Category Archives: Behavior & Emotions

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 153: Energetic Shih Tzus

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shih tzus in waiting

Dottie started moaning early today. I couldn’t see the alarm clock, so I didn’t know it was 5:30 until I got out of bed. After the shih tzus had breakfast, Flower sat in the kitchen with me while I cleaned up a little. When I moved into the dining room, she followed me and sat by the table near me. Dottie walked back and forth until I finally sat down. Then, they both took their places beside me on the couch. They definitely don’t like it when their routine is interrupted.

playtime

two <u srcset=shih tzus sitting together on porch. ” width=”300″ height=”225″ />My shih tzus are mixing things up a little. This afternoon, Flower came up to the couch with a bone in her mouth, like Nigel does. Nigel was in hot pursuit, so I imagine she stole it from him. I reached down to try to help her up, like I do Nigel, but she ran away. I don’t know why she will never let me help her up. Nigel usually makes me help him up, even if the stairs are right beside him. Since that’s the case, I put the dog stairs on the Dottie/Flower side today, to see if either of them would use them. Flower did use them hesitantly a couple of times.

Although Candy and Nigel palled around outside, she also played outside by herself a lot today. I looked outside once and she was jumping up and down and around, throwing a toy up into the air and looking like she was chasing her tail. After she came in, she wandered around for a while and then came up to the couch, something she rarely does.  Maybe she was just curious to see what Dottie and Flower were chewing, since they were making a lot of noise.

Candy and Flower came up to Nigel’s side of the couch later and put their paws up together, wiggling their heads around. A short while after they walked away, Nigel jumped down and ran over to his dog bed, to make sure they hadn’t stolen anything.

When he came back up to the couch, he attempted to use the stairs I had moved, but Dottie glared at him from the couch. He must have been afraid of what the elder shih tzu would do, because he backed back down and came over to have me let him up.

a shih tzu with paws on a couch.The three youngest shih tzus had a lot of energy this afternoon. I heard loud breathing and scuffling often while I was working. Candy and Flower took turns doing their rodeo act, with each one trying to ride the other. As usual, Dottie was content to lay on the couch beside me.

Candy approaches

Candy came up to the couch and put her paws up on it several times. I thought she might want to come up, and I picked her up and sat her near me. She only stayed a few minutes before she jumped back down.

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 149: The Shih Tzus Get a Break from Company

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they’re gone, at last!

two shih tzus in a dog bed.Sleeping on my sofa sleeper for the first time was quite an experience. I didn’t think it was comfortable at all, although John said he didn’t mind it. Once company had all gone upstairs, the shih tzus came out of the “tent” I had made them to see why we were invading their living room.

a female shih tzu in a pink dog bed.Later, once they went back to Shih tzu Central, Flower kept making little barks. It took a while to get to sleep, but I finally did and slept fitfully until the shih tzus started stirring at 5:30. I jumped up to feed them, hoping they wouldn’t disturb John and that I could get a little more sleep after they settled back down. When I lay back down, all the shih tzus came up to visit my side of the sleeper.

I couldn’t get Dottie to come up, but Flower jumped up and lay beside me for a while. I finally fell back to sleep and didn’t get up until after 8:30. Flower was back on the floor when I got up. Candy kept going up to John for him to pet her.

a shih tzu getting into another shih tzu's dog bed.a female shih tzu in a black faux leather dog bed.The female shih tzus were back to their pre-company normalcy, until Heather came down the stairs and surprised them. Flower immediately started growling. Eventually, though, they just went back to huddling in their corner. I spent a little time with them while Heather went to pick up my mother and Herman and the boys went to see his family. Heather and Mom came back and got me and we went to lunch and to find Heather a coat. It wasn’t a typical Black Friday for me, because I didn’t spend a penny. Heather and her family left at 4 to go visit other relatives, so the dogs had the house to themselves again!

Candy has decided that she likes the faux leather dog bed I bought Nigel from TJ Maxx. While he was preoccupied, she went over and investigated, looked around to see if anyone was going to stop her, and then crawled in for an afternoon nap.