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2013.06.29 Sat

Adoption event report☆at GREENDOG on June 23rd.

We had a monthly adoption event at GREENDOG Kobe (JP only) on the 23rd of June (Sun)!
6 dogs and one cat joined the event.
We were slightly worried since each animal had it’s own unique personality..… What happened at the event??



First up, we brought chocolate colored, Harp.
Her color is quite unique among mix breed dogs. Some people asked if she was brought here from a foreign country.
She did not let anyone touch her when she was a stray. But now she loves people and food!
Whenever another dog is fed, she is also around hoping to get a bite…

On the event day, she found that no bossy dog was around and she was able to relax during the event. She was a little shy but she tried to smile when guests approached. She is around one year old and is still young. It seems she gets along with children too. Will her rehoming day come soon? She even used a puppy pad even though we never trained her to do so.



The next one is a true Japanese beauty, Piano.
She is 11 years old but she is still young and beautiful. She behaved like a traditional modest Japanese woman and attracted many guests.

She is not good at standing out to make herself noticed. But she remembers the people who pet her. Once she remembers you, she will love you and want to be spoiled by you.
Piano is a little bit afraid of other dogs and was quiet at the event. But she wanted to get rubbed when other dogs were getting spoiled. Then, she was quietly sitting behind guests until they found her. She is not young anymore, but we think this kind of senior dog is deserving of a loving home too.


The next is a joyful Beagle named Anzu.
Anzu was used as a security dog before she came to ARK. So, she sometimes barks a lot over the fence at ARK. We were worried about it and put her on a leash during the event just in case.

But she was in a good mood and smiled all day. She walked around the room with a child who held her leash. She also welcomed each guest. She is 8 years old and seemed a little bit tired in the end. But she could pose like this for the meal just after we started preparing it. “Gimme some” she said. Beagles are energetic so a dog her age might be easier to live with. She is small and we hope she will find a great family in the near future!



Zenobia joined from the 34 dogs rescued from the mountain group. Yes, it was a challenge for her..
Zenobia is sensitive to noises and got slightly panicked by many cars coming in and out of the parking lot.
But when I held her she became calm.

When the room became crowded with people, she hid herself under the counter. Probably she was overwhelmed by the crowd. But despite being nervous, she could take a nap under there… we believe she is not that sensitive!
In the middle of the event she woke up when she saw other dogs getting treats. She looked as if she was saying: “Good morning, I’m hungry….” Then she came to the center of the room.
Basically, she likes people. She is friendlier than her siblings who were never around people before. We think she can get used to a new life via food once she finds her new home.
It doesn’t happen a lot, but it is so sweet when she comes to me and kisses me



And the rep of white puppy rescue group was Sunyon.
Her siblings are all with foster families for socialization training. (Please see previous posts)

Sunyon is happy as long as she is with dogs. It’s same as her siblings.
It may be easy to take care of her as she is quite a big eater.
She didn’t care when Harp growled at her and she was held by many guests. This was a good socialization experience for her.
She lives in a kennel with adult dogs. She fits in as if she is an adult dog. Hyper puppy behavior is cute, but a calm puppy is easier to take care of!



The last of the dogs that day was Kuromame. You may know him from the blog post. He was the only one male dog that day.

Kuromame was popular this time too. He was tiny, chubby and did his own thing. He was walking under the bigger dogs and walked around the room freely.
People said, “He is so cute. I want to take him home!” But no official offer has come yet…
Kuromame had a good time. He showed his “turn around and sit” and “give paw right and left.” The guests loved it.
Should we keep taking him to the event until he finds his forever home there?



And Lyra from the cat team joined.
She is always active and likes to play with a toy. But she was so nervous because it was an unfamiliar place. She couldn’t move or eat at all…
So.., please come to ARK if you would like to see adorable Lyra!
We do not understand why she has not been adopted yet. She is such a good cat♪



We did not have any formal adoption offers at the event, but some of the guests are thinking about adoption in the future.
At the shelter in Nose, it is like “adoption event everyday (except for Wednesday)”. We are looking forward to seeing you at the shelter too!

