I have been remiss in keeping up our journal, so I thought I would post some Halloween pis and give a little progress report.

I have always said that we need to give Nigel a birthday. The Shih Tzu Sister had papers from the puppy mill, so we know their birth dates and ages. Nigel, however, was turned in to a shelter and they didn’t give the Colorado shelter any information, so we don’t really even know his age. The vet guessed at 18 months. John says sometimes he acts like a little boy and sometimes like an old man, so we have no idea. His black fur and face have always made me think of Halloween, though, so we decided we will celebrate his birthday on Halloween each year.

To celebrate Halloween and Nigel’s new birthday, I bought some London broil on sale and made all the shih tzus beef jerky instead of the regular chicken jerky. I also dehydrated some leftover ham, since I always see doggy ham bites at the store. I bought Nigel a sock monkey and a stuffed bone too.

I went with a “skull” theme, since Nigel has a new skull sweater, Candy has a black and white dress with skulls, and Flower has a jacket with a pink skull. Dottie isn’t a skull kind of shih tzu, but she was at least color coordinated with her black and white dress.

One of the biggest achievements this year is getting the shih tzus to not only go on walks, but to love them. Candy is still the only one that hesitates. The others jump around excitedly when I get down the harness and leash basket, knowing they are going for a walk nearby or in the car to the park.

Candy actually seems to like walking once we get her outside, but for some reason, she usually runs and hides when we are getting ready. Today was no different, but I went and got her and put her harness and leash on. Once she was outfitted for the walk, when I opened the door she trotted out behind the others.

Dottie and Candy are very good at walking next to me, so when there is no danger of cars or anything else, I let them drag their leashes. That makes it easier for me to handle Flower and Nigel with the flex leashes. And if I need to, I can pick it up again.

For Halloween, however, once we got to the grassy area behind Wal-Mart, I got their snacks out and let go of Flower and Nigel’s leashes. Once they had their treats, I let Flower and Nigel have a little freedom. It turns out that Nigel is the one that has to be watched like a hawk. Flower just wanted to sniff bushes, but Nigel’s keen eyes spotted two teenagers sitting down talking and took off running to greet them. After I caught up with him, i kept both of their leashes in my hand.

Except for Nigel, the shih tzus still don’t take to company. Candace and Victor brought over Caliyana and Jurrien, and later, Leticia brought over all five of her children. Nigel was as friendly as ever. The female shih tzus weren’t friendly, but they didn’t stay in their corner like they once would have. It also didn’t freak them out as much as last year when people kept coming to the door, dressed in strange clothes, but they did bark a lot.

When John came home, we continued our practice of trying to get them to take treats through the doggy door, in hopes that they will start using it. Nigel is getting the hang of it, and when he feels like it, can go out and come back in through it. Flower and Dottie will go through it if we hold open the plastic flap, but Candy won’t go near it, so we still have to leave an opening. We got  some cute pictures of them “trick or treating.”

It’s also good news as far as John is concerned too. All of them are getting closer to him. Candy will sit beside him on the couch or on his lap and loves him to pet her. Flower doesn’t do that, but she does come up and greet him. Dottie is still a little standoffish. But, all in all, we feel very good about our progress.