What? Don't you get it?
It's Dee-fer Dog!
Dogs.
Most specifically my adorable Shiba Inu, Kita.
What does Kita mean? Well, as she's a Japanese dog, born and raised in Japan, her name actually means 'north'. It's a pretty word. However, in German 'Kita' means nursery or kindergarten! So we get some very strange looks here sometimes.
Kita is exceedingly people-friendly and cannot understand why so few people here make a fuss of her as they did in Tokyo. I think she finds this depressing.
She's also very shocked at the sheer hugeness of the dogs here. Used to tiny 'handbag dogs' who sniff her ankles, she doesn't have a clue what to do when confronted by a large, bouncy labrador who rudely goes straight to butt-sniffing mode.
Our Japanese vet explained that Shibas greet in a cat-like fashion - nose to nose. I've seen this myself. There are rules to dogs meeting and greeting our Shiba Inu.
First they have to look right... I don't know why it is, but she really isn't keen on labradors.
A Chow Chow is absolutely fine because that too greets her in the 'correct manner'. After all, that breed is her ancestor. Most dogs with pointed ears are OK. Other than that, I can only guess at her "that's an OK dog" criteria.
She's also not a fan of any snub-nosed dogs; pugs, Sharpeis and so on. Perhaps due to the nose-sniffing thing? But she doesn't react too badly to them.
It's the instant arse-sniffing labradors that really annoy her. She screeches at them, teeth bared and obviously fearful. We get treated to the infamous Shiba Scream.
Most off-putting to the poor owner of the other dog. I do cringe and try to explain, but something gets lost in translation.
Mind you, it's hard enough to explain in my own language!