Kihaku Shibas’s blog entries have up and moved to Wordpress!! I hope you enjoy the blogs changes and where it is headed for its future.
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It’s Raining Foster Dogs
Posted in NYCSR, fostering on 07/04/2008 02:12 am by nikkoth
Well my house is filled to the brim. There are Shibas everywhere. After Ginger left I still had Prince. Add to that Tasha, who is technically being fostered by my mom, but I am looking after her Shiba when she is working with Tasha. To add to that, Toshi, a stray from the Philly Pound came here on Monday because we are just out of foster space. So at total count, I have 6-7 dogs in here at any given time. Thank goodness for crates. All the fosters are doing well for the most part. Prince is coming around and has really learned to trust. He even calms down when he gets wound up just by saying “stop”. Tasha has really started to come out of her shell. She is eager to come out for a pat or a scritch and finally runs around mom’s house with her tail up. She also gets along perfectly with all the other dogs. She couldn’t care less about them. And finally Toshi. Poor Toshi. A Shiba on the euthanasia list at the Philly Pound. The rescue pulled him from there on Monday and he has taken the whole ordeal very well. As far as we know, he was a street stray. He has no understanding of what a house is or even what people really are. He is cautious but friendly and will put up with anything. He is happy to stand there and be petted but does not have any understanding of basic commands. He also wants to mark my whole house. Guess marking is the first and foremost behavior on my list to fix. So if anyone reading this is in the NYC Metro Area, please consider fostering a needy Shiba. And if you are not in our area or are simply not a Shiba person, please consider fostering for another needy organization. Rescues are always grateful to have more foster homes and if the dogs could say so, they would thank you too. It can be hard work sometimes, but nothing in this world is more rewarding for me and I know there are other people out there who would feel the same if they just opened their door to a dog in need.
Foster Updates
Posted in NYCSR, fostering on 06/12/2008 02:15 pm by nikkothWell, Ginger is off the another foster for behavior modification testing. I miss her. As much as I tried not to become attached, she really weaseled her way into our family. He social issue were never as bad as most of the other dogs I have worked with. She will make a wonderful companion for someone and I hope her best years are still to come.
Prince is doing well. His snappy behavior has improve immensely. He is much more happy and outgoing. He look to me know for instruction, which is huge because before he used to just run around aimlessly and get into trouble. He loves to come in from outside now because treats and training come soon after. He sits by default now and downs are coming slowly. His loose lead walking is improving and he is starting to get with the program. I think he will make a wonderful buddy for someone who wants to keep training with him and enriching his life.
Dog Camp 2008!!
Posted in Company of Dog, Kihaku, Mashi, Saphira, training on 05/30/2008 09:05 pm by nikkothWe had a BLAST! Mashi, Saphira and I packed our stuff and headed to Centenary College in Hackettstown NJ last Friday to attend Camp Barking Hills. We attended so many fun and fascinating classes and accomplished so much. Here is a breakdown of what we took:
Friday night:
Presentation of Classes
Saturday:
Better Training Through Communication — Shaping with Verbal Cues or Clickers, Pet Tricks A, Recall Remedies P1, Swimming Lessons (yes Mashi, a shiba, swam), CGC Prep A, Dealing with Fears and Phobias, Canine Olympics
Sunday:
Skateboarding, Pet Tricks B, Recall Remedies P2, On the Ball: Fitness and Conditioning, Pampered Pooch Cooking Seminar, CGC Prep B, Canine Troubleshooting, Craft Night,
Monday:
Two CGC Tests (Both Passed!!) and Self Control, followed by awards and tricky tray.
It was an amazing weekend. Mashi’s team won the Canine Olympics, both of them earned their CGC’s (while Flyball was going on in the same gym), and we learned so many things. I wish that it happened twice a year. We had such a fabulous time and I can’t wait to go back again next year.
Fostering a Happy Stable Dog
Posted in education, fostering on 05/29/2008 03:20 pm by nikkothDog Camp was this past weekend. It was an amazing blast and I will write more about that later. But I wanted to address a topic that camp brought up while I was there. One of the instructors, brought up how she fosters the tough dogs. The reactive, fearful, and aggressive dogs. This is where Dawn and I have a lot in common.
I foster the hard case dogs for NYC Shiba Rescue. The ones that have bit, the ones with food aggression, the reactive ones. I like working with these dogs because I feel like they need a fair chance. They need someone who can get down deep and see if the problems can be figured out. I like being the tough dogs second chance.
What came up in conversation was how our own dogs are so different from the fosters. Not in issues but more in behavior. For the most part, my fosters are better behaved then my own dogs. When looking back at this and talking about it I realized why. Because I run I tight ship at home, especially for my fosters. I also don’t let my fosters get away with bad behavior from the start.
To rehabilitate them better, I only ask one thing of them, to be happy, stable dogs. I take all the guess work out of their lives. They have a schedule to depend on. They know when feeding will be, when training will be, and know that they do not have to worry about anything. They simply get to be the dogs they never got to be before. Without unnecessary stresses, they become more confident, stable and calm. They start to listen and look to me for instructions within days and issues melt away. Once they are settled in I can focus on the stimuli that sets off their issues (if I can find any) and desensitize it. Since they are not effected by other stresses their issues fade quickly and they become wonderful companions.
Now off to give Ginger a big hug. She has come so far and I am so proud of her. She will make someone extremely happy someday.
