the shiba diaries.

So everyone knows Viesa's story, right? (Here's the story from her mama Gina's blog.) We got her from some wonderful friends who couldn't keep her because she got in more than a few nasty fights with her sister, maltipoo Bella, and wasn't a very safe companion for her anymore. We had been dying for a dog and we are so proud and thankful that her first family chose us to take over with miss Vies.

Fast forward to today...she is the absolute center of our house and everyone's (and I seriously mean everyone's) favorite dog. I think we might be close to making her an official UA College of Medicine Phoenix mascot. At least for the MS2s. :)

Snuggled in her fave spot between two of Chris' classmates dog-sitting her for the weekend.

One thing we already knew about when taking Viesa was her (obvious) bouts with dog aggression. 

"Dog aggressive?...Who, me?!"

She's a toughie for a few reasons: 1) Some dogs she does fine with and some dogs, notsomuch. Like Christian's parents' hound dogs - best buddies. Our neighbor dog/yard mate (and total sweetie) American bulldog Winston? Notsomuch.  2) She's pretty aggressive with other dogs when on the leash, which I understand to be normal, she's MUCH better off-leash, yet not in my hand to control if something goes down. 3) Shiba play is hard to decipher. We're still getting tuned into all of Viesa's quirks and behaviors, but Shiba play is notoriously SUPER rough with serious death-match-5000 noises, snarls, big teeth, the works.  Rough enough to make her doggie parents wonder...is she trying to play or is she trying to kick someone's ass?

For another perspective, here are photos I found on a forum of another Shiba (Joey) playing for funsies with another friendly dog (posted by Joey's mom JessicaRabbit on the Shiba Inu Forum):

Source

Source

See? All fun and games, right?!  No, but really...it is all fun and games. That's how Shibas roll. Which is also why it's hard to figure out if she's playing or mauling.

Obviously, she's a sweetie with people, which is a good thing. But I naturally don't want her to get hurt or for her to hurt another dog, so it's been the easy thing to keep her away from strange dogs completely so everyone is safe. Well, we decided that that's really no way for a doggie to live, and that if WE put in the effort on our side, Viesa could learn to be less socially awkward and make some doggie friends. 

Enter operation dog park. We had taken her a few times to a great dog park not too far from our house where they have a big huuuge section fenced, and a smaller section. On most nights late in the evening, the smaller section was empty, no other dogs, and we'd take her for a romp (she LOVES the dog park). Last week, Christian suggested it was time to let her in with the big dogs. ::GULP:: I mean, I'd watch them from the small side, rough housing and going crazy, and our dog-aggressive Shiba was supposed to play with them? I wasn't completely convinced, but Christian insisted...if we didn't try now, when would we. So it happened. 

She's been twice now, with the big boys. Sometimes she's aggressive, mainly to tell someone they're up in her space and she doesn't like it, but the second time she seemed to be chasing the same white boxer back and forth, growing and sounding like she was going to murder him of course, but with a bounce in her step and a waggy tail. I'm hoping that means we're on our way to success. Luckily, the dog park people are SUPER cool and laid back, they all know each other and are very aware of their dogs. We asked before we brought her the first time, every owner that was in there, just in case there was another less-than-balanced maniac in there, but they all assured us that their dogs could handle an aggressive girl and that this type of play would teach her better manners and be really great for her. Cue sigh of relief. Once I wasn't worried if she bit another dog we'd be chased out of the park by a mob of angry owners, I relaxed. When we relax, she totally relaxes. It's been so fun watching her attempt at playing. She seems to be getting better at it. Next time I'll try to take a video. 

Hopefully, Miss Thang will learn some manners and play skills, all while refraining from eating another dog. Any other dog parents have advice about socializing an already gown-up dog?

Hope everyone's enjoying their Wednesday. My dad is up in Phoenix for a conference so we're all spending some time together (which rocks). 

More later.

Love,

Ash, Christian, & Viesa

P.S. SUCH a cute giveaway over at Sunshine Cupcakes! Check out the jewelry she's giving away at My Honey Corner. Perfect for gift giving and her proceeds go to the Anne Taylor Hinton Endowment for Multiple Sclerosis!