Sasha - ADOPTED - loving, fun, red female Shiba Inu

I took Sasha back to the vet last week for a follow-up visit; I meant to do it sooner, but time got away from me. Her thyroid level was low when she came to us in May, but we wanted to retest after she was healthier overall before putting her on any meds. It still tests low, so we started her on meds and will retest after two weeks of meds. Sasha’s skin is much better than when she arrived, but it’s still not completely healthy and healed. The vet prescribed a medicated shampoo and I bathed her with that for the first time tonight. She is so sweet… I had to leave the shampoo on for 5+ minutes before rinsing and she was so patient and wonderful while we waited. After she was all dry, I brushed her really well which she LOVED. I washed her favorite bed too. She was so happy when I put it down for her; she hopped in and curled up.

Shiba Inu Rescue of Texas has been going through their adoption applications looking for Sasha’s perfect home and it looks like they may have found one. When she goes back to the vet for her thyroid retest next Friday, she’ll get her interstate travel health certificate too. The next morning, I’m taking her on the first leg of her transport to Dallas.

She is so good natured, playful, and affectionate. Whenever I fall for a foster dog though, I have to ask myself "Is my home the perfect home for this dog?" This sweet girl needs a home of her own, where she isn’t stressed by the presence of other dogs and she gets all the attention and love. As much as I’m going to miss her, I’m excited to be sending her on the next step of her journey to that home.

I fall more in love with little Sasha every day. On top of being incredibly good natured (with people), she’s one of the smartest Shibas that’s ever lived with me. She picks up on everything quickly. For instance, I make her wear a cone whenever I can’t watch her because her skin is still healing and she tends to chew on herself. I keep the cone loose enough that it will slip on and off, but she never takes it off. When I tell her “put your cone on,” she holds her head still and lets me slip it on! If only she weren’t so reactive with other dogs, she’d be the easiest Shiba ever. She even meets people well (unlike many Shibas). She met my mother a few days ago and was instantly wagging her tail and offering her a toy to play tug and fetch with.

This is one of Sasha’s happy faces. We went for a walk in the park – just the two of us – one day last week.

And this is Sasha’s not-so-happy face behind her baby gate. When she gives me this look, I always hear lines from Bobby Vinton’s song in my mind “I’m so lonely… oh, so lonely, I’ve got nobody, to call my own…”

Sasha really needs a person of her own to spend time with, so she’ll make her happy face more and her lonely face never. I really hope her perfect home comes along soon — someone who will be home with her a lot, who will snuggle with her and rub her tummy, take her for walks, play lots of fetch, and, of course, who doesn’t have other dogs.

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If you’re interested in adopting sweet Sasha, please read all about the home we’re looking for and download an adoption application here.

For some reason, photos don’t do this cute girl justice! I never feel like the photos I take really show how CUTE and SWEET Sasha is. Here is another video of her playing with her favorite toy (and me) this morning before I left for work, so everyone can see what a cutie she is.

If you’re interested in adopting Sasha, please read all about the home we’re looking for and download an adoption application here.

Sasha is such a sweet, loving little Shiba girl. She seems to me to be one of the most adoptable Shiba Inu I’ve ever fostered… except for her age. You hear so many stories (some of them from me!) about Shibas being standoffish, stubborn, and bull-headed. This little girl is none of those things. All she wants is to be near her person. If we aren’t playing fetch in the yard, we’re playing tug and fetch in the house, or we’re snuggling on the couch. (Or, unfortunately, she’s trapped behind a baby gate while I spend time with my three dogs. When she can’t be with me, she cries and gives me this sad look that melts my heart.)

Age is Just a Number

It can be so hard to place dogs past 7 or 8 years old… it seems that everyone wants a younger dog. There are so many advantages to adopting a dog like Sasha though. Yes, she’s 11 and that means her life expectancy is only about 5 more years, BUT she’s house trained and crate trained, she won’t chew your shoes, or poop in your house, she’s calm, and she’s loving… so much more affectionate than a youngster is capable of! She has so much to give and would be so grateful to have a forever home with someone who doesn’t have to divide their time between her and other dogs.

This isn’t the best video, but I shot this in the yard yesterday to show what an athletic little dog she is. Sasha would love to have a human companion to go on walks with, to play fetch with, and to give all her love to. Could you be that person?

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If you’re interested in adopting little Sasha Bean, please read all about the home we’re looking for and download an adoption application here.

A lot has happened since I posted about Sasha a few weeks ago. To begin with, enough money was donated to pay her medical and boarding bill in full. (I actually have a small bit left over, which, if I don’t need it for follow-up care for her, will either be donated to SIRRA or returned to donors proportionately.) When she came home from the vet, her skin and coat were already much improved and she had gained almost a pound and a half.

Sasha’s Progress

Since bringing her home, I’ve been working on (1) slowly putting weight on her, (2) improving the health of her skin and coat, (3) playing lots of fetch in the back yard every day to build up her muscle, and (4) helping her learn to be less reactive around other dogs.

