Shih Tzu Progression

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Di Freeze

I hate to think when the last time was that I made a post! All I can say is that our puppy mill shih tzus seem to progress daily!

Take today, for example. When we were sitting on the couch this morning, John commented about a time when the female shih tzus would bark whenever he came downstairs, acting like he was an intruder. Now, they act as happy to see him as they do to see me, and they spend a lot of time letting him pet them.

Also, Candace passed her cosmetology practical test yesterday and I told her I would take her for lunch and we would celebrate with a mimosa. After she arrived, I went to put on my boots and Flower jumped on the couch and began pawing at me. Some people might not realize what that symbolizes, but after looking back at notes from last January, it’s significant.

When I put my boots on, Dottie, Flower and Nigel think it means one thing: We are going for a walk! A year ago, that would not have been a reason to get excited — except for Nigel. That would have been a reason to run and hide. Now, however, I had to tell them I was sorry and promise them a walk when I returned.

What happened when Candace and I returned was another glimpse of their progression. I brought the orange juice and champagne to the table for our celebration. About ten minutes later, Flower, Nigel and Dottie came to see what was going on. A year ago, the girls would have stayed in their corner. A few months ago, they would have possibly come and sat by me, but they would have otherwise been unsociable shih tzus.

Now, however, Candace stooped to pet Flower and Flower moved closer to be petted. A little later, Dottie followed her lead.

After Candace left, all the shih tzus started roaming around the living room and staring at me. The snow kept me from taking them yesterday, but I didn’t want to disappoint them again, so I got down the harness box. Flower flew down from the couch, her tail wagging, and Dottie wandered over. I never know what Candy is going to do, but even she wandered towards the door and waited for me to put her harness on her.

Once outside, the shih tzus sniffed their way along the cul de sac and then towards the open area behind Wal-Mart, Dottie and Candy trailing their leashes behind them, and me holding on to Nigel and Flower’s. We ended up having to take a different route, though. We started going east, but school had let out early, and a handful of teenagers were throwing snowballs at each other. Flower and Dottie trotted along, Candy raced towards them barking (odd behavior for her!), but Dottie stopped in her tracks as if to say “Danger!”

I finally gave up and turned them around. Instead, we walked along the main road, beyond where we usually turn to go home. The condo complex on the next block is getting a new fence, so the fence has been tour down. Nigel, Flower and Candy wandered through the backyards, fascinated by new territory, until I turned them around to go home.

With all the progress, I do have one thing to work on. I try to feed the shih tzus equally, and although Nigel and Candy stay thin, Dottie and Flower are definitely looking a little “plump.” John has taken to calling them his little “Fat Girls” (after the “Fat Boys” in the recent version of Alice in Wonderland. So, our big goal for this new year is to slim down our little angels!

Shih Tzu Week 40: March 29 (Day 274) – April 4 (Day 280)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Di Freeze

Shih Tzu Day 274: March 29 (Thursday)

Tug-of-war with Nigel

I decided to perform a test today. I put one of the fuzzy holiday blankets on the floor. The dogs can lie down on it, unless someone uses it as a training pad. While I was putting it down, Nigel grabbed it with his teeth and stared pulling on it, thinking it was a tug-of-war game.

Attention, please!

Dottie and Flower have been very demanding today, wanting attention. They love petting time. I think it’s so sweet when I put my hand against Dottie’s face, and she presses against it, not wanting me to move it. When I pet Flower, if I move my hand, she bats her paw at me, until I pet her again.

I guess I am lucky Nigel and Candy don’t demand petting. It’s difficult petting two dogs at once, and petting four at once would be impossible. Candy does wander up to get attention now and then, but that’s easy to do. And I am glad John picks her up and gives her attention when he is here. She doesn’t stay long, but I can tell she enjoys it. I am so happy to see how far they have come in this area.

Shih Tzu Day 275: March 30 (Friday)

At my feet

After John left, Candy came over and sat at my feet, near Nigel. That was unusual, so I investigated. I forgot to put a training pad down for her, which is one of her favorite resting places. I am glad that she only chooses to sit on clean pads!

Vampire shih tzus

Nigel was in a very playful mood today. Flower was sitting next to him and he started biting her neck. She seems to like it.

Shih Tzu Day 276: March 31 (Saturday)

Tidy puddles

I don’t know why I have been forgetting to put down training pads. I did it again last night. Someone needed to pee before I got up, but they made a neat little puddle on the mat I sit the pad on. That’s quite an improvement from even a few months ago.

