17. In memory of ........

Dogs and Cats are the epitome of enemies! Which makes the pictures we see floating around Facebook and emails, of huge Alsations and tiny kittens so very, very adorable!

Take for example …. !

But growing up in the same household they do learn to tolerate each other, although I think it is often just that – tolerance – mainly on the Cat’s side of things of course!

My favourite picture of our own pets is this one of Tetris the Cat and Tigara the Lab x Rottweiler enjoying the sun together on the top step!

(Tetris is about 16 years old and living with two other cats and a bouncy dog in South Africa!
Tigara went to friends on a farm when we left SA and we haven't heard about her since)

Bella doesn’t have a Cat house-mate and so has the ‘typical’ response to cats in the neighbourhood!

There’s a black and white Cat who very bravely crosses our back garden regularly when Bella’s safely indoors, and Bella tears around the garden following its scent when she gets a chance!

There’s a black cat just down the road, which manages to slink into the shadows when we walk past.

When aiming for the muddy lane at the corner of our road, I’d often see a streak of ginger, just before Bella picked up the scent!  We discovered this was Vincent, Vinney for short, and he had a few tricks for getting to safety behind a dog’s wagging tail! ('a few tricks up his sleeve' just didn't work for a Cat!)

A message went out on the Villages' Facebook page this week that Vinney was missing, and asking people to look out for him; perhaps he’d sought shelter in someone’s open shed during one of the daily downpours.  When I took Bella out for her walk this evening, a lady was ripping down posters from trees on Vinney’s corner; Vinny had been found, but not good news.  A dog – not Bella! – had got free from his lead …….... The dog owners had taken the injured cat to a vet, possibly not knowing to whom it belonged, and maybe only when the news went out, were able to identify him.

We never got close to Vinney, but will miss his orange streak across the lane.

16. Is she, isn't she?!

Today we popped down the road 20 miles or so to visit a Shiba Inu breeder to see if she could shed any light on our dear darling Bella and to see if she could share any tips, hints etc.  Thanks Linda, although you may have made us a little more confused about Bella's origins, you said some very sensible, general things and now we can make some corrections!

     Linda breeds Shiba Inus, and her first reaction to a Shiba Inu x Staffie was - to say the least - not one of enthusiasm! Maybe we should look more closely at the Staffie characteristics - if, of course, Bella is x staffie! Linda's Shibas were beautiful, just as described on the Shiba websites - on the small side, small upright ears, gorgeous thick fur and cute curled tails. These Shibas, as some websites led us to believe, did not have blue tongues, were not quiet, and they were not shy! In fact they could have licked thick mud off our hands through the fence if we'd stayed long enough! Linda did confirm that Shiba's climb, and she suggested a good strong wire fence with no foothold space, and hers were about 10ft high. One Shiba she's had in used to commute over a 6 or 7ft fence regularly! The adult dogs she had were all 'reds' - that is the sandy colour, much like a golden lab, and she had one 10week old pup who was black and tan - so cute!

     Describing what we thought were Shiba characteristics, Linda seemed unwilling to confirm our suspicions, especially as Bella was a rescue dog and many of her behaviour traits could be traced back to an abusive background.  For example, something we hadn't thought of, was her endearing trait to sit dead still when we drop the lead after a walk while we remove boots, coats etc. Bella doesn't move while that lead, be it the heavy flexi-lead or the slip-lead, is on the carpet at her feet. That could be, suggested Linda, that she had been tethered, which of course made sense, so that's a habit we will discontinue!

      Linda suggested that the mix of a hunting dog - Shiba - and a fighting dog - Staffie - could result in quite an explosive encounter when meeting with other dogs. But, rather than looking for a fight, Bella shows all the tendencies of playfulness when meeting other dogs - whatever their size - sorry CJ!!

      So Bella's identity crisis continues!

      Next step is to find a trainer and see if there's any hope for our young tearaway!

      Take a look :
      A Shiba Inu won the 2012 "Crufts Factor"

      Linda's website is 'under construction' but she has good info on the breed history and temperament.

15. Just Bella!

            So I drew the short straw and did the early morning walk today; thankfully the seasons have changed, the clocks have changed, resulting in a 6.30am walk being in daylight and not icy cold!

         Bella was extremely hyper along the puddle littered path (from yesterdays bucket downpour at supper time!), so I switch from the flexi-lead to the ‘short lead’ and we’re both a little more comfortable except that Bella knows she needs to ‘go’, and soon! We pass the village playing fields with all the bunnies rushing around - without a hitch (told you the ‘go’ urge was urgent!) and at the edge of the ‘long grass’ field I switch her back to the flexi-lead – well, I thought it’d clipped on! While I’m left standing with two leads in my hand and the trigger-clip dangling, Bella rushes off into the small field of overgrown grass, nettles, brambles and other unidentifiable weeds.  I was very grateful for that urgent ‘go’ instinct and caught up with her on the squat!  It’s a world-wide accepted fact that Shiba Inu dogs can not be let off lead – if you want them back that is!

