Scruffy The Legend

Dear Charlie and Ruby

 

Thank you for your letter!

 

Of course, we welcome Ruby as an honorary cousin!

(Leo)

I was born on September 9, 2002!(In Tokyo)

(Jade)

I was born on January 18, 2004.(In Tokyo)

 

We both came to mommy’s house when we were about 2 months old.

We live in the city of Tokyo.

 

Yeah, my mom told us a lot about Scruffy. He is a very famous Keeshond !

 

We are not sure how many keeshond are living in Japan right now.

We will ask my mom and let you know next time.

Keeshond is very rare breed.　Not many people know our breed.

When we were puppy, people asked my mom whether we were raccoon dog!

 

Oh, we may have a gathering on March 1^st if the weather is fine.

 My mom will be taking many pictures as always! She will post them on her blog so that you can see!

We have a gathering a few times a year! It is very fun to meet our mom, dad, grandparents, cousin, brothers and sisters!

 

During this week, every day was rainy day.

 

Spring will be coming soon and the weather will be nice.

We prefer cold winter, too. We do not have snow in Tokyo. May be we have a few times a year, but it is very rare, so we do not even know how we can enjoy snow.

 

(Leo)

I think that was 2 or 3 years ago. We had about a ten-centimeter snowfall.

Mom took me for a walk but I could not even walk. My feet were cold.. I just did not know what to do with snow.

 

(Jade)

I was not that afraid! I just looked up at the above and ate snow! No taste but it was not that bad. May be I should have brought some strawberry syrup.

 

The summer in Japan, very hot and humid

We all hate these season (the end of May to the end of September)

 

 

Do you like eating?  We just love eating! We will do anything to get treat from mom.

When she has enough time, she bakes something for us.

We wonder what kinds of treats you guy get and what kind of treats are popular in the U.S.

Mom told us that there were recalls in the U.S lately. She was saying that was peanuts butter cream biscuit. If your dad knows about these recalls related doggy food and treats, you can ask for us.

 

We usually go for a long walk at night, around 21:30.

Mom gets back from her work around 19:30 and has to prepare a dinner for human and for us. It is safe to go out for a walk at night. There are still many people walking on streets here in Tokyo. Maybe we can talk about dog walk next time!

 

Your cousin

Leo and Jade

 

Uncategorized Add new tag, Jade, Leo

The following is posted on Petfinder.com.  According to the post, this dog will be KILLED on March 3, unless it is adopted.

Description:

Keeshond, Shepherd [Mix]
Medium Adult Male Dog Pet ID: 137 artemis
Artemis came in on:
FEBRUARY 25

This dog came in as a stray and there is no background information.
If interested please contact by phone @ 330-740-2205 EXT 2 to adopt this precious dog.

Mahoning County Dog Pound
Youngstown, OH

For more information view posting on Petfinders.com.

2009 February

Hi Leo and Jade,

 

My name is Charlie.  I live in a small town in New Jersey, USA, about 20 miles west of New York city.  I was adopted about 2 months ago.  I used to live in Massachusetts and then in the Bronx, a part of New York City.  My new daddy told me about you, but only seemed to know that you were both Keeshonds living in Japan.  He reads your mom’s blog (http://keeleojay.blog64.fc2.com/ ) about you every day to me, but does not understand Japanese.  He has tried the automatic translators, but says they are of little help.  My daddy was also Scruffy’s daddy.  Ruby (my new Beagle sister) tells me that if you are Keeshonds, you probably heard of Scruffy.  I am not so sure.   I do know that we are all cousins since we are Keeshonds.  Ruby says she also wants to be our cousin.  Maybe we can let her be an honorary cousin, if that’s OK with you guys.  She does make a strange looking Keeshond – but nobody’s perfect.

 

Please tell me about yourselves.  Were you born in Japan?  Are there many Keeshonds in Japan? Do you live in Tokyo?  Do you live right in the city or a suburb? What season is it there now?  I ask a lot of questions – maybe  that’s enough for now.

 

We are just at the end of winter, it is getting warmer and the snow is gone.  We had snow on the ground all winter long and it was very cold.  I like the cold.  Snow is fun too.

 

I know you guys understand Japanese and probably not much English, so you will have to ask your mom to translate for you.

