If you think I am gone...

I am not. Mom's just been busy with work, and away from home. Dad takes pictures with his phone to send to mom, like this:

This is the cat tormenting me by sitting on my crate.

Or this is a good one.

This is me waiting with my tissue box with the kibble inside of it. I actually figured out that if I flip the box over I can chew through the corners and get to the kibble without having to put my face into the hole on the top of the box. I'm smarter than mom sometimes.

Mom was gone for two days and I did not like it much. She went to New York to teach a class. I was ok, but not thrilled. When she came home I was very excited; maybe a little too excited, so mom actually ignored me until I calmed down. She said something to dad about separation anxiety which is apparently a bad thing so it's important that I don't catch it. I like to think it was hard for her not to get right down on the floor and rub me all over. You couldn't tell by the way she was acting.

Anyway, being home alone with dad is not bad, but it's not as exciting as being home with mom. Dad took me for a walk one day, which was nice, but he doesn't make me practice all my skills during the day. He does make me wait for supper!

I have lost almost every tooth I ever had. My new ones are bigger and I like them, but for two days I have not felt much like chewing things. My big top right canine fell out while mom was gone, and then a smaller one fell out yesterday. I have one big one left on the top left and mom says it is loose and almost ready to come out. I will be glad when I can get back to the business of hard chewing on my bones and things.

Mom is pretty dull for a day or two after a work trip. She is all about catching up on things and resting, which I find boring. She says if it is warm today we can have a long walk, and I will like that. I think I am to start school again this week, but I am not sure if I will be doing Canine Good Citizen, Rally Obedience, or both. Dad thinks one is enough, mom can't make up her mind.

Heartgard is GROSS! Who invented that? It's as bad as peanut butter! There should be a salmon flavored one.

Love,
Yoshi

In a Nutshell

Sunday
I had a bath and it was not as horrible as I thought it would be.

I smelled like Rosemary Mint for a long time after, but I took care of that with some rolling around and licking myself clean. I also had my nails done, and got brushed a lot. I am shedding a little mom says. Dad says I look ridiculous on one side where there is some hair coming out and when he says that mom yells at him.
I got to run around a lot after my bath, and everyone watched me and played with me.

I liked that part a lot.

Monday
Today was Girl's birthday and everyone went out and left me home all alone in my crate while they got dinner. During the day the cat teased me and picked on me a lot. If I am asleep sometimes he comes over and taps me with his paw until I chase him. Then he runs off too quick for me to catch him. Other times he lets me get his tail or jump on him, and then he makes angry noises, but he never hurts me. It's strange. If I am in my crate being good, he comes over and puts his paw on my crate door and teases me. Mom says this is why she does not like cats. She makes me be nice to him, but I think he should be eaten. It doesn't seem fair.

Tuesday
When I came downstairs this morning it was just like a regular day; I had my breakfast and I went for my walk. But then I noticed something very strange in the dining room. On the table there was a big gold thing, and when I looked closer I discovered that it was the Gold Birthday Balloon of Death. I barked and barked and barked.

Mom took it down from the table and made me get close to it; well, she didn't exactly make me, she just put down enough kibble that I really did not have a choice. After that I was quiet near it. She put it back on the table and I ignored it for most of the day. But then it MOVED, all by itself in the air in the house, and I got really mad at it again and barked and barked and barked. Mom brought it down on to the floor again and showed it to me, and I ate kibble from the floor all around it. I think it will be ok.
Mom had a friend over, Cindy is her name, and I got to sit on the couch and be petted and played with while they drank wine and talked a lot. Women like to talk, dad says. As long as I get petted, that's fine with me. Mom went outside with Cindy last night when Cindy was leaving and I was not happy because it was almost dark time and mom is always home at dark time. I waited very patiently.

She came back in eventually, and I was glad.

Wednesday
The Gold Birthday Balloon of Death will not LEAVE! This morning it made me very upset again. Mom tried to get me to eat kibble and accept it, and I did at first, but then I started barking again. Then she tried to distract me by making a loud sound, or clicking her tongue, but I ignored her completely. Mom thought that maybe I had decided that the balloon pooped kibble and was barking to get more, so she decided on a "deterrent", as if I need one of those. She filled up a squirt bottle with water, and every time I barked at the balloon she squirted me. After three squirts I decided that not only does the balloon not poop kibble, it's not worth my time barking at it. Mom says that the squirt bottle is her least favorite thing to use, but because I was just insistent and would not stop, she needed to up the ante. I guess it can stay, but I wish it would leave; the bottle AND the balloon!

