Not A Dog School Dropout

On Monday night, Roux graduated from his beginning family dog training class. We have a week off and then he starts his next class. He LOVES going to class (might be all the string cheese he gets in an evening there). He always seems to have a lot of fun there learning new things. Plus I really think the class has helped us bond with Roux.

Since Roux has been doing so well with us and with class, I decided to try out the dog park with him on my day off from work today. I was worried about it, since we were told that Roux has some dog aggression issues. But our class instructor doesn't think Roux's aggression issues are very bad, considering how he acts in class. So I decided to try him at the park on a weekday when there wouldn't be a ton of people at the park. Roux did great! He played with 5 other dogs and didn't show any signs of aggression. He was super excited romping around with the other dogs and wouldn't listen to anything I said, but that was ok for his first time there. We'll be working on that. He would check in on me from time to time as I followed him around the park.

A Worn Out Roux

Shiba De-Stuffing

After seeing Loki's video of de-stuffing a toy, I captured a couple of pictures of Roux in the act of de-stuffing his newest Bobo.

Nooo! Not the Bobo! Oh the humanity!

Quick, Roux! Get that Bobo, it's getting away!

Roux got the Bobo on Monday and it surprisingly made it to Friday. For some reason I keep getting these toys for him, this is his third such Loofa Dog, ie Bobo, and they get de-stuffed right away. Now he has some stuffed fox toys that we found at Ikea. They're kids' toys not made for dogs but he hasn't been able to destroy them yet. Three cheers for Swedish design!

Maybe he hasn't destroyed them yet because they look just like him.

So you want to take your Shiba for a walk in Wisconsin

Here's a rather embarrassing photo of my Roux walkin' outfit. It's been in the negatives in Wisconsin, so when we go for a walk, I dress warm. (Don't pay attention to the messy kitchen)

Uh oh, I have to pee.

Let's take stock of what I'm wearing:

-Snow boots w/ wool socks
-Jeans,Heavy fleece pants
-long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, jacket w/ fleece liner
- Neck warmer, hat, gloves

Roux's outfit:
-Red & Cream fur coat, warm but falling apart (ie shedding)
-Rolled leather collar, martingale collar, green nylon leash

Just for the record, Madison has shattered our all time snow record for the winter. It had been 76 inches set in 1979. We're at 79.2 inches with more on its way. I'll be dressing like this for a while...can't wait till Spring!

Safety Dance!

Roux loves going for car rides...really, really loves going for rides. So much so that he's a bit insane in the car and difficult to control. We finally realized just how dangerous this can be, to both Roux and to us, a week ago when we were coming back from dog class with a lot of ice on the roads. That night I ordered a travel car harness from Drs Foster & Smith.
Roux does look a bit special in his new harness and his 'goingforacarride' dance has been renamed the safety dance, but he was much calmer in the car (he may have just been tired from his weekend at Spawoof though). Next week we should know for sure how he acts with the harness. But it kept him more secure in the backseat and us from having to wrestle with a hyper Shiba and drive.

Roux's Wisconsin Blizzard

King Roux sitting on his snow throne

Over a foot of new snow fell in Madison today. That was on top of all of the preexisting snow. Our snow piles are starting to look like ski hills. Roux enjoyed himself out in the snow though. Including when his leash somehow came undone from his collar. I spent sometime running (well lumbering really, it was a foot of snow) after a hopping Shiba. I was finally able to catch him when he fell through some snow and got stuck under me as I threw myself on him.

Hey, where did the sidewalk go?

Shiba Snow Shake

The Anti-Michael Vick

Taking the moment for a non-Shiba related post.

I read this story today and it really hit me. It's refreshing to see a NFL player giving back to his community and it tugs at my heart to see that its not only benefited an animal shelter but also the guy himself. I thought the honesty he presented in the interview was wonderful.

The Anti-Vick

Class update

Tonight was Roux's third class of the Beginning Family Dog training. He's doing really well. So far we've learned sit, down, working on stay and heeling. We've worked on reinforcing his name, his praise command, which is good boy!, and reinforcing when he looks at us. It's a great class. I enjoy how its structured and Roux seems to thrive in the environment. Plus he loves the treats.

We have three classes left and it's already time to think about what to do next. His instructor mentioned today that Roux would be good for agility, which is awesome. When we got Roux, I was thinking that would be fun to do with him. But first we have more work to do. Hopefully we can still get into the intermediate class and also a class that works on listening. Might be a losing battle with that one, I mean he is 100% Shiba!

So what does Shiba Inu Mean?

Over on Dogster, the question of What does Shiba Inu mean was posed to the group. Here's what I came up with. It's pretty much Roux.

Shedding
Hairy
Imp
Boisterous
Adorable

Innocent?
No!
Unashamed

Roux agrees with the adorable part, the rest is up for discussion