Shih Tzu Week 117

Back to the Past: Sept. 19 – Sept. 25, 2013

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Friday, Sept. 20

This morning when I went to grab the leashes out of the basket, Nigel wandered back to his bed and Candy wandered under the table. They probably need walking the least, so I decided to just take Dottie and Flower. It’s always easier with less than four anyway. When we got back, I opened the back door so the shih tzus could wander in and out. I so wish we could get Dottie and Candy to use the doggy door, because I am constantly trying to get flies and bees out of the house. I swatted a fly near Candy and she didn’t even run. Sometimes she still startles easily, but she is getting better.

Sunday, Sept. 22

We took the dogs for a walk this morning at Majestic View. I always get a kick out of Flower’s excitement during the car ride. Nigel gets pretty excited too, but Flower is more verbal. If I say, “Are you excited we’re going for a walk?” Flower squeals.

Monday, Sept. 23

We have done well with many areas with the shih tzus, including their relationship with us. I have also noticed that most of their tear stains are gone, although Dottie still has a little brown on her face. However, partly because of the fact that Candy and Dottie won’t use the doggy door, we still have housebreaking issues. It’s not unusual for me to try to figure out where the urine smell is coming from. I realized today that Flower had peed on her couch, so the cushion cover went into the wash. Also, it looked like someone peed on Dottie’s thick blanket that I sometimes sit on. Ick. Candy had been relieving herself on the carpet in our bedroom so I started shutting the door. Then she started peeing on the rug in the bathroom. At least I can wash that, but I also started shutting that door.

Shih Tzu Gardens: Flowers Galore!

Shih Tzu Gardens

Our four shih tzus will tell you it’s been a busy summer with lots of changes! One of the biggest ones has been their backyard! When they arrived at our home in June 2011, they had a very big backyard with nothing interesting to look at. Not anymore!

Over the last several months, we have added to our deck, invested in patio furniture and an umbrella, planted a vegetable garden and planted lots of flowers. I think we will all be sad when cold weather hits!

Candy and the Secret Garden

Candy Shih Tzu in the garden.

Candy rests near the “Secret Garden” of mainly coneflower (Echinacea) varieties.

Flower and the Blanket Flower Garden

A shih tzu investigates blanket flowers (Gaillardia).

Flower investigates the blanket flowers (Gaillardia).

 

Shih Tzu Nearly St. Patrick’s Day

Again, nearly a month has gone by since we last posted! We posted right before Valentine’s Day and now it is nearly St. Patrick’s Day! We have had a house guest, my stepdaughter Candace, for nearly a month. At first, the shih tzus weren’t sure what to think and barked as if she were an intruder, every time she came through the door or down the stairs, much like they did with John when they got here. Now, however, they have three people that they trust. She is another dog walker and she provides them with food, so she must be okay. They will even allow her to pet them on occasion.

Flower in bathtubI decided to continue trying to bathe the shih tzus in the tub, particularly since Nigel gets so scared in the sink. I have only experimented on Flower lately, however. I was amazed at how calmly she sat there, for a good ten minutes, until she decided she’d had enough. It was a far cry from the day in grooming school where she looked possessed by a demon.

Red Excalibur DehydratorI broke down and finally bought an Excalibur dehydrator. Since I was splurging, I splurged more and bought a red one! I made the first treats in it yesterday. I decided to try chicken-wrapped apples because they always end up squishy in my last dehydrator  I was very happy with them! They looked store bought to me.

Shih Tzu Day 551, Week 78: Review of 2012

I am very happy to say that this year with the Shih Tzu Sisters and Nigel has been full of improvements. Yes, there have been some frustrations, but the achievements more than make up for them. I went back over our journal to refresh my memory on our goals for 2012 and it was a very pleasant trip down memory lane.

Dottie Shih Tzu in the snow 2012

The Shih Tzu Clan and the Man

I commented last December that the shih tzus were getting to various stages with the Man. They have come so far now that I believe he is now Dad to them. That is one of our biggest victories. Although Nigel and John have been close since the day Nigel came to live with us, at one time, Flower, Dottie and Candy would all bark like crazy each morning when he came downstairs, believing him to be an intruder. That gradually stopped happening earlier this year. Candy was the first female shih tzu to grow close to John, jumping in the air and wagging her tail like crazy when he comes home in the evening. Eventually, Flower joined the welcome committee. These days, Flower will willingly come to him for food and treats and, on occasion, jumps up onto the couch between us, where she is content to sit for at least several minutes. Dottie is still more cautious, but even she wags her tail when he gets home in the evening. Dottie’s usual position was the furthest corner of the couch, away from John, and even as far away from me as she could get. Now, like today, she sits right next to me, and even leans across me to get petting from John sometimes, or when I am not sitting on the couch, sometimes even cautiously walks over to him for a few minutes of petting before venturing back to her corner.

Shih Tzu Walks and Car Rides

Candy Flower and Nigel Shih Tzu December 2012

One of my big goals of the year was to get the shih tzus used to walking. That was definitely no problem for Nigel, who came to us fond of walks and car rides. After some early discouragements, we earnestly began our dog-walking attempts in April. First we walked them around the back yard. Then, we started walking them to the nearby Wal-Mart and around a common area in back. We had a few scares when Flower balked and was able to pull out of her harness and run from us. We were lucky that we wee able to coax her back, and a new harness helped keep her in control. Candy and Dottie were also obstinate about not wanting to go for walks, and developed the habit of planting their butts on the ground. Dottie eventually got to the point where, like Nigel and Flower, she got excited when I got down the harness and leash basket. Candy is still a little wishy-washy in this area. We usually have to coax her, but she seems to like it once she is doing it. None of the female shih tzus wanted to go for a car ride when we got them, but that changed when we started taking them to Majestic View Park, particularly for Sunday walks. Now, Flower gladly jumps in the car and Dottie trots out and waits for me to pick her up and put her in it. We often have to fetch Candy from a hiding place, but once she is in the car, she’s fine, and she seems to enjoy the park walks as much as the others.

