Tokyo Blond Is Not Porn

Tokyo Blond is not a porn blog, about hair or even, as one pithy friend remarked, a micro beer or late 1980s glam metal band ("Dude, I just saw Skid Row and Tokyo Blond opened and played a killer set").


The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my experiences in Tokyo - poignantly, visually, irreverently - for fun.


Anybody can tag along...that is if I like you. This blog will endeavor to be entertaining and honest and frequent enough to keep those following interested including me.


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Dog Days

The biggest challenge we've had since living in Tokyo has not been the language, or getting around or  even ordering dinner.  It's been finding a kennel for Ranger the Wonder Dog.  Part of the allure of living here was the idea of traveling around Asia.  But unfortunately they don't let you do that with your dog.  

There are kennels here but most of them cater to purse dogs.  They have more room for the dog's accessories than for the dogs themselves.  By Tokyo standards Ranger is huge.  He weighs 65 pounds or about 30 kilograms.   He doesn't fit into any purse and he doesn't have sweaters or t-shirts.  He's different.  He's probably the only Australian Cattledog in Japan.  Plus he has an attitude.  He doesn't really like people or dogs or things that make loud noises.  He pretty much just likes me and Russell and treats.  Or is it treats, then me, then Russell?

Back in L.A. Ranger has some pals at his day care place.  Yes, doggie day care.  They love him.  He's been going there since he was 10 months old, pretty much since puberty.  That's when we first noticed his adversity to, well, every thing.  He has some fear aggression issues.  We've spent thousands of dollars trying to get him to overcome his fear.  Now he's the best trained dog ever, sit/stay/come/heal.  But he still acts aggressively towards any one, or thing he doesn't know, which unfortunately is most everyone.

It has been a royal quest to find a place that can accommodate him.  I went on-line to find kennels.  They call them "pet hotels" here.  But the sites are all in Japanese so there's that.  The few I did find in English only cater to small,  portable dogs.  Most keep the dog in a crate, or several dogs together in one small dog run.  That definitely would not fly with Ranger Danger.

We actually found a kennel in walking distance from our house.  For a minute I was very excited.  The owner breeds golden and flat coat retrievers.  They are the most gorgeous retrievers I have ever seen.  They are snow white and heavenly.  We've gone there four times to inquire about their services.  Most of the time the retrievers greet us but the attendants just ignore us because we don't speak Japanese.   I can't tell you how awkward it is standing there for several minutes while they pretend they don't see you even though all the dogs have come over for the once over sniff test.  The one time they finally did acknowledge us we asked for a tour and they declined.  They keep telling us to come back when the owner's working but he never seems to be working.  From what we witnessed, however, it looks like they keep the dogs in crates and make them relieve themselves on puppy pads.  That would not work for Ranger.  Good luck getting him into the crate.

On my daily dog walk I started asking anyone in the park with a dog larger than a Prada handbag if they could recommend a kennel.  Most of them just looked at me like I was odd while I tried to keep Ranger from snacking on them.  Walking your dog is like being in a special club.  The only dues required are you have to own a dog and a leash.  You end up getting to know all the dogs and their owners when you see them on your daily route.  I'm hoping Ranger will eventually start looking forward to seeing a few of his Asian neighbors.  Currently he's either indifferent (generally towards dogs smaller and less significant than himself) or openly hostile.  For some reason he hates white fluffy dogs. Don't ask me why.

It used to be he only disliked small white fluffy dogs.  But there's a giant white Pyrenees here.  Whenever he sees this guy he goes ballistic - full fur bristle, bayonet tail action and of course, the ominous growl.  He's all talk though.  The minute I let go of the leash he'd fold like a cheap deck of cards I know.  But I'm not going to take the chance.

The dog Ranger doesn't like.
He looks nice enough to me.
Maybe he smells funny.
His owner is wearing a mask.

I'm thinking about writing a children's book based on Ranger's experiences.  Each dog will be a different character.  So far my favorite is the giant boxer dog whose tongue is always lolling out of his mouth to one side.  There's a story there.

Finally a British guy, who was walking two large Springer Spaniels, told me about this place called "Tom Sawyer."  I went online to try to find it to no avail.  After much consternation I persuaded Russell to ask his Japanese assistant to look it up in the phone book.  Turns out it's not "Tom Sawyer" like the Mark Twain fictional character but "Tom Soya" like the Japanese guy who breeds Great Danes but doesn't speak any English.  No wonder I couldn't find it.

This was our excursion last weekend.  It took all day. Turns out Tom Soya is a twenty minute cab ride from Narita airport.  But it took 90 minutes to get to the airport using local trains.  Usually when we go to the airport we take the Narita Express train which takes 30 minutes.  But it would have cost us $135 for the train and taxi ride, just to see a kennel.  I'd rather spend the money on sake.  As it was it still cost us $90 to check it out.   But we're glad we did.

We discovered the kennel is located in the countryside a short distance from the airport.  Before they built the airport here, Narita was an agricultural area.  In fact the farmers protested the construction for years.  The kennel owner actually drove out to meet the cab driver at a crossroad so he could lead the way back to his place.  The kennel is nestled between a bamboo forest and rice paddy fields.  It's quite picturesque.

