I think Jason has been in contact with you a few times, and I want to thank you for the advice you gave him. He has learned to walk me better and now knows that being a positive reinforcer is a lot more acceptable to me than a negative one.

Whew. Glad he got that point.

I am 10 months old. I was bred here in Japan by a Japanese vet, who got my parents from New Zealand. So I guess you could say that I am Japanese/New Zealander. Of course, it is because of my NZ background that I am able to write English so well.

Jason is thinking a lot about frisbee training for me. But here in Tokyo there are not a lot of large, open spaces for playing as you can imagine. We have a hard enough time finding places to play fetch, let alone sprinting games of frisbee. But we'll find the right spot, I'm sure.

I do indeed excel at fetch already. I am so fast and furious, I get several onlookers each time we play. They can't believe that a dog can blur when he runs.

I am a bit of an oddity in Japan, you see. People stop me and Jason on the street all the time, because they want to touch me. They squeal, "kawaaaaaaiiiii" (this means "cute!") and start pawing me all over. Of course, like a true whippet, I am shy but very forgiving of their presumptuousness.

Here in Japan all the dogs look the same, you see. They are either Shiba-ken or miniature dachsunds, so a whippet sort of stands out. The Japanese people also laugh at my name. It is not normal to give a family name to a dog. You see, my name in English means "Young Mr. Kaneko." This is really strange, so each time Jason tells a stranger my name they start laughing. I used to hate this laughter, but now I put up with it. I realize that I have creative, individual-thinking owners.

All the Japanese say I am huge. Of course, we on this board know that I am not. In Japan, most dogs weigh about 10 grams, but I am 11 kilos! So they think I must be hard to control, but of course I'm not.

When Jason and Toshi are away, my favorite game in the house is "Eat the Carpet." I don't just eat the carpet, I chew and tear it right off the floorboards. I can't wait to see the landlord through Jason and Toshi off the balcony when he realizes what has been done to the place. This is so much fun!

And carpet is tasty too. I sometimes swallow the threads.

I also eat tennis ball fuzz. My poo is sometimes bright green from the flourescent fur of the ball. I also eat wooden toys, dolls, blankets, and anything else that suits me. This constant munching and tearing annoys Jason and Toshi quite a bit, but they still love me all the same.

I used to barf every time we took a car trip. But recently I've gotten used to it. Jason no longer has to put a towel over his legs for me to hurl into. I'm becoming a big boy!

Anyway, that's enough about me. I'm enjoying my life and realize that the warm, high-rise apartment I live in is a pretty fortunate setup. I like laughing at the alley cats who freeze in rain-soaked bushes and who need to scrounge for their meals. I have it Easy!

Peace to all,

Kaneko-kun