Chinese New Year Adventures

After spending 10 Chinese New Years away from home, this year we finally decided to take two weeks off and head back to Asia for the celebration. Of course one of the biggest challenge is to leave Maya behind. Fortunately, Tachi's family kindly offered to look after Maya for a week, and the doggie daycare was available for the other.

If only we can bring her with us

Thanks to Tachi's parents for not only taking a good care of her, but also sending us lots of pictures. She sure had a good time hanging out with her Shiba friend.

Pictures we got from Tachi's parents

Besides the photos with Tachi, we were also surprised by the videos of Maya with their guinea pig Sam. I pretty much held my breath while watching them. 

Once Maya headed to the doggie daycare, she was pretty much off the radar, so we had to find comfort elsewhere, including visiting a neighbor's Shiba Inu, Kuruma in Taiwan. She's a shy girl and usually hides when people look at her, but I did manage to make myself interesting enough to come close for a picture, despite her tail still pointing down.

Shy Shiba girl Kuruma

Besides Taiwan, we also took a short trip to Hong Kong. It's not my first time there, but it's the first time I noticed that there are no dogs in the city at all. The only "dog" I found was on a poster in the subway stations. Ironically, a Shiba Inu pooping on the street.

Poster in Hong Kong subway stations

On our way back to the Bay Area, like our previous trips, we were able to help out the rescues in Taiwan to bring back another 14 dogs to their new forever homes. There's always a dog that gets to me and this time, it was a Golden Retriever named Brian, who was skin and bones when his foster parents found him on the streets. I can tell that the family was so attached to him, but were willing to let go, because they think he'll have a better life in California with more space to roam. It was hard watching them say goodbye.

At Taipei airport getting ready to head back

On our flight back, there was a small hiccup. Our flight landed at 8:30 pm, two hours later than scheduled, and we were supposed to pick up Maya before the daycare closes at 9:00 pm. We came up with a great plan to have Maya's daddy rush off the plane as soon as it stopped, literally running past all the passengers before they had a chance to stand up. By the time I retrieved our carry-ons, passed the super long line at customs, collected our luggage, gathered the dogs, rolled them out, and handed them to the local volunteers at the lobby, Maya's daddy already took the taxi home, drove to the daycare to pick up Maya, and was only minutes away from picking me up. Team effort! (He was still a few minutes late. Thanks to the daycare staff who was willing to wait for him. We would have been very sad if we weren't able to pick up Maya that day.)

Maya slept for two whole days

We were all exhausted after the trip. Maya pretty much slept for two full days while we jet-lagged for an entire week. She smelled like doggie daycare when she got back, but we waited a few days to give her a much needed bath, because we didn't want us coming home to be a negative experience (maybe I was over-thinking...) All-in-all, it was a great trip and we were really happy to see all our family and friends. Wish everyone a wonderful Year of the Horse! 新年快樂！馬年行大運！

Totally not happy about the bath

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Maya!! Can't believe she's already three.

Tachi was here over the weekend for an early celebration. They had a great time zooming, hiking and begging for treats.

We went to Zoom Room tonight and Maya graduated from Agility 2. She'll be starting Agility 3 next week! When we got home, her daddy brought back some New York Steak for dinner. Ah, she swallowed the whole thing without even chewing. I guess that's how she enjoys a good meal.

Maya decided she doesn't need a new toy for birthday and donated to Bella instead. Wish Bella a speedy recovery!

Three Dogs in the House

Over the past week we've been looking after Caspian, who was adopted about a year ago from a local rescue. We weren't so sure if he'll be okey to be left at home during the day, especially when he's in a new environment, because he had some separation anxiety. However, he did well with Maya when we were out, though he sometimes gets over-excited when we return. He doesn't like car rides much and would get too nervous. I was debating whether to bring him along when I took Maya to see Dr. M. Poor Caspian threw up on his way back.

Halfway through Caspian's stay, Tachi joined the pack as well. We were a bit worried, since it's our first time having three dogs in the house, and that Tachi never met Caspian before. We were careful and brought Caspian outdoors to meet with Tachi first when she arrived. After a short walk together Maya joined in, and as soon as they were let off-leash, the three were playing like crazy. Maya and Tachi both know Caspian is smaller, and played much gentler with him than with each other.

The biggest challenge was to walk the three dogs at the same time, because they have very different potty habit: Tachi likes to stay on the road, and only jumps on to the grass area when she really has to go; Maya likes to sniff around the grass to find the "perfect spot"; while Caspian likes to walk by the bushes so he can keep marking. Imagine me tangled up in 3 leases when they all want to go separate directions.

