my humom's family and friends in Japan r all okay, but she's worried about aftershocks & is glued to computer all day. i get lots of hugs.

chicken tikka *MY*sala. #itsgotchicken

   

After the physical therapy swimming sessions at FlowDog on Saturdays, we take Kaiju to one of the two parks nearby. It has become our tradition, and he loves it.
One park is smaller, more traveled, with a lot of dogs running around off leash. When we go there, we sometimes let Kaiju off leash, too. We are very clearly the most nervous owners there. Others relax and chat with each other. We hover about and call his name in vain at the wrongest moments.
The other park is much bigger, and we rarely see other dogs. It is a nature conservation, and it provides a variety of landscape. We walk through an open space, woods, or marshland, across the creek, on board walks, and over the hills.
We had not been to this 2nd park in a while because of deep snow and icy surfaces. This past Saturday, it was warm and things had thawed everywhere, so we gave it a try. Kaiju was ecstatic. A bit too ecstatic. When he gets in this mode, he starts to growl and nip on the leash and our legs. He can't seem to calm himself down. We either pick him up to help him chill, or make him sit with a high-value treat, and make him "stay" for a long time. We hadn't seen this level of excitement in a while. Even if it is a pain to have to calm him down while being nipped at our legs, because he is rarely overly excited, we were actually quite satisfied.



Our weekends often become all about witnessing Kaiju excited and happy.

"Is it me in the photo?? i think it is!!"

Debbie Jacobs | |, the fearful dogs expert whom we went to talk to in September last year, just had a hard copy of her E-book "Guide to Living With and Training A Fearful Dog" published (Congrats Debbie!), and she used this pic of our little dude in it!

If you are having a hard time with your dog's fear-based behaviors, please go read her blog posts. They are eye-opening, warm, and encouraging. If you like what you read, do get the book. She is also available for consultations.

Who needs a snow plower when you've got me?

This is MY toy!!

found this little girl on youtube..... can i have her as a sisfur??

mid-day PT swimming session. i went into water, swam, went back in many times, all with little prompting. made my humans super proud!

Nintendog Shiba: