Jenna & Snickers

Jenna & Snickers Promote Humane Education and Responsible Dog Ownership

How To Train A Shiba Inu

Molly, Snickers and Mashi Learning Rally

If you’ve done some research on the Shiba Inu breed, one thing you’ve certainly heard and read over and over is how hard they are to train.

I’ve done my share of breed education, both online and at special events such as Pet Expo and Meet the Breeds, and, yes, I do tell people Shibas "can be difficult to train," "aren’t recommended for first time dog owners," are "too smart for traditional dog training methods," and that they "bore easily."” All of this is true of most primitive breeds.

Is Snick An Exception to the Rule?

All of the above can be true of the Shiba Inu… But then people look at Snickers and what is he doing? He’s by my side, working the crowd, giving high fives, getting mobbed by children, having his ears pulled, speaking for treats, and merrily kissing faces. And what’s that hanging on his ID collar? A Delta Society Pet Partner ID tag!

It’s true. Snickers is a certified good dog. He’s a doll. He seems to understand almost everything I say. We go on therapy visits together, mostly with children. He will sit, spin, speak, high five and give kisses on command to amuse kids. But, he also pulls on leash more often than not and can NOT be trusted off leash outside securely fenced areas. He’ll steal a treat bag, jump on the kitchen table, or rummage through the garbage in a heartbeat if he thinks for a second that I’m not watching.

I take him with me when I go out for coffee and he sits at my feet while I read or work on my laptop. He adores most everyone who stops to say hello and most of them say what a well behaved dog he is. On the other hand, if he doesn’t like you, he’ll turn his back to you and no amount of my telling him “say hello” will make a difference.

Nope, he’s no exception to the rule. He was a terror as a puppy and still tests my patience from time to time.

So, how DO you train a Shiba Inu?

You think of it as a partnership. And you bring cheese. 🙂

Beyond those two important pointers, here are a few others that I think help with intelligent, independent breeds like Shibas.

  • Mix it up. Don’t train repetitively. Work on one thing for a little while and then do something else. Don’t pattern train though! If you go in the same order all the time, that’s just as boring as doing the same thing over and over.
  • Make it worth it for your Shiba. Reward often with whatever makes your Shiba happy – praise, treats, zoomies, play time. Hint: bring cheese
  • Make it fun for both of you! If you’re enjoying yourself, your Shiba will be more likely enjoy it also.
  • SOCIALIZE your Shiba well. No matter how much obedience training you do with your Shiba, if they aren’t well socialized, no one will ever know it but you.
  • Check out Behavior Shaping which is a what "clicker training" is all about. This is absolutely the most fun way I’ve discovered to teach Snickers anything because it makes him THINK. We both enjoy it!

In summary, "training" the independent, primitive breed dog is about communicating – forming a bond – and making it challenging, fun and worth the dog’s while (otherwise, he’ll find more fun things to do). And don’t forget the cheese!

Feel free to share any training tips that have worked for you in the comments!

Lil Bee Has It Made Now

Remember Weatherbee? Well, it has been one month today since he was transported from the shelter to his new home where he will be spoiled and doted on for the rest of his life. Although he’s definitely an old man, his new mom’s vet doesn’t believe he’s in renal failure so hopefully his "last days" will last longer than we initially thought!

Thank you Nancy for wanting this lil guy, taking him in and giving him such a wonderful home for the rest of his life.

Here are some photos of Weatherbee a.k.a. Lil Bee living the life…

Loose Dogs Keep Ruining Our Walks!

When we lived in Indiana, we couldn’t walk the dogs outside because loose dogs in the neighborhood would approach us – even chased us a couple times. Luckily, we had a HUGE backyard to play in there. When we got ready to move to Mississippi, I made a point to find an apartment complex that was all fenced in and has strict leash rules (in addition to the town leash laws). We can only walk around on the grounds of our apartment complex and very nearby though, because there aren’t any sidewalks going anywhere else. Can you say BORING??? Poor Snick – who grew up walking 2 miles a night around midtown Manhattan – is bored out of his mind.

There is a college campus directly across the street from my job. There is a beautifully manicured road leading to a lake on campus with a gazebo. I’ve been eagerly awaiting non-brutal temps so Snick and I could go walk there. Today, after work, [Read more…]

Anipal Photo Hunt #7: Hey! That’s Not Me!

hi peeples, snickers here

today my mom did check the mail and she laughed! why did she laugh? because there were two things in the mailbox and neither of them were for her. my Girl did get something and i did get something. i got this wonderful gift from my shiba friend in california, yuki. hers mom made this felt keyring and it looks JUST LIKE ME.

my twitter furriend @cokiethecat haz this thing called the anipal photo hunt where anipals with bloggys post pics in a different theme each week. this week the theme is “hey, that’s not me!” when cokie saw the photos of my gift from yuki, he said i should post it in the photo hunt, so that iz what i haz done.

shiba kisses!

