Red Haired Shanks the Corgi

Hi there! Meet Shanks--a red & white pembroke born in Japan, named after an awesome red-haired anime character. Read along with me as I navigate through all the joys of raising a corgi pup :) Shanks was born on November 28th, 2013 in Funabashi, west of Tokyo. He came home with us on January 25th, 2014.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Hi friends,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I just wanted to make it “official” and let you know that I’m gonna be taking a break from tumblr for a while—not sure how long yet.

Thanks so much for following thus far :) you guys are so amazing and I’m so grateful for this community and all the support I’ve received.

Here are a few photos I’ve yet to post from the last few days…

Love, Shanks & CJ

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Corgdad had been telling me that shanks chews on dried up poop bits when he's outside, and I've been in denial...until today. I tried to get shanks to drop it but he had already swallowed and had some stuck on his teeth. I vigorously brushed his teeth, gums, tongue and roof of his mouth when we got home. I'm so disgusted and sad right now...and tired. This morning Shanks was yanking like crazy (as usual) on his leash and knocked over an ashtray box thing, and I had to clean up all the cigarette butts, chewed up gum and ashes while trying not to add my own vomit to the mess. All the while i was telling Shanks to stay down but he kept freaking out because of the noise the box thing was making as I was cleaning it up. Sigh... Does anyone want to take Shanks off my hands? I just want to throw in the towel now... :( :( :(

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

My cuddle bug <3

[poopster]

I feel like so many people try to cover up their struggles with their dogs, because EVERYONE on the internet will be like — OMG YOU ARE THE WORST HUMAN EVER. I figure it’s time for some real talk.

Pudge is not crate trained.

Pudge and loose leash walking on…

[kipperthecorgi]

Kipper is a jerk. I’ve been training him non stop since I got him. We was horribly food aggressive and possessive with dogs and people when he was younger and it took months to correct that, and even now he is food aggressive with other dogs. He won’t attack them if you give both dogs a treat but if another dog sniffs his food bowl or goes for dropped food at the same time as him, it could go bad. Naturally I avoid having him in bad situations like that. He is reactive to other dogs on leash, which is relatively new thing for him. We are working on it still. He loves to play with other dogs if it”s one on one and outside. He gets overwhelmed in large groups. He has horrible separation anxiety and sometimes I think just plain anxiety. I swear if he were tall enough he’d jump through a window to follow me when I leave. But most people who know Kipper know him as a super well trained intelligent dog. Because most of the time he is. He can heel of leash, and be trusted on off leash hikes, he loves kids and people (although sometimes if someone really wants to pet him he sticks his nose up and walks past them) he is very connected with me, he knows when I need him close and will be there and tolerate my cuddles. This dog has honestly saved my life. He may have issues that drive me insane sometimes but that doesn’t change the love I have for him. He will always be the best dog.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

I appreciate these posts so much. One question though—how did you get Watson to stop knocking kids over? We try to get shanks not to jump on people in excitement but it’s hard, and a lot of kids in the neighborhood will just run up to us to try to pet Shanks and he goes nuts trying to kiss their faces and he pays no attention to me. *edit* oops! I guess this question was meant to be directed to user oliveramy--and I'm editing and posting from my phone so I don't know how to properly tag right now ^^;;

Shanks is a terror on leash outside, and it’s especially frustrating because he’s so good when he’s inside. We’ve tried all the different training techniques we’ve come across and what people have suggested, but nothing seems to work with him :(( he also likes to explore everything on the ground outside…with his mouth. We’re constantly having to tell him to “leave it,” and because he doesn’t pay attention to us when we’re outside, it’s not always a sure way to get him to stop eating crap off the ground.

That said, he really is a great dog while we’re home inside. He’s a cuddle bug and he’a obedient, doesn’t have separation anxiety and has no problem going into his pen and crate when we ask him to.

Sigh. It’s kind of refreshing just to get it out there—shanks is adorable and smart, but he’s an absolute terror when we’re out on walks.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Shanks has been on a toy-unstuffing rampage these days, and I haven't gotten around to fixing them...so I caved and bought him a new toy ^^;; It's also because I think this toy is ridiculously cute. The last photo (which is clearly not mine) is of what the toy is made to look like--dango! It's a dumpling/sweet made out of mochiko (rice flour)--you can read more about it at http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

I called shanks to the couch to cuddle with me, and he did….until corgdad sat down. Then he went over to corgdad and nudged his head under his leg and fell asleep there… Sigh.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Our stubby, regal beast.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

:3

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Curled up in his new favorite spot--at corgdad's feet.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

We put him in a box to see what he would do, and he just stared at us helplessly.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Finger lickin' good

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

My crazy rabbit <3

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Super typhoon Vongfong blew through our area last night and left us with beautifully blue skies this morning. I had Shanks pose in front of some bicycles that were knocked over and he was judging me because he didn’t think I was taking this typhoon business seriously. But the beautiful weather and crisp air was enough to make him get over it and get his cheese on for the camera.

[krwebb]

Thanks sawyerthecorgi.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Sigh.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

There’s a conference going on nearby our place (www.lovejp.org) and a couple of friends are staying with us for the duration of the event. They both love dogs, and shanks has been loving the attention and pets he’s been receiving. He's pictured above curled up and falling asleep at one of our guest's feet.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

If it fits, I sits.

[redhairedshanksthecorgi]

Satellites and scrunchy face