The Tales of Sushi and Yoshi

Before I knew the horrors of puppy mills, I bought my two dogs from a pet store. I'd never really known much about puppy farms, but even now I still would make the same decision because I love my dogs so much.

After bringing the dogs home, my family and I got them checked out by a vet and got an OK from him. They were in healthy shape, thankfully, but it wasn't until a few days later that we started to notice their odd behavior.

At first, we thought it was just because they were in a new home and still adjusting. These were our first dogs, and we didn't know much what to do. The two of them didn't get along very well, but that wasn't really the problem. They were scared of our touch at times, and were nervous about exploring their environment. We hoped that with time, they would come out of their shells, but after a while, we realized it just wasn't happening.

Sushi started to explore the world a bit more, but she became a bit too aggressive. She never actually hurt any of us in the family; there were some nips and bites that training didn't stop, but she would leap on top of us and scratch until she got a toy or treat in our hands. She'd climb over us and scratch at us like a cat until we moved from the spot, and she learned how to punch us with her paws. Yes, PUNCH us with her paws.

Yoshi would prefer to sit in corners over playing with us. Sushi's overly aggressive moods countered his timid and scared behavior. The only way we could get him to come out from his bed was with a treat or a walk. He didn't like to play fetch or chew on our socks or steal our shoes the way Sushi did. He would sometimes sit in a corner and stare at the wall, or lay down in the grass outside and just stay there for hours. It worried us and we took him to the vet, but he couldn't find anything wrong with him. He told us that it was most likely the result of the environment he lived in before he came to us.

After a few months with the dogs, we felt we needed to talk to the owner of the pet store and see if there was a reason behind the behavior of the dogs. We drove the half hour to where the pet store was located...only to find that the store wasn't there anymore.

On the door was a paper that read, "CLOSED. FOR LEASE DETAILS CALL 954-***-****". The inside of the store was empty, with only some papers scattered on the floor and one empty dog cage remaining. It wasn't until later that a growing horror started--maybe this store had been involved in illegal breeding & puppy mills.

It explained all of their problems. We paid for dogs that were completely unsocialized; they had behavioral issues and who knows what possible diseases that might lie in waiting. But we love them, and we'll stay with them through whatever comes.

But happier times have come. Sushi and Yoshi have their issues, but they have their good days as well, and I wouldn't give them up for the world. Continue reading for more great times!

To be honest, Sushi is actually named after my best friend. No, she's not named Sushi, but her nickname is Sushi on account of her love of Japan (and all things relative to the country). We decided to nickname Sushi, "Sushi" because she just looked like the name would fit her, and none of the other names we'd picked out would have fit.

Yoshi's name came later. After we got Sushi, we were driving to pick up Yoshi (this was a few months later) and passed a Japanese restaurant called "Sushi Yoshi". We also passed another one called "Sushi Sooee", but since we already knew Yoshi was a male, we didn't feel like calling him "Sooee". And there, the duo was born!

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Yoshi loves to sleep, but when he's active, he gets a little silly and crazy. He will lick you until you feel like you've taken a very sticky bath! When you start dancing, he'll hop up on his hind legs and dance around with you! And he loves to watch TV. No joke, he sits there and stares at the TV as if he can actually see it, though it is said that due to dog's vision that they can't see the TV screen.

The poor boy HATES baths. If you mention the word around him, in Spanish or English, he runs for cover. Luckily, this can usually be avoided by spelling it out...he's not THAT smart!

I never let Yoshi on my bed, because he loves to dominate it! Letting him on your bed, you may as well let a German shepherd on, because he takes the entire bed for himself. He lays right smack in the center of it, and the only way to get in bed for sleep is to curl around him in a little ball. Let me say, that is not the most comfortable way to sleep. My sister has also taken to "tucking him in" at night, as shown by this adorable picture!

Well this little Chi comes with a big attitude. She loves to bark: she barks as if it's her job! She always plays rough, nipping (even though we've tried to teach her not to), jumping around, running around and growling playfully. Sushi runs really fast. It makes us think she might not be purebred Chihuahua, and maybe have some kind of speed dog in her (greyhound, perhaps?). When we play with her, she jumps around, doing flips and twists like an acrobat! She's always got energy, unfortunately even during the sleeping hours.

So here is a list of all of her fears!

-Strangers
-Little children
-Things that beep
-Things that thump
-Blondes (I don't know why. This usually applies to females, but males too)
-Fire hydrants (oh the irony)
-Laptops (and their accompanying cords)
-Screen doors
-Black shoes (but not white?)
-White pants (I think they're too bright. Strangely enough, she has no problems with black pants)
-Basically everything that moves