My name is Hakusei!

Hakusei (hah-koo-say), which means "stuffed animal" in Japanese, is a 2 year old pure bred Sesame female Shiba Inu that came to us with a batch of Shibas that was left in the overnight drop bin at the Aurora Animal Shelter back in August 2012. We believe strongly that Haku, her brother Panda Kuma, and other dogs that have come to us in this fashion (there have been several batches of 2 to 4 Shibas left in those bins at this particular shelter) are being dumped by a backyard breeder in the area when they are either too old to breed or were unable to be sold. These dogs come to us extremely fearful, sometimes even more than puppy mill dogs. Before coming into rescue Haku had never been on grass, never worn a harness or walked on a leash, never been inside of a house and never had much if any interaction with people. While still very shy with people, she has made some substantial progress and we feel that she deserves to continue her journey in a forever home.

Hakusei is good with potty training and uses crate as a safe spot. She is also fed in her crate, something we recommend continuing with her. She is great with other dogs but may not play with them for some time. She would do best in a home with another dog that can show her the ropes and will be ready to play with her when she comes around but won't be up in her face before she's ready. She is also good with cats if they are inside the house but outside critters beware! She is ready to chase you!

Haku loves her walks, though she still gets startled by movements and objects on occassion. We do not want Haku in an apartment because she doesn't readily do her business on a walk; she needs the safety and security of a backyard for this. She does need a yard with 6 foot privacy fencing as chain link fencing tends to peak her interest a little too much so we worry about her intentions about trying to escape.

Haku will lay in the room near her foster parents and after several months she will allow petting. It will take her time to allow this in a new place as she will have to start from scratch in a new home. Haku is extremely fearful of children, so no kids please.

Here is an update from her foster parents as of June 11th, 2013.

"When it’s just me at home, she’ll jump onto the couch next to me and hang out. Sometimes she’ll hang out by my computer chair when I’m working on something. She’ll let me reach down and pet her most of the time. She’ll now take treats from just about any adult who offers.

She is still a little wary of Jay, and the closest she’ll get to being next to him is laying on the love seat next to the couch if he’s sitting there. But omigosh, does she starts making noises when she hears him come home as if he’s been gone for years. Then, he comes in and she goes from, “Yay! You’re home! (wag wag)” to “That’s enough… you can go away again now.” So, yes… work in progress.

Hakusei still doesn’t like kids. She’ll try to drag me to the opposite side of the street when she sees them. However, we stopped at a neighbour’s house with three adults in the front yard, and after a few minutes, she was brave enough to get within a couple feet of them, allowed a little petting, and even let one of them pick her up and snuggle without fighting it. We have another neighbor who likes to help walk her once in a while, and she also does fine with her. Of course, with Rose, it might have something to do with her having a couple of treats on her.

Since the weather has warmed up, Haku’s idea of a walk is to find a shady spot and flop down. Or, she’ll roll in the grass a few times at random. If she’s feeling really froggy, we’ll be walking around and suddenly, she’ll jump Guinness for an impromptu wrestling/chase match.

As for cats, outside she’ll chase them all day long. Inside, she ignores them for the most part. I guess she thinks that anything outside the house is fair game. Rabbits, squirrels, birds, grasshoppers… Oh grasshoppers. Sometimes I have to pick her up and carry her away from her grasshopper chase so that I’m not dragging her on her leash. And let’s not get into her reaction to foxes. Seriously, little one… they do not want to play with you!!!

Hakusei has decided that she wants to spend as little time in her crate as possible. When Jay’s alarm goes off in the morning, she knows it’s time for walkies and breakfast, and starts loudly vocalizing in her crate. So, I tell people they can kiss their snooze alarm goodbye because they’ll never be able to use it again.

She doesn’t nap in her crate anymore. She’s either on the loveseat or couch, or she’s near us on the floor. Unless she’s in her “I want to alone” mood (not that often), she’ll only go into her crate if there’s food involved.

In Haku’s case, it really needs to be stressed with possible adopters that it will take months of time and patience for her to get even this far, and she needs ongoing encouragement and love to get her out of her shell. Judging by her actions when we take her to the in-laws’ house, she’ll go all the way back to her original behavior when she is first adopted. And yes, she would definitely do best in a quieter home that has another dog that’s mostly calm, yet playful. She needs someone to harass when she tires of playing fetch with herself."

We understand that adopting a dog like Hakusei is more of a selfless act, as her interactions with people are few and far between, but we are sure the right person is out there.

Recommended reading for Hakusei would be Help for Your Fearful Dog by Nicole Wilde.

Hakusei's adoption fee is $350.00 which includes her spay, microchip, deworming, distemper vaccination and a professional 6 week course to be taken with her adopters.