Growing Puppy

                           Before (3/20/2011)                                                       After 2 months (05/22/2011)

These two picture were taken with a two month interval, obviously during bath time. The first one during Chloe's first bath and the second one during her third bath I suppose (she gets bathed once a month). It's been four months since I got Chloe into my household and she has grown a lot since then. Majority of people we see during walks can't help asking how big she'll get. Maybe taller, maybe wider, I honestly don't know. I haven't actually measured how tall she is right now, but her weight is currently 17.8 lbs at six months. She already is within the AKC standards of the Shiba inu breed which is 17 to 23 lbs.

Well let's see how much she'll grow through the latter half of her puppy life.

Maru at Six weeks

Maru's breeder sent me new pictures of the puppy. He's currently six weeks old now. Two more weeks to go and he'll be flying to his new home, with us. Isn't he adorable?

Waiting for Food

I make Chloe wait for food, a quick exercise for dominance training and to avoid developing food aggression.

Another day at the Park

It's really hard to get Chloe's attention when were outdoors, especially when there's a lot of interesting stuff for her to see. And pet photography is not really an easy task, especially when you have a stubborn Shiba that is preoccupied with all the things that surrounds her.

And special thanks to a blog I'm following that I learned how to arrange my images in beautiful multi-panel layouts like the way I presented Chloe's images above. He is quite a good photographer and has a way with pet photography with Suki his Shiba inu as his model. Check out his blog here.

There was no one present in the dog park when we arrived. I don't want our trip to go to waste so I decided to walk her around the park (see images above). When we got back to the dog park, there were quite a few dogs around already. I think Chloe got tired of our long walk, sniffing around and chasing ducks (yes, there were ducks in the park), so when it's her turn to play with the dogs, she was very timid and shy. Look how she hides under the bench.

Where have you been?

This is one of the scenes that usually greets me when I come home from work,




Seems like she is scolding me for not being home for a while.

Days After Surgery

The vet told us that it will take 2 weeks for Chloe to fully recover from her surgery. My poor furkid looks weak most of the time.

I impulsively bought a new blanket for Chloe. She also got a new collar, just a few 'get well soon' gifts.

Oops, I think I disturbed the sleeping beauty.

 The couch is all mine!

How comfortable could she get?

They have the most awkward sleeping positions! :D

Spayed Dog

I got Chloe spayed last April 20, 2011. As much of you don't know, Spaying is the removal of a reproductive organ, either all of it or a considerably large part of it. The term spaying is used for the females while the term neutering is for the males. Both terms are often referred to as fixing or sterilizing.

You may think, why do such a drastic thing to your dog? Well I have reasons and it's for Chloe's own good. Spaying completely eliminates pregnancy. The birthing process itself can be dangerous. The dog will also have zero risk of pregnancy complications such as spotting, and no more monthly periods.

Spaying also helps decrease animal overpopulation. I went to an animal shelter once, there's really a lot of dogs in there that needs new homes, and it's not a pleasant sight at all. I also came from a country where a lot of stray dogs just roam around everywhere.

Benefits also includes a decrease in the occurrence of cancers, tumors and other illnesses.

As all of you know, I'm getting a second dog, a male one, and someone threw this question at me, "Why did you even bother spaying your dog when you're getting a male one? You have purebred dogs, you could have just let them mate, breed them, sell puppies, and make some good money."

First of all, I got Chloe to be my pet and to be my companion on my everyday life. I'm getting Maru, my second dog, to be her companion so that she'll have a playmate when I go away to work, and I'm planning to have Maru neutered also. I never intended to breed dogs. I think breeding is only for experienced people and requires a lot of work and commitment. 

I want what's best for my dogs especially the best of health and I think fixing them is a very responsible thing to do as a dog owner.

 Chloe really did well on her surgery, She has an incision and stitches on her abdomen which she is not allowed to lick.

 The cone on her head is to prevent her from picking on the wound and stitches. She hates the cone around her head but she had to keep up with it for a whole two weeks.

I'm tired and exhausted, it's time to doze off.

The Shiba Strikes Again

The calendar fell from the wall, and Chloe is just right there, waiting for something to rip apart.

Chloe caught in the act!

I'm finished with it, you could clean it up now.

Meet Maru

My search for a second dog have come to a finish! Meet Maru (Yes, I've named the pup already even if he's not yet with us), a black and tan male Shiba Inu from a breeder in Kentucky. He is only four weeks old at this time and he will be flying here to us in a month's time.