It was surreal.  In the cab on the way there, as we passed the verdant landscape dancing with dragonflies, I realized this is the first time since moving to Tokyo I have ever not been in the city surrounded by towering grey buildings and concrete sidewalks.  Just for a few moments I felt - wildly free.

We were greeted by a cacophony of Great Danes.  There must have been twenty-five of them each in their own dog run situated around two large yards.  Mr. Soya apologized for not speaking very good English as he showed us around the property.  He took us to the less occupied area where a gigantic Great Dane kept jumping up to maul me, um I mean, "welcome me".   He was taller than I am.  In spite of his enthusiasm I don't think he was all that friendly.   The dog; not Mr. Soya; he was very nice.

Mr. Soya showed us the indoor/outdoor run Ranger would stay in.  It was located between the lascivious Great Dane and a panicked Cockapoo.  The Cockapoo was the only other type of dog in the entire establishment.  I think he was the only paying guest.  The poor thing was yelping.  He must have been lamenting, "I'm surrounded by slobbering giants; get me out of here!"

Each of the runs opens up into a large play area where the dogs are released twice a day to play. I can just imagine Ranger being released to "play" with the Danes.  "Who let the dogs out!"  Oh would that be a sight.  He could surprise me and actually like it.  It could happen.  His first buddy at the day care was a gigantic mass of fur called Chubaka.  Aptly named he looked exactly like the Star Wars character and had the same churlish personality.  But Ranger loved him.

As we were being escorted out I couldn't help but inquire Mr. Soya whether or not he had any puppies.  He is a breeder after all.  He didn't understand very much English but everyone understands the universal word "puppies."  He proudly showed us to the far side of the kennel where he uttered an encouraging word and out tumbled six Great Dane puppies.  They were three months old and almost as big as Ranger. Their paws were huge! They were adorable, even more so because their ears had just been snipped and were all bandaged up.  Clumsy and still doltish they lumbered over to the fence to administer sloppy kisses.  It was the highlight of the day.

Russell said, you just HAD to ask about puppies.  No duh!

That sealed the deal.  Large kennels, play area AND puppies.  If this guy, who is shorter than me, can handle Great Danes, who are as big as Russell, he can handle Ranger.  We gotta come here!  At least any time we're flying out of Narita.   Course we would need a car cause I'm not paying the ridiculous pick up fee.  For 35,000 yen (each way) they'll pick up or drop off your pet.   Translated to American dollars that's approximately $840 USD roundtrip, not including the nightly kennel fee.  Geez! For that price I could fly him to L.A., put him up at his usual kennel, and still save money.  The nightly fee is $85, more than three times as much as his usual $26/night stay at Crossroads Pet Resort.  Yikes!

Later at home we investigated car rentals.  Interestingly they actually rent cars by the hour here.  It makes sense.  You don't really need a car in Tokyo except for the occasional trip to Costco or Ikea, or weekend getaway.  It's ridiculously expensive to own one.  They won't even sell you a car at a dealership until you can prove you have a parking spot.  Parking spots go for $500+ a month.  A month!  Which is probably why you see such high end cars here like Ferrari's, Porsches, Maserati's, and my personal favorite, Aston Martins.  Ridiculously rich people are the only ones who can afford one.   But for the equivalent of $63 USD we could rent a car for six hours and take ourselves to the airport and Ranger to the kennel.  That sure beats the $250 (one way) taxi ride or the $420 (one way) kennel delivery fee.

Now we just gotta get drivers licenses.  The adventure continues....



Entrance to the kennel.  Those are rice paddies in 
the background flanked by bamboo trees.

Entrance to one of the kennel areas.

Welcome party.
Yes you can see into his stomach 
just past the bone crushing fangs.

OMG!  Adorable!!!
Can we take one home?
I'm sure Ranger would LOVE him.

Mug shot.  Both sides.


"Hey, come here.  I got something to show ya"

Station domination advertising.
They do this in America a lot.

Advertising! It's everywhere.

Odd.  Danish windmill in the Japanese country side.
Not odd - overcast - again.

Who needs a menu when everything is displayed.
Japanese coffee shop in the airport where 
we had lunch.  Just look at the selection!

After a long day on the train you gotta have
a Suntory and soda.

Served on electronic coasters that change colors
and illuminate your glass!
They should play disco too!


I had grilled eel on rice with cold soba noodles with sauce.

Russell had tempura, sashimi, rice, custard, fried tofu and miso soup.
AKA Japanese happy meal.


4 comments:

  1. I love reading your blog, keep it up....
    It's Elena, I send you a message a month ago.
    I came to Japan Yokohama after all, and love it. All my worries were for nothing
    One day I will tell you why I have to came to Japan, is an an usual motive, only if you are interested, of course.
    But I want to thank you again for your message and your blog, because that made me understand that life in most part of Japan wax and is back to normal.
    Looking forward for your next one. Cheers Elena

    ReplyDelete
  2. Of course I'm interested in your motives. You have me intrigued so please tell. I'm glad you came to Yokohama. I keep trying to encourage my friends in the states to come too. There's great travel deals to Japan these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do yoh have a website link for dog kennels please.

      Delete
  3. Give me a few days, when I will be relaxed in paradise (Bali)
    I will tell you my tale.

    ReplyDelete