Welcome to the first rescue Shiba Inu puppy cam, where you can watch Shino's surprise puppies grow up! Shino, a 6-year-old black and tan Shiba Inu, was rescued from a puppy mill in November by Shiba Inu Rescue Association (SIRA), and unbeknownst to her foster and adopting parents, she was pregnant at the time! A fantastic surprise, Akira, Nami, Kambei, and Shiro were born on Wednesday, January 14, and all four are beautiful and healthy little Shibas. Please visit the SIRA website for additional updates and information! WHICH PUPPY IS WHICH? * Kambei - dark blue argyle collar with yellow bones (Dapper Dog) * Shiro -- light blue collar with dark blue and bright green sea ponies (Sea Ponies) * Akira -- pink argyle collar with purple hearts (Puppy Love) * Nami -- pink collar with bright blue, purple, and green butterflies (Wing It) PICTURES AND VIDEOS The slideshow pictures and more videos of the puppies can be found here. ADOPTION Information about adopting Kambei may be found on the SIRA homepage. Akira, Nami, and Shiro have both found their forever homes. In addition, several other SIRA rescues are in need of loving forever homes! Please visit the SIRA homepage to view profiles and pictures of these rescued Shibas and the SIRA adoption webpage for information on how to adopt them. MEET THE SHIBA CAM STARS! * SHINO (mom) is named for a female character in the movie Seven Samurai. A 6-year-old puppy mill survivor, she is thrilled to be in a loving and caring forever home with lots of furry rescue friends. This will be her last litter, so she's enjoying these puppies! *** 2/4/09 vet visit report: Shino has a good heartbeat and good knees. Her cough may be the remnants of kennel cough from the puppy mill, or it could be a collapsing trachea, a condition most often seen in small dogs. We'll continue to monitor her, and she will receive the kennel cough vaccine during the next vet visit. *** 2/27/09 vet visit report: Shino is doing just fine! She will continue to receive extra food and vitamins to help her recover from the stress of nursing the puppies. She received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and deworming treatment, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! *** 3/23/09 vet visit report: Shino is doing great! She's not swollen anymore, her fur looks good, and she generally looks healthy. She will continue to receive extra food and vitamins to help her gain back more weight. She received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and 1 year rabies vaccine, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shots! * KAMBEI is the male puppy with the large white patch of fur on his chest. He is named after a samurai in Seven Samurai and was the first puppy in the litter to be born, greatly surprising Shino's foster and adopting parents. Kambei wears the dark blue argyle collar with yellow bones on it. *** 2/4/09 vet visit report: Kambei has a fairly significant grade 3 heart murmur (suspected patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA). It may go away within the first 6 months or it may not. He will need to see a cardiologist at 6 months to see if it's resolving itself or if it requires surgery. Kambei's knees are fine though. His umbilical and soft spot have closed nicely, and he received his first round of deworming treatment. *** 2/27/09 vet visit report: Kambei's heart murmur is the same -- no worse, but no better. Other than that, he's doing very well! He weighs about 4.7 lbs. He received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and deworming treatment, and he didn't make a peep when he received his shot! *** 3/23/09 vet visit report: Kambei's heart murmur is the same -- no worse, but no better. He will definitely need to see a cardiologist. Other than that, he's doing great! His knees are still good, and he continues to be the biggest puppy at 6.6 lbs. He received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and he only made a tiny little peep when he received his shot! *** 3/31/09 cardiologist visit report: Kambei does not need heart surgery! He has ventricular septal defect, or a small hole in his left ventricle. He will always have a murmur (the hole will not close), but he does not need surgery, medication, or exercise restrictions. The only thing he will need is a course of antibiotics before going under anesthesia for a "dirty" procedure, like teeth cleaning, an infected nail, or any other procedure that may cause bacteria to move throughout Kambei's body. *** 4/13/09 vet visit report: Kambei's heart murmur is less prevalent now, which is great news! The vet classified it as a grade 2 murmur instead of a 3 or worse, as