My Re-Intro - With Pics?

HarajukuHarajuku
edited July 2008 in General
Hello Everyone,
I joined this forum, was totally thrilled about it, and then pretty much fell off the face of the earth (I lost the link, lol).

Now that I've found it again, I figured it would make sense to re-introduce myself, and the canine cast, so that I can get to know you all, and so that you can know who it is that keeps popping in in the midst of you!

So, to recap, I'm Ariel, a recent college grad and writer for The Canine Chronicle. I'm a long-time native Japanese breed enthusiast with big dreams in (and out) of the dog world. These breeds are really my passion and greatest interest; learning about them is one of those things that gets me up in the morning, that keeps me motivated, and makes me pumped about life!

I'm also an identical twin - my sister lives in Australia with her hubby of six months, and we use this situation to further jokes about my "dingoes" and where I get them from. (Kimi is frequently mistaken for a dingo).

Oooh - so that brings me to the crew!

Tai is my first Shiba. He's also my first ever dog. I got him when I was fourteen, after years of research and begging. We had some great times in puppy class (most improved!) and in agility (he didn't disappear at the eigth largest fair in the nation!), but now that he is older, he has slowed down a bit and is enjoying pushing me off the couch and snoring. He's one of the biggest Shibas you may ever see (waaaaay over standard size).

Here he is, being a canine karate kid.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/KimiTai/Tai.jpg[/IMG]


Kimi is my second, and my original show prospect and introduction to the show world. She wasn't an *easy* intro, by any means, lol. True to secret Shiba code, she made sure to be contrary - she did not enjoy the ring at all. This was too bad for me, but after multiple attempts to change her opinion, I finally figured that some battles were just not going to be won, and we are now looking into the sport of tracking. After a stint with one trainer that did not "get" Shibas, and told me point-blank, "You are wasting your time," I realized whose time was really being wasted and found a new trainer, whose first comment after seeing her work was, "wow - you have a very quick little dog there. You are going to have fun with her, and training is going to be a blast!"

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/KimiTai/P1011037.jpg[/IMG]

Kimi's other claim to fame is her son, Jessee. Jessee is Multi-group placing, NIPPO BIS winning, Am.Can.Ukc Ch. San Jo Wild Wild West. He was something very special as a puppy, and we all sort of knew he was going to do big things, but I'm not sure we realized just HOW big. Last year he was in the top five of the breed, with a stint as number three; this year he is working his way back, we hope, to that ranking! It was quite a thrill for his owner-handler to take the Classic with him this year! (I'm listed as a co-breeder; he doesn't live with me, but ADORE his owner-handler, who does a beautiful job with him, and loves him dearly).

Jessee at six months in our driveway:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/KimiTai/P1010267.jpg[/IMG]
This photo really reminded me of his daddy, Taro...right about then I started to think, "he's probably going to do pretty well in the ring."

Here he is this year at the Classic, on his way to BOB.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/KimiTai/NIPPOBIS.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/KimiTai/NIPPJessee.jpg[/IMG]

Alrighty - hopefully I did all of the pictures right!

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you!

Comments

  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    Well snap, it looks like I *didn't* do the photos right - haha, well, if anyone's got a clue what I've done wrong, I would love some technical help :D.
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited July 2008
    Photobucket should give you a link that looks different(and longer than that). It's the one they describe as being for websites and blogs.
    Also check the two buttons at the bottom of the space where you write your comments. They're "Html" and "tinymce".You have to have HTML selected.
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited July 2008
    Welcome back! You'll want to choose the one that begins as "a href" or "img src" to post photos. The first one will do small thumbnails, the second will do larger photos.

    See the following discussion:
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1297
  • sujewelsujewel
    edited July 2008
    Actually, if you're using photobucket, it offer you a link that begins with a href=

    That's the link you should use. Beautiful dogs and WELCOME!
  • JessicaRabbitJessicaRabbit
    edited November -1
    Here ya go
    image
    image
    image
  • JessicaRabbitJessicaRabbit
    edited November -1
    Very handsome shiba by the way
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    Harajuku welcome;

    You are very fortunate to be entrusted with some nice Shibas....
    It's great that you stuck with the agility and sought another source.... As you found out, not all those teaching appreciate a Shiba or "get it" as far as the personality of the breed.

    Enjoy your fur kids!
    Snf
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    Thanks for the reintroduction. Welcome back! :-)

    Sounds like your shibas are a lot of fun. I assume the tracking work with the new training is going better?
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    Welcome back! Your Shiba is very fluffy. :o)

    ----
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited July 2008
    Thank you everyone! I am going to try the photos again here, and thank you Jessica Rabbit for posting those photos of Jessee!

