In less than two weeks, Sammi's personality was beaming. We discovered he was a lively and funny puppy with non stop energy and stamina to run and play then run and play some more! He was surpisingly well behaved for his first bath but this grew to be more difficult as he grew older.
On his first trip to the vet for a simple check up we encountered a Great Dane that he wanted to take on. Talk about little dog syndrome. And not only did we discover the infamous Shiba smile but he also liked to bear his teeth in a cute yet angry manner. As a puppy we knew he was going to be quite mouthy but he soon grew out of it. Although it is important to note that A Shiba's teeth are quite large and strong for a dog its size and Sammi is no exception.

Friday, 2 March is the day my partner and I moved into our first home together. We were officially adults with a mortgage and soon to be family with the addition of our Shiba Inu puppy, Samurai. We fought for months as to what breed of puppy we wanted to buy because I loved big fluffy dogs and Aaron liked stocky muscly dogs and somehow we reached the conclusion of a Shiba - small, fluffy, muscly and very smart. That day, we were on a time schedule. We had to pick up the truck and have all big objects moved into the house by 3pm because that's when we were picking up our new little fur baby. After a few tears and tantrums and the help of a friend... we were done and racing down the freeway to bring our puppy home.

When we got to the breeders, Aaron and I couldn't contain our excitement and ran to the front door. Samurai was all ready to come home with his little folder containing his blood line and vaccinations as well as a toy to take home (which he still has to this day). He was clearly nervous in the car ride home, whining, scratching and whining some more but we got him home safe and sound.

Unfortunately for Sammi there was still much assembling of furniture and unpacking to do so  we had him in our laps whilst we were constructing furniture and even placed him in the middle of our shelving unit so we could keep an eye on him.

Our day was finally over at 8pm and we had to pick up a few things from Aaron's old house so we left Sammi in the laundry. As we were reversing out of the driveway, we could literally hear him screaming (yes, screaming). The Shiba scream is a known trait for the breed but we had no idea to what extent. Not only were we worried for the little guy but we thought our new neighbours might think we were torturing an animal. But we had chores to do and drove off constantly looking back at our new house and our screaming puppy.

Our bed had not been constructed as yet so we slept on a mattress in the lounge room along with Sammi. It was our first night together in our new house as a family. In the morning I woke and saw that he was having puppy dreams.

He was just so cute and tiny!!! From the moment I cuddled him in the car ride home, I knew I would love him forever. Although I had no idea how much of an impact he would make to my love of photography and that he would be muse.