Meitou is most definitely fluffier than Katana, who has zero undercoat right now, so he looks really scruffy. I don't think Katana will develop a super plush winter coat though, unless I move someplace really cold.
Oh yeah sea water Pearly, Junior and Dink were horrible with trying to drink sea water. Results were not fun. Loose poo.. They were always sneaking a drink before we could stop them nutty dogs.
Saya and Bella hasn't seen the beach yet we went to a lake in Wisconsin that had a little kinda sandy area dogs were allowed to swim. both had fun.. Bella got a leech on her that was fun.. it came off when we bathed her guess it didn't like the dog shampoo and water.
The first epic vantage point had a big cliff, and naturally Meitou want to climb down it.
That would be Saya she always want to climb up or down hills and even steep hills she will go down if I let her. She does it so easily while I'd have hard time doing it. lol
He looks great in pics love his face so beautiful.
I have the pic problem with Bella who is white sometimes she comes out hard with pics especially when is is bright and sunny.
@WrylyBrindle@Losech It's funny to me that Meitou is "the fluffy one" because I always think of him as one of the not fluffy ones. So far I have a hard time telling when he is in coat and when he's out of coat. He always seems the same to me, but randomly there will be a white fur dump and I'll think "huh, guess it's shedding time."
@Saya Glad to hear Meitou isn't the only dog that wants to scale cliffs. He and Saya can be cliff rebels together, lol. And ew about the leech. *shudder* Leeches are so gross.
@lindsayt Yeah, the Oregon coast is awesome. I'm glad I live in a place that's only a few hours drive from a lot of cool places, including some great beaches. I'm sure Meitou appreciates this, too.
Don't know if you saw the pictures of Meitou at the Barn Hunt trial. There are some nice shots of him. Also congratulations on Meitou passing the Barn Hunt Instincts test and got the RATI title. He is the first Of his breed with a Barn Hunt title.
@sandrat888 I did see some pictures of him. They were pretty cute, but I wish my face wasn't in some of them. Like the one with my face lurking in the corner. Thank you for the congratulations, I really wasn't expecting Meitou to pass anything. I had no idea what I was doing or what to expect from Meitou. So it was a surprise for me. I think it was mostly luck, lol.
This morning I took Meitou to another Barn Hunt trial. And I didn't go alone, lol. My father went with me the first time since he thought Barn Hunt sounded interesting (and he came this time, too), and since then he'd been talking about it a lot to some family friends...and convinced them to try it with their Springer Spaniel. So we all caravaned to the trial site.
I entered Meitou in the instinct test again, as well as novice. I wasn't feeling all that optimistic about our chances, but I figured as long as Meitou had fun then it was a worthwhile endeavor.
Meitou didn't pass the instinct test this time (he already had his title anyway). He went and smelled the three tubes and the one he gave what I figured was his clear signal ended up being the tube with bedding but no rat. Go figure, lol.
When it came time for the novice I wasn't sure what would happen. Meitou has never been fond of tunnels, even as a wee puppy. At the first Barn Hunt trial he happened to go through a tunnel in instinct, so I knew he could do it, I just didn't know if he would. I've been working with him on jumping up on things so I wasn't as worried about that part. And of course I was worried about being able to identify the rat, because I still had (have!) no idea how to tell when Meitou has found the actual rat.
But! Somehow we pulled it off. After some running around he climbed some hay bales, so one out of three was out of the way. After some exploring of the ring the next element we completed was finding the rat. Meitou started sniffing a loose pile of hay and started to dig at it. When I saw there was a tube there I figured "well, if he rolled on the ground for rat bedding in instinct and didn't pay any attention to the totally empty tube, so if he shows some interest with rolling maybe this is the rat." Faulty logic, probably, but I decided to go for it and called Rat; and was surprised when it turned out to be the real rat. The challenge after that was getting Meitou through the tunnel. It took a little effort, but he actually did it. (And as a bonus, our friend's dog also passed her Novice run, and got second place in her height group; and they're talking about taking her out for it again).
And the part people actually care about....Photos and video!
