Meet a Local Pet! Kiba the Standard Poodle
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This interview is full of great tips from Sherlly and Kiba about the great resources that our region has to offer for agility and sports, and Sherlly gives us some insight on how to be patient with a VERY smart dog.
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Find Sherlly and Kiba here –
Instagram: https://www.
Now, let’s get to the interview!
Transcription:
Laura Wombwell
Hi there, it’s Laura from Laura Wombwell Photography. And joining me today are an amazing local pet and it’s human. Today we have Sherlly Widjaja and her amazing dog Kiba. And he is a standard poodle. And he is so handsome. Hi Sherlly, I’m so excited to be chatting with you.
Sherlly Widjaja
Hello. Nice to meet ya.
Laura Wombwell
So today’s interview is all about meeting a local pet. And getting to know the people that love him and what you guys love to do together in southwestern Ontario. So I would love to know a little bit about how you found Kiba and how he came to live with you.
Sherlly Widjaja
We got him from a breeder. Oh, funny story. Actually, I was actually afraid of dogs growing up. Yes, like, I hated dogs. I, I told my husband that if we had kids, we wouldn’t get any dogs because I’m afraid of them. And then and then my sister, my sister’s roommate got a Pomeranian and then my sister took care of him. And then we ended up caring for Matcha when he was about maybe four months old. And then my sister went back home for the summer holiday. So it was my first foray into into dogs and into puppies. I remember very clearly that I was really happy that I was able to hold him. And I wasn’t afraid. He was really small. He’s only 15 pounds right now. So when he was when he was four months old, he was like really tiny. And then my sister would be like, Oh my God, if you’re afraid of him something’s wrong with you.
Laura Wombwell
So it’s a big jump from a Pomeranian to a standard poodle. How did you end up with that?
Sherlly Widjaja
I realized that. I was like, okay, maybe starting from a small one. And then I had a friend and we took him in because he was getting homeless. So we’re like, okay, you can come in with us. Stay with us for a bit. And he had his Husky with him. So that was my first foray into a big dog. And I fell in love with a big dog is easy if they are not as fragile. So you know what, when they moved in I told my husband I think we’re getting a dog. Yeah, so we decided on a poodle. At first we decided on noodles, and then we realized that um, the common one. The common break, even all these noodles are poodles. So we look into it. And then we got a standard poodle, because at first we thought we were thinking about a Mini. And then the breeder was like, yeah, Mini is only like 15 inches high. And I’m like, No, that’s like my chest size. That’s a bit too small. And yeah, anything above 15 is standard. So yeah, that’s how we got him.
Laura Wombwell
So when you were seeking out your breeder, obviously you did a bunch of research reaching out to a bunch of different places. How did you settle on Kiba?
Sherlly Widjaja
It was just whoever available at that time, because I already knew what I want that I want a breeder who does heath testing, all the genetic testing all the hips, all eyes and everything. And I also want them to be shown or I didn’t know about sports at that time. I only know about conformation, so I want them to be titled. So most of the all of the poodle club of Canada breeders that are already been there already been tested. So I knew that I will be getting what whoever breeder and I’ll be going with, they’ll be fine. So his breeder was the only one who had had a litter ready for around August. So we came to visit them around. Around this time of the year around July ish July, around July, we visited them we met with the parents, she owns his dad And then I think she also cares for his mom. So we went and visited them. And they were very lovely. I always thought that I love adults, cuz they are fun. I don’t have to care for them as much. I’m not a big fan of puppies, espeically after raising him. But yeah, I played with him. I played with them. And they were just very lovely. And then I asked questions that the breeders and asked us questions about our lifestyle. Our everyday and we told her when we told her that we trust you into choosing the puppy for us. And then we came and visited them again when they were more after they were born at around six weeks. I think it was cool. We my sister came with us and I think we was really hard to leave.
Laura Wombwell
So he’s still a pretty young dog and I know you’ve had him in a variety of training. So what were some of the challenges that you had as you were raising him?
Sherlly Widjaja
He’s a very overexcited dog. Going at around six months he started barking, we do agility, with Jess at Impressive canines and he started barking whenever he see other dogs running and we have no idea what to do. And then after that we’re like, okay, so we spend most of our agility time with one of us would be inside and the other one would be outside with him. And when he’s coming down with him inside again and so on for like eight weeks. We had no idea what was going on and then he started getting anxiety in the car. He was a really good puppy in the car he would sleep it would feel like you had no dogs in your car, but I guess he grew up he could see outside and that’s when problems start he starts barking at incoming cars and so on so we we did everything that we could and then we ended up doing a desensitization on with him on we tried where we did everything we did from the beginning when the car is being started when the car is moving. And now it’s kind of manageable as long as he’s tired his okay and also I put him in a crate because I cannot deal with it . He’ll be barking at me like and he’s tall, so I cannot see my rearview mirror. I cannot see I cannot see anything if I take my blind spot on my left. There’s him on my left on my right. There’s another of him his backs on like, I cannot deal with this. It’s getting really dangerous and sometimes he would put his face in in front on top of my head. I’m like, No, I would like to be safe.
