the trouble with male shih tzus

Hello everyone! Mom says we need to start writing more, so I volunteered to write today. I volunteered because I have a subject to discuss: male shih tzus! I just don’t understand the one that lives here. He seems so different than us. First, he is very little — even smaller than Candy. Also, he has large, funny looking feet! And sometimes he smells!

Beyond that, though, he can be kind of mean sometimes. Even though he is a little bratty, Mom says I am older and I need to be nice to Nigel, but sometimes it is very hard. Not everyone at our house thinks Nigel is a brat. I think the Treat Man really likes him, because Nigel sits on his lap a lot and I always hear him say that Nigel is really cute. Well, to be fair, he says I am cute, too, but it doesn’t really matter to me. I only care what Mom thinks. Mom told me the other day that she did think Nigel was cute, but not as cute as us girl shih tzus! That makes us happy.

I guess Candy doesn’t have a problem with male shih tzus, because I think she likes Nigel. She spends a lot of time playing with him. So does Flower. Not me. He is very rough, so that makes me wonder if all male shih tzus are like that. He bites my tail and my face and my ears. He bites everything, I guess! Not gentle bites, either.

Today we were sitting in our dog beds minding our own business and Nigel came and started snooping around to see what he could steal. Soon, him, Candy and Flower were raising a ruckus. I guess Nigel started it, because I heard Mom say, “Nigel!! Get out of there!” It was very loud. I was afraid she was mad at all of us. She apologized afterwards. That happens a lot. One day Nigel got yelled at for something I did. It was funny. Candy and I were playing, Candy yelped, and Mom said “Nigel! Stop it!” Then she said “Oops,” when she realized Nigel wasn’t even near us. She apologized to him.

Nigel sure likes to bark. Well, Candy barks a lot at cats that get in the yard, and Flower does too, and sometimes I even do. Also, we bark and bark until Mom gets up in the morning, but beyond that, we are pretty quiet. Not Nigel. He is a loud mouth! He barks when he doesn’t get his way. He does this thing, where he goes, “Woo, woo, woo.” It sounds funny. Maybe all male shih tzus have funny barks. He snorts and he sighs a lot too. And he sneezes when he gets agitated; he sneezes on me and Flower and Candy and even Mom and the Treat Man. I guess that’s kind of funny. Girl shih tzus don’t do that.

I heard Mom tell the Treat Man that she needs to go to a dog training class and that she should take Nigel. She said she doesn’t know what to do about him, because when he is bad and she tries to talk to him in a normal voice, he ignores her. I agree that he is a bratty shih tzu and needs training! He especially needs training not to bite my tail when I try to get up on the coach to see Mom. That is very rude! Oh, I hear him again, right now, outside, going, “woo, woo, woo.” Male shih tzus are so silly.

my pony Candy

I’d better stop talking about Nigel, because Mom said to talk about my day. Well, there isn’t much to say. I usually just sit by Mom and watch the other shih tzus play, but sometimes I join in. For instance, today Candy and Nigel and Flower were running around being silly, so I went to play with them. I like to pretend Candy is my pony. Mom always laughs when I try to ride her. She says it just doesn’t look quite right, whatever that means. but Flower rides her sometimes too. And sometimes Flower is Candy’s pony.

Oh no! I guess I have to hurry up and end this. The Treat Man must have arrived, because my sisters and Nigel are barking their heads off. We’ll soon be going out on the porch for something yummy!