 Northeast Shiba Rescue Adoption Success Stories: Trooper & Scarlett |
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 ~Trooper's Story ~ My husband, Scott, and I finally decided that after 1 year of marriage and 6 months in our new house that it was time to expand our family. Unlike most people in this situation, we agreed that we wanted a "furr baby". Much to my mother-in-law's chagrin, our dog search started in fall of 2001. What we didn't know at the time was that she is afraid of dogs, due to a traumatic event in her childhood. Apparently, a doberman was the cause. Scott and I started investigating what type of dog we would like. We started with animal planet's web page where you can answer questions and will then be provided with a list of compatible dogs. According to our results, we would do well getting a doberman, greyhound, whippet, Italian greyhound, or schipperke. After speaking with a greyhound rescue organization during an information session at Petco, we realized we could not provide the ideal place for one. Primarily due to the lack of fenced in yard. The planned runner would probably cause more harm than good to any greyhound. Next up was a doberman (please keep in mind we didn't know of my mother-in-law's fear). We applied with a doberman rescue in Massachusetts, and even went through with a house visit before we discovered that a doberman moving in meant that my mother-in-law would never visit again. As heart breaking as it was, I chose the mother-in-law over a doberman and promised to look at less threatening looking dogs, preferable lap size. Schipperkes, which if you've never seen can be best described as a black pot bellied pig with a fox face, are an absolute joy! A friend of Scott's had a Schip named Skippy, who we both adored. We visited a herd of schipperke in Bedford, MA, but none of them jumped out in our minds as the right one. Back to animal planet, we went with new answers to the same questions, the resultant set of compatible dogs listed Shiba Inus. Now I'd heard that name before, but couldn't remember where. As luck would have it, another friend of our's stepmother is Cheri Sullo. At the time, Dave's (our friend) screensaver was a collection of Cheri's newest Shiba litter. Now the connection was made. Figuring that with Cheri for support, the best dog choice for us would be a Shiba Inu. She had nothing but good things to say about the breed, as one would expect from a breeder, and suggested we look into rescuing a Shiba. This sounded ideal at the time since we didn't have the time or inclination to house train a puppy. I started calling Shiba Inu breeders, who pointed me in the direction of the Northeast Shiba Inu Rescue. I was soon in contact with Vicki Perry, who just happened to be fostering a 1.5 year old black and tan male. At first, I had my mind set on a female, but once I received Trooper's picture via email, I was hooked. His face looked like a little teddy bear! After I forwarded the picture to Scott, he knew instantly that I wanted to get Trooper. On December 15, 2001, coincidentally Scott's birthday, we drove the 1.5 hours to West Greenwich, RI to meet Trooper. Vicki and her husband were very friendly and lived with at least five Shiba Inus, in addition to taking in fosters. Our first impression of Trooper was 'What were we thinking??'. During our 30 minute visit to the Perry residence, Trooper had little to nothing to do with us, and was running about in very tight right hand circles. Vicki explained that Trooper was diagnosed as having an obsessive compulsive disorder and was on meds to reduce/stop the circling behavior. As I was intently listening to Vicki's description of Trooper's behaviors, Scott was on the floor, totally enthralled with a small red female, Xena. She had immediately jumped into his lap and loved all the attention he gave her. I reminded him at least twice that we were here to check out Trooper, and that there was no way we could sneak Xena out of the house without Vicki noticing. So to get to know Trooper better, we took him for a walk. I've admittedly only walked two dogs in my life, our ex-neighbor's Alaskan Malamute and my Dad's former boss's beagle, both of which had been obedience trained and walked nicely on a leash. Trooper practically pulled my arm out of the socket! During our walk, Scott and I decided to give Trooper a shot, figuring that a little obedience training would help. We returned to Vicki's house, signed the paperwork, and were off to take Trooper to his new home. Fast forward to 6 months later, after 2 successful obedience courses, Trooper had been taken off his obsessive compulsive meds, still only turns right, but was comfortable with us. He still pulled on walks, but he is very high energy after all, and was the perfect pet for us. We were so glad to have rescued him! He turned out to be a great fit for our little family.  During Trooper's 1 year adoption anniversary (December 2002), he played very nicely with my friend, Gilda's sheltie, Fred. After 4 hours of playing, they were both elated, but exhausted. Once Fred and Gilda left, Scott and I started discussing rescuing another Shiba Inu. This time, we wanted a female. We figured that if we had one of each gender, there might be less fighting.  ~Scarlett's Story ~ In January 2003, during my weekly surf of the Colorado Shiba Rescue site, I saw our new friend, Scarlett. She was a 1.5 year old black and tan Shiba female, who was rescued from a Missouri puppy mill, where she was born and had produced at least once. She had been kicked by a person at the puppy mill prior to leaving, which broke her jaw. Her foster mom, Karen, had her jaw fixed via surgery where her left upper k9 was removed and had her spayed when medically possible. The poor darling was underweight, very reserved, and in Illinois. Through coordination with the Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue's president, Amanda Putnam, and a good recommendation from Vicki Perry, our application was approved, and Scarlett was set to come to Massachusetts. The only question was how. I have never shipped a dog across the country, but the preferred method turned out to be air travel. Scarlett would fly from Chicago, O'Hare to Boston, Logan - but could only do so at temperatures of 20 degrees or better. To make a long story short, since most are aware of the temperatures in Massachusetts and Illinois in January, Amanda and Scott coordinated the flight, and after numerous attempts at sending her, Scarlett arrived in Massachusetts on February 1. 2003. Trooper took an instant liking to her. The first day, there was play fighting, but not to the severity that I expected. She didn't seem too friendly towards Scott or me, but every day grew more comfortable in her new house. Now the two of them "play" fight at least 3 times a day, and covet whatever the other has at that moment. We are working on the concept of sharing, but I'll get back to you about how it's working out. As I wrote in an email to Cheryl Ciccaglione and Vicki Perry, I don't know how Scott and I ever could have considered ourselves happy without Trooper in our lives. That statement is starting to change with Scarlett's presence. I'm starting to wonder if the two of them in our lives really equates to absolute bliss. For anyone considering adopting any type of dog, my advice is to do your homework and trust your instincts. When you meet the right dog you'll know it. Thanks again to the MSR, Northeast Shiba Rescue, CSR, and Illinois's Husky Rescue for providing us with such wonderful kids! written by - Jen Peitzsch |
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Unless otherwise indicated, all text and images were created by Laura Paquette.
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