Category Archives: Training

Shih Tzu Day 67: Scaredy Dog, Cats & Grooming

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scaredy shih tzu dog

I got up with the shih tzus this morning to let them out and feed them so John could sleep. For the next few hours, I worked on some ad copy for a client, with Dottie beside me and Candy and Flower at shih tzu Central.

When John got up, we took the shih tzus back outside. Flower was sitting on the porch when a motorcycle started up. Our scaredy shih tzu jumped up and ran for the door, pushing it open to get inside as fast as she could, with Dottie not far behind. As usual, Candy had the opposite reaction. She stood where she was, looking towards the fence, an inquisitive look on her face.

Flower gets an “A” on the grooming table

shih tzu after partial grooming. We put Flower up on the grooming table, because I’ve been noticing how wild she’s been looking lately, particularly her face. We went through the routine with the hot dog, letting her smell it to associate it with grooming. She didn’t take a piece, but when John started clipping her, she stayed completely still. We don’t have a grooming arm yet, so I held her in one place, but she didn’t fight me or John during the grooming process. We clipped a lot of her body and tidied up her face. The next time we groom her, we’ll work on her paws again and clip her nails. I was very proud of her. It was quite different from when she got kicked out of grooming school or our earlier attempts to groom her.

Backyard Intruder

shih tzu looking at cat in backyard.John and I went out to lunch and to run some errands, including looking for a new carpet to replace our beautiful, western carpet, from which we can’t seem to extract the urine odor. We decided to look for something cheap and small that we could stick in the washing machine. We found one we both liked at Kohl’s. I wasn’t sure about the size, and when we got it home, I thought it was way too small. We talked some more, and we decided to cover ever inch of our western carpet front and back with pet cleaning solution and then rinse it with the hose as well as we could.

three shih tzus chase a cat away.While we were outside, Flower spotted an intruder in the backyard. A stray cat was sitting on the landscaping timbers, putting her out of Flower’s reach. We put up a fence to prevent the dogs from climbing up into the landscaped area and possibly escaping out of the fence between us and our backyard neighbor.

Flower got as close as she could and barked like crazy. The grey cat just sat there aloofly, staring at Flower. Her barks finally pulled Dottie and Candy away from what they were doing, and they came running. That moved the cat to cross into the neighbor’s yard and the girls finally calmed down.

Shih Tzu Day 66: Are We Moving Outside?

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The Patio Looks Like Our Living Room

Sometimes it takes a along time to get Mom out of bed. Dottie and Flower went up to get her while I waited downstairs to surprise her at the steps. They didn’t come down until an hour later. I think it was a little after 6 o’clock.

Me and Flower wait for the Treat Man to give us a goodie. After Mom fed us, I stayed out in the yard to investigate. I love all the smells! There is a big building at the very end of the grass, and I like to go sit over there sometimes and just think about what I want to do next. I was sitting outside when I saw Mom bring our dog beds out onto the porch. I thought that was strange. Sometimes she takes our dog beds away and when she brings them back, they smell really pretty, but she never puts them outside. She also put our toy box out there, and some of our treats. I wondered if we were going to live out there.

Shih Tzu in front of a shed.After a little while, I heard that loud noise. It’s some machine she or the Treat Man pushes across the floor. When I hear it, I always run upstairs, but I was outside, so it was okay. Dottie and Flower came outside when the noise started, although they don’t mind it like I do. They didn’t stay outside with me all the time, though. Mom let them go in and out. I waited outside until I was sure the noise wasn’t coming back.

Shih tzu in front of a shed.Mom also brought something else outside. It’s a big, brown thing with a picture of a horse in the middle. I think I heard Mom say it’s a carpet. We like to sit on it and play on it or chew on our treats. I don’t think Mom knows, but we don’t always like to sit on that white square when we have to pee, so sometimes we just pee on it.

Mom and the Treat Man came out and I heard Mom say that it smelled really bad and she didn’t think it could go back inside. I wonder why she thinks it smells? It smells okay to me. They went back inside and called me to come in.

A little while later, someone knocked on the door. It was a male human. Dottie and Flower would have normally growled and barked, but he went right by us and sat down at the table with Mom and the Treat Man. They were eating something, but they didn’t offer us any.

After the other human left, Mom and the Treat Man came back outside. They put the carpet down on the porch. I sat on it for awhile. It was kind of fun. When we went outside and had treats later, the carpet was still there. Maybe it’s going to live outside, but it looks like we’ll still live inside, because Mom put our dog beds back inside.

Flower Had A Poopy Butt!

Shih tzu upside down on dog bed.Flower had to have a bath because she had a poopy butt. I don’t usually get a poopy butt, so I didn’t think they’d make me take a bath, but just in case, I went and sat in my corner in the dining room where it’s hard for them to see me. I couldn’t get to it for a while, because it was blocked off. We can also sit under the table again, but they moved that carpet outside too.

