Little (Fox) Dog in a Big City

Zuko grew up in San Francisco, so it's not like the sights and sounds are new to him. However, we don't take him up there often these days and we hardly ever take him to the jam-packed Union Square area. However, Easter weekend we had a big gala event just off Union Square and Little Dog came with us.

Fancy collar for a fancy event

We stayed at the Kensington Park Hotel which is super dog friendly. For $25 you can bring your pup with you and no other real costs or considerations are needed. Our event was in the hotel, so it was easy for us to check in on him during the night. He was able to get some samples of our surf and turf dinner (he loved the turf, the surf not so much) and at midnight he made his entrance into the gala. I didn't realize how loud it still was until I walked in and little dog freaked. It was a polite freaking out, but he hid behind my legs and under the table. His tail uncurled. It's gotta be hard to be so damn cute - everyone wanted to pet him - they formed a cluster around him! Ironically enough, for someone who was freaked out he still managed to eat cheese without hesitation, even going so far as to steal a bite out of my hand when I wasn't looking. ;-) Finally, his hudad took him for a quick walk to calm his nerves and the Prince crashed out.

"I approve of these linens."

The Prince.

The next morning Zuko woke me up far earlier than I wanted and we took off for a walk around Union Square. Sunday mornings are probably the only time the square isn't crazy busy so we were able to get some photos of Zuko enjoying the scenary. He chased some pigeons and peed on many, many plants. When we got back to the hotel, he even got a sample of my breakfast: some smoked salmon and a tidbit of bacon.

"This artwork bores me."

"Heart"

Spoiled Dog.

-- Posted by Zuko's humom

Zuko vs. Cows

This past weekend we went on an epic hike out in the East Bay. Sunol Regional Wilderness is HUGE with stunning views and amazing hikes and very dog-friendly. It is also very hilly, hence the "epic" part of it. It was steep uphill, back down, back up, back down. After 2.5 hours the whole pack was beat.

Epic Views...and Epic climbs

Happy Zuko!

Still, little dude had a great time splashing through mud, climbing extra hills just for the sheer fun of it and was admired by many other hikers (and only asked once if he was a fox). Then he saw the cows.

"What the bark? What iz that??"

Zuko has never been that close to a cow before - and he was fascinated. There babies with the herd and while these were all females, there was one big black cow that looked like she would be happy to step on a little dog if he came any closer. Which he did. He'd inch forward little by little...until the big cow took a step toward him and he RAN the other way.

"Why u coming at me? - RUN!!"

Immediately after, as if to show who is REALLY the boss, he peed all over grass tufts in their field and then peed on a barbed wire fence. Take that!

"I WIN!"

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's humom

The Return of Shibasquatch

It is an amazing day in the Bay Area and Zuko and I trekked out to the famous dog beach Ft. Funston with two Boston Terriers, Winston and Porco.

Source: Uploaded by user via Tina on Pinterest

Some of you may remember the infamous "runaway" when our little Shibasquatch was last let off leash back in November. Since then his life has been tightly leashed. Always.

But Ft. Funston has huge cliffs that I don't think even Zuko could climb if he tried. And we were with other dogs so..... maybe? He only received half of his breakfast this morning so he'd be hungry and I took with me the secret weapon: cheese.

Once we were down to the beach I left him off leash and he was a good boy. He ran around, farther than I am comfortable with, but he always came back.

Good boy!

Source: Uploaded by user via Tina on Pinterest

- Posted by Zuko's proud mommy.

A Puppy in Yosemite

A few weeks ago we took our first ever trip to Yosemite with my parents. It was a short trip and we decided to take Zuko with us so I could snack on his Shiba ears during the car ride.

"Someone please save me"

Lodging in the Yosemite area is fairly limited if you want something without canvas walls, but we did find Tenaya Lodge which was close to the south entrance of the park and is dog-friendly.

Zuko checks out the view, surrounded by his gifts from the Lodge

Yosemite isn't the most dog-friendly park, but compared to other National Parks, it does have some areas you can travel with the pup. It isn't well documented though and can be a bit vague. From the Yosemite site:

"Pets are only allowed in developed areas, on fully paved trails and roads except trails signed as not allowing pets (pets are not allowed off the floor of Yosemite Valley, including the trail to Vernal Fall)...

