Soba the social butterfly

Sorry for the delay in this update. Soba's social calendar is keeping us rather busy!

Soba got his first shot at the vet last Sunday so now we're trying to socialize him more so he doesn't end up being a big momma's boy. He's getting more used to car rides, made a trip to visit Broadcom, has met and played with a bunch of people who visited our house and even went to Uncle Josh and Aunt Laura's baby shower this weekend. That's where he met up with their Lab puppy Roxie who is very sweet and friendly and really loves to play with other dogs but doesn't realize how big and strong she is (she is 10x the weight of Soba). So she ran up and literally squashed him when we let her run free. Soba got very scared and had to be rescued from Roxie's ginormous wet tongue and kisses. But as the night got later, he got a little bolder and eventually we let them play and wrestle for about 5 or 10 minutes in the backyard. Of course, the neighbors were probably thinking it was Michael Vick's house and we were dogfighting with the large circle of people watching and cheering. He did pretty good and was really jabbing with his front and hind legs as he was in the submissive position. He was really tired and slept really well that night. Now we joke with him that he got beat up by a girl!

Soba is a great puppy. Yes, he does have his bouts of crazy nervous puppy energy which are funny to watch as for no reason, he suddenly zips back and forth all over the house and yard like he's nuts. Then he gets tired and settles down to one of his frequent naps. He's getting really quick now and hard to catch when he doesn't want you to catch him. Most of the time, he just wants to hang out near us and checks we are close by then get back to sleeping or gnawing on one of his toys. We also constantly find out how smart he is. For example, a couple of times Cindy has fallen asleep on the couch and he has barked at her to wake her up and let her know he needs to go outside. Of course, this intelligence sometimes doesn't work out so well as when he continually finds way to get into the garden and do some digging. We put up a fence but now he has figured out that if he scales the nearby planter, he can go the backdoor route and drop down into the garden. Doh!

Thanks Uncle Ron and Aunt Susan for the Seahawks jersey. He needs to grow into it a little more but it won't be long both of Cindy's boys are decked out and ready for Sundays.










He was scared of this squeaky elephant at first but not anymore after he figured out he could grab it by the nose and show it who's boss.











Let's say Soba hasn't gotten used to leash training yet.












Sometimes Soba plays so much, he forgets to drink water and has to be led there by Dad.












His super puppy energy not only wears him out, but anyone nearby.

I'm settling in

Soba has done a lot this week. It started by going to the vet on Sunday. He is 7 weeks old and he weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs! For some reason, that does not stop him from barking at the 80 lb laborador next door. I'm not sure he appreciated the anal probe he got when they took his temperature but he passed his checkup with flying colors. Later that day, we tried to give him his first bath. As you might have guessed, he didn't appreciate that very much and we got our first "shiba scream" and both of us also got very wet in the process.

He's a pretty good puppy. Housebreaking has gone pretty well with only a couple accidents. I'm not sure if it's because he likes Cindy better but for some reason, his only accidents have been when I am around. Doh! The only thing he absolutely despises is when we crate him at night. Some pretty loud whimpering (enough that I close all the windows so people don't call the cops) since he doesn't like to be alone but he is getting more used to it. He's now playing with more toys. The lobster is still his absolute favorite but as you can see in the pic below, he doesn't mind gnawing on some rawhide.

Enjoy the pics and we'll again end with one of his signature poses .... passing out on his side, this time on the sofa.

I'm home

Soba finally came home! Here are the first pics of him. We picked him up last night and despite the fact that we were expecting the worst on the car ride home, he actually handled it well. For the hour long drive, he just sat in Cindy's lap. No carsickness, whimpering or barking. Just a couple yawns and he passed out for part of the ride since it was 11 pm and he was probably tired from all the stress and since he had been in a car for an another hour or two earlier in the day.

He has quickly made himself at home as you can see from the pics. The lobster is definitely his favorite toy. He cracks us up. We're laughing every five minutes at his antics. From his cute puppy stare to his ability to just pass out in the middle of our floor as shown in the last pic when he has just exhausted himself from running around.