The Gripes of Bath...

US Navy Base, Sasebo, Japan

If you've been around the blog for a while you may already know that my middle son is currently serving in the US Navy in...  Japan.  He left in May, 2011 and we haven't seen him since (well, it's not like we can DRIVE there).  

He seems happy in his far away Navy life, but I guess he was missing his little dog here in the States because he went out and bought...  A Shiba Inu.  

This critter is part dog, part fox, and, I've come to learn, part Opera Singer.  This is a photo of my son's dog in Japan.

Sho, Sasebo, Japan

One of the kids he grew up with in our neighborhood has a Shiba Inu dog.  I didn't know what kind of a dog it was until my son told me that he had added one of these pups to our family.  As you already know, I don't know everything, but yes, I can be taught.  Well, I guess, sometimes. 

I've also just learned something else about the noble Shiba Inu breed.

They scream.  

They do not howl.  They do not bay.  They scream.  They scream like Janet Leigh in the shower scene from "Psycho".  They scream especially miserably when they are getting a bath (and, there's no knife required).  

Don't believe me?  

No, this is not my son, nor is this his dog.  He sent me the above link to explain the 'screaming thing' to me when I told him that I did not understand what he meant.

Now I know.  I'm hoping that my son will return to the States after his multi-year International Deployment with the US Navy.  I'm also hoping that he doesn't give his dog a bath while visiting us any time soon.  My hearing isn't what it used to be, but I need to protect the little which remains.  

I'll have an update for you folks later as to which port he sails into in the future, but in the meantime, the next time you see a man or woman in uniform, thank them for their service to our country.  While most of them won't have a 'screaming dog' to keep them company wherever they are stationed, I'm confident that they have people they left behind who think about, and miss them, every day.  

This is something I know all too well. 

See ya Kiddo. 

Sandy says 'Hi' too...  

Bring her cookies when you come home.  She loves her some cookies.