I have lost a lot of teeth now. Mom says she is saving them and Dad wants to know why. Me too. I would like to keep them, but she grabs them up as soon as I spit them out. She can tell when I am going to lose one, she says, because I stop chewing as much. Some of them are big and annoying in my mouth when they are loose.

Mom gave me a quarter of an apple the other day because I had stopped chewing my bones and she knew one was loose. I chewed on it until the tooth fell out, and then I nibbled it with just my front teeth. Sometimes I don't want to chew my food now because of my teeth so mom is letting it soak and get mushy. It works better, I think. I will be glad when they are all out and my big teeth are all in.
It is supposed to snow tonight. Mom says that if it does not snow a lot we can go for a walk again, all the way down the road. I hope it does not snow!

Catching Up

I have another new crate for the car. Dad says this makes me spoiled but Mom says it means she is indecisive. I agree with her. It is smaller than my portable crate, but when we are in the car I am only in it for short periods of time. I fit in it, which is what matters. I still like my Port-A-Crate better. Mom does too and she says she should have bought another one of those instead of the one she got.

I lost more teeth this week. I also learned that I can drag my blanket around the floor and choose where to take a nap. I like to be right under mom's feet when she is in her chair.

On Wednesday when we went for our noon walk I met something new and scary.

Well, I thought it was scary, but then it curled up into a tiny ball and just stayed there. Mom says it's called a wooly-bear and it means spring is here. I think it's prickly and weird. Then Katie came to visit with Girl and Gerbil. Mom and Dad decided that they would go down into Dad's cave while Girl and Gerbil and Katie watched a movie in the living room. So far the only time I have been downstairs was when I sneaked down and pooped on the floor. Mom had me wear a leash and collar so I could not get into trouble. It was kind of boring.

There were some of my toys, and a couch I could share with mom, and Boo was really annoyed that I was there. The whole place smells like him, so I think he thinks it's HIS space. What he doesn't know is that everything is MINE.

My last beginner obedience class was Thursday night. I passed! We got to play games and I did mostly good. I had to wear a t-shirt, with my paws through the sleeves and everything. It felt sort of like my orange raincoat. I also had to sit while mom picked up cookies and put them into a bag; I could not eat them. That was hard. Then we did a game with recall where Amanda threw two handfuls of everyone's treats all mixed up into the air, and they landed all over the mats, right between me and where mom stands to call me back. Dad says that I never saw the treats, but Mom knows I did because she saw me start to drop my head. Then I decided I could wait, and I ran to Mom instead of eating all the treats. Mom was very happy with me. We also had to heel, and mom had to carry a glass of water in her leash-hand that she could not spill a drop out of. She didn't spill any, which means I did very well and did not pull once.

I went for a long walk with Mom on Friday afternoon, from our house all the way down to the main road. Two and a half miles, and I was not even worn out. Mom worked all day and she was cranky and said she needed air, so off we went, down the hill past the brook which is very big and loud, past the neighbors and the trees and near where all the deer walk. I saw so many new things and smelled so many new smells. There were other dogs, some of them loose, and one of them followed me and was not nice about it. There are so many more houses down there!

Where we live there are hardly any houses or people, but down in the neighborhood there's kids and cars and bicycles and all kinds of new things. Then we got into the car with Dad and I crashed out, right there on mom's lap.

In fact, sometimes when we go to get in the car I am fussy, but this time I jumped right up. I have never been so glad to see the car and Dad!

Today is Saturday and it has been a very quiet day. Mom and Dad took me to the Farmer's Exchange for seeds and things, but then they left me in the car (boring!) in my crate (double boring!). I waited very patiently. We went to a place called Greenfield's next, and I stayed in the car with Dad while Mom went inside for vegetables and things. I have gotten very good at waiting quietly for Mom when she leaves me. At home we practiced heeling in the house without a leash or a collar. Mom is improving. Sometimes she forgets that she needs to talk to me more. She also taught me a new thing that I did not like at first... it's called "Leave It", and it means that if she drops something - anything, even like a whole piece of chicken - I cannot touch it. I have to wait until she either picks it up or lets me have it. THAT is difficult. I try using my sad face...

but it does not work. Mom's tough.

