Doggie Social

Over the past few months, we've been having fun going on walks, meetups, and parties. I started to learn what type of meetings works for her, what kind of dogs she likes, and what environment makes her feel more comfortable. Here are some highlights of her busy social life.

Weekly walks with Maya's BFF Tachi. Since we live close to each other, sometimes the moms will go out for an early evening walk during the weekdays.

Taking over Stanford University with Shiba Inu and Akita friends.

Zuko and Autumn also need some space on-leash, so we kept our distance and enjoyed the walk together.

Once in a while we go into the dog park when it's less crowded. However, she rarely plays in there.

She likes Caspian's company. He may be small in size, but he knows how to play rough!

Maya has a weird relationship with 12 years old DonDon. The first time they met, Maya was still an annoying 4 month old puppy. She tried to jump on DonDon, and he gave her a firm "NO". Ever since then, Maya somehow just adores him and tried all her tricks to get him to play, but he pretty much just ignores her.

We also started to participate in a weekly Fort Funston Shiba walk group. This is a magical place for Maya.

During one of our walks with Tachi, we also met Coconut. Coconut is a bit younger and too jumpy for Maya's liking, so she was growling at Coconut when they first met. After a long walk, they were doing great next to each other.

We were also happy to see another fluffy Shiba, Tira, at one of the meetups.

Occasionally, we run into another neighborhood Shiba, Musashi. I was a bit reluctant to let them meet on leash, but he was a good boy and left Maya alone when she growled. While I was talking to Musashi's owner, Maya started to sniff around with him, peacefully in the same space. Ever since then, Maya's always excited and happy when we run into each other. I jokingly say that she has a secret crush on him!

A very special meetup was with Actaeas and the Ti Family. Their owners live in Southern California, but also came from Taiwan. We "met" each other online via social media. They came to the Bay Area for a weekend road trip, and we got to meet them at the beach. More awesome shots of the meetup can be found here and here.

Another awesome meet, was with my junior high school friend, who brought her two dogs, Tumi and Poggi, from LA. We knew each other for a long long time, and I followed her doggie posts since they joined the family, but this was the first time I met them.

At the end of spring, Tachi also came to stay with us for a whole week while her owners went on a vacation. (More photos here.)

We took Maya and Tachi to the annual Shiba Party. To be honest, it's more of an event for the humans than for the dogs. I'm glad I got a nice playpen for Maya, so she could have her own space while I chatted with other owners. (More photos here.)

Last but not least, we had a "long coat meetup" with 5 fluffy Shibas and 2 fluffy Akitas. Long coat in both breeds are due to recessive gene and a fault in the breed standards. Nevertheless, they are great pets and super duper cute! There were groups of people taking pictures of them everywhere we went that day.

I am a shy person in general. I usually feel uncomfortable meeting strangers, or hanging out with a big group of people I don't know well. I would never have imagined myself actively doing any of this. Because of Maya, I was able to meet lots of wonderful dogs and their humans. I hope she enjoyed the events as much as I did.

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

Merry Shibamas!

It has been a crazy few months. I have so many things I wanted to write about, but so less time. If it weren't for Maya, I probably wouldn't even realize it's time for the holiday.

Tachi came to stay with us a few days before Christmas and will be around till the end of the year. Thanks to her parents for the lovely bandana, though neither of them was pleased when I put on the "decoration". 

This year, we also participated in Secret Shiba, a gift exchanging event for Twibas (tweeting Shibas). We sent out a gift to a fellow Shiba before Christmas, and get one from another. We are not allowed to open the box till the 25th.

Maya's gift came around 12/16 in a nicely packed USPS box, with the warning "DO NOT OPEN BEFORE SHIBAMAS" written on it.

Even though no one's watching, we didn't cheat and waited till Christmas day. Sakura the Diva Dog was Maya's Secret Shiba, and she sent us a few toys, a pet alert sticker, a floral collar, and even a Shiba calendar for the humans!

To be honest, these were the only gifts sent and received by our family this year, as we were never that into this tradition. (Immigrants!) However, the anticipation made me felt like a little girl again and I was so glad I signed up. It's interesting to learn how our pets can change us in the ways we would never expected. 

Happy Holiday!

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.

Trip to Taiwan and Maya's Stay with Caspian

My schedule had been crazy in the past few weeks with work. However, with all the craziness, we managed to squeeze in a trip back to Taiwan to attend my sister's wedding. The wedding was lovely and I'm so happy for her. If only the relatives can stop asking when's our turn...

Congratulations to my dear sister!

During our trip, Maya stayed with her doggy friend Caspian. Many thanks to Caspian's owners who took great care of her as her allergies started to act up. They also kept us posted with lots of pictures throughout the week. That sure made it a lot easier for us.

On our flight back to the US, we brought back some rescued dogs with us again. We thought nothing will surprise us after our last trip with 13 dogs, but we were so wrong. This time we brought back 22 dogs (16 crates). Besides almost doubling the amount, the dogs came from two different organizations that apparently hate each other. It was never my intention to mix two groups of people, but the 2nd group learned about my trip and asked for help, so I thought "why not?". They are all dog lovers after all, right? Oh well, I am still impressed by their devotion, but it does leave a bitter taste in the mouth. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST GET ALONG!?

Aside from the mumbling from both groups, the check-in was quite smooth. We flew with China Airlines this time, since the pet transportation fee is much cheaper than Eva, but the seats were much smaller for the humans. After a long flight, the real challenge came when we had to deal with the porters at the airport. Maya's daddy kindly offered to pay for the tips this time, so with the limited amount of cash on us, we knew we had to be tough. After lots of bargaining and us almost rolling out the crates on our own, we finally agreed on a number. It is just ridiculous how they try to ripoff passengers since we don't have any other options. (No, we weren't being stingy, they still got a very generous tip. Much more than they deserve.)

Once we got out to the airport lobby, it was a bit chaotic. We were a bit late compare to last time, so all the adopt families had already arrived and were eager to meet there new members. It was great to see all the happy faces, especially on the children that came along, so despite the few unpleasantness, it's still a very rewarding experience. Something I'll definitely do again.

Monthly Expenses: March 2013

March 2013

• Treats & Chews: $9 

TOTAL: $9
YTD TOTAL: $254

Treats & Chews

I was close to have a month without spending a single dollar on Maya, but failed when I saw the $14 deal for two packs of "Zuke's Lil' Links Treats" on doggyloot, and then getting a $5 coupon the next day. Maya kindly shared a pack of her treats with her doggy friend Caspian during her stay at his house. 

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.

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