Kunoichi: Doggie Ninja

Well, Ichi and I managed to survive the holidays. And before my mother sees that and decides to infer something, let me put plainly: I HAD NO INTERNET. Yes, I consider no internet for 9 days having to survive. I’m addicted. What can I say.

Surprisingly, Ichi was very calm through most of the holidays. She’s had the typical trouble of readjusting now that we’re home again, but even Joey remarked that he had never seen her so calm. And then there was dinner…

Last night was interesting. It’s like the one time I can ever fully get away with saying that a whiney bitch kept me up all night. Backstory: we’re having icky weather up here and she really doesn’t like the rain. 4am she started with the howling and didn’t stop until I moved her kennel to my room and said “stop” or “no” every time she started until 6:45am.

She’s also finally learned that begging works a lot better than demanding. Before she would jump all over you to get what she wanted, but via 2 holidays in a row, she’s figured out that sitting in the middle of the floor with this “I’m a good doggie, don’t I deserve a treat for how long I’ve sat here looking cute” face will get her pretty much anything she wants (see picture). Like cheese or steak or cheese covered chicken. Yep, she’s spoiled. (more…)

Case in point: it’s my birthday today, so I took the day off from work. Ichi’s been extremely good all day, except for when my friend Dawn came to take me to lunch. Ichi barked constantly. If I hadn’t had her on a leash, she probably would have been more than just annoying. Before dinner, I clipped her nails. Very few problems (in that she thinks the clippers are a toy and wants to play with them). Then we went for a walk, remember she barked and was aggressive to Dawn. Well, on the walk she sat when I asked, came when I called and licked the mailman. 

Yes, my dog barks at friends but loves the mailman. She’s a little odd. 

I busted out her Christmas toys from last year. Since she was so little then, very few of them even look used. WELL, not anymore. The rubbery candy cane is already history. The stuffed santa hat is in the destuffing process. The GIANT SANTA, missing his santa hat poof. 

Also, she’s gotten VERY FOND of jumping up on the couches. Provoked or not. But she’s doing so much better on stay, come, roll over and we’re SOOOO close on the carrot on the nose trick. I keep telling her that if she learns it, she’ll get more treats, not less. Everyone will want to see it. If only she saw the benefits of the party tricks. 

I think Ichi’s just excited for her first Thanksgiving with us. Also, I think she’s counting on things to fall from tables and counters…she’ll take anything, but she’s clearly hoping for cheese and meats.

In other November news…I made a very grown up purchase. I think Mom and Dad were willing to chip in as party of my birthday partially becuase this is the first time in years I didn’t get a video game related item for my birthday. See, I’m growing up. It was a couch/loveseat set from Ashley furniture. Boy it’s nice to no longer have nails poking me in the back from the papasan chair.

Ichi’s favorite aspect of the new couches is that the combo forms a small traingle area in between them. Becuase of the way they are shaped, the table doesn’t close off this area. She now has her own tunnell like place in the apartment. Also, when there is company, she sits in between the loveseat and the sofa so she can get petted by everyone.

But yes, we leave in a few days for much good food and insane shopping (BlackFriday.info). I’ve committed to making cheesecake and I’ve picked it out.  I’ll let you know how it goes. BTW, here’s the one I made for St. Patrick’s Day. Bailey’s Irish Coffee Cheesecake. Thanksgiving will be Pumpkin Caramel.

Well, it’s been a while. At first I was waiting for her birthday to post and then I got busy with all kinds of stuff. Ichi got a football from planet dog, a tug-a-jug and a sushi plush toy set.

In the weeks surrounding her birthday she has really learned how to test her limits. She’s constantly putting a paw on the couch or the tables and has even gotten a little more aggressive. Additionally, she’s gotten sick twice because, as a part of testing her limits, she tries to get and eat anything she’s not supposed to (like banana laffy taffy).

Yesterday during the election she pretty much slept. I don’t know if they wore her out at the vet, but she definitely wasn’t her usual playful self. But at least she didn’t get sick again.

But since this was quite an occassion, more pictures after the cut.

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Well, Ichi turns one year old on the 20th. Hard to believe huh? Surprisingly, her birthday presents arrived WAY earlier than expected. Some are too cute for our enjoyment alone, so I’m waiting until I have someone else around or her actual birthday rolls around to give them to her. BUT, after the firing of Tony Franklin yesterday, i decided there was one that she NEEDED. See picture.

The way I figure, she’d make an EXCELLENT Offensive Coordinator. She clearly knows how to run and how to avoid her would be tacklers. She’s great at recovering fumbles. But she KNOWS how to hold onto the ball in the first place. As for playcalling, I’m sure we can rig up some sort of mat-to-voice situation. No one will be able to figure out her erratic playcalling. Defenses have never prepped for a dog-written offense. After all, what’s the worst she could do? Lose to Vandy for the first time in 53 years? OH WAIT SHE CAN’T.

