Category Archives: Toys & Stuffed Animals

Shih Tzu Day 50: Learning to Get Love

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Bossy Flower

Flower is getting more and more bossy in the morning. This morning, she rushed upstairs and, with Dottie, made her usual stop on my side of the bed. She only stayed there for a minute or so before rushing to John’s side, where she proceeded to bark away. I still don’t know what it means. I expect it means that she wants him to get up. John says it means that she wants him to get up and get out of the house. When she came back to my side of the bed, she bit my hand more aggressively than usual. Although I don’t mind it, I did try to calm her down.

Learning to Get Love

Candy seems to trust John more every day.Candy came upstairs with her sisters this morning. When I reached my hand over the bed, she stood on her back paws and danced, waving her front paws in the air. She is so cute. She also did that last night when John was feeding them treats. She also came up to me this afternoon and stood still while I petted her. Flower sat a few feet away, watching the activity. Dottie came up a little later and nuzzled her head against my arm and leg.

Today, I was thinking about John saying that Flower doesn’t know how to get love. She also has trust issues. I think that’s true, but I think she is trying to learn. How do you train your dog to love? In the afternoon, she did come and put her nose on my feet and then let me pet her.

Flower’s favorite toy continues to be the plastic firemen I got from the Dollar Store. However, all but one of them have met their demise. I’ve stumbled across a variety of arms and legs lately, so there must be some bodies around here somewhere.

Shih Tzu Day 48: My Dog, Einstein

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Flower Shows Her Possessive Side

Flower was the first one to pounce on the plastic firemen.Every time I look at Flower, I think of Einstein. She is looking rather wild.I took Lia’s advice and cut up some hot dogs to bribe Flower while I am attempting to trim her. She didn’t eat any of the pieces when she was up on my makeshift grooming table (a buffet by the kitchen door), but she came back to get them when she got down. I also made an appointment with Lia for John and I to go into Gentle Groomer next week while he is on vacation so he can practice clipping on her dog.

Flower soon claimed all the firemen as her own.Flower has exhibited her possessive side today. She collected all of the Big Blast treats from the carpet and the various places they put them and took them to the communal dog bed. Then, she collected all four plastic firemen I bought for them at the Dollar Store and put them with the Big Blasts. She didn’t seem to know what to do when Candy came and took one of the firemen back. Her attention soon went back to biting the fireman’s legs and chewing on his head. I thought it was hard enough plastic that it could keep her attention but that she wouldn’t be able to shred it, but I was wrong. It took her quite a while, but she disassembled two of them this afternoon.

She also seems to be ignoring me. She hasn’t been coming up and visiting me on the couch and she is back to running when I get near her. I wonder if it is because of the grooming I have been doing on her here and there. I managed to catch and hold her today. For some reason, I just kept repeating, “I love my little, difficult puppy.” She is difficult, but I definitely do love her.

Candy’s New Play and Sleep Station

Candy chose a comfy spot, the training pad, to play with the new toy.While Flower was chewing on her firemen, Candy decided to take a nap on the training pad. I thought those pads were supposed to have some type of scent that made them want to do their business on them, not play on them, like she did yesterday, or sleep on them. She lay down right in the middle of it. It would be great if they had that good of aim when they peed, since it seems to be hit or miss. I think it’s usually accidental for Candy and Dottie when they partially miss the pad, but I wonder with Flower sometimes.

Dear Ole Dottie

There isn’t much new to say about dear, devoted Dottie. Each morning, she continues to run up the stairs and try to get me up. If I don’t get up, she sits by the bed quietly and waits. However, If I try to put her up on the bed with me, she dances away. During the day, off and on, she comes and lies next to me while I work. She is also the only one who follows me around the house. Granted, she is usually wondering if I am going to produce food.

 

 

 

Shih Tzu Day 32: The Shih Tzu Sisters Scatter

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John causes the shih tzu sisters to scatter

I decided to bring Dottie upstairs with us, away from her shih tzu sisters, for a few minutes at bedtime last night. I closed the doors so she couldn’t run out, and I just talked to her. John said, “Do you think she’s going to answer?” because I talk to them constantly.

Life looks much better without a quesy tummy.When I got into bed, I put Dottie between us. She stayed on the people bed for about twenty minutes before she finally lay down. I could tell that her head was still up though, so she wasn’t completely relaxed. I turned over and set her on the other side for a few more minutes, and then I put her down on the floor and opened the door. She ran into the hall, but then she just sat there wagging her tail. I’m not sure if she went downstairs or not after I went back to sleep. I’m thinking about getting a dog bed to put upstairs and see if any of the shih tzu sisters give it a try.

