So anyway, thought I would write about at least one thing that has kept me off the computer. A little over a month ago Motoaki and I went to Osaka/Kobe to do a major hunt for some household stuff. We were in search of curtains, a sofa, a bed, and then a million little small things. This is easier said and done because, a) we both wanted to make sure we were getting a good deal (and thus wanted to shop around) and b) we hadn't really decided on anything like color/size/shape, etc. This was fine because it was a three day weekend and we had time. We ended up staying two days and even went to two different Ikea's.
After finally deciding on everything we made one last stop at Costco to stock up on cheese, Dr. Pepper, meat, sauces, and bagels. Our car was overflowing but we decided to check out the Home Center (Lowe's/Home Depot) across from Costco to see if they had a hose (since we have a large yard). It just so happened that this super Home Center also had a pet store (as they oddly often do- I am not sure why Japan sees pets as hardware...) and that the pet store was having a "Ko Inu Matsuri" or "Puppy Festival."
Even before we had the house and the ability to have a pet we would go and look whenever we happened to be somewhere that sold dogs. This is partially because I am always on the look out for carin terriers in Japan. I know they are out there (after looking online and on youtube) but I have yet to see one. So when we got to the pet section I automatically did a quick lap of the place looking for a "Toto."
While I was doing that, Motoaki was busy falling in love with a Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu "half" puppy that was on sale. When I had seen to every cage and had given up on getting a "Lissie or Looe," Motoaki called me over to this dog. Usually in Japan dogs are around $1000~1500. On sale they go for $500. This little guy was only $300. He was cute, but I was concerned about why he was going for a bargain. We called a staff member over and they explained that he was on sale because a) he was already 4 months (a bit old for puppies) and b) he had an under-bite (which we hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have noticed til we had gotten him home).
This was when we started "thinking." We had the house/money/want for the puppy. We also "sort of" had the time (even though we are both busy with work, we don't go out too much at night and don't have kids). My main hesitation was that the dog wasn't a girl (I have concerns about boy dogs being frisky and their desire to mark things) and the fact that we had JUST moved and had new furniture. Not to mention tatami floors (a kind of bamboo mat that I doubt could handle a puppy accident). BUT this was by far the cheapest dog we had seen in all of our "looking" over the past five years and also one of the cutest.
So we caved and got him (of course). We named him Finn after Huckleberry Finn. I was trying to think of good dog names but most of them were too hard or too weird for Motoaki to say (Elmer, Woodrow, Norman). I had always said that I would have two dogs named Dexter and Stuart, after my hometown, but with the popularity of the show Dexter (about a serial killer named that) we decided against it. I then started thinking of literary characters and thought about Tom Sawyer. But because Finn is a mutt and kind of a "cast-off" (not to us but at the store that day), we thought Huckleberry was better. Then Motoaki thought about how Finn can also refer to a surfboard fin or a Dol-phin and we just left it at Finn.
Things for the past month have been fairly good but also a bit of an education. One amazing thing about Japan is that there is the trend of "potty training" dogs to go on little diaper pads. And, one advantage of Finn being four months old was that the shop had trained him to do this already. He still misses now and then but that is usually when he is excited and in a room where the pad isn't nearby. As far as for when he is in the kitchen he is fine and also for when we are at work. He also is smart enough to sit, lay down, and play fetch already.
One bad thing about him having been in a crate for four months is that he isn't quite socialable yet. He is fairly good when he is calm but when he is excited he is VERY nippy. As in can't be stopped. We are hoping that he will grow out of this (as others have assured us he will) but I am a bit worried. Every thing I read says that the way to get him to stop is to scream whenever he bites and acts like he has hurt us. Normally that would be enough for the dog to realize it is unacceptable to bite. But that doesn't work for him. We're hoping to get him to dog training too, but it has been hard finding someone in the area or a time that works for us.
He is also afraid of other dogs and strangers. Not a bad thing really, but I worry. I've had dogs before but they always had other dogs to relate to. They also had five people in the house as apposed to just two. Well, accept for Lissie. Anyway, he has been fine when people have come over but he gets super scared on walks whenever we encounter another dog or even a lot of people. Scared as in running home as fast as possible. However we took him to a dairy farm/camping place one weekend and he was fine there.
Going to the vet in Japanese has been hard but they are very patient and nice to me. Finn is also really good for them and never nips the staff (even when getting a thermometer put you know where). He also did well at the groomers (except for getting upset when she was trying to clean/trim the inside of his ears, but that is no surprise considering it was his first time).
