12/29/2010 08:40:00 PM

Smart doggie, trouble doggie

Mom, how could you do this to meeee???

There are advantages and disadvantages of having a smart dog, and I am totally getting a crash course on why Shiba owners say that raising a Shiba is like a full-time job.  At the end of the day, there is this lingering suspicion that in a Shiba's eyes, they own their handlers, not the other way around.

I will be honest and say that I would rather much prefer a dumb dog that just wants to be a lazy lapdog all day (Japanese Chin?).  Being mentally challenged at work, I am not prepared to be mentally, emotionally and emotionally challenged at home - by a puppy no less!  When Katsu's good, he's really good.  And when he's bad, well... in the past week there's been a couple of times when I found myself looking forward to going to work to see some of my most difficult, borderline, Axis II patients. ;)

In the meantime, through these ups and downs, Eric and I have mutually decided that he would take Katsu for now on the weekdays.  Having the threat of the bloodcurdling Shiba scream always looming close by makes it hard for me to consistently train Katsu in an apartment setting (especially in one where I can hear my neighbors talking on their phones upstairs - I can only imagine what they are thinking when they hear Katsu's bratty yet epically operatic wailing).  The plan is to intensively use the weekends to socialize Katsu to people and other puppies as we get set up with a private dog trainer (more on that later).  

Now I understand why Shiba owners are so crazy about their pets... it definitely isn't a hobby, but a lifestyle!

1 comments:

M said...

yea, part of me wondered while crying if i should've just gotten the lazy lap dog! but the breed is just so damn adorable and interesting. i couldn't and wouldn't settle for less!

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