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.

Feeding The Queen

I get asked a lot about what I feed Jazz and why. I have friends who think I’m crazy for trying to find different brands of food for the queen and rotating them. After all, I fed my Siberian Husky "Kibbles 'n' Bit 'n' Bits" for 13 years and he was “okay”. I wonder now how much better he would have been or how much longer he would have lived if I had known then what I know now. Most “major” dog foods use ingredients that are not great for your dog. The consumption grade is far below human grade and some of the items shouldn’t be given to dogs at all. Jazz has a grain allergy, so we feed grain free foods. Some day, I’d like to go to a RAW model, but for now, this will have to work.

I am fortunate that I live close enough to Atlanta that I can pick and choose the brands to feed. Most of the brands I use can be found within a 15 minute drive – the rest I have to drive further. I will continue to search for better brands. The cost difference is negligible from one of the “major” brands to these better brands when you figure in the fact that Jazz eats less on the higher quality food.

Jazz’s standard rotation of food looks like this:

Evo’s Small Red Bites - http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1491 – I usually buy the 6.6 lb because of the rotation. Jazz gets ¾ cup of Evo.

Merrick’s Before Grain – http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/bg_dry_dog_food_66.php - Jazz likes the Buffalo and up next is to try the Salmon. Jazz gets ¾ cup of the Buffalo and would get the same amount in the Salmon).

Solid Gold’s Bark at The Moon - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=81&code=120 – Jazz gets ¾ cup of Bark at the Moon. We usually buy the 4lb bag.

Next to Try:
Acana Pacifica Dog - http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/show-product.php?formulation=pfd – Jazz will get ¾ cup on this as well.

Evanger’s – I really wanted Jazz to try this, but I’m waiting on things to clear concerning the recalls.

Ones we’ve tried:
Natural Balance – Jazz likes, but it is not one of her faves – she eats this very slowly. We’ve tried a couple of different varieties. If I have gotten really low on food, I’ll pick this up because it is one of the few I can find in major pet supply stores. Then, the next time I’m in Atlanta I pick up the better food.
Orijen Fish – Jazz loved, but her gas was unbearable
Eukanuba Sensitive Skin – this is what Jazz came to me on – I will not feed her this ever again. Better quality, grain free food has made a massive improvement in her coat.


Supplementals:
Seameal Powder w/Flaxseed Meal - http://www.solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=36&code=591 – Jazz gets this 3 times a week.

Fish Oil – we buy this from our local discount store in the vitamin section. We give Jazz one, whole capsule.


Best References:
http://theyarewhattheyeat.blogspot.com/
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

This week...

What a week! My church just finished up Vacation Bible Camp and it was an absolute blast. Every day after work, I’d head over to my church to volunteer at VBC. You may be wondering what this has to do with the queen. Well, she was just not very happy at the idea of me getting home so late each night. Most nights when I come home, I chase her around a bit and then have a 10-15 minute snuggle time where she catches up on the love she missed during the day. When I came home this week, she went nuts whenever I walked in the door. I got spins and jumps and licks and snuggles! Well, I did every night except for Sunday night. That night, she simply ignored me because I left her at home after being together most of the day.

This weekend we have a Shiba meetup – my only concern is that it’s supposed to be in the mid 90’s – HOT! HOT! HOT! We look forward to seeing our buddies – it’s been a while since we’ve gotten together with everyone.

What would I do without Jazz?

I truly don't know. Here's some background:

My Siberian Husky died in 2003 - I'd had him since 1989. My mom died in 2005. My dad in 2007. Mentally, I was freaking out. I needed something to help take care of - it's part of what makes me, well, me. I'd begun looking for a dog prior to Mom's illness, but I couldn't find the breed I wanted. I wanted a dog like my husky, but not nearly as big. I saw a shiba inu while in Piedmont Park and I fell in love.

I did a little bit of research about the breed and thought "When the time comes, this is the breed". With everything that happened from 2003-2007, I am amazed that I didn't get a dog sooner. They can provide so much healing for the soul. Halfway through 2007, I began looking in earnest for a shiba. I eventually found one through a breeder - she allowed Jazz to go as a rescue as long as I had her spayed. Originally, Jazz was a show dog, but was retired when it was realized that she had an allergy and couldn't be bred.

