Category Archives: People Visitors

Shih Tzu Day 151: Shih Tzus Lacking in Socialization Skills

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possessive shih tzus

a shih tzuDottie is either very possessive of me or of her position on the couch. This morning, she was sitting by me and Nigel and Flower came up to the couch. I reached my hand out to pet Flower at the exact time she went to snap at her, and she accidentally bit me. It was a surprise more than anything. Her bite didn’t break the skin, but I could see little tooth marks. I think it surprised her too.

shih tzu alert

John and I left the shih tzus home alone this morning. We had a nice breakfast and then went and picked out a beautiful, rustic comforter for our bed. After that, I went grocery shopping and left John home alone with the shih tzus. We weren’t sure how that was going to work out. He mainly stayed in the garage. While he was out there he heard the shih tzus barking, more so than normal, and went in to see if there was a problem. Nothing seemed wrong, except he had left the TV on and there wasn’t a picture. He discovered that the bulb had exploded, so that must have been why the dogs were barking. The TV was a hand-me-down and we’ve already replaced the bulb once in the last six months, so it was time to go to Best Buy and upgrade! Very thankful for their no interest payment plan!

unsociable shih tzus

A shih tzu between two dog beds. Heather, Herman and the boys came back at 7. Candy stayed outside and Flower didn’t move from Shih Tzu Central. Dottie was brave and sat by me for a while. However, when Heather sat on her side of the couch to watch TV, she had to decide if she wanted to sit between me and John or between me and Heather. I put her between me and John, but she only stayed a few minutes before jumping off and joining Flower at Central.

Jordan kept trying to befriend Flower, but she growled at him every time he looked at her. The shih tzus obviously still need socialization training!

Shih Tzu Day 149: The Shih Tzus Get a Break from Company

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they’re gone, at last!

two shih tzus in a dog bed.Sleeping on my sofa sleeper for the first time was quite an experience. I didn’t think it was comfortable at all, although John said he didn’t mind it. Once company had all gone upstairs, the shih tzus came out of the “tent” I had made them to see why we were invading their living room.

a female shih tzu in a pink dog bed.Later, once they went back to Shih tzu Central, Flower kept making little barks. It took a while to get to sleep, but I finally did and slept fitfully until the shih tzus started stirring at 5:30. I jumped up to feed them, hoping they wouldn’t disturb John and that I could get a little more sleep after they settled back down. When I lay back down, all the shih tzus came up to visit my side of the sleeper.

I couldn’t get Dottie to come up, but Flower jumped up and lay beside me for a while. I finally fell back to sleep and didn’t get up until after 8:30. Flower was back on the floor when I got up. Candy kept going up to John for him to pet her.

a shih tzu getting into another shih tzu's dog bed.a female shih tzu in a black faux leather dog bed.The female shih tzus were back to their pre-company normalcy, until Heather came down the stairs and surprised them. Flower immediately started growling. Eventually, though, they just went back to huddling in their corner. I spent a little time with them while Heather went to pick up my mother and Herman and the boys went to see his family. Heather and Mom came back and got me and we went to lunch and to find Heather a coat. It wasn’t a typical Black Friday for me, because I didn’t spend a penny. Heather and her family left at 4 to go visit other relatives, so the dogs had the house to themselves again!

Candy has decided that she likes the faux leather dog bed I bought Nigel from TJ Maxx. While he was preoccupied, she went over and investigated, looked around to see if anyone was going to stop her, and then crawled in for an afternoon nap.

 

Shih Tzu Day 124: Halloween for the Shih Tzus

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bad start for Halloween

a shih tzu keeping an eye on a squirrel.a squirrel running along a fence.

 

 

 

 

Halloween for the shih tzus began with one of them throwing up yellow bile. It was one of the female shih tzus, because I found it when we came downstairs. I smelled all of their breath to see which shih tzu it was, and Flower had the bad breath. John said that didn’t necessarily mean that she threw up, since she could have eaten someone else’s. Gross, but I know it could happen. I don’t think that is the case, though, or else two shih tzus would have bad breath. None of the dogs acted sick, so I don’t know what caused the problem.

morning shih tzu squirrel notification

two shih tzus in black and white clothes. a shih tzu at the door wearing skull sweater

 

 

 

 

a shih tzu in polka dots and one in skull sweater. a shih tzu wearing a black and white polka dot dress with hood.

 

 

 

 

two shih tzu sisters wearing black and white polka dot dresses.a shih tzu and a trick or treater.

 

 

 

 

Candy spent a lot of time outside this morning prowling the perimeter again, looking for squirrels. Every once in a while, she would bark and summon the troops outside. What’s funny is that the dogs can’t always see the squirrel very well, so he will be running one way and the shih tzus will be running the other in search of him. Nigel doesn’t always join in on the squirrel hunt. Sometimes he lets the girl shih tzus do the chasing and he lays in the grass chewing on a bone.

shih tzu door greeter 

I took Nigel to PetSmart and Petco. I dressed him in his black sweater with the skull on it for Halloween. He was very excited to get to go in the car. He did very well, until he saw a big dog in Petco and his dog aggression came out. He started barking, growling and straining at the leash, so I had to pick him up and carry him until the dog was in another part of the store.

two shih tzus that look like werewolves. three blurry shih tzus with weird eyes.

