Meet the Cousin!

Just a short post, but I can guarantee lots of cuteness! This weekend we went to Liverpool to meet up with some good friends and Missys new cousin, Ren. A Shiba Inu at four months old, he's a wee bundle of fluffy squish!

Missy is great with puppies, something I've seen first hand and I've had reported to me from the dog walkers who use her with the new puppies who haven't learned play etiquette. She's happy to put other dogs in their place with a growl and, when her temper wears thin, a warning shunt and a bark, but wont bite. It was quite interesting to see Ren learn his manners, on Friday he was essentially trying to climb on her face or hump her every nano second (which is totally normal with puppies) and by this morning he had figured out his play bow and was goading her to play by patting at her feet and generally being a little goofball beside her.

A big improvement! 

Thick as Thieves!

Whilst the dogs hung out and played, we did much the same, playing board games and generally catching up. Since he's so little, we kept things local and tried a dog friendly vegan/vegetarian cafe, which was surprisingly nice (especially as the hubby is the sort who expects a piece of an animal with every meal!). The staff were enamoured with both dogs and we got chatting with the other customers. It was an interesting experience to see as Missy was rather overlooked for Ren, but she took it in her stride and put her attention into befriending the table beside us with her doleful eyes and good manners. The hard effort didn't pay off as they didn't share their doughnuts with her, but she did get plenty of pats and lots of compliments.

No squirrels harmed!....This time....

There's a few nice parks in the area, so Missy was not short on squirrels to chase and got plenty of opportunity to play and run. Shiba Inu's aren't allowed off the lead at any age owing to the fact that they just have no recall ability, so Missy got to play her favourite game of 'Maypole' whereby she has a dog chase and we all get wrapped up in the lead! With the weather being great we mostly spent time in the garden and it's been really good for both dogs. Both are absolutely knackered, which I always take to be a great success on a visit! It was brief but good fun, and I rather think that Ren was sorry to see us leave!