When she arrived, I’d been told she was very aggressive with her temp foster’s dogs and with one of the transporter’s dogs as well. Other than a few leashed meetings, where they couldn’t get too close, we kept Sasha completely separated from our dogs for the first week. After a week or so, we started letting her hang out in the hallway behind a baby gate, so she and the other dogs could see and get used to one another. Sasha didn’t seem aggressive at all to me, only reactive; when the other dogs get too close, she snarls and then barks to try to make them go away. This weekend, Sasha got to join everyone in the den for a movie. She stayed on leash and was very good. (Big props to my dogs – Snickers, Secret, and Zuki – for doing exactly as they were told and completely ignoring Sasha’s presence.) Sunday morning, I brought Sasha into the den and let her hang out with me and my three Shibas for several hours… she even napped on the couch with Snickers and me for awhile.

If Sasha was younger, I would let Snick help me teach her not to be so reactive. He’s trained young fosters who were afraid of other dogs, but Sasha is older and I think it would be too stressful for her. I’d rather just find her an adoptive home with no other dogs, so she can live in peace. I still think it’s important to help her learn not to be so afraid and reactive while she’s with me, but not necessarily with the goal that she’ll go on to live with other dogs.

Sasha’s skin, coat, and weight are improving rapidly and I believe I’ll be ready to let her go to a new home by mid-July.

A Forever Home for Sasha

I’d prefer a home where at least one person works from home or is retired. Sasha does really well when she’s left alone for short periods of time (a few hours here and there), but she’s not accustomed to staying home alone all day. She is extremely good in the house – totally house trained, doesn’t chew on things, doesn’t tear things up. She likes to snuggle and will even get in your lap for loving. She’s a happy girl and has learned our routines and settled in very quickly.

Her new home needs to really enjoy playing fetch, because fetch (outdoors with balls, indoors with toys) is by far her favorite game. She needs to be in a home where she’ll be allowed on the furniture as she fancies herself a lapdog and she adores being near her people. She walks wonderfully on a leash, but she shouldn’t be walked anywhere that loose dogs could possibly run up to her. She handles meeting new people very well and would most likely be very comfortable in an urban environment.

If you’re interested in adopting Sasha, you can read all about the home we’re looking for and download an adoption application here.

A few weeks ago, a tiny Shiba girl ended up in a shelter in Florida. She was brought in as a stray and no one claimed her. By the time the rescue community heard about her, she didn’t have much time before being put her to sleep. She was pulled by a temp foster with the intention of sending her to a permanent foster in the Midwest. After a couple days though, the temp foster reported that she wasn’t getting along with her dogs and should be an only dog. The planned foster home in the Midwest no longer wanted her and suddenly she had nowhere to go. Even though I had recently promised Snick a break from fostering, he and I decided that it would be OK if she came to live with us for awhile. (What I didn’t know at the time was that she was in heat.)

After being boarded for about a week in Florida, she was transported by multiple volunteers (thank you Sue, Bob, Cynthia, and Jennifer!!) to Birmingham, where my daughter and I met her. She spent the two hour drive home curled up in my daughter’s lap and was renamed Sasha before we made it home. When we got home, I let her meet my older female, Secret, briefly, which went well. After Sasha was in her crate, I brought Snickers in to meet her, but I didn’t let him get very close. She curled her lip and snarled at him a little bit. She had dinner and snuggled with my daughter till bedtime. Honestly, she may be the sweetest, snuggliest Shiba girl I’ve ever met.

Since my neighbor’s Boxer is intact and known for jumping the fence to get out of his yard, I couldn’t have her at my house without risking a fight with my dogs and the Boxer, so the morning after she arrived she went back into boarding – this time at my vet’s office. Luckily, my wonderful vet felt comfortable spaying her while she’s in heat instead of waiting until after, which means she’ll be back home with us sooner rather than later.

I met with the vet on Friday after I dropped Sasha off, to discuss her health and to get an estimate for everything that needed to be done. Sasha’s skin was in terrible condition when she arrived. She has thickened, infected, black (and stinky) skin on her back and tail. Her teeth also looked pretty bad, and, of course, she needed to be spayed. I asked the vet to do a full senior panel along with the pre-op blood work. The vet suggested also testing her thyroid, in case hypothyroidism was contributing to her skin condition. We decided to put her on antibiotics to help with her skin and scheduled her surgery for Thursday the 31st. Although, I was worried about how I’d pay for all this, I signed the estimate, gave Sasha a kiss, and headed to GNC to buy some probiotics for her.

The first time I went back to visit Sasha, we played fetch in the atrium. Fetch is her favorite game and she had a great time. She even caught the ball in midair a couple times.

Her pre-op and senior blood work all came back GREAT except her T4 level was really low. She was spayed on Thursday and that went really well. She had about six teeth removed and the rest cleaned. Surgery went really well. She’ll have to eat canned food for a week or two, but she should heal up nicely. I bought some canned Taste of the Wild and went to visit her again the day after surgery. She was doing great! She was really happy to see my daughter and we even played some more ball in the atrium. Her skin is looking better already as well, which made me really happy. The plan is for her to come home Thursday of next week, so she’s all healed and no longer smelling like a girl in heat.

The vet and I discussed putting her on a trial dosage of thyroid medication, but decided to wait until she’s healed and healthy and has been getting good nutrition and supplements for a bit and then we’ll retest.

Donate For Sasha Here

Edited to remove donation form after goal was met. $785.00 was donated for Sasha.

I’ll be posting more photos and updates after Sasha comes back from the vet. I’m expecting to make her available for adoption by mid-June and will be looking for someone who spends more time at home than I do. She is super sweet and loves to be with her person. She also LOVES TO PLAY FETCH!