Living with Dogs and Cats in Japan

Yesterday I went to the Minato City Ward to register Tess. Yes, in Japan, even the pets have to be registered. I received a registration tag and rabies tag to put on her collar - which one is which I totally forgot since they are in Japanese - although the kind gentleman at the counter warned me one of them was sharp, which they both are. I also received a pamphlet on the Basic Rules of owning a pet in Japan. I share the following:

Do Not Leave Your Dog Loose
*It is prohibited to give your dog free run in parks or on street.
*Note that people who can control the dog can take their dog on a leash for a walk.
*Putting yourself in a place of those who are afraid of dogs, be sure to leash your dog to prevent unpredictable accident.

Cleaning Up Feces
*Be sure to take your dog's feces home for disposal. (yes, yes, I know!!!!)
*Flush your dog's urine away. (I'm sorry, what???!!???)
*Encourage you dog to relieve itself at home. (trust me I have, she has access to a wee wee pad at any time, but sometimes a dog just has to go for a walk, you know?)

Barking
*Teach your dog not to bark unnecessarily in order not to bother your neighbors.

Brushing
*Do not brush your dog in public places or on a balcony. It may be a nuisance for other people.

Under "Prevention of Infectious Diseases" section, it states:

"some diseases can be transmitted to humans from pets. Avoid excessive physical contact with them". Ok, so you can dress them up in hundred dollar outfits, prance them around in specially made doggie strollers, just don't touch them much.

*Do not feed your pets mouth to mouth (and why exactly would we do this - a party trick perhaps?)
*Do not share the same dish with your pets. (Ariana, are you reading this? - yes, yesterday Arny found her face down in the dog's water dish laughing hysterically as she tried to drink the water.)

And my favorite from the "Cat" section states "Have your cats spayed and neutered to prevent reproducing ownerless cats. It will also control their troublesome behaviors during the mating season". Yes, I understand they want to prevent the troublesome behaviors of cats during the mating season, but what are they doing about the troublesome behavior of some men on the subway that required designating entire cars just for women? Perhaps they should take a look at this pamphlet??

A Week in the Life

Ariana and friends Angelina and Maya out for a day of shopping in Shinjuku - they have just been told that we are not standing in line for 3 hours to get Krispy Kreme donuts at the new store, even if they are delicious..............they sense they are missing something special and are not amused....
Angelina and Ariana do get to share some crackers though......you can tell they would much rather have the donuts.....
Tess, having destroyed yet another one of Ariana's plastic balls......she is quite pleased with herself.....
She is smiling now, but just wait until she gets carried into her room and realizes it is bedtime....
Deciding not only is her butt small enough to fit into the doll stroller, but it matches the knapsack she has just now decided she must wear everywhere.. This is good because frankly, I am getting tired of lugging around the diaper bag and her diapers and wipes fit perfectly in here. This way I can go back to my cute little handbags and she can carry her own stuff..am I bad???

The Cookie

The milk chocolate layered on top slowly melts in my mouth as I sit on the couch.
Alone.
No little legs or arms climbing on me, no wet nose nudging me. Ariana is happily sitting on baba-san’s lap as they watch “The Lion King” on the computer in our bedroom, with baba singing the songs to her and her watching with amazement – at both the screen and the sight of her baba singing.
Doggie-san is somewhere, I don’t know where.
And I.
I am on the couch.
Alone.
With my cookie.
Enjoying it in solitude.
For a few lone minutes.
I look out at the lights of the city trying to remember the last time I had the opportunity to notice them. Being able to concentrate on one thing. A luxury. Since we brought Ariana home, my mind has been split in two. No matter what I am doing, half my brain in on her. In the bedroom as I fold clothes, I keep an eye out and when I can't, an ear out for the silence that means trouble; in the shower as I scrub, my eye catches her as she plays on the floor making sure she is not getting into anything even though there are locks on the cabinets; in the kitchen as I cook, with one eye on the pot, the other is on her, making sure she is not too close.

Outside it is even worse; constantly watching for cars that may swerve; pedestrians that may be too preoccupied texting to watch where they are walking; cyclists going to fast to see the little person in front of them wanting to walk instead of sitting safely in her stroller.

Conversations with friends are accomplished with only half a brain; the other half watching to see that she doesn't put something in her mouth or fall off the swing. Yes, it is possible for your brain to be watching. It is possible for every part of you to be watching.

And it does.
All the time.
It is draining.
It is necessary.

Because the alternative is too horrible to imagine.

So I watch.
With everything.

Until now.
With her safely in baba-sans lap.
I get to stop watching.

And watch the lights.
And eat my cookie.

Let's Talk About Poo

"Please do not throw out feces in building garbage can".

That was the sign that was posted by the elevator yesterday by our building caretaker, a lovely and kind grandmother of four. Excuse me, but where exactly is one supposed to throw out the dog poo since there is not a single public garbage can anywhere in Tokyo? Well, I'm sorry but there is only so much I am willing to do to abide by the overly anal garbage disposal rules here and bringing the poo home is bad enough, but actually separating it from the little bag is beyond reason. Or so I thought.

Because that is exactly what you are supposed to do. Separate the "poo" from the bag. I found this out after buying a box of doggie poo disposal bags on our monthly trek out to Costco (complete with a stop at Red Lobster for lunch - question - do Japanese people see "American" looking people in an American restaurant and assume that because they are there, the restaurant must be good? ). The instructions are clearly illustrated on the box. To make this easy for you, the bags come with a paper towel that you are supposed to use to actually pick up the poo before putting in the bag. Then, when you get home, simply take the paper towel filled with poo out of the bag and flush it down the toilet, throwing the bag in the "non combustible" garbage bin.