Flower always gets grumpy when she has a bath. Well, I do too. After her bath, Mom held her for a while. I was waiting to see if Mom was going to go and get that other thing that makes loud noise, that blows air at you, but she didn’t. Flower was lucky! I hate that thing!

Shih Tzu Day 63: Just Another Shih Tzu Day

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Early A.M. with the Shih Tzus

We have no control over our furry, shih tzu alarm clocks. Flower came up at 4, accompanied by Dottie. Sure would love to ask Flower a lot of questions, including why she thinks we would want to get up that early in the morning. Waking us up early had the opposite effect of what she wanted, though. I slept intermittently between her barking spells, and didn’t get up until after 6:30.

Although I mention food a lot, I always forget to mention “how” these dogs eat. At mealtime, Flower gobbles her food down as quickly as possible, jumping back at any noise, no matter how slight. When she is almost done, she rushes over to Candy’s dog bowl.

I have started trimming off a little each quarter cup of kibble, and holding it back in reserve. When Flower makes a move for Candy’s bowl, I call her name and lure her to me by hand feeding her pieces of the dry dog food, one at a time, to let Candy finish her meal without interruption. Dottie is nearly as slow as Candy, because she is missing some of her front teeth. When she eats, a lot of the pieces fall out, and she has to search for it on the porch. Once Dottie and Candy do finish eating, I feed them the kibble bits I have left over, so they don’t feel left out.

Candy and the Grooming Table

Shih tzu being groomedAfter the girls ate, I went upstairs for something and found dog poop and a urine spot on our bedroom carpet. I had heard Candy jumping around up there earlier, and should have known she was doing her “after pooping” dance she does after eating. They were outside for at least twenty minutes after they ate, so I don’t know why she did that. I cleaned it up and announced to John that she was the shih tzu going on the grooming table today.

Shih tzu face.Although she was trying to nip at the dog clippers at first, she relaxed enough for John to clip quite a bit of her body and to even clip a little of her head. Since our goal is to just get her used to the grooming table, we stopped when we thought we were ahead. I tried to give her a Vienna sausage as a reward while she was on the table, like I had learned in dog grooming school, but she wouldn’t take it. She also wouldn’t take it from John when we sat her down on the floor, but she came back and took it from me.

Candy stayed in the living room for longer than I thought she would, after facing the grooming table, but she did run upstairs to regroup. She had to sit in the hall, though, because after she used our bedroom as a potty box, I closed both doors.

More Housebreaking Contraptions

While we’re on the subject of dogs who aren’t house broken, my latest training contraction hasn’t worked out either. This one was a simple tray that you put a training pad on. Then, you snap a “frame” over it that is intended to hold the training pad in place. No one used the training pad while it was on the tray. However, one of the shih tzus was interested. I caught my plastic lover, Flower, trying to gnaw on the edge.

I still have a few options. I can try a dog training spray that is supposed to tempt them to do their business where you spray it, or the spray that is supposed to prevent them from doing their business where you don’t want them to. I also need to investigate dog litter, which I saw at PetSmart. (If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!)

Afternoon with the Shih Tzus

When I came back from grocery shopping, one of the shih tzus had pooped on the training pad. That almost makes me feel that we are getting somewhere in the battle to housebreak our doggies!

The girls didn’t come alive this afternoon, like they sometimes do. Candy stayed upstairs for awhile. Dottie sat beside me, but Flower spent most of the afternoon in the Safe Zone. It’s possible it’s because the hardwood floor keeps the dogs cool.

So Happy to See You!

Shih tzu jumping for treatWhen John came home, Candy didn’t just wag her tail; she nearly wiggled her butt off. Flower barked like he was an intruder. Candy let him hold her after treat time. I am happy about that. I keep reminding them that they should be nice, since he supplies a good deal of their dog food and treats. Flower continued to stay distant, going back to her corner immediately after getting her night-time treat.

I stopped by to visit the girls on the way upstairs. They were all so adorable, lying in their dog beds, I had to scrunch their faces between my hands and sing a chorus of the Stevie Wonder song, “Isn’t she lovely, isn’t she wonderful,” to each little darling dog.

Shih Tzu Day 62: Candy Wags Her Tail for Daddy

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tail-wagging Candy

Shih tzu on carpet.I think we had a major victory last night. When John got home from work, Flower forgot that she had spent the whole week with him and barked ferociously, as if he was an intruder. Dottie just hung back, but Candy greeted him with a wagging tail. That’s pretty good, since Candy’s tail rarely wags. Flower didn’t bark for very long, however, especially after John passed out the Milo’s chicken jerky.

