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Shih Tzu Prelude: Flower’s Carefree Side

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Visitation Continues

I went to see my potential foster daughters this morning. I am not getting far with Flower. That little shih tzu began growling instantly. Dottie seemed a little friendlier. She did let me hold her, but she won’t make eye contact. When I tried to sit in their pen, Flower began barking and immediately rushed to sit in front of Candy. I think that Candy would probably adjust more quickly if Flower wasn’t trying to protect her.

I startled the dogs by rattling one of the bags of dog treats, and Dottie jumped off my lap and ran to huddle with the others. I finally convinced her and then Flower to take some chicken jerky. Candy had to venture out a little to get some from my hand, and I picked her up. I could tell she didn’t like it, because she leaned away from me, but she did let me scratch her ears and pet her for a while.

Once they went outside, Dottie and Candy ran up to me repeatedly for a treat. Flower finally came over. The most hope came from the fact that Flower jumped up and down excitedly near Barbara when she came outside. I take that to mean that one day she might be excited and happy around us, instead of growling and barking and scared.

Barbara said that they were gone quite a bit over the weekend, so the dogs weren’t that happy with them.

I am hoping to take the dogs home by July 4, so we need to hurry up and get the needed work done. We have to provide them a dog run or exercise pen and make sure they can’t get under the porch. We also have to put up something over the bottom of the fence, such as chicken wire, so they can’t get out. Then, if we put the exercise pen in the living room, we need to figure out how to herd them from the pen and out the back door. I think we can pull the couch out and make a walkway so that they walk behind the couch into the kitchen to go outside.

Shih Tzu Prelude: Come a Little Bit Closer

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shih tzu visitation

I went to visit Dottie, Candy and Flower, my potential daughters, this morning. Although Dottie follows Barbara around, she doesn’t come to me. Of course, Barbara has been foster mother to this sweet, shy little shih tzu for five months.

I sat in the exercise pen with the three shih tzus for a while, but then decided that Dottie might be distracting the little ones. Barbara took her to another room, and I talked to Candy and Flower. Barbara bought me some of the doggy chicken jerky that they love. Every five minutes or so, I would move a little closer to the shih tzus, huddled at the other end of the pen. Finally, I was close enough to offer them the treat. Flower finally took one, and then another. Candy kept her head behind Flower, but she finally got too curious and tentatively took a piece from my hand.

mixed reactions

The shih tzus had eaten all the chicken jerky in about 10 minutes. Next, I reached over to scratch Candy’s ears. She let me do it for several minutes. However, when I tried to scratch Flower’s ears, she growled and acted like she was going to bite me, so I backed away.

We next went out to their dog run. Dottie stayed at the opposite end of the run. Flower ran back and forth, always stopping a few feet short of where I sat, but Candy convinced herself to come and see if I really had more chicken jerky.

Candy would come near me, grab the food and skitter back, moving especially quickly if I even raised my arm a little. She kept coming back, however, until she had eaten all the jerky. I have to admit that Candy is the reason I keep coming back.

I stayed for about an hour and a half. John and I will be preparing a dog run in the backyard tomorrow, covering the bottom of our wooden fence with chicken wire, so they can’t escape, and putting lattice around the back porch, so they can’t crawl under and out of our reach. I don’t know if we will bring them home Monday or not.