We’re off to Beijing this week so probably no more blog posts.  Excited… it’s our first “real” trip in a long time.

China is the land of Mochi’s ancestors.  Apparently Shih Tzu means “Lion-Dog”….  Rarrrr!

-Nick

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This is the story of how I came to love a giant shihtzu named Mochi, who celebrated his 4th birthday last week.

Bryn wanted a dog.  She’d had one growing up and now that we had a place of our own she wanted to get one.  She looked at ads for puppies all the time.  This is how it would go: “awww look at this one, he’s soooo cute! Come look!”

But I didn’t see the cuteness, only the commitment.  At the time I basically had two full-time jobs, and didn’t see where taking care of a puppy was going to fit in my schedule.  I didn’t want a dog.  I didn’t want the responsibility.  I wanted to be able to take off for a weekend or a week and not worry about what to do with a dog.  I was really happy and could only see the little shiht getting in the way of life.

I didn’t see the companionship, only the burden.  Taking him out to the bathroom, cleaning up after him, etc.  I looked at it as an irrational acquisition.  Why voluntarily take time out of our happy and busy lives for 10 or 12 years or however long dogs live?

I reasoned Bryn was too young to have helped out much with Shogun, her childhood dog.  She only remembers the fun parts, not the years of extra responsibility.  But she was determined, and after months of deliberation, finally acted on one of the cute puppy ads and went to see future-Mochi in person.

Convenient that I was out of town for work at the time.  I remember getting the call in my hotel room in Eureka, “I think I want to get a puppy.”

“Yeah I know.”

“No, Lisa and I are at the breeder’s now.  I want to get this one.  But I don’t know…”

“Oh.”  Long silence.  “Oh B, just get him.”  Not sure what had gotten into me, but this approval got both Bryn and Lisa VERY excited.

Two weeks later we bring home this guinea-pig-sized bundle of joy.  He weighs nothing and I’m afraid I’m going to either step on him or break a rib picking him up.  For the first couple months of puppy-ownership Mochi was very much Bryn’s dog.  She cleaned up his messes, picked up his poop, and took him out in the middle of the night.

But there was something about him, maybe his charming mannerisms or his winning personality; I was growing to like the little guy.  He’s not the brightest bulb on the tree but was potty-trained quickly, is pretty well behaved and generally good company to have around.

Then I taught Mochi how to shake hands, and I was hooked.  It’s a versatile trick — sometimes it’s shake, sometimes it’s high five, and sometimes it’s even a fist bump.  Incidentally the only other “trick” I’ve taught him over the years was something I call “white fang”, where he will softly bite my arm like the wolf does in the movie.  The best part is how I bit my own arm to show him, and he immediately got it.  Random.

Fast forward to stay-at-home-dad-Nick, and we’re best buds.  We got our routine down to a science, which mostly consisted of him sleeping so it wasn’t too hard.  When he’s not around, the house feels empty.  And I’m thankful to have the company on my frequent drives to NV.

I’m also thankful that he got kind of big.  Definitely still a girly-cream-puff dog, but at least a 22-pounder that towers over all the other shih tzus.

Even though there is certainly an element of added responsibility that adds an extra layer of complexity to making travel plans, it’s been totally worth it for the puppy love.  Plus, he got us out on walks in the evening and that’s how we met some of our good friends.

I hope we can take many more hikes together and celebrate lots more birthdays before the inevitable Marley and Me moment comes.  I get choked up just thinking about what it will be like without this little fur ball sleeping under my desk.

Thanks Moch, you turned me into a dog person.

-Nick

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The Tahoe Rim Trail circumnavigates the lake at elevation, and covers 165 miles.  Looking forward to exploring it!  It’s very distracting to have the water right there and all this new stuff to check out.

I would wager Mochi has logged more hiking miles than probably most other shih-tzus.  He doesn’t always have a great time, but it’s good for him to get back to nature and burn some calories.

He looks happy here, but I think he’s just thirsty.

View of Castle Rock, apparently a good place for freeclimbing and scrambling:

And the aftermath:

-Nick

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We’ve already established how Mochi the giant shih-tzu likes to nap on the couch by my desk.  Sometimes he lets loose a good series of chirp-like barks in his sleep.  We call them night terrors but they could very possibly happy reactions to be pleasant puppy dreams.  Either way, it’s kind of funny.  You’ll probably have to turn the volume all the way up to hear him.

Not quite on the same level as the poor dog who started running in his sleep and then stood up and sprinted into a wall.  But he’s got like 18 million views so what do you expect.

-Nick

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Yesterday was Mochi’s 3rd birthday.

The commonly accepted people-years-to-dog-years factor is 7.

So he turned 21!

I thought we ought to pour him a drink to celebrate, but apparently alcohol is bad for dogs.  Man no beer and no chocolate.  I guess you have to make some sacrifices in return for never having to work and getting to sleep 20 hrs a day.

-Nick

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Stacey’s in town.  Mochi was pretty happy to see his friend again.

-Nick

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Mochi the giant shih-tzu spends most of his day napping.  It’s a rough life.  His favorite spot is the couch right next to my desk.

A few weeks ago Pico came over.  Neither one wants to be the first to close their eyes, so they have this staredown.

Finally they’re convinced it’s safe to go to sleep for a bit.

Every now then he’ll assume this Superman position, captured here with tongue peeking out for good measure.

Sometimes he burrows under the blanket.  I’d really like to understand the thought process that goes into this.

Caption contest?

• “They’ll never find me under here!”
• “Ugh the Mariners are losing again!”
• “What, I got cold.  But only my head.”

When it’s a particularly good nap, he’ll flip himself on his back.  Funny how he can no longer perform “roll-over” on command, but has no problem doing it in his sleep.

But the best kind of nap is when mom joins in.  Ahhh.

-Nick

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Last week it was pretty hot so we thought Mochi might appreciate a dip in the pool to cool off.  He doesn’t look too pleased.

Also gotta love Sterling passed out in the background.  What happened there?

-Nick

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Thanks to Lisa and Sterling for this awesome shirt!

-Nick

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Working from home allows me to spend plenty of quality time with the pooch.  Although he spends most of it sleeping, sometimes we go outside.  These are actually from Saturday.

Fetching and bringing it back.  Making progress.

Whew that was fun.

And I’m spent.

-Nick

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