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2013.06.26 Wed

Foster Family’s Diary: HARA

As we reported in ARK news (in JP only), five white puppies (siblings) came from hokenjyo (animal control center) in Nagasaki. One of them was already adopted and three dogs are being fostered for training/socialization.

They were all super timid when they arrived at ARK and we asked for foster care immediately. These dogs are learning things faster than we expected.
We would like you to see how well the puppies are doing with their foster families. It will also be great information for someone who wants to adopt them!


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The first report is about Hara. She was the most timid among the siblings.
Hara’s foster family adopted two dogs from ARK already. One is Komugi, an Italian greyhound, who was rescued from the Tohoku earthquake area. The other one is Spiv(currently BOO) who was featured on the ARK blog many times.

How Hara is learning socialization from these former ARK dogs?

★On the first day:
Hara met Boo and Komugi. From the first day she didn’t hesitate to lean on Boo.


Hara went in/out from under the coffee table several times. She ate his meal completely.

She was lying down in the entrance alone so I picked her up and moved her next to Komugi. It seems she could relax next to Komugi and she slept well.


In the evening, he rushed into the bushes and peed, but no poop. He wanted to walk, but if the direction was not the one he wanted, he sat down.
As the street was quite busy, I held him and we saw people on the bridge. When he got tired from keeping his face up, he put his head on my arm and smelled the air.

When she came back from the walk she approached BOO with her tail wagging and licked his face. But BOO was not happy about it and Hara went back to Komugi’s blanket. Once Komugi was back, she played with Komugi. I discovered that she thought Komugi’s blanket was her place.

She was on Komugi’s blanket when she went to sleep. But my son wanted to sleep with Hara so they slept together today.



★The 2nd day:
Hara slept with my son but woke up early. I let her go back to Komugi’s blanket and took her on a morning walk later with Boo.
She chased BOO when the morning walk started!
I thought she would sit down and refuse to move, but she followed me if I talked to her. She did stop when we were almost home and I had to carry her the rest of the way. She ate her breakfast completely and took a long nap on the blanket with Komugi.


She never does his toilet business inside the house. When I put her on the leash and go out, she goes to the nearest bush and does pee/poop.
Hara may be a smart girl. It seems she has decided where is toilet place will be. Whenever she goes out, she rushes to her pee-point for peeing/pooping.


Her changes since yesterday:
・If somebody calls “Hara” when she is on the blanket, she wags her tail.
・She used to step back on the blanket when someone came into the room. But she does not do it anymore today.
・When I rub her and say her name she licked my hand and sometimes did play-bite.
・When Komugi went out for the evening meal, she followed.



★The 3rd and 4th day:
In the house she is more willing to explore more but still hesitates a bit.
On the evening of the 3rd day, it seems she wandered around the house by herself and peed on a cushion. Or was that BOO? She found where the water bowl is in the house and could go to drink it on her own.

On the 4th day, she started exploring the house from 11pm. She tried to play around BOO in the middle of the night and got snapped at.
I told her not to pee on a blanket during her midnight wandering. I tried putting a diaper on her during the night. She might not feel comfortable with it and chewed it a bit. But it seems she got used to it soon and wore it until the next morning.


Her changes:
・She started looking at my eyes. Eye-contact?
・When I say “Good morning, Hara!” she wags her tail a lot.
・Sometimes she shows her belly to get some rubs.
・When I show her BOO’s toy, she comes to play with it.



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Look how much he changed in only 4 days!
We can see a dog who did not know how to communicate with humans start to learn from older dogs how to be a house dog.
We could not imagine Hara relaxing and sleeping in front of people when she was at ARK. She started showing her puppy character and start doing some puppy mischief too.
We are expecting she will get used to life with her future family very quickly. Now we are waiting for that day to come! Would you like to adopt Hara?