They're discussing a bath again, maybe tomorrow Mom says. It is going to be cold but she says I stink so it's time. She even said that if it was too cold she would light a fire and make me stay in the living room.

I saw this in the newspaper the other day.

It made mom get quiet and kind of sad. I think it means something bad has happened. That Shiba does not look happy, and the man looks funny with that mask. Mom says that there is a group working to help out the animals in Japan where this picture was taken. She found an article about it, too. She says that she loves groups like the Red Cross and appreciates and supports what they do for people when there is a disaster, and she would never say that a Shiba like this one should come before a person (which made me kind of angry at her, but I forgive her because I love her). But she said that people would not be human if they did not remember and help their animals, too. She said it's a responsibility. That made me happy! I am sad that there are other dogs in Japan that need help. But I am glad that there are groups to help them.

When Mom Gets Busy

I get no computer time, so no blogging! It's very upsetting. Mom has not been taking nearly as many pictures of me either which I think is almost rude. She's so all about work sometimes. Boo is better now, which is good because it really was smelly in here. I hope mom never has to shave the hair off of my butt because I stink! I'd rather have a bath I think.

I did not get my nails cut on Sunday. Today is Tuesday and my nails still have not been cut. Either mom has forgotten or she really has been preoccupied. I am feeling very sneaky about this. Mom says not to get too comfortable because today is not over yet.

Grandpa Dan and Karen came on Sunday to visit me. They said it was for eggs, but of course that can't be the real reason! I am not supposed to jump on them, but sometimes it is very hard not to. I am little and I want to put my feet up on people so I can get closer to them. Mom says no, not unless people ask me to. I sat on mom's lap at the table for a while, but they just talk and don't play with me or anything so it can get boring fast. And now mom won't let me on the table. She has decided that it's not a good habit to get in to.

There are chickens everywhere inside and out. Since mom won't let me chase the chickens outside, I chase one inside. Sometimes dad makes it more fun for me!

Mom got me a new car seat harness and I HATE it! I belong on her lap or wandering around the car loose. She is very wrong about this, but seems very determined. The first time she took me out in it was on Monday. We went to the Farmer's Exchange and the Arbors to see Nana. I wiggled as hard as I could the whole way to get out of the harness, but it did not work. At the Farmer's Exchange I got to go inside with mom and get grain and shavings for chickens. There were not a lot of people there but there were a lot of employees and they all lined up to pet me. I sat down and was good almost the whole time. I had to wear my harness into the store which I thought was embarrassing. I do not like it.

Mom bought me a hoof even though I stole a cookie off the floor. It was shaped like a peanut and it tasted like peanut butter and I didn't even like it. Mom was mad at me but then one of the girls said that she had dropped it on the floor and forgotten to pick it up. Mom said that didn't make it ok for me to take it. It is hard to know what is right and wrong sometimes. Food is food, if you ask me!

I had to be belted back into the seat while mom got the grain and shavings. She got out of the car and closed me in, then opened the back of the door so the shavings could be loaded in. I watched very closely from the front seat. Then I got loose in the car! I stepped on the seat belt thing and there was a click and I was free! But I could not go anywhere because mom and the man had pushed the shavings into my way so I could not get really loose.

After we were done at the feed store we headed for the Arbors to see Nana. This time instead of being able to sit in the lobby and get petted by everyone we had to go up to Nana's apartment. I jumped on the desk when mom signed in and she made me sit. Then I had to heel, which means I can't just wander around, I have to stay right next to her. Then I rode on an elevator and sat in heel position on the whole ride up to the second floor. When we got to Nana's apartment I walked right in the door, but then the door closed and I got scared. I wanted to hang on mom and be clingy, and I whined a lot, but she just handed me my hoof and ignored me. I paced and whined more. Mom made Nana ignore me, too! After a while I decided it wasn't so bad in there, and besides no one was paying any attention to me. I started chewing on my hoof quietly, and then mom and Nana both petted me and played with me.