Well, it’s it’s all about setting them up for success. Right and what works for your dog.
Exactly, yeah. And then because of that we I wasn’t giving up. I was like okay, if you don’t like it we’ll do this we tried different things but I ended up just going the crate was a lifesaver I should have done it earlier. And after that I just decided and then I think around one year old most of my friends are doing sports I got the sports bug from them and I found out that oh okay there’s there’s a CKC judge in Cambridge Companion Dog Training. She does rally, nose work, and obedience. So I decided to go for the obedience level one and see how it goes. So we did until level three. He when we first came, he was barking at dogs just walking, patiently, just just heeling, there’s just not even running. It was a lot of trial and error. I think around 18 months, I finally went into agility. I go with Chad at All Agility in Cambridge. And he was screaming. We spent most of our time inside the washroom whenever other dogs are running. And I decided you know what, I have to do something. So one of my friends told me that I should be looking into Control Unleashed. So she gave me the PDF of the first book. I read the first chapter or two and then I just did it by myself. It’s basically the engage dis-engage game is my favorite game. He’s a very visual dog. He likes to stare. He’s like a herder. He likes to stare and when he stares, it triggers and he gets really over excited and then he barks. So letting him stare and then giving him to food to reorient back to me, it’s actually very helpful for him, which is weird. So he does a lot of, I’m looking at that. And he looks back at me. And before I know it, he’s not perfect, but it is much better.
Laura Wombwell
So he is still doing agility now and if that’s something that you’re hoping to continue along with,
Sherlly Widjaja
Yeah, I’m planning to do trials with him. So I’ve been taking workshops with Brittany. And any other really or any other fun matches that I could find. I just want him to get comfortable in different environments, with different equipment because as as we find out if the agility bar is striped, he thinks that is a new thing. So I had to teach him how to jump, like yeah, we found out last year. My trainer put up striped bars, and then he didn’t want to jump. And then he said I had no idea. This is the first dog that actually realized there’s a difference between between striped and not striped.
Laura Wombwell
I mean, poodles are pretty smart.
Sherlly Widjaja
Yeah, I also had no idea. And also when we did our obedience, she set up Christmas decorations on the top. And then Kiba was the only dog who noticed that. Maybe because he was tall – I have no idea. But my trainer also said the same thing. He kept looking up. He kept looking at the decoration. And he’s the first dog that actually noticed that. he’s a very visual dog. Very visual. Yeah, which makes life a little bit challenging. But now that I know how to manage him well, it’s better.
So do you have any favorite spots that you’d like to go with him here in southwestern Ontario?
We haven’t really gone out much. Mostly because he was reactive. We were just discouraged of going, we would be going to and then there will be dogs over here, there will be bikes over there. But we went to Victoria Park. We did the desensitization with him over there with the bikes, but he got triggered by the geese. And then the squirrels. I know we haven’t gone there that again. But we went a couple times. It was I think the first time that I was actually feeling we, we are going to do something and we actually it’s actually doing better. So yeah, we just go around the house, I’m I’m blessed. I have two woods around the area in the winter, I would go towards one of them, and then just let him drag his long leash over there.
So are there any resources that we don’t have here in southwestern Ontario that you would like to see?
We pretty much have everything over here. Especially in Waterloo, we pretty much have everything because when I talk to my friends, they’re like, How come do you have access to all these sports? And I say, I don’t know, because I look. I look into this. And then they have sports. I look into another one. They have sports, like Wherever I look, people are offering sports here and there. So it’s, it’s just really nice. I know we have hiking places all around the region. Around the province. We didn’t really go into southwestern Ontario much. But we go to Midland, like mid Ontario-ish. Kawartha Lakesakes. We usually go for Airbnb over there. And I definitely chose a b&b in the middle of nowhere and with a huge backyard, but I we are just the only ones there and and Kiba can run around as much as he wants. And he loves it, like we went to. We went to Kawartha Lakes just recently about two weeks ago. It has a lake, Kiba doesn’t swim. He’s getting really interested in water right now. And they have this floating mass on the lake. So he would jump from the dock to the floating mass, back and forth. And we were like okay, great. Now you can chill, you can cool down by yourself. And then they also had a paddle board and it was my first time on a paddle board. I’m not really a water person. Like I like to hang out on the lake but I don’t really like big lakes. I like being on the deck, I’m scared of deep water. My sister and I, we went up paddleboarding and Kiba decided, you know what, my humans there, let me jump to the water. And he jumped in the water to the paddle board. I didn’t even have to do anything. Counter conditioning to the paddleboard, nothing, he jumped by himself and I just lift him up and he sat behind me.
Laura Wombwell
It sounds like you guys have an absolute blast together and and that you really get to enjoy a lot of things that this region has to offer.