There are a few additional (very obscure and unsigned) places where pets are allowed: Four Mile fire road in Wawona, on the Carlon Road, and on the Old Big Oak Flat Road between Hodgdon Meadow and Hazel Green Creek."

Clear as a bell, right?

Basically what I figured out was if it is handicap accessible, it is dog-friendly. So Zuko got to see Bridalveil Falls, Lower Yosemite Falls and the top of Glaciar Road. Areas like the Sequoia Grove are 100% off-limits but it appears that if you just slap a service vest on a dog, they will let you pass (I'm talking about you, Italian Grayhound that was clearly not any kind of service dog whatsoever - not even an ESA. ESA dogs do have some training). 

Two great wonders of nature: The Shiba Inu and Half Dome

At the top of Glacier Road, Zuko climbed up on a rock and stared out over the canyon. I swear he was really meditating on the majesty of the view - it was difficult to get him to turn around, even for treats.

"Don't disturb me"

Dining in the area was a bit more difficult - outdoor dining is limited and not really pet-friendly. We did resort to leaving a tired dog in our room while going out to eat (thus violating the pet policy) but he was a good dog and no one caught us. ;-)

The last day we received a surprise and Zuko was granted one of his life-long wishes: SNOW!

"My feet are wet"

He didn't seem to mind it - it wasn't very deep and was more wet than fluffy. I'd still love to see him in snow up to his chest and see if he bounces along or freaks out. 

You can see more of Zuko's adventures in Yosemite here on Flickr. 

-- Posted by Zuko's mom

Belmont Twin Pines: Adventure

Somehow even in a small city park, I can lose the trail. I am not really sure how I do this, but Zuko and I get lost  and / or end off the path when hiking all the time. Luckily the Shiba Inu is a mountain breed originally and Zuko loves climbing hills, rocks and whatever. Usually he's at the top waiting for my on my pathetic two-legs to catch up with his superiorness.

It was raining a bit in the Bay Area today so we went to Twin Pines in Belmont. It is less exposed and more covered, but very small. There is a creek area and this is where I lost the trail.

Let's go! 

We crossed the makeshift bridge and came up the other side - and there was no trail. Oops. We blundered through and found it again. We kept going - and what would be a hike with Zuko without finding some random oddity? We found ruins of a building at the end of the path.

These fall colors help me camouflage, right? Oh - and there are ruins here. 

We did manage to safely find our way back to the car. ;-)  But given our natural "tendencies" when hiking, our upcoming Yosemite trip should be very... um, interesting....

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's "the road less traveled" humom. 

Pack Hike - Sweeney Ridge

My humom dragged the whole pack out for a hike this past Sunday. It was LONG - like, over five whole miles. It was uphill the first half. Being awesome, I led the pack and on the way back I dragged them back to the car.

This hike is cool tho cuz not only iz it dog-friendly, but it has so much plant variety. There are scrubby bushes to pee on, wildflowers to sniff (and pee on), some redwoods and eucalyptus trees and then the ruins of an old Nike missile site. At the top of the ridge, on a clear day, you can see the Pacific Ocean to one side and the SF Bay on the other.

View from the top - Pacific Ocean

Me and hudad

Climbing that hill wuz tuff work!

Everything looks better with a Shiba tail in it, right?

Tuff dog in the missile site ruins

What? How much longer till we get back to the car???

-- Posted by Prince Zuko the awesome

Surf City: No Dogs Allowed

For Shibapalooza, the Twibas from out of town decided to group together in Huntington Beach because it has an awesome dog-beach and was voted one of the most dog-friendly cities in California.

Unfortunately, since then, a few things have changed.

What would Snoopy do?

There is a blog post here on the "no dogs allowed" in Huntington Beach, along with @Tokyoshiba blog post here about the dog-friendly hotel that is in the heart of the Main Street area. 

What Zuko wanted me to share with you is what he feels every place should have: 

Now that is more like it!

Lazy Dog Cafe is just outside HB in Westminster and they were very accommodating (as you can see). The patio was fenced in (@Tokyoshiba made an amazing jailbreak move and got out) and there were two gates in case it got crowded and you needed to get out without making everyone else move. 

The didn't have a doggie menu like some places do, but overall, it was a good experience. The food and drink prices were average and the food was decent. Zuko and Taro really, really enjoyed the chicken tenders. ;-)

-- Posted by Prince Zuko's devoted typist.