Category Archives: Jealousy & Possessiveness

Shih Tzu Week 35: Feb. 23 (Day 239) – Feb. 29 (Day 245)

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Shih Tzu Day: Feb. 23

scary wind

Wind frightened Candy so much she visited us on the couch.The wind was so strong last night that it blew part of our fence down again. The dogs huddled together in the corner. Later, with the wind still blowing and all of us on the couch, Candy came to the couch looking befuddled, so I picked her up. We were happy to have her join us, since that is a rare occasion.

When John got home, he had to rig up a temporary solution, since we couldn’t let the shih tzus outside with the fence down.

shih tzu sibling rivalry

The sibling rivalry continues between Dottie and Flower. Sometimes when Flower is sitting by me and Dottie wants up, Flower jumps right down. Today, when I was petting Flower, Dottie looked at me and jumped down and stayed down for quite a while. The problem is that Flower demands attention and Dottie normally doesn’t, so sometimes it’s easy to forget to pet her, since she isn’t growling for attention.

Shih Tzu Day: Feb. 24

Like My Dog

I was gone most of the day. I always look forward to coming home and seeing my shih tzu tribe. They are always so excited. It reminds me of the country western song, “Like my dog.”

Shih Tzu Day: Feb. 25 – 26

shih tzu kitty

Calm and lazy day for the dogs. Not much to report on. We have been getting a kick watching our shih tzu cat Candy pounce on things. When she is outside by herself, she often barks. I used to jump up and see if there was a problem, but any time we do, she is just jumping around on the porch, patting a toy around or chasing her tail. Such an independent little baby.

Shih Tzu Day: Feb. 27

shih tzu confusion

It’s becoming a common event for Flower to let John pet her. She seems very calm when he does. Dottie let him pet her too today. However, their confusion continues. He came down the stairs wearing a visor and glasses, and they went crazy sounding the alert about an intruder. He had to take off his hat and glasses to calm them down.

Sometimes I don’t understand why they get so confused at odd times. For instance, they line up in the same order every morning for breakfast: Flower, Dottie, and then Candy nearest the house. This morning, Candy went to Flower’s feed bowl, so Flower didn’t know where to go. I had to guide Candy back to her bowl.

shih tzu hiccups

I have been trying to figure out why Nigel hiccups sometimes. It happens probably once a week. I read that hiccuping is common especially up to 18 months. That reminds me that we really have no ideal how old Nigel is, although the vet thought he was about 18 months when we got him last fall. I guess if it starts happening more often I’ll take him to the vet, but for now, I’ll just keep assuming it’s normal.

Shih Tzu Day: Feb. 28

(Mr. Chewy Review)

Shih zu Day: Feb. 29

Flower is becoming more and more comfortable here every day. This morning, she jumped up and sat down very close to me, between Nigel and me. They left John a very small place to sit.

Shih Tzu Day 154: Dumbo Lion

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a shih tzu with a treat. Nigel!

I was surprised this morning to look over and see Flower sitting on the Nigel/John side of the couch, behind Nigel. I thought it was so cute, but then he turned around and tried to bite her head off. I had one of my freak out moments and yelled, “Nigel!” I started Flower, and between me and Nigel, she jumped off the couch.

Nigel and Flower have very possessive attitudes lately, and it is frustrating. In fact, Candy is the only one that doesn’t act possessive over anything or anyone. She is definitely not the pack leader.

Dumbo Lion

John has started calling Flower “Dumbo Lion,” because of the way she moves her head and body from side to side when she walks sometimes. He was tickled when she came up a few feet from him this morning, sat down on the floor and watched him eat. I am happy that she is getting more and more comfortable with him.

On most days now, while I work, Nigel sits on one side of me and Dottie and Flower on the other. Candy loves Nigel’s dog bed. For some reason, he doesn’t seem to mind sharing his bed, although he minds sharing his treats and bones.

