Awhile back, I posted about Murphy suddenly developing problems at Day Camp, after being the proverbial "happy camper" for more than two years. Here is the rest of the story........
After talking with the care givers at PetsMart, we decided to let Murphy call the shots, so to speak. What has evolved is that he kind of has Customized Day Camp and it's working out wonderfully for everyone involved! When he feels he's had enough play time, he goes and sits by the playroom door. When this happens, they just open the door and he goes straight back to the kennel area, goes into his kennel and curls up on his blanket. They close his door and he's off to dreamland.
The routine varies from week to week. The first week, he played all morning, but decided he'd had enough mid-afternoon, the next week he played all day. The next week, he stopped early, both morning and afternoon, and this week he played all day. They are amazed at how smart he is and how well this is working for everyone.
Something really funny happened this week. In the evening, shortly before we got there to pick him up, he was taken to the potty area for a break. The caregivertold us that after he had been back there for a little while, she heard "The most awful noise.........not a howl, exactly, but something.........." She went back right away and when he saw her through the door, he began to wag his tale and look very pleased. She opened the door, and he went back to his kennel. She said she had never heard a dog make such a noise and she knew he wasn't hurt or anything. I told her what she had heard was the famous Shiba Scream! He was done with his "business" and wanted to go back to his kennel!
I don't know if we'll ever know just what got him so upset back the end of January. There was another dog that hadn't been there before, and we thought maybe there was something going on between them, but that dog hasn't been there, again, on a day when he was, and the only other dog that he's ever had any problems with hasn't been there for the past 4 weeks, either.
In looking through their records, they recalled that when he was boarding, last September, that dog wanted a bone he had and got kind of nasty about it. Words were exchanged, and the attendant had to raise her voice, a bit, at the other dog. They said it didn't bother that dog in the slightest, but it seemed to upset Murphy, so maybe seeing him again was what triggered his panic attack in January. In any case, he is once again a very happy camper!
What funny little guys shiba's can be!
Anne
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy
Brrrr!
