What was I thinking

When we decided to get a Shiba Inu puppy, we did our research. We bought a book about Shibas. We talked to owners of Shibas. We went to a puppy potty training class. One thing we heard over and over was that Shibas like to be clean and practically housebreak themselves.

Yeah, right.

From day one we have had a challenge with little miss Hollyberry. We take her outside and stand by "the tree" and get NOTHING. Then we would walk her around the yard and were thrilled if she went anywhere outside (rare). It's been over 2 weeks and I feel its worse than ever.

Holly is not one to be vocal about needing to go outside, but we have tried to be pro-active and take her out often. Still, we'll spend 15 min outside, come in, follow her around and the minute our back is turned is when she squats. While we are picking up that mess, she leaves a deposit down the hall.

I've read the books on crate training, and I'm probably doing this wrong. If I read correctly, she should be spending the bulk of the day inside her crate, and I'm not doing this. What I am doing is keeping all the doors shut on the main floor and the stairs are gated so she is forced to be near me while I work at the kitchen table. I am trying to watch for her cues that she needs to go out, but I'm not seeing them.

This afternoon, Holly was bouncing from the stairs to the door to the living room and back. I thought maybe she needed to go out, so I got the leash and "rang the bell" and she plopped down and just looked at me like, "are you kidding me? I was just out a half hour ago." So then I thought maybe she was looking for my son. I stopped working and spent a few minutes playing with her. The moment I sat down, I smelt it. Yep, she left me a gift in the hallway.

So what am I doing wrong? I take her out as soon as we get up in the morning and she does nothing. I feed her and then I stand over her, waiting for her to squat so I can grab her and take her outside. Nothing. But if I turn my back....

When we first brought her home, her food and water bowl were in the dining room, but when we watched her drink and take one step back to piddle, we moved the bowls next to the back door. For a week it seemed she would only go potty out in the mudroom. We thought, okay, maybe we're getting closer (although, pee loves to run down the grout on tile floor and expands quickly.) Staying in one room didn't last.

We've tried the training pads to no avail, either. Once in a great while she actually uses the pad, and we applaud her for that (it's a heck of a lot better than the floor), but more often than not, she skips the pad and pees a foot away from it. I've even watched Holly drink and pee at the same time. Yuck!

BUT THE ABSOLUTE WORSE THING.... is that she eats her poop. Yep. Since she waits until our back is turned to do the deed, its tough for us to get to her fast enough to get her away so we can clean.

Other than house breaking our new pup, Hollyberry is a wonderful girl. She LOVES kids. I take her down to the elementary school almost every day and the kids surround her and she sits quietly letting them pet her. I've introduced her to several dogs in the neighborhood and to my sister's dog, almost all with good results.

Saturday, Hollyberry found her voice. Other than 1 little bark on day 3, she's been very quiet. On Saturday, I brought her outside and she saw a girl playing on her swingset 2 houses up from hers. Holly went crazy. She barked for over 10 min. I didn't get it. Then it dawned on me later. The girl playing was not paying attention to Holly. Could Holly been calling her over? "Come play with me? Come adore me? Come pay attention to the princess?"

We are thrilled to have such a good puppy in our midst. Now, if only she will learn to go potty OUTSIDE so my house can stop smelling like poo, I would appreciate it.

And the sleep deprivation begins

This has been a wonderful week with our new puppy. Hollyberry has been a good girl... most of the time. I take her to the school and she's fabulous with the kids who surround her and pet her. She's met several of the dogs in the neighborhood and has been calm and met them nose to nose.

But, much like a new baby, it hasn't been all roses. Holly has christened many rooms in our home, but it's mostly our mudroom, thankfully. No matter how long I take her out for, she waits until we come back inside to poop. And then attempts to eat it. Yuck! That grossed me out.

But it is night time that is getting to me. Take last night. I thought for sure she would sleep well. Yesterday we had beautiful weather. My son got home from school and the two of them ran circles around each other in the back yard. Then at eight pm we all went for a walk. So why was she up at midnight, 2 am and again at 5am? She went potty at midnight but at 2 she woke us again. No potty this time. She wanted to PLAY. Seriously?

Because I'm home during the day, I feel I need to be the one getting up with her at night, so my husband, while being disturbed by us getting up, can at least stay in bed and get more rest. Does this mean I sleep in in the morning? No. I'm up at 6 with him to take care of the pup while my husband gets ready for work. That means I am no up several times a night and out of bed an hour earlier every morning that I was before.

