Well, I'm enjoying Day 7 of vacation - I only have a few more days left. Jazz will be obnoxious by the time I go back to work. We've had a nice holiday together and I am really enjoying the time off from work & responsibilities. Jazz's secret Santa Paws sent some neat things - some sweet potato sticks, lamb jerky, and kong braided buddy monkey. Jazz has been carrying the monkey around everywhere! She's not much for toys, despite the huge box of toys that she has, but when she takes a liking to one, she'll carry it around until the thing falls apart from her misuse.

November is here

Well, the holiday season is in full swing. Just slid past Halloween, next is Veteran's Day, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Jazz has been out and about lately - she gave pumpkins away before Halloween and has been seen hanging around in her sling at various events at The Orchard Church in Loganville, GA.

Recently, I exchanged Jazz's name in a secret santa paws gift exchange. It got me to thinking about the treats that Jazz gets. A fair amount of them are Nylabone. Her other favorites are Bison & Pheasant Jerky, Elk antlers, Pig snouts, and sweet potatoes. As with her food, treats are checked for corn ingredients - I'm always amazed at our corn sneaks into some of the most unlikely of places (jerky, for instance).

Recent Adventures...

Well, we’ve done a few things since I last wrote anything down. On October 17th, we participated in a walk for a cure for Mitochondrial Diseases. Jazz hung around in the sling for four hours. She was loved on by a lot of kids and adults. We had several trains to go by, blowing their horn, and Jazz never reacted. She was an excellent ambassador for dogs that day!

On the 20th, we headed out to PetSmart for a costume contest. While Jazz did not win, she was very cute! She was beat out by an Aviator and a French Maid. She didn't growl at any dog that was there, but was not amused by 2 Jack Russells on a Flexi-leash....oh well, neither was I.

2 years ago today - September 29

I was talking with a friend today and realized that it has been 2 years exactly since I picked Jazz up from her breeder. In honor of that momentous occasion, I've pulled some dates from the last 6 years that led me to where I am today.

September 28, 2003 – Beloved Husky, Torbin Vladimir of Gorky Park passed away in his sleep.
June 2004 – caught sight of gorgeous dog, called a Shiba, makes me think of a blond Gorky, wouldn’t it be nice to have a small version of a husky??
August 2004 – New house is finished, where will the dog area be??
February 2005 – Caught a dog show on TV, saw the Shiba again, must do more research on it, the Akita, and the Norwegian Elkhound.
September 2005 – I think Dad would deal better with Mom’s death if we had a dog. Start researching the Shiba, eliminated Akita due to size – I want the kids to easily be able to walk the dog, can’t find anyone local with an Elkhound to meet.
January 2006 – Maybe the time isn’t right for a dog, Steve just got a new job and I’m working crazy hours again, got to put it off again.
July 2006 – just spent the week with brother Joe, his Samoyeds make me long to have a dog in my life again.
September 2006 – Fall Ball has started, where could I fit in the time for a dog—I’m never home!
April 2007 – Dad wants me to find a dog – I told him I’ve found the breed, it’ll be a lot like Gorky, just smaller.
May 2007 – I’ll get the Shiba in Dad’s memory.
June 2007 – There are so many breeders, who do I pick? How do I know who has the best dogs?
August 2007 – got an email about a Shiba in Athens for rescue. Called Steve (my brother), he’s good with the plan.
September 2007 – emailed every Shiba breeder on the east coast that does rescue – maybe drive to OH to pick up a Shiba?
September 15, 2007 – heard back from a breeder in NC, has a Shiba that has a skin allergy and doesn’t like other dogs. All I have to do is drive to NC.
Saturday, September 29, 2007 – left house at 5 am to go pickup rental car from airport to drive to Winston-Salem, NC. Met with the breeder for 10 minutes and was on my way with my Shiba. Spent the drive talking to Jazz.
October 2007 - attended 1st Shiba meetup - Jazz has a few issues with other dogs - will have to work on this.
December 2007 - another Shiba meetup - met Rachael & Chad and Dave.
March 2008 - joined this crazy forum called Nihonken.org - switched Jazz to a grain-free food rotation
April 2008 - did Pet Parade with Jazz
May 2008 - did 5K with Jazz, learned about Melatonin
June 2008 - Jazz plays with Jake - only growls a couple of times
August 2008 - brought home Fletch, rehomed after 2 weeks - Jazz wasn’t upset, participated in local dog show
September 2008 - Jazz gets a new friend, Sally the pug, Jazz shows her stuff at several responsible dog owner days with local AKC clubs
October-November 2008 - several playdates @ Rachael’s - Jazz is doing better with Niko
December 2008 - Jazz snarls and nips Niko
January 2009 - met Brad & Jen, Pam & Tim
February 2009 - started working on noise aversion training, met Victoria Stilwell
March 2009 - got to see Jazz “play” in the snow
May 2009 - took Jazz to a Braves ball game, drove with Jazz to PA to meet Jen & John, Kristin & Chris, Kris & Dan, Joe & Dawn, Beth & Tom, Casey, Jenny & Jon, Steph, Jason, Pam, and a few more crazy shiba people
July 2009 - moved, Jazz dealt with it great!! Had a watermelon social at a local park - Jazz got lots of attention.
August 2009 - took Jazz to fair at church - she played and was unfazed by the loud music.
September 2009 - met up with Pam on her way through Atlanta - on way back, met up with Pam @Dave's for a great breakfast.

