Category Archives: Foster & Adoption

Shih Tzu Day 27: The Shih Tzu is a Siren

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You want me to do what?

shih tzu vote for Fromm chicken

This food takes like candy!Bright and early this morning, after we had gone outside, we fed the shih tzu sisters and Shiloh their regular food. Then, we brought out the sample Fromm food (chicken) I got at Paws n Play. I have been hearing a lot lately about dogs needing food with higher protein content, and Fromm was one of the brands someone had highly recommended. John hand-fed them the pieces, and all of them eagerly took it.

After we came in, Flower stretched out on the floor in front of me, as Dottie lay beside me, even with John on the couch! The shih tzus definitely are getting more comfortable, although some days we seem to go back a few steps.

Shiloh and the shih tzu Siren

Come up and see me some time. Flower and Shiloh entertained us before John left for work. I have been trying to keep these two dogs away from each other, since there seems to be a lot of growling when Shiloh and this particular shih tzu are in close proximity. However, this morning, John said he thought they might be playing, so I didn’t separate them.I have you eating out of the palm of my paw.

As I watched, I realized that, at least this time, Shiloh wasn’t egging on Flower. The shih tzu would tentatively approach him, sniff him, and then back away. Maybe Shiloh hadn’t been bothering her. In fact, I think she had decided she liked the attention!

“Flower has a boy toy!” I teased. “I saw you go up to him. Are you flirting with him, or are you picking a fight!”Nice — tags!

It started to make sense — those Maybelline eyelashes! That “come hither!” attitude. Oh, yes! This shih tzu was being coquettish. Had she been that way at the puppy mill? No, of course not. But had she lived another life before this, she would have been. At one point, she made me think of Mae West, and I laughed more.

I'm a lady, not a tramp!Now, with Shiloh standing at attention, Flower tried to growl fiercely. It was hard to really take this shih tzu seriously as a dangerous animal. As I watched the puppy play, Flower would run up to him, nudge him and then scramble across the floor to safety, with Shiloh tearing after her. At times, she would jump up on her couch, looking adorable on the red blanket, and Shiloh would leap up after her. Then, they were off in a new direction.My hair gets wild after heavy petting.

Several minutes later, Shiloh made a gesture that made me realize that he didn’t want to be “just friends.” No, not at all. She wanted flirtatious dog play, but he was looking for action. I scolded him then and told him to get off of her. He did, and Flower continued giving him the runaround.

The play continued. I was equally surprised when little sister Candy trotted out from their corner, jumped on Shiloh and got in the middle of the fray. Girls will be girls, and boys will love it.

Shih Tzu Day 24: Mama’s Little Angel Devils

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Shih Tzu Confusion

John spent quite a bit of time in the garage, trying to figure out why the garage door would go down most of the way, and then go back up. Each time it went down and then back up, three little shih tzus would run out of their corner, dash halfway across the living room and halt, realizing that I was sitting on the couch. They associate the sound of the garage door opening and closing with me coming home, so the noise really played with their furry little heads.

When we left to go to the zoo with Nikki and Clarke, we put Shiloh in the kennel, to be on the safe side. After we got back, they left for date night downtown. I picked Candy up and set her down on the couch between John and me. She sat there patiently for a few minutes, before sauntering off the couch and going back to their corner. Then, for some reason, Dottie and Flower trotted out and greeted me, wagging their tails. They must have thought there was a treat waiting for them somewhere. It looks like we are getting beyond the stage of them staying as far away from John as possible. They might not greet him with dancing, like they do me, but they tolerate his presence better.

Shiloh, the TV Dog

Shiloh growls at the TVShiloh provided us with a little entertainment tonight. We had decided to watch “Bloodworth.” In the first few minutes, a dog begins barking at a mailman. Shiloh ran up, put his paws on the TV, growled and barked. When I rewound it to see what we had missed, he did the same thing.

The Shih Tzus Run to Mama for Protection

All three shih tzus on the couch at the same time for first timeWhen Nikki and Clarke got back from their date night, Shiloh mainly sat on the couch with them, enjoying his new friends. However, he was sitting on the floor with John for a while. Suddenly, we heard growling, like Shiloh had done earlier to Nikki and Clarke and to John.The growling turned to a strange howling when John swiftly turned the dog over on its back and held him down. He held up his hand and  showed us where Shiloh had bit him. Nikki and Clarke were shocked, so John explained that Shiloh was increasingly showing more signs of aggression and that putting him on his back showed Shiloh that he wasn’t the one dominating the situation.

When Shiloh began shrieking, three scared little shih tzus ran up to the couch and jumped for it, landing by Dottie and me. It was the first time all three of the girls had ever been on the couch with me. In fact, Candy has never jumped on the couch when I was on it. Flower does on rare occasions, although Dottie usually comes up to the couch several times in the day wanting me to pick her up. They sat there for probably ten minutes before Flower and Candy got back down.

In the meantime, John took Shiloh for a walk. When they came back, John sat down on the couch besides me and Shiloh jumped up and sat beside him. He was docile when he went upstairs with us to bed.

Shih Tzu Day 23: Shiloh Leads the Way

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Shiloh Leads the Way

Since Nikki and Clarke were visiting, we set up the ping pong table in the garage and fixed pomegranate margaritas. Shiloh went in the garage with John and our guests, while I stayed inside briefly.

