Beagle Facial

Almost every evening that Shin is home around 8.30 pm or so he gets a Beagle facial! Jazz and Dixie are in the habit of licking Shin's whole face, neck and ears. He says it feels gross but since Jazzy started doing it ages ago the condition of his skin has improved markedly! Dixie learnt the technique from Jazz and now they perform the Double Beagle Facial! They do not however offer me the same service!

Jazz's First Days with Us

A while back our friend River tagged us to tell about our first days with our humans so finally we have got it together! This blog was started when Dixie first joined our family so we already have a record of Dixie's first days with us. What follows is the story of how Jazz came to be part of the family.

In September 2003 I came home from work one day to find my two little hamsters dead! The people next door had painted their apartment and our house was filled with fumes so I'm assuming thats what killed them. I was very sad and rang Shin in the middle of a business meeting to tell him the sad news. He told me to meet him at a near by station for dinner but from the station we took a taxi and were dropped in front of a pet shop! We went in just to look at hamsters and ended up getting back in a taxi home with a dog!! How irresponsible! Pet shops here in Japan are pitiful places. We started looking in the tiny glass boxes each with one poor little dog in it when we spied a little beagle in the bottom most corner box with a huge discount sticker on the glass. She was getting "too old" to keep and the pet shop was hoping that by reducing her price she would be sold soon. Having had a beagle at home in Oz for 14 years at the time I felt extra sorry for this little beagle puppy. I had read some disturbing stories by some dog rescue group here about how puppies that are not sold by 5 months or so are euthanised or sent to science labs for testing, of which beagles were a likely choice for the latter! Shin asked if I could hold the puppy but when I put it back it started to whimper. It was a very emotional moment and a moment when Shin completely lost his mind and said lets buy her and save her! At the time we lived in a no pets apartment and although we had been talking about getting a dog for a long time we didn't have anything ready for a new puppy. We bought everything right then and there and got to take the stinking little puppy home in a cardboard carry box. We had to wash her as soon as she got home! It was a tough beginning with Jazz as she had been in such a small space for so much of her little life, sleeping, peeing, pooping and eating all in the same spot! It took her a long time to realise that there were different places for all these things. We wanted to give her a name that began with J because my beagle in Oz was called Jackson so we started searching J names and came across Jazz which was the perfect choice seeing as we both like Jazz music. When Dixie came along we decided to continue with the music theme and came up with Dixie and Gypsy and as you know we went with Dixie. Jazz and Dixie have turned out to be such wonderful loving and friendly dogs who we are lucky to share our lives with.

An Unexpected Trip

Today Shin and I had planned to go to Tokyo Game Show in Makuhari which meant we would be leaving Jazz and Dixie at home while we trained it over to Chiba! Then this morning we thought why don't we rent a car and take the puppies with us. However being a long weekend all the cars at our nearest rental shop were booked out. But Shin gave them a call anyway and being such a good customer, they rustled him up a car for the day. It was a bit smaller than the station wagon we usually hire but it just fit Jazz and Dixie's crates in and off we headed to Makuhari Messe. Of course dogs would not be allowed into the event so while Shin checked out all the latest in game software I took the girls for a 2.5 hour walk around some parks and along the shoreline. First we came across this huge green field with no one there and as tempted as I was to let Jazz and Dixie off their leads I thought the better of it as I never know what scent they will pick up and may not want to come back to mum. From there we walked down to the sea but couldn't go into the water due to the huge wall and stones there to break the waves I guess. Jazz and Dixie were very curious as to what was down there and really breathed in that salty stinky air! Next was on past Chiba Marine Stadium where a baseball game was underway and down to a deserted family park/amuzement park. There we found a few huge whale topari trees as well as an octopus. Out came the picnic mat so we could take a break in the shade of a palm tree. We walked back to the car park to meet Shin and while we waited Jazz and Dixie recieved many comments and many requests to pat them! Coming back to Tokyo we got stuck in traffic but the girls were peacefully sleeping all the way home so they didn't mind!

A Fun Filled Day at School

I had to work late today so Jazz and Dixie went to Dog Inc. to play with their friends. As usual they both had a great day and as usual after a fun filled day playing at Dog Inc. they are both fast asleep now. Those zzzz's are a sign of a good day.

Dog Field Part One

We haven't taken the girls anywhere special in a while so we decided it was time to end the boredom of the same old daily routine and take them to Dog Field our favourite dog run an hour out of Tokyo. The trip took an hour longer as everyone in Tokyo seemed to be heading out of town for the long weekend. Dixie as usual was sick in the car and it started to rain just as we were arriving. Not long after it cleared and we let the girls loose! Jazz and Dixie were the only doggies there and really enjoyed chasing each other and the ball around. We played Frisbee until I managed to throw it over the fence and into a creek! Then it started to rain again so we all ducked under the lunch shelter and waited it out.

Dog Field Part Two

After the rain stopped we let the girls back into the dog run. Soon after it got quite hot so out came the wet t-shirts and in came some friends to play with. Dixie had a great time playing with a Corgi complete with his tail! Its only the second time here that I have seen a Corgi with a tail. We ended up staying for four hours. On the way home we stopped in at our favourite road house with dog run for another run around. The girls were tired and slept all the way home. Once the sun had gone down we both realised we had gotten a bit of a tan!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It's been raining quite a bit so we've had to duck out between showers to take a walk. I usually have to start the walk carrying Jazz because she doesn't want to go out even if the ground is wet! Once we start walking I set her down and we can continue our walk. However if it starts raining Jazz will not poop outside! She is very particular when it comes to rain but not so when it comes to sleeping. Of course one of their favourite spots is on the sofa but both Jazz and Dixie can be found napping in various spots around the apartment. Opening the camera case up or snapping the first shot usually wakes them up though. As I mentioned before school has been busy but things are starting to settle down. The last picture here is some of the great art work the four year old class is producing. I like it because its bright and cheerful on these grey rainy days.

It's been a while....

This past couple of weeks has been busy with back to school preparations which hasn't allowed much time for blogging. Jazz and Dixie are feeling a little sad about the reduced amount of attention since I went back to work after two and a half months off!