Meitou's RATI ribbon from his first trial in March, and his qualifying ribbon for today's Novice run
Instinct
Novice
I got to see @sandrat888 run Koji and Taiyo. Koji is pretty awesome to watch and Taiyo was super cute!
Edited to add: Meitou was in heaven. There were horse droppings to roll in.
@WrylyBrindle Thanks! And I'm sorry they videos aren't working for you. They loaded fine for me (using FireFox). Maybe they would work for you from my Flickr page?
@laurenmarie Oh, he is crazy. Oh so crazy. Sometimes we refer to him as "Freak" because, well, he can be incredibly odd. Like licking the refrigerator or the couches. No chewing, just licking. Which then often devolves into tail chasing. You should add some new pictures of Oni to the forum! I'd love to see some recent pictures of him.
@whobitme, we call Oni the freak also!! By far the weirdest dog I have ever owned! Loves to lick the shower and the shower curtain and has to get as close to you as e can, even if it means he is sitting in your chest or face! And he doesn't leave our poor Shiba alone for more then 10 minutes.
@laurenmarie Oh, Meitou is a pest to my elderly Border Collie. He loves her, but she does not love him. She pretends he isn't there most of the time unless he's being "too hyper" and then she has to intervene and be the fun police (a very mean fun police). I don't think of Meitou as being super whiney. From what I gather he might be less noisy than other Hokkaido on the forum, though. But he does have his moments. But I find all his noises cute so it isn't a bother to me.
He talks a lot when his breakfast or dinner are involved, and sometimes for treats. He gets talkative randomly. He used to cry piteously when I would leave the house when he was younger. Now he's usually pretty good about it....unless I leave with the Border Collie and leave Meitou at home. Then apparently he pitches a fit, even if he has other people with him. He actually broke a floor lamp recently because he was trying to see out the front window after I left for a me-and-the-old-dog-only walk. Sad day for the pocket book, but now Meitou is much more careful about the area around the window. Still cries, though. He actually tries to force his way out the door now when the old dog goes out. He didn't used to do that.
@whobitme, I love the talking! Oni will usually talk back to me when I talk to him but he is very chatty to begin with. It's the crying that gets on my nerves. He hears someone or a dog walk by and he is at the window crying. If I can figure out how to post video then I will post one of him talking
I can only imagine what life is like for the boarder collie, Hokkas are like tornados! Luckily our Shiba is only 4 so he still has spunk and wants to play but it took 8 months for him to accept Oni and not try to kill him, but I feel bad when he is resting and Oni walks over to him and stands on top of him or bites his neck.
@laurenmarie Yeah, the poor old dog. She recently turned 15. She was pretty spry until a little before I brought Meitou home, but it's been the last 6 months where she really has slowed down and just can't move very fast (which has created a strange shark maneuver when she tries to snap at Meitou when he zooms by her).
As for adding more NK, I've determined I won't be adding another dog to the family until Meitou is over 2 and after my BC has passed on. I don't know that I can handle more than two dogs. If I were to get another NK (which I am considering) I'd probably get another Hokkaido. But some of the other breeds interest me. I'd want to meet some of the others in person before really considering them, though.
For strangers - He likes his people better than strangers. But he is perfectly willing to greet a good many strangers. But some he doesn't not want approaching him. He can be head-shy if people bend down and/or reach straight for his head. He prefers slower greetings....unless he doesn't. Some people he loves right away for who knows why. And some people he barks at from a distance. While he is usually okay with most strangers he really doesn't like being handled by strangers.
Which leads to the vet...
He's been several times because when my Border Collie was doing poorly health-wise and he seemed to be fine with the vets and the vet techs. But they weren't doing anything to him so he always seemed happy. The last time he went for an actual Meitou visit he flipped out (due to several factors, I think). It was not the best moment at the vet. But once the trauma was done and one of the vet techs gave him cookies he was on his way back to being friendly. I think in the future he will take some special care at the vet.
@whobitme, OMG!! Oni is the same way with strangers! He flips on people when they try to put there face too close to his while touching his head. And some people he likes right away and others not do much. He has to get to know them on his terms. But my friends took him for two nights while I got married recently and after a little while he warmed up to them but he freaked at first!
