So recently I've felt like I spend half of every day replying to requests about pups, and juggling exports. Today I finally pasted all my 'waiting lists' together and collated the information in a spreadsheet.
I have over 50 people on my waiting list. This is after sifting through all the bogus applications. These are people that are ready for a pup NOW! I have 50 people twiddling their thumbs, waiting for Shigeru to find and send them their dream pup.
If you ever feel like I take a while to get back to you, and you haven't heard from me in a while, know that I have a terrific memory, and am not battling early onset Alzheimer's. I'm probably walking, feeding, or cleaning up after, my pups, or yours. If I'm not doing that, I'm probably picking up someone's pup, or sending off someone's pup ad infinitum (is that even where you'd use that?).
This past week for instance, I was juggling 15 dogs at the house (11 of which are demanding puppies), and swung by the vet to micro chip and vaccinate 2 Hokkaido pups on Wednesday. Friday I dropped off one pup, Summer, at Narita airport, 300km round trip. She was on her way to Dallas. I raced back to get some work in, walk and feed the dogs again, and pack for a 2000km round trip to Shikoku to breed a female Shikoku.
Saturday morning I was off, and we drove for 11hours, arriving in Kagawa in the evening at a NIPPO judge's for a nice 'udon' dinner and discussion about hunting with Nihon Ken. We were up at 6am the next morning to head from the hotel to to see his dogs, and all the dogs the Ayumi Sou line in the local kennels. We then had an 11am appointment at another kennel in the next prefecture to breed the female. Later in the afternoon after some more 'udon', we headed to Ehime to see more kennels and dogs from another line of Shikoku, with another NIPPO judge. This was all done in the pouring rain due to Typhoon Man-yi rampaging through Japan.
We got to see some of the great dogs of the recent past such as Gakuho Go, Ibuhime Go, and Iyohime Go, and revel in the quality of the bloodlines still remaining in Shikoku. In the evening we were treated to a terrific dinner, and in the morning we were up at 6am again to look at more dogs, before heading out on our return trip. We were chasing Man-yi this time, as she veered north east, so we followed in her trail of destruction, getting held up at roadblocks due to flooding and mudslides all the way. I was actually at Katsuragawa in Kyoto immediately after Man-yi passed. The return drive took 17hours, getting me back at 1am.
I was up at 5 am to walk and feed my dogs, and then prepared to take pups to Narita airport again. I got home at 3pm, rushed to the vet to micro chip and vaccinate 2 more pups, and tried to reply to emails in the evening before walking and feeding the dogs again.
This morning I woke up, it's crisp, beautiful autumn day, and I'm trying to pick up the pieces of the mess left by the hurricane, and pick up after all the pups that have been through recently. If I don't reply to your emails right away, I apologize.
I have over 50 people on my waiting list. This is after sifting through all the bogus applications. These are people that are ready for a pup NOW! I have 50 people twiddling their thumbs, waiting for Shigeru to find and send them their dream pup.
If you ever feel like I take a while to get back to you, and you haven't heard from me in a while, know that I have a terrific memory, and am not battling early onset Alzheimer's. I'm probably walking, feeding, or cleaning up after, my pups, or yours. If I'm not doing that, I'm probably picking up someone's pup, or sending off someone's pup ad infinitum (is that even where you'd use that?).
This past week for instance, I was juggling 15 dogs at the house (11 of which are demanding puppies), and swung by the vet to micro chip and vaccinate 2 Hokkaido pups on Wednesday. Friday I dropped off one pup, Summer, at Narita airport, 300km round trip. She was on her way to Dallas. I raced back to get some work in, walk and feed the dogs again, and pack for a 2000km round trip to Shikoku to breed a female Shikoku.
Saturday morning I was off, and we drove for 11hours, arriving in Kagawa in the evening at a NIPPO judge's for a nice 'udon' dinner and discussion about hunting with Nihon Ken. We were up at 6am the next morning to head from the hotel to to see his dogs, and all the dogs the Ayumi Sou line in the local kennels. We then had an 11am appointment at another kennel in the next prefecture to breed the female. Later in the afternoon after some more 'udon', we headed to Ehime to see more kennels and dogs from another line of Shikoku, with another NIPPO judge. This was all done in the pouring rain due to Typhoon Man-yi rampaging through Japan.
We got to see some of the great dogs of the recent past such as Gakuho Go, Ibuhime Go, and Iyohime Go, and revel in the quality of the bloodlines still remaining in Shikoku. In the evening we were treated to a terrific dinner, and in the morning we were up at 6am again to look at more dogs, before heading out on our return trip. We were chasing Man-yi this time, as she veered north east, so we followed in her trail of destruction, getting held up at roadblocks due to flooding and mudslides all the way. I was actually at Katsuragawa in Kyoto immediately after Man-yi passed. The return drive took 17hours, getting me back at 1am.
I was up at 5 am to walk and feed my dogs, and then prepared to take pups to Narita airport again. I got home at 3pm, rushed to the vet to micro chip and vaccinate 2 more pups, and tried to reply to emails in the evening before walking and feeding the dogs again.
This morning I woke up, it's crisp, beautiful autumn day, and I'm trying to pick up the pieces of the mess left by the hurricane, and pick up after all the pups that have been through recently. If I don't reply to your emails right away, I apologize.
I would just like to say, thank you Shigeru. You were outstanding to work with and made our experience with Kenzo wonderful. I don't know how you do it all. Keep up the great work !
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jon. It's hard to keep up sometime, but I try.
DeleteThanks for doing what you do, plus updates. However, please pace yourself….we need you around for a long time....Schedule some bits of vacation time in between those marathon sessions perhaps. : )
ReplyDeleteWhen you get to do what you love, 14 hour days, 7 days a week, is not that bad. I go at my own pace (usually!), and try not to stress too much.
DeleteShigeru, it might not seem like it sometimes (as unbeknownst to us, we're swamping you with e-mails, or facebook messages) we APPRECIATE you and all you do. Please know we (collectively) probably have no idea we're doing this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for everything you do. Your work is not scoffed at by any of us looking for a pup.
If I have bothered you I apologize. That wasn't the intent...though you must understand many of us just get plain excited about the concept of adding a new family member to the household ;)
Thank you for your patience, diligence and loyalty! The Nihon Ken would be lessened without you. I agree completely with 'Fuzzy' pace yourself!
-Jae
Yeah, I know that everyone is not aware of how much correspondence I have to deal with, so that's what this post is about, haha. It is exciting for everyone waiting for pups, and I know that you're all eager for updates.
Deleteand I really really hope I get one of your pups Shigeru! :) It would be nice to ask the breeder questions and not worry about the language barrier! HAHA!
DeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel! I was gone for one day to drop off two dogs and came home that night to 97 - no joke - 97! dog related emails and messages. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as the others have said, we all appreciate YOU! Thanks for all you do for the NK community!
Brad, if I received 97 emails in a day, I would throw my computer out of the window.
Deletehahaha that is insane.. If I got that many emails in a day, I think my brain would break. :S
DeleteBOTH of you are amazing and there are a whole bunch of us that appreciate AAAALLL that you do and put up with! :)