Here we go again!

She looks just like Bowser!

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.