More pictures of friends from Ebisu Prime Square

More pictures of Azuki's friends:










Notice Azuki is missing from these photos. She was probably off running around somewhere harrasing someone for treats. She is really going to miss her doggie buddies!

Making Out

Azuki is a pup with many interests, and I have already posted how she likes to roll in other dogs' poop, play in out suitcases, but I keep forgetting to catch her nose cleaning activity on film.

The Pup likes to lick people. She likes faces, noses, and ears, all places where yummy face oil/mucus/ear wax exit, but she also likes to lick our legs when we get out of the shower (when we are still wet), or when we put on lotion. At times, she just licks her own lips, making loud, SLURP SLURP SLURP sounds on her own, or seemingly licking the air when she first meets someone to show goodwill. You might think it sounds cute and harmless, but actually, her tongue resembles that of serpent, long and flickering, and if you don't watch out she will sneak up on you with a hop, and stick it right UP YOUR NOSTRIL, where no other object except dust and air have traveled. In fact, I don't think any other object besides air and dust SHOULD travel.

I am not a big fan of face licking, so I usually avoid it and she seems to know not to come to me for her daily dose of face oil. The reason is that besides the crap she licks while she is on walks, she also sometimes licks her own pee at home after she pees on her potty pad. It's as if she is confirming to herself, "hmmm, a little salty, but yeah, it's my pee!"

The first time Matt saw this we were sitting on the couch and watching TV. The discovery went like this:

"WOA. What is she doing?"

"She likes to taste her own pee after she does it. I don't know why" (my eyes still glued to the TV)

"HALLO?? Why didn't you tell me??"

"Why should I tell you? It's no big deal. She licks other dogs' poop sometimes too when I walk her."

"BUT SHE LICKS ME!!!!!"

"Oh yeah. hahahah. sorry."

The other night, I conqured the difficult task of taking a photo of Azuki doing her ritualistic nose cleaning on pa. This is indeed no small feat, because we have a "no face" rule on this blog---well, Matt has a rule that I cannot post any pictures with his face showing. I somehow managed to get Azuki and only half of his face as to render him unrecognizable. Notice he has to close his upper nose with his fingers so her tongue doesn't get up there, because he says it seriously hurts!

Look at that tongue!

Miss Little Sunshine

After a good morning, walk, there is nothing that Azuki likes better than to take a siesta in the sun. Times like this she is the cutest (because she is sleeping).


The following picture I caught while she was stretching. See how her front legs are straight and her head is tilting back? Azuki also stretches like a cat after a good nap, and she will lower her front legs on to the ground while her butt remains in the air.
Azuki dazed and confused. So sleepy. Get me a pillow damn it!

Azuki is a sun worshipper and if she had a choice, she would always soak in the sun. Must be nice to be a dog who doesn't need to worry about premature aging.

These are the moments when she is the most serene, and for that reason, I always look forward to sunny days as well ;)

Porn Star

Matt has been unable to access Azuki's blog at work, because his office updated their firewall protection, and this blog has been ruthlessly blocked. The reason? Apparently, the firewall considers it to be a pornographic site.

A pornographic site, people. And that would make Azuki a porn star.

Must be because of all the profanities that I use and the fact that I often post pictures of Azuki, naked. The scandal! DOG IS NAKED! NAKED DOG! DOG SEEN WITHOUT CLOTHES!

To prove that Azuki is a decent lady, however, I am posting pictures of her all covered up in clothes, exposing very little skin (fur?):




In the following picture, we even made her wear a hood to cover the fur on her head, like a head scarf, although her ears are seen due to strategic designs that allow dog ears to stick out of the hoodie:



But because there is that hint of rebel left in me you will have to forgive me while I post a tantalizing photo of Azuki sans clothes. I took this photo with Matt's cell phone, and although the image is not so clear, we both agree that this is one of the best representations of The Pup. This is the look that she gives us, with her head tiltled, in that "did I do that?" way, every time we throw our arms up in frustration because she has peed JUST NEXT TO her potty sheet.


You should understand now why it is impossible to stay mad at her. Look at that face!

A Day in the Life of a Dog in Tokyo

I don't know if any of you had seen the special program on Animal Planet, called "Tokyo Dogs". But it basically introduces to the world, how pet owners in Tokyo go to the extremes to pamper their pets.

