More Ivan Photos

I know you can never have too many puppy photos, so to prove it, here are some more: More Ivan Photos

Grounds for Divorce

We have been out of the US a long time, I suppose, but can it really be that things have got so bad that this monstrosity would actually be considered an appropriate thing for ANYONE to use?? It's bad enough that it makes you look like a monk from some bizarre sect, but to think that people really cannot maneuver a blanket well enough that there could be a market for this thing is just unthinkable! I'm afraid that if J2 were to see this ad he might actually want one (he will often be sitting under a quilt on the couch while I lounge in shorts and a t-shirt) but if he did I think I would have legitimate grounds for divorce.

The Pup's Progress

It's quite something to have a puppy around for a change. When we bought our Labradoodle, Leo, in 2004, he was already 4 months or so old, and had already been house trained and was a pretty decent size. In Ivan's case (or ITT, as my mother says she's going to call him, for "Ivan The Terrible"), he's only two months old, and has a lot still to learn. But, according to the websites, Shelties are the sixth smartest breed around, and they are very fast learners. Sure enough, Ivan is demonstrating that this is indeed the case.

Since getting him on Sunday he has already learned several things. First of all, he knows how to let us know that he needs to go outside. While we don't always pick up on it, he tends to start fussing a lot and making a lot of noise when it's time, and then as soon as he goes outside he immediately "does his business". At night he still has a few accidents, though I suppose at his age it's too much to ask for him to be able to control his movements for such a long time.

For the first few days that he was with us, we was completely unable to navigate our staircase, and on Tuesday I even remember saying to J2 that I wondered how long it would be before he could walk up or down the steps on his own. Sure enough, on Wednesday that trick was mastered, prompted by my having gone upstairs while Ivan was playing downstairs (he has grown very attached to me). Going down the stairs was another matter, and took another two days to learn.

He has also started to learn how to play with Leo, giving the "play bow" every so often, which tends to elicit in Leo nothing much more than a swipe of the forepaw. I am sure that eventually Leo will start to play with Ivan, but for the moment Ivan must content himself with his wide array of toys and all the delicious toes and pants hems that he has to nibble on...

Happy 2009!

We ushered in 2009 in our usual way--a quiet evening with friends over dinner. These friends live across the street from us, which had its pluses and minuses; on the plus side, it meant we could walk there rather than having to deal with traffic and the uncertainty of getting a cab on New Year's Eve, but on the negative side it meant we had to brave the frigid temperatures outside. Even though it was a short walk, the combination of cold temps and brisk winds meant that we showed up at their place looking like we had climbed an Alp. Before long, however, the good wine and spicy Indian food made us forget the cold, though we were immediately reminded again when we headed home (at around 12:30).

Ivan and Leo are getting more familiar with each other, and are learning how far they can get with each other. Ivan is learning that he needs to be more careful with his biscuits if he doesn't want Leo to steal them, and Leo is learning that little puppy teeth, while they don't do much damage, are still pretty darn sharp.

I hope that 2009 brings everyone much happiness, health, and other good things!

The Puppy's Name

Well, after three days of deliberations and trial runs, and loads of recommendations from friends, we have finally chosen a name for our new puppy. But before I reveal the name we chose, here are some of the more interesting recommendations we received:

1. Lech (No, not in honor of the former Solidarity labor leader and Polish president, but rather in honor of the Torah passage "Lech L'cha", which my friend Jeff Goldman had as his haftorah passage on his bar mitzvah, which was held on November 2, the same date as the puppy's birthday). Too guttural and biblical.
2. Jack (In honor of my parternal grandfather, on the premise that our other dog, Leo, was named after my maternal grandfather, which in fact he wasn't). Not bad, but somehow not right.
3. Nidas (In recognition of the fact that Leo was, in fact, named after the Belgian chocolate maker "Leonidas", though we never call him that). Too hard to figure out how to pronounce ("Nye-das" or "Need-us" or "Nee-da"?)
4. Baozi (Since he kind of looks like a stuffed Chinese bun). Too cutesy.
5. Lumi-Pekka (Since the first friends to meet him are our Finnish friends visiting from the US, Jaakko and Meri, who thought that the Finnish word for "snow" ("lumi") combined with the Swedish pejorative term for Finns ("Pekka", which used to be a common Finnish name) would be appropriate.) Too much explaining.

