The White Terrorist

Yesterday was my wife's day off and it coincided with her older sister's. Her sister has 3 young kids and a Golden Retriever pup, so we figured it would be a good opportunity for all involved to get some socializing in.

It was an overcast but unseasonably warm day yesterday as we dragged ourselves out of bed, nursing hangovers from yakitori and karaoke the night before. We grabbed a quick bite to eat on the way, with Baron crying in his crate like someone was killing him with a spoon. After the long trip up here from Kyushu, he seems to have an issue with being crated in the car.

We got to the park and found everyone right away. Tall gaijins with multiple toddlers and a retriever pup tend to stand out in Japan. My sister in law's husband is a good friend of mine, we go way back and used to play basketball together.

First introductions went relatively peacefully, but Sonny the retriever hasn't made any canine friends yet and the white terrorist Baron decided he wanted to play. Nihonken play is a loud wild mouthy affair, and it took all of a few moments for Sonny to decide he wanted to hightail it back home.

Haru on the other hand was fine after hello. She tends to read other dogs pretty well, and is not interested in dogs that aren't interested in playing with her. The start of the day basically consisted of tiny Baron attacking Sonny from every conceivable angle in an attempt to get a reaction. Sonny spent most of the first hour pretending to sleep while Baron climbed all over him.

The day went extremely well though. Sonny came out of his shell toward the end, the kids are great with dogs and had great fun with Baron. Haru learned to fetch balls after watching Sonny a few times. Pretty happy about this as I wanted to get her interested in something other than hunting when we're out. It was a great doggy date, and we'll have to do it again soon. Socialization is key for any dog, but for Japanese breeds (who already have a rep for being stand offish) and especially hunting dogs, it is a must.

So here's a few pics from the day. I've got a bit of recent video piling up, but it takes so much more work to upload...