Bandit Has a New Sister
Bandit has not been taking Guin's death well. We have had to sit up with him some nights and he's just been sleeping in his dog bed all the time, only getting up when we make him to eat and go to the bathroom.
I told Chris we should get another Shiba and at first Chris didn't want to. He really got attached to Guin in the short time he knew her. But when Bandit was obviously grieving, he agreed. I looked at Shiba Rescue to find an adult female - no puppies, please. She also could not be white (that was Chris' one stipulation) and she needed to be fixed and up to date with shots. No luck on the Shiba front, so I began looking at shelters in NH and Maine. We even started looking at Huskies (which are a bit bigger than a Shiba, but not too big). I finally found a Husky on Craigslist. She was 2 years old, fixed, shots done and in NH. Bonus!
Turns out her foster mom, Angie, and dad own a bunch of Huskies that they race - I checked out their web site and these people are *serious* about their Siberian Husky racing. And their dogs.
Turns out this dog was from a sled team in Canada where the couple who owned them (and I believe it was a couple of other teams) were divorcing, etc and needed to get rid of their dogs. So Angie and some friends drove up to Canada to save the "Friends" team. All of the dogs were named after characters from the TV show "Friends." All except Ross, who had previously died.
When we contacted Angie, she told us this dog's name was Phoebe (my fave Friends character) and sent us two photos. Phoebe looked like a small wolf with gorgeous blue eyes.
We fell in love with her right then and there.
Chris talked to Angie over the phone and arranged for us to go see her last night. I was concerned that not having the dog brought here to meet Bandit first might be a problem, but Angie assured us if it didn't work out, she'd come to pick Phoebe up.
So we drove up to Penacook, NH to Angie's house to meet Phoebe. When we got there she told us that when she was putting Phoebe's paperwork together, she realized she got Monica and Phoebe mixed up. But both dogs were responding to the names she called them and we've decided to keep calling her Phoebe.
She's very timid, mainly due to the fact she was a sled dog, lived outdoors 24 hours a day and although Angie did a super job of socializing her, she still cowers a bit when you go to pet her. Since sled dogs are used to being on flat ground pretty much all the time, Angie had to teach her about stairs, sleeping on the floor, being around people (she has younger kids, which is good and helped a lot), vacuum cleaners, dishwasher, and other common household noises. She also wasn't technically housetrained, so we've been taking her out with Bandit and she's done great so far.
So to Bandit. He likes her! He perked up when we got her home (she rode in the car and was so quiet) and eventually found her, sniffed her all over while she patiently laid on the floor and she licked his, ahem, nether region. He liked that a bit too much, ha ha.
When he gets out of his bed, she pops up and follows him around. She also is eating well, but because of the change in her diet, she's had a bit of the runs, which have pretty much already cleared up.
She made a home on a round rug we have near the front door and is having a hard time getting used to the dog bed we gave her. We've been petting her and talking to her and she even began to wag her tail today. And she kissed me on the face!
When our friend Joanne, stopped by, she kissed Joanne's face, too, so she seems to be calming down.
Here are some pics - she's about 37 pounds. She's taller than Bandit, but he's about 32 pounds, so it's funny seeing them together. Enjoy our new "puppy!!"
I told Chris we should get another Shiba and at first Chris didn't want to. He really got attached to Guin in the short time he knew her. But when Bandit was obviously grieving, he agreed. I looked at Shiba Rescue to find an adult female - no puppies, please. She also could not be white (that was Chris' one stipulation) and she needed to be fixed and up to date with shots. No luck on the Shiba front, so I began looking at shelters in NH and Maine. We even started looking at Huskies (which are a bit bigger than a Shiba, but not too big). I finally found a Husky on Craigslist. She was 2 years old, fixed, shots done and in NH. Bonus!
Turns out her foster mom, Angie, and dad own a bunch of Huskies that they race - I checked out their web site and these people are *serious* about their Siberian Husky racing. And their dogs.
Turns out this dog was from a sled team in Canada where the couple who owned them (and I believe it was a couple of other teams) were divorcing, etc and needed to get rid of their dogs. So Angie and some friends drove up to Canada to save the "Friends" team. All of the dogs were named after characters from the TV show "Friends." All except Ross, who had previously died.
When we contacted Angie, she told us this dog's name was Phoebe (my fave Friends character) and sent us two photos. Phoebe looked like a small wolf with gorgeous blue eyes.
We fell in love with her right then and there.
Chris talked to Angie over the phone and arranged for us to go see her last night. I was concerned that not having the dog brought here to meet Bandit first might be a problem, but Angie assured us if it didn't work out, she'd come to pick Phoebe up.
So we drove up to Penacook, NH to Angie's house to meet Phoebe. When we got there she told us that when she was putting Phoebe's paperwork together, she realized she got Monica and Phoebe mixed up. But both dogs were responding to the names she called them and we've decided to keep calling her Phoebe.
She's very timid, mainly due to the fact she was a sled dog, lived outdoors 24 hours a day and although Angie did a super job of socializing her, she still cowers a bit when you go to pet her. Since sled dogs are used to being on flat ground pretty much all the time, Angie had to teach her about stairs, sleeping on the floor, being around people (she has younger kids, which is good and helped a lot), vacuum cleaners, dishwasher, and other common household noises. She also wasn't technically housetrained, so we've been taking her out with Bandit and she's done great so far.
So to Bandit. He likes her! He perked up when we got her home (she rode in the car and was so quiet) and eventually found her, sniffed her all over while she patiently laid on the floor and she licked his, ahem, nether region. He liked that a bit too much, ha ha.
When he gets out of his bed, she pops up and follows him around. She also is eating well, but because of the change in her diet, she's had a bit of the runs, which have pretty much already cleared up.
She made a home on a round rug we have near the front door and is having a hard time getting used to the dog bed we gave her. We've been petting her and talking to her and she even began to wag her tail today. And she kissed me on the face!
When our friend Joanne, stopped by, she kissed Joanne's face, too, so she seems to be calming down.
Here are some pics - she's about 37 pounds. She's taller than Bandit, but he's about 32 pounds, so it's funny seeing them together. Enjoy our new "puppy!!"
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