Shih Tzu Day 151: Shih Tzus Lacking in Socialization Skills

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possessive shih tzus

a shih tzuDottie is either very possessive of me or of her position on the couch. This morning, she was sitting by me and Nigel and Flower came up to the couch. I reached my hand out to pet Flower at the exact time she went to snap at her, and she accidentally bit me. It was a surprise more than anything. Her bite didn’t break the skin, but I could see little tooth marks. I think it surprised her too.

shih tzu alert

John and I left the shih tzus home alone this morning. We had a nice breakfast and then went and picked out a beautiful, rustic comforter for our bed. After that, I went grocery shopping and left John home alone with the shih tzus. We weren’t sure how that was going to work out. He mainly stayed in the garage. While he was out there he heard the shih tzus barking, more so than normal, and went in to see if there was a problem. Nothing seemed wrong, except he had left the TV on and there wasn’t a picture. He discovered that the bulb had exploded, so that must have been why the dogs were barking. The TV was a hand-me-down and we’ve already replaced the bulb once in the last six months, so it was time to go to Best Buy and upgrade! Very thankful for their no interest payment plan!

unsociable shih tzus

A shih tzu between two dog beds. Heather, Herman and the boys came back at 7. Candy stayed outside and Flower didn’t move from Shih Tzu Central. Dottie was brave and sat by me for a while. However, when Heather sat on her side of the couch to watch TV, she had to decide if she wanted to sit between me and John or between me and Heather. I put her between me and John, but she only stayed a few minutes before jumping off and joining Flower at Central.

Jordan kept trying to befriend Flower, but she growled at him every time he looked at her. The shih tzus obviously still need socialization training!

Shih Tzu Day 82: Scavenger Hunt and Twitter Update

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three shih tzus searching for kibbleScavenger Hunt

The girls let us sleep in until 7! That was nice. I only saw two spots on the training pads this morning, and I forgot to put the gate up in front of the spare bedroom before going to bed, so I imagine Candy might have wandered in there. But I didn’t see any evidence.

I fed the girls their individual breakfast, and, as is now part of the normal routine, coaxed Flower away from the other bowls by bouncing pieces of kibble in her bowl or near it for her to find, to keep her happy and busy. Then, when Candy and Dottie finished, I threw the kibble out little by little, so they could scramble over the porch looking for it.

shih tzu with silly haircut.

Sometimes lately it’s been difficult to get them to get off the porch and do their business after eating, but this morning, they all wandered down and got it done. Then, as usual, Dottie and Flower came in with me, while Candy stayed outside to explore and just watch the world.

two shih tzu half sistersI only had to run one errand today (which included satisfying a craving for a breakfast burrito), so most of the day I sat on the couch and worked, with Dottie lying beside me. Flower jumped up when I was eating my burrito, so I gave them teeny pieces of potato. Later, Flower came up and looked at us several times, but then she wandered back to Shih Tzu Central.

700 Twitter Followers!

I have been faithfully tweeting for the girls, including tweeting about puppy mill articles I read, or about dogs I see on line that need to be adopted. When I was looking for a shih tzu, I signed up to have adoptapet.com email me when shih tzus were added to the list, so I regularly share those. l also check to see if BFF Rescue has new dogs, and tweet about them. It’s always nice when someone retweets them, because you never know what good it might do. Also, the Shih Tzu Sisters now have 700 Twitter followers, so more opportunity!

Jealous Doggie

Dottie twisted around on her part of the couch for several minutes this afternoon. I’m not sure what she was doing. Sometimes she acts like she doesn’t like the blanket I have there to protect the couch. Today, she scratched at it until she uncovered the couch and then scratched at it. I wish I knew what these dogs were thinking sometimes.

two shih tzus close together

Late in the afternoon, Flower and Candy wandered out from Shih Tzu Central and Dottie jumped down off the couch. They looked like they wanted to do something. I seldom see them playing with the toys I give them, I can only give them so many treats, and I can’t walk them until we can get them trained to do that, so I got down on the blanket on the floor and played doggie with them.