    Here is my Kimi:
    Photobucket

    Photobucket
    Tai:
    Tai

    Jessee (who isn't mine, unfortunately, but honestly, I just feel fortunate to be peripherally involved in his life).
    Photobucket

    That photo is at six months, and the photos Jessica Rabbit re-posted are him as he is now - the funniest thing is, he's not even in coat in those photos! He should look even more smashing during this fall!
  • sujewelsujewel
    edited November -1
    Your Shiba is absolutely beautiful!!!!
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    dlouisroberts - thank you for asking! Yes, the training is going SO much better with this new trainer. I was pretty sure she was going to be right for me when the first thing she said was, "we don't train dogs to track here. They already know how to do that. We train you to *read* your tracking dog, and we train your dog to follow a track that you ask for." In my original class I felt like Kimi was being told she wasn't a tracking dog because she didn't inherently know she was supposed to only use her nose to find me. This didn't make sense to me, because she WAS finding me successfully each time - but by using a combination of her senses. Call me crazy, but I saw her point - if no one is teaching you that the point of the game is to use your nose, why bother when your own method works so well? Those trainers were very impressed with her eyesight, and said she saw things that GSDs would have walked right by.

    I think my other mistake in that situation was that it was SAR style, and while I am sure there are Shibas out there that are right for that style of training, Kimi is not one of them. She is food motivated, and not so-much companion motivated, and I'm not sure how that transition would have gone when she was being asked to look for someone that wasn't me - at that point she probably would have been like, "Why?" I was rather surprised (and happily so) with the intensity of her desire to find me while I was missing though. I'm sure I'm not the only Shiba owner that jokes about her dogs' independence, and about who rules the roost, so seeing her SO intense about finding me, and quite upset about me being missing told me that our bond is actually stronger than I thought - in fact, it really strengthened after those classes, so they weren't a total loss, lol.

    Anyway, I feel very lucky to have my dogs - they are an amazing breed, and quite the introduction to the world of dog-owning in itself!

    I'm SO glad I re-found this board! It's nice to find a group that shares your same brand of insanity, and also has no intention of being cured from it. :D
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    Awww well thank you sujewel! I think she is a pretty girl myself - I wish she would want to flaunt herself more in the show ring, but what can you do? I am thinking of taking her to some UKC shows just to try out the more relaxed atmosphere and see if that has any effect on her opinion whatsoever (I admit that I also get quite nervous as a handler, so that doesn't help her at all). With any luck I will be taking some more handling classes in the future, and that will improve my own craft.

    Kimi is definitely queen of the castle here and she knows it, lol.
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    A few more photos:

    Here is a better one of my big boy, Tai:
    bigtai

    I think he looks very masculine :D.

    I love this head study of Kimi:
    pretty kimi

    This little bugger is, alas, also not mine. She is Kimi's...great niece, I want to say, and I took her home to work on my own handling skills, as well as her own. Her name is Niki, and she was a RIOT. I have never met a Shiba quite like her; I pretty much couldn't stop laughing the entire time she stayed with me (about a month or so).

    Headpiece

    Please pardon my expression - haha, I was trying to ask the photographer how she looked.
    Nikki

    Aaaand, to put a name to a face - this is a closer picture of me:
    HAPPY!

    Yes, I'm afraid the doofus personality is uncurable. We've been to specialists. There's no hope.
  • RomiRomi
    edited November -1
    Welcome back Ariel! You better save this link as a favorite so you don't lose it again :)

    Your shiba's are really stunning! Im happy you found us again and I look forward to seeing more pics and hearing more about you and your pack!
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    Those are some really good looking shibas.

    Welcome back.
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    Awww thanks again everyone. I very much appreciate the compliments, and so do Kimi and Tai! Haha, we all know Shibas - they loooooove to be admired :D.

    Haha, the first thing I did when I found the board again was favorite it!

    I am ready and raring to go - I want to learn as much as I can about all of the native Japanese breeds!
  • diggahdiggah
    edited November -1
    Nice dogs.

    Don't feel bad about your pictures not coming out; I've got a hard drive full of poorly composed pictures of my daughter. My guess is the infra-red light from the auto-focus interacts with her brain waves and makes her behavior seem erratic (or sometimes just plain goofy). I’ve also noticed this around other infra-red sources (light bulbs, the sun, tv-remotes, pretty much anything that emits light). Put her to bed and turn out the lights and she’s completely normal (we think).

    :0)
  • HarlowHarlow
    edited November -1
    Beautiful dogs! Welcome back.
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    Haha, thanks everyone! You guys give such a warm welcome - at any moment I practically expect someone to run in "airplaning" and deposit their favorite toy at my feet!
  • ktreborktrebor
    edited November -1
    Great looking shibas :) Have you any pictures from agility training?
  • HarajukuHarajuku
    edited November -1
    I did agility with Tai when I was about fifteen or so, and sadly, I went back looking for pictures, and discovered we didn't really take that many (which is beyond depressing...although at least that means there are fewer awkward pictures of me at fifteen...if my photos are awkward NOW, you can only imagine what they looked like then, lol).

    If I can find any again, I will definitely post them! The one off-hand that I can think of shows us in *front* of the equipment, but not actually using it, lol. There's no proof! Looking back, I'm pretty sure that's because I had friends and family members stationed all around the arena in the event that Tai decided to try and make a Shiba-style break for it. I was extremely paranoid about this happening, particularly because the night before we did our first big demonstration (at the Puyallup fair), he had decided to be AWFUL. He ignored all of my commands, and ran to the contact zones of every piece of equipment to look for treats. I was convinced he was going to get lost at the fair.

    I am hoping to eventually get tracking photos of Kimi, as that is my new sport - however, they aren't making too exciting photo ops yet, because we're establishing the basics.
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