        As we walk through the middle of the field on a fading tractor track, two dog owners silently raise a hand in morning greeting across the long grass, hoping our dogs are small enough and the grass long enough to conceal their presence from each other. It works!

(This isn't the 'long grass field' but the farmer's newly planted field above Pin Mill!)

      Alongside the wood the blue-tits, chaffinches and robins post their morning tweets, black-headed seagulls hoarsely try to keep their class in order, pigeons yawn or snore in the trees, and the pheasant tinnily shrieks as he manoeuvres imaginary morning traffic in the farmer’s fields.  The blackbird sings deceptively sweetly as he teases Bella by hopping just out of reach along the edge of the path!

      Bella and I continue on towards the sun which rose just 90 minutes earlier over the incredibly beautiful Pin Mill and Orwell River. As we pass the fences of the yacht club, Bella stops, and her ‘pretty’ face (something everyone comments on when they see her) takes on a slightly dreamy, wistful haze, as maybe she remembers 'The Wednesday' she spent among the yachts – on her own!

       The crunch of pebbles underfoot introduces new terrain and Bella’s excitement soars again as she bounces from the muddy low tide river-bed to the clear water of the Grindle ('a man-assisted stream running into the river'), until we turn towards the river along the Hard ('the concreted area that leads from the land to the estuary') which is still wet and muddy from an earlier high tide. The view from the Hard is spectacular any time of day, but especially early in the morning with the sun drowning the houseboats alongside the Butt & Oyster Inn, and flashing the reflective surfaces of the yachts at anchor in the river. Bella enjoys this too and although she fixates on the seagulls sitting high on the poles as they shout confused orders to their underlings flying chaotically over land and skimming the calm water’s surface, she doesn’t attempt to chase any of them! I could stay here all day! Bella seems to know that this is the goal of our walk and that we’ll be returning the same way soon. Her excitement levels off and we slowly head for home, with Bella no longer so anxious to get ‘somewhere’!

      Understanding the Shiba characteristics in Bella has given us a better idea of how to handle her on walks. She never goes off-lead and it’s quite normal for her not to respond at all to commands – although indoors she’s as obedient as a dog-angel!  There are times, however, when she’s feeling a little kindly towards us and my “Come” command will be rewarded with a Sit, about 20m away on the end of the lead. However, a “Sit” command will rarely be obeyed and no cajoling or gentle pushing (or firm pushing) on her rear end will make her sit properly. Sometimes I’ll get a Squat – ‘You said Sit and my bottom is almost on the ground and this is as far as I’m going!’ “No” is simply a distraction command to turn her away from licking horse pooh to pouncing on an invisible mouse in the grass (it must be invisible because I’ve seen the size of mice and rats around here and there’s no way they couldn’t be seen alongside our path!)  “This Way” is a command I use often and she generally listens as I think she’s learnt from experience that if she doesn’t go ‘This Way’ she’ll probably get tangled in a bush or be on the wrong side of a tree! And of course there are times when the brain is Shiba and the body language is Staffie! That's the fun of having a cross-breed!

      It’s the last stretch of the walk home; she’s calmer and now’s the time to try some sort of disciplined training to walk next to me – “Heel” hasn’t worked for me.  I’d picked up a branch earlier from the wood and by holding it in front of her and at her neck, she walks calmly alongside me – while trying to dodge underneath at any accidental opportunity! It works for me and maybe one day we won’t need the stick. Maybe. One day!

      With most of her excitable energy drained, she’s happy to be close to home. She walks with confidence and satisfaction, until at the corner of our house a two-foot high, extremely snotty-nosed, hyper, unafraid, noisy human child faces her! At this point Bella takes one look and cowers behind me, desperate to escape from the "Danger"! 

Danger past – after an agonising five minutes of chat – it’s home to breakfast and bed – I chatted, Bella wants breakfast and bed. Actually breakfast and bed after a 75 minute walk before 8am sounds a good idea………………….

http://www.orwellrivercruises.co.uk/pin_mill.htm

http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/suffolk/pinmill.html

14. Identity Crisis

So while I was out at a Charity Training course, hubby got a bee in his bonnet that Bella was not who we thought she was! 

      When we picked her up from the Rescue Centre in October 2011, they couldn’t give us any info on her because she had just been handed over (with a broken leg, see earlier posts), but because of her blue tongue they guessed she had some Chow in her and from her build possibly staffie. So she was classed as a Chow x Staffie.