 

Your cousin,

Charlie

2009, 2009 February Charlie, Jade, Leo

Right now you are probably wondering how you can view more pictures of Scruffy. I asked Karen to upload the photos that were in the book, plus others that did not make it into Scruffy The Legend. You can view them here on Picasa Google.

Uncategorized

A cat of course. Chicken is a feral kitten we adopted when he was a few weeks old. Karen named him Chicken because he was afraid of everyone and hid under beds (Just like Sir Prize used to do when we first got him). He was kept locked in our bedroom at all times when Ruby and Snowball arrived because we thought a Beagle would certainly hunt and kill a kitten. We were not sure about Snowball who was supposed to be a Bichon. We knew Narla also would not appreciate a kitten. After we returned Snowball to the shelter because he was fixated on killing Narla (see my post of coronation of a queen ), we gradually let Chicken out of the bedroom to begin interacting with Ruby and Narla.

It turned out that, unlike every other cat I have known, Chicken had no innate fear of dogs. He immediately fell in love with Ruby and spent much time hanging under her chin by clasping his paws around the back of her neck. Ruby did not seem pleased or displeased by this state of affairs. Maybe Chicken has a remora (those little fish that attach themselves under a shark’s mouth) in his remote ancestry. At first Ruby’s expression seemed to ask us to get this thing off her – not that it was doing her any harm – but what did she need it for? As time passed, the two became good friends and played together much as an adult dog and a puppy might play. Chicken would bite Ruby about the face and Ruby would retaliate with bites to Chicken’s neck and body. Considering that Ruby’s mouth was a big as the whole cat, I was very impressed and proud of Ruby for being able to do this without hurting the cat. We did become concerned that Chicken would eventually, by accident, scratch one of Ruby’s eyes. The play periods usually occurred several times a day and did get a bit rough on occasion. Although against our usual way of doing things, we had Chicken declawed to prevent injury to Ruby. For me, declawing a cat – even and indoor cat – just doesn’t sit well with me, but I felt we had to do it.

Now Chicken has grown into a very large cat. However without his claws, he is totally defenseless. Enter Charlie. Charlie is still not sure exactly what to make of Chicken. He is not exactly sure what is the difference between Chicken and a squirrel or between Chicken and a squeaky toy. I don’t really like the way Charlie looks at Chicken or the way he chases him. It is different from the way Ruby does these things, but thankfully also different from the way Snowball would have done these things. Charlie is not fixated on the cat and does not want to kill him. I am just not sure how rough his play will be once he really decides to play with Chicken. I am not sure he knows how to bite a cat playfully and softly the way Ruby does. Chicken notices the same things I do, and does not attempt to do anything like hang from Charlie’s face.

Chicken is cautious with Charlie, but still is unaware of any real danger. Chicken, again unlike other cats I have known, has no apparent innate ability to or desire to protect himself (with or without claws). He has never hissed, taken a strong swipe at someone, arched his back, or raised the hair on his back and tail. Even when Charlie is right over him, giving him a predator’s stare, Chicken only playfully extends a paw onto the dog’s nose.

2009, 2009 February cat, Charlie, Chicken, Ruby

We lost Narla today. She was euthanized today due to an inoperable tumor. She was 16 years old. We love her dearly and she will be missed. She came to us as a feral kitten together with her brother who we named The Kitty. We kept The Kitty and gave Narla to Karen’s mother. After a few years we took Narla back because she was not very friendly (to say the least) and Karen’s mother wanted to look for a more friendly cat. Narla did not get along well with cats dogs or humans. We loved her anyway. Later in life, she became partially paralyzed due to a spinal chord compression. After that, she became much more friendly. She even became a friend of Scruffy during Scruffy’s last years. Ruby and Narla became friends. They did not play together, but did sniff each other and were generally pleased to see each other.

The Kitty also died a year or so ago. He was the one animal that I said near the end of my book who I thought was definitely healthy enough to last through the summer. He developed metastatic liver cancer. This was totally unexpected and came as quite a sad shock to us. Sir Prize also passed away. He just died of old age, and we had been expecting this for some time. Narla was the only surviving pet mentioned in my book.

We now have Ruby, Charlie and Chicken. You have heard much about Ruby and Charlie on this blog. Chicken is our new cat that we adopted shortly before we got Ruby. He is a very special cat and I will be writing about him in the future.

