Walking Sheba - An Educational Experience

Sheba

Shiba Inu

This morning I took Sheba for a walk.  Nothing unusual about that expect it was 8:00AM and I had been awake since 5:00AM.  This was Sheba's second walk of the day. 

"Can I pet your dog?" someone shouted. 

"What?" I asked.  I was not wearing my hearing aids thinking I would not encounter anyone at that hour.

"Can I pet your dog?" she asked again while swkwardly running towards me, backpack flopping from side to side, reading glasses in one hand, a juice box in the other hand.

"Sure.  She's friendly.  Somewhat shy, but OK to pet."

The girl kneeled down, somehow switching her juice box to her left hand, and petted Sheba.  We got to talking about dogs when I became aware that she was on her way to the bus stop.  I told her I didn't want her to miss her bus and she better go (where was her parent, by the way?).

As she skipped off toward the bus stop she shouted, "What's your dog's name?"

"Sheba!"

"Sheba?  That's the name of a Japanese dog called Shiba Inu," she informed me. "She doesn't look like a Shiba Inu," said my new Japanese friend who is in the fifth grade.  "She looks like a Greyhound or Min Pin."

"Wow!" I said with eyes open wide. "You know a lot about dogs.  She's a Dachshund with some Manchester Terrier and, yes, Min Pin mixed in for good measure. Doesn't she look like a pedigree?"

"Why is she named Sheba?"  inquired my precocious dog lover.

"It's getting late and I don't want you to miss your bus. I will tell you the story the next time I see you, OK?"

She smiled and ran off...just like that.  She must really keep her fifth grade teacher hopping.

I went home and Googled the breed.  Now I can add Shiba Inu to my ever growing list of dogs I wish I could own.