These two mean so much to us that we celebrate their existence in our lives everyday. It’s only once a year that these little ladies get older so we take the time to go the extra mile.

Baked goodies
Last year I baked a whole cake for Booker’s birthday. This year was much easier. My Dutch tutor allowed me to borrow her tiny cupcake molds. I used the same recipe from last year (since even picky Booker enjoyed it) and it came out perfect. All I had to do was add the frosting and give one cake to each shiba. They were in love!

Sharing the love
I’m a pretty quiet person so the neighbors I know are because we all have dogs. This year I decided to hand out extra cupcakes to their lovely dogs as well. I would consider our dogs to be friends with the others so why not? Kids would bring cupcakes to share in school when I grew up. I figured it would be a good gesture to hand out treats to the friends of my dogs too!

New toys to love
We tend to spoil our Shiba Inus a lot. This year they got a ton of chews as presents. They love to sit for hours and gnaw on bones so it was the best gift to give. They’ve become more playful with plushies (made for dogs) so those don’t last too long. It’s such a shame because Haru looks so cute when she sits with her stuffed animals!

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We have a full house so we’re unable to do that. What we can do is give our dogs a little extra love. I figured now would be a great time to give an update on how our ladies are doing.

In case you’re new to this place, Booker and Haru are our two Shiba Inu ladies. Booker is now 2 years old and Haru’s 1st birthday is fast approaching. We’ll be celebrating their birthdays together since I didn’t want to have to make two cakes for them. They get along so well and love each other like blood sisters. Booker is always cleaning the baby and acting motherly towards her. They fight like cats sometimes but it’s never in anger.

Sander says that Dutch pets are often spoiled on World Animal Day. So we got a new bed for our dogs! But they have a love/hate relationship with it so far though. These two are already spoiled rotten.

• • They sleep in bed with us every night.
  • They never run out of chews or toys.
  • They get long walks throughout the day.
  • They’re brushed all the time. (Shiba Inu are quite hairy dogs)
  • They’re pampered every day.

What more can a dog ask for?!

What I also love, is the attention they get from strangers. Shiba Inu aren’t too common in our neighborhood so everyone knows them. These ladies are friends with all the other dogs too. Getting a dog was the best decision we’ve made. I leave the house to walk them and I’ve met so many people because of it.

My favorite story of the neighbors and our dogs is the one with the groceries! We were walking the dogs and one of our neighbors caught sight of baby Haru. She was on her bike and had a ton of groceries with her. But she didn’t care! She had to stop to say hello! She ended up spilling most of her groceries on the road. She also had to scramble to move because a car was coming but she didn’t care. She got to meet Haru for the first time that day. Our neighbor was so excited!

So if you have an animal friend in your live, please show them a little extra love today. We sometimes take “man’s best friend” for granted and they live shorter lives than we do… For now I’m going to love these two girls as much as I can!

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Haru is now a little over 4 months old and growing like a weed. She’s got all her shots (expect her rabies, we will be getting that soon) and is a healthy puppy. She still smells like puppy so I take every chance I have to hug her.

Owning two Shiba Inu
Haru’s breeder encouraged us to get a male to complement Booker. She said that two females have the potential to become territorial with each other. Sander and I had discussed this for a long time. We wanted two females because it would be easier for us.

There are a lot of unneutered males in the neighborhood and we didn’t want to start fights with those dogs. Sander’s parents also have two female dogs. Shiba Inu are wild in nature, no matter what the gender is. We figured since Booker was already spayed, it would be alright to bring in another female. Haru will follow in Booker footsteps when she’s old enough. Right now the two of them play fight more than anything. They get along well though. Only time will tell how this duo will end up but for now they’re fine.

Walking them sometimes can be a nightmare. They have their own idea on what is the ideal place to potty. I don’t know how Sander does it while he plays Pokémon Go in the mornings. I need both hands and all my wits to prevent myself from falling over in entangled leashes.

Where the dogs sleep
Haru remains in her crate from lights out until sunrise. Booker wanders from our bedroom to the couch in the living room. We’re fine with the dogs on the couch. If Haru could sleep anywhere, it would be on her a favorite couch pillow. She also enjoys sleeping by the heater on these especially cold days.

Booker seems to believe that the couch belongs to her so I’m curious to see if Haru will muscle her way in when she’s allowed to be free. Currently they do just fine together but once it hits late night, Booker is determined to keep the couch to herself. I was up late recently and saw this first hand. She was very upset that Haru was sleeping on the couch. Of course, that meant that Booker could not sleep there without barking, so she was banished to the bedrood. Haru and I watched a bit of TV but when I was ready for bed, she was back in her crate.

Pups at play
We haven’t had any complaints about the dogs being too loud but I worry every day. Booker likes to bark at Haru for attention. If the barking gets to much, Booker has a time out in the crate. Usually the two of them will settle down and nap most of the day so the noise isn’t at all hours.

When we take the dogs out for walk, we encourage them to run in circles. They need to be leashed at all times so we feel bad about them having a limited range to run. In the warmer months, we will take them to dog specific parks where they can be off leash and run to their heart’s content!

I cannot wait until we can do that but for now, we’re all hiding away as the temperatures dip down to below freezing!

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I made her a cake with this recipe and it came out pretty well. I should have trimmed more of the cake to make it a perfect square. But I figured she wouldn’t care and I can get a better cake pan just for her birthday cakes. And I also accidentally made the pumpkin frosting a bit too watery, but hey, you live and learn!