And vets are not too good! He screams bloody murder if the vet just looks at him and they can't even touch him. Then he pees when we come back to get him. I can't even attempt to trim his nails without a fight an I don't like to stress him.
And here I thought he was just weird, our two are completely alike! It makes me feel better
@laurenmarie They do sound like they are very similar. I haven't had Meitou's nails trimmed in a while and I'm afraid he'll disagree with it now. But! He's always had this quirk where he scratches the ground after he pees, so I've been encouraging it especially when he is on a sidewalk and it has been keeping his nails pretty short.
Over the weekend a family member celebrated her birthday, so I made human-only cake and dog-only cake. Meitou isn't such a big fan of puppy cake, apparently, but Amy loves it.
I also bought the dogs a kiddie pool since we had a few hot days and the day I finally put water in it....it rained, lol. Amy has ignored it and Meitou drinks out of it. I put him in it a few times. I put a few of his toy in it to make it a little more interesting. So far he's not a fan, but I'm optimistic. And I realized all the rubber balls I have for the dogs have holes in them...so they sink in the pool. Alas.
I'm pretty sure this first shot accurately depicts how Meitou feels about me putting him in the pool.
Old Dog Loves Eats.
Practicing commands before cake.
He tried to eat this on the carpet, but I herded him out onto the deck.
I think there is an insult embedded somewhere in those tongue acrobatics.
It's the eye of the cupcake It's the thrill of the food Rising up to the challenge of our stomachs And the last known survivor Takes a cake from the hand And they're watching us all with the eye of the cupcake
(lol...Amy just hijacked Meitou's thread)
And here are some videos of Meitou and the pool. Love the delicate toe taps.
So I've noticed that on one side....Meitou has a hair where the top half of it is black. Uh, the snap? I'm not sure how long that's been there because I hadn't noticed until this past week. It is pretty hard to notice normally...but now that I've found it I can't stop trying to look at it. At first I thought he had picked up some Amy fur, but no. It's seriously attached.
And on a totally different note.
I found Meitou baby pics! I know I have more, but for the life of me I can't find them. These are off my phone.
These first four are from his very first day home. The day of infamy where he explosive pooed all over my kitchen three times in one hour.
So cute! Looks like explosive pooing really takes it out of a pup )
Hanzo does that same thing with the scale. I've treated him enough times when we get to the vet office that anytime he's within reach he'll hop onto the scale and doesn't want to leave until he's been given a treat.
@Saya Yeah, Meitou kept thinking he wanted some whenever he saw Amy get something. But once I actually gave him one he only ate about half of it. Then Amy found the rest and ate it.
@tmd Interesting to know that Meitou isn't the only one that likes the scale. The odd part is that he's never really been treated for it. Verbally praised, yes, but not an actual treat. He's never wanted any treats I've offered when he's on it. So he just gets a lot of happy praise. Who knows, maybe vet scales are super comfy and I've just never known it, lol.
Hello. My name is WhoBitMe, and I have a problem. Sometimes I find that I want another one of those Hokka things. And sometimes I want another one of the BC things.
Conundrum.
------
So, this long weekend I decided to do two hikes. I had a few places in mind, but it didn't work out quite like I planned, lol.
Saturday Hike...explore new trail that branches off one we've been to before.
It started with exploring a tiny off-shoot near the parking lot.
I tried to get to decent standing shots that look as epic as his brother Maruto's show pictures @Krisz but I don't think I was able to pull it off, haha. He really does not like the camera.
Meitou had his usual "wade into the water and drink some but refuse to swim" moment.
Look! You can see the spots all over the underside of his tongue.
And along the first part of the trail we met two kind women riding some beautiful horses. The woman in blue/purple/whatever that color is stopped to ask what sort of dog Meitou was and mentioned that she had an American Akita at home.
Meitou was appropriately cautious when the horses were near us, but once they were further down the trail Meitou wanted to chase them. I think he realized they smelled like, well, horse....and he loves the smell of horse poop.
He climbed into a small waterfall along the side of the trail.
And then we finally hit the new trail that went up hill. Steeply. Uphill.
Tired of Hokkaido butt pictures yet? Sorry. They happen a lot when I hike.
Comments
(He like to kick things at me)
These last two crack me up.
