Shio the Shiba

Happy Pups

JML — Sun, 05 May 2013 15:26:17 +0000

Another fun morning with Nami and her pack.

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 + XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.

Dog-Friendly Brunch :: Purbird

JML — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:53:07 +0000

One of the most difficult things to do around town is finding dog-friendly restaurants to go to. This past weekend, we went to Purbird with Shio and Emi, and had a great brunch. Shio even got to sit on the human bench and have his own snack!!

Highly recommended for all dog-owners. The chicken thigh wrap is amazing.

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 + XF 35mm f/1.4.

Spring in Prospect Park

JML — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:46:34 +0000

The temperature in NY is now a good compromise between the freezing cold weather that shibas prefer and what we humans like. We are very lucky to be only 15 minutes away from this little paradise for our pups…

Guest starring: Nami.

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 + XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.

Emi and Spring

JML — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:50:58 +0000

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1, XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.

Random Sightings at Fort Greene Park

JML — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:06:48 +0000

Don’t worry – Emi did not appear in the photos because she was with me.

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 and XF 35mm f/1.4.

Sleepy Time

JML — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:43:52 +0000

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 and XF 35mm f/1.4.

Alternative Uses for Poop Bags

tingli — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:00:30 +0000

Life starts to feel like you’re owned by your dog after living with a Shiba. One of the things that I’ve always noticed is that I have poop bags everywhere I go. They’re in all my purses, my jeans, and my winter/summer/spring coats. Some even survive a cycle in the washing machine!

Thanks to the omnipresence of these little baggies over the last 4 years, I’ve found some other creative uses for them!

1. Wet Umbrella Holder – Running around in the rain and no where to put the umbrella when you reach your final destination? Not to fret! You can open up a poop bag and stick a small umbrella inside. The bag will contain the raindrops so you don’t need to fear when throwing it into your purse!

2. Hand Warmers – I often find myself running out the door in a rush and forget my gloves at the entryway of our place. When this happens for long freezing dog walks, I keep my hands warm by opening up a new poop bag and leaving my hand in them. The non-porous plastic instantly creates an oven for my cold little fingers and warms me up while my dogs figure out where they want to poop. After they poop, I just take my hand out and invert the bag to gather the prize and run home before my hands get cold again!

3. Water Bowl – During hot summer days, I sometimes forget to bring a water bowl to the park when the pups could really use some water to quench their thirst. During those times, we find a water fountain and open a new poop bag and fill it up with water. Pups are more than happy to quench their thirst after we roll down the edges of the bag and we’re relieved that they’re not parched from the heat!

Hope you all got a little kick out of this post! When you own a Shiba, you also need to have a sense of humour. Even if it’s a bad one like mine. :)

Typical Walk

JML — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 02:55:38 +0000

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 + XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.

Good Friday Weekend (Part 3 of 3)

JML — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:29:24 +0000

On our last morning in Washington DC we packed up and checked out early in the morning to prepare for our drive back to New York. On the way we stopped at Great Falls Park in Virginia to go for another hike. We wanted to make sure that Shio and Emi were tired enough to nap the whole way in the car ride back!

True to the name of the park, we saw some beautiful waterfalls. I shivered when peeking over the lookout points — I’m pretty sure I would’ve been swept away by the rapid currents if I ever found myself in that water. Good thing Shio and Emi weren’t interested in jumping in at all!

Our hike was unfortunately cut very short due to rain. We were only about a quarter of the way in when we felt raindrops and had to abandon the remainder of the hike. Shio and Emi were happy to spend the whole weekend with us and we were equally thrilled to spend time with them!

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 with XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.

Good Friday Weekend (Part 2 of 3)

JML — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:27:22 +0000

Our roadtrip to Washington DC was a short one but we made the best of it with our Shibas. We opted out of sigh-seeing at the National Mall and DC museums to spend more time outdoors with our pups. There are was a dog run nearby and we went there often during short walks around the Foggy Bottom neighborhood where we stayed in the River Inn Hotel. It was also on the way to the Georgetown Waterfront Park and shopping district.

Since the visit was so short, we didn’t have much time to set up meetings with friends. We only saw J’s old college friend and decided to hike together with his girlfriend’s Maltese at Theodore Roosevelt Island. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday sandwiched between a chilly Good Friday and rainy Easter Sunday. We were so happy to have the great weather for the hike. It was only 1.5 miles around the island but we made the most of it. There were lots of other leashed dogs around and they were happy to splash around at the shore but Shio and Emi were perfectly content staying away from that doggish nonsense.

In the last photo of Emi, I put her on a tree stump next to a little plush pink poodle that someone found on the trail. She was posing like a little statue and paid no mind to it but we thought it was cute!

Stay tuned for the last part of our DC trip series!

Photos taken with Fuji X-E1 with XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.