Obituary:
Taifun of Royal Kennels;
Born: June 21, 2010. Passed May 14, 2025. Age: 14years, 10months, 20days.

Taifun's life was of 3 parts; The first 16 months, with old Joshi and alone; 12 yrs with his brother Sammy and 16 months alone with us.

We had made arrangements to get a puppy from Pam Peterson on the return leg of our annual trip to Colorado. We selected Taifun from his litter based on a picture. A medical emergency required us to delay our trip so we picked up Taifun at 9 weeks and headed west. Instead of adjusting to his new home in Hampton, Taifun lived the first 4 weeks away from his mother in an RV and pickup with a new location each evening and a new group of people at each stop along the way. He made the acquaintance of more people in those few days than many dogs would meet in their entire lives and every person wanted to greet this cute little puppy. Since he was unable to get up the steps or on the furniture, I made a bed each night on the floor the first two weeks and Tai slept between me and Joshi. Joshi suffered from dementia, and while not mean, he clearly didn't want anything to do with the puppy. He would sleep; Taifun would lie down next to him; when Joshi awakened and discovered this interloper, he would move away and lie down and go to sleep. The pattern would repeat. (3). We house hunted for a week and purchased our retirement house and Taifun was there. (4) We returned to Hampton where Taifun harassed Joshi to play without success. Taifun grew through his monkey face phase and played with the neighbor's dogs across the fence line. We moved to Colorado and stopped at Royal Kennels briefly. Taifun was a bit overwhelmed. Upon arrival in Colorado we concluded that Taifun needed a friend and so corrected our mistake of not getting another Shiba while in Oh, and in October we picked up Sammy in Salt Lake Airport.

Sammy and Taifun got along from the very beginning; although Sammy was the more independent and older dog, he generally deferred to Taifun in most situations. Taifun rarely went outdoors unless Sammy or his people were there, although he was insistent on his twice daily leash walks of about one mile. Still, as soon as Sammy went out Taifun followed. Tai seemed to dominate when indoors although the house could easily accommodate diverse interests.

For the next 10 years we took Taifun and Sammy on all our RV trips: Bisby and Tombstone (13) , Grand Canyon North(14) and South, Las Vegas , Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyon Lands, Mesa Verde and on Jeep trails in the Rockies(17) yellowstone, badlands. The Shibas were always with us. Sammy was always a good (relaxed) traveler; Taifun, however, became increasingly anxious riding in the truck and was usually exhausted at the end of each travel day and immediately collapse and slept in the RV.

At home the dogs seemed to each follow a primary person but never at the expense of the other. Taifun liked to be close, but didn't wish to be petted for more than a couple of minutes and slept on the foot of our bed, at times. Sammy liked to cuddle as close as possible and couldn't get enough petting. They both liked to sleep on our bed, the guest bed or in the two bay windows. Taifun shadowed me from room to room when Irmi was in the house or yard. When she left, he took up waiting in the bay window, usually with Sammy, until she arrived home, greeted her vigorously and then came to wherever I was.

During his early years Tai enjoyed sleeping on his back. Long after Sammy had arrived, Tai slept next to his brother with his feet in the air. Tai was very sensitive to certain sounds; I made clucking sounds to him within hours of picking him up from Royal Kennels and his face and ears would twitch uncontrollably in time with my noises. His reactions continued throughout his life until his hearing failed.

In his final 3-4 years, Taifun became increasingly temperamental, "grumpy grandpa" someone called it. He would not let us brush his coat, or teeth. After Sammy passed, Tai seemed lost and would stand on the patio looking for his brother in the yard. Dog's know when the spirit has left the body, but are uncertain as to where it has gone.

6 months before the end, Taifun quit shadowing me and spent his time on his floor bed in my office or in the guest bedroom; increasingly unable to jump on the couch or bed, Tai never cared for the ramp. His eyesight, hearing, appetite and motion were in decline and he appeared oblivious to his surroundings. He no longer seemed to recognize either Irmi or I. The most difficult decision was made; we let him go, to join his brother Sammy, and Joshi and Kimiko on the Rainbow Bridge. May they all frolic together until we join them.