Shiba Inu Puppy Cam

Today was a monster day at work. Long and stressful and hectic. I had two major events that I'd been planning (or planning in conjunction with others) for months and months. It was the culmination of pretty much everything I've done since January. Or at least it felt like it.

So today being over was no small relief. Things went just fine. Nothing to complain about. Much to celebrate. But coming home at the end of the day? Whew. I've been looking forward to that moment for weeks.

Turn around Linda...

As I transformed from suit to sweatpants (think Wonder Woman in reverse), I mapped out the rest of my evening: "I'm gonna watch tonight's episode of Chuck followed by the rest of the Twins game. That's it! That's all I'm doing! You can't make me do anything else."

Except...

Chuck was a rerun. And the Twins had the night off.

What do they always say about best laid plans? Blargh.

Just as I was realizing this, the phone rang. It was my mother. God love that woman, calling me back for like our fourth conversation inside 24 minutes. (Sometimes we have a lot of ground to cover, and it spans multiple conversations...albeit in a very short amount of time.)

"I have three things to tell you," she said, without so much as a hello. "One: something-something-something about cell phone reception in rural Wisconsin. Two: Something-something-something about [shoot, I can't remember anymore...does that make me a bad daughter?]. And three: You know those puppies you love? They're back."

"THE SHIBAS?!?!?!" I screamed. "OMG, OMG! Thank you for telling me!"

Mr. Buster!

"Don't thank me," she said. "Thank Brian Williams. ... Okay, Buster wants to go outside. Love you."

And like that, she was gone.

So much for falling asleep on the couch. On went the computer. Up came the live-streaming feed. Out came the blog.

Why? All because the third litter of Shiba Inu puppies was recently born in San Francisco.

We are here to melt your heart!

 Do you know about the SF Shibas? The backstory is this:

Once upon a time, a dutiful family of Shiba owners set up a video feed so they could watch their newborn puppies while they were at work. The link went viral (and if ever there was a link that should go viral, this is the one), and we all turned into a bunch of blithering idiots who spent the entirety of our days sitting in front of our computers giggling at precious little Shiba Inu pups as they slept and played and ate and wrestled...until after about 8 weeks when they left the e-nest to go live with their forever-families.

The people who live-stream this stuff? The folks who are responsible for this? They should win some sort of Nobel Prize...for e-peace...for chilling us all the hell out! For making such a personal part of their lives accessible to all of us. Talk about public good!

Dinner time! Milk truck!

Since I've started writing this post I've witnessed a puppy --or at least the bottom half of him-- nursing underneath his mother (and one of his siblings) with his hind legs kicking straight up in the air the entire time. I saw another pup make her way across the kennel, waddling with her butt waaaaaay up in the air...while her face was smashed flat against the cushion. I've stared and the screen for what seems like many, many minutes and have seen virtually no movement (save a twitch or an itch). And then I look away...for like a nanosecond. Upon returning my gaze to the computer, there is an entirely different constellation of puppies. How did they get there?! How did they end up like that?! AH!

Seriously, I think their sleeping configurations are the true entertainment:

Sleepy puppies!

Noses to noses or butts to butts. All lined up like six orderly, little hot dog buns. Or in cuddly yin-yang puppy circles. Or in ridiculous doggie piles where there's no telling whose tail is whose...except for that one little gal who always lays off to the side on her own...until she somehow rolls herself over and comes crashing back into the middle of the mutt mountain.

They're killing me. I can't stop watching. I've completely forgotten all the busy-ness and all the stress of my day. I no longer want (nor need) to go to bed. These pups, man...they've taken over my night!

Watching them as sleepy little fuzzballs actually physically hurts my heart, it's so cute. I keep slapping my hands to the side of my face and gasping. I honestly can't stand it. Currently, they're all squinty-eyed and wobbly, staggering around the kennel, rolling over and getting stuck, splaying and contorting their furry little bodies into positions that couldn't possibly be comfortable.

Click us for a larger photo!

But before we know it, their eyes will be open and their personalities will be in full effect. I can't wait until we get to the part where it all turns into Romper Room...where five of them are totally zonked out, and then one little bastard decides to stir shit up...and then there is no sleep for any of the rest of them. This is the part where the biting and wrestling and toy-tearing and head-butting begins. They all get sucked into the mayhem, whether they want to be part of it or not. Until they all completely crash from exhaustion and fall back to sleep...until the cycle starts all over again.

I think there is something particularly heart-warming about shared human experiences...even (and sort of especially) when we're having them completely separate from one another. I like knowing that all sorts of people are freaking out in front of their computers over these six little Shibas. I like knowing that we are all howling in unison at their antics...miles and miles and miles apart. I like knowing that for just a moment...or an hour...or an evening...we all get to escape whatever it is from which we need a little space.

And our diversion? It's not alcohol or ridiculous Hollywood escapism. It's not an expensive vacation or unecessary risks. It's not video games or listless web browsing. It's not even a book...or a 3/5/10-mile run.

It's puppies. Cute, furry, pure, awesome puppies.

We get to tune in for the next 6-8 weeks. We get to see them grow. We get to watch them, raucous at play...peaceful at sleep.

This is the stuff that is good for our souls.

So pop the streaming video out into it's own little window, put it up in the corner of your monitor and give your work-day a little extra sunshine. Or go ahead and check in on these little buddies before bedtime. Tired puppies are even more adorable than regular puppies...I'm certain there is empirical evidence to support this claim. Even better, call someone you love (who you don't talk to often enough, as it is) and watch the puppies with them, cooing in unison at their scrumptiousness. It'll be the most delightful conversation you've had in quite some time...I doggone guarantee it!

Stream videos at Ustream