Dottie and Candy are so well-behaved on walks that we will often drop the leash and let them walk themselves, when we are in safe areas. In fact, we’ve granted Flower and Nigel that same privilege on rare occasions, but we keep a very watchful eye on those two! Nigel tends to want to run to greet strangers and Flower just wants to run!

Nigel Candy Flower and Dottie Shih Tzu in Snow 2012

Shih Tzu House Training

Another area that needed work was house training, which went hand-in-hand with the issue of how to get them to go out of the house to do their business. In the summer we installed a Magic Mesh screen door. Nigel quickly learned how to exit and enter through it, with Dottie learning from him and Flower the next shih tzu to get the hang of it. That cut down on the number of accidents inside. However, the cold weather meant that the screen door wouldn’t be much help. We installed a doggie door a friend gave us and Nigel again was the first to tackle that challenge. We haven’t had as good luck in that area. Flower has also figured out how to go through it by scratching at it with her paws. She uses it several times during the day, either to do her business or to see if there is a squirrel around to torment. Dottie will only go through the doggie door if someone holds it open, and Candy doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. Although Flower tends to do her business outside now, over the holidays she, or possibly Dottie, decided to start peeing on the couch again. It might have been due to the increased amount of visitors because I haven’t had to wash the couch covers for days now. Candy isn’t as standoffish as she once was, but she still tends to rush up the stairs when there is too much noise or activity for her. Although she is very good about doing her business outside in the morning, she does sometimes relieve herself on our bedroom carpet during her alone moments upstairs. Dottie seems to be the only shih tzu that uses the training pad in the living room. Sometimes, though, she still prefers to run upstairs, try to get me out of bed, and if she doesn’t succeed, pee on the bedroom carpet. Even if John is downstairs in the morning before I get up, she won’t go outside when he opens the door. The good news is that where they once barked to get me up at 4:30 a.m., they now don’t bark until 7 a.m.! That makes it a little easier for me to work with their schedule.

Shih Tzu Food and Snack Time

Earlier in the year I also started making their food from a recipe we got from Sadie Shih Tzu. I still use it, but sometimes we simplify it and instead of putting it in meat loaf pans, simply bake it on a cookie sheet. (The simplified recipe calls for ground beef, ground turkey, canned pumpkin, diced green beans and pureed sweet potatoes.) We have also made progress in the snacks I feed them. I used to buy their treats but had so much trouble finding treats made in the U.S.A. that I now make most of them, with one exception. Their favorite treat is rawhide sticks covered with chicken. I don’t buy them if they are made in China, but Petco and PetSmart make some made in other parts of the world, so I buy them, wrap seasoned chicken around them and dehydrate them. I also dehydrate their other treats, such as chicken and apple and chicken and sweet potato.

Shih Tzu 2013 Resolutions

We have some resolutions for 2013. One, I still want to make the step up to an Excalibur dehydrator. My round Nesco American Harvest works great, but I did borrow a LEM, similar to the Excalibur, and love the trays that slide out and the size that allows me to dehydrate more snacks at a time and makes it easier to dehydrate taller snacks, like chicken-wrapped apples. I think I can rationalize the price because of the heavy use, but I haven’t been willing to make that step yet. I would like to find a way to perfect the house breaking, so we will continue to work on that. One big step will be to try to remember to shut our bedroom door during the day! I would also like to teach Flower not to bark at squirrels, which would probably make the neighbors happy. We have had good luck getting rid of tear stains for the most part, particularly with Flower. However, we continue to struggle with keeping four shih tzus groomed. We bought a Wahl Peanut recently, for some areas that are hardest to groom, but we need to take the time to experiment with it! We’ll be back to let you know how we do with these goals! Suggestions are always welcome, and we’d love to hear about some of your resolutions and victories!

We wish all of our readers and friends a very Happy 2013!

Shih Tzu Special Treat From Chewy: Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken Jerky

Hi everyone! It’s me, Dottie! Most of our friends know that Mom is very particular about our treats. She used to buy treats for us at the store but when she found out that many of them came from China, she began dehydrating chicken, sweet potatoes, apples and other yummy stuff to make us chicken jerky, chicken-wrapped sweet potatoes, chicken-wrapped apples, and even chicken-wrapped rawhide. As a special treat, she took some of the leftover ham from Thanksgiving and made us ham bites!

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken Jerky

Sometimes Mom runs out of treats before she can make more, though, and then we don’t get any. That’s never good! Because of that, when she goes to the store, she’ll look at “emergency” treat packages. If they say they are from China, she puts the package right back down! If they are made in the U.S., or at least NOT in China, she’ll get us something as a special treat.  And sometimes she gets stuff for us from Chewy.com. She particularly does that when she is going to spend more than $49, because of the free shipping.

Last week she ordered Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky from Chewy. She said it was good for us because it’s 100 % grain free and DOES NOT come from China. Also, the only ingredients were chicken, dried cane molasses and salt.

Flower, Candy, Nigel and I loved it! There was one thing about it we didn’t like, however. Mom wanted to just try it so she got a little bag that didn’t go very far between four shih tzus! Next time, maybe she will buy us a bigger bag!

Oh, and we were happy because it gave Mom an idea. After we ate the bag, she made us chicken jerky (yesterday!), and she added a little molasses, just like Blue Wilderness! It was really good!

If anyone knows of other goodies for us not from China, please let Mom know! Also, if your Human hasn’t visited Chewy.com, tell them about it! They have lots of yummy stuff, and even toys and other fun things!