Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Happy Gotcha Day, Koji

One year ago today, we drove nearly four hours away to pick up this little guy at the parking lot of the Round Rock Ikea from someone who took him in after his owners felt they no longer had the time for him. We had been looking for a dog for some time, had emailed the rescue with our information, and at Quakecon 2009, had gotten an email back from, who are now our "Shiba Friends" that he was available and needed a home soon. So after four sleepless gaming nights, we hopped in the car the Monday after and snatched up this bundle of pure crazy. Against better judgement, we decided to leave him uncrated in the car for the first 20 minutes, and he decided it was going to be a good idea to attempt to drive on the freeway, paws on the wheel and everything. He was crated as soon as we pulled over. I loved that we got to see pictures of him being the absolutely adorable puppy that he was, yet didn't have to deal with that level of obnoxiousness.

Koji has taught us so many things over the last year, including why he's the best dog in the world, and why we still really want to wring his little neck sometimes. He's kept us honest and has also given us excuses to duck out early. I love the way his feet smell like Fritos, a corn chip I absolutely hate, how he screams for sweet potatoes, and the way he smiles and wags his swishy tail when we come home, whether we were gone for 5 minutes or 5 hours. I love that he talks to us, annoys us till we play, and that he wants to be everyone's best friend, even to the point of making other dogs annoyed with his persistant rudeness. He makes us burst out laughing every single day and we miss him dearly if we don't come home to his anxious face.

I love this dog. He was definitely the best decision we've made so far.

To celebrate, Koji, Jeff and I would like to give away another Field Point Shiba key cover, as well as a tin full of custom Koji Cookies, tailored to fit your pup's tastes and needs. Just leave a comment telling me about your first dog, your first Shiba, or the day you picked up your current dog. A winner for the double prize will be announced 1 week from today, (8/24).

7 comments:

Lindsey said...

Okay well I'll answer for one of my two current dogs (my second shiba). We had been thinking of getting a second shiba (ie still trying to convince my husband) when I came across a rescue that seemed perfect; male (like my husband wanted), not red (as our first is and we wanted a contrast) and around the same age as our first dog. After talking to his foster and seeing that he would be a good fit for us I talked to my husband who surprisingly agreed! There was one hitch we live in VA and the foster was in NJ. The days I could get off my husband couldn't, so my brother agreed to drive with me. As I picked him up early in the morning he told me that he had just stayed up the whole night so he'd be more awake and then promptly fell asleep. After a long debate I decided to take Tidus (my first shiba) with me. So they could meet before hand and see how they did together, plus Tidus loves car rides and I knew he'd be happier with me in the car then at home by himself. I drove the whole way there and after picking up Shadow drove the whole way back (with two shibas in the back seat!). All in all I arrived home 24 hrs after I'd left, having driven nearly the whole time and having not slept at all. Call me crazy but I love my boys and would do it all over again if I had to!

Unknown said...

My first dog is actually our little shiba, Katsumi. We picked her up from a farm (NOT a puppy farm, just a regular farm with sheep and cows)just after valentine's day this year. We had talked with the breeder for about a month or so and I knew she was the dog for us after seeing her picture! And we picked her up early since she was weaned early after he mother died from old age... 6 puppies is a lot to have at the age of nine!

At first Katsumi was pretty lazy and sleepy but she has quickly become our little "victorious beauty!" She owns our apartment and tortures our cat (poor guy). We love her so!

Unknown said...

Oh, and happy belated gotcha day, Koji!

Unknown said...

Happy belated gotcha day Koji! You lucked out with your mom and dad! They are shibarific and we're so lucky to have crossed cyberpaths!

Unknown said...

I had done my research and decided I wanted a Shiba...after a year of nagging my boyfriend, he finally agreed!!! =)
We looked for breeders in ca only to find out none of them had any available Shibas and the waiting list was over two years long. We then began looking at breeders in other states. One day while waiting for my boyfriend in the MAC store I found my way into the pet store next door. There she was the cutest little Shiba girl ever!!!! It was love at first sight. I ran over and dragged my boyfriend over to see her. We played with her and within the first minute of play she tugged at the hem of my strapless dress and pulled at my boyfriends shoe laces!!!LOL making the salesgirl really nervous....shes a fiesty one I remember her telling us!! We left the mall because of the puppy mill stories even though the girl at the mall assured us they get their dogs from good breeders and that we can view pics and even talk to them if we liked. All we talked about waas how freaking cute she was and how we loved her crazy spunk the whole way home (an hour away). The minute we got out of the car we looked at each other smiled got back into the car and went back for our little bundle of bratiness Saki!!! Best decision we have made EVER!!! Like you there are times when you just want to wring her little neck...like when she decided to use my Gucci shoes aas a chew toy!!! But the goods def outweigh the bads!!! Congrats on your Gotcha day Koji.....you rock!!!!

Carina said...

Happy Gotcha Day Koji. Here is the story I'd like to share...

I was originally on a waiting list with another breeder to get a shiba puppy. She called after I had been on the list for many months and let me know that a breeder friend of hers had a male puppy that she needed to find a home for. This was about a week before my birthday and I took that as a sign.

I called the other breeder and got to know more about (*Conner). After we spoke for some time we both decided that this would be a good fit. A few days later I drove to Pearland, TX to pick up *Conner - now Tetsuya. He was licking my face the instant I picked him up. I was surprised at how small he was at 10 weeks old... such a cute little sweet puppy. It was love at first sight!

_tar0_ said...

happy gotcha day, Koji!

my wife and i got our little shiba, taro, just over a year ago (july 31). we had been married for a few months and had decided in later june/early july that if we found the right dog, we would love to adopt it.

we settled in on getting a shiba pretty early--loved the distinct look and attitudes, as well as the fact that it would keep us active. we're in arizona and we were looking to rescue a shiba, which is often a tall order. luckily, in mid-july, taro was listed by Shiba Inu Rescue Association (savingshibas.com). it turns out they have one family that fosters in SE phoenix. we inquired about the listing maybe 3 days after it went up, but we were the 4th family to ask to meet taro. we tried not to get our hopes up, but when we met the 8 month old puppy version of our taro, it was hard not to get excited.

he came over to our house for our home visit part of the interview. it went well, but not great, my wife and i figured. however, the foster family called a couple of hours later saying that they were planning to cancel the other home visit as they believed taro had clearly chosen us as his new family.

taro was brought over to our place the next day and has been with us ever since. he's an important part of our family and i can't imagine our lives without our little trouble-making shiba.

(by the way, you can find our blog at tar0shiba.tumblr.com and on twitter @_tar0_)