 

 

 

 

When I came home, I dressed up the girls. They didn’t have costumes, but I dressed them all in black and white. Dottie and Flower wore matching polka dot dresses. I had returned Candy’s black and white houndstooth dress that was too small, but I finally found a medium, so I dressed her up in that. I definitely spend too much time looking at dog clothes at Ross! It took me a while to catch Candy to put her dress on her, since she kept running under the dining room table.

I knew that no one but John and me would see the girls, but I still thought it was fun. As I thought, Nigel was the door greeter, once the trick-or-treaters started arriving. He ran to the door every time the doorbell rang. When the doorbell wasn’t ringing, he ran to to the door anyway, waiting for the next group of children to come along. Again, the only problem we had was when a group came up that included a big dog, who waited in the driveway. Nigel showed his dog aggression again, so I’m sure the parents were glad to be off to the next house. Well, the good news is that Nigel is great with children and small dogs, so that is still better adjusted than Joey was and the shih tzu sisters are.

Shih Tzu Day 111: Candy and her Boy Dog

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The trouble with boy dog friends

girl and boy dog friendsCandy and her boy dog friend have been frolicking again, inside and outside. I know she enjoys playing with Nigel, but there are times that she does not want his attention. I always know when that is the case, because she yips loudly and looks like she wants to bite his little boy dog face off. I have had several stern talks with him that when a lady says “no,” it’s not “maybe,” and he has to stop and not force her to play. If he learns that, she might like him better and go out on more dog play dates. Of course, it would also help if he stopped stealing her bones and the other girls’ dog treats. Then they might all like him better.

Nigel and the cable guy

I had to have Comcast send a cable guy out today because of trouble with my cable box. Nigel greeted him at the door with his tail wagging and was practically sitting on his lap when he sat down on the couch to do some programming. Not my girl shih tzus, of course. I was in the kitchen and heard a low growl. I asked him what happened, and he said, “I don’t know! All I did was make eye contact!” It was actually kind of funny. My girl dogs are definitely different than our boy dog.

I don’t really think it’s a case of girl dogs or boy dogs, however. It’s more likely because of their time at the puppy mill. From Nigel’s behavior, he probably had a good home at one point before ending up at a shelter, so he has a lot better social skills. He definitely wouldn’t make a very good guard dog!

A boy dog in Shih Tzu Central

a black and white shih tzu on a dog bed. After the cable guy left, I took Nigel for a walk to tire him out. I sure don’t have a lot of stamina since I stopped taking regular bike rides. Running up the hill beside him tired me out! When we came back, I had the back door open for the dogs and a bee came in. I was trying to figure out where it went and looked over at Shih Tzu Central; it was flying around near Nigel, and he was trying to bite it. I was thinking that he looked funny trying to bite at it, and then I realized something. He was “at Shih Tzu Central” trying to bite it. He was actually lounging on the blue dog bed.

Four shih tzusFlower and Candy didn’t seem to think anything about having a boy dog in one of their beds in their private corner, although Dottie seemed slightly put out. They all mainly just ignored him. Since that was the case, I thought I’d work on a little bit of togetherness and moved his bed in there as a test.

He lay in there for a while without any reaction from the girls. However, he didn’t stay very long and seemed lost without his dog bed being in the living room, so I moved it back out.

Dry training pad

The training pads I have down were dry all day. It’s possible that the girl shih tzus are learning how to hold it until they go outside. I didn’t find any evidence that they had gone anywhere else in the house. My fingers are crossed.

Shih Tzu Day 101: Nigel in the Middle

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shih tzu in the middle of a family gathering

three shih tzus in sweatersshih tzu and little girllittle girl with shih tzuWe invited the children and grandchildren over to celebrate Jurrien’s birthday, which was a coupe of weeks ago. John’s idea was to make cinnamon rolls with the grandchildren, but it didn’t work out. Leticia overslept, so her and her five children didn’t arrive until after John had already completed the preparation process.

Candace and her three children didn’t arrive early either. Oh well, at least everyone could enjoy eating the cinnamon rolls even though they didn’t get the experience of making them with Grandpa.

shih tzu and little girlI was still emotional when everyone got here, so I explained that I was teary-eyed because of the pictures of our shih tzus I just looked at. I didn’t have much time to think of those pictures after that, though. Everyone thought the sweaters I got for Candy, Flower and Dottie were adorable.

However, the center of attention was Nigel, sporting his skull sweater. Everyone knows that my girls aren’t party animals. When company comes, they go to shih tzu Central and wait it out there, hoping that no one will want to talk to them. Well, except for Dottie, who is getting better about that.

shih tzuEach shih tzu did venture out when it was time to move outside for treats, however. And they all eventually accepted treats from a variety of children.

Our social shih tzu, Nigel, however, is different. He wandered around looking for a lap to sit in, pleasing all the grandchildren and the big people.