When my father asked my family whether we wanted to help look after a Shiba Inu or not, I was reluctant. His friend was going on a Golfing Trip for three days and needed someone to look after their Shiba Inu, named Luna. I had never owned any kind of pet before and was wary of the responsibilities. But after I saw a picture of Luna, my heart melted at just how cute she was.

Lai, Richard ‘Luna’ 2021 JPG file. / Original Picture

Over the days of June 27 to June 30 earlier this summer, Luna came into our lives. Perhaps the biggest change in my lifestyle after having her in our house was waking up at 6 AM every day to walk her. Since I was responsible for morning walks, I had to get out of bed 3 hours earlier than I usually did during summertime. As we all know, when it comes to walking the dog, picking up after their wastes is a requirement as well. I won’t go into the specific details, but lets just say the record-breaking heat wave at the time didn’t help.

After getting home from a walk, we also needed to clean her paws before she could enter the house. During the day, we fed her 3 times and kept her water bowl filled at all times. There needed to be someone at home to look after her at all times, and almost everyone in my family was busy during that week. Thankfully, I was the only one who didn’t have any schedules during those three days I spent the most time with Luna.

All those tough routines that come with owning a dog are well worth it. Luna was so playful and cute, we would spend hours in the backyard just chasing each other around. After we returned Luna to her owner, I missed her so much. I think if I ever wanted to get a dog, it would definitely be a Shiba Inu.