These 5 siblings LOVE dogs. Even if some dog gets mad or treats them roughly, they are happy as long as they are with other dogs.
Nicole was adopted and got used to her new family quickly thanks to the dog that was already there.
We secretly hope some family with a dog will find Hara attractive and adopt him… Who will be his new family??
If you are interested in Hara, please let the ARK office know!


Bonus shot

Gyuri and Anna are looking for their new families in Tokyo.
Even though Gyuri is being eaten by Anna, she is happy… these 5 siblings love other dogs…

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2013.06.26 Wed

Foster family’s diary [White puppy, JIYON]

As we reported in ARK news (in JP only), five white puppies (siblings) came from hokenjyo (animal control center) in Nagasaki. One of them was already adopted and three dogs are being fostered for training/socialization.

After HARA, we would like to introduce Jiyon, the white puppy with a pink-nose.
Jiyon is being fostered by a family that adopted an ARK dog before. Since that dog died, the family has fostered rescued dogs not only from ARK, but from other shelters too. They are an experienced foster family.

Currently, they are fostering two dogs, Kota and Miu.
Jiyon is a dog that loves dogs…how are the things going??



★On the 1st day:

The other two foster dogs try to avoid Jiyon. But she wags her tail when she sees them. She really likes dogs and will get used to people faster with other dogs around.
I put her into a sling and went walking with the adult dogs to the park.
In the park, I let her walk around and she played with other dogs (a friendly Pekinese and Schnauzer) She had lots of puppy energy and did her business on the grass.
But maybe her rear legs are weak? She gets tired quickly.


After her walk I put her in an open cage that she can freely go in and out of. From there she can watch the other dogs getting spoiled or having their meals. I saw Jiyon showing interest in the treats so I gave all 3 of them a snack.


★On the 5th day:
For 2 days she did not eat any dry food but drank a lot of water. I took her to the vet but he found nothing wrong other than a slight skin allergy. She had a drip infusion and the vet gave us some canned food.

On the car ride home she was quiet. Maybe she was nervous. But once we got home she was active and ran around when she heard the other dogs bark.

Just inside the entrance hall is Kota’s favorite blanket. Jiyon always goes straight to that blanket when she comes in from outside. Kota seems annoyed but Jiyon doesn’t care and goes to the blanket anyway!


For the first couple of days we kept Jiyon in a cage. Now she is free to roam the house and goes to explore. She likes to go under the sofa which is Miu’s favorite place. She also likes to take Kota’s place near the wall. She runs fast like a ninja and hides herself.

Today, I put canned w/d food in her bowl and called all of them to eat. Jiyon ate half of the food and I was relieved. Tomorrow I will mix the canned and the dry.


★On the 6th day:
Jiyon, how adorable you are!!

As of yesterday I started to mix the canned food with the dry. I also added some vegetable soup. She finished all the meal!

For the past couple of days she has ben under Miu’s sofa. She is probably hiding. This spot is good for her to see the living room and dining room.
She can also hear the sounds that we make in those rooms. When we give the adult dogs attention, Jiyon comes out from under the sofa and wags her tail.
When she hears the sound of the fish snack pouch picked up in the fridge, she comes out happily.


I try to feed her in the corner of the living room with other two dogs.
Recently, she can tell when the food is being served. She sees the other dogs waiting in the kitchen and she has started to join them.
I thought she ate like a bird in the beginning. But now, she is actually a big eater!




★On the 10th day:
When a noise scares her she hides under the sofa. But she has started spending time on the sofa as well.


Jiyon is such a tomboy. She has a lot of energy. After today’s morning walk she ran with the adult dogs. My daughter tried to run with Jiyon but she couldn’t keep up!


In the evening the three of us relaxed on the sofa together. A few hours later my husband returned. He lives in another city for work. Then Jiyon hid under the sofa again.


I usually carry her in a sling until we get to the park. But tonight I tried to let her walk since the traffic was light. She was afraid of people and bikes. I kept talking to her and telling her it was all ok. She still walked with her tail down but she seemed less scared.