2009, 2009 February cat

Ｈｉｇｈ　Ｋｉｌｌ　Ｓｈｅｌｔｅｒ

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2009 11:53:08 -0500
From: NSmith*pspca.org
* should be ＠
Hi Keeshond Rescue,

Nooka (A07149704) came into the shelter as stray and needs out ASAP. Nooka is approximately 10 years old and has old lady hips that sometimes make her wobbly and nervous with stairs. Even though Nooka is an old lady she has some pep in her step and loves to prance like a Clydesdale horse. Nooka likes all people and seems to like other dogs.

NOOKA MUST LEAVE THE SHELTER BY END OF THE DAY TUESDAY.

Contact Natalie Smith, Manager of Life Saving,  ASAP if you can help.

Animal Care and Control Team (ACCT) powered by the PSPCA
111 W Hunting Park Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19140
nsmith＊pspca.org

* should be ＠

267-385-3800 x114
Cell- 215-730-8181

Uncategorized

“Ruby, Who is this Scruffy I keep hearing about?”

“Who is Scruffy? – only the greatest Keeshond that ever lived – that’s who.”

“What did he do that was so great?  Did he win dog shows?  Best in breed?  Best in show?  Was it agility?”

“No Charlie, none of those; he didn’t even have any papers.  He was, however, a pack leader and I think he was even part wolf.”

“Wow!  Can I become a great Keeshond – like Scruffy?  Am I a pack leader and part wolf?”

“You are definitely not a pack leader and certainly not a wolf.  Still, Darryl says you will be the greatest Keeshond some day.  He also says I am going to be the greatest Beagle that ever lived.

“You are not even a Beagle.  You look more like a very tall Basset Hound.”

“Darryl did say I might be a Bagle or be part Foxhound.  He said that whatever I am, I am the most beautiful female he ever saw.  He said it’s my eyes.  He also said that I am definitely a hound and that I have the perfect hound smell about me.  He said you don’t even have a smell.  How do you know you are a Keeshond?  Where are your papers?”

“They are in the mail.”

”I don’t believe you. Let’s go ask Darryl.”

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Leo and Jade are Keeshonden living in Japan. Their mother is Yoshimi. A daily diary about the dogs can be found at http://keeleojay.blog64.fc2.com/. You can also find translated pages of Scruffy the Legend into Japanese on this website. Daily recipes for home-cooked dog food, stories about dog health, dog rescue and links to other Keeshond websites also appear. Those of you who have read my book may recall the silly chapter about dogs’ noses. I think a picture of Leo’s nose was used to illustrate some points that I was making in the book on this website. This is great stuff folks. I wish online translators really worked. If you happen to understand Japanese and love Keeshonds, you will enjoy Yoshimi’s blog (even without reading the Scruffy parts). If you don’t understand Japanese, you will still enjoy the pictures of the Keeshonden.

2009, 2009 February Japan, Ruby

POINT Charlie

COUNTERPOINT Ruby

Charlie:
When Darryl calls, you come immediately, no matter what you are doing.

Ruby:
When Darryl calls you evaluate the situation. Does he have a treat in his hand or not? If not, then it is appropriate to consider what you are doing at the moment. Chewing a rawhide strip, certainly means you are not going to run to Darryl.

Charlie:
When Darryl asks for your paw, you give it immediately.

Ruby:
You only do tricks if treats are being offered

Charlie:
When Darryl goes upstairs, you follow immediately.

Ruby:
When Darryl goes upstairs, you wait a few minutes. He usually comes right down again. If after a few minutes, he is still upstairs, then he may be waiting for you to jump on a bed with him or he might even have a treat, so then you go.

Charlie:
A rawhide chew strip is not the world’s most important thing. Darryl can take it away from you and you should give no reaction.

Ruby:
A rawhide strip is the most important thing in the world. If Darryl tries to take it away from you, you bite him hard (OK, I admit I haven’t done this lately, but I still give him that stare that makes him ask me in a nice way to give it up).

Ruby:
I wouldn’t talk if I were you, buddy – You bit Darryl’s daughter on the leg when she came to visit yesterday.

Charlie:
I only bit her when she was ready to leave. She probably thinks it was because I wanted her to stay longer – So what’s the problem?

2009, 2009 February Charlie, Ruby