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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.

Shih Tzu Prelude: Puppy Mill Dogs Foster Home

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Foster Home Problems

When I discussed Candy, Flower and Dottie with Delores at BFF Rescue, she explained that the shih tzus had had trouble adjusting — Flower and Candy in particular. The 2-year-old shih tzus, in fact, had both gone to different foster homes, but they had come back to Barbara’s. The person who brought Candy back after only a day said she was worried because she wouldn’t eat. Flower was at her new foster home for a few days, but that person said she wouldn’t play with her dogs and wasn’t adjusting.

Delores’s daughter-in-law, Barbara, was fostering the three shih tzu half-sisters. Barbara had set up an exercise pen for the girls to give them a feeling of security while they adjusted. They were allowed to leave the pen, if they chose. However, only Dottie usually chose to do that. She seemed content at her foster home. Delores said she got along well with the other dogs at the foster home and with the cat. She also said that Dottie followed Barbara around the house, sometimes slept with her and her husband and often jumped up on the couch and sat between them while they watched TV.

Flower and Candy were happy to remain in their exercise pen. Early in the morning, Barbara’s husband would let them outside into a dog run to give them their morning exercise. They went through the garage to get to the run. Often, on the way back in, Candy would slip off into the garage to be by herself in hiding.

Pet Adoption Process

I told Delores I wanted to see the dogs, particularly Candy. She stressed that she was really hoping to place Candy and Flower in a home together. She said she thought Dottie would be okay on her own. I thought about it quickly and said I thought it was possible that we might take two dogs, even though we had only ever had one dog, and I didn’t know how difficult it would be to get used to two at a time.

Delores explained to me that I would need to fill out an animal adoption form before seeing the shih tzus. I filled it out and emailed it back to her after John got home from work and signed it. She gave me Barbara’s number to call her and arrange to see the shih tzus.

When I told John what Delores had told me about the dogs being puppy mill dogs, he was a little concerned. He told me that dogs from puppy mills often have lasting scars from the trauma. He warned me that they might never be like other dogs. I admit that what he said concerned me, but I insisted that I wanted to go see them. He said he would keep an open mind.

I called Barbara and arranged to visit with the shih tzus the next day.