Horrible Neighbors

I guess I have a new neighbor who moved in directly below us. He's an older guy, maybe mid-30s and has complained about the dogs twice in less than a week. And he called the cops as well but that's a different story.

Here's the thing: Corey and I both work in downtown which is 45 minutes away by light rail. That means I get up at 5:50 in the morning to walk the dogs and get ready for work with enough time for Corey to shower and all that good stuff before catching the light rail. That means the dogs are up by the time I get up. We keep Pickle in his kennel at night because he makes too much noise and Cooper steals his food. Cooper get free rein of the house because he doesn't do much but sleep; occasionally walking around. We get the dogs ready for bed around 10:30 every weekday night and later on the weekends. The neighbor complained at 6:20 in the morning that the dogs were running around. Um...if you're already up, then aren't you getting ready for work too so why does it matter if they're running around?

He came over last Saturday night at 10 to say that the sound of the dogs running around was too loud. WTF? It's 10! On a Saturday! Granted I am assuming he has a normal 9-5 M-F job, but seriously, 10? Most of the people who live in my apartment complex are young professionals around Corey's and my age. We're used to the noise! People have parties, listen to loud music, have raucous get togethers in the common area by the pool and people just deal with it. After 12 though, then we start asking people to keep it down.

The thing that bothers me is that the guy knowingly moved into an apartment complex that allows animals. Not everyone is going to keep a cat or a 5 pound dog. My dogs are super quiet; they rarely bark and yeah, they kind of run around. But so do kids and kids are a thousand times louder than a dog and I don't fucking complain when someone's asshole kid is screaming for hours. I deal with it. The dogs only run around for 15 minutes at the most and calm down. I keep them quiet during the night, they don't bark, and they don't really do anything but sleep and eat. I can't justify keeping them in their kennels all day and night just because some asshole downstairs can't put up with a bit of noise. I don't know his work schedule, but I think it's fair to assume that during the day, anything really goes since the apartment complex is EMPTY. As my dogs aren't barking their heads off but rather chasing each other BECAUSE THEY ARE BORED for less than 20 minutes, I think he should be able to deal with that. I don't mind putting them in their kennels during the night because hell, they keep me up too. On the weekends, however, I think I can leave them out longer than normal since most people can sleep in on the weekends. I can't keep them in the kennels during the day because that is just not fair; they have every right (as I am paying rent in our apartment) to walk around and be able to lay on the couch and stretch their legs.

I'm going to go down this weekend to talk with the new neighbors and try to figure out a compromise. I hate passive-aggresiveness and they have shown that side by banging on their ceiling when the dogs are too loud. Fucking A, get your lazy ass out and TALK with us. I hate the people who complain about something and never do anything to try and work it out.

The dogs are not at fault. They have their own minds and semi-free will and yes, if they feel like running for whatever reason, they are. I can't always make them stop and unless they are being destructive or super loud, I'm going to let them do it.

Mini-Me

Sometimes I wonder if dogs take after their owners. You know, personality, likes and dislikes, habits, etc. Cooper uses his paws a lot more than any dog I know and I think he learned that behavior from humans. For instance, he will actually slap Pickle or anything else that annoys him in a friendly manner. Ok, sometimes in a violent manner. My ex had a cat that would chase Cooper and Cooper will chase it back. They got along really well considering Cooper used to be terrified of cats and could be trusted in the same room together. Cooper would sit next to it as it groomed itself and would slap it and knock her over to get the cat to chase him. It was very amusing to me. Luckily she was declawed or else she totally would have made Cooper regret it.

Corey says that Cooper's a lot like me. Corey only recently got back with Cooper; we lived apart for over a year in which Cooper stayed with me. He says Cooper's behavior's changed a lot, both good and bad. At least now we can trust him to be alone outside of his kennel while we're at work. Cooper had a horrible marking problem when he was a puppy. I don't know if Cooper learned some weird, quirky things from me or not but here are some things he does that I definitely do:

• When he sleeps in the bed with me and jumps on my legs, I always groaned or made a noise. He does this whenever he lies down or when someone nudges him while he's lying down.

• His eyes glaze over when I've been lecturing him too long. Or make him repeat tricks. My friends and family have told me numerous times (and professors) that my eyes glaze over when something is very boring to me.
  
• He's more of a homebody than he looks. Sure he enjoys his walks more than words can describe but at the end of it, he is eager to go home and do nothing.
  
• Cooper sniffs flowers because he sees me doing it in the spring and summer. If I stop to sniff the roses, he'll stop, turn to look at me, realize I'm sniffing flowers, and happily sniffs the ones in his reach.
  
• He gives up easily. Yeah, no need to desribe that for myself.
• He's a picky eater. He won't eat "cheap" treats and seems to be able to tell the difference between organic and non-organic foods. While I can't distinguish that, I am a picky eater and will only eat certain foods.
  