Since I no longer put the cushions up on Flower’s former couch, she has jumped up on it a few times over the last couple of days. Thank goodness, she seems to have lost interest in peeing on the couches!

Shih Tzu Day 277: April 1 (Sunday)

Dottie can fly

I didn’t feel like getting up early this morning. I got up, fed the dogs, gave them their morning chew sticks, and then went back to bed for two more hours! It felt so good. The shih tzus didn’t try to come and get me.

After I came back down and sat on the couch, Dottie came up to it. I was just getting ready to help her up, when she “flew” up onto it on her own. It was amazing; one second she was on the ground, and the next, she was beside me. It was like watching a cat jump up. She didn’t even get a running start like Flower does. Has she been faking all this time that she can’t get up on her own?

Baby Nigel

We decided it was time for Nigel’s grooming session. He got a close hair cut, like his sisters. Three down! He looks like such a little baby now. He acts like one too. When John was trimming his fur, he kept walking over to me and putting his paws on my shoulders for comfort.

Shih Tzu Day 278: April 2 (Monday)

Feisty Flower

Flower sat with me for a while this morning, but left when Nigel came up. She was in a feisty mood. She snuck my rubber finger I had been using to go through papers off of my laptop stand and wouldn’t give it back. I had to pry it from her mouth. Later, her and Nigel had one of their bitey-face sessions. It sure looks like that should hurt!

Shih Tzu Day 279: April 3 (Tuesday)

Me or peanut butter?

I’m not sure what Flower was doing earlier. She was on the couch and was stretching with her paws up on the top, and leaned over and licked my nose. I think she wanted to know why I smelled like peanut butter and why she didn’t get any. Then, she started growling — again, either for peanut butter, or for attention. I had already put the peanut butter away, or else I would have given her a little. Instead, I gave her a little attention. She seemed satisfied with that.

Nigel and Flower had another long bitey-face session this morning. Afterwards, Flower hauled out the Christmas rawhide bone, started fighting with it, and then trotted off to Shih Tzu Central with it. Nigel succeeded in crawling into my lap. I let him sit there for a while, before I moved him to my side so I could use the laptop.

jicama

I gave the dogs some of the jicama I was eating. They all took it except Candy. Nigel and Flower seemed to inhale theirs, but Dottie chewed on hers daintily for a while.

Shih Tzu Day 280: April 4 (Wednesday)

Lonely shih tzus

The shih tzus didn’t get much attention today. I was gone most of the day and then did a lot of organizing when I got home. Dottie was so lonely for attention that even she ran up to greet John at the door when he got home!

Shih Tzu Week 39: March 22 (Day 267) – 28 (Day 273)

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Di Freeze

Shih Tzu Day 267: March 22 (Thursday)

What’s in Nigel’s (Dottie’s?) mouth

Dottie came up to me today with her Dentley’s stick in her mouth and wanted up. She is practicing being Nigel, since he is the only one who usually comes up to the couch with something in his mouth and wants up. It can be a Dentley’s stick, one of my socks, a rawhide bone, a stuffed animal.

love addicts

Dottie is usually content just to sit by my side, but at times, especially when Flower decides she wants love, Dottie wants in on the action. Today, Flower started nuzzling my hand, and then Dottie did. I was trying to pet them both with one hand, but whenever I lifted my hand from Flower, she would look up and move her paw, so I had to use both hands.

I love to cup Dottie’s little face in my hands. When I do, she just gazes at me. I remembered when none of the female shih tzus wanted me to come near them. Now, Dottie will even let me kiss her. Flower is actually the biggest lover. I think she would like to be rubbed and petted all day.

Flower had a lot of energy this evening. She was dragging and pulling around the red, soft dog bed that no one ever uses. My guess is she was just trying to tear the tag off, but she didn’t succeed. A little later, when she was sitting on the couch, she started growling. Unlike other dogs, when Flower growls, it usually means she wants to be petted. However, she jumped down, grabbed a rawhide bone from off the floor, and pranced away towards the back door, with Candy following behind her.

Shih Tzu Day 268: March 23 (Friday)

camera shy

I picked Candy up again today when she came up to the couch. She stayed until I tried to take her picture. The picture taking has definitely slowed down. I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures last year after getting the shih tzus. However, as things have gradually gotten back to a new normal, after taking in four shih tzus, the camera often isn’t in the right place at the right time. Also, my attempts at finding a small camera I like to keep near me haven’t been successful. I heard that the iPhone took great pictures, and I finally got one, but I haven’t had luck getting anything more than blurry shots inside. I have to read up on what I am doing wrong.