Our neighbor, Kelsey, came by to meet the shih tzu sisters. At least Dottie and Candy let her pet them, although I don’t think Flower did. When her husband, Todd, came in, Dottie took Flower’s cue, growling with her.

Kelsey and Todd brought some friends over later. One of them, Jason, brought his 10-pound Boston terrier, Shaymus, with him. He shared with me that Shaymus had also been a rescue dog, and that he had come from the National Mill Dog Rescue in Colorado Springs. We took one look at Shaymus and decided that if Shiloh was a Boston terrier, he definitely wasn’t completely; guesses included chihuahua or pug. I wish I would have taken a picture, since I have been trying to document all the pets and people who visit and the reaction of the shih tzus and Shiloh.

Everyone commented on what a good dog Shiloh was. He and Shaymus did have some tense moments, however. They circled each other and one of them growled. It didn’t look friendly to me, so I moved Shiloh away.

Jason told me about a pet food that he feeds Shaymus called Taste of the Wild. He gives it to him because it’s high in protein. He gets it from a pet supply place that sounded interested. It’s called Mouthfuls, and it’s near one of the Sunflower Markets I go to, so I’ll visit it next time I go there.

Shih Tzu Day 23: Alone With Shiloh

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strange people invade the Shih tzus’ home

My niece, Nikki, and her friend, Clarke, arrived at 8 a.m. this morning, for their three-day weekend visit. Shiloh made instant friends when he ran to the door to greet them with his tail wagging. The girls stayed in their safe zone. Since they had driven all night, our visitors wanted to take a nap before lunch. Mom arrived at about 10. We decided to take Shiloh to PetSmart, so I wouldn’t have to kennel him before we left. He did very well, except he did decide he needed to lift his leg and anoint a crate. We did crate Shiloh for lunch and later, when we decided to take a long drive to the Castle Rock Outlet Mall, since I don’t know if I can trust him to not fight with Flower (or trust Flower to not fight with him). While Nikki and Clarke shopped, I went to Petsense. Delores had told me they had better prices than PetSmart and Petco.  I didn’t get the impression that dog food and treats and dog toys were that much cheaper, but I still have to check my receipts against what I bought. They do offer a ten percent discount to people who adopt pets from the rescues they work with, such as BFF Rescue. While I was there, I had a nice conversation with a woman who also has a shih tzu, and her daughter. They told me they buy stuffed animals from dollar stores for the shih tzu and that she loves to play with empty water bottles. They also pointed out Skinneeez, “stuffless” animals in the store, and said the shih tzu loved hers, although she had successfully torn it apart. I decided to get an ostrich and see if one of them would play with it. When we got home, I set down the ostrich to see which dog would get it. Candy got there first, and dragged it back to their corner. The Pork Chomps treat I bought at Petsense wasn’t a hit. They seemed hard to me, and I don’t know if that’s the way they are supposed to be or if they were just old. (I don’t know why I keep searching for the ultimate treat. They’re fine if I just give them Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky or Waggin’ Train chicken jerky or chicken and apples, as well as some of the other treats I’ve brought home to them.

Shih Tzu Day 22: The Spare Dog

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What Are We Doing With Three Shih Tzus and a Spare Dog?

Our first night with Shiloh went okay. The terrier seemed to go to sleep shortly after lying down on our bed and I didn’t feel him stirring in the night.

Flower demonstrates the ability to fit the whole chicken jerky in her mouthWhen the girls rushed up the stairs to get me this morning, I stayed in bed for a while, so they came back down. When I came downstairs, Shiloh couldn’t control himself when they started dancing. He decided to join the fray, but his frantic carrying on was a little different. His nails are sharper, so I told him to get down because he was scratching my legs. I’m sure he didn’t know what that meant.

I decided to feed all four dogs outside, but I kept Shiloh to one side of the porch and the shih tzus to the other. From where I sat, it appeared that Shiloh gulped his breakfast mix down in one gulp and then decided to try one of the other dogs’ food. I stopped him, though. I made another mental note about the differences between boy and girl dogs, or terriers and shih tzus. I wasn’t sure what made the difference.

I had an appointment with the Apple Store to talk about issues with my MacBook, so I put Shiloh in his kennel, not wanting to take any chances. When I got back, I called John and told him all the reasons I thought I should tell Delores we just couldn’t keep him here. He agreed it would be best if someone else fostered him until BFF Rescue could find him a permanent home.

Later, Delores called to ask how it was going between Shiloh and the girls. I told her I had some concerns regarding him and Flower. I also told her I wasn’t used to boy dogs and he had a little more energy than I was used to, etc., etc. She said she hoped that someone would be able to take him in as a foster dog soon, and that if they had to, they could take him back to the clinic. Although I had decided to ask her if I could give him back, instead I told her we would try a little longer and I would let her know if we had any problems and had to have her find another solution.

Shiloh ended up spending much of the day in his kennel, however, on his own accord. I felt guilty for thinking he was a problem. I knew it was going to be hectic over the weekend, because my niece and her boyfriend were coming to spend the weekend, but I thought about the sacrifices other people constantly make, and I decided we could at least put up with one extra small dog for a few more days.