A Meitou head
Something seems different about your face today, Meitou.
Climactic action shot
Not really ready to head home.
And the story ends in naps.
Oh yeah sea water Pearly, Junior and Dink were horrible with trying to drink sea water.
Saya and Bella hasn't seen the beach yet we went to a lake in Wisconsin that had a little kinda sandy area dogs were allowed to swim. both had fun.. Bella got a leech on her that was fun.. it came off when we bathed her guess it didn't like the dog shampoo and water.
That would be Saya she always want to climb up or down hills and even steep hills she will go down if I let her. She does it so easily while I'd have hard time doing it. lol
He looks great in pics love his face so beautiful.
I have the pic problem with Bella who is white sometimes she comes out hard with pics especially when is is bright and sunny.
@Saya Glad to hear Meitou isn't the only dog that wants to scale cliffs. He and Saya can be cliff rebels together, lol. And ew about the leech. *shudder* Leeches are so gross.
This morning I took Meitou to another Barn Hunt trial. And I didn't go alone, lol. My father went with me the first time since he thought Barn Hunt sounded interesting (and he came this time, too), and since then he'd been talking about it a lot to some family friends...and convinced them to try it with their Springer Spaniel. So we all caravaned to the trial site.
I entered Meitou in the instinct test again, as well as novice. I wasn't feeling all that optimistic about our chances, but I figured as long as Meitou had fun then it was a worthwhile endeavor.
Meitou didn't pass the instinct test this time (he already had his title anyway).
When it came time for the novice I wasn't sure what would happen. Meitou has never been fond of tunnels, even as a wee puppy. At the first Barn Hunt trial he happened to go through a tunnel in instinct, so I knew he could do it, I just didn't know if he would. I've been working with him on jumping up on things so I wasn't as worried about that part. And of course I was worried about being able to identify the rat, because I still had (have!) no idea how to tell when Meitou has found the actual rat.
But! Somehow we pulled it off. After some running around he climbed some hay bales, so one out of three was out of the way. After some exploring of the ring the next element we completed was finding the rat. Meitou started sniffing a loose pile of hay and started to dig at it. When I saw there was a tube there I figured "well, if he rolled on the ground for rat bedding in instinct and didn't pay any attention to the totally empty tube, so if he shows some interest with rolling maybe this is the rat." Faulty logic, probably, but I decided to go for it and called Rat; and was surprised when it turned out to be the real rat. The challenge after that was getting Meitou through the tunnel. It took a little effort, but he actually did it. (And as a bonus, our friend's dog also passed her Novice run, and got second place in her height group; and they're talking about taking her out for it again).
And the part people actually care about....Photos and video!
Meitou's RATI ribbon from his first trial in March, and his qualifying ribbon for today's Novice run
Instinct
Novice
I got to see @sandrat888 run Koji and Taiyo. Koji is pretty awesome to watch and Taiyo was super cute!
Edited to add: Meitou was in heaven. There were horse droppings to roll in.
Im not able to see the video, but your story was great- I can picture it!
Does yours do the same thing? Is he winey?
I'll definitely post photos soon
He talks a lot when his breakfast or dinner are involved, and sometimes for treats. He gets talkative randomly. He used to cry piteously when I would leave the house when he was younger. Now he's usually pretty good about it....unless I leave with the Border Collie and leave Meitou at home. Then apparently he pitches a fit, even if he has other people with him. He actually broke a floor lamp recently because he was trying to see out the front window after I left for a me-and-the-old-dog-only walk. Sad day for the pocket book, but now Meitou is much more careful about the area around the window. Still cries, though. He actually tries to force his way out the door now when the old dog goes out. He didn't used to do that.
I can only imagine what life is like for the boarder collie, Hokkas are like tornados! Luckily our Shiba is only 4 so he still has spunk and wants to play but it took 8 months for him to accept Oni and not try to kill him, but I feel bad when he is resting and Oni walks over to him and stands on top of him or bites his neck.
Do you plan on getting any other NK breeds?
As for adding more NK, I've determined I won't be adding another dog to the family until Meitou is over 2 and after my BC has passed on. I don't know that I can handle more than two dogs.
