Above photo by Adm. For the past year, I've been pestering Adm to get a dog.  It's not that he didn't want to get a dog - after all, he grew up always having lots of dogs, he just wasn't sure that our lifestyle was right for a pup (we are gone all day long when we photograph weddings and travel quite a bit).  I, however, persisted as I've never had a dog of my own.  We were out shopping one day (a few years back in 2008) when we came across a little Shiba Inu, and I was immediately smitten!  I knew that no matter how much I pestered him, Adm wasn't just going to give in so I did my research.  I started reading Cesar Milan books, listened to "The Art of Raising a Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete over and over, and figured out little ways to convince Adm that it would be easy for us to integrate a little pup into our lifestyle in a way that he/she could have a wonderful life.

Finding the right dog was more of a challenge.  Initially, we wanted a Shiba Inu puppy, BUT, we also vowed to stay away from puppy mills (i.e. pet stores), and ideally wanted to go the rescue route.  Finding a rescue Shiba Inu puppy was practically impossible.  We met with a few breeders (which is a completely legitimate way to get a dog), but it just didn't feel right for us.  After emailing back and forth with Red, who runs the NorCal Shiba Inu Rescue Shelter, for almost 10 months, we finally came across a young Shiba Inu, Makimi, who needed a good home.  Makimi was a 2.5 year old stray who was rescued off of the streets of Taiwan by TUAPA, a wonderful organization that runs a no kill dog rescue sanctuary in Taichung.  They've found that they have better luck finding forever homes for their rescues by sending them to breeder shelters in the U.S. than in their country, hence why Makimi had been shipped to the NorCal shelter in San Jose.  We actually almost didn't get her because she had been promised to another family, but luckily for us, that adoption fell through and we were next on the list!  After that, everything happened in a blur.  Literally, one day we didn't have a dog, and the next day, she took over our lives.

I'm so excited to introduce the newest and most helpful member of our creative team:  Kiki!  Since she came on board about two months ago, she has been instrumental in helping us get loads of work done.  OK, I kid I kid... she is really not that helpful, unless you consider dropping a toy in your lap every few minutes very productive.  She's our first dog, and we absolutely love her!  We completely lucked out with her - she is such a wonderful dog and has a personality that fits perfectly with ours.  Now that she's here, it's hard to imagine life without her.

Here is Kiki (on the left) in the government pound just before getting picked up by TUAPA:  (as a side note, the dog on the right, Maja, is now living the good life with Red, the man who runs the NorCal shelter.  She was so cute, he decided to keep her!)

Kiki and Thanksgiving dinner:

Photo below by Adm: