shih tzu cat alert

Candy woke us up barking at 6. John went downstairs to investigate and said there were cats fighting in the backyard. Our guard shih tzu sounded the alert about three times.

Our housebreaking dilemmas continue. When I came downstairs, there was a big, wet spot on John’s end of the couch. My guess is that it was Flower. I hate putting pee pads on the furniture, but I did.

When I talked to someone at PetSmart, he told me that we might have to just do what people do with puppies and kennel train her. I hate to do that. To be fair, I feel like I would have to only do that with Flower. I imagine her in her kennel watching her shih tzu sisters running around enjoying their freedom.

I’ve considered blocking off our couch or putting the cushions up before we go to bed. I think Candy and Flower like sleeping on it, so that would end that. Also, we could shut them all up in shih tzu Central at night. I like to give them the freedom to run around and to come up the stairs in the morning. I’ll have to think about it more.

dog bed habits 

When the shih tzu sisters came to live with us as foster dogs, BFF Rescue let them bring a blue and white dog bed and a grey dog bed with them. The grey dog bed was getting a litter tattered on the bottom, so I replaced it recently with a pink and white one. Candy normally lies in the pink one, but since she also likes lying down in the corner in the dining room, I put the grey bed over there. She has been getting use out of both of them.

Flower continues to spend some of the time in the blue dog bed and an equal amount of time “behind” the dog bed, resting her head on it. I’m not sure why she does that. Maybe she just feels “safe” behind it?

will the shih tzu sisters be lap dogs?

When I interact with the shih tzus, I sometimes think of Delores at BFF saying that they will get in our laps at some point. I have serious doubts about that. They seem perfectly content at arm’s length. Nigel, on the other hand, likes to cuddle up next to me, which makes it hard to work. He definitely wants to be a lap dog. He climbed up on my lap today, and surprisingly, the way he was laying, I could actually reach the keyboard, so I let him stay there a while.

false alarm

I’m not sure what was going on outside this afternoon, but the shih tzus heard a noise and they all ran to the front door, I guess thinking it was the Treat Man. Candy was shaking her tail feather. About ten minutes later, they heard it again, and Flower, Candy and Nigel ran to the door together. It was so cute.

something even more disgusting

So, there might be something more disgusting than your shih tzu peeing on the couch — your shih tzu pooping on it. Yes, I know. Gross. But Flower managed to do it today, and since she wouldn’t clean it up, I had too. Since the spot had to dry off, there wasn’t much dog property. Dottie sat with me after the clean-up job. Candy lay on the floor, watching us. Nigel was chewing on a treat contently in his dog bed, and Flower sat next to the bed, watching him.

While I was watching her, I was noticing how much her eyelashes have grown back. I’m not sure if they were bothering her eyes, so I think I will let them grow back for a while. She is such a cute little Maybelline baby again. I call her Marilyn, but I know Marilyn Monroe didn’t poop and pee on couches and carpets!