When we first moved here to New York, I felt very bad for our little pup. Indeed, she seems to be giving up the most out of the three of us--I mean, Matt will always have his work, and in New York I have a very strong social network.
But here, the dogs are larger, and like its people, much less subtle. In Tokyo, our pup was the bully as she strotted down the street like she OWNED the city, with her tail up high and a fearless attitude, she would greet dogs and people with exuberance, occasionally barking at big dogs--her way of showing them who is the boss. In New York, after being chased by a few large dogs in the park (who just wanted to play) and barked at by a few belligerent small dogs, she has become very very cautious when she sees another dog. It's like she wants to say hi but she is also scared. And when the other party becomes overly excited, Azuki almost inevitable shys away with her tail tucked and hides behind my legs. At first, she also hasn't been as friendly with strangers on the street, although once she gets to know someone she is still as affectionate as ever.
On the other hand, perhaps because the world outside seems more overwhelming, she has defintely become more attached to us. It's rather wonderful, really, how adaptable dogs are. I try to play with her more at home, and we go for long walks in just THE BEST CITY PARK IN THE WORLD, central park. Although the weather has been unforgiving up until recently, Azuki and I still trek out to Central Park faithfully almost every day and we almost never cease to explore new parts (and inevitably always ends up on the other side of where we are suppose to be). When it's cold she is all bundled up but still enjoys to run around. When it's warm outside we sit on the bench and watch all the people, dogs, kids and their nannies stroll by (we live on the Upper East Side, which is Nanny-land). Occasionally, Azuki will indulge her ancient instinct and chase squirrels because apparently she believes she is a hunting a dog. Like a true hunting dog, Azuki never barks when she does this, but instead stop dead in her track first, hunches over and lower her head with her eyes squarely locked on her prey, and then when she decides the moment is right she will burst into a sprint and chase the poor little creatures until they run up a tree. When people see this, they usually are amused because it's not like she is that much bigger than a squirrel, and the thought of her thinking that she is a hunting dog just makes them point and laugh, and sometimes yell out-loud: "Hey, look that little dog is chasing a squirrel! HA HAHAHAH!"
She is just so intimidating.
Here are a few pictures of her all bundled up in three layers: her normal fleece-lined PJs, and then her black sweater, and then her pink down jacket:
Maybe the squirrels are running away because they are afraid of pink.
It's so much bigger than our pup. I am curious to see how long this bag would last!