Sherlly Widjaja
Yes, we really do. Yeah, we really do. Like this region is so much fun. We went to the dog beach two years ago, when he I think, after he was neutered, I think so he was about one year old. As soon as the vet says you’re okay to go, the next day we went. And I think that was the first time that my husband said that he was actually enjoying time in the in the water with him. But the drawback is, since his really tall in order for him to actually float, we have to go to the middle. And the water was up to my neck and he could finally float.
Laura Wombwell
Yeah.
Sherlly Widjaja
But he had so much fun I put a life jacket on him. So I just hope a lot of a lot of people see that and start putting life jacket on their dogs because it’s the safest thing to do. Even though your dog knows how to swim, it’s just the safest thing to do for me.
Sherlly, I really appreciate you spending some time with me tonight and letting me get to know Kiba a little bit more. Thank you. Before we end off, I have a couple of quickfire questions for you. All right, cat or dog?
Dog.
Laura Wombwell
Favorite breed?
Sherlly Widjaja
Given that I have no idea about any other breeds I would say poodles now. I’m gonna say learning about my dog breeds because I will be looking at dog and be like, I have no idea. They just look like a staffie, they look like a spitz, hey look like this. And you give me like, Oh yeah, this is the kind of dog. And then I’m also in a group of dog peopledogs and looking at their jobs makes me learn about their breeds as well. A leastI know how a Boston looks like now or a golden or a lab, but that’s that’s it. Any other ones I would be like, I have no idea.
Laura Wombwell
What is Kiba’s favorite treat?
Sherlly Widjaja
He’s a garbage bin. Oh, I would say bread. We would bring bread as threats we actually use bread for our desensitization training.
Laura Wombwell
Nice. High value right?
Sherlly Widjaja
It was high value, it is very high value for him and I when he ran away, I would bread as well. I actually did. We also do like a calm practice training especially for grooming because he also didn’t like it. But now he’s getting better. As you can see on my Instagram. We use bread, precisely – croissants.
Laura Wombwell
Is Kiba full of beans full of dreams are full of something totally different?
Sherlly Widjaja
He’s full of energy.
Laura Wombwell
All right. If Kiba were to be played by a human actor in a movie, what actor would play Kiba?
Sherlly Widjaja
Oh, man, I don’t know much about actors. I really don’t. Yeah, I really don’t. So I cannot answer that.
Laura Wombwell
That’s okay. You can pass. All right, the last one. If money were no object, and you had all the time in the world, what’s one incredible thing that you would do to spoil Kiba?
Sherlly Widjaja
Oh, that’s hard. He is really easy to please. I would say like a big backyard, so that he can run free and be wild as much as he wish. Cuz yeah, funny story as well. We, we were invited by a friend of mine, when when he was around one year old. Her cottage was in the middle of nowhere, like literally in the middle of nowhere. If we want to go there, we have to cross the stream. So yeah, we had to cross the river. And then Kiba would play alone over there. And we literally just put him outside and he would run around that small little cottage for the entire day.
Laura Wombwell
Wow.
Sherlly Widjaja
The only time he stopped was when we call him in. And he was off-leash and I didn’t really care about him being off leash because it was like acres of land. It was to the point they even have their own hiking trails. Yeah, we were when they invited us. I think on our last day, we went with her boyfriend to the hiking trail,crossing the river, played in the river and so on. I think he had a blast. He loves it and I love seeing him running free. Like the wild boy that he is. He just loves to zoom. He really loves that, I think that’s that’s how he enjoys his life. He’s like, running wild, running free. Yeah, that’s all I want. I don’t need a big house. I just need a huge backyard.
Laura Wombwell
Well, Sherrly, I have had a blast getting to know you and Kiba, so I know that Kiba has his own Instagram. So if people would like to follow your adventures, where can they find you?
Sherlly Widjaja
They can find us a Kiboodle. Oh, we are I would say we are pretty famous actually. The first time we went to the Healthy Barker with Kiba, because I don’t usually take him to places, the first time we took him there, Marina took a look. And was like, Oh, my God, that’s Kiba! I joined a lot of poodle groups on Facebook, and then our friends. People just overlap between instagram and Facebook at this point. And they look at me that see the word Kiba, brownie, and they’ll be like, is that Kiboodle? It’s just nice. Like, I’ve got a lot of friends from my Instagram. We met up with quite a few of them. Right now we’ve met about ten, most of them are locals around here. We met with Ernie a couple times. I’m friends with Ernie. We met with Leia. We met with a couple other friends and it’s nice.
Laura Wombwell
Fantastic. Well, I really, really appreciate you setting aside some of your time tonight. And it was such a blast getting to know you both, thank you so much.
Sherlly Widjaja
Thank you.
Laura Wombwell
This is Laura from Laura Wombwell Photography, and I was joined by Sherlly Widjaja and the amazing and talented Kiba and we all hope that you and your pets have an awesome day. Bye!
Sherlly Widjaja
Bye!
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