I drove 6 or so hours up to Winston-Salem to pick her up. In my excitement of talking with the breeder, I had neglected to ask her what the dog's name was. When she told me, I was very excited because I love Jazz music. Jazz rode home that day sleeping on my hand. Every day when I come home, I get an enthusiastic greeting. Jazz isn't super active - she sleeps a lot...even for a shiba, but the greeting I get from her everyday just thrills me.

When I laydown for just a moment, she snuggles up close to me - she knows that I need that recharge. I'm sure others feel the same about their dogs, but I know that every day of my life is better because she is in it.

Off Leash Problems

A friend of mine recently had an altercation with an off-leash dog. He & his wife had the bigger dog (who was the victim of the off-leash dog attack), but had something worse happened than what did, I feel sure his dog would have been blamed. I have a reactive dog when it comes to any other dog. There are a few dogs that Jazz tolerates reasonably (for her) well. There are other dogs that she can’t stand the sight of. It’s not based on breed, gender, size or anything else that I can figure out, she’s just not big on other dogs. We’ve encountered off-leash dogs where I live which means that Jazz must be picked up – she really doesn’t like dogs just running up to her. She’s pretty formal and would like for the dogs to stand some distance away until she notices them and then slowly come to her. It may sound like I’m joking, but I’m not. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been approached by someone saying that their dog is friendly – they get my response of “But, my dog isn’t”.

After thinking about the off-leash problem, I began to ponder what the solution is. Do we ticket owners whose dogs are loose? Aren’t there already leash laws – doesn’t look like that’s working too well. Is it the dog’s fault that their owners just don’t care enough to train them and to walk with them on the leash? Should people have to pass a test to own a dog – prove that they aren’t stupid?

I’m not for more government – less is better….usually. In this case, I don’t know the solution. Just as there are problems with people breeding “designer dogs” [if you own a labradoodle, cocker-poo, etc. – please be advised, it’s a mutt, not a breed of dog], puppy mills, backyard breeders (ones who don’t do any tests on their dogs or show them, but try desperately to find owners for yet another oops! litter), people who don’t care enough about their pet to leash them need to be punished. Instead, you’ll hear the story of a pit bull in his yard that attacked a poor innocent lab – you won’t hear that the pit bull was fenced and chained & the lab was running loose, but just that a violent breed of dog injured America’s favorite breed.

I know that I obsess over my dog. I know that I spoil her. I know that I love her and she loves me. Because of this, it is my responsibility to take care of this dog to the best of my ability. This means – when I see an off-leash dog in an area where they must be leashed, I’m calling animal control. It means that I get to be the “bad guy” who won’t let your dog have the freedom “it deserves”. It means that I care more about your dog than you do.

Blogging....

To Blog or not to Blog, that appears to be the question these days. I don't know how often I'll actually do this, but I'll at least attempt it. I've got friends that blog about some really great things - turns out they are great writers - I am merely sarcastic and a bit caustic at times, so not so sure if anyone will read these abstract musings.

I'm most likely to blog about Jazz. She's a beautiful red shiba inu who'll be 6 in July. She came into my life on September 28, 2007. She's a queen bee (to steal a nickname from KF) and she's feels that she is above most canines and some humans. She prefers to be held, fed well, and given jerky whenever she asks for it.

The photo I've attached was taken May 23 by Jenny & Jon at a recent meetup in Pennsylvania. I feel this is one of the best photos I've ever seen of Jazz and I've seen a lot! Jazz and I left late on Thursday night to stay with friends in Scranton, PA on Friday night. On Saturday, we joined several other Japanese dog enthusiasts for a picnic. It was a great day - Jazz even socialized with some of the dogs...until she's had enough. After that, she was carried about and enjoyed the attention she received from all. On Sunday, we headed home - Jazz spent most of her time sleeping. After all, it's the job of the chauffeur to safely deliver the queen.