Shiba Puppy Mania – Catch IT!!

Hi,

This is Ditka, my turn to write a blog…but Sox is watching over my shoulder….

We just had to write when we saw how much attention Shiba Inu’s are getting on the Internet.

Well if you’ve missed it, the big rage around the world right now are 6 new Shiba Inu puppies being watch 24/7 on a live webcam. You can see them by clicking here. Mom has to leave the volume off because it makes Sox really frustrated to hear those babies yapping and whining when she can’t figure out how to get to them.

They have been on several national news channels, and have gotten millions of hits from people all over the world tuning in to watch their cuteness. In fact, right now I just checked and there are more than 18,000 people watching these little 6 week old puff balls.

Now, of course, we knew sooner or later our secret would get out. Yep, it’s true. We are the ultimate in cuteness, and yes, all Shiba Inu’s know this from birth. You can see it watching the puppies strut their stuff. To prove it further we just happened to have a few of our own baby pics to share here.

This is the day Mom, Dad and Trev came to pick us up. See how Trevor is looking at me... I had him at 'hello'! It was Valentine’s day 2004 and we were Mom’s Valentine’s Day gift. Mom was suppose to only get one of us but as you can see at one time even our little sister, the one of us with the darkest markings, was ready for a ride in the car. Dad drew the line at two though. I’m sure Sis found another great family as she had the major cuteness factor as well.

This is our ‘Fox in a Box’ picture. We were really lucky to find a home where Sox and I were able to stay together. At first it was reassuring to cuddle up together at nap time. By the way, just like foxes, we Shiba’s are especially attracted to small cave-like places for our sleeping den’s.

We were ready and willing to do our part from the beginning. However, Trevor’s big feet put a whole new dimension to ‘fetching slippers’.

You can pick Sox out by her all white paws. By the way, you’ll notice the popular puppies all have our favorite coat color, called Sesame. This was what we looked like when Mom gave us our ‘official’ names…”Shiba’s Fox in Sox” and “Shiba’s Macho Muffin Ditka”.

We are a little worried though about all the attention. There are people out there who will use this as a way to make money by raising and selling Shiba babies. This is really sad because unlike us (we spent our first six weeks in our breeder’s kitchen, playing with her grandkids) or the online Shiba babies, puppy mill babies are born and spend there first weeks in production-line style cages from Mom’s who never have a life outside of being bred and nursing litter after litter. So, PLEASE, don’t buy a Shiba at a pet store, and don’t just order one of us to be shipped in a box from some unknown breeder on the Internet. Go and check out where we were born to be sure you are not contributing to a puppy mill.

Better yet, check out the Shiba rescue site. The two Shiba’s that lived at the Frericks house before us were both rescues. You’ll get an adult dog this way, but, hey, as puppies we definitely are a handful—like all the chewing, including two pair of Mom’s prescription eyeglasses!

Dad is also really concerned that people are seeing cute and not knowing what bringing a Shiba into the family really means. Having had 4 Shiba’s in the past 2 decades, I guess he’s got us figured out pretty well. As a breed, we have some pretty unique traits. In fact, some people think we act more like cats than dogs. We hate to be dirty and help keep each other clean. While we have no problem barking, we often, especially when playing with each other, make this strange little noise that is termed ‘yodeling’ But, none of those traits compare to the one little personality trait we have that drives most of our owners a little crazy.

Ok, here it is…we’re ‘bolters’. Face it. We’re highly independent and we just can’t resist the chance to find out what’s beyond an open door or poorly latched gate. We are known for being amazingly fast dogs. And, running is such fun, that we quickly figure out how to become great escape artists.

Don’t be fooled. This is not just a Ditka and Sox trick. It’s a well-known Shiba trait and we haven’t met a fellow Shiba yet that is willing to stay by his owner’s side when there’s oh, so much adventure in the world.

Mom goes frantic when one of us bolt. She’s sure this will be the time we won’t come back. Well, admittedly we don’t understand what it means to ‘watch for cars’ so we’ve probably had more near mishaps than we’d care to admit. In our neighborhood there’s lot of people who know us and usually we end up being brought back home or enjoying the hospitality (and doggie treats) in someone else’s house until Mom and Dad come to get us. Even though Mom and Dad seem to have eyes in back of their heads to keep track of well-latched leashes and tightly closed door, we’ve still had our adventures running wild not just in our neighborhood but strange cities and campgrounds as well.

Nonetheless, Mom and Dad and Kyle and Trevor all love us bunches and we’re very happy to be part of the Frerx Adventure. We know we are definitely ‘silver spoon’ puppies, just like those little webcam stars will likely be.

So we hope you go out and enjoy watching the puppies and their antics. Watching them brings back such happy memories for Sox and I when we were litter mates.

If you haven’t check in on this little Shiba “A-team” – each has a name starting with “A”…most Japanese, of course--- time is running out. They are six weeks old. That’s how old we were when Mom and Dad came to get us, and each of these guys are already spoken for so there stardom will soon be coming to an end.

Well, Sox has fallen asleep and Mom wants the laptop so I’m outta here.

Luvin Licks, Ditka