We haven't posted much lately, but we've been pretty busy! There have been meetups, dog shows, photo shoots, a guest appearance and dinner with an out-of-town friend. In addition, Jazz has begun shedding, so there's been some extra grooming going on around here.

The meetup was a small group, but nice. The location - Camp Woof, Norcross, GA - was nice. They have a great store.

The dog show was fun, even though Jazz was unable to attend. There were some pretty shibas, but none came close to Jazz. LJ got to meet up with her shiba club, while forum members were gathering in Wisconsin. As much fun as the dog show was, she'd much rather have been in Wisconsin.

LJ borrowed a nice camera and took quite a few shots of Jazz - some turned out very nice - she needs to buy a dSLR very soon.

Jazz was a drawing card for a fair at the Church - lots of people stopped by for Jazz love.

Lastly, our friend Pam was passing through Atlanta and we got to have dinner with her - very nice. We're looking forward to doing this again real soon.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Transitions...

It was recently brought to my attention that I have been slacking on updating the Queen’s blog. Well, there’s been a lot going on and we are just now beginning to catch up.

Jazz did fairly well over the 4th of July. The occasional fireworks really did not freak her out, but the back to back ones really did. She took some melatonin, but it only goes so far. The following week, we moved. It wasn’t very far, but it did take us several days. I was really pleased with how well the Queen handled the move. We’ve had a few moments of despair…like realizing that her command of “carpet” doesn’t work when there’s no carpet on the floors. Over this last week, she’s picked up on the fact that “carpet” is that piece of a rug that’s 10 feet from the door.

We’ve had one major escape and one minor. The minor one happened when I wasn’t home and she just went out to the car. The major one had her going to the ditch beside the road to go to the bathroom. We had only been in the house a couple of days, so she had not yet designated a “bathroom” spot. I was at home when the major one occurred and I really freaked. As Jazz came back, she had this look on her face of, “Really? You thought I was leaving? Puh-leeze!”

Her “area” (crate, rugs, pillows, & blankets) were some of the first things set up. I think this was a major part of her being very clam about the transition. The house is still in transition, but she has settled in quite nicely.

The pic of her is from her nightly ritual of snuggling up to either a stuffed duck or her Freddy Frankenstein. It’s tough to get a shot of her, so this was taken with a camera phone - please ignore the general crappiness of the photo.