So, the name that we finally chose is....

Ivan

This name works for us on several levels: first, it allows me to retain some Russian connection even after turning my back on living in the country and now that my Russian-born dog is no longer with us. Second, the puppy is kind of "Terrible", trying to get into all sorts of mischief (though fortunately he's still too small to do any real damage). Third, Ivan, as the Russian form of "John", sort of ties into the name Jack, which was my previous first choice (along with Rufus). Fourth, Ivan is easily rendered in Chinese as 伊万 (Yi1 Wan4), which facilitates taking him to the vet, getting him registered, etc.

So, thanks for the recommendations! I'll be keeping you posted on how he's doing!

Puppy Photos

I have put some new photos on our photo page of the new puppy and also some scenes from the Tongzhou market. We have a few names being considered for the new guy already (whose birthday, if that helps the thought process, is November 2, 2008):

Nidas (as in "Leo-Nidas")
Rufus
Baxter
Angus (though a bit too close to "Genghis", I think)

Keep sending in your ideas!

Here are the photos.

Puppy!!

For the past several weeks, ever since Genghis passed away, we knew we would have to get another dog, since poor Leo has shown signs of being lonely (not to mention the fact that we have been thinking about getting a new puppy for the past few years, ever since Genghis started to show signs of reaching the end of his life). We decided to put off getting a puppy though until after our Christmas party and my trip to the US, so this weekend was the first opportunity to go see what we could find.

Buying a dog in Beijing is a bit different from buying one in the US. There are not that many reliable breeders (that we know of, anyway), and we have already seen that there are people who will sell dogs that have been dyed with toxic colors that are supposed to make the dogs "cuter". But we heard from a friend of a market that had some reputable breeders out in Tongzhou, to the east of Beijing, so we arranged for our driver to take us there this afternoon.



When we first got to Tongzhou all we saw were people lining the road with all sorts of not very impressive looking dogs, many of which were dirty and none of which appealed to us. Fortunately, it turned out that there was a whole market further up the road that looked a lot more promising. As we walked into the market we saw that there were a lot of dealers selling a small range of dogs, with lots of Poodles, Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Tibetan Mastiffs, none of which appealed to us. The first dog we saw that we thought might be a possibility was a Shiba Inu, but we were hoping to find a Schnauzer so we kept looking around. Eventually we did come across a pair of Schnauzers, though there was something about them that did not speak to us, so we continued the search. Just as we were about to head back to the Shiba Inus we caught a glimpse of a dog in one of the shops that seemed to be just what we wanted. So we walked in and took a look at the puppies, where one immediately stood out. He was a white, grey and black Shetland Sheepdog, and he was very playful both with us and with the other puppies. The shop owner had all the puppy's papers and his parents were both champions, though that did not matter to us at all. It did not take long for us to decide that this was the puppy for us.



On the way home we stopped at the veterinarian to have the puppy looked over, and I'm relieved to say that he passed muster. And as an added bonus, the tech and the vet both commented on what distinctive coloring he has. The next step was to introduce him to Leo, which fortunately also went well. There is a huge size difference between the puppy and Leo, but it seems that the puppy (who remains nameless) is not afraid to snip at Leo if Leo oversteps his bounds.



Our next task is to come up with a name for this puppy. I am up for suggestions from anyone who has a thought on the subject. Just write me an email or post your name ideas here.

798 Art District

I had a whirlwind trip to the US, visiting for only six days to use up a few days of annual leave that I could not carry over to next year, as well as half of my annual home leave entitlement. I returned to Beijing late on Christmas Eve (thanks to the snows in Chicago, which delayed my flight by nearly three hours), but fortunately I had Christmas day off (unlike J2, who had to work). So, with a relatively new camera still to play with, and a beautiful, though cold, day at my disposal, I decided to take myself to the 798 art district to take some pictures. As you can see, the district is housed in a former industrial zone, which it seems is being allowed to corrode intentionally for artistic effect. I found the scenery to be starkly beautiful, and took quite a few photos, the best of which you can view on my Smugmug gallery, here.



In addition to the industrial stuff, there is also some art outside (most of the art is in galleries inside the buildings), including this rather interesting chrome man. J2 gives me grief that I have been to 798 twice now, and he has yet to go; perhaps when it's a bit warmer I'll be able to persuade him to come with me and let me take some more photos.