Another interesting story is…
She stays close to us and tries to bite our legs if we wear white pants. She has done it since she came here. Her siblings are all white and our dogs are white/beige. Her favorite friend in the park is white too. Maybe she loves that color….If I wear white pants, we can enjoy chasing each other.


★On the 11th day:
Good news.
Kota tends to bark loudly when he finds someone at the front door. When that happens Jiyon runs under the sofa. When Kota barks during playtime, Jiyon runs under the sofa and then to me. I told her not to worry….

And one more…
She recently starting joining the other dogs for a nap in the office room. When I work on the computer the other dogs sleep near me. Jiyon was on the sofa alone. Maybe she was lonely so she joins us now.



★On the 13th day:
As of yesterday I started feeding her in the crate with the command “house.” She also learned how to sit before a meal.
While I am preparing her food, she waits in the kitchen with other dogs. Now she follows “house” and “sit” perfectly.

Also she seems more relaxed during her walk. She could walk slowly and enjoys sniffing around.



★On the 14th:
Every evening, dogs in our neighborhood gather in a park. Today we went with Jiyon. There were more people than dogs and Jiyon was overwhelmed and tried to escape. One man held her. She was nervous at first but began to relax with him. She was nervous but didn’t seem to mind being touched by others. We will definitely bring her here again.

Also, we went to my friend’s house with her. It was a10 minute car-ride and friendly young dogs were there. As we assumed, she was frozen. She looked at me many times and I felt that she relies on me now.
After she came back home, she was active again, jump, jump and jump….


Wrestling with Kota at home is getting harder.
In the end, she ran up on the sofa, kicked and jumped on Kota, then did it again and again…as fast as possible...
We cannot believe her physical strength. She is strong for a puppy…
This picture was taken just after this game today. She is on the sofa and seems exhausted.


Like other puppies, she wants treats and goes around collecting other dog’s toys.




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Can you believe it? She changed a lot!!
When Jiyon was at ARK, she was too scared to go for a walk. We had to hold her during the walk.
In the beginning, the foster family thought “may be something is wrong with her legs” but now she is has “wonderful physical strength.”
Thanks to foster family with two dogs, Jiyon learned a lot! We appreciate your support! She has learned how to communicate with humans thanks to the adult dogs in the house. We are looking forward to seeing how much more she will change………

If you are interested in this tiny lovely creature with a pink nose, please let the ARK office know.


How is Jiyon’s sibling Sunyon doing??…

She joined the adoption event in Kobe!
Adult dogs bothered her a bit, but she did not care.
You can be good friends with her if you have some snacks for her. She is a big eater♪

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2013.06.19 Wed

We are Mezzanine cats☆

ARK always has about 150 cats. Usually several cats live together. But for some cats, living with other cats may cause stress or bullying. Cats that live in single rooms in the ARK office are called “mezzanine cats.” Today we’d like to introduce some of the mezzanine cats.


First up is “Uzura” at 15 years old.
It has been 10.5 years since she was rescued from a cruel environment.
She used to live with other cats but she was a little bit bossy. Now she is old and most of her friends are gone. She enjoys her own time.

Peeking is the sign that she wants to play with you.

Single room cats can go out from their own rooms during the day if they want. But grandma Uzura does not come out. She is strong minded but timid… She is as beautiful as before. We would like her to live a long and peaceful life.


”I taught younger generations before…”



The next one is a cool-but warm character, “A-chan”. She is a Siamese-mix 6 year old female. Her previous owner said, “I became allergic to cats and left her outside. But she kept coming back to the house because she was being bullied by stray cats.” She was lucky to come to ARK.


It’s difficult to see it from the picture, but her face is very cute and her fur pattern is very complex. She is so “cat” and comes to us only when she is in the mood. She recently enjoys basking in the sun on a bed by the window. She can take a nap even if dogs are around.

A-chan does her own thing but we hope she will find her perfect family.



