Ripley's Page - A Shiba Rescue Story

Ripley!

We failed as foster parents. Or succeeded, depending on your perspective. Ripley is now a permanent part of the pack. Now to find another human...

Here's a partial story of what happened as we were trying to rehab her and get her ready to be re-homed. Please don't write asking to adopt Ripley; she's not going anywhere. If you want to adopt a Shiba, check out the links at the bottom of the page. -k

Summer Solstice, 2000

On Shiba-L there was an urgent plea: A little black-and-tan shiba girl was on death row in a kill shelter near us. She'd been found running wild, and her people didn't want to pay her fees so they left her there to be adopted or die. Eunice got her out just under the wire, and we agreed to foster her temporarily, as no other foster homes were available.

Here's a disjointed and only semi-linear story of what's been going on:

Ripley is settling in wonderfully. She's like greyhounds I've known - either sprinting around or a couch potato. She finds the most comfy spot and curls up to veg. She's definitely housebroken (we didn't know when we pulled her out of the shelter) and we're mostly letting her have the run of the house now. She and Mara (our dominant female aussie/keeshond) have worked out some sort of agreement, and have not squabbled since the first day, even when Ripley goes by food bowls, the door, the car, etc. (!). This is amazing, as their faceoffs on the first day had me terrified and convinced they'd never accept each other.

We can even feed them all in the kitchen now (the first day and a half we fed Ripley out on the porch). Ripley and Sheena (our seemingly-submissive Shiba girl, who may secretly be the leader of the pack) take turns eating out of each other's dishes. Ripley's been very hungry and tends to steal Sheena's food. Thankfully, Sheena doesn't care. She thinks Ripley is fascinating, and is happy to watch her eat. We figure if Ripley's that hungry she needs it. And Sheena is supremely confident that she will always be fed ;)

Most of the time inside Ripley likes to curl up next to me, or sit on my feet if I'm at the computer. She'll nudge her sturdy little head under my hand, asking for petting. I was worn out tonight and we just crashed out for hours with me petting her or resting my hand on her side. She's a very sweet little girl.

She's a quick learner. She's responding to her name now, and usually comes when called. Mostly. She now does Sit, and is getting pretty good at Stay. We're teaching her to sit and stay when the door is opened and not to dash out until we say ok. We're working on the Down-Stay before being fed, but that's been harder. She resists Down. And she sometimes dances like a circus dog when we give the hand signal for Sit. She's gotten much better about walking on lead. She is a good watchdog - she barks and howls when she sees someone coming to the door.

She'd be a great addition to our household, except for her being such an escape artist. While Mara and Sheena respect the boundaries of being in the fenced yard, Ripley wants to get out and explore. She's so strong and athletic, and has such a need for new experiences, that if she puts her mind to it she will manage it somehow. We would have to get a whole new, higher and stronger fence, and we just can't afford it now. She jumps so high! It's astonishing. If it weren't for a bit of salt-and-pepper highlights on her face, you'd never know Ripley was seven years old. She's in such great shape. So as it is, we have to supervise her in the yard, and we just don't have that much time. Paul left them alone briefly today, and Mara had to yell and let us know that Ripley was starting to work at the wooden gate.

Paul takes them on walks in the woods, but is finding it very draining to walk all three of them at once. Ripley needs a lot of exercise and stimulation, even more than Sheena, who's a pretty busy little bear herself. Paul doesn't jog, and even if he did, he can't jog in three directions at once!

Notes from the Foster Pack

Day One:
We tried walking Sheena and Ripley together on a coupler, and it DID NOT WORK - Ripley confidently dragged Sheena around, until Sheena had enough of it, planted her sturdy little teddy bear feet and froze. So much for that idea!

Day Two:
Today I was putting them in the yard, and Ripley leaped past me and went on an adventure. At first she came when called, but she refused to get close enough for me to get ahold of her (even with Sheena along as a lure). Then Ripley bolted down to the beach, and took off along the shoreline. Frantic inquiries to neighbors later placed her over the hill towards the quiet residential street we live off of. See Paul and Mara trotting up the road. See kathryn and sheena wading along the shoreline, kathryn yelling "Ripley!" in that high come-here-you-fabulous-dog voice, and, getting more and more worried, starting to sound eerily like "Newt" in Aliens. "Ripleeey!!!"

Thankfully, Ripley decided she'd had enough exercise before she got near the main road. When Paul and Mara arrived, she trotted right up to them for greetings and petting, and Paul was able to put her on lead. Whew! All the dogs were pretty pleased with the excitement, but the humans were stressed. Then Mara found some, uh, excrement to roll in.

So go the adventures of the foster-pack...

Day Three:
Ripley now accepts Mara as the Alpha. Today all three dogs tumbled around the yard making fearsome sounds. Then they ran the Shiba 500 till they collapsed in a pile. I'm getting attached to the little fireball, and Sheena will be furious with me when she goes. I think even Mara will miss her. Maybe we can find her a home nearby - someone who'll bring her over for play dates.

Day Four:
Ripley has not tried to get out of the yard today! After their walk and a brief but intense play session, she and Mara like to come inside and rest. Then Sheena wonders where everyone went, and comes inside and instigates more play, until the exhausted dogs collapse. I also notice that Paul is no longer complaining about tangled leashes.

We do our first formal obedience session with all three dogs. Ripley watches closely how Mara and Sheena get treats for responding to commands. Then while Sheena and Mara wait in Down-Stays, Ripley gets lessons in how to Heel properly, and makes progress on Stay and Automatic Sit. Cheese helps. Then Paul takes all three for a walk. Mara does her famous "charge out of the darkness at Sheena" trick, but at Ripley(!). Ripley is startled and confused, and maybe a bit scared by big, goofy, gallumphing and grinning Mara. But she seems to understand that Mara wants to be friends. On the way back up the path to the house, Mara takes the lead, with Sheena and Ripley flanking her closely at each side. They look like a pack - Mara the leader with her matched honor guard, trotting along in formation. Pretty impressive.

Maybe what we really need is another human pack member. One who loves dogs, but preferably has none of their own at the moment. Yeah, someone who wants to live on a lake in the woods and join the fun...

Awroooooooo!
- kathryn
and sheena, mara and ripley

If you're interested in finding out more about Shibas:

The Shiba Inu Home Page

The National Shiba Club of America (NSCA)

shiba-rescue.com
(national rescue listings)

Northeast Shiba Rescue