The pups are sleeping so I finally have time for a quick update! Man oh man did I forget how much work a brand new puppy is. Chika is super adorable, and her and Bowser are getting along better everyday. We got crappy sleep all week due to her unwillingness to adapt to her crate and/or hold it throughout the night, but it's getting better, and all part of normal puppyhood.
She is very sweet and loving, which was a stark contrast to Bowser who didn't let us touch him for months after we got him. But she is very vocal, barks a lot and absolutely abhors her crate. So much so, that she resorts to shiba screaming for hours while we're gone. We had to apologize/warn our neighbors, as we live in a townhouse and have shared walls. One day, it was so bad, that it incited Bowser's attack instinct and I had to prevent him from trying to kill her on Tuesday during my lunch break. Yeah that was a bad day.
Our wonderful trainer came the next day and told us that the pack instinct is to take out the weakest pack member, usually the dying, ailing or injured. If a dog even thinks it's dying it will wail, and can still incite this pack trigger. So Chika pretty much made Bowser want to kill her with her incessant wailing. We have a citronella bark collar shipping from Amazon so she hopefully pipes down while we're not home. The incident scared the bejesus out of me, but now that we have that settled, they get along well for the most part. I just have to be careful that their play doesn't get too mouthy, as she loves to bite his ankles. We certainly didn't get a submissive puppy - we landed another feisty Shiba!
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but cute Shiba puppies are lots of work (and lots of fun)!
This actually happened to me this week. A happy dance ensued.
I've lost a little over 9 pounds since starting Weight Watchers! I noticed my big jeans were feeling very loose this week, even after throwing them in the dryer forever. So I decided to attempt squeezing into my old jeans that I was squirting out of over the holidays and I seriously did a happy dance in front of my fiance when they fit perfectly again.
It's nice to know that a few diet tweaks can make a serious impact in losing weight - I don't have to work so hard lose it, like I did when I was training for a half marathon. It makes me wonder how skinny I would have gotten if I would have cleaned up my eating habits while I ran too! I was still eating pizza and all kinds of crap.
I like Weight Watchers because I don't feel like I'm starving, and I can still eat most of the same things, just being aware of portion sizes and making healthier swaps when necessary. Only a little more than 3 more pounds until I'm at the goal weight I set for myself for my wedding :) Who knows - maybe I'll exceed it.
So far, I've only had one week where I slipped up, and that was when I was indoctrinating my fiance in the ways of Cupcake Royale. We brought home a 6 pack of cupcakes, and let's just say, no crumb was left behind. That's why they'll be moonlighting at our wedding!
In hip news, I went to my orthopedic surgeon this week for a follow-up. My left hip, which was operated on in September, is doing great, and I got the green light to bump up my activities to include the elliptical and training for hiking. However, due to the new pain in my right hip, I may be in the early stages of ANOTHER cartilage tear (#@$#$%%$&%%$#!!!). But it's not hurting as bad as my left one did, so I'm just going to deal with it until after our honeymoon and then see where I'm at. Oh well. Until then, bring on the hiking!
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but getting healthy and losing weight can be done - even with gimpy hips! Suuuuun in the skyyyyyyy...
I thought about waiting until our new arrival was actually in our home, but I can hardly contain my excitement: We’re getting another puppy! Bowser’s sister to be exact. His mama had another litter and we’ve claimed the only girl as ours.
We have a list of names to choose from, so once we pick her up in about a week, we’ll announce the final choice then.
I’ve received a variety of reactions from people, mostly ranging from, “Whoa – a puppy and wedding planning, huh?” to “Are you nuts?!” to “Why don’t you just have real kids?” To which I answered “Yes!” and “Yes!” and “No!” (respectively).
The decision to add another dog into our family came by way of random email. Months ago, I had contacted the gal we adopted Bowser from because a friend of my sister's was looking for a Shiba Inu. She didn’t have any planned litters at the time so she said she’d contact me when she did.
I completely forgot about it, and in the meantime, I made a list of specific conditions under which we could add a second dog to our family: it had to be a rescue, no way in hell were we doing the puppy thing again, we had to have a house with a yard, it couldn’t be another Shiba, etc.
However, once I saw the email, I thought, “I WANT PUPPY!!” This list went out the window, and the email didn't even make it to my sister's friend.
I thought long and hard for about five minutes before calling Fiance. I was preparing mental notes, getting ready to engage in a debate. I called his work phone and simply asked, “Want another Shiba puppy?”
In typical situations, Fiance is the one who brings me back down to earth, meaning, I'll get an adventurous idea and he puts the kibosh on it before it gets out of hand. He would have said things like, “Well we are trying to plan a wedding, and it’s another expense we weren’t planning. Do we really have the time and energy for all of the training? Blah, blah, blah.” But to my surprise, the only answer I encountered was a very enthusiastic, “Yeah!”
And so there it was – Bowser gets a sister.
I’m most nervous that they’ll hate each other, and I’m sure it’ll be difficult at first. But ultimately, I think it would be good for Bowser to have another dog to play with. I know eventually they’ll be two peas in a pod, because we're going to train them to be that way. And if I've learned anything about dogs, it's that you can train them to do anything - even if they initially launch themselves off the couch and try to bite your dog trainers face off during the first evaluation (oh yes. Bowser's first meeting story is legendary with my trainers clients. But he's a sweetheart now - a testimony to the great work she does).
Apparently, this little pup is a real love bug: sweet, and good with kids. She doesn’t easily fright, but isn’t overly dominant. She pretty much sounds like the perfect Shiba. It already sounds like we're going to have an easier time with her than we did Bowser. I’m not too worried about puppy training since we actually know what to expect since we’ve been through it. We are also now well versed in the mysterious ways of the Shiba Inu.
You'll definitely be hearing about more adventures from a crazy dog lady!
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but dueling Shiba screams may break my ear drums.
I had the best time talking with New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow and Jennifer Frappier today! I was a bit nervous before the call, but they quickly put me at ease. It wasn't necessarily the interview I was nervous for, but the format - I've never been part of a live podcast before, and there's certainly no take-backs if you say the wrong thing. But, as with every experience I've had outside of my immediate comfort zone, it was wonderful and I'm so glad I did it!
Of course, I always think of things I could have said after the interview was over (I'm slow with come-backs too), but oh well. That's what this blog is for! Stay tuned for more stories on the mixed experience ;o)
This Wednesday, at 2 p.m. PST, tune into Mixed Chicks Chat! New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow, Fanshen Cox and Jennifer Frappier, who run this wonderful organization, will be interviewing me on their weekly podcast about my experience as a mixed-race woman.
It’s not something I’ve talked about a lot on my blog, but you may remember my hyperexcited blog post about making this connection with Heidi a few months back, spurring from my post I Am American. Hear Me Roar.
I’m really looking forward to chatting with them. Since I write for a living, I’m used to being the interviewer and not the interviewee so this will be a new experience! Race and ethnic relations have always intrigued me – I even focused on it in my sociology major.
I won’t say much more – you guys will just have to tune in! In case you have to miss the podcast due to something lame like work, I’ll post links right here on Sticks and Stones after it’s published.