Who Will Love Weatherbee In His Last Days?

A few days ago, I got an email from a shelter about an old Shiba Inu. At the time, NYC Shiba Rescue was already in the process of helping arrange transport for two or three other old Shibas in shelters, so my first thought was “surely this isn’t another older Shiba needing a home.” But, yep, it was, and this guy is particularly in need of rescue’s help because he can’t be made available for adoption by the public. He’s dying. Renal failure. 🙁 His kidneys are failing, he has Lyme disease, some dental disease and corneal scarring. Apparently he’s so sweet and cute though, that the shelter workers can’t bear the thought of putting him to sleep. They want to release him to NYCSR for hospice care.

Weatherbee only weighs about 15 pounds. According to the shelter, he sleeps most of the day. He walks a bit, but slowly. They say he eats pretty well. His vision is bad. He was found as a stray. I can’t fathom how a dog in that condition ends up stray. *sigh*

Who will love this sweet, old boy in his last days? Will you be the one to give him a soft, warm place to sleep, healthy food and snuggles? Who will stroke his face in his last minutes and let him know he was loved and cherished?

I’ve already told NYCSR that I will take him if necessary, but I hope I won’t have to. That would mean a 1,000 mile transport for this little guy. Plus, I’m really not sure either my or my daughter’s hearts can handle the pain of loving and losing another old soul so soon after losing our sweet Brandy.

Is there someone out there with love and compassion for Weatherbee?

If you can be that person, please let me know.

It’s 10pm. Do you know where your dog is?

I believe there are minimum requirements that our companion animals deserve. Recently I’ve come to know a few dogs who aren’t getting a few of them and it makes me sad. They are:

  • to not live an isolated life
  • a clean and comfortable living environment
  • proper socialization with people and other dogs
  • appropriate levels of exercise and mental stimulation

I chose Shiba Inus partially because they’re an independent, non-clingy breed. No matter how independent they are though, it’s important to me to spend time with them. They’re part of my family and I want them to be happy and feel loved. We adopted Secret so Snickers wouldn’t be lonely when we can’t be with him.

  • Shortly after we moved into our new apartment, we realized that one of our neighbors ties her little Lhasa out in the yard on a chain every afternoon with no water and no shelter and just leaves him there. I guess it’s supposed to be his exercise time, but all he does is yip and cry to go back inside.
  • A couple weeks ago, when it was 100+ degrees outside, I noticed a new dog in the apartment complex. He was sitting alone on a 3 x 6 concrete patio. His people were home; I could see them through the window. Turns out he lives on the porch. He’s there day and night, at all hours, whenever we walk by, without even something soft to sleep on.
  • Two nights ago, T and I were walking Snick and Secret and we found a little Yorkie running loose in the complex. He didn’t have a collar. We walked all over looking for his person. Finally, we got him to show us where he lived (smart pup) and we knocked on the door. The guy who answered had no idea the dog was missing. Apparently the dog belongs to his roommate, who wasn’t home, and he thought it was tied out on the back porch. I walked past that apartment around 2am tonight and the dog was on the porch in a kennel too small for it to even stand up.

As I’m writing this, Snickers is curled up on the couch next to me and Secret is curled up in her bed. Snick sleeps in my bed at night. I feed them organic vegetables and raw meat and fish. I buy human grade nutritional supplements for them. I feel guilty when they’re bored from lack of exercise because of the heat. I apologize to them if I’m late getting home from work. I train them (ok, well, I train Snickers. I attempt to train Secret.) to be good citizens so they can go as many places as possible with me.

I understand that I’m at one extreme end of the spectrum and the people in my neighborhood aren’t even at the other end. The other end of the spectrum is the people who abuse and torture animals. So why do I worry about these lonely dogs? They’re so much better off than dogs in shelters or dog fight rings. Their situations break my heart though. I wish I could bring them all home and take care of them.

