Category Archives: Food Ritual

Shih Tzu Week 119: Snow!

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Oct. 3 – Oct. 9, 2013

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Friday, Oct. 4 

It snowed last night. Snow! On Oct. 3! I’m not ready to see my garden die! Also, I have been leaving the backdoor open, since Candy and Dottie still don’t go through the doggy door. So today it is closed.

I have begun to think of myself as Flower’s “Daddy Bridge.” She climbs onto my lap, and without stopping, crosses me to get to Daddy. But I am in no way complaining. I am just happy that she is that comfortable with both of us now. When she isn’t with us, or at Shih Tzu Center, she likes to sit on the back of the loveseat where she can watch everybody from a comfortable distance, and look out the window when she chooses.

Candy also continues to make “couch progress.” I never knew what she wanted before when she came up to the couch. Nowadays it can mean she wants a snack or she wants up. Today, for example, I reached to get her and she stood still and let me pick her up. Dottie was already on one side and Nigel snuggled close on the other. I sat her on the other side of Nigel, and she eventually curled up and settled down. When she was there, I rubbed her ear and realized it was soft inside, not rough as usual. That roughness, or “elephant ear,” is a sign of allergies, although I am not sure to what. I have been putting a little Aquaphor in her ear, thinking if it works for my lips it might work for her ear. It seems to be working. Also, a neighbor gave us a water cooler, so they mainly get purified water to drink, and maybe that is helping.

Flower jumped up on the couch to join us a little later, so I had all four of the shih tzus for company, although Flower definitely looked bored on her corner perch. Candy can only take couch comfort for so long, so she eventually jumped down to occupy the bed she and Nigel alternate in, by the entertainment center. Although he rarely does it, Nigel actually took a bed at Shih Tzu Central.

I have the TV on today, like I often do when I’m working, with the volume down. I just saw an image of an abused dog on an commercial for an animal shelter and it almost made me cry. I am so happy our four shih tzus have a loving home and that there are so many animal rescues and shelters out there trying to make a difference.

Sunday, Oct. 6 

It warmed up enough for us to take the dogs for a walk at Majestic View Nature Center. Since we have worked so hard on our garden this year, I have really enjoyed looking at their plants and flowers, which are usually tagged with their names.

It gives me of ideas for the future. We don’t walk there nearly as much as the shih tzus would like to, since we normally just walk behind Wal-Mart, so it is always a special treat. I tried to walk all four of them once there without John, but it was a fiasco, and I would never try it again.

Monday, Oct. 7

Nigel got a bath today. Hopefully that will stop his scratching. Each one of the dogs took their turns on the couch today again. Of course, Dottie is there most of the day. I was watching Flower roll around on the couch for a while. Not sure why she does that, but it’s fun to watch. Maybe she is scratching her back on the couch? Each time I pick up Candy and sit her down on the couch, I think about the past, when she either hid upstairs or in her corner “apartment” in the dining room, instead of joining us. I continue to be thankful for how far we have come.

Tuesday, Oct. 8 

John gave the shih tzus their pre-breakfast snack (chicken-wrapped rawhide bone) as usual this morning and they were raring to go. For some reason, Candy often doesn’t eat hers right away. She sits it in front of her and guards it. I think she keeps it just to enjoy the game. If anyone comes near it, she sounds her loud siren bark warning. I need to record it, because it’s fierce. Sometimes, like today, Flower sits on the other side of Candy’s bone and growls, trying to terrorize her sister to giving it up. However, Candy instead decided it was time to enjoy it.

Shih Tzu Day 130: Daylight Saving Shih Tzus

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two shih tzus on a bed. an extra shih tzu in our bed

I decided to see if Candy would sleep with us. I told Flower and Dottie goodnight and Nigel, John, Candy and I went upstairs. Candy’s shih tzu sisters must have been curious, because they came upstairs a little later. I had set Nigel and Candy on the bed, and Flower and Dottie came to the edge of it. Candy became  queen of the mountain. She leaned over the bed and growled at her sisters.

a shih tzu being bathed.

