Andrew Petersen

July 5, 2006

Nothing special to say for myself..at the present, that is a good thing. For you, first, Iwant to thak you for having signed the books of yours that I bought for my daughters a few years back.

Next, I want to compliment you on your wonderful choice in dogs. Lulu is a peach. If you ever consider having another one acquire you and your family, I would like to suggest a Shiba Inu. We,… have a wonderful Shiba Inu named Kameko. She is what might be called a toy version of an Akita. We got her cheap. A $50.00 discount because of her underbite. Should you come to have a Shiba Inu in your family, I would advise you to be very considerate of the name you select.

While our Kameko was given her name by a down the street neighbor who happened to be of Japanese decent, found out somewat later that the name “Kameko”, meaning daughter of the tortoise, is a name used in Japan for girls…..human girls.

As a rule and a fact, the culture of the rising sun does not look with a friendly eye on those who give animals people names. I was informed of this by an older, and most likely wiser Japanese gentleman who when out walking his Shiba Inu, stopped to share greetings. When asked and informed of my puppy’s name, he looked at me sternly and admonished me, “Kameko is a name for girls, not, for dogs!” I suddenly felt like Jonathan Winters riding that bike in “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. “But my dog is a girl, a beautiful little girl.” It was no use.

So I give this advice…..If you happen to become interested in the wonderful Shiba Inu, you will have a devoted friend forever. But, be careful with the name. If you like Bob or Polly or Jeannette or Lou, keep it on the low down with your friends from Japan. If you wish to be universally correct, stick with Bounder, or Skippy, or Tracker and the like.

Just thought I’d let you know?

Andrew

p.s. any chance for a rebirth of Chinwag?

Thanks for the information--comes too late. Had I known, I might not have named the Akita/Shepherd cross I used to own Akihito. So sorry.