6 Shiba Inus + Snow + 1 Park = FUN!

Yesterday, was our first Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup event of 2007. 6 Shiba Inus attended, it was cold and there was snow - but do you think the Shibas cared? Of course not! They were too busy, yapping away, running, chasing snowballs, playing. It was a lot of fun! Next month...maybe indoors though...

Bonnie & Sushi

The Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup Group

I"m the Organizer of the Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup Group. This will be my 3rd year organizing park playdates for these crazy wonderful Shibas. I don't know who originally founded the group. I stumbled upon it the same way that most of our members have - on the internet. The Organizer at the time asked if I would like to give it a shot, I said "yes" and the rest is history.

We have over 70 members so far and we average 8-10 Shibas at each Meetup. We get together at various parks across the Greater Toronto Area once or twice a month. We've gone to parks not only in Toronto, but in Mississauga, Brampton, Guelph, Acton. We have members in those areas, but also in Ajax, Oshawa, Ottawa...all over the place!

We've participated in events to help raise money for dog rescues in Ontario, including Shiba Rescue GTA

Some of our Shibas are in the 2007 K9 Rescue Me Calendar, and one of member's puppy got the honour of being on the cover of the calendar!

We've had indoor meetups as well - the Shibas even had the chance to learn some agility!

Last year we had our 1st Annual Fun n Games Event in Mississauga - that was a lot of fun, and we had a great turnout, too. Perfect weather. We played games, had some contests, raffled some treats. It was great, I can't wait to do it again this year!

I love meeting new owners or future owners. And, of course, getting to see all the Shibas play and have so much fun (and go home tired!) is the best part. Sushi has so many Shiba pals now :)

This year will be a busy year for events too. I think we'll reach 100 members by the end of the year - exciting! There can never be enough Shiba Inus!!

Bonnie & Sushi

Sushi thinks he's a cat!

Sushi is confused. He thinks he is a cat, not a Shiba Inu!

We have 2 cats - a Torti named Tatiana, who is only a few months older than Sushi. Our other one is a black cat named Bailey.

Sushi grew up with Tatiana. Shibas are known to be very catlike and I see that quite often. When they play, Sushi will try to mimic how Tatiana plays - uses his paws and just the way he moves. It's interesting to watch them.

Sushi has a folded up comforter in our livingroom which he likes to sleep on. One afternoon, Tatiana decided she wanted to figure out if there was anything inside the folds of the comforter. She pawed at it until she could crawl inside of it. Sushi, of course, was FASCINATED. Ever since then, we notice Sushi's comforter is messed up, moved around. We saw him pawing at it a few times then would lie down on it. I realized he was copying Tatiana once again.

Tonight, I was finally able to get a good picture of him - I guess he doesn't need to be tucked into bed anymore, he takes care of that himself!



Bonnie & Sushi

SNOW!!

This morning we finally had some snow on the ground. Sushi LOVES snow. He is double coated, so the cold and snow don't bother him at all. So, out we went into the yard to play his favourite game of catch the snow (couldn't quite make snowballs). Now, all day he keeps bugging me to go outside to play some more. We'll go out in a little while, it's still snowing, and it'll be more fun with more snow. In the meantime, Sushi is ok with the compromise of letting him look out our bedroom window and watching the world go by.

First Post!

Hi,

I'm Bonnie and I"m proudly owned by a Shiba Inu named Sushi. Sushi was born on Sept. 22, 2003, he is a red sesame male from Cusona Kennels in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of having lots and lots of dogs; or maybe being a veterinarian; anyway, I just knew that someday I would have my own dog and maybe be lucky enough to be involved in the dog world somehow.

Well, it's happened. It's all Sushi's fault, lol. He stole my heart. A true Shiba Inu "mine!".

Sushi is a wonderful dog, he makes me laugh, we love going to the park, he loves to play soccer, loves to play with his toys and with our 2 cats, Tatiana & Bailey. He's a good boy!

Because of Sushi, I know and have met over approximately 50 Shibas since owning him. I was asked to become Organizer of the Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup group http://shibainu.meetup.com/4/about I started in 2004, and it has been such a fun and rewarding experience. Last year, I co-founded Shiba Rescue GTA http://www.shibarescuegta.ca It has been a challenging experience and I am learning so much, but there is no better feeling than seeing a rescue Shiba Inu going to his/her forever home :)

So, as you can see, my world is Shiba Inu 24/7 and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what this blog is about. My life and Sushi's life with the wonderful, quirky Shiba Inu.

Bonnie & Sushi