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Shih Tzu Day 64: Not My Normal Shih Tzus

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shih tzu panic button

shih tzu with a newspaper toy.I woke up this morning thinking that something was out of place. First off, “I” woke up — something or a shih tzu, or two or three — didn’t wake me up. I lay there for a few minutes listening for the jiggling dog tag sound. Nothing. I turned over to see the regular alarm clock, not the furry alarm clock I had been waking to, and saw that it was 6:07. After a few minutes, I started to get worried. Was one of our shih tzu puppies sick? Or worse, did one of them have an accident and die in the night? The other shih tzus would have surely alerted us if that were the case, I reasoned.

shih tzu on stairs.I know. These sound like irrational thoughts, but when at least one noisy shih tz has woken you up every morning for more than a month, silence is eerie. When I still hadn’t heard anything ten minutes later, I got out of bed and went to the restroom, thinking that might trigger a response. Suddenly, the dog tag jingling began, followed by rapid paw steps on the stairs. Then, a furry grey and white shih tzu head peeked into the bathroom. It was Flower, my usually rambunctious shih tzu; followed by Dottie, my couch companion; and Candy, their shy but adorable and independent shih tzu sister, bringing up the tail. I might not like them to wake me up at the crack of dawn, but I was very happy to see those little girls.

shih tzu imperial lion dance

The shih tzus followed me to the bottom of the stairs, and then got in front of me and did their imperial lion dance. When I turned on the light, I saw that there were two yellow spots on the training pad. Yes! And I didn’t recall seeing any upstairs. Wow. Something was wonderful, but really wrong with this picture!

I went to the kitchen to put their bowls of cottage cheese and kibble together. Flower and Dottie followed me, while their sister shih tzu waited patiently in the living room.

When I opened the back door, the shih tzus scurried out, jumping up and down excitedly for their morning meal. I sat down their dog bowls and sat down on my lawn chair to watch them eat. Flower did approach Candy’s bowl a few times, but came to me for kibble hand feeding, letting Candy finish. Then, one by one, the shih tzus wandered out to the yard to do their business.

lazy shih tzu afternoon

three shih tzus on the carpet.

Throughout the day, Candy mainly rested in front of the couch on the hardwood floor, although she did go to her dining room corner at times, and ran up to her room intermittently. She actually didn’t go upstairs until I turned my makeshift laptop stand over to try to shorten it. That small bit of noise sent her scurrying up the stairs. It makes me wonder if she just has ultra-sensitive ears. John mentioned last night that sometimes when she goes upstairs after he gets home, even though she seems happy to see him, it’s after we have turned the TV on or up.

Her shih tzu sisters mainly languished in their corner throughout the hot day, occasionally coming out to lie on the carpet and chew on the mini Pork Chomps Knotz I gave them earlier, or the rawhide Flips from the other day that still clutter the floor. Correction, only Flower chewed on the Knotz. Neither of the other shih tzus took theirs quickly enough, so she gathered all of them around her, going from one to the other when she got bored. Later, Candy must have stolen one away from her, because when I looked down, they both had a Knotz in their mouth, chewing away contentedly. Dottie dozed on the couch nearby, next to me. I guess that is the difference between shih tzus that are barely out of the puppy stage and 5-year-old dogs like Dottie.

switched on shih tzus

The shih tzus all came alive shortly after 6:00, though, rushing me like they had seen aliens or a ghost. My guess is that they finally felt a breeze, and it put a little life into them.

three shih tzus playing.I don’t like to open the front door, because the shih tzus react to every little noise, but the heat, and a swamp cooler that doesn’t seem to be working, drove me to give it a try. The shih tzus went crazy when the neighbor came home, following Flower’s lead and barking up a storm. The other times the shih tzus began barking, I couldn’t figure out what caused it. Each time, Flower watched the door, wide eyed and panting, while her shih tzu sisters lounged on the floor, waiting for their sibling to alert them to imminent danger.

a shih tzu jumping while another watches.startled shih tzus

In our plan to get the shih tzu sisters to adapt to their daddy, John and I agreed earlier that he would come in the back door to see if Flower and Dottie would react differently. We also agreed that he would come in bearing dog treats. When I heard his truck, I was the cheerleader, chirping that Daddy was home and they should be excited.