Today we went into town and mom left me in the car in that stupid harness while she went into the post office and then into the town hall to register me and Boo. She says now we are legal. It was a short trip and mom says it helps me to get used to the harness. I do not think I will ever get used to the harness.

When we came home I had lunch and played for a while. In the afternoon mom made a smoothie in her Vitamix. It is very loud but I have gotten used to it. She gave me a small piece of carrot and I liked it so she gave me a WHOLE one!

It makes my teeth feel good because it is cold and crunchy.

I still like my hoof better though.

If I had to choose, I'd take a hoof any day!

Dad's home, so I have to go and make him play fetch with me now!

Love,
Yoshi

New Friends!

Yesterday was kind of dull. It rained in the morning, and Boo is still not feeling great.

He gets nothing to eat but rice now, which must be awful. I guess he has a "fussy stomach" as mom says. He eats things I would not even eat and I am a puppy! Mom says he is a goat who will eat anything and that's how he got a fussy tummy. I heard her tell a story about how one time he ate a whole big sheet of dirty butcher paper out of the trash. Mom had been in a rush and put it there instead of in the freezer where dogs can't get it. Boo stole it so quietly that mom never heard him. When she was not so busy and went back to get the paper, it was gone. She thought dad had put it in the freezer. I guess Boo ate the whole thing, in one big piece, without even tearing it into pieces. Mom knows because after two days all of a sudden he got sick and it came right back up in one piece. Another time he had to go to the vet for x-rays, and they found out he ate rocks. Another time it was a hairball, like CATS get! I hope I don't even become a goat. Mom says he's lucky he's alive and lucky he has not had to have an operation to take some of this stuff out of him. Then she says "...so far!". I think he's lucky too.

I did get a new friend named Yoshi (just like me, only he's GREEN!). He is fun, even though he does not have a squeaker.

I like to shake him as hard as I can, and chew on his head.

Today was much more fun. Mom went out in the morning for a while with Nana to the farmer's market. When she came home she and dad made apple crisp and started turkey soup for supper. I helped by staying right under moms feet in case she dropped anything. She only dropped one little piece of apple. Dad dropped one, too, but he was too quick and I missed it. I love apples.

Girl and Gerbil gave me a present!

It is bigger than me almost and I love to play with it!

I KNOW I can kill it!

The chickens were outside and I decided I wanted to eat them. Mom says I can't. She made me sit and stay right in front of them!! It was awful. I even whined a little. I think chickens are made to be eaten. Mom says I will learn that they are not "or else". I do not know what "or else" is, but I suspect it is not good.

I got my lobster cookie today! Mom said that it was not fair for me to not have it just because Boo is a goat who eats bones whole instead of gnawing on them like a normal dog.

It was very good, but very crunchy! I liked the yogurt frosting part the best.

Later we went to the Greenfield Farmer's Exchange for more food for me. I kind of had an accident there. I pooped on the floor, right where another dog had pooped before me. Mom was NOT happy. I am beginning to think that there are a lot of places I am not supposed to poop, and that pooping can ONLY be done outside. Dumb rule, but I suppose if that's what mom says I should probably obey.

After we got my food we went to visit Max and Milla, who live with my Grandma Judy and Grandpa Robert. Milla is a spaniel and Max is something like a Dachshund and something else all put in a blender. I had not met them yet. At first I was not happy. It's not my house and there were two dogs there and the whole house smelled like THEM. I was intimidated and it made me a little mean. After a couple of minutes and mom reminding me that I may NOT be mean to other dogs I relaxed and by the time we left Max and I were good friends.

I bet he is my best friend ever. He is only 9 months old, and I am 5 months old, and we played really hard for almost an hour. Mom said that I would be asleep in the car before we left the driveway and I almost was. We got about a mile down the road and I just crashed right where I was standing. I woke up every time we stopped or slowed down or turned a corner, but then I would just flop back down again. Once I fell asleep with my head on mom's lap and my butt still in the air. Another time I fell asleep with my butt on mom's leg and my head on dad's leg and my belly hanging down in between them.

When I am tired, I am TIRED!

There's rumors of a public walk tomorrow, an in-town one, and my nails again. That mom, she has a memory like a steel trap.

More adventure awaits!