Later, after John got home, Dottie was on the couch, and I went over to pet Flower. Dottie jumped down, ran over and practically sat on Flower to stop me from petting her. She can be such a jealous dog. It’s cute, but I am trying to get her to share me. I took turns petting both of them, and of course, ok a picture!

Shih Tzu Day 78: Love Fest For the Shih Tzus

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stubborn shih tzus

John tried to get the shih tzus to go outside when he got up this morning, but they wouldn’t budge. I got up an hour later, at 6:30, and escorted the shih tzus, dancing outside my door, downstairs.

I love our playtime in the morning. The shih tzus jump up and down excitedly outside the door. I reach my hand down, and each of them vies to play with it. Candy clamps down with her teeth, until I pull it away, and then Dottie and Flower grab it, mouthing it gently. Then, the cycle begins. Once we have played a few minutes at the top of the stairs, I tell them it’s time to go downstairs. The shih tzus run down as I walk, turning every now and then to run up a few steps, and then turning around again, to run down a few steps until we get to the bottom.

Once at the bottom, the hand game starts again. Here, though, the shih tzus try to grab my toes with their mouth, too. Lately, Flower grabs my hand, or foot, and then jumps up on the couch to gnaw on one of their Oinkies, and then jumps back down to join the fun.

It rained last night, so I could’t sit down on one of the chairs. I fed the shih tzus and came inside, leaving them outside to play and do their business.

the possessive shih tzu

shih tzu on dog bed.Dottie continues to be a possessive dog. Flower came and put her paws on the couch this afternoon, and Dottie, in their corner, ran over and crowded in. Later, I visited Shih Tzu Central with the idea of picking up Flower, and Dottie ran over and stood in front of Flower. I petted Dottie, picked up Flower, and put her on the couch on the non-Dottie side. Dottie came to the couch, and I helped her up. She tried to crawl over my lap, but I figured she was going to try to shoo Flower away, so I kept her on her side.

shih tzu love fest

I got back about 7:00 p.m. from picking up Spot Collins at the Denver Dumb Friends League and taking him to Mom’s. John got home a little later. After we ate, I decided to try an experiment — a love fest.

shih tzu on a couchA lot of people try to keep their dogs off the couch, for one reason or another. We, however, are constantly trying to get our shih tzus to be couch dogs. Of course, Dottie eagerly sits by me, and Flower visits from time to time. She visits less now than she did, but I do believe it’s because of Dottie. Over the last ten weeks, Candy has only jumped up on the couch when I was there once, when something frightened her. She jumps up regularly after we go to bed, because I have caught her when I’ve come downstairs at an unexpected time. She just doesn’t jump up on the couch when the humans are up and about.

<u srcset=shih tzus on a couch.” width=”300″ height=”199″ />I went and got Flower from Shih Tzu Central and sat her on the couch, but she wouldn’t stay for longer than a few minutes. Then, I got Candy and put her on the couch between myself and John. She lay down and put her paw on my leg and seemed fine. After being there about a minute, she slowly raised her head, gazed into my eyes, and then slowly lowered it again.

Candy seemed cozy next to John, so I went back and got Flower from their corner, lay down on her couch and held her on my stomach. She relaxed a little while I petted her head and her ears and rubbed her tummy. While I was on the couch with Miss Flower, Candy didn’t move away from John.

I tease John because I have slim fingers and small hands, and I always tell him his “fat hands” are better for massages. I asked him to give Candy his fat hand massage, and he complied, rubbing her face and tummy and massaging her back.

While we were with Candy and Flower, Dottie sat on her end of the couch, watching what was going on. After I thought Flower had received enough love, I brought her back to Shih Tzu Central and went and spent time with Dottie. I’m not sure how much Candy and Flower enjoyed it, but I like to think they did and I plan to schedule regular love fests.