To my sweetheart and fur baby,

You probably know who I am because you’ve smelled (and tasted) my feet over a thousand times now. You probably know who I am because of the small teeth marks you’ve left over my hands and legs. Don’t forget the scratch scars you’ve given me over the past few months. And the bruises from your roughhousing.

But what you don’t know is that even though you refuse to cuddle for more than 10 seconds, I love you so much. You’ve made me smile when I didn’t feel like I could. You made me happy when it was pouring outside. You let me hug you even though you’re not a fan. You’ll put up with it a few seconds longer each time because you know I love having you close. And I know you love me close too. You follow me to every room and I often have to lock you out of the bathroom so I can have some privacy. Doesn’t mean I appreciate you any less.

You were so small when we first saw you. Just a round ball of fluff with a wriggly tail and plump belly. You were an angel when we first brought you home but thinks quickly went upside down. And you were sick for so long but you fought hard and pulled through.

Everything went into your mouth. I don’t see how that’s changed though since you still go mouth first into any situation. You always greet every dog with open paws and a wild smile. And although you end up scaring most of the neighborhood dogs with your enthusiasm, we know it’s because you’re excited to meet new friends. That’s maybe something I should learn from you.

You’re a little energetic at times but you’re an angel when you sleep. You’ll wait for Sander an hour before he gets home. You’re so dedicated that even if it’s raining outside you’ll whine until I open the balcony door so you can watch for his car.

The best times spent with you are on walks when you’ve got your tail held high and a stick in your mouth.

When we got you, we knew what we wanted but didn’t know what to expect. We got you, Booker, a Shiba Inu better than we could have ever imagined.

So here’s to your first year with us, Happy Birthday Booker!

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It’s been pretty warm the past few days so Langevelderslag Strand was a balmy 70° and stayed around there.

There are various locations that allow dogs off leash but some areas allow only leashed dogs. So we once we got to the surf, we walked down to where our dogs could run free. In total, we had five wild hounds.

The water is pretty warm so walking along the edge was relaxing to do. There were lots of shells and washed up jellyfish so watch where you walk!

The beaches here are vast, open spaces with little rocky shore. The sand is warm and fine grain and perfect for relaxing or having fun in. We passed several yoga pregnancy circles as well. For a day trip, Langevelderslag Strand is a fantastic spot to visit. There’s a small restaurant to eat at, but since we had already had dinner we walked right by.

The main goal of this trip was to exercise ourselves and our dogs and we hit that goal. What surprised us was Booker. She hated the water but had no issue running in it and following the other dogs into the surf.

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When choosing a Shiba, I knew I wanted a pup who had the potential to be high energy and wind down quickly. That’s Books. She’s ecstatic to meet new dogs and is finally accepting human strangers. She loves playing rough, dirty and even after some occasional scolding by Snowy. She has never once bitten Booker and the same goes for Lucky. They know little Books well enough now and they know how to deal with her. A common technique is to push their butts in her face like a knight would use a shield.

We discussed the idea of getting a shelter dog. In the end we didn’t want to take the risk of not knowing what the breed was. I know this is up for debate but we didn’t want any surprises, for example, a dog who grew too big and needed a yard. We live on the third floor of an apartment/flat complex with one bedroom and one living room. Even a medium size dog would run out of room. Shibas are pretty damn tiny. Even now we’re surprised with how small she is. I would someday like to get a shelter dog but we need the room first.

What did we expect with Booker? Shiba Inu are faithful and charming dogs . They’re curious about everything and pretty much fearless. Booker is always alert, even when she’s sleeping she knows when we talk about her.

Booker’s very confident, she lays on the ground, ears alert and refuses to budge until the other dog is close. She picks up commands very but executes them when she feels like it. It took us months for her to roll because she’d look at us and seem to say “I need more treats please.”

She’s stubborn and quirky too. Her sleeping positions always make us laugh because no regular dog would do what she does. For this and a few more reasons, Shiba Inu are not good first time dogs. They need an experienced and firm hand to keep them under control. She still bites to show affection and we’re working on it. More like nibbles but not everyone likes when a dog comes at you with love nibbles. She also needs to wear a harness when we walk. After a few months of walking so well on her leash, she became impatient and began to pull. She also has bursts of running and the leash is only so long. Having her on a harness prevents her from choking herself when she does get energetic.

How is she doing now? Booker is learning the world around her, still afraid of bikes and unsure if car rides are good. Most of them now are to parks but she’s still too stubborn to sit on laps or sleep next to us. She’s independent and prefers sleeping across the room from us. I’m not sure if she wants to keep an eye on us or not.
This is getting better though. If I move into our computer area, she follows me and gets comfortable. But she’s always out of reach!

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We had to drive a long way to get her but it was so worth it! She’s adorable and such a sweet puppy. Unfortunately we found she has giardia and she’s on medication for it.

She finished her latest set of medicine and seems to be improving but will have loose stool on occasion. We’re going back to the vet this weekend to see what else we can do. We can only hope she continues to improve.

Aside from all this, Little B has been adjusting well to our small place. Booker is learning fast! She knows she has to potty outside. But she’s not keen on wearing a leash up. Once she’s outside, she’s in heaven! Booker’s playful and energetic. For being so small she’s got a giant personality.

She loves sleeping in the strangest positions and on the weirdest things. She knows her name, sit, and paw. Booker listens well but still insists on using her teeth to explore. She’s going to be 12 weeks in a few days! She’s grown so much since we first picked her up but we still love her.

For updates on Booker you can check out my page on our Shiba Inus.

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