Unfortunately, Azuki was not featured on the show, because although most may think that she is a tiny bit spoiled, in Tokyo, her life is like, totally normal. Seriously, shame on the dog owner who does not provide their dog down-jackets in the winter, heat pads, and all-natural cotton doggie beds--like don't they know that synthetic fiber ITCHES??

Azuki and I once sat outside of a coffee shop and watched an older couple feed their beloved minature dockson (who also came in a doggie cart, by the way!) fruit and yogurt, FROM THE SAME SPOON THAT THE WOMAN WAS EATING OUT OFF. She fed the dog one spoonful of strawberry and yogurt, then ate a spoonful herself, then gave her dog a spoonful. But this actually doesn't even rival what I saw in Hawaii, where a Japanese tourist and her husband (you can always tell when they are Japanese tourists and not residents) sat eating noodles at an outdoor food court, and the woman fed her dog vietnamese PHO with her chopsticks, from her bowl.

Although I love and love to pamper my dog, that is where I draw the line. And if you want to know why, just read my previous post of Azuki rolling in poop. If she willingly and eagerly rolls her body in other dogs' crap, you can only imagine what sort of garbage she chooses to put in her mouth. It's actually already quite a compromise that we let her lick us (which she does a lot. If you don't like dog kisses, Azuki is not the dog for you!), but I don't see the need for us to share utensils.

So Azuki does not share our food. She does, however, gets lots and lots of attention and all the cuddles that she wants and more cuddles in one week than many dogs get in a life time. Here are some photos of her getting her nightly cuddles from her pa!

Poop Roll

Today at the end of our morning walk Azuki stopped to smell some rocks, and the next thing I knew, she was rolling happilly on them. I didn't really think much of it at first, since I thought perhaps she had an itch on her neck and rolling on rocks helped to relieve her itch. But then, as her enthusiasm grew, I started to become suspicious. As you know, our pup is always up to no good, and for example when she is off in the bedroom by herself making absolutely no noise, it usually means that she rummaged our laundry basket and is chomping on either Matt's work socks or my underwear.

So I bend over to take a look just what she is rubbing herself on. And to my horror, it was dog poop.

Apparently, our dog has entered the feces-loving phase of her life.

As we entered the elevator to go back to our apartment, I almost fainted from a pungent smell of dog poop. I looked around, expecting to see that perhaps our neighbor's dog had left some unsavory present in the elevator, but found nothing. As the pup trots happily back to our door, and I pick her up...I realized that.....AZUKI SMELLED LIKE SHIT.

No, really. She reaked of dog doo. That poop roll she performed just a few minutes ago had somehow permeated all of her fur, entangled itself in those poodle curls, and seaped into webs of her collar, and made her into a furry, walking, stinky, DOG DUNG. Thinking that perhaps my nose was playing tricks on me, I asked Matt to smell her when we first walked into the door and me holding her high up in the air she doesn't contaminate our floors, and her pa, as much he loves that little hampster, just about fell backwards and let out a audible, "auuuughhhhh"

We wiped her down with doggie wipes real good, although the smell still wouldn't go away. So later, after lunch (while she was safely confined in her cage so as to not stink up the room), Matt gave her a good bath--and shampooed her twice to get all that smell out. I also washed her collar in soap, although all the smell still would not get out.

Curious as to why our dog would perform such a gross act, I did some research online and found that this is actually a relatively common behavior. Here are some answers from animal experts:

One expert said:

"Rolling in feces, though, is really very common. Possibly a dog’s ancient instinct to mask his scent, which would then enable the animal to sneak up on their prey without detection."

Another said:
" There is one theory that rolling in rotten and rotting smells is an ancient instinct, a way to bring a message back to fellow pack members of, "Look what I found!" And can you just imagine a bunch of wolve-dogs throwing their arms up in joy--BUFFALO DUNG! YIIIPPEEEEE!

I think for Azuki, it is quite obvious that her hunting instincts are confined to only running after us and biting our ankles, and ripping her toys around. Therefore, I think the more likely explaination is the not-so-scientific one: -that she simply likes to roll in dog doo doo.

"Of course, there's always the possibility that some dogs may simply enjoy rolling around in carrion, the way we enjoy a scented bubble bath."

Perhaps the next ridiculous pet product should be perfume for dogs--made of animal poop.