Hello!
I am here due to Brad and Jen and their precious babies (love all 4 of them). I have attended 2 shiba get togethers in Atlanta with my baby. Niko is going to be 2 in September and of COURSE is the love and joy of our lives along with her rottie/pitt sister. My husband just informed me that I talk way too much about Niko, even with other shiba lovers....is it possible to talk about them too much? We really want another shiba, but for some reason my husband thinks that 2 dogs and 2 cats are too many.
Well I am here to annoy you all thanks to Brad!!
Here are pics of my baby!!
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Hey!
Thanx for making it over to the forum!!! I'm so stoked you made it!
Jen and I where just talking about how much we love Niko - she is as sweet as our Kaia [I have not met many as sweet as Kaia].
Niko looks very happy in these pics.
~Brad
BTW: I think you came to the right place to talk about your Shiba - I think we are all a little obsessed here.
So glad to be here...maybe it will control my obsession a bit (haha yeah right).
Niko is between 16-18 pounds. The only dog I have seen smaller than her is Kaia (other than puppies of course). But the vet still told us she is overweight and I got very defensive saying that she still had her winter coat...LOL.
Thanks Brad, that makes me so happy! Niko is the biggest stinker and the sweetest baby. When we got her we did tons of research and saw how important it is to socialize her and I think that we may have OVER socialized her!! At the BBQ When the other dogs were going at it Niko would go up as soon as it was all over and act like I got your back, what is going on, Im here to help...little snot! Talking to you about Kaia has given me hope about Sasha...Kaia is just precious!
I love Maui though!! I know why you didnt bring him but he is such a sweetheart! Niko didnt bother him but I cant imagine how he would of been with how hectic the other shiba's were...
Ok, I have to go do something that does NOT involved Niko!
Hello. I guess I have found the right place. I too am addicted and obsessed with my Shiba Omi. We live in Michigan with my husband and 2 girls.
BTW, I am happy that I don't have Niko's vet, cause my baby weighs 23 pounds, and I would have a fit if my vet told me he was overweight. (You can feel his ribs under his coat, but he is still a baby 10 months old.)
Hopefully I attached his picture right.
Anna
[IMG]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z232/annaeli2/June2007007-1.jpg[/IMG]
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z232/annaeli2/?action=view¤t=June2007007-1.jpg
Hi Anna!
Welcome to the forum, your Shiba is very handsome!
23lb isn't too big - he looks thin, I think he is just a beefacke like Nemo [another shiba on this forum]. Our male Shiba is only 18lb, and our female is 16lb but much smaller [she loves food].
BTW: I editied your post so that your pic showed up. If you hit the button by the smiley face you can add a pic that way.
~Brad
Since the last meet didn't go so great w/ Ahi, it looks like she will be staying home too. Akki and Ahi just don't like each other. When we left everyone was probably like "those Anderson dogs are mean".
You are right tho, I think Maui and Niko did well together, probably because she is so sweet and social.
~Brad
Has Ahi had problems before? She is so sweet! Is it because Akkia was so protective? I think Ahi just lays the smack down when someone tries to bully her...
I think that no one was worried about your babies! I assume that people understand that these dogs (japanese) have such strong personalities that it is very possible for some dogs to fight for top dog...I think meeting at a neutral territory may be best. And the whole get together was my idea...opps!
So can you school me on how Kaia has made so much progress? I know you said that she was a lot like how Sasha is now. We are working with a trainer and trying to socialize her but do you have any suggestions?
Maybe we can try to get together sometime with our 6 babies and see how it goes...Maui could knock Niko down a few notches if need be!!
I hope you all have a great 4th!!!
You are right, Ahi will not take any dog [or person] trying to push her around. She is a complex dog - very sweet and loving, but very dominant and reactive. She keeps Jen and I on our toes. To answer your question tho, Ahi has never had an issue like that before. She is very well socialized, she runs with a pack everyday at day camp. I think Akki just set her off, and once she was there she wasn't gonna calm down.
I would love to get the six of us together, that would be great!
As for Kaia, I think it took her close to 2 years to really come out of her shell. She would hide under the furniture when we first got her - but I really think it was Maui that got her to come out of her shell. Maui is a very loving dog, he was very sweet to her when they first met. Before she came to us she was in a great foster house but with a bunch of Shibas, and not all of them where very nice to her... So I think when she met Maui it was like she found her soul mate, they really are like soul mates.
Anyways, it took time. We constantly took her places, giving her treats constantly to help her associate some good with new things. That's the good thing about a rescue, if they where truly alone and had to search for food before you adopt them, they are bound to be extremely motivated by food - on a deeper level than the average dog [just like if you adopt a human]. On that note we used to feed her by hand when we first got her too - that helped her bond with us.
The best thing we did for her tho is get her in a very mellow training class - just basic obedience. We took Maui too so that she would not feel alone. That was what helped the most. The place where Jen works has a great "Problem solving class", we took Maui to 2 of them and they really helped. The classes we attended where for dog aggression / reaction problems but they have other classes geared more towards shy dogs. It was basically an agility class but none of the dogs where off leash. We would walk them through the course simultaneously, in order, this would force the dogs to have to 'work' while being surrounded by other stressed dogs. It forced them to concentrate, it was a way to overload them with there phobias w/o breaking there confidence. It worked REALLY well with Maui. I highly recommend it. If you are interested I can get you in contact with the behaviorist that runs it.
Well if I think of anything else I'll let you know. Hope you have a great 4th too!
~Brad