Monthly Archives: August 2011

Shih Tzu Day 55: Puppy Mill Reminder

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Good Morning

I told myself before going to bed last night that I would get up early, to give John a chance to sleep in, without the dogs waking him up, but I couldn’t make myself. They ended up being extra playful. I don’t think he minded.

Flower has made it a habit to go back and forth between my side of the bed and John’s. He plays games with her, where she tries to bite his fingers, but he keeps moving them. He was also playing with her with his socks, but Flower kept running off with them.

Candy came up to us both for petting. Dottie went to John’s side occasionally, but mainly sat on my side, whining when I rolled to the other side of the bed to see the play there.

After I fed the girls, Dottie sat with me for a while and then jumped down. Flower jumped up on the couch to take her place. She played with a Pork Chomps treat for a while, and then sat there staring at me with a “come hither” and pet me look. I petted her for at least 10 minutes. Everytime I tried to stop, she’d stare at me. Sometimes when I stop, she gets down off the couch, but this time, she decided to lie down beside me, her head hanging over the edge of the couch, watching Candy smell the carpet and Dottie chew on her treat.

Dottie came up to sit with me for a while later on. This time, she jumped up on the couch without myself, which is unusual. I wonder if Candy will ever come up and sit with me on the couch.

Flower didn’t bark or growl at John when he came down.

Puppy Noises Stir Feelings

Flower jumped up on the couch this afternoon, landing on Dottie. She sat there while Dottie made a “get off me” sound.

John and I went out for lunch and stopped at Home Depot to get a new ceiling fan for the bedroom. We also picked up a dimmer, because I am hoping that if the lights are low when they come up to play, the girls will still be playful, and I can get pictures of them.

Candy, Flower and Dottie were excited when we came home. They started dancing in the middle of the room, but when they saw John come in the door, danced backwards towards the Safe Zone.

John got out treats, and Flower first started to race upstairs, but then realized she was missing out and came back down. After they got their treats, they went back to their corner for awhile. John went outside later and Dottie and Flower came out to greet me, wagging their tails and looking adorable.

We watched a few more episodes of The Dog Whisperer this evening. On one of the episodes, new-born puppies were whimpering, and all of the girls ran to the middle of the floor and stood there, looking around, including towards the TV. I wonder, did it made them think of the puppies they had? It was very touching.

Shih Tzu Day 54: That Horrible Leash Again

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Average Morning

Flower and Dottie aren't sure what it means when we put the leash on them.John woke up with one of his headaches this morning, before the 5:00 a.m. shih tzu visitation, and went downstairs. A little while later, I heard the jingle signalling I would soon have company. Right after that, Dottie and Flower scratched at the bed. He would have passed her when he went downstairs, but she sometimes gets confused. She acted disappointed that he wasn’t there — for her to antagonize, I think.

When he came back up, she started barking. I think she just thinks it’s a game. She seems like she enjoys it, but then after he gets up and goes downstairs, she’s afraid of him again (if anyone can solve this puzzle for me, I’d appreciate it!).

I didn’t have any cottage cheese for their dry food, so I decided to give them a little bit of applesauce. They all sniffed it and then walked away, but Flower came back a few times, and then finally licked it. All three of them eventually ate a little bit of it.

Leash Phobia

Flower did a Houdini act and escaped her pink harness after we tried to get her to walk around the yard.I have a very strong to desire to get one of the dogs walking on a leash by the end of John’s vacation next week. Since I want to record our progress, and since I think he is probably better at being firm, John attempted to train Flower, while I worked the camcorder. She fought like crazy. I admit that it looked like torture, but all he did was stand there holding it, while she thrashed around. A few minutes later, Houdini slipped out of her harness and ran. After a few attempts to hook the leash back to her collar, we gave up and let her go inside. Cesar would say that we shouldn’t have let her walk away on her terms, but sometimes it’s just too much work to get our way.

We had put leashes on Dottie and Candy, so they were up next. Dottie and Candy “sort of” walked around, talking a few steps and then stopping, a few steps and then stopping. After several minutes, John took both of their leashes and coaxed them around the backyard, with them doing the same thing. No one would call it an actual “walk,” but it’s a few steps in the right direction.

John offered Dottie and Candy hot dog pieces for rewards after our session was over. He sat down by them on the porch, and each of them came up and took them from his hand. Flower kept her distance, watching the goings-on.

The girls all kept their distance for a while. Since John is the bad man with the leash, they waited until he was out of the living room to once again be approachable.

