Dogsitting

This is Kato the Shiba Inu. She conquered Chad within 10 minutes of entering our condo and chose this as her favored location to sit/walk around. We are hosting her for the weekend and are experiencing the endless surprises and oddities of a little doggy personality.

Things she was scared of so far:
- The elevator (the doors can be a bit unpredictable)
- Walking down the stairs (from the 2nd floor on down), but not walking up
- The 6-inch wide grate on the way into the garage
- Bubble wrap (okay, so I gave her some to walk on because she seemed to like cushiony things and 2 of the bubbles popped - sorry, Kato)

Things she has taken a liking to:
- A corner of the floor by the door (she licked it)
- One of Chad's monster-feet slippers
- Using Chad as a floor cushion
- Our green shag rug
- The refrigerator (because I have steak in it)

She has also taken to notifying us whenever one of the neighbors opens or closes their front doors and has taken up a guard position by the balcony - maybe she saw one of the giant squirrels that occupy the complex. Good girl!

As always when I am around dogs, I find myself having little conversations with Kato. They go something like this:

"No, no, Philly Cheesesteak Lean Pockets are people food, even though I know it must smell good to you."
Kato sniffs furiously at the tallest point of me that she can reach - my knees.
"I am not going to give you any, no matter how much you make cute faces at me."
Kato twitches her ears back and forth.
" Also, I'm not sure what cheese will do to you."
Kato blinks slowly, licks my toe and walks away.

Come on, Kato, time to watch Dog Whisperer!