Archive for the ‘Mango the Shiba Inu’ Category

120118 Entering snowy 520

While we were soaking in the warmth and stuffing our pie holes in Austin, TX, Mango was taking his little vacation at Leslie’s. The day after returning from Austin, this winter’s biggest snow storm hit Seattle hard. In the morning, we wanted to pick up Mango from Leslie’s boarding but was advices not to due to road condition. Later in the afternoon, the storm calmed down somewhat. With chains and autosocks in the trunk, we braved the snowy road, heading Redmond to get Mango.

We made it to Leslie’s after nearly an hour. All’s well the moment we saw our boy jumping and waggling his tail out of excitement of seeing us. Leslie suggested a little playtime before heading back.

120118 Mango and JC run

120118 The chase is on

120118 Play time with JC

Outside, the playground was covered in inches of snow. Mango was joined by his sister Hana, playmate Kiba, and a handsome black and tan JC. This small herd of shibas went nuts in the snow. They took turn chasing each other, with occasional yelping out of excitement.

120118 Hef is here!

120118 JC won't leave Hef alone

Hef the Leonbergers watching with envy from outside the fence. Leslie decided to let Hef joined the party. All the shibas ran over to greet him. Everybody was excited to see Hef.

120118 mugshot

Then Leslie let another black and tan in. She is JC’s sister, and a sweetheart just wanted to be loved. She kept jumping on me and ktula, which is something Mango never does.

120118 thirsty

120118 Snowy path

After some good chases, Mango did his business and was ready to go. Driving out of the beautiful snowy passageway, both Mango and I look forward to our next visit.

111228 after the surgery

During Mango’s annual physical exam, doctor found one of his back teeth was fractured. A fractured tooth will most likely became infected. So the tooth had to go.

According to the doctor, fractured tooth is not uncommon. Fractures are usually caused by chewing on hard objects like bones or hoofs. Doctor added it came as a surprise to many pet owners because it’s not a well known fact. I have given Mango countless bones and hoofs in the past. Poor mango is about to go through the pain and discomfort of the procedure I felt responsible for.

I dropped Mango off at the animal hospital first thing in the morning. Before the procedure, the hospital took some dental x-rays and found out his other side of the same tooth was fractured as well. I learned that Mango will be just fine eating without those teeth. Finally, some good news.

The procedure required Mango to be put under anesthesia. The hospital called around 2pm to inform me that Mango had woke up from anesthesia. They would keep him in the clinic for few more hours to make sure he’s fine before sending him home.

When I return to pick up Mango, he was alert but still a little off. I was told after Mango regain conscious, he was given some can food but he didn’t touch it. It’s pretty unusual for Mango to refuse food. Especially he was not feed since last night. That worries me a little.

Mango was more than eager to leave the hospital. He practically lead me to my car, didn’t waste a second sniffing other dogs. He was having trouble getting up the car seat. I pick him up to give him some much needed help. My poor little guy.

Home at last! Mango carefully climbed up the satires, still slipped and stumbled on one of the steps. He saw his half-chewed bully stick on the floor, slowly and surely, he approached the bully stick, attempted to resume chewing on it.

The sight of him showing interest at the bully stick was a huge relief for me. Thank goodness, he still got his appetite. I boiled some chicken breast and made some rice. Mango pick up the smell of chicken boiling in the pot, start whining and getting restless. Yes, our hungry little guy is back!

Shiba is known to be pretty difficult with hospital visits. We were fortunate Mango has been really good with doctors and nurses poking and checking on him. I hope after his teeth procedure, he remains his sweet self with the hospital folks. We’re going back to the hospital in couple weeks for follow up checkup. We’ll find out!

111224

Going 4-year-old, sometimes Mango still got a puppy look. How does he do that?

Once a month Mango gets his worming pill with microwaved fresh salmon mixed with kibbles. He loves his monthly salmon indulging! Several occasions he returns from his evening walk, caught the scent of cooked fish from outside the house, he gets so excited he would rush straight to the kitchen, forgetting he needs to get his paws wiped before coming in.

This month’s fillet was bigger than usual. I left a few pieces aside as treats. I enjoy giving Mango treats because he is super gentle when taking the treats off my hand. I caught two videos of him working as hard as a shiba can for his favorite salmon pieces. In the first video, his final facial expression filled with anticipation of tasty treat was just precious. But since he was such an eager beaver, I tried to milk as many tricks out of him as possible…

First Video

Mango got impatient on part II video and started getting fresh with me. For some reason his rollover acts has always been a bit of hit and miss. 20% of the time he can’t flip to the other side no matter what. And when he lost his cool like in this situation, his body stiffed into a plank, which makes the rollover even more challenging. I was losing him fast, but I couldn’t just give in and let him had his way. So finally when he did two half-assed rollovers, I quickly handed over the salmon piece.

Second Video

Mango is lucky his mom knows some very talented and super nice creative folks. Lara from our game studio painted this wonderful portrait of Mango. Her inspiration came from a photo of Mango squinting his eyes at me, demanding treats for jumping on the bench. The portrait captured Mango’s personality spot on. It brought smile to my face whenever I look at it.

Portrait

Photo
110424 what's next?