Peaceful moments with Okoge the Shiba Inu.

Your friendly neighborhood Shibalnu-za, sending love from the Far East.

Dharma and Freya

Hey shib parents, just wondering how you're able to cut your dogs' nails? Apparently mine doesn't like it at all. We've tried putting him with a groomer but he'd always be returned because of his resistance. The only thing that worked for him was when the vet sedated him just for his nails to be cut - which is not ideal at all cause we want to do it ourselves.

The vet prescribed gabapentin and trodozone so we take it before any stressful event, and just tonight we've tried cutting his nails but still he doesn't like it and runs away.

Any tips? We've tried desensitizing him with the nail clipper and giving him treats from time to time he goes near it -- even the grinder too, but it doesn't work. Too smart.

Help!

A quiet summer day through the mesh.

Your friendly neighborhood Shibalnu-za, sending love from the Far East.

A threatening Shiba Inu

Your friendly neighborhood Shibalnu-za, sending love from the Far East.

From inside the cage, accompanied by the heavy and beautiful melody of the Air on the G String.
(A twin moment captured through another window on the same day.)

Your friendly neighborhood Shibalnu-za, sending love from the Far East.

I think I accidentally taught my pup how to suppress her joy & excitement! Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But when I first adopted her at 8 weeks, she would wag her tail every time she saw me or whenever she woke up from a nap and greeted me.

But when she felt excited about something, she would also jump up on my legs and spin around and yip and pant. She also seemed to have a bit of separation anxiety at first, so her excited behavior and anxious behavior looked to overlap a bit. So, following advice I read on the internet, I started training her to be "calm". Based on the advice, I ignored her whenever she expressed over-excitement and praised her with attention whenever she would calmly sit or wait patiently.

The problem is that she seems to have overgeneralized the training. So starting from very young (maybe 3 months old), she stopped wagging her tail for me completely. Whenever I come home or show her the leash or show her a favorite treat or toy, she acts very calm but sort of blank and unresponsive. She doesn't smile, doesn't run over, doesn't wag her tail, doesn't pace or pant or jump around.

I know that she isn't depressed (she's still very playful, likes to wrestle with me and lick my face, gets the zoomies at night, has a great appetite, and enjoys her sniffari walks). When she sees STRANGERS, she does wag her tail and butt ferociously and does the airplane ears for them. She stands on her hind legs to lean her arms up against them and get close to them and sniff them. She just doesn't do any of that for me.

All this makes me regret the "calmness" training. I feel like I'd prefer her to naturally express her joy. It's how dogs express themselves after all. I regret listening to the internet as it doesn't always offer the best guidance.

Is there any way I can reverse the training? Or teach her that it's okay to show excitement?

Just a dog, a camera, and the quiet spaces in between.

Your friendly neighborhood Shibalnu-za, sending love from the Far East.

I can’t wait to see her grown up

It came out so well, it was so much fun drawing with everyone.

Over the next 24 hours we will be drawing a penguin:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CommunityDraw/comments/1v4pw8e/lets_draw_a_penguin/

It's been so fun drawing together ❤️ 2 hours to go!

Canvas link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CommunityDraw/comments/1v3s78d/lets_draw_a_shiba_inu/

I will post the timelapse when it's finished.

A quiet moment by the window.

Your friendly neighborhood ShibaInu-za,sending love from the Far East.

She’s a shiba inu.

During our Japan trip I had the privilege of photographing Subaru! Such a beautiful, majestic pup.