it had been classified. His knees are good, and he weighs about 9 pounds. He received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and for good measure the vet cleaned out his ears! *** 5/6/09 vet visit report: Kambei's heart murmur is stable, remaining at a grade 2, which is great news. His knees are good, and he weighs about 10.6 pounds. He received his final distemper shot and his rabies vaccine. * SHIRO is the male puppy with the small white patch of fur on his chest. Shiro means "fourth son." While he wasn't exactly the fourth son, he was the fourth puppy in the litter! And the name is close to Shino, making it a fitting tribute to mom. Shiro wears the light blue collar with dark blue and bright green sea ponies on it. *** 2/4/09 vet visit report: Shiro has a good heartbeat and good knees. He also has a tooth about to emerge! His umbilical and soft spot have closed nicely, and he received his first round of deworming treatment. *** 2/27/09 vet visit report: Shiro is doing just fine! He weighs about 4.4 lbs. He received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and deworming treatment, and he didn't make a peep when he received his shot! *** 3/23/09 vet visit report: Shiro is doing just fine! His heart and knees continue to be great. No longer the smallest puppy, he comes in the second heaviest at about 6.4 lbs. He received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and he only squirmed a little bit when he received his shot! *** 4/13/09 vet visit report: Shiro is still doing just fine! His heart and knees continue to be great, and he remains the second heaviest puppy at about 8.8 lbs. He received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and he took both like a champ! * AKIRA is the female puppy with the large white patch of fur on her chest. She is named for the director of Seven Samurai (Akira is a name for boys or girls). So far she appears to be the largest puppy of the litter. Akira wears the pink argyle collar with purple hearts on it. *** 2/4/09 vet visit report: Akira has a grade 1 heart murmur that she may outgrow, or it may get worse. We'll find out in a few weeks after continuing to monitor it. She also has grade 1 luxating patellas. Both her left and right kneecap move out of joint, but it's very mild. The vet is optimistic she will grow out of it. Akira's umbilical and soft spot have closed nicely, and she received her first round of deworming treatment. *** 2/27/09 vet visit report: The vet couldn't hear Akira's heart murmur anymore, which may indicate it's going away! She'll check again in 3 weeks to see if that's the case. The vet also thinks Akira's knees are tightening up, which is also great news. She weighs about 4.6 lbs. Finally, along with the others, Akira received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and deworming treatment, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! *** 3/23/09 vet visit report: Akira is doing just fine! Her knees are great, which means they've tightened up entirely, and her heart murmur couldn't be detected at all. Both pieces of news are fantastic! She weighs about 6 lbs. She received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! *** 4/13/09 vet visit report: Akira is still doing just fine! Her heart and knees continue to be great, so it appears she has completely outgrown her loose knees and heart murmur and is now a happy, healthy puppy. She weighs about 8.2 lbs. She received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! * NAMI is the female puppy with the small white patch of fur on her chest. Nami means "little wave." She is usually the puppy making adorable little "wookie" sounds in her sleep, and we think she's going to be the trouble maker of the group! Nami wears the pink collar with bright blue, purple, and green butterflies on it. *** 2/4/09 vet visit report: Nami has a good heartbeat and good knees. Her umbilical and soft spot have closed nicely, and she received her first round of deworming treatment. *** 2/27/09 vet visit report: Nami is doing just fine! She weighs about 4.4 lbs. She received a kennel cough vaccine, distemper shot, and deworming treatment, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! *** 3/23/09 vet visit report: Nami's heart still sounds great, but her left kneecap has become a little loose. Her right kneecap is still fine. Now the smallest puppy, she weighs about 5.8 lbs. She received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! *** 4/13/09 vet visit report: Nami is doing just fine! Her heart sounds good, and her knees are fine, indicating that her left kneecap has tightened back up again. She weighs about 8 lbs. She received