Someone asked me if he's real because he looks like a stuffed toy.

How cute could he get?

Time for snoozing!

Terrible Guard Dog

Shiba Inus are supposed to be excellent guard dogs, but Chloe is terrible with the job. She never barks at strangers nor other dogs, she only barks at me when she wants to play or is craving for some attention that she believes she should be getting. She whines when we see other people and dogs while we walk and it is because she either wants attention with the humans or to play with the other dog.

Chloe is not being a guard dog in this picture. She just wants to stay by the door and wait for the time that we're gonna go outside and walk. I also think she stays there to tease the dog of our neighbor who lives in front of us. The other dog goes nuts when she sees Chloe, and my pup just sits there and look at her like it's nothing. Poor neighbors, they can't have their door open when I have mine open as well, especially if there's a shiba inu hanging out by my doorstep. 

A Second Dog

I've been thinking these past few days about getting another dog. I'm caught up on the dilemma whether to get one or not. So I started asking opinions of other people, and they all seem to have a unanimous decision not to get one. They say it'll be hard to maintain and it's gonna be double trouble. As Chloe being destructive most of the time,  they say the two will just team up and cause more mayhem on my apartment. 

The reason I want another one is for Chloe to have a companion while I'm not around especially when I go to work. I usually leave her at home for a duration of eight to nine hours a day, five days a week, and I don't feel good about it. I feel bad leaving her alone at home, and I'm rationalizing that Chloe's destructive behavior is because of boredom and separation anxiety. Shiba Inus are pack animals, and I figure that they don't feel good being left alone by the pack most of the time (it's only me and Chloe in that pack at the moment). 

I think it's already a good time to add another member to our pack. Chloe will be having a new playmate and I already have a candidate, a male, black and tan shiba inu puppy.

Chewing Rawhides

This is mine. And by the way I'm busy, so don't disturb me.

Chloe loves rawhides and she can spend hours just gnawing and chewing with it, The next thing I know, the rawhide is gone. Every last bit consumed.

I just learned recently that a dog shouldn't have access to a rawhide unsupervised. Although studies show that it doesn't pose ill effects, however, there is the potential that larger size pieces could cause choking or bowel obstruction. Some dogs may quickly chew and swallow large pieces of rawhide. When a dog has chewed on a piece of rawhide to the point of it becoming soft, take that rawhide chew away and substitute another. Allow the softened rawhide to dry and harden, and it can then be given back to the dog.

The Attack of the Shiba

Let me out please? I'm not yet done in there.

Chloe somehow got a hold of the paper towel, and now it's shredded to pieces and unusable. The method of how she got a hold of it, is that which I want to figure out. Now she has to stay inside her crate while I clean up her mess.

Staring Contest

What are you looking at? Want to have a staring contest with me??

I just love to chew those wires!

What did I do now? I'm innocent.

Anything she can reach, she can chew. Chloe has chewed a lot of stuff already including 2 pairs of flip flops, my phone, the comforter, the floor mat, and wires.

I came home one day from work and something doesn't feel right, there is no pup greeting as I come inside. I looked on her puppy pads and I felt relieved that it wasn't torn to pieces. But I found Chloe busy on the couch, chewing the remains of my phone charger.

Well, I thought I'll just let it pass, it's only a $20 charger and I could always buy a new one. But that wasn't the case, as the days passed, she chewed a total of four chargers and my fifth one is barely hanging in there. Investing a 100 bucks for phone chargers is definitely not a good way of wasting money.

In the end, it's still my fault for leaving these things out in the open. I should try and do a better job of hiding these goodies from her.

This thing is really chewy by the way, I love it.   

First step towards the World

The series of vaccinations is finally complete. I hesitantly asked the vet if Chloe can go outside now that she got all her shots and she answered me with a big YES! The first thing that came to my mind was a dog park and we went to one after a few days.

We went to Uptown dog park in the city of Long Beach. It's 15 to 20 minutes away and the closest one that I know around our area. I've been wanting to take Chloe to a dog park and socialize her with other dogs while she's still young because I don't want her to be dog. I felt relieved that Chloe did well on her first encounter with the other dogs present in the park. She did well for a first timer and the other owners present thought so too. Chloe had such a great time running and playing around with the other dogs. I could tell that she really enjoyed our little trip to the park. 

Catch me if you can, I will outrun all of you!

Frisky Puppy

Chloe being lively and playful as always!
(sorry for the little background noise, the television was way too loud)