Love,
Yoshi

Dumped

That's me. Dumped. Mom and dad left me home for 36 whole hours, and there was nobody here but Girl and Gerbil. Then Girl got really, really sick. Then Boo got really really sick. By the time mom and dad came home I was really glad to see them. They are not sick. I'm glad! I love Gerbil and Girl, but my heart belongs to mom and dad. Dad teased mom and said I would forget her by the time they got home, but I did not forget! That made mom happy. I was happy to have dad back to play with - mom plays, but he plays BETTER!

Mom brought me a very fun new toy that is called "tossed chicken salad". It has a squeaker and it has wings that crinkle when I step on them. She also got Boo and I cookies shaped like a lobster and frosted with special yogurt frosting, but she says we can't have them until he's better. I don't understand exactly how that's fair. She and dad also found me two of my favorite right-sized tennis balls in Portland Maine at a place called Fetch.

Tonight I did kind of ok in school. Some things I did really well at and others I really could have cared less about. My loose leash walking was better, but not perfect. I did not want to lie down from a stand. I did not want to have my teeth and ears looked at and my paws touched. I wiggled a lot. But then when we practiced recall, where mom calls me and I have to run from Pam, our trainer, to her through a line of people holding dog treats, I totally amazed mom by only stopping once and then just for a second! I made it to her within the ten seconds allowed. Mom was very happy.

It turns out that my friend Emma has not been spayed. Her doctor wasn't sure; she was a "found dog" and no one knows her history. Tonight was my first time being around a girl dog who's in heat. At first I didn't even care, but then something seemed very different about Emma. She acted differently toward me than she usually does. All of a sudden I KNEW that something was VERY DIFFERENT and I started to think that maybe there was something I should do about it. Just when I got the idea, mom snapped my leash back on and said that was enough playtime. It's like she KNEW what I was starting to think! She says that in my life I will encounter many girls like Emma and I have to learn how to be a gentleman and not a rude bad boy. I guess. I am not even sure what it was I wanted to do, but I know I wanted to do SOMETHING. Now I will never know.

With mom gone for a day and a half I did not get my regular practice in yesterday or today for school, so really she's lucky I played along at all. She wasn't really in the mood herself, I thought. She looks like she could use a nap!

Anyway, because she wasn't here there's no pictures of me. She and dad and Girl tried to make a movie of me with my new chicken toy, but it's too dark now.

Next week, if I am very, very good, I can graduate from Basic Obedience. Then I can start my Canine Good Citizen training at the end of March.

I can't believe mom just LEFT me here. You don't think she will ever do it again, do you? Boo says that when the orange backpack comes out it is time to worry. You would think that with someone like me here, she would never need to leave home again, wouldn't you?

One Month

I have been here for just over one month, four weeks and two days to be specific. Here's what I have learned:

Mel, the cat, is not another Shiba. He is not mean, but wants me to think he is. I do not believe him.

Boo, the buffalo, is old. Sometimes he falls when we come in from potty walks, and mom has to go and help him. I get excited and jump on him and mom tells me no. I don't think I want to ever be old.

Girl and Jeroth worship me and let me "get away with murder", mom says. They are my puppy sitters, so if mom and dad are gone they are in charge. Which really means I am in charge. Mom says they need to work on that.

Mom is a kibble machine. Her pockets are always full of the stuff, and she will even hand it to people who want to get me to obey. I LOVE food.

I can do all of these things, mostly without being told twice most days:

sit
down
stand
stay
wait (this is shorter than stay and I can wiggle a little)
off
come
heel (fast, slow or normal speed)
no
go to your bed (I just learned this one and I am very proud!)

Mom says that this is a LOT for a puppy my age, and so when I mess up or get "twerpy" she is very patient with me. Sometimes she calls me "Mister Twerpy Twerpsicola from Twerpyville" which I think is her way of not calling me a socially inappropriate name.

Daddy is the BEST toy ever!

My name IS Yoshi! I know it very well now. I also pay attention if they say Yossi, Yosh, Yoshiko, Yoshmo or Little Man, because sometimes they mean me.

Today we practiced loose lead walking, which is not my best thing. I think I should be in front all the time. Mom thinks she's the leader. I did better after we'd walked for a while and I was a little more receptive. I am learning that sometimes when we stop I have to sit and other times I have to stand. It's a little confusing, really.