Shih Tzu Day 269: March 24 (Saturday)

John and I were gone most of the day, so the poor shih tzus have had to fend for themselves. When we came home, I went upstairs to change while John gave out some treats. After a few minutes, I heard paws on the stairs. Flower came up to get me. She wandered around the room sniffing until I went back downstairs.

Us, vacation?

One of our friends was in town this week, and we went and met him for dinner. He invited us out to Boston to see him whenever we wanted to come. I had to smile at that. It was hard enough going out of town when we had one Yorkie. It will be nearly impossible with four shih tzus. They definitely aren’t the type of dogs that you kennel, and they steal don’t trust anyone but John and I, so dog sitters are out.

Shih Tzu Day 270: March 25 (Sunday)

new dogs

We decided to do a little grooming today. Partially, I wanted to try out the Fresh n Clean shampoo that came in the Royal Canin goodie basket identical to the one we are giving away, courtesy Royal Canin. John trimmed Nigel’s paws and face. After that, he started working on Dottie’s face. I decided to help him, so I started trimming her body. He informed me I had used the wrong blade, so she got a very short cut. Even though it was a mistake, we decided to do the same with Flower, since it is spring, and they don’t need long fur to keep them warm. Plus, we can go a little longer without grooming them. They look like completely different dogs than Nigel and Candy.

Shih Tzu Day 271: March 26 (Monday)

sassy flower

Flower was being sassy this afternoon. She sat on the edge of the couch, wagging her tail and waving her front paws at me, like she does when she wants to be petted. Then, she lay on her back against the couch gazing at me, her cute little under-bite showing. I waited a little too long to pet her, so she started growling, until I gave her what she wanted.

Since Flower hasn’t peed on our couch for quite a while, I put the cushions down on the other couch that she used to always sit on, but I think she has forgotten that used to be her could. She rarely goes up on it anymore. I am happy that she sits with us on the community couch — and that we have had dry couch cushions for a long time!

Shih Tzu Day 272: March 27 (Tuesday)

Nigel and the ice cube

I still need to replace Nigel’s steps, since one set broke, and he wouldn’t walk up the next set. For now, I have an old milk box on its side that I put in place in front of the couch before John comes down and needs to sit there, and then again after he leaves for work. This morning I forgot to put it there, so I had to help Nigel up. When I looked down, he had an ice cube in his mouth. It was so cute. He sat it on the couch and then picked it up again once I sat him next to me. That little boy has so much character.

throw up on the throw

I left a throw on the floor last night and someone threw up on it. My guess is that it was Candy. She wouldn’t go out to eat when her sisters did. Instead, she hid behind the dining room table. When I picked up the throw and put it in the hall to take to the basement later, she came out and then went out to eat. Maybe she thought she was going to get in trouble. I had to keep an eye on her bowl so her sisters and Nigel wouldn’t try to eat her food for her, since they had already eaten by the time she decided to eat.

Shih Tzu Day 273: March 28 (Wednesday)

weighing in

I weighed the dogs today. I have read different answers regarding what shih tzus should weigh, with the range going between nine and twenty pounds, but the average answer seems to be ten to sixteen pounds. If so, we’re not doing too badly. Nigel now weighs 13 pounds. I think that is a good weight for him. He only weighed 10.5 pounds in October, but he was still recovering from pneumonia. Candy weighed 11.5 in October and now weighs 12 pounds. I’m not as happy with Flower and Dottie. Flower was 14 pounds and is now 15.5. Dottie was 14 pounds and is 16 pounds now. Flower and Dottie might be within the range, but we need to work on that.

Now that the shih tzus are more comfortable with John and I, I think the leash training will go better. My goal is to really get on this right after Easter!

I am hoping that our diet will benefit the shih tzus. I know that some people don’t give dogs people food, but we always have. I am trying to replace some of their dog treats with people food. For instance, Flower, Dottie, and Nigel all like celery, although Candy won’t try it. I am particularly glad that Flower does, since it is better for her than plastic bottle caps!

We had tuna salad on a romaine leaf tonight. I left out some tuna to give them a few pieces while we ate.

