Nothing to do on a rainy day....

but nap.

Shedding woes

I know every double-coated dog owners dread and battle their dog's fur coat. I know every Shiba owner goes through endless filters of fur, fur on their clothes, fur in their food, tumbleweed of fur blowing across the room at least twice a year.... I know I'm not alone in this.
But it still frustrates me.
Since Maggie came to our home, I have spent more time vacuuming and sweeping the house and cleaning the damn vacuum cleaner than doing anything else at home. It's okay, Maggie. Just stop shedding for a month and I'll be happy. Call me crazy, but it just seems like you haven't stopped shedding since December of last year.

And each time you do this, I feel like all the effort and time I spent on cleaning was for absolutely nothing....

Maggie always knows

Where to go for optimum light / heat.

*Our deepest condolences goes out to the earthquake victims that hit Japan yesterday.

Maggie and shadow

Tucking in paw

I noticed just recently.....

that when Maggie is lounging around,

she likes to tuck her paw in for some reason.

Why dogs roll in stink

Maggie did the unthinkable just the other day.
We took her on a marvelous hike to an open pasture about an hour away, to Mt.Burdell Open Space in Marin County. It was a warm spring day, the grass was greener than ever and we saw cows grazing in the distance.
There are some paths there called ''fire roads'' that dogs can go off leash on, so I decided to let her free. As soon as I let her off leash she runs over to a fresh puddle of cow manure and DIVES into it, rolling in it a few times. I watched in shock and horror but not being able to do anything about it. Her sides and harness were covered in brown-greenish manure with the stink emanating as she trotted along happily. 
This happened in the first 30 minutes of what would become a 3 hour trek, and all I could think about was getting to the nearest water source and throwing her into it to clean the manure off.
Unfortunately there was no creek or lake on the entire trek.
Hours later we ended up at the nearest Pet Food Express store to hose her down.

After this hike, I couldn't stop asking "What prompted her to roll in cow manure????"
So I looked online and they have several explanations about why dogs roll in stinky stuff:
1. to cover up their own smell to hunt for prey;
2. to communicate to other dogs that they have found something special;
3. they love stink

None of these explanations really help me accept her rolling in dead animals and poop, but it is part of her instinct and makes her happy. I guess I will just leave it at that.

Maggie's Anniversary

I meant to post this yesterday, the actual date of Maggie's one year anniversary. It was a year ago that we welcomed Maggie into our home. We were a bit worried that a Shiba Inu would be difficult to train but she has grown up to be such a great dog, thanks to the dog-friendly environment that is San Francisco.

Happy Anniversary Maggie!

Ahhhhhhh....

Maggie enjoys her morning massage. You lucky dog!

Maggie's dreams

I caught Maggie in the middle of her nap. She must have been dreaming about chasing Goji 

or rough housing with other pups!

Maggie & Goji's Great Shiba Moments

 

Maggie & Goji started their day with a chase around the couch.

Goji is back home with her parents now but Maggie misses Goji already.

They had lots of fun together going to Bernal Heights, Douglass Park, Lake Merced, 

and of course, Esprit Park!