I also have a 7 yr old who is getting up earlier every day and I've been seeing more emotions from him. Yes, I think we are seeing the effects of less sleep from him. And then I also think my son is still trying to handle the death of our first puppy. We picked up Holly on Sunday and on Monday when it was time to go to school, I overheard my son talking under his breath. "She'll still be here when I get home." When I tucked him in last night, he said, "I still miss Seiko."

It's only been 5 days since Hollyberry became a member of our family. While Seiko was only IN our home for 2, she had been a member for the 6 weeks before we actually brought her home. It will take time for us to heal, but I have to admit, we trully lucked out with Holly's sweet nature.

Now, if only she will sleep at night.

So we got a puppy

Yesterday we got a puppy. She is a 12 week old Shiba Inu born on Christmas day. Shiba's come in a few different colors: red, red sesame, black and tan, and cream. Ours is a red and with her birthdate, we decided to name her Hollyberry.

First let me start with our journey in getting this pup. When my husband and I were dating we saw someone with an Akita and fell in love with the dog. The foxlike features were so beautiful, we decided then and there that someday we would own an Akita. We researched and discovered Akitas are strong, independant dogs that take a LOT of committment to own. We were okay with that. But life, of course, throws curve balls and it took us eleven years before we were ready to get a dog.

Our son is 7 yrs old and has been asking for a puppy for several years. On January 30, 2010, my husband and I were in the mall and we went into the pet store.... WE NEVER go into the pet store. There he was, a Shiba Inu and he looked just like an Akita. The store let us play with the dog for about a 1/2 hour and we fell in love. We went home and researched Shiba Inus. They are the original Akita. Where Akitas get to be about 80 lbs, the Shiba gets to be about 20-25 lbs. Okay, they are MUCH smaller than we ever planned, but definitely a good fit for our son.

Then we found a breeder only an hour away and they had a new litter... only 2 weeks old. We went up the next day and chose a pup. She was a red, female. We came home, bought a Shiba Inu calendar and started the countdown. 41 days until she was old enough to come home.

The next six weeks were all about the puppy. Buying crates, food, toys... everything she would need. We went to a puppy potty training class. We watched The Dog Whisperer. We watched everything to do with dogs. We went up to visit Seiko when she was 5 weeks and played with her. We were ready.

The day arrived. Friday, March 12th, we brought home Seiko (our Japanese watch dog). She was TINY, only 2 1/2 lbs and was nothing more than a little furball. Friday, my son chased her around the house, they cuddled. We all bonded. Saturday, I was at my writer's meeting and Seiko was home with my husband and son all day. Every time I called ... like a new mom away from her baby for the first time... Seiko was sleeping. Sunday morning, though, we woke to her being sick. It was coming out liquid on both ends. We called the breeder and they said bring her back. We had no idea she was as sick as she was and on that Wed, Seiko passed away from parvovirus.

We were all devestated. We cried all week. But of course our breeder gave us a replacement puppy. Now we had to prepare for Hollyberry to come home. With Seiko having parvovirus, we took no chances. I threw out the rug in the living room and the rugs in the mudroom, both of which she got sick on. I bleached the floors 2 days in a row then steam cleaned them on the 3rd day. All Seiko's toys were tossed away. Crates were bleached.

Yesterday arrived with mixed emotions. My son even had a stomach ache with nerves. Now, he couldn't explain it, but I figure he was scared this dog would die too. It broke my heart. But we traveled the hour north to the kennel.

They brought out Hollyberry and OMG! She is so much bigger than Seiko. She came into the room and was like a tornado, running around, playing with her toy, and pouncing all over the place. But when I was able to grab her, she settled nicely in my arms. A good sign? I hope so.

We brought her home. Now we prepare for life with a puppy. Holly seems to be happy. We took her for walks but she refused to go potty while we were out. Figures. We've had a few accidents inside. We'll work on that, I guess.

We went to bed around 10 and took her out before that but she refused to go potty. I got up with her at 3 and took her out. Nothing. Got up with her at 6, took her out. Nothing. Finally at 7, she ate, drank and pee'd before we had time to react.

Yep, it's going to be a fun journey. We are all looking forward to it, and I hope you'll take the journey with me. Will I post every day? Probably not. But I will try to post weekly and let you know how life with a Shiba Inu is going.

Will all my posts be about Hollyberry? No. I'm a wife, mom, and writer. My son makes me laugh so much, that I will have to post about his antics as well.

I look forward to meeting new people... moms and dog owners alike, as I forage into the world of blogging.

TTFN!