About Me

Hello Internetters,

My name is Phoenix and welcome to my blog. I started this blog when I was six years old because I love to tell stories. My dad set up this little corner of the internet for me so I can share some of my favorite movies, books, drawings, games, current events and observations about life with all of you. I’m going to be posting all the time so please subscribe and check back often.

If you want me to review a specific movie or you’d like to hear my observations on anything else just leave a reply and let me know. I look forward to hearing from you!

17 comments
  1. Phoenix, you’re soooo awesome!! I love your expressions and your drawings. Look forward to more of your blogging.

    Love Papa.

  2. I’d love to follow you on twitter, or subscribe to your site – but I can’t find any way to do so! Could you paste your twitter address in the comments? BTW, I LOVE the concept of your site. Very adorable 🙂

  3. You are AMAZING little lady! Seeing all your videos makes us miss you so much here in California!
    Keep posting so we can keep seeing your perfect little face!

  4. Phoenix, you remind me so much of my little cousin, I watch your videos all the time and I love your Shiba inu, but may I ask, how did you get Kitsu in the swing?

  5. Hi phoenix, great vids about your Shiba. I had a question for you and your dad, where did you guys get Kitsu?
    We are about to visit a breeder here in socal but are unsure of their dogs temperament. Kitsu on the other hand seems to have a very calm and mellow personality.
    If you can recommend a breeder or tell me how she was trained it’ll be a lot of help.
    Thanks,
    Jon.

    • Hi Jon,
      My daddy got her before I was born. But he said he found a breeder near where he lived. Shibas are very hard to train because they act more like cats than dogs. They have a lot of energy and don’t always like to listen. But if you start when they are puppies and spend a lot of time training them, they are very smart and will act how you want them to. My daddy says the key is patience and positive reinforcement. He also recommends that you take your Shiba to dog parks and have her play with other dogs. We did not do that with Kitsu and she doesn’t always play nice with other other dogs.

      • Thanks for the info Phoenix.
        You guys did a great job! I’ve never seen a Shiba able to sit still like that, or allow people to hold/pet them that way.
        I’m actually heading to a breeder in Southern California today to see a pup!
        We’re not first time pet owners, but have been heavily warned about the Shiba’s temperament.

        Any clues that can help us guide our future dog to be as chill as yours would be amazing.
        I’d love to talk to your dad for more details about how he trained Kitsu when she was a pup.

        • Hi Jon,

          This is Phoenix’s dad. It’s been about 8 years since I started training Kitsu so I may not remember everything. But I’ll do my best. I started by reading several different training books. There’s lots of different methods and theories about what works best. I recommend looking at all of them and deciding for yourself what works best for you and your schedule. Here are some of the things I latched on to:

          When she was a baby we kept her in a kennel at night. She wined a lot when we first brought her home. Our solution to this was to put her in the basement and ignore her. Eventually she stopped. By being stern and consistent with that, and by discouraging her when she’d bark, we trained her not to make any noise. This was important to us. And it worked. Now she doesn’t make any noise. This has helped contribute to her mild manner and has been wonderful for us. However, there can be a downside. Funny story: on more than one occasion my mom has been watching her for us and lost her. Once she got locked in closet and another time she got trapped underneath a recliner. My mom went the whole day not knowing where she was because she never made a sound. Also, because we crate trained her, she kind of likes small, dark places and probably didn’t mind one bit.

          My main method for training was to give her treats. We did our best to reward good behavior and ignore or punish bad behavior. It’s easy to fall in to a pattern where you are only punishing and being negative so I had to work really hard to avoid that and balance any negative punishment with positive reinforcement. I rewarded her with dog food. And I rewarded her often. I made sure I always had a plastic bag full of dog food in my pocket. And for the first several months of her life I’d say the majority of her food came from me. So instead of putting 1/2 cup of food a day in her bowl. Put it in your pocket and use it to help train her. Also, have your wife and/or kids or whoever you want do some of the training/feeding so she learns to listen and respect them as well. Make sure when you do feed her by traditional methods you occasionally take her food away from her or have another dog or other animal come into the picture. Shiba’s, like any dog can get very protective of their food. Discourage that behavior and reward sharing. This is important, especially if you have any toddlers or young kids in the picture. You don’t want a dog to get defensive and “snappy” around a baby. For this same reason make sure you introduce your dog to other people of all ages. Shiba’s can get very skittish around toddlers or elderly – basically, anyone that doesn’t move around or smell like the people she’s normally around. Acclimation is key. Same goes for other dogs. Take them to the dog park often. I did not do this enough with Kitsu and now she bares her teeth and gets snappy whenever another dog comes around and sniffs her butt. Part of this is the breed but anything can be corrected and this was one area that I failed in.

          When I started training Kitsu I focused on the things that would be most useful to me. Sit, Stay, and Come were the first major commands I taught her. And I went over them and over them and over them several times a day until she had them down. I eventually got to the point where I could have her sit and stay and I could walk to another part of the house and back without her moving. Then I took it outside and did the same thing. It’s actually pretty easy with Shiba’s because they are less interested in and less distracted by other people or other dogs than most breeds.

          For me it was important to also train her not to run out of the house when the front door was open. She’s only allowed to come out when I tell her to. I’ve also trained her to stay out of certain rooms in the house. She’s not allowed to come in the kitchen because she’s so small and so quiet that she could get stepped on or tripped over and the kitchen is a bad place for that to happen. So she just sits by the open entry way and watches. She’s also not allowed in the dinning room because I don’t want her begging for food when we have guests.

          It was always a dream of mine to have a dog that would walk off-leash with me. I had my work cut out for me with a Shiba. But with a strong adherence to a few simple commands she does great off leash. Sit, Stay, Come, Heal, Stop. I’ve also got her to where she will respond to hand gestures and even a slight variation in my step. And by that I mean, when I want her to heal I’ll just step slightly harder than normal while I’m walking. I thought it was annoying to say “heal” while I was walking with other people so I shifted to a more subtle audio command. I’ve had her off leash since she was about 2 years old. Many Shiba owners think this is impossible but it just takes a little bit of work. Shiba’s, as you may have heard or read, are considered one of the hardest dogs to train. This is largely because they don’t have the same innate desire to please that other breeds might. Routine, repetition, and patience are important. Put in the time early and reap the rewards later. It’s worth it. Let me know if this helps and if I can be of any more assistance. And thanks so much for visiting Phoenix’s site and watching her videos 🙂

  6. This was incredibly helpful,
    thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences.
    we’re still hunting for the right one.

    in the meantime i look forward to seeing phoenix’s new adventures. keep up the good work you two!

  7. hunting for our right one, as in our shiba pup*
    we had an opportunity to pick one up, as it was the right time for us. but i missed out =T
    the hunt continues!

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