Meet Taro !

We are a family of 3 now ! It's been about a month since we brought home this little fluff ball. Here are some pictures of Taro since he has been in his forever home. He is sassy and loving pup. Taro is a people person dog, he loves meeting new people (more people to play with him). He's still a baby so he gets cranky when he's tired and hungry. He isn't old enough to socialize him with other dogs yet so for now he just has hooman friends. Taro is a “heater baby,” he loves to cozy up to a heater and take naps. Taro loves to chase things but will do anything for something to eat. Overall he is a very good pup and has made this house a home.

9 weeks old Mommy made me a "new" sweater to keep me cozy since it’s very cold in our house

“Heater baby”

10 weeks old

Orgin Story

How we came across Taro in the first place; our neighbors. We have a family across the street that has been a great help since moving into our house. (I only speak a little Japanese and my neighbors only speak a little English, but our friendship is so invaluable to me and had made me feel so welcomed here.) My neighbors knew we were looking for a Shiba Inu puppy, so they had been looking for a one unbenouced to us. So they messaged me out of the blue one day saying they had found a really cheap mame (this means bean) Shiba Inu from a breeder in Saitama (about a 2 hour drive away from here). So about 30 minutes after that I agreed to go with them to Saitama on a whim to "look at this puppy."

One of the Shibas around the perimeter at the breeder house (this made me laugh)

I had no idea what to expect. When we finally arrived to the breeders house, an older building with Shiba Inus chained up all around perimeter. Immediately entering the building there was a blast of warm air accompanied by an very off putting odor. The inside was littered with older dogs everywhere mostly Shibas, but I did see a Boston Terrier. All the dogs were in crates that were stacked three high. Away from the crates were some open pens and I saw him ! Two puppies were next to each other, this was a great comparison between the Mame Shiba Inu and the regular Shiba Inu. Both were 8 weeks old but Taro was about half the size of the other puppy. I was quite surprised to see the size difference. Please see link of size comparison if your interested. My neighbors had done all the talking and negotiating since my Japanese is so limited. Taro wasn't as rambunctious as the other puppy next to him. He was a bit more timid and relaxed, which I really liked. He wasn't fussy and didn't cry/bark at all. I couldn't believe how tiny and quiet he was. My neighbors were so smitten. I was still in shock that we were even there. I couldn't believe that I was potentially holding my future in my hands. Being such a good deal my neighbors couldn't pass up the deal for Taro (he was 50,000 Yen, but he was first come first serve and someone was looking at him the next day so it was now or never). I wanted him but was still waiting on a response from my partner to see if he wanted me to get Taro ( he was at work that Sunday) I felt bad for having my neighbors drive out so far to “just look“ at Taro and not get him, but with no response I said I couldn't get him. So my neighbors bought him ! They told me that they would give me a week if we wanted to buy him from them. On car ride home I was given the thumbs up to buy Taro from our neighbors. So he never went home with the neighbors and just came home with me.

8 week old Taro at the breeders house

The name Taro was suggested by my neighbors and I thought it was fitting. (Now looking back he looks like a little potato, so that name is even more perfect for him.) Taro in Japan was a popular name long ago, perhaps its the English equivalent to William or Robert. It was so popular in Japan that now it is used as an example name when filling out documents similarly as John Smith in the US. But I agreed on Taro for another reason. I perviously lived in Hawai'i and have come to revere the "Kalo" plant or taro root that is a staple food in the Hawaiian diet. I also use to work with plants when I was living in Hawai'i. Taro is so precious to us and we thought it was a very fitting name so we kept it. Plus its pretty easy for everyone to say.

First Month

At our first vet (speaks English and is very affordable) visit, Taro got his first of three rounds of vaccines he will receive before he is 6 months of age. (Next week we will take him to his next round of vaccines). It was brought to our attention by the vet that he had a carat in his left eye, making him just about blind in that eye. The vet says he doesn't think it will get better unlike that of kittens and operations success is pretty slim. I was only a little surprised about this since I had previously thought he had something wrong with his vision since he was very clumsy and couldn't see things that were right in front of him. The vet suggested that perhaps we could return him to the breeders and get another dog. We didn't think twice about returning him, he was ours and weren't letting anyone take him from us. We love him just the way he is.

We crate trained him as soon as he got home. Sleeping and feeding/drinking him in his crate has made a positive associate with his crate and he walks freely in and out of his crate during the day when we are home. The crate is big, despite recommendations from some trainers, I got this crate second hand for very reasonable and thought he would just grow into it (which he has). Plus I didn't feel right making him stay in such a small crate (very pleased with his crate might I add its easy setup and has wheels so can be moved easily).

Taro in his crate tonight for bed

We are still working on potty training, luckily we have a small yard (this is rare in Japanese houses) in the front he can go outside to potty since we can't take him on walks yet. Sometimes he'll go immediately after taking him out other times he'll just sniff around and eat bugs and rocks, but then we’ll go back inside and he’ll just go potty in the house right after being outside, ugh. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We are going to start bell training him to go potty, hopefully that'll help.

Taro's favorite thing is FOOD. He will do just about anything for food. This has made it fairly easy to train him with commands. He already knows five commands: sit, spin, shake, down, and jump. We are still fine tuning and perfecting each of them. Each command has a correlating hand sign the must be done simultaneously to being said in order for him to do the command. Recently, just purchased a toy that drops treats when tipped in the right direction. Taro like it, but only when it gives him treats. It keeps him entertained for a bit, and its great for keeping him out of trouble. Taro eats his food in about 30 seconds after getting it, so we are going to try out a new bowl to slow him down and a new water bowl so he doesn't knock it over when we trading out his bowls. I try not to buy to many things for him since I like to make most things myself. Just finished sewing a bed for him the other day based off this picture. I also made the sweater he is wearing in just about all the pictures of him from old smart wool socks. Will do product review post and diy post for dog things in the future, so be on the look out.

After about a month of him being in his forever home, we couldn't imagine life without him. We have been wanting to get a dog for years and are finally at a place and time we could get one. My dream dog was/is a Shiba Inu, so since we are living in the land of shibas we just had to get one. We are so auspicious, to have such outstanding neighbors who found Taro for us. He is growing so much each day and can't wait to take him on adventures.

Here are other pictures of him with his hooman friends and family

Matching with mommy

For any questions about puppy Mame Shiba Inus puppies let me know. Also would love any training suggestions if anyone has any.

Thanks, with love Erin.