That makes me sad, because I know he wants to be close to them, and I think he is approaching them in the right way. If anyone has any suggestions regarding getting these little ones to walk on a leash, I’d love to hear from you.

Shih Tzu Day 53: Happy Birthday, Dad

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Swim Day with Grandpa J

If I sit really still, the visitors will think I'm a shoe and leave me alone. Dottie, Flower and Candy The dogs were home alone a lot today. It is John’s birthday, and instead of a typical birthday present, I gathered coupons for free birthday meals. We started out the day by going to IHOP for breakfast. We came home and spent a few hours with the girls before going back out for lunch at Noodles.

While we were at lunch, Leticia and her children and Gabe, Crystal and Avi arrived at the community pool. We told them we’d come by later with our camera, because I wanted to get pool pics of all the kids. We had a pool party for John’s birthday last year, but then, we both swam. We didn’t feel like getting wet this year.

Do we really have to have visitors?I knew that Flower, Dottie and Candy wouldn’t like the grandchildren to raid their house after the pool party, so I told everyone we would set up the ping pong table outside and visit out there. However, they wanted to come inside and say hi to the dogs. As soon as they came in, Candy ran upstairs to hide.I found her later hiding in John’s side of the closet. She must have thought she’d look like a shoe and would go unnoticed. It reminded me of a famous scene from “ET,” where ET hides in the closet. As for Flower and Dottie, they stayed in their corner, growling their unwelcome.

Is he going to pull another treat out of that bag or not?After everyone left, we gave the girls some privacy. I had one more phase left of my birthday present to John, which was dinner out at Macaroni Grill. When we came home, we took the girls outside for their nighttime treat and romp in the grass, before settling down on the couch, with Dottie beside me, to watch a few episodes of The Dog Whisperer.

Shih Tzu Day 52: A New Visitor

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My Sister-in-Law Visits the Shih Tzus

John’s sister Lynda called this morning and said she’d been reading my blog and that she wanted to come over and meet the dogs. Lynda is a quiet, gentle person who has several cats. I figured she wouldn’t be as much of a threat to the shih tzus as the grandchildren or even teenagers are.

Flower, Candy and Dottie eyed her suspiciously when she came in, but they seemed fairly calm. I gave her some treats to try to feed them while we were inside. Dottie approached her tentatively, but took a treat. Flower and Candy kept their distance. I thought they might do better outside, so I opened the back door and they scurried out. Dottie was still the only one who would take a treat.

Once we went back inside, I was able to catch Candy, and Lynda held her for a while. She might not have enjoyed it, but she didn’t fight it. Baby steps.

 

 

 

Shih Tzu Day 51: Practice, Practice, Practice

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Practice Makes Perfect

This isn't bad, but we like our old beds.Flower spends increasingly more time on John’s side of the bed than mine when the girls come up in the morning. They play their little game where she tries to nip at him and he constantly moves his hand. That seems to be the highlight of her day.

Later this morning, I put her up on the grooming table for another practice session. I used the clippers to trim her a little and did a little scissor work. She was very patient. I’m sure I could have done more, but I am still uncomfortable and I need to re-watch the videos. I showed her a treat before, and although she didn’t want it then, after I was done practicing and sat her down on the floor, she came back looking for her treats.

Wee Wee On Target Trainer

I took Mom shopping today. While we were out, I bought a Wee Wee On Target Trainer. It’s a plastic contraption that has three sides.You put a training pad down in it, and the three sides are supposed to keep the dog in place, hence “targeting their stream” to the middle of the pad. First, of course, you have to talk the dog into getting on it.

I would have loved to try it, but the two plastic bottom pieces wouldn’t snap together. It will be going back to the store. I guess I will just get one of the trays that you simply set the training pad on. The main thing is that I need to get the dogs to start using the training pads again, instead of playing with or on them.

Now this is cozy!I also bought a plush dog bed home from Costco for the girls. I thought it was cute because it reminded me of a miniature couch. The dogs did try to lie down in it. However, if only one dog got on it, that dog always went to one corner, making the bed lopsided, and it looked pretty uncomfortable. The bed itself also seems a little lopsided, even when they aren’t in it. I think they only tried it because I put it in the corner where one of the beds from BFF Rescue usually is. The new bed will be going back to Costco.

Why Do Dogs Do That

For the second day in a row, I’ve looked up from my work late in the afternoon because of a commotion in front of me. Candy has been at the center of it. She gets in a playful mood with Flower, but I don’t understand her mode of play, which, for the second day in a row, appears to be of a sexual nature. If anyone can help me understand this, I’d love to hear from you.