The furry alarm clocks went off at 5:30, which was way too early, since we stayed up late. John was researching tools on his iPad, and I was working with pictures and updating my blog.

Who says puppy mill moms can't become fluffy puppies? Again, I tried to ignore the shih tzu sisters, but they kept coming back until I dragged myself out of bed at 6. John was reading the instructions for the camera we just bought, so he couldn’t help me get the bowls together, as he sometimes does. It took longer than usual, especially since Flower kept barking while I was trying to get everything together, so I kept stopping to go to the door and tell her to be quiet. I know she needs some discipline. We’re getting to that point. Inch by inch.

Our experiment with Dottie yesterday resulted in the shih tzus still acting afraid of John this morning. I think Dottie and Candy would have forgotten it, and maybe even has, but Flower has gone back to barking constantly at him. The result is that they all scatter whenever he gets near them in any way.

John and I went out for pizza after church, so we were gone for a few hours. When we got home, to try to get the shih tzus a little more comfortable with John again, he passed out the treats. It seemed to help.

they’re alive

It has been very hot, and the swamp cooler doesn’t seem to be doing its job. That might be why the girls have been on their beds in their corner so much this afternoon. However, at one point, all the animals came alive. I don’t know who hit the switch. Shiloh jumped up on our couch, and Flower jumped up on her couch, bringing one of the Angry Bird toys with her. Dottie had been next to me, but she jumped down on the floor. Candy stayed behind at Shih tzu Central.

twilight

John took a bike ride, with Shiloh on a leash. Shiloh did very well. When they came back, we sat outside in the twilight. Flower barked a little, but not much. They all wandered around the garden or sat on the porch. They all came in but Candy, so John went and picked her up. He held her and stroked her for a few minutes. She didn’t seem to mind.

Shih Tzu Day 28: Romper Room Revival

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Living on the Romper Room Set

I can see Flower and Dottie...I can see Candy...John and I were talking this morning about the cute factor of living with these shih tzu sisters. He said he was thinking about the little tykes and thought of the children’s TV show, “Romper Room.” I knew exactly what part he was talking about, when the hostess held up her “magic mirror,” and said, “I can see …” and named off the guests. My magic mirror is my camera: “I can see Candy and Flower and Dottie … and Shiloh.”

McDonald’s Again

I decided to continue my experiment with Flower and take her to McDonald’s again. It was a repeat of yesterday. Yup. She hated the car ride again, but, no poop, so we are improving!

I took her home, took the kids out back and fed them a gourmet lunch on the porch. She might not have liked her trip, but at least maybe she will start to realize that something bad doesn’t happen each time she gets in the car. I wish I had tried harder with our Yorkie, Joey. She thought every trip was a trip to the groomer or vet, and she shook violently anytime she got in the car. Then again, every trip was a trip to the groomer or the vet because of the way she felt in the car!

What a Rush

Let's rush her. She's hiding food.When we came inside, the girls weren’t ready to go back to their safe zone. They all roamed around the living room for a while. Flower and Dottie’s tails were wagging. I still haven’t figured out if Candy actually wags her tail. I don’t seem to ever catching her doing it.

Flower decided to repose on the floor between the safe zone and me to take a small nap. It’s odd. The dogs will be in their corner, and suddenly, somethinThis dog is a funny color. It's not our sister, is it?g will set them off, and it’s like someone let them out of their cage. They descend on me, cute as a bunch of little lions. I can see why they’re called “lion dogs.” Especially Flower. Sometimes the way they rush me reminds me of those zombie movies.

I disappeared for a while to go upstairs to gather laundry. The girls thought it was morning again. When I came down, they started their prancing and biting routine.

The Orange Dog

Candy and Flower have finCandy is such a pushover! ally decided to play with the orange dog I got them. Candy was carrying it around, tugging on it for a while, but then Flower, the bully, took it from her.  When Flower got tired of them, she leaped up onto the couch to visit me. Her time limit seems to be about five minutes.

Not Dad Yet

Flower still barked, growled and ran when John came in. She scurried around the room, darted here and there, while the other three dogs took treats from him. I think it would be a little better if Shiloh wasn’t constantly trying to be front and center. I know the day will come when they will realize that he’s a good dad. It’s a strange switch. Joey was so devoted to John. But, I know they will come around.

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.