• Cooper is a bitch. I've been told I'm one as well by my own father. Actually, that's how my dad likes to preface a conversation with boyfriends. True story.
  
• Cooper hates getting up in the mornings. I have to drag myself out of bed and he groans when he hears the alarm going off and curls into a tighter ball; just like I do. Eventually we both give in and finally get up. Mornings are inevitable.
• Cooper's really easy going, he likes everyone and everything until they wrong him. He can hold a grudge longer than any dog should.
• And last but not least, we're both Asian.

Corey thinks I've been too easy on Cooper and that's why Cooper thinks he can get away with murder. Maybe that's true but honestly, how can anyone say No to his cute little face? He knows what's right and wrong, but his strong shiba personality let's him believe that he is above that law. I can discipline him when he needs it and he does submit to me. Deep down he knows I'm pack leader but likes to pretend otherwise.

This is a picture of Cooper and me at CU Boulder. See how happy he is?

Two Shibas

Cooper and Pickle still do not get along. We have had them in our new apartment for about 3 months now, and Pickle for 4 months. Cooper still hates Pickle and will not stop trying to "dominate" him. Pickle makes the situation worse by not ever leaving Cooper alone. He has that annoying little brother personality that really pisses Cooper off.

Cooper's fine when they're both outside on walks. He doesn't really mind when Pickle shoves him out of the way to sniff whatever Cooper was sniffing first. He doesn't really care if he's the "pack leader" or not; Cooper likes to either be in the front or dawdle behind everyone (Pickle and Cooper never fight over who gets to be leader). Cooper also could care less where Pickle pees or poops and doesn't feel the need to over mark the area.

It's in the house that gets really bad, annoying, and frustrating. Cooper will bully Pickle and scare him so badly Pickle doesn't leave his kennel. When he does venture out, Cooper stresses him out by growling every time Pickle moves. When Cooper's lying down having a nap or just relaxing, Pickle comes out of nowhere and jumps on Cooper and tries to make Cooper chase him. I know Pickle's still a puppy but he should really learn to tone down when everyone's relaxing. Usually I yell at Cooper because he's the one that gets loud. Pickle never makes a sound when he's playing with Cooper and I don't think he can even growl. I feel bad for always yelling and disciplining Cooper because it really isn't his fault all the time. Corey gets on my case when I yell at Pickle because he feels sorry for Pickle. He can't help that he's undersocialized; that'll be the fault of the breeder.

Because Pickle has socialization issues, I think this is made harder because of Cooper's constant bullying. Pickle isn't able to relax because he's wary of Cooper being mean to him. When Corey and i watch TV too loudly Pickle freaks out and hides or he paces. And you know what happens every time Pickle moves; Cooper growls. I think it might almost be best if we gave Pickle up to a family that has the time to socialize Pickle and bring him out of his shell. Maybe Cooper was meant to be an only child but I still want him to have Pickle around. Granted Pickle enjoys Cooper's company way more than Cooper enjoys Pickle. I just feel like I'm taking the easy way out but at what point do you say enough is enough. I don't feel like this is healthy for either dogs because Cooper's getting more and more stressed and I'm sure Pickle's stressed more than we could imagine as he isn't as vocal as Cooper. But I'm afraid of Pickle going to the wrong home; I'm afraid someone might abuse him or drop him off at the pound when they realize that he is a lot of work. It's not that I'm afraid about the work, we are making slow progress, but it's just the fact that I can't stand listening to the damn dogs fighting all the damn time. I put Cooper in his kennel when he's being a dick but as soon as I let him out he's all over Pickle again. And Pickle doesn't know when to just give Cooper space and leave him alone.

I just don't know what to do and I feel like a horrible dog owner. I do get frustrated with Pickle because he is so terrified of everything and has too many issues but I feel like he's my responsibility now. I seriously want to call Cesar Milan and have him help me with my anti-social pup and jealous Cooper.

Off Lead

Everything I have read about shiba inus recommended one thing: never let them off lead as they have a high prey drive. I have always wanted a dog that you can let off the leash and play fetch with in a park or something. My first dog, a Korean Jindo, has an extremely high prey drive and couldn't be trusted off lead. Although I will admit, she is a clever escape artist and would randomly get loose and roam the neighborhood. God knows what she killed during her time away from home, but she always came back in one piece and without blood all over her so I figure we're ok.

Anyway, my friend Fox has a male shiba inu named Jackson. Jackson is the very rare shiba because he listens to Fox attentively and can be walked without a leash. He stays relatively close by and although he doesn't know "sit," "shake," or other cute tricks like that, he knows "up" (get up on the sidewalk), "heel," and "watch out." It's so amazing to see an animal who is so prissy and independant willingly listen to his human and follow him devotedly around. Jackson will also willingly give up pursuit of squirrels, rabbits, and other small vermin he comes across. I'm jealous.