a kennel cough vaccine and distemper shot, and she didn't make a peep when she received her shot! MILESTONES IN THE PUPPIES' LIVES * 1/14/09 -- the puppies are born! * 1/15/09 -- the puppies move to the puppy room! * 1/16/09 -- the puppies are named! * 1/21/09 -- the puppies turn 1 week old! * 1/23/09 -- incredibly cute Lupine collar patterns are picked out for the puppies! * 1/25/09 -- all four puppies take their first steps! * 1/27/09 -- Shiro's and Akira's eyes start to open! * 1/28/09 -- the puppies turn 2 weeks old! * 1/28/09 -- Nami's eyes start to open! * 1/29/09 -- Kambei's eyes start to open! * 1/29/09 -- the puppies start to play together! * 1/31/09 -- Akira debuts her first puppy growl! * 2/3/09 -- the puppies get their Lupine collars! * 2/4/09 -- the puppies turn 3 weeks old! * 2/4/09 -- the puppies get a visit from their vet! * 2/6/09 -- the puppies really start to play together! * 2/7/09 -- the puppies taste solid food (sort of) for the first time! * 2/8/09 -- Akira, Nami, and Kambei get their first teeth! * 2/9/09 -- Nami and Kambei start to hear! * 2/9/09 -- Shiro gets his first teeth, and Nami gets another tooth! * 2/9/09 -- the puppies get an extension to their whelping box! * 2/10/09 -- Akira and Shiro start to hear! * 2/11/09 -- the puppies turn 4 weeks old! * 2/11/09 -- Akira and Kambei get several more teeth! * 2/14/09 -- all of the puppies get more teeth! * 2/18/09 -- the puppies turn 5 weeks old! * 2/20/09 -- Kambei makes it over the low wall! * 2/23/09 -- the puppies get their first bed and chewies! * 2/25/09 -- the puppies turn 6 weeks old! * 2/26/09 -- the puppies experience their first thunderstorm! * 2/26/09 -- Nami and Shiro make it over the low wall! * 2/27/09 -- the puppies (and Bob) get a visit from their vet! * 2/27/09 -- the puppies move into their playpen! * 3/1/09 -- Nami's no longer has a floppy ear! * 3/4/09 -- the puppies turn 7 weeks old! * 3/4/09 -- Nami starts talking! * 3/6/09 -- the puppies go for their first walk outside! * 3/9/09 -- the puppies go for their first swim! * 3/9/09 -- Shiro starts talking! * 3/11/09 -- the puppies turn 8 weeks old! * 3/15/09 -- the puppies go for their second walk outside! * 3/16/09 -- the puppies go to the dog beach for the first time! * 3/18/09 -- the puppies turn 9 weeks old! * 3/23/09 -- the puppies (and Marty) get a visit from their vet! * 3/25/09 -- the puppies turn 10 weeks old! * 3/26/09 -- the puppies learn to squeak toys by themselves! * 3/28/09 -- the puppies meet the Furminator for the first time! * 3/31/09 -- Kambei finds out he does not need heart surgery!!! * 4/1/09 -- the puppies turn 11 weeks old! * 4/4/09 -- the puppies jump in Lake Michigan for the first time! * 4/8/09 -- the puppies turn 12 weeks old! * 4/11/09 -- the puppies go down a flight of stairs for the first time! * 4/11/09 -- Akira finds her forever home! * 4/13/09 -- the puppies turn 13 weeks old! * 4/19/09 -- Shiro finds his forever home! * 4/22/09 -- the puppies turn 14 weeks old! * 4/22/09 -- the puppies get speutered! * 4/28/09 -- the puppies get a de-coning party! * 4/29/09 -- the puppies turn 15 weeks old! * 5/1/09 -- Akira goes to her forever home! * 5/5/09 -- the puppies celebrate Cinco de Mayo! * 5/5/09 -- Nami finds her forever home at SIRA's house!!! * 5/6/09 -- the puppies get a visit from their vet! * 5/6/09 -- the puppies turn 16 weeks old! * 5/8/09 -- Shiro goes to his forever home! * 5/13/09 -- the puppies turn 17 weeks old! * 5/20/09 -- the puppies turn 18 weeks old! * 5/27/09 -- the puppies turn 19 weeks old! * 5/28/09 -- the puppies wish E a happy birthday! * 5/28/09 -- Kambei learns to jump over the pen! * 5/30/09 -- the puppies go lure coursing! * 6/3/09 -- the puppies turn 20 weeks old! * 6/10/09 -- the puppies turn 21 weeks old! DONATIONS * To donate for the veterinary care for any of SIRA's foster shibas, please visit the individual profiles accessible from the SIRA website. * To donate for the purchase of toys, leashes, harnesses, micropchips, food, veterinary services, spay/neuter procedures, and other items, please visit the SIRA donation page. SIRA CAFEPRESS STORE * Products with pictures of the puppies may be purchased here. If you would like a particular picture from the slideshow on a particular item available from CafePress, please send an email to the address below with your request, and we will create the item on CafePress. Do this before you buy the product though, otherwise you will receive the old picture! All proceeds will benefit SIRA's rescue shibas. * SIRA products may be purchased here. All proceeds will benefit SIRA's rescue shibas. INQUIRIES All inquiries should be directed to SIRAshibas@yahoo.com.