Category Archives: Dog Food & Treats

Shih Tzu Day 55: Puppy Mill Reminder

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Good Morning

I told myself before going to bed last night that I would get up early, to give John a chance to sleep in, without the dogs waking him up, but I couldn’t make myself. They ended up being extra playful. I don’t think he minded.

Flower has made it a habit to go back and forth between my side of the bed and John’s. He plays games with her, where she tries to bite his fingers, but he keeps moving them. He was also playing with her with his socks, but Flower kept running off with them.

Candy came up to us both for petting. Dottie went to John’s side occasionally, but mainly sat on my side, whining when I rolled to the other side of the bed to see the play there.

After I fed the girls, Dottie sat with me for a while and then jumped down. Flower jumped up on the couch to take her place. She played with a Pork Chomps treat for a while, and then sat there staring at me with a “come hither” and pet me look. I petted her for at least 10 minutes. Everytime I tried to stop, she’d stare at me. Sometimes when I stop, she gets down off the couch, but this time, she decided to lie down beside me, her head hanging over the edge of the couch, watching Candy smell the carpet and Dottie chew on her treat.

Dottie came up to sit with me for a while later on. This time, she jumped up on the couch without myself, which is unusual. I wonder if Candy will ever come up and sit with me on the couch.

Flower didn’t bark or growl at John when he came down.

Puppy Noises Stir Feelings

Flower jumped up on the couch this afternoon, landing on Dottie. She sat there while Dottie made a “get off me” sound.

John and I went out for lunch and stopped at Home Depot to get a new ceiling fan for the bedroom. We also picked up a dimmer, because I am hoping that if the lights are low when they come up to play, the girls will still be playful, and I can get pictures of them.

Candy, Flower and Dottie were excited when we came home. They started dancing in the middle of the room, but when they saw John come in the door, danced backwards towards the Safe Zone.

John got out treats, and Flower first started to race upstairs, but then realized she was missing out and came back down. After they got their treats, they went back to their corner for awhile. John went outside later and Dottie and Flower came out to greet me, wagging their tails and looking adorable.

We watched a few more episodes of The Dog Whisperer this evening. On one of the episodes, new-born puppies were whimpering, and all of the girls ran to the middle of the floor and stood there, looking around, including towards the TV. I wonder, did it made them think of the puppies they had? It was very touching.

Shih Tzu Day 54: That Horrible Leash Again

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Average Morning

Flower and Dottie aren't sure what it means when we put the leash on them.John woke up with one of his headaches this morning, before the 5:00 a.m. shih tzu visitation, and went downstairs. A little while later, I heard the jingle signalling I would soon have company. Right after that, Dottie and Flower scratched at the bed. He would have passed her when he went downstairs, but she sometimes gets confused. She acted disappointed that he wasn’t there — for her to antagonize, I think.

When he came back up, she started barking. I think she just thinks it’s a game. She seems like she enjoys it, but then after he gets up and goes downstairs, she’s afraid of him again (if anyone can solve this puzzle for me, I’d appreciate it!).

I didn’t have any cottage cheese for their dry food, so I decided to give them a little bit of applesauce. They all sniffed it and then walked away, but Flower came back a few times, and then finally licked it. All three of them eventually ate a little bit of it.

Leash Phobia

Flower did a Houdini act and escaped her pink harness after we tried to get her to walk around the yard.I have a very strong to desire to get one of the dogs walking on a leash by the end of John’s vacation next week. Since I want to record our progress, and since I think he is probably better at being firm, John attempted to train Flower, while I worked the camcorder. She fought like crazy. I admit that it looked like torture, but all he did was stand there holding it, while she thrashed around. A few minutes later, Houdini slipped out of her harness and ran. After a few attempts to hook the leash back to her collar, we gave up and let her go inside. Cesar would say that we shouldn’t have let her walk away on her terms, but sometimes it’s just too much work to get our way.