Since moving to the suburbs and noticing the lack of sidewalks around here, Corey and I take the dogs to a near by park and let them run around. We use those super long training leashes on them so they're easier to catch if need be. Sometimes I think I can trust Cooper off lead because he has no interest in anything. He doesn't care if a squirrel is less than 3 inches from him, he doesn't care for other dogs, children, or balls thrown in his general direction. After we switch leashes on the dogs, Pickle takes off and runs around in ecstacy while Cooper rolls around in the grass and plops down to watch Pickle. He doesn't want to run, play, or enjoy the great outdoors. Corey and I have to coax him to run by dragging him a little or getting Pickle to attack Cooper. Cooper just isn't interested in being "free." If I walk away to the other side of the field, Cooper will pick himself up and follow me. Even though he has some free rein, he stays no farther than 15 feet away from me.

This is Cooper just sitting in the park. Pickle doesn't stay still long enough for me to take a picture and I only had the camera on my phone available. Anyway, I kind of worry about Cooper's weight because I feel like he isn't getting as much excercise as he did when I lived downtown. I wold walk him for at least an hour after work and since I don't have a car, whenever I went anywhere I would drag him with me for a false sense of security against the homeless and the crack whores. I don't get home until much later now that I live so far away and usually I have to start dinner almost as soon as I get home. So poor Cooper will be driven to the park that's less than a mile away, I make him run for about 20 minutes, and we walk around the park but in all honesty, the entire trip takes less than half an hour. Totally not enough excercise for Cooper and Pickle.

I just feel guilty I suppose. I don't want obese dogs but at the same time I'm too lazy to do more than the run at the park. Living in suburbia really does make a person lazy...

Too Cute!

I always loved random fuzzy animals larger than myself. I am not the type of person who will carry around a 5 pound "dog" and still respect myself at night. As a small child I have always wanted German Shepherds, Alaskan Malamutes, or Huskies. I loved big cats, wolves, bears, you name it. I'm partial to polar bears because I love their kindly expressions and their tiny little eyes. I like how they slump around and how gracefully they swim for such a large size. Most of all, I love how roly-poly they are. They remind me of gigantic white puppies.

I am bored at work and Googled polar bears and I came across this image:

I mean, how cute is that? Apparently the polar bear came back several times to play with the dogs. It makes me think of Cooper because before he got attacked at the dog park, he loved bigger dogs. He would jump on them and frolic with them and it was the cutest thing. At our old apartment in Iowa the upstairs neighbor had an old German Shepherd named Max and he was like a grandpa to Cooper. He never seemed to mind when Cooper would jump at his face and pull on his lips. If Cooper heard him coming down the stairs guess who wanted to go outside. Cooper. Ah, they were too cute for words and it was the sweetest thing to watch a 120 pound dog playing with a puppy that weighed 13 pounds...

Cooper actually had a goat friend for about an hour when I took him up to CSU for an echocardigram and x-rays. CSU's Vet Hospital also looks after large farm animals and had a few goats and horses in a pen behind the vet school. I needed to walk Cooper and also wanted to pet the horse so I figured, eh, two birds, one stone. Cooper didn't like the horse too much and the horse didn't like him either, but the goat loved Cooper. They were sniffing noses through the fence and would walk next to each other. It was sad to leave because the goat stoof on its hind legs and bleated at Cooper in the most heart-breaking bleats I've ever heard. Cooper kept looking back at the goat and tugging on his leash to try to go back there. It was Cooper's first true love...

I started thinking that if we had that goat, no other dog would dare mess with him again. That goat would kick any dogs' ass should they threaten Cooper. The horse was being mean and stampy towards Cooper and the goat wedged its way between the two lest Coop gets hurt. If only I could keep a goat in my apartment...

Favorites

I know I'm not supposed to have a favorite dog out of the two I have but sometimes I just can't help it. Corey's really good at liking both Pickle and Cooper equally but sometimes I see myself favoring Cooper more than Pickle. I play with both equally and give them the same amount of treats but I just like Cooper better.

True, Cooper has a lot of problems. He chooses to listen to you and rarely does anything you ask of him unless you have a treat in your hand. You can see the little wheels in his head turning when I tell him to sit. "Hmm, do I really want to do that? She doesn't look like she has anything in her hand...I don't smell anything...ugh, that stupid Pickle is looking at me...wait, what did she want me to do again? I'm itchy; I'm gonna sit down and scratch myself." By then I get exasperated and either tap his butt to make him sit or ask him to do something else such as a high five. "High Five? Does she have the nail clippers? I hate getting my nails trimmed, it hurts. It makes me feel weird. Hmmm, I'm hungry, when was the last time I ate? Ugh, there's stupid Pickle!" Seriously, I think that's how Cooper thinks.

