Road Trip!

Rowdy and River are recuperating from a long journey to North Carolina to visit some of my family. They were very good on the car ride up, sleeping most of the way.

Rowdy used his Shiba Mind Tricks to slip out of his seat belt harness during the trip. I could tell he was uncomfortable. He gets "stuck" when he wears anything besides his collar--shirts, harnesses, bandanas, you name it as soon as it slips on he promptly ceases to move from the spot he's in. I tried to get him used to the seat belt when I bought it by having him wear it for a few minutes a day. He never got used to it. He tried walking in it once, but he kept veering to the right. I was hoping that when it came time to leave, he'd be okay in it enough to just go to sleep. We didn't make it out of Florida before he slipped out of it. So much for that idea.

When we reached our destination, they immediately set out sniffing all the wonderful scents of Murphy, NC. The weather was wonderfully pleasant, cooling down to 70 at night; a good change from the 90 degree weather here in Florida. Rowdy and River went for walks on some trails through the woods around the house so at bedtime they were two very exhausted pups. Nan and Poppy were surprised how well behaved the dogs were, not making a peep all day and night, unlike the neighbors' dogs who barked nonstop at all hours of the day.

River surprised us by actually walking on her leash; we didn't have to coax her forward using treats like we did Rowdy. Until our trip, we'd put the leash on her to get her used to it, not really venturing outside with it. Most of the time she fought it, but eventually she accepted being tethered to one of us. When we walked her in NC, she actually walked next us like she'd been doing it all her life.

The first thing they did when we arrived home was the Shiba 500 in the back yard. After a good five minutes of chasing each other around, they came inside for water, dinner, and naps (as if they didn't get enough naps on the ride back!). I think they're happy to be back in their own yard.

I captured some pictures and videos during our trip so stay tuned for those posts coming up in the next few days!

Happy Birthday Rowdy!

Today Rowdy is 1 year old! Time goes by so fast, it's easy to forget how tiny Rowdy was when we got him. I've put together a slide show of Rowdy pictures that I've taken each month since he came home. Enjoy!

Poor River!

Last night we learned that when dogs are nauseous, sometimes they drool excessively. That's exactly what happened to River, along with diarrhea and vomiting. Evidently, she ate something that didn't quite agree with her. In addition to her drooling like an English Mastiff, she did not welcome us home with her usual song and dance. Worried, we took her to the vet who ruled out any parasites or whatever. They injected fluids underneath the skin on her neck so she would not get dehydrated, gave her a shot to help with the nausea, and sent us home with instructions to give her Pepto if she still had diarrhea. We left home with a little drooling Shiba, and we came back with a little drooling hunchback.

Today, River is back to her usual self, full of energy and attitude, void of drool and barf.