      Her breeding didn’t matter to us; she was a gorgeous, quiet, cute, lovable, nine month old who stole our hearts, nearly broke our hearts and lives in our hearts!!  Everybody loves her! Everybody we meet stops and admires her, probably because she’s not a pedigree like many of the dogs around here! But they are genuine when they say she’s beautiful, and she is – and just like children she behaves impeccably (well, almost) when around other people, but this walking thing ………….!!

      So hubby did some investigating and when I got home presented me with our new breed of dog : a Shiba Inu, a Japanese breed! http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/shiba.htm has quite a bit of info on the breed:

- The Shiba is a small compact dog - √ 

- The head is in proportion with the body - √

- The round muzzle has a moderate stop and tapers slightly towards the nose – I suppose it does!

- The tight lips and nose are black - √ (very tight-lipped!)  

- The teeth meet in a scissors bite – well, uhm….

- The deep-set eyes are triangular in shape and dark in colour – well they look like the other pictures of Shibas!

- The eye rims are black - √

- The erect ears are triangular in shape and small in proportion to the rest of the body – well yes, except for the fold-over one!

- the high-set tail is thick at the base, curled and carried over the back, either in a ring or with a sickle curve - √ absolutely!  

- the coat is double with a soft thick undercoat and a stiff straight over coat – if that’s how it’s described, yes!

- Coat colours come in red, or red with a little black overlay, black with tan markings, sesame with red markings, all with a cream, buff or grey undercoat – from looking at pictures of the Shibas on the website, Bella is a Sesame!!

- Markings should appear on the cheeks and sides of the muzzle, throat, underside and chest - √

- There may be white on the legs, tip of the tail and above the eyes - √

- The Shiba is alert - √ confident - √ - courageous - √ (going off on her own for an entire day or climbing over the fence into the school playing ground counts as courageous!), and bold – I suppose one could say yes to this too!

- Loving - √√√  kind - √ - trainable - √ indoors! She sits and lies down on command, has learnt to wait until we say she can eat, has learnt not to dash out the door first but we go first, - very trainable … inside!!

- Brave – Not afraid of any dog bigger than her!

- They are clean – uhm unless you’ve taken her through muddy fields!

- most try to avoid puddles – she used to but the x bit kicked in and she gave up trying to walk around the puddle taking up the entire pathway!

- relatively easy to housebreak - √ She seemed to be housetrained when we brought her home, but she’s only messed inside twice – once on day one or two, and once in the holiday cottage!!!

- They bark little - √

- bond closely with their handler - √

- Playful - √√

- Delightful - √√

- well-adjusted - √√

- good with kids – not had much exposure as yet

- good with other dogs - √ mainly, she just wants to play with them!

-  and cats – well uhm?!!!  Maybe she just wants to play with the ginger cat!

-  active - √

- Lively - √

- Agile - √√ climbing fences! I wonder how she’d do at Dog Agility?!

- Fast - √√√√

- can be reserved with strangers - √ after four months she came and sat at my feet in a room full of people who’d been coming to our home every Tuesday evening, but she didn’t interact with them.

- If the Shiba is not completely convinced that its handler can handle the pack leader position and regards herself as stronger minded, they will become a bit stubborn as they will believe they need to make up their own rules - √√ That explains everything!!

- a natural hunting dog - √

- be careful when taking them off leash as they like to chase - √√√ :D

- adapts well to travelling - √ she eventually lay down on the back seat and didn’t whine for an hour’s journey!

- Height: Bitches 13-15 inches (33-38cm) - √

- Weight: Bitches 15-20 pounds (6.8-9kg) – x oops this is maybe where the x breed kicks in again. Last weight check she was 20kg!

- Health problems – prone to hip dysplasia, PRA and patellar luxation (slipped kneecap) – she already has a pin and plate in her leg! But at least fore-warned is good.

- It is moderately active - √

- The Shiba’s waterproof all-weather coat protects it in both cold and hot conditions – √ well that explains why she enjoyed the snow and never looks like a wet rag!

- The Shiba Inu is an undemanding dog – √ except when she really needs to go!

- That will adapt to your circumstances so long as it gets a daily walk - √ I think the experiment of taking her on holiday with us proved that.

- This breed can walk for hours on end as it has tremendous endurance - √√√√√√ yes, but human doesn’t!  

and lastly

- the Shiba was bred to hunt small wild game, bear, boar and to flush birds - √ that explains the fascination with the local country pheasants, the intense pounce on what might have been a mouse, and while inside the staring competition with the birds at the bird feeder, and when outside the sudden jerk at the silly blackbird tottering about on the path in front of us!   

 At first I thought these characteristics could be attributed to any dog, but I'm not too sure! Add to that the blue/black tongue also appearing in the Shiba Inu and that fact that she ticks so many of these boxes, I think we've found ourselves the owners of a very cute, beautiful, adorable, stubborn, willful - Shiba Inu called Bella!