A pampered poodle
Chiki, a toy poodle owned by a Romanian living in Tokyo, lives a cushy life.
RESEARCHER, bestselling author and cooking instructor Daniela Shiga, 49, pampers Chiki, her toy poodle, like her own child. A Romanian married to a Japanese, she moved to Tokyo at the end of 1991.
With no children of her own, Shiga showers Chiki with a lot of love and attention, to the point of creating a wardrobe for her. She loves to dress Chiki up in funny costumes, and take pictures of her.
She says: “The costumes are really easy to put on – usually just the front legs are dressed. I have dressed her up as a nurse, doctor, pirate, cowboy, Peter Pan, policeman, schoolgirl and ninja. I also love to dress her up like a princess in gorgeous dresses and kimonos.”
Shiga usually dresses her dog up whenever she takes her to a fancy cafe or restaurant.
“Chiki doesn’t seem to mind dressing up and posing for pictures. Actually, she loves seeing me laugh at her new looks. I have a whole photo portfolio of her in different attire. I will make a calendar for next year with her photos,” gushes Shiga.
Fated for each other
Shiga met Chiki, her third dog, when she walked into a pet shop before closing time one day in February.
Shiga saw this cute puppy and held her up. Within five seconds, she decided to take her home.
The dog had been in the pet shop for a month and was supposed to be moved out the following day. Shiga learnt that some pet shops would euthanise their puppies which they cannot sell and have grown too big.
“I do not want to think about such an abomination!” she says.
She named her dog Chiki in memory of her previous dog Chikitita. But she fondly calls her Chiki-chan because “chan is the diminutive used for kids, pets and loved ones, in Japan”.
Hubby’s gift
Shiga’s second dog was a gift when she emigrated to Japan.
She had longed for a dog so her husband got her a black toy poodle, which she named Chikitita.
“She lived for over 12 years and was incredibly smart. I taught her to walk beside me without a leash. She would listen to all my commands and perform tricks, much to everyone’s delight,” reminisces Shiga.
So well-behaved was her dog that she even took her to classes at her graduate law school, and to the theatre. She watched Hamlet all the way through, without barking at all. Dogs are not permitted in theatres but she trusted that her dog would be quiet.
“Losing her was one of the greatest shocks of my life. She was my only ‘child’ for 10 years.”
Her first poodle
When Shiga was a very young girl living in Bucharest, her mother gifted her with a black poodle, after finding out about Shiga’s “good Samaritan deeds” of rescuing stray cats and dogs.
She used to bring the strays home on her way back from elementary school.
“I would bathe, feed and play with the stray animals. Before my mum returned from work, I would return them to the streets because my mum would be very upset if she found out what I was doing,” she says.
As for the black poodle which her mother gave her, Shiga says, “I named it Diana, after the Goddess of Hunting.”
She has had only poodles so far. “Poodles are used by the French for hunting, and some of them hunt birds. They are intelligent and always come up in the top three of the smartest dogs,” she said.
Is Chiki god-sent?
Shiga is so proud of Chiki that she has posted videos of her on YouTube.
“She is extremely smart. By the age of five months old, she was already toilet-trained. She could even distinguish which were her toys and which were not.”
Over the many months, Shiga says, “Chiki has made so many human and dog friends that she has quite a busy schedule meeting them all!”
However, she regrets the times when she cannot be around with Chiki.
“I’ve to work while she stays home waiting for me for hours on end, feeling sad and alone. I wish there was a way to interact with her when I’m away...”
By pure coincidence, as Shiga found out, Chiki was born on the same day and month as her.
This Nov 27, Chiki will be one year old. Shiga says: “I’m planning a big party in a restaurant on Sunday, Nov 26, with music and good food.”
She is also planning to move to a bigger apartment so that Chiki will have more space to run around in!