Dottie’s turn on the table

Dottie was patient on the grooming table, but wouldn't walk on the leash.We are going to try to either put one sister on the leash or do some type of grooming every day. This morning, we put Dottie on the table. We trimmed around her paws and a little on the bottom of her feet, gave her her treat and put her back down. Flower is always too nervous to eat a treat on the table, put Dottie did.

panic mode

Shortly after John left, I was messing around with my blog site, trying to figure out why I couldn’t set up email subscriptions correctly. Right after that, it showed an error. I panicked, since I hadn’t backed it up for a while. It turned out that Fatcow was having a problem. Thank goodness. I did back up the site as soon as it came back up.

Candy’s turn with the harness

Candy took a few steps in the harness, following a Vienna sausage.The girls all seemed so bored today, languishing on the carpet, floor or in the doggie beds. I decided they should get a little fresh air, and while they were at it, Dottie could have another leash and harness lesson. Dottie was stubborn, and didn’t want to budge, though, so I targeted Candy.

I tried to do what Cesar recommended, introducing the harness to her, and giving her a bite of the chosen treat, Vienna sausage again. She took the bite and didn’t seem too disturbed by the walk-in harness, so I put it on her. I didFlower was relieved to avoid the grooming table and leash. have to carry her out to the middle of the grass. She didn’t walk as much as Flower did the other day, but she did take a few tentative steps. She’d stop, I’d offer a small bite of the sausage, and she would take a few more steps. I didn’t want to push her too far, so I made it a short session. I split the last sausage between the three of them.

Candy went upstairs for a short time after we came in, but then she came down and spent most of the afternoon with us. I think that’s another good sign.

Shih Tzu Day 60: The Treat Man

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John, the Treat Man, Not the Scary Man

It appears that John might be going from being a Scary Man to being the Treat Man.He has been following Lia’s advice, throwing down hot dog pieces when they don’t expect it, so that they will look forward to having him at home. When we got home from church and running errands, Flower started to approach him, without barking, but she stopped herself.  All three came up to him eagerly when he passed out the sweet potatoe and chicken treats. Afterwards, Candy started digging her back paws into the dirt, kicking it up around her. It was a cute sight.

No to the Potty Patch

I had high hopes that the Potty Patch would be our answer to carpets that don’t smell like Parfum de Urine, and that, if necessary, the girls would like to do number two on it as well, although that isn’t as big a problem as the other. Once again, my girls thought it was more fun to scatter the pieces on the carpet, then to actually sit on it and do their business. Maybe I should have sprinkled some dirt on it, to make it look more like real grass, or, in our case, maybe I should have bought one that resembled dying grass.

Candy Joins the Family

Candy had second thoughts about trying to escape.Sunday evening was very peaceful. Dottie took her place beside me on the couch. Candy chose to join us, instead of hibernating upstairs. She spent a lot of time crossing in front of us, going from one end of the living room to the other and back. For some reason, Flower abandoned her usual spot on the hardwood floor for the comfort of the blue dog bed.

Later, she jumped up on the couch, landing half on Dottie. They stayed there quite a while, while John and I watched a few episodes of The Dog Whisperer. The more I listen to Cesar, the more I realize that I tend to reward the girls for bad behavior. He also says it’s important to  begin with structure and then move on to awards/treats.

In one episode, he explained how to put a harness on a fearful dog. According to Cesar, you must first show the dog the harness. Then, take a treat and make the dog come to you and take the treat from your hand, through the harness. Eventually, you should be able to slowly put the food in the dog’s mouth and, while she is submissive, put the harness over her head. I’ll try that next time.

For some reason, one episode caught their attention again. They ran out of the Safe Zone as if someone had flipped a switch. Candy got excited and wagged her tail — a rare occasion — turning her head excitedly. I think they miss other dogs. I hope we can leash train them soon, so we can take them out into the world and see how they react to other dogs.

“I’m a Good Guy, Promise”

John wanted to take the dogs outside without giving them a treat, so they won’t expect it every time. Flower and Dottie wanted to come back in instantly, but Candy came up to him and they had a petting session for a few minutes. When they came in, Candy lay down at his feet. It reminded me of something Cesar said earlier to a dog: “I now you don’t know me, but I’m a good guy, promise.” They have to be realizing that John is a good guy.

I think that Candy touched John’s heart so much that he decided to take them out again later, and this time, really give them a treat. I was working, so I sat that one out too. This time, John was sharing Vienna sausages with the girls. He ate one first, watching as three little noses sniffed the air. Candy came up to him first, winning half a sausage. Dottie quickly grabbed hers and gobbled it down. Flower kept her distance, until John called her name. When she came up, she took a bite, but Candy rushed up and stole the rest of hers. John pulled another one out, since Candy had stolen the rest of hers. He also decided to give the rest to Candy, since she is the smallest. And probably, since she’s warming up to him the most.