Too Smart for her own Good?

   Shibas are known for being smart. Good hunters. And driven. I'm not sure how well known they are for comedy, but living with them has kept me laughing. Ever heard that curiosity killed the cat? Well, it may get Aki one day too.
   Last week I took them down to the basement to give them baths. I bathed Taylor first, while Aki waited in the next room. I finished with Taylor, dried him, and went out to retrieve Aki, only to find that she had bitten a giant chunk out of the bottom of my bookcase! At first I was furious. Why on Earth would she DO that??? It only took a quick glance under the bookshelf for it all to make sense. Apparently I had very recently caught a large mouse in the trap hidden underneath. Aki smelled it and was frantically trying to get at it (probably to make sure it was really dead). When she couldn't get under it, she decided to go through it, chomping the bottom shelf. Sigh. I wasn't happy, but it's pretty funny when you think about it.
   Similarly, Aki loves her toys, especially a bright orange ball which is hollow. I fill it with treats and she'll spend an hour rolling it around the whole house with her nose to get the food. Often she drops it down the stairs so the food bounces out with little effort. And even more often, she makes the game harder by rolling the ball under the entertainment center. I've seen her do it so often that I'm *certain* it's intentional.
   On several occasions, though, this has gotten her into trouble. If she can't reach the ball with her jaws or her paws, she says, "I'm goin' in!" Which always leads to her getting stuck underneath & needing to be rescued. She starts whining and frantically swimming her legs... pathetic!

"I'm very disappointed in you, Aki."

   The moral of the story? Aki always gets what she wants; even at the cost of canine humiliation.

(And for the record, Tay isn't stuck in the deck railing, though he fooled me!)