Candy didn’t attempt to jump down, like Dottie does, so I turned off the light to see what she would do. She stayed on the side of me, where I had set her. Nigel was laying between John and I, which is where he tends to lay, unless I move him. I fell asleep right away, but I woke up in the middle of the night. I’m a tosser, but when I went to turn over, there was no where to turn. Candy and Nigel were as close as bookends, and since they were on the bedspread, that made it even harder to turn. I woke up several times during the night, but tried to stay on one side as long as possible.

no Daylight Savings for the shih tzus

a shih tzu after a bath.

I awoke to Dottie’s moaning outside the door. The problem was that they were an hour early. We s

et the clocks last night for Daylight Savings. The furry alarm clocks didn’t recognize the hour change, so they came upstairs at their regular time.

Since I hadn’t slept well, John volunteered to get up and see if the shih tzus would let him feed them. It went well, except Dottie resisted going outside.

a wet shih tzu after a bath.

I asked John if Flower and Dottie tried to steal Candy’s food. He said they came over to check her bowl out, but Candy has figured out how to keep the other female shih tzus away from her food. She keeps her face in her bowl until she finishes eating!

All the shih tzus ran to greet  me when I got up. We decided three of the shih tzus needed grooming: Nigel, Dottie and Flower. Flower was the best when it came to

bathing and trimming. Dottie wasn’t too bad, but Nigel fought us again. We need a very deep sink for him, because he fights so hard to crawl out of ours.

 

 

Shih Tzu Day 86: Will Dance For Food

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The Breakfast Dance

breakfast dance 1The shih tzus didn’t want to let me sleep in today. They barked until I tumbled out of bed at 6. I needed to get up early anyway, because I had to finish up some work before I left for a morning appointment. The little dogs did their usual breakfast dance, which begins once I pick up their dog bowls and head for the back door, and ends once I put the bowls down.

breakfast dance 2I was gone for probably five hours, so they were very excited to see me when I got home. I put groceries away and got them outside, but Flower ran back in because of loud machine noises next door, so I gave her a treat inside.

breakfast dance 3The Canyon Creek apple and chicken wrap bag is almost empty, so I have to be making another PetSmart trip soon. That’s the only place I know that carries a big enough bag to last a while for three, small, food-loving dogs. They each got a small piece and then I gave them all a small sweet potato treat on the couch.

breakfast dance 4Flower jumped right up, then she sat there for a while. When I started to pet her, she rolled over on her side and then on her back.

breakfast dance 5I still haven’t been able to get the dogs’ mouths open to put the Tropiclean teeth gel on their teeth, so I have been experimenting with different so-called dental products. This time I bought something from Walmart that looks like a rawhide Flip. I passed them out, and they all chewed on them for awhile.

When they got bored, Candy and Flower took turns taking an Oinkies roll from each other. Candy would be chewing on one on the carpet and lay it down. Flower would trot over, grab it, and head back to Shih Tzu Central. It seemed unnecessary to me, since there are always several half-eaten Oinkies on the floor. I think they just like taking things from each other.

Wrong Truck

breakfast dance 6breakfast dance 7The girls are pretty good at recognizing sounds. For instance, they know when I am up, because they know every sound from when I go into the bathroom until I open the door. They bark once they know I am up, but they don’t start barking crazily until the electric toothbrush goes on, because they know the bathroom door will open shortly.

breakfast dance 8They know when I am home because they hear the garage door opening and then closing. When I get out of the Jeep I hear frantic barking. However, then they stop, waiting to see if it’s really going to be me or if it might be that Man. Once I walk in the backdoor and say hi, they go crazy, dancing around.

When John comes home from work, they hear the rumble of his truck and start barking.

Today, however, they heard another truck an hour earlier than John would be getting up and started barking. They acted very confused when they waited a while and then the door didn’t open.

breakfast dance 9I got down on the floor and told them they were silly. Then, I started making noises. Flower kept running up to me and then running off again, doing her “ruff” thing. Dottie just looked puzzled. When John did get home, Candy started to get excited, but then she checked herself. After all, if Flower and Dottie aren’t excited, should she be? However, once John told her hello, she ran up to him, shaking her little butt in greeting.