I remember, she was communicating appropriately with the other dogs… giving calming signals so they knew she wasn’t a threat, but also some warnings to keep them from crowding her. Another dog pounced on her anyway and she snapped at him and a tussle broke out. The female’s owner yelled at her, then ran over, grabbed her, flipped her on her back and held her down, staring into her face. [...]
Snickers and I went to our first Indiana meetup last weekend. It wasn’t a Shiba meetup, unfortunately, because I haven’t yet figured out where we’re going to hold those. It was a general meetup, but with a twist. It’s a new group in Indianapolis called the Downtown Dog Walk, which gets together every Sunday night and walks along the canal or through downtown to a bar or restaurant with outdoor space and then hangs out outside. You know how people say New Yorkers are rude? And, of course, we New Yorkers can’t figure that out because we’re SO NICE. We [...]