Anyway, I think I like Cooper more because obviously I've had him longer. Not only that, he was my only friend when I moved out to Iowa last November to be with Corey. He kept me company while Corey went out every weekend with his buddies and obviously he didn't invite me. When we broke up, I moved to Colorado and left Cooper behind for a few months until I got settled in with all intentions of having him flown out to me. Corey and I tried to get back together again and he came out with Cooper and left him since he was returning on my birthday. Well, long story short, we broke up again for a long time and Cooper was my main company while I lived in Downtown Denver. I was very depressed and had absolutely no motivation to do anything but lay in bed and cry. The great thing about Cooper is he really could care less about my problems. He would whine and scratch at the door to be let out. He refuses to poop anywhere near where we live and makes me walk him 8 blocks before he considers pooping. If I don't let him out quickly enough he will drag over my coat, shoes, whatever to make me get out of bed. He refused to show that he cared, never cuddling, licking, or anything. Everything he wanted he had to have and I existed to make him happy. Needless to say, if I didn't have Cooper I would have been a complete shut in.

I suppose that was Cooper's way of telling me that hey, life goes on. Sure it sucks ass that your boyfriend/fiancee dumped you twice in 6 months but look outside! Snow! Let's play in it! And hey, look, it's spring! Let's go sniff all the flowers and you can pick me up to sniff the cherry blossoms! And ooo, the crab apples are falling off the branches, let's chase them! Cooper always managed to cheer me up regardless of how badly I felt about life. Also, if anything were to happen to me, who would take care of his cute little face? Cooper lives a very pampered life which includes tons of organic chicken treats, peanut butter and cream cheese filled kongs, organic chicken breast cooked with rice once a month, and organic free range beef with rice every month as well, and all the free range bully sticks he wants. That doesn't include toys every few months, long daily walks where people will chase me for blocks to pet him, and not to mention all my friends downtown who have dogs and we have random doggy playdates.

That being said, I have a lot to be thankful to Coop for. He showed me that it's ok, you have to live your life even if it's boring and only involves work but hey, let's go outside and chase things. He is a very wise little guy and I guess he has that going for him.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but obviously, Corey and I are back together. Maybe third time's the charm for us. He moved out to Colorado to be with me and we are pretty happy. We're working on our issues and it helps that we have Mr. Man to make us laugh and set aside our differences and anger to fulfill his every need.

Sibling Rivalry

You would think that after three months Cooper would realize that Pickle is here to stay. Unfortunately, Cooper still hates Pickle almost as much as the first day he arrived. If anything, I think Cooper might hate Pickle more now. Cooper was never one to cuddle, but he really does enjoy lying by your feet on the couch or on the bed. He hasn't been doing that since Pickle came into the picture because Cooper refuses to be on the same bed/couch/side of the floor/you name it with Pickle. Cooper will give an angry bark/growl/snarl and jump off the couch or bed while giving Pickle the dirtiest look I've ever seen from a dog. Pickle, being oblivious, will jump off the couch or bed and follow Cooper around just to annoy him further.

Besides the fact that neither dog can sleep in the room with us, Cooper also steals treats and food from Pickle. Pickle never defends himself in those situations and lets Cooper eat everything. I think Cooper just eats out of spite and not because he's hungry. However, Pickle will beat up Cooper if they start "fighting." Cooper wouldn't harm a fly and has no hunting skills nor prey drive so watching him try to "fight" with Pickle is one of the most amusing parts of my day. Granted, my life is very pathetic and sad which is made even more pathetic as Cooper is the highlight of my day. Cooper tries to make himself look tougher by growling and snarling for all he's worth but he never goes in for the "vital" areas of Pickle's body. He never goes for the throat, ears, pretty much anywhere where he might actually have a chance. He nips at Pickle's thighs and tries to nip Pickle's paws but he's too scared to actually bite. Pickle, on the other hand, has no problems going for Cooper's throat, ears, eyes, belly, and other vital areas. It's really pathetic to watch Cooper start a fight with Pickle only to run away to his safe area (Corey and I established "safe areas" for both dogs to run to when they're feeling overwhelmed with each other).

Last night Cooper was sleeping on the floor while Corey and I were watching tv. Pickle was sitting on the other couch and when he got up to move to the couch Corey and I were sitting in, Cooper started growling at Pickle. We thought he was growling at the door so we ignored him but when Pickle moved to the other couch, Cooper growled again. Even when he's sleeping he can't ignore Pickle. I'm hoping that with time Cooper will accept Pickle and just leave him alone but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Cooper's very stubborn and sometimes when we go for walks, I can see Cooper giving Pickle the evil eye and scheming ways of pushing Pickle into on coming traffic.