For strangers - He likes his people better than strangers. But he is perfectly willing to greet a good many strangers. But some he doesn't not want approaching him. He can be head-shy if people bend down and/or reach straight for his head. He prefers slower greetings....unless he doesn't. Some people he loves right away for who knows why. And some people he barks at from a distance. While he is usually okay with most strangers he really doesn't like being handled by strangers.
Which leads to the vet...
He's been several times because when my Border Collie was doing poorly health-wise and he seemed to be fine with the vets and the vet techs. But they weren't doing anything to him so he always seemed happy. The last time he went for an actual Meitou visit he flipped out (due to several factors, I think). It was not the best moment at the vet. But once the trauma was done and one of the vet techs gave him cookies he was on his way back to being friendly. I think in the future he will take some special care at the vet.
What's Oni like?
And vets are not too good! He screams bloody murder if the vet just looks at him and they can't even touch him. Then he pees when we come back to get him. I can't even attempt to trim his nails without a fight an I don't like to stress him.
And here I thought he was just weird, our two are completely alike! It makes me feel better
I also bought the dogs a kiddie pool since we had a few hot days and the day I finally put water in it....it rained, lol. Amy has ignored it and Meitou drinks out of it. I put him in it a few times. I put a few of his toy in it to make it a little more interesting. So far he's not a fan, but I'm optimistic. And I realized all the rubber balls I have for the dogs have holes in them...so they sink in the pool. Alas.
I'm pretty sure this first shot accurately depicts how Meitou feels about me putting him in the pool.
Old Dog Loves Eats.
Practicing commands before cake.
He tried to eat this on the carpet, but I herded him out onto the deck.
I think there is an insult embedded somewhere in those tongue acrobatics.
It's the eye of the cupcake
It's the thrill of the food
Rising up to the challenge of our stomachs
And the last known survivor
Takes a cake from the hand
And they're watching us all with the eye of the cupcake
(lol...Amy just hijacked Meitou's thread)
And here are some videos of Meitou and the pool. Love the delicate toe taps.
And on a totally different note.
I found Meitou baby pics! I know I have more, but for the life of me I can't find them. These are off my phone.
These first four are from his very first day home. The day of infamy where he explosive pooed all over my kitchen three times in one hour.
And a little older....
Back when his tongue had hardly any spots.
A random vet visit.
Pics from a different vet visit. Meitou likes to chill on the scale.
Derp 1 and Derp 2
Again
And from this last February: Meitou burying his head in the snow like an ostrich.
Hanzo does that same thing with the scale. I've treated him enough times when we get to the vet office that anytime he's within reach he'll hop onto the scale and doesn't want to leave until he's been given a treat.
@tmd Interesting to know that Meitou isn't the only one that likes the scale. The odd part is that he's never really been treated for it. Verbally praised, yes, but not an actual treat. He's never wanted any treats I've offered when he's on it. So he just gets a lot of happy praise. Who knows, maybe vet scales are super comfy and I've just never known it, lol.
Conundrum.
------
So, this long weekend I decided to do two hikes. I had a few places in mind, but it didn't work out quite like I planned, lol.
Saturday Hike...explore new trail that branches off one we've been to before.
It started with exploring a tiny off-shoot near the parking lot.
I tried to get to decent standing shots that look as epic as his brother Maruto's show pictures @Krisz but I don't think I was able to pull it off, haha. He really does not like the camera.
Meitou had his usual "wade into the water and drink some but refuse to swim" moment.
Look! You can see the spots all over the underside of his tongue.
And along the first part of the trail we met two kind women riding some beautiful horses. The woman in blue/purple/whatever that color is stopped to ask what sort of dog Meitou was and mentioned that she had an American Akita at home.
Meitou was appropriately cautious when the horses were near us, but once they were further down the trail Meitou wanted to chase them. I think he realized they smelled like, well, horse....and he loves the smell of horse poop.
He climbed into a small waterfall along the side of the trail.
And then we finally hit the new trail that went up hill. Steeply. Uphill.
Tired of Hokkaido butt pictures yet? Sorry. They happen a lot when I hike.
Shaking.
Attempt at epic.
(more coming)