Busy Weekend

Maya had a super busy weekend. On Friday evening, we went to Zoom Room Belmont to check out the classroom. Maya had a lot of fun trying out the agility equipment as well as tasting some yummy treats. Zoom Room Belmont's owner is good friend of ours and we are so happy to have a doggy gym in the neighborhood. We'll probably start taking some agility classes in the up-coming weeks.

On Saturday, we went on a hike with a group of Shiba Inu owners. Maya met her old friend, Tachi, and made some new friends. She was even out-fluffed by a long-coat Akita! We met the Akita's owner on Facebook through Tachi's owner, and later realized that our dads were coworkers, our sisters were kindergarten classmates, and I used to hang out with her sister at our dads' office when we were kids. What a small world!

On Sunday, Caspian came to visit us. He will be staying with us for the next week while his parents go on a vacation. He was a bit nervous when his mommy left and kept looking at the door, but he adjusted pretty well afterwards. This is our first time looking after a non-Shiba, and boy they are different! As oppose to Maya's aloofness, he's such a cuddle bug with 110% recall. This will be a week with lots of hugs and kisses.

Home Sweet Home

We're back! Our Asia trip was awesome, but it's great to be back home with Maya. Thanks to Tachi's parents who took great care of here and kept us updated with lots of pictures.

Maya even got a chance to meet Tachi's guinea pig sister, Sam. According to Tachi's mom, "She was excited at first but once she got used to the gp, Maya was very respectful of gp's space". Whew...

I'll post more about our trip later. Meanwhile, please enjoy some nice shots of the girls.

Ready for Vacation!

Yesterday was Tachi's last day at our house. Overall, it's been a great experience. The girls get alone really well and had spent most of the time together during the two weeks. (For more photos of Tachi and Maya, please see Maya's Facebook album.)

The house feels a lot emptier with one less dog, and we all miss her dearly. But don't worry, because we are meeting her again tomorrow! This time, Maya will be staying at Tachi's for another TWO WEEKS while we travel to Asia. 

This is our first time leaving her at a friend's place instead of a doggie daycare, as well as leaving her for such a long time. Since Tachi behaved so well at our house, it actually made us more nervous whether Maya will be a good girl or not. 

I gave her a bath today, in hope that all the loose hair had came out and that she'll have less fur to spread around. I also pre-mixed her supplements in her dehydrated pet food to make it a bit easier to prepare her meals. So far, she's the only one done packing and ready to go!

Maya's personal grooming station

Ready to go!

Tachi's in the House

Maya's Shiba Inu friend, Tachi, is staying with us again. This time for two whole weeks while her owners travel to Japan. So far (18 hours in), they have been doing great together! 

They were both super excited to see each other when Maya and I went downstairs to meet Tachi and her mommy. After taking them on a short walk around the neighborhood, we headed inside together and they've been wrestling through the entire evening.

This would be a great test for us to see whether we are prepared for having two (well-behaved) dogs. One thing I know I really need to work on, is having better control of two leashes. I found myself tangled up quite often, especially when picking up poop, as they both have the habit of running away from their own mess. I almost spilled poop on myself this morning...

Taking a break after 500 rounds of wrestling

Exhausted after another 500 rounds

Tachi's Weekend Sleepover

It's been a busy weekend in our household. Not only we had two friends staying with us, Maya had her own doggie guest as well. Tachi, another Bay Area Shiba Inu who we met at a meetup, came to stay with us while her owners went on an overnight trip. Tachi is already 8 years old, but still super active and fit.

Maya and Tachi

I was a bit nervous since this is not only our first dog-sitting experience, it's also the first time another dog enters Maya's territory. Before Tachi came over, I made sure to put away all of Maya's toys, food, and water bowls. When they arrived, we took Maya downstairs to greet them, and all went for a walk in the park. They were excited to see each other and walked nicely with each other. Then we took them both back home. We let Tachi explore the area while keeping Maya on leash. Maya didn't seem to mind the intruder at all! Once we let both dogs off leash, they started to play right away.

Waiting for treats

Besides eating, sleeping at night, and when we had to leave the house, they spent the entire two days together. I was surprise how well they get along. On the second day, they acted as if they lived together for a lifetime. It's a bit scary at first when we saw how rough they play with each other, but they've been communicating pretty well. They would pause for a synchronized Shiba shake or stop for a water break together, and agree on another round of play with a glance. They even made the kitchen area their designated timeout zone, and would stay there when either one needs some rest.

Maya has been a bit less itchy in the past few days and Tachi's company seems to help take her mind off of it as well. It's great that she was able to enjoy some cone-free play time.

Let's play!

Water break

Timeout in the kitchen area

It's been a great experience to see how well Maya treated her guest. It gave me much confidence that we are able to handle two dogs if we ever decided to get another one.

Time for a better camera?