"Haru" was once adopted but came back to ARK. She is a 5 year old female. She first came to ARK when her owner passed away. Soon after, she was adopted. But the adopter left her when they went back to their home country… She is tiny but a big eater. She is always staring at staff members when they have lunch…
Sometimes she tries to get some lunch by using her cat-punch. A real hunter!

Once she gets in a playful mood, she becomes so active!
She loves people, she’s tiny, and she’s cute. We do not understand why no one has taken her yet. Is it because of this complex fur pattern? Do people not like these markings? You know, most of the cats with this fur pattern are smart!



"Cecile" is a unique, 7 year old female American Curl. She was rescued from a cat hoarder.

She is quite unique. You may be surprised at how tiny she is.
We can say that only the people who spend time with her understand her.
Please come visit Cecile♪


“the rain started……”



The cat beauty is Chako. She was on the blog before.
She is now 3 years old and beautiful.


Calico cats are smart and sometimes sensitive. Chako is a typical calico and it takes her time to get used to new places or people. But once she knows you, she will ask you to spoil her. We have all fallen in love with her. Chako has been in the mezzanine for a long time. She walks around freely and looks down from the top like this:

”Do you have something to say?”

Around a certain time, she goes back to her room and waits for her meal. Smart girl! We are looking for a family who can understand her need for time to get used to a new environment.




We have only introduced females so far…
The only male cat for today’s blog is a new comer, Bank. He is a good-looking 2 year old cat.


He was rescued with his sibling when he was a kitten. He got along with other kittens and lived together with them.
After growing up, he started acting bossy and started bullying senior cats. Because he was giving other cats stress, he was moved to single room. Once he was placed with a female cat but the female got mad. Older female cats do not like him so he can be out only when other cats are in their rooms.

When Bank arrived at ARK he was the most timid in his litter. But now he loves people and is a spoiled cat. If he gets his forever home he will settle down.



The cats living on the mezzanine floor often don’t get the attention they deserve. Each of them is attractive in their own way and need a loving home. Usually Grandma Chihuahua, Okowa, is guarding the cats. But if you call the ARK, the self-appointed security guard dog will be dismissed. Please meet these cats when you visit ARK.

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2013.06.11 Tue

Socialization Training

As you may already know from our ARK news, we did a large scale rescue of 34 dogs.

These dogs were running around freely in the mountains. They had no contact with people other than with the person who brought them food. They have no experience with collars or leashes. There are many things they need to learn in order to become proper pets. Thirty-four of these un-socialized timid dogs came to ARK at once. As you can imagine, we are very busy taking care of them.


Here is how a dog looks when it has never been walked on a leash before. Frozen! We have been trying to walk each dog everyday. They are gradually learning….


Zenobia is getting used to the staff members and showed us her smile like this. She is still afraid of unknown sounds...


“Leonidas”s foreleg is missing. When he was a puppy his leg was wrapped in wire and it had to be amputated.
But he is very friendly and showed his belly just after he arrived at ARK.


“Anushuka” is the only one with black markings. All the other dogs are brown and white. She is still nervous, but she is willing to accept some rubbing.


Luckily, none of the dogs show any aggressiveness at all. They are calm even when a stranger holds him/her.
It is a gradual process but all of them are learning. Some could eat more than before and some have already started walking on a leash.


Our mission is to find them forever homes.
Socialization training will continue everyday until the day they leave ARK for their new homes.


They are used to living in the mountains and keep trying to return! We hope they will find their forever homes soon and discover that a loving family is better than the lonely mountains….



★On June 23rd. Osaka ARK Adoption event at GREENDOG Kobe☆
http://www.arkbark.net/?q=en/node/1622

★On June 23rd, Tokyo ARK Adoption event at DOGSIGN Jingumae☆
http://www.arkbark.net/?q=en/node/4219

★Marcle the Corgie is looking for a foster family.
http://www.arkbark.net/?q=ja/node/4860 (JP only)