Shih Tzu Day 224: Nothing But Furs

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Di Freeze

spunky shih tzu

I continue to be glad that the shih tzus are getting some exercise running up the stairs to follow me when I have to look at files on my PC. After my New Year’s Eve computer crash, I am trying to get everything together, eliminate duplicates, and back things up additionally “in a cloud.” My PC is more friendly at messing with a bunch of folders than my Mac. I don’t know how one person could have gathered as many duplicates as I have.

I still haven’t put everything away from Christmas. I had a bag of styrofoam peanuts that I moved (from off the floor!), because Flower is captivated by the bag and trying to get to them. I didn’t put them up high enough, because somehow she got them again. When I went to get the bag back, she clamped her teeth on the bag spunkily and tried to move back. I scolded her, and she gave me the bag, but it sure was cute.

What wasn’t cure was that someone pooped downstairs again. That is a mystery. Flower goes downstairs when I do, but I don’t think she usually goes without me. I doubt of Dottie has ever gone down there, and Candy doesn’t like stairs. But, I do catch her checking out the hall leading to the basement stairs sometimes. It could also be Nigel. Again, I need those security cameras!

nothing but furs

The shih tzus have all been so good about using the training pad or going outside (I thought until spotting the poop downstairs) that I thought I would reward them by folding up a blanket and putting it on the floor. Especially, I thought Nigel would get use out of it, because he sits by my feet sometimes. I put it down last night. This morning, out of the blue, Candy threw up on it. I have no idea why.

When John came downstairs, Nigel was sitting very close to one side of me, Flower right next to me on the other side, and Dottie next to her. He laughed and say, “You’ve got nothing but furs!”

growling for love

One of those furs has a strange habit. I was working away and I heard growling. I looked up and Flower was staring at me. She stopped growling as soon as I started petting her tummy. Do other dogs growl when you don’t pet them? I guess she doesn’t know another way to inform me that she wants some loving, kind of like when Dottie whines outside my bedroom door in the morning, because she thinks I should get up. Dottie has also been getting in on the petting action lately. Nigel seems to be content to just sit next to me and chew on something, although he does climb in my lap every now and then. Little Miss Independent is good with just getting a quick body rub when she chooses to come up to the couch; I try to pick Candy up sometimes, but she always jumps right down.

Shih Tzu Day 220: Getting Out in the Snow

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Di Freeze

We didn’t got to bed until midnight, and I was hoping the shih tzus would forget to wake us up, but they were right on time at 6:30.

Nigel had an abundance of energy this morning. He kept tearing across the floor then turning around and racing back in the opposite direction. I was so involved in watching him that I didn’t realize that Flower had moved over and was sitting right next to me, with her head resting on the laptop stand. Then, she moved it to rest on my arm. Later, she was using Dottie’s side as a pillow, and looking backwards at me. I thought it was so sweet. Moments like that, I think of when we brought Flower, Candy, and Dottie home, and how Flower flattened herself against the wall and snapped her teeth when I tried to approach her.

Later, Flower and Candy were roaming around, and Dottie was in her preferred position on the couch. Flower and Candy came up and put their paws on the couch, and Dottie snarled at them and growled. I corrected her and moved her over next to me. Flower was courageous and leaped up onto the couch.

John was going out to brave shoveling snow, after our biggest snow of the season. We decided to take the dogs outside. The snow is so high that it made a barrier to the street, so we knew they couldn’t get away. We put their leashes on their collars and I took them into the garage one by one, except Nigel, who dashed out the door after Dad as soon as I attached his leash.

The main reason I put their leashes on them is so they could get used to trailing them behind them, since it has been a while since we put leashes on them. Flower was the only one that really acted frightened.

Flower and Dottie wouldn’t leave my side at first, but once the sidewalk was shoveled, Candy walked up and down it, and then Flower and Dottie went to check it out.

What I wasn’t think about was the noise from the neighbor’s snow blower. As soon as it started up, they all ran back into the garage, except Nigel. Candy wandered back out and decided to explore under John’s truck. A little while later, I saw her trying to hop through the snow, which was at least as tall as she is. She made a couple of attempts and then went back under the snow.

Once John and the neighbors had cleared enough snow away, Nigel wandered off to examine the neighbor’s garage and then trotted down the sidewalk, before we noticed. John went and got him and we kept a better eye on him after that.

Flower follow me wherever I went, until I decided they’d had enough adventure and put them back inside. Dottie mainly stayed in the garage at first, but then came over to me and stayed by my side.