In addition to the instructions on the box, I had more instructions by the caretaker herself, who had stopped by to escort the fire inspection team to do their routine check of our alarm system. When she saw the dog, she realized I may be the "people" who had left the "poo" in the garbage can. I confirmed it, thinking it best to come clean. She left and a few minutes later returned to demonstrate the process. With a newspaper in her hand, she showed me how to pick the "poo" up with the newspaper, put it in the plastic bag and, in a departure from normal procedure, instructed me to put this bag behind the garbage bins downstairs. "I will take care of" she said.

So, while the poo is apparently too stinky for the garbage men to deal with, it is not for her. This just isn't right. I can take care of my own dog's poo. I don't want to, I think this is a ridiculous waste of time and energy and probably the most insane thing so far here in Tokyo, but I cannot in good conscience let her do it.

I will stuff my pockets with my new little "poo" bags and do like everyone else in Tokyo does.

Thank God I don't have a Great Dane.

Sibling Rivalry

Now that we are all over the jet lag that kept us up at all hours and not in good moods at all, we are adjusting to Tokyo with our two newest members of the household and watch them adjust to each other.

As you can see, Tess has found the perfect spot to monitor dinner, or more presisely, what part of dinner falls to the floor. Since she knows she gets no scraps from the adults, she is putting odds on the one least able to control that sort of thing. Besides the fact Ariana has the tendency to sweep things grandly on to the floor when she has had enough of them....



Jed now must get used to groupies as he plays his guitar hero with Ariana somehow thinking pushing the television remote will have some effect on his choice of song.

Ariana and Tess each took awhile to figure out I could split my attention between them - they were not happy at first. They both had hissy fits when I showed the other attention and if one was in my lap, well - major hissy fit. As you can see, they have found a way to at least sleep in peace.

And yes, for those wondering, I have already been calling Ariana Tess and even offered Tess the banana that Ariana wanted and Ariana the dog treats meant for Tess. Dog, child, child dog, it is really how amazing how they act so alike. Although I must admit, Tess is much better in sharing toys.

Finally...

.....a few minutes to write. Things have been very hectic since we left Florida and flew to New York for two days of chaotic fun. Our flight from Florida was delayed due to bad weather in NY, so that coupled with a very long line for taxis resulted in a very very late arrival to the hotel. After an indeterminate time sleeping, we were up and I was on my way up to the Biblowitz-Warmflash house to get puppy-san. A very well taken care of dog and I then made it down to the vet, where all the forms were filled out so she could make the return trip to Tokyo. Yes, kiddies, more forms. I swear, between daughter-san and puppy-san, I have filled out more forms to last a lifetime.

The afternoon was filled with friends, who we missed and was so happy to see.

Max had a lot to Tell baba-san and baby-san was quite interested, in both the conversation and the hot boy sitting on baba's lap.

Most important, baby-san and Tess met and got along brilliantly. The toy pug our friend Alaine gave us really helped I think. We practiced "puppy kisses" every day so baby-san was not freaked out by a very excitable pug jumping all over her. As you can see, she took control quickly after a quick lesson from her new boyfriend.

She then got some fashion advise from Molly, a little older and and much more worldly on how to get the attention of the men..
As you can see, my daughter instead chose the "tartlet" method, removing her shirt for Jack, who was much too polite to actually look, but did get a kick out of having a half naked girl standing next to him.

She seemed to have a change of heart regarding the clothes because she then spent much time putting on and looking over all of the clothes auntie Melissa dropped off, "oohing and aahing" over every last item. Naturally, just like her mama, she was partial to the shoes.

She was still reviewing when Chris and Declan arrived, using Chris's lap to hold the things she needed to look at again.

The next day, all of us went to visit Dr. Jane, who, After many needles (and many tears and screams) pronounced daughter-san adorable and in great shape. While we do have to wait for all of the test results to come back, we seem to have a healthy and happy child on our hands.

While baba-san and baby-san went back downtown to run errands and play with the clothes (just baby-san; baba-san was content to watch), Julie and I made our way out to Kennedy airport to get the paperwork the vet filled out stamped by the USDA vet. The drive took a total of about two hours; the stamping of the forms took about two minutes. Bureaucracy - don't 'cha just love it??

The afternoon and evening was filled with more visitors -

Juliana, pretty in pink.....
former roommate Shan-Shan with her baba and mama....
and yet another adoring man, Jonathan, our neighbor from our old apartment....
Uncle Kevin.....
and Ray and Ashley.....Jed arrived in the middle of the chaos and retreated to the bedroom to watch "Boston Legal".

Exhausted from all of the excitement and bemoaning the fact we didn't have nearly enough time to do everything and see everyone we wanted, we left early the next morning for the airport and many, many hours later, arrived at Narita airport. We found our luggage, found the dog who survived the trip and who proceeded to leave a hefty gift for the quarantine veterinarians right after they handed us the permission form that allowed her to leave the confines of the airport and come home, which pretty much summed up her opinion of being locked in a cage for seventeen hours, even if it was wonderfully decorated by Jack, who did a most excellent job taking care of her for all these months.

All in all, a wonderful holiday, even if it was much too short..

Home Sweet Home

We had a lovely vacation.
We had a sort of lovely trip back to Tokyo.
I write this with one hand as baby-san just woke from a nap, so this will be short.

We are home.