"Where The **** You Been?!" - Yen, The 'Grease Man', Ocean's 11

So, no, I really haven't been around much since June, just a couple of posts on the two blogs.

I was self-medicating over on Twitter.  Since it's Lent, that came to a stop.

Last year pretty much sucked.  If you follow Leelu's Place, you know I lost Baxter in February, and Benny in July. What you don't know is that I lost Griffin in November.

He had taken to going down about half the way on the stairs, and then leaping to the bottom. On his last try, he managed to cripple himself. We did the same kind of steriod treatment that we did for Benny.

In his attempts to get up, he bruised his shoulder badly.  When I finally discovered it, it was about the size of my hand. I managed to drain it, but it was, I think, sceptic. He passed away on November 27. I'd put him on the bed, and started to read. After a bit, I looked over, and he was gone.

That was the proverbial last straw for me. He had started to become more friendly since his teeth were pulled, coming up to me for scratches when I was sitting and reading or watching a movie. It felt like we were beginning to bond, and I was really looking forward to seeing that develop.

So, I started to mourn them all. I didn't realize that was what I was doing until just before my birthday. In the time between losing Grif and my realization, I pretty much did nothing, except self-medicate with Twitter. OK, my alcohol consumption ticked up a bit. And I put on a couple of extra pounds (about ten). I mostly blame the two full batches of Ike's eggnog for that. And the chocolate peanut butter bars. But mostly, the alcohol.

I'm pretty much back now. Doing Lent has helped a great deal. No meat, just fish, eggs, cheese and such. No Twitter. Read the Daily Readings (Epistle and Gospel for the daily Mass) from the USCCB.  Didn't make 'no drinking' past the first week, but I have cut down to less than what I was drinking before the Black Dog came for his stay. And my weight has been dropping. This I know from being weighed each on the many times I been to the doctors in the last couple of months.

(That is another post.)

Work has been done to the house. I finished bracing the joists, and tightened up  the rods to (hopefully) keep the wall from sagging any more. Lots of Romex has been pulled the back bedroom. The 220 V line to  my old third floor bedroom has been split into two 110 V lines, one for the old bedroom, and one for the closet.

The next trick is to get the beam between the living and dining rooms reinforced to correct the sag. After that, I want to make the place able to pass inspection for homeowner's insurance. That will, I'm pretty sure, reduce the mortgage payment. As I understand it, it has to pass the 'looks right' test from the outside, and have no active knob and tube electrical wiring.

(That is yet another post.)

Most importantly, I'm looking for a new (senior) dog.

So, "What About Griffin", You Ask

I think we've gotten the Griffin question sorted out. I want to thank everyone who was kind enough to answer my emails:

Hokkaido Association of North America, also known as HANA, or "The HANA Project",

Sue Myles (A.K.A. "Auntie Sue"), the trainer who worked with me and Suzu and Koda when they first came into my life,

Kishu Ken-Nel, a site devoted to the oldest breed in Japan,

and his first owner, Pam.

I found an excellent reference source on all Nihon-ken (Japanese dogs) at Japan Dog Export, via Shigeru Kato.

Here are the email threads, in chronological order, more or less. I put some of the emails together, so the threads would be more sensible than if they were left in strict chronological order.

This email is the start of the whole thing:

Hello,

Just before last Christmas, I adopted Griffin, who was advertised as a Shiba Inu. He is white, with red ear points, and a tinge of red on his back and in his tail.  He is also significantly larger than the other male I owned, who weighed in at about 26 pounds. When I took Grif in for his shots, he weighed in at 40#.  While he is reserved, he is less so that what I am used to in Shibas. He actually has a habit of coming when called, which is not the behavior of the Shibas I've known (unless it involved food).

I'm just wondering if there is any way for me to resolve this interesting puzzle? My current best guess is that he is either a) a largish Shiba Inu, or b) a slightly smallish Hokkaido.

Thanks, Lee Webber

Sue was the first responder:

What about a Kishu Ken?

Wow. This is sure interesting. He is not a Shiba or at least not like any I have ever seen.

He isn't an Akita Inu or a Tosa Inu (which is good)

Very very interesting. I bet there is a Japanese dog dog show judge that would be interested in this.

how nice to hear from the town that has no Starbucks

I wrote back:

Heh.  The "no Starbucks" came out when I was describing this town to a friend who's not from these parts. I'm damned sure he's not Shiba Inu.  And I never would have suspected unless I'd gotten bored this morning and went looking for books.  Yay random browsing.

I've got an e-mail into NAHA (North American Hokkaido A'ss'n) asking for some advice.  If he is Hokkaido-Ken, he's extremely rare outside of Japan (I gather).

I've read of "Cream" Shibas, which aren't recognized by the AKC (their loss!)  But size and temperament have pushed to the Ainu camp. He's ~= 18" at his shoulder (I measured), so... . I'll look up the other breeds just for grins.

And, keep you posted.

Enjoying the newsletter, by the way! Thanks!!

Then, a second thought:

Kishu-Ken??

But then, how did he wind up in the US??

