Shih Tzu Day 3: Yum, Yum, Yogurt

Say pretty please, and I might eat some more yogurt.

You're not fooling me. I know all people are BAD!

Flower hasn’t decided to be friendly yet. She had a fit when I walked into her pen to guide her outside, but she finally went.

When John went outside, she started barking and growling. I was sitting at the edge of the steps, and she tore towards me and flew up them and beyond me, squeezing herself through the narrow door opening into the kitchen and into her play yard.

Her attitude frightened Dottie, who started shaking again. None of it affects Candy.

About an hour later, I gave the three shih tzus a little bit of Noosa Yoghurt. All of them gathered around the container and eagerly licked it up. At dinnertime, I picked pieces of chicken off chicken wings and fed it to them.

Candy continues to come out and roam around the living room and dining room. I sat her on the couch with me and fed her a small piece of chicken jerky. She let us pet her ears for a while before jumping off. Flower’s eyes still get huge when I pet her, but she doesn’t act startled.

If this is yogurt, I guess we like it!

I have nicknames for all of the girls. I call Candy “Candy Mandy,” which is what we used to call my stepdaughter, Candace. I also call her Skittle, because she is skittish. Dottie is Dippin’ Dots and Polka Dots, and Flower is Flower Child. Collectively they are the little Ewoks or Furbies, and sometimes even “Children of the Corn,” or “Cujo,” depending on how they are acting. Of course, the last two references are exaggerations. They never act that bad, although Flower tries to be scary when she growls and barks.

Candy is getting more and more bold. She came up and put her paws on the couch, looking for more Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky, I assume. I had some, but didn’t want to make it too easy for her to get, so I held it away, hoping she would jump up on the couch. She started barking and wouldn’t stop. I thought earlier that she might be too short to jump up, but I found out that isn’t the case.

After I went up to the bedroom, John came downstairs and found Candy on the couch, searching for the jerky. So, I guess she can jump that high. The next time he came downstairs, Candy and Dottie were wandering around the living room and ran back into their pen. That’s the first time Dottie ventured out into the living room on her own.

Shih Tzu Day 3: The Candy Show

The Candy Show

I guess I missed the show with Candy this morning. John got up again at 4 a.m. and took her outside. He said she looked like a dancing pony, clawing the dirt. I guess I need to get up earlier to see this little shih tzu at her most charming!

Candy is still the only one of the shih tzu sisters who will go outside willingly. But then, she is the only one who gets out of her pen to roam around at all. And she is the one who wants to eat everyone’s food and the only one I ever see going to the water bowl. When I realized that, I moved a water bowl into their pen, and they all began to drink it.

Dottie didn’t put up a fight when I picked her up to take her outside. Flower evaded me a little bit, but not as much as yesterday.

All three of the dogs ate some food after I got up. They liked the Natural Balance and small bit of hamburger I added, and Dottie and Candy ate the dry food, but Flower didn’t eat that part.

I picked up Dottie after feeding them and sat her on the couch with me. She didn’t seem to mind too much, although I will be happy when she ventures out of her pen on her own and makes a choice to come sit on the couch. As soon as I stopped petting her, she calmly jumped down and got back into her pen.

I also sat Candy on the couch with me. She was fine when I gave her a small piece of chicken jerky, but jumped back down as soon as she ate it. She gets out of the pen regularly now.

Flower is moving around her pen a little. I can’t wait until she follows Candy out into the living room. That will feel like a big achievement.