Sunday, January 27, 2008

Roux's Arctic Adventure

National Geographic here I come!

Well maybe not 'Arctic' but Roux did have an adventure today exploring one of Madison's frozen lakes. With two humans along for the expedition, Roux made a 5 mile trip.
The adventure included being ambushed by two Labs pulling a sled. They decided to jump Roux. But no one was hurt and Roux continued on with his expedition with no other trouble. He did run into a friendly guy and showed folks that Shibas can wag their tails, or at least shake their bagels, which is what we call Roux's tail.
Can you pick out the Shiba tracks?

A tired out Roux fell asleep shortly after making it back to the car.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Bat Signal? Nope it's the Shiba Signal


A different perspective of one of Roux's favorite activities, neighborhood watch.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Snow Day!

Today was supposed to be Roux's second class but due to the bad weather here in Madison, class was canceled. Roux has barely started school and he's already had a snow day. Lucky dog!
I know I saw that snowball right here a minute ago!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Monday, January 14, 2008

Such a smart Shiba

Tonight was Roux's first family dog class with Dog's Best Friend here in Madison. We took string cheese as his treat and sure enough he was a perfect angel with the treats out! He rarely took his eyes off of us. He was used as a demo dog for teaching the class how to sit but he mastered it so quickly the instructor had a hard time showing techniques! So he got praised for being such a smart boy in front of all the other dogs. I'm really proud of Roux, he never ceases to amaze me!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Roux is great at acting


Roux, as documented in the above picture, can act innocent and is very good at fooling people. However this former roll of paper towels is proof that Innocent Roux is all an act.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Roux will now do his impersonation of ...

A fainting goat!I think the resemblance is uncanny.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Guess who's legal?

Roux got his dog license in the mail today. We're all very excited about this because it means he can now go to dog parks in Madison, and there are quite a few. This also means he can take part in the Shiba meet ups on Sunday mornings. We're looking forward to meeting other Shibas and their folks in our area. I don't think Roux was socialized much as a pup, so we're trying as much as we can to get him used to other dogs.

Grab my leash! I got my bone. Let's go to the Dog Park!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Monday, January 7, 2008

Roux loves food

Roux is a very treat driven dog. We didn't know he could sit until we had a treat in our hand and he sat down as soon as he saw it (Ah ha! Now we know your secret, little fox dog). Having treats in our hands has shown us that Roux knows how to shake & down as well. Sit & shake are both tricks he'll do for toys as well but down is a special trick reserved for food and food alone.

Food! I got food!

Roux will be starting obedience classes next week and we got our information today about what to bring. They said to bring along a favorite treat to aid in training. I think Roux will excel at class as long as the cheese doesn't run out!

Roux loves lobster but that maybe a bit pricey to use for class.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Weird Pet Things

For Christmas Roux received just about the weirdest pet thingie I've ever seen, a doggie pez dispenser. The 'pez' are little dog bones. Roux just lights up when he sees this silly thing.
He loves it! I think it's bizarre.

Another Christmas gift we received is a cute Shiba Inu ornament, which was a special first Christmas ornament for Roux with his new family. I think it's adorable but also a bit odd. A Shiba in a teacup? Sure they're a smaller dogs but not a teacup size! The little guy looks exactly like Roux and will have a place of honor on our tree this year.

Roux maybe small but he's not a teacup breed!

New Home

Roux came to live with my husband & I at the beginning of December 2007. He was rescued by the Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue. Roux was being fostered in Indiana and put up with the 8 hour car ride to Wisconsin with few complaints. That was the weekend of our first bad snow of the year, which thrilled Roux! As soon as he was out of the car, he was leaping and playing in the snow. Once inside our house, it was like he had always lived there.
Roux crashed out on our living room floor.
Notice his toys behind him, nope he's not spoiled at all!

We often look at Roux and wonder why someone got rid of him. He doesn't have any really bad habits and is quite the sweet guy. He does have his moods but that's just him being a Shiba. He's crate trained and will go to it with a simple "It's Bedtime", which amazes me.

The only problem we've had with Roux is with our two cats, Maggie & Hunter. Roux loves to chase the cats and they are afraid of him so they run. So we often have races in the house when we let Roux wonder. Most of the time he's in the living room with a baby gate separating them. We're working on getting them used to each other but its been a slow process. If anyone has any advice about that, I'd sure appreciate it and my curtains would too!
After Roux chased Maggie up our window, the curtain rod couldn't support a 17lb cat.
We had to support him up there for a moment until he calmed down enough to detach him.