Archive for July, 2009
Movie with Shibas… pretending to be Akitas…
Check out this post on the Shiba Inu Spirit Blog
First reaction: Hachiko… oh hey, it’s a story about that Akita that waited for his dead master every day for years. AWESOME!
Second reaction: OMG SHIBA SQUEEE!
Third reaction: Wait a minute… that Shiba is supposed to be an Akita puppy? MOVIE RUINED.
Fourth reaction: Oh, god, now Shibas are going to be in the North American public eye! PANIC.
Fifth reaction: ALL FILMMAKERS MUST DIE.
ETA: Here’s a clip from the 1987 movie Hachiko monogatori – starring a real Akita puppy playing Hachiko as a young dog, even!
Thanks to Gail who sent me this!
Here’s the Wikipedia entry on Hachiko
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Atopica – My Hero
Tierce is getting into a bad way – it took longer this time, but we’re starting to see raw patches where he’s getting past the cone and the shirt. I know it doesn’t do any good, but I’m still kicking myself for having him given the 3 year rabies shot. I firmly believe it knocked his immune system all to hell.
From the website -
As with all drugs, side effects may occur. In a field study, the most common side effects were gastrointestinal signs. Gingival hyperplasia and papillomas may also occur during the initial dosing phase. ATOPICA is not for use in dogs with a history of malignant neoplasia, or with a demonstrated hypersensitivity to Cyclosporine A.
Gastrointestinal signs are right. Tierce barfs up that pill at the slightest provocation. It’s gotten to the point where he gets at least 2 full pills of Apo-Metaclop to counteract it – the normal dosage needed being 1/2 a pill an hour before the Atopica. We’re hoping that the nausea will abate with regular application of the Atopica. Especially when the pills cost $4 each ($58 for 15). Guess what, Tierce. YOU’RE FUCKING EATING THEM!
First we have to give him the small pills. That’s easy – it just takes a piece of bread with the pill squished inside. But the Atopica takes a lot of cheese to slide it down his throat. Half the time he figures it out and does a tongue roll worthy of a hooker tying a knot in a maraschino cherry to swipe the cheese off the pill so he can spit the pill out on the floor. We have persevered so far, but it is an uphill battle. Right now, we’re on Day 5 of pill giving. It took a week and a half or so last time for the pills to have an effect on him and I just. can’t. wait.
I’ll admit that I feel a bit let down. I was hoping that the reaction to the rabies vaccine was the only problem he was going to have with allergies, but we could be looking at Atopica for the long term, at least during the summer months.
The Amazing Pot Lid
Me: Here, Tierce, time to go out. You can go out in the yard without a leash this time.
Tierce: Awesome!
Me: Oh, I hope so.
Tierce: This is so cool!
Me: Do you know what is expected of you?
Aluminum pot lid: I’ll do my best.
Me: That’s all I ask.
Tierce: Doodeedoodeedoo, peepeepeepee.
Me: Tierce, front!
Tierce: Yeah, whatever.
Me: Tierce. Front.
Tierce: Maybe some other time.
Aluminum pot lid: WHAMBANGCRASH!!!
Tierce: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! THAT NEARLY HIT ME!
Me: TIERCE, FRONT!
Tierce: YeahsureokayI’mhere. What was that?
Me: The best feeling I’ve had in two years.
Tierce: Uh… okay.
Me: Hey, go have fun. Run around some more.
Tierce: Okay…
Me: That was great.
Aluminum pot lid: Glad to oblige you. Again?
Me: Let’s see what he does. Tierce, front!
Tierce: I’m coming… hey that smells interesting…
Me: Tierce, FRONT!
Tierce: In a minute.
Aluminum pot lid: WHAMBANGCRASH!
Tierce: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! THAT NEARLY HIT ME!
Me: TIERCE, FRONT!
Tierce: YeahsureokayI’mhere. Dude, this is seriously freaking me out.
Me: You’re a good boy for coming when called! What a good boy! Okay, go have fun.
Tierce: …Okayyy…
Me: Tierce, front!
Tierce: You called?
Me: Yeah. That was awesome. You’re such a good boy.
Tierce: Yeah, I am. So, you mean if I come when I’m called, that UFO isn’t going to make a huge freaky noise right in front of my face?
Me: Yeah, more or less.
Tierce: Wiiieeeeerrrrd…
*** Two Weeks Later ***
Me: Tierce, front!
Tierce: Right away!
Me: GOOD boy!
Tierce: Yes I am. You know, I’ve never seen that UFO since that night.
Me: Oh, it’s out there. Watching. Waiting for you to slip up.
Happy Canada Day!
Tierce enjoyed Canada Day. We went down to Nanaimo’s downtown and ended up at Maffeo-Sutton Park and Swy-A-Lana Lagoon. Tierce enjoyed splashing around in the water at the Lagoon.
He doesn’t like actual swimming, but will paddle about, run through the water and try to grab things floating in it as long as the water is only chest height. There has only been one instance of him actually leaving the comfort of the bottom to swim for a stick and he hasn’t repeated the experiment. The bridge in the top photo has steps on the other side that lead to a rocky area where Tierce could run without clotheslining people.
In the course of the day, we had many people ask, “What kind of dog is that?”, comment that, “It looks like a little fox!” and ask if they could pet Tierce. Tierce was distracted by the crowds, but was mostly polite to people and deigned to sniff hands and in one case lick the cheek of a toddler who was regarding him rather seriously.
Tierce has been having some problems with itching again. It’s not as bad as last time, but is sufficient to thin the hair around his eyes and forehead and give me an attack of the screaming meemies every time he starts chewing on his forelegs. He has a vet appointment on Friday. I’m wondering if the Atopica is a little too heavy to use on this, as it seemed to come as soon as the heat of summer set in and may just be a pollen issue that an allergy shot would cure. I do love the Atopica – it solved his problems last time, but if something milder would help him, then I’d rather do that. I’d like to get an Aloe Vera plant and see if it helps cool his skin down. Of course, he might just lick it off parts of his body he can reach.
The neutering incision healed up perfectly and I flatter myself that Tierce is being less of an asshole around other dogs. He met a male Doberman today that he was trying to play with. I have hesitated thus far at letting him into the dog park again. On leash is one thing; off leash and having unrestricted access to balls and sticks is another.
It flabbergasts me, though, how many people allow or encourage their dogs to come up to a strange dog without asking if said dog is okay with other dogs. If I’m pulling my dog back, sticking my leg out or telling my dog to keep his nose to himself, does that say to you, “Why my dog just loves other dogs! By all means, let yours come up and tangle his leash with mine.” I’ve had to tell people that Tierce isn’t good with other dogs – he mostly is, but people who assume strange dogs are universally friendly often assume the same of their own dogs when the opposite is patently true.
We came home fairly early – we had run down to the downtown area from mid-city and had walked around for a couple of hours, so we were pretty tired. I confess that it’s nice to have a boyfriend with his own car when your legs are telling you that you’ve run 6 km yesterday and run/walked between 5 and 10 km today. Tierce should sleep well tonight; I know I will.
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