We had put leashes on Dottie and Candy, so they were up next. Dottie and Candy “sort of” walked around, talking a few steps and then stopping, a few steps and then stopping. After several minutes, John took both of their leashes and coaxed them around the backyard, with them doing the same thing. No one would call it an actual “walk,” but it’s a few steps in the right direction.

John offered Dottie and Candy hot dog pieces for rewards after our session was over. He sat down by them on the porch, and each of them came up and took them from his hand. Flower kept her distance, watching the goings-on.

The girls all kept their distance for a while. Since John is the bad man with the leash, they waited until he was out of the living room to once again be approachable.

That makes me sad, because I know he wants to be close to them, and I think he is approaching them in the right way. If anyone has any suggestions regarding getting these little ones to walk on a leash, I’d love to hear from you.

Shih Tzu Day 52: A New Visitor

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My Sister-in-Law Visits the Shih Tzus

John’s sister Lynda called this morning and said she’d been reading my blog and that she wanted to come over and meet the dogs. Lynda is a quiet, gentle person who has several cats. I figured she wouldn’t be as much of a threat to the shih tzus as the grandchildren or even teenagers are.

Flower, Candy and Dottie eyed her suspiciously when she came in, but they seemed fairly calm. I gave her some treats to try to feed them while we were inside. Dottie approached her tentatively, but took a treat. Flower and Candy kept their distance. I thought they might do better outside, so I opened the back door and they scurried out. Dottie was still the only one who would take a treat.

Once we went back inside, I was able to catch Candy, and Lynda held her for a while. She might not have enjoyed it, but she didn’t fight it. Baby steps.

 

 

 

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 47: Play Day

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Raring to Go

Sisters, sisters!Candy, Dottie and Flower’s trauma yesterday must not have been too bad, or else their recuperation time is quicker these days, because they were raring to go this morning. As usual, they rushed the bed at 5:30 this morning. I tried to ignore them, but the barks and whines kept getting louder and louder. I finally feebly reached my hand over the bed to their excited squeals.

Let's play dead!After about fifteen minutes, I gave up and got out of bed. I was surprised to see not two but three shih tzus running around. Candy hadn’t joined them in their trip upstairs for a long time. Maybe it was Shiloh at the top of the stairs that prevented her from coming up.

It might also be Shiloh that changed them from quietly playing to aggressively barking for me to get up. Some how, I would love to turn back the time and avoid the “nuisance barking.” The good news is that they only bark until I do what they want. Ha.

That kind of tickles, but it kind of feels good too.When the girls came in from breakfast, I felt like they wanted to play. However, I didn’t know what to do for them. They have a lot of stuffed animals, which they drag out now and then, but I haven’t found any other toys that they have gotten attached to. What keeps their attention the most are the Waggin’ Train Big Blast or Pork Chomp type treats that they gnaw on for weeks, consistently going back to. Although remnants of them were lying around on the floor, I threw out three new Big Blasts. Flower grabbed one to play with, but Candy and Dottie initially stuck with the ones that were already partially unraveled.

As time went on, Dottie picked up one of the newer treats and busily chewed on it for the next half hour. When Flower got distracted, Candy stole the one she had been working on.

Hidden Treasures

Chew, chew, chew.Candy must have found my memory box in her trips up to hide in the bedroom lately. This morning, I came across a small, wet woven bag containing a few small crystals I had as a keepsake from my late sister. I picked it up to put it away, but I smiled at the fact that Candy had discovered it, when I hadn’t seen it for years. I need to pick the box up off the floor of the closet and put it some where else.

Dottie, My Couch Partner

Can you see why they call us "Imperial Shih Tzus"?Dottie sat beside me most of the morning, contentedly snoring for some time while I worked. Candy and Flower spent a good deal of time chewing on their Big Blast, with Candy deciding that the best place to gnaw on hers was on the training pad. My guess is that dogs shouldn’t be allowed to play on training pads, since that might discourage them from doing their business there, but I was too lazy to move her off it.

I guess it didn’t do too much harm, since Flower visited the pad a little later. Good girl! I didn’t stop Dottie in time from tinkling on the carpet, but that was my fault. I forgot to replace the training pad after Flower used it.