Oh and this is her first football toy. Why I didn’t have one ready to go for football season along with her a jersey, I don’t know. I would have had her a jersey on day one of living with me if I she hadn’t been so tiny (aka, I knew she would grow out of it). Note that it’s a little big for her. It also smells of peppermint and can have kibble put in it. It’s not indestructible persay, but it is supposed to be virtually indestructible. I did have to teach her how to get it in her mouth (weird visions going through your head aren’t there?) and how to know there was kibble in it. Technically I got it from Amazon, but it’s from <a href = “http://www.planetdog.com”>Planet Dog</a> in case you were wondering.

So, I’m pretty sure every parent goes through this, well, not exactly this (I hope), but a similar thing. While I’m not officially a parent, there are many times that I feel like one.

Backstory: I hate putting Ichi in her kennell, mostly because I think she hates it. She’ll walk over to it and sit down in front of it, but often not go inside. And I really hate to have her in there while I’m at work. So, when she was tiny, I rarely did. She was often just in the bathroom area with the door closed but not in her kennel. Until she decided that linoleum looked tasty.

From that point she’s been in her kennel while I sleep or am at work. That adds up to a lot. But after the carpet, the rugs and the linoleum, what else could I do? She also eats in there, and months ago she got into the habit of chewing on the door too.

Everything can be fixed, I know, but it’s more important to me to get her behaving when i’m not around. Quite the daunting task. The plan was to gradually increase her freedom. She started with an hour in the bathroom while I was around. That graduated to an hour while I wasn’t around and then to staying alone in the bathroom while I was at work for half a day. Yesterday we tried a whole day. Click for the results.

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Well, first off, I retract any statements I’ve made anywhere about 8 gold medals. Apparently the goal of them produced fantastic ratings, better acknowledgement for swimming (which my alma mater would enjoy I’m sure) and got athletes to the pool that wouldn’t normally be there (Kobe, LeBron, etc.). So go USA and WAR EAGLE. Auburn picked up 13 medals in swimming. Last I checked, we had 14 total….which, if you are obsessed with the Olympics like I am, would place us 11th in the medal count if Auburn were a country. Not bad at all.

On to more relevant stuff….I got a dyson to take care of the fur. And Ichi got in a fight. Mom and Dad came up Saturday and my former youth minister causes me to make wacky Olympic related macros. Gotta say, he’s kind of right about the Bird’s Nest looking like a doughnut. Especially when you apply the doughnut portion of

the picture

Click more pictures of Ichi and details on her fight. Oh and a somewhat review of the dyson animal that I got. And the doughnut formerly known as the Bird’s Nest.

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Ichi has started displaying some odd behavior.  I keep saying she’s getting calmer, but I think in reality, she’s just getting calmer with me.

It used to be that Ichi would take her toy of the moment and settle with it between the coffee table and dining room. It should be noted this is NOT where her bed is. It’s just happily in the middle of all potential traffic in the apartment.

Well, that’s changed. Sort of. She still takes toys over there, but she’s much less likely to be obsessed with playtime when it’s just me and her. Nope, these days she plops herself right in front of my ottoman and watches tv with me or takes a nap. That or she hops into the chair (and my arms) and gets scratched for like an hour. Again, this is my payback for my behavior as a small child. But I was under the understanding that Shibas are not lap dogs and as such are not overly affectionate. Lately, she is SUPER affectionate and pretty much follows me everywhere.

But that’s all when it’s JUST ME in the house. Keep reading for the “other people” issues.

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Well, first off, Ichi and I made our first trip to the fairly new Huntsville Dog Park. To be fair, the Huntsville Dog Park was a nice place to congregate, but it’s basically a chainlink fenced in area under the interstate. However, kudos to whoever thought of putting it there, what a great way to use the area under the interstates! The shade was nice.

When we first walked in, every dog in the area came to check out Ichi. I swear, she thinks she’s a movie star or something cause everyone loves her. Eventually, she grew tired of her puparazzi and decided to check things out, which also involved shunning the dogs. Eventually I got her back to the dogs and owners (so I felt less awkward) and she started to play a bit. Honestly, what good is going to the dog park if she just chills on her own?  And at some point, play, turned to chase. This may have been the first time Ichi ever realized she’s not a big dog.

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It’s coming along. It would probably be infinitely speedier if Ichi would calm down a bit. Last night was one of the few times I knew what she wanted, but alas, I know my dog and even if I had acted upon that, it wouldn’t have worked. There are just certain things ya notice (one of them being that she will not, for any reason, cross the concrete drainage area of the lake at the complex). And she’s gone back to not eating when it’s been laid out for her, too stuck on play time.

Speaking of playtime, that’s exactly what she thought we were having while I was scanning stuff yesterday. I guess she doesn’t realize that it’s not a flatbed scanner and I don’t have to wait a million years for the completion of one document. She attempted to chew on everything in retaliation. I gave her squeaky toys, bones, anything I could think of….but she wanted none of it. She wanted what she wanted and would accept no substitutes. It felt quite like a temper tantrum. More on another of her temper tantrums later. Scansnap now.

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