Shih Tzu Day 31: One-Month Anniversary With the Shih Tzu Sisters

Look Mom! Don't we look like a two-headed shih tzu?

one month with the shih tzu sisters

It is the one-month anniversary of when the shih tzu sisters came to live with us as our foster dogs. John and I went out to a diner for breakfast and then went to Best Buy, in search of a small camera that will take videos. I want to capture the dancing shih tzu sisters and their feisty behavior with Shiloh, plus I don’t want to do any further training with any of them without documenting it. We can also start taking videos of the children and grandchildren when they visit.

Some days it is so boring here!I intended to get a Nikon, but chose a Canon instead, knowing I have two weeks to decide if I want to keep it. We also went to Wal-Mart to buy some different Milo’s Kitchen treats. PetSmart has been running a special that if you buy three bags of a certain size of Milo’s Kitchen, Pup-Peroni or Milk Bone products you get a bag free. I figured out that would be approximately $60 for four of the size bags I buy; at Wal-Mart’s prices, if I buy four of the 18 to 20 oz. bags, at regular price, it’s less than $50. I bought the chicken jerky, which is a staple in our house, as well as chicken meatballs and beef jerky pieces.

We gave the girls a sampling of the two new treats and, of course, they loved them. John commented that it smelled good enough for us to eat. I agree that Milo’s has some good-smelling dog treats.

Chinese Food for the Chinese Dogs

John and I had Chinese food and wine. He joked that since they were Chinese dogs, they’d probably like the food. Although the Mongolian beef would have been too spicy, they probably would have loved the sweet and sour chicken, but I didn’t give them any. I did give them a couple of noodles from the combination lo mein, which they loved.

How Far We’ve Come

When we first brought the girls home, they spent a lot of time huddled together in their pen. We will never know why they were so afraid, but I know that is common in puppy mill dogs. They still huddle together in the corner, but not as often and usually not out of fear. I think it’s comforting, and they like each other.

Maybe I'll be more comfortable in this position.

Now, however, they basically just have a divider, behind which they can feel secure, when they need to, but they can exit it quickly as well. This afternoon is a good example of how far we’ve come. At one point, Flower was on her couch, Candy was on her chair and Dottie was next to me. Dottie seemed content and sleepy. Candy and Flower looked bored.

Dottie sat beside me for quite a while. Flower spent a little time flirting with Shiloh. While I was writing that in my dog journal, she ran up and jumped up on the couch, as if she knew I was writing about her.

Flower sat with me and Dottie on the couch for a while. They were sitting one on either side, until Flower jumped over by Dottie.

Later, Flower was lying on her couch. She made me laugh because she had her chin on the front edge of it, and her face was so scrunched up. Then I looked at Candy on the chair, and she looked the same way. Flower got so bored with life that she ignored the fact that John was on the couch next to me and came up and rubbed against my feet, and then put her paws up on the couch, before lying down at the edge of the carpet.

Shiloh, aka Rover, lounged in his kennel for a while. I’m not sure what was going on over there, maybe a fly invading his space (he hates flies!), but he growled and scared the bajeebers out of Flower, causing her to jump down from her perch on the couch.

Shih Tzu Day 31: Leash Training with the Comfy Control Harness

I'm not budging from this spot.

leash training for Dottie

John woke up at 4:30 this morning and took Shiloh downstairs. I thought the shih tzus would come prancing up the stairs, but he was very quiet and they didn’t rustle. However, the shih tzu sisters did come up to get me at their usual time of 5:30. I tried to ignore them, but it’s difficult to ignore so much cute, even that early in the morning. I finally got up and took them outside. Then, I had mercy on them and fed them early too.

When we came inside, I sat Candy on the couch with me, and Flower jumped up too. As is the usual case lately, Candy didn’t fight me, but as soon I let her, she jumped down. Flower, however, sat in the corner of the couch and let me pet her. She didn’t leave until I stopped giving her all my attention.

Shiloh chose to sit in Dottie’s chosen spot, on the right side of me, so I had to help Dottie up to the other side of me, where John usually sits. She tried to sit on my lap, but I think it’s uncomfortable for her when I am stretching my arms out to type (my laptop sits on a TV dinner stand) so I moved her back to where I had set her down earlier.

Whatever you think you're doing, it's not working.

I decided it was time to do a little leash training and I chose Dottie as the guinea pig.

I got her in the Comfy Control harness and we took her outside into the exercise area for our leash training session. I asked John if I needed to give her a treat, but he thought we were just teaching her typical behavior and that she didn’t need one. I’m not sure I agree with that.

Giving me one of my favorite treats won't make up for what you did.Maybe the treat would have been in order if we had succeeded in our leash training session, but that didn’t happen. She didn’t shake, but she didn’t walk either. She sat down, stiffened up and wouldn’t move. John tried to encourage her by tugging on the leash while calling her name, but he ended up dragging her a few inches. He tried to lift her up on all fours, but her back legs froze. Flower and Candy came outside to see what was happening and started barking, believing that John was trying to hurt her.

This morning was exhausting. We decided to take Dottie out to the front yard to continue the leash training where her sisters couldn’t try to defend her, but we didn’t have results there either. It’s obvious that I have to do a little research on how to get a fearful dog to walk while on a leash, so I will be doing Google searches and viewing YouTube videos on the subject before we try any leash training again.

Dottie seemed remarkably calm 30 minutes later. I gave her one of her favorite treats, Canyon Creek Ranch apple and chicken wraps, for her troubles. The other girls calmed down too, but it was a step back in their relationship with John. It’s possible that I need to do the leash training, with him coaching, since they trust me more. I have just always looked at him as the dog trainer, but these girls obviously aren’t Joey, or the other dogs John has had.