• November 5, 2009
    by shibashake
    Happy Doggy Birthday

    Last weekend was Shania and Sephy’s combined Birthday extravaganza!

    Shania is now 2 years old.

    Sephy is 3 and starting to develop white whiskers!

    Here is what happened …

    1. Opening of Birthday presents

    First, the presents arrived.

    Both Shiba and Siberian had much fun opening their Birthday packages. In fact, both dogs probably had more fun with the packaging than with the toys.



    Opening of Birthday presents.

    2. Spa scratch session



    Spa scratch session.

    Then we moved on to the spa scratch session of our program.

    The dogs got to relax to the music of Air Supply, and much wonderful scratching and tummy rubs were delivered by trained experts.



    Brunch and toy session.

    3. Brunch and new toys session

    After the nice r&r session, the dogs are ready for brunch.

    Today’s menu is Innova kibble mixed with boiled chicken. Brunch is filled into various toys, including their new birthday Egg Baby fish toy.



    Brunch is filled into various toys, including their new birthday fish toy.

    First, I cut off all the tags, strings, and plastic tabs from the toy. Then I remove the squeaky balls from inside the toy. My Shiba destroys those balls in a matter of seconds.

    Then I fill it with little pieces of boiled chicken, throw in some kibble, and stuff in a Hollee Roller Ball. The ball makes it more challenging to get the food out.

    Result – Good, wholesome fun for everyone!



    Good, wholesome doggy birthday fun!

    4. Walk in the hills

    Now we are ready for some action!

    Time for the doggy daily walk in the hills. This includes some great exploration across grassy and hilly terrain, as well as hunting and digging for earth critters.



    Peanut butter, carrot, and honey dog birthday cake - YUM!

    5. Nap and cake making

    Even Energizer Bunny Shania needs to nap sometime, and after a long walk, she is ready for some shut-eye.

    We also start making their favorite peanut-butter, carrot, and honey cake with rice flour.

    Both my Shiba and Siberian are allergic to wheat so we replace regular wheat flour with rice flour and some guar gum – YUM!



    Siberian Shania having a nice, cake-smell nap.



    Doggy birthday game - Apple bobbing.



    Siberian shania is awesome at apple bobbing.

    6. Apple bobbing and Chicken bobbing

    Since it is Halloween time, I thought it would be fun to have an apple bobbing session.

    We filled a small tub with water and put in two apples.

    Unfortunately, apple bobbing is no challenge at all for Siberian Shania. She gets the apple in a second and is off.

    Shiba Sephy is more cautious and unsure about this whole wet, weird game. Finally he decides that getting his royal Shiba paws wet, just for an apple, is not really worth it.



    Getting his royal Shiba paws wet just for an apple is not really worth it..

    Both Shiba and Siberian were not too interested in the apples, so I pushed in some small pieces of chicken jerky and they had fun getting that out of the apples.



    Siberian Shania bobbing for chicken.

    This led me to my next brainstorm …

    which was to do chicken bobbing. I broke up some small pieces of dry chicken and threw them into the tub of water. As you can see, Siberian Shania is a pro at fishing out those chicken pieces.

    She is a very smart and wonderful dog!

    Meanwhile … Shiba Sephy just mooches for his chicken!



    Moocher Shiba!



    Birthday cake and birthday song.

    7. Birthday cake and birthday song

    Finally, it is birthday cake and birthday song time.

    There is a lot of singing, licks, and dripping saliva. Everyone waits patiently for the good stuff.

    And then there are obedience commands, cake, and cake stuffed in interactive toys.

    It is a good doggy birthday, and a fun weekend for all!



    It is a good birthday and a fun weekend for all.

    July 21, 2009
    by shibashake
    Chasing Bubbles

    A few weeks ago I tried out a bubble machine to see if my dogs would enjoy it.

    It was a great success!

    My Shiba Inu had a merry ole time chasing the bubbles around the backyard and even did some leaping to get at some of the ones that were flying away. My Siberian Husky was more interested in the water that was coming out of the bubble machine, but she also got into the chasing after noticing my Shiba’s crazy antics.

    I tried out two types of bubble machines –

    The portable type that operates standalone, and the sprinkler type that you attach to your water hose. Definitely go with the latter. The portable machine that I got did not work well because the bubble output was low. I don’t think my dogs even noticed that there were bubbles.

    However, the water hose version of the bubble machine is quote awesome.

    Spouts of water come out together with a lot of bubbles. I have the Gazillion Bubble Sprinkler, which for some strange reason only sells in Amazon UK. The only downside is that it gobbles up the soapy bubble mixture very quickly.

    There are a variety of recipes for making your own bubble mixture. I have experimented with a few and the big problem has to do with how long the bubbles last for. If you just use regular dish detergent with water, the bubbles pretty much burst right away, so your dogs will not even notice them, much less be able to chase after them.

    Apparently, adding corn syrup into the mixture can help, so that is what I am going to try next.

    In any case, the bubble machine is great way to exercise your dog and have some fun with them during sunny, summer days.

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