When he came in the back door, the shih tzus were so startled that they weren’t quite sure what to do. I asked him to go out and come back in the front door. As soon as he left, the girls looked expectantly at the back door. When he did come in the front door, Candy danced to him, wagging her tail again. Although Dottie and Flower weren’t that exuberant, they didn’t treat him like an intruder.

Shih Tzu Day 63: Just Another Shih Tzu Day

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Early A.M. with the Shih Tzus

We have no control over our furry, shih tzu alarm clocks. Flower came up at 4, accompanied by Dottie. Sure would love to ask Flower a lot of questions, including why she thinks we would want to get up that early in the morning. Waking us up early had the opposite effect of what she wanted, though. I slept intermittently between her barking spells, and didn’t get up until after 6:30.

Although I mention food a lot, I always forget to mention “how” these dogs eat. At mealtime, Flower gobbles her food down as quickly as possible, jumping back at any noise, no matter how slight. When she is almost done, she rushes over to Candy’s dog bowl.

I have started trimming off a little each quarter cup of kibble, and holding it back in reserve. When Flower makes a move for Candy’s bowl, I call her name and lure her to me by hand feeding her pieces of the dry dog food, one at a time, to let Candy finish her meal without interruption. Dottie is nearly as slow as Candy, because she is missing some of her front teeth. When she eats, a lot of the pieces fall out, and she has to search for it on the porch. Once Dottie and Candy do finish eating, I feed them the kibble bits I have left over, so they don’t feel left out.

Candy and the Grooming Table

Shih tzu being groomedAfter the girls ate, I went upstairs for something and found dog poop and a urine spot on our bedroom carpet. I had heard Candy jumping around up there earlier, and should have known she was doing her “after pooping” dance she does after eating. They were outside for at least twenty minutes after they ate, so I don’t know why she did that. I cleaned it up and announced to John that she was the shih tzu going on the grooming table today.

Shih tzu face.Although she was trying to nip at the dog clippers at first, she relaxed enough for John to clip quite a bit of her body and to even clip a little of her head. Since our goal is to just get her used to the grooming table, we stopped when we thought we were ahead. I tried to give her a Vienna sausage as a reward while she was on the table, like I had learned in dog grooming school, but she wouldn’t take it. She also wouldn’t take it from John when we sat her down on the floor, but she came back and took it from me.

Candy stayed in the living room for longer than I thought she would, after facing the grooming table, but she did run upstairs to regroup. She had to sit in the hall, though, because after she used our bedroom as a potty box, I closed both doors.

More Housebreaking Contraptions

While we’re on the subject of dogs who aren’t house broken, my latest training contraction hasn’t worked out either. This one was a simple tray that you put a training pad on. Then, you snap a “frame” over it that is intended to hold the training pad in place. No one used the training pad while it was on the tray. However, one of the shih tzus was interested. I caught my plastic lover, Flower, trying to gnaw on the edge.

I still have a few options. I can try a dog training spray that is supposed to tempt them to do their business where you spray it, or the spray that is supposed to prevent them from doing their business where you don’t want them to. I also need to investigate dog litter, which I saw at PetSmart. (If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!)

Afternoon with the Shih Tzus

When I came back from grocery shopping, one of the shih tzus had pooped on the training pad. That almost makes me feel that we are getting somewhere in the battle to housebreak our doggies!

The girls didn’t come alive this afternoon, like they sometimes do. Candy stayed upstairs for awhile. Dottie sat beside me, but Flower spent most of the afternoon in the Safe Zone. It’s possible it’s because the hardwood floor keeps the dogs cool.

So Happy to See You!

Shih tzu jumping for treatWhen John came home, Candy didn’t just wag her tail; she nearly wiggled her butt off. Flower barked like he was an intruder. Candy let him hold her after treat time. I am happy about that. I keep reminding them that they should be nice, since he supplies a good deal of their dog food and treats. Flower continued to stay distant, going back to her corner immediately after getting her night-time treat.

I stopped by to visit the girls on the way upstairs. They were all so adorable, lying in their dog beds, I had to scrunch their faces between my hands and sing a chorus of the Stevie Wonder song, “Isn’t she lovely, isn’t she wonderful,” to each little darling dog.