Snickers and I are hoping to get involved in humane education with our local shelter and I’m still planning to create Animals Who Educate (you know, with all my spare time). There must be quicker ways to reach average dog owners now though. Blogs, email lists, online groups, and projects like Snick’s newspaper, The Anipal Times, are all great, but they mostly reach people who are already above average companions to their animals. What are some good ways to reach the owners who aren’t as involved… the ones who may just need a nudge or two to start learning how to be responsible owners?

My Snuggly Inu

Snickers has turned into such a snuggler this past year or so. Here’s the proof. (That’s my leg that his paw is draped across.)

A lot has happened since my last post, but most importantly, we’ve moved (again). We’re all settled into our new apartment and routine in Mississippi, so hopefully I’ll be blogging more soon.

Brandy Is Not Well

This is a quick and dirty blog post, but I thought it would be easier to point everyone towards one post instead of writing and rewriting what’s going on into a bunch of different emails, postings, etc.

Despite her age (16 1/2), Brandy has been very bouncy and energetic on walks since we adopted her. She would even get excited and chase after Snickers or Secret when they’d run through the apartment. Her vet appointment in February was very positive; she was in relatively good health for her age! Over the past two to three weeks though, her energy level has been diminishing and it’s been difficult to get her to just walk around the block. A few days ago, she began accidentally pooping in the house (even in her sleep). By today she had pretty bad diarrhea.

We took her to the vet and she has a huge tumor inside her mouth. No wonder she isn’t feeling well! She was dehydrated as well, so they gave her some subcutaneous fluids. We have a twice daily antibiotic/anti-inflammatory for her plus a mild dewormer (just in case). They drew blood and I’m planning to take her back for x-rays tomorrow or the next day. We’ll decide what to do after all the results are back. If the tumor is cancerous or there is more than the one, there isn’t really anything we can do except treat her symptoms and make her comfy. If it isn’t cancerous – and her blood work indicates that it is safe to do so – we’ll give her steroids to try to shrink the tumor.

Either way, she’s a sick, old girl and we’re heartsick to be dealing with this so soon after having adopted her. We knew we wouldn’t have her for an incredibly long time, but we’ve fallen very much in love with her and we’re not ready to let her go. Most importantly though, we want her to be comfortable and know how dearly she is loved.

We tried to get some pictures of the three of them together after we got home from the vet today. It was tough because (1) Secret can’t do a sit stay to save her life and (2) Brandy was tired and droopy. Here’s the "at least we tried" series of resulting photos!

The One Where I Apologize and Ramble

I haven’t written a real post for awhile. I’ve been focusing more on making time for “walkies and snuggling” with Snick when I’m not at work or working on the various projects (Shiba rescue, crazy Twitter projects, meetups, etc.) that he gets me involved in.

I still want this site to be a place to share great information, so I’ll be back to blogging soon. In the meantime, as a peace offering, here’s a quick list of what’s been keeping me so busy.

First, we have Brandy. Sweet old Brandy. I feel like I should blog about her more before she’s gone, but it’s hard. We only adopted her in November and we’re already worried that she’s going to be gone soon. She’s very old and frail. She trips over nothing when she walks. My daughter and I give her snuggles and short walks when she’s awake, but mostly all she does is sleep. Snickers was completely confused by (and mean to) her when she first arrived because she wanders around and bumps into him like he isn’t there (even when he’s warning her away). He’s learned to ignore her though. I’m incredibly proud of him.

The Shiba meetup group is going strong. We’re up to ten chapters (with over 400 members) in NY, CT and NJ. Snick and I try to make it to a meetup at least once a month.

NYC Shiba Rescue is still trying to recover from lack of volunteers and a bad economy. I do what I can to help my bestest friend Zennia (who is the Pres of NYCSR). If you’re not already on our mailing list and you want to be, let me know. I still have some volunteer positions to fill before we start normal operations again.

Snickers has a "classified top sekrit project" underway that I’ve been helping with the for past five or six weeks. That’s coming to fruition tomorrow. If you’re on Twitter, attend the #ATPawty tomorrow at 4pm EDT to find out what that’s about!

I’m building a website for Paw Pals & Performance Canine Association which should be up shortly. If you live in the NY/NJ area and are interested in lure coursing, stay tuned.

It looks like I’m probably headed to Blog Paws next weekend, which wasn’t expected or planned. The reason for that will be at least a little more clear after the #ATPawty tomorrow.

With all of this other stuff going on, I have had any time to work on Animals Who Educate. That’s where I’m headed though. I want to get my life to a point where ALL of my time that isn’t for work and family is for Snickers and Animals Who Educate.

I think that’s everything. 🙂 At least now you know why I haven’t been blogging lately!