Anyway, sorry for writing so much. Just wanted to give you a "backstory" so that when Finn comes up in future entries, you know what I am on about. And of course, add some pictures...
After finally deciding on everything we made one last stop at Costco to stock up on cheese, Dr. Pepper, meat, sauces, and bagels. Our car was overflowing but we decided to check out the Home Center (Lowe's/Home Depot) across from Costco to see if they had a hose (since we have a large yard). It just so happened that this super Home Center also had a pet store (as they oddly often do- I am not sure why Japan sees pets as hardware...) and that the pet store was having a "Ko Inu Matsuri" or "Puppy Festival."
Even before we had the house and the ability to have a pet we would go and look whenever we happened to be somewhere that sold dogs. This is partially because I am always on the look out for carin terriers in Japan. I know they are out there (after looking online and on youtube) but I have yet to see one. So when we got to the pet section I automatically did a quick lap of the place looking for a "Toto."
While I was doing that, Motoaki was busy falling in love with a Yorkshire Terrier/Shih Tzu "half" puppy that was on sale. When I had seen to every cage and had given up on getting a "Lissie or Looe," Motoaki called me over to this dog. Usually in Japan dogs are around $1000~1500. On sale they go for $500. This little guy was only $300. He was cute, but I was concerned about why he was going for a bargain. We called a staff member over and they explained that he was on sale because a) he was already 4 months (a bit old for puppies) and b) he had an under-bite (which we hadn't noticed and probably wouldn't have noticed til we had gotten him home).
This was when we started "thinking." We had the house/money/want for the puppy. We also "sort of" had the time (even though we are both busy with work, we don't go out too much at night and don't have kids). My main hesitation was that the dog wasn't a girl (I have concerns about boy dogs being frisky and their desire to mark things) and the fact that we had JUST moved and had new furniture. Not to mention tatami floors (a kind of bamboo mat that I doubt could handle a puppy accident). BUT this was by far the cheapest dog we had seen in all of our "looking" over the past five years and also one of the cutest.
So we caved and got him (of course). We named him Finn after Huckleberry Finn. I was trying to think of good dog names but most of them were too hard or too weird for Motoaki to say (Elmer, Woodrow, Norman). I had always said that I would have two dogs named Dexter and Stuart, after my hometown, but with the popularity of the show Dexter (about a serial killer named that) we decided against it. I then started thinking of literary characters and thought about Tom Sawyer. But because Finn is a mutt and kind of a "cast-off" (not to us but at the store that day), we thought Huckleberry was better. Then Motoaki thought about how Finn can also refer to a surfboard fin or a Dol-phin and we just left it at Finn.
Things for the past month have been fairly good but also a bit of an education. One amazing thing about Japan is that there is the trend of "potty training" dogs to go on little diaper pads. And, one advantage of Finn being four months old was that the shop had trained him to do this already. He still misses now and then but that is usually when he is excited and in a room where the pad isn't nearby. As far as for when he is in the kitchen he is fine and also for when we are at work. He also is smart enough to sit, lay down, and play fetch already.
One bad thing about him having been in a crate for four months is that he isn't quite socialable yet. He is fairly good when he is calm but when he is excited he is VERY nippy. As in can't be stopped. We are hoping that he will grow out of this (as others have assured us he will) but I am a bit worried. Every thing I read says that the way to get him to stop is to scream whenever he bites and acts like he has hurt us. Normally that would be enough for the dog to realize it is unacceptable to bite. But that doesn't work for him. We're hoping to get him to dog training too, but it has been hard finding someone in the area or a time that works for us.
He is also afraid of other dogs and strangers. Not a bad thing really, but I worry. I've had dogs before but they always had other dogs to relate to. They also had five people in the house as apposed to just two. Well, accept for Lissie. Anyway, he has been fine when people have come over but he gets super scared on walks whenever we encounter another dog or even a lot of people. Scared as in running home as fast as possible. However we took him to a dairy farm/camping place one weekend and he was fine there.
Going to the vet in Japanese has been hard but they are very patient and nice to me. Finn is also really good for them and never nips the staff (even when getting a thermometer put you know where). He also did well at the groomers (except for getting upset when she was trying to clean/trim the inside of his ears, but that is no surprise considering it was his first time).
Anyway, sorry for writing so much. Just wanted to give you a "backstory" so that when Finn comes up in future entries, you know what I am on about. And of course, add some pictures...
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