The on "on alert" here is Grif's twin.

And a third thought:

The previous question was really affirmative.  Sent a note off to the kishuken-nel.com folks. Maybe they can suggest resources up this-a-way.

To which Sure replied:

Few people would be more obsessive than this group.

Perfect

And the a thought or two to the original addressees:

Had an e-mail conversation w/ Auntie Sue (Suzu & Koda's trainer), and she's not sure about Hokkaido. Further investigation makes me think Kishu-ken:

Kishu Ken-Nel

Japan Dog Export.com

Wow!!

If he is Kishu or Hokkaido, I find it sad that he's been neutered.  They are rare breeds, and it would have been wonderful to bred him.

And, to the original addressees:

I'm sending this on to you all, because, as my day has progressed, this has gotten interestinger and interestinger!  The web post has the bulk of it, but not all of the links.

Enjoy the story!

Then I sent this off to the folks who were involved in getting me connected to Grif:

Hello!

I just wanted to bring you all up to date on Griffin.  He doing quite well, and has fit in wonderfully. He likes to sleep by my bed for part of the night, but will *not* get up one it, not stay on it if I put him up there. I have finally been able to get him all current on his shots, and have had him chipped.

The main reason I'm writing is the new mystery that surrounds him. I was surprised that he weighed in at 40 pounds when he got his shots. That is *way* over the norm for a Shiba Inu. He's also a couple of inches outside of the normal height range for Shibas.  His size, color and general behavior contra-indicate his being a Shiba. I'm going to refer you to a blog post I put up today for the long story, but the short version is that my research on Japanese breeds, and a discussion with my dog trainer friend, lead me to believe that Grif is not a Shiba, but a Kishu!

He is a wonderful addition to my household, and regardless of breed. I couldn't love him more!

Cheers!

I got this back from the adoption rep I worked with:

Thanks for the great update on Griffin. So happy he is so loved, no matter what he is, LOL. Very interesting article. Thanks again for keeping in contact and letting us all know things are well.

Diane

 Then I received this from the Kishu-ken group in Texas:

Hello Lee......thanks for visiting the website.  Where did you get Griff?  At first look he appears to be a large Shiba.....he is actually small for a male Kishu Ken which usually are closer to 50 lbs and 20 + inches.  That's not to say there couldn't be a small Kishu.

And the Kishu Ken is so rare in the U. S. it is hard to believe one would be in a "rescue" situation.

I cannot help but wonder if he could possibly be a white Jindo......Google "Jindo Dog" and look at the white ones.  He could also be a mix of Shiba or Akita with some other "spitz" breed that gives him that look.

He is certainly beautiful, whatever he is.  You may never know for sure what he is, but he looks like a great dog and that's what matters.

Regards,

Carleen Newman

Kishu Ken-nel

Sue had a thing to two to say about that:

Hi Lee

jindo? hmmm.....since he seems to be such a nice dog.......that does not strike me as the right guess.

There are quite a few jindos here in OC due to the Koreans, mostly up in the Fullerton and La habra area. The ones that I have known I would not get close to. I just stood in the house and looked at the dog in the back yard.

But...no matter what his official breed this is a lucky dog to have you. And to know that he is such a sweet guy and can revel in his aged years.

but this is an interesting journey to find out

I sent another email to Carleen:

Hi, Carleen!

Thanks for getting back to me about Grif! I got him just before Christmas last year, from a family the was splitting up and moving out of their house, and no one could have dogs where they were going. He had been neutered, but had not had his shots or been chipped. He had a bald patch down this right side, from mid back to his hip, from scraping himself on the bottom of the fence as he was getting out.

From what little I've read about Jindos, I doubt Griff is one - he'd not overly dominant, and seems to take to strangers quite well. But, I don't know if that's training, age, or temperament. He also looks "broader" than most of the Jindos I saw pictured. He has rib cage that is slightly wider than his shoulders. (See attached pic.) He does have some "Nihon-ken red" on his ears and tail. It is also notable on his back in the right light, but I don't think it matched the description of Jindo coloration. The info I found here:

http://japandogexport.com/breeds/kishu-ken/  is what leads me to think is is Kishu-ken.  Which, as you say,  raises the question of where he came from. 

This is what I posted when I got him home: http://redlionwindow.blogspot.com/2014/12/say-hello-to-griffin.html

This a fun and interesting puzzle, and even if I don't get it resolved, it will not affect how I feel about him.  He's just a great dog.

Thanks again, Lee

...who responded

The new pictures show Griff better.....he does have a Kishu "look" about him......but he is smaller than most.  No one in the family that had him knew anything about him?  What did they say he was?.......or did they.

The Kishu Ken does have "apricot" ears tips sometimes and "apricot" down the back occasionally.

The Jindo has similar coloration.......and temperament-wise the Jindo is not always dominant and aggressive or aloof....they sometimes get a bad rap that way.  I have had both breeds and actually they are very similar.

As you say....he's a great companion and you may never know.  Good luck with him.

Regards......Carleen

The last inbound emails I received were from the Hikkaido-ken organization:

Hi,

you out look like you have a larger Shiba Inu. He looks all Shiba to me, and it isn't uncommon for the Shibas from pet stores/mill lines to be larger than average. He's a lucky puppy to be adopted!

...and from Grif's previous owner:

Aw, I'm so so glad  to hear that all is well with you and Grif. He was sold to us as a pure bred Shiba, but that place later was known as very shady.

Thank you so much for sharing and keeping me in the loop!!! Best Wishes to you and your 4 legged family

So, today, I started closing the loop:

Hi, Sue,

Just following up on the Griffin question.  I got an email from a Hokkaido breeder I pinged. His take is that Grif is most probably a Shiba, but from a puppy mill that wasn't too worried about conformance standards.  Thus, his size is not (apparently) unusual. Cream is a non-standard color, so, I think I'm at "Grif is just a big Shiba".
Cheers! Lee

...which led to this post!

And Griffin still doesn't care! 

Griffin May Be A Ringer! Updated!)

SO, Grif is just below the Hokkaido size range. Auntie Sue, my dog trainer friend, agreed he is not Shiba.  Further research at  JapanDogExport.com makes me wonder:

Kishu-Ken??

If he is, how did he wind up in the US??

KishuKen-nel has more information on the breed.  Again, one picture in particular, the on "on alert" dog, is a double for Griffin.

Correspondence is in order to them, too.

Shhhh!  Griffin doesn't care.

I was feeling a tad under the weather this morning, and also had a book to get mailed for the PaperBack Swap club. (A good deal if you want to get new books to read without the new book price! Just pay for shipping when you send a book out to another member!) About all I felt like doing was browsing books.  I wound up getting a book on cats, and two about American Eskimo dogs. (I thought I'd like to know a bit more about Benny.)

I started poking around a bit in the Shiba Inu part of the collection. I've found that, while the club may have a book listed. it may or may not be available (they have an Amazon link for every book); and it may not have a description. I've gotten in the habit of clicking the Amazon link, and reading the book description there. I found this one: Shiba Inu (Comprehensive Owner's Guide) Hardcover – February 1, 2005   by Andrew DePrisco. I started browsing the contents, and read the bit on Shiba coloration. He recites the AKC standard - red, sesamie, and black and tan.  He also mentions the English Kennel Club's standard, which comprises "red, black, black and tan or brindle. White, with red or grey tinge."

The latter  - white with the red tinge, fits Griffin to a tee. But, Griffin is significantly outside the normal size range for a male Shiba. That standard is somewhere around 25 pounds. When Grif had his shots last week, he weighed in at 40.  He's also a bit taller at the shoulder, pushing 18". Finally, and most telling (to me) is his willingness to come when called. Neither Suzu nor Dakota have/were ever so willing to come, unless they were absolutely sure food was involved.

What set me off on this new tangent was the picture and caption in the corner of the page:

(Screen cap from Amazon's book preview)

The handsome Hokkaido-Ken there looks quite like Grif!  So, off I went to look up Hokkaido-Kens. I found several sites of interest. The first is the Hokkaido-Ken Information Website, which has a page of wonderful pictures! PetMD gave me size ranges,  weight of 45 - 65 pounds, and height of 18" - 22".  Their picture of Kenta could pass for a picture of Grif:

(Kenta, from PetMD)

My current working theory is that Grif is either a) a smallish Hokkaido, or b) a largish Shiba. I'm going to contact the Hokkaido Association of North America (HANA) and see what they might suggest to resolve this particular question.

Hokkaido or Shiba, I couldn't love Griffin any more.

House And Garden - Now With Updates!

Updates:

Turns out there is a bit of a ding in the left hand (ice maker) door. Noticed it after the guys who installed it had left. (Don't think they had anything to do with it.) Steve will get started in on getting a new door for me.

We have a baby veggie predator in the garden!  I was just bringing the dogs back from there walk when I spotted a baby bunny wabbit! Not terribly much bigger than a softball. None of the dogs saw it (we were w/in 3 ft of it when I spotted it). I think Grif did spot it after it high tailed it over by the patio wall, because he lit up a bit.

Terminally. Cute. And I didn't have my phone with me. ;-p


Lots of things happening!. The new fridge arrived, and has been installed:

Awaiting the new arrival.

And more Friday Garden pix:

Future Sunflower!

Since there's a lot, more after the fold!

Say Hello to Griffin!

We have a new member of the pack/clowder, Griffin!

Checking out the living area

At home in the kitchen,

On Dakota's old chair.

He's thirteen, seems to be in very good health.  He has a bald patch on his lower back, where he scraped the hair off crawling under the fence to get out.

I 'rescued' him from a woman who has to move, and her new home won't allow dogs.  He's a bit homesick, I think, for his buddy, Charley.  He and Suzu sort of pass each other in the night.  No aggression, no visible bonding.

He ignores Baxter, and I haven't seen any attempts at interaction w/ Nadia.

He's on the floor by my feet as I type this.

I need to get him to the vet, and find an obedience class to join, so he and I can get some structured time together.