Shih Tzu Day 172: Personalized Dog Tags for the Shih Tzus

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Di Freeze

which dog tags for the shih tzus

I have been saying for months that I wanted to get the shih tzus personalized dog tags. When we adopted Candy, Flower and Dottie from BFF Rescue, they came with a generic red collar and tags saying BFF Rescue, with the animal rescue’s number. Nigel did too.

I didn’t think about it that often, but sometimes when I saw a tag in a picture, I would think that it looked like they were still rescue dogs, and not dogs that had found their forever home.

Buying tags — and collars to match — for four shih tzus is slightly more expensive than buying them for one dog, so I kept putting it off. Today was our wedding anniversary, and after we celebrated with a nice Italian lunch, we did some Christmas shopping for our furry children. John and I looked at PetSmart for tags, but I wasn’t that thrilled about any of them. We went into Petco and I liked their selection better. It took us a while to decide what we wanted, but I eventually got Flower a peace tag, Candy a princess tag, Dottie one with a crown and Nigel one that said “stud.” We picked out a purple collar decorated with flowers for Flower, a pink one with polka dots for Dottie, a black one with skulls for Nigel and a blue one with a pink, paisley design for Candy.

I know the dogs won’t understand the significance of personalized dog tags, but I am happy that we finally accomplished that task. Of course, I hope no one ever has to identify the shih tzus by their tags, but just in case.

Day 169: Christmas Shoot for the Shih Tzus

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Di Freeze

the shih tzus say cheese

The shih tzus were in for something different today. One of my closest friends worked for me as a photographer when I was editor of an aviation paper a few years ago. She volunteered to come over and take holiday pictures of Dottie, Candy, Flower and Nigel for Christmas. We decided to make it our Christmas luncheon combined doggie photography session.

Before Deb got here, I set up our small Christmas tree inside Shih Tzu Central. I figured that would be where the female shih tzus would retreat to when Deb got here, so that would be the logical place to shoot their pictures. My plan was to move the tree back out once Deb left. We also combed the shih tzus and washed their faces, although they probably should have had a complete bath. Then I dressed the girls up in their holiday dresses and Nigel in his Grinch shirt. I made the mistake of letting them outside about a half hour before Deb arrived.

I could tell that Candy thought something was up. As soon as I let them outside, she ran under the trailer and stayed there. I tried to lure her out with a treat, but that didn’t work. Then I went to the end of the backyard and exclaimed that there was a cat back there, but she didn’t fall for it. I went inside and waited until she came out from under the trailer and headed for the far end of the backyard. I was quiet enough that she didn’t have time to escape when I came up behind her.

Deb and I were combining the photo shoot with our Christmas luncheon. I thought it might get the shih tzus a little used to her presence if she didn’t shoot right away, so we sat at the table and had appetizers and some wine. The girls ran into the corner of the dining room when she came in and stayed there for an hour while we sat there talking.

I wasn’t sure how we were going to get them into their corner, since they hadn’t run there when she came in. However, as soon as we got up from the table, they ran to Shih Tzu Central. Deb had brought a dog whistle with her, to get their attention for pictures. However, ironically, the female shih tzus were so scared that they sat still and she didn’t have a difficult time taking their pictures.

Of course, Nigel wasn’t afraid at all. He was all over Deb as soon as she came in the door. When she lay down on the floor to get a good close up of the girls, he crawled up on her legs and settled in. We did try to get him in a picture with the girls, but he wouldn’t sit still. She did end up getting a couple of pics of him by himself though.

Shih Tzu Day 154: Dumbo Lion

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Di Freeze

Nigel!

I was surprised this morning to look over and see Flower sitting on the Nigel/John side of the couch, behind Nigel. I thought it was so cute, but then he turned around and tried to bite her head off. I had one of my freak out moments and yelled, “Nigel!” I started Flower, and between me and Nigel, she jumped off the couch.

Nigel and Flower have very possessive attitudes lately, and it is frustrating. In fact, Candy is the only one that doesn’t act possessive over anything or anyone. She is definitely not the pack leader.

Dumbo Lion

John has started calling Flower “Dumbo Lion,” because of the way she moves her head and body from side to side when she walks sometimes. He was tickled when she came up a few feet from him this morning, sat down on the floor and watched him eat. I am happy that she is getting more and more comfortable with him.

On most days now, while I work, Nigel sits on one side of me and Dottie and Flower on the other. Candy loves Nigel’s dog bed. For some reason, he doesn’t seem to mind sharing his bed, although he minds sharing his treats and bones.

Shih Tzu Day 153: Energetic Shih Tzus

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Di Freeze

shih tzus in waiting

Dottie started moaning early today. I couldn’t see the alarm clock, so I didn’t know it was 5:30 until I got out of bed. After the shih tzus had breakfast, Flower sat in the kitchen with me while I cleaned up a little. When I moved into the dining room, she followed me and sat by the table near me. Dottie walked back and forth until I finally sat down. Then, they both took their places beside me on the couch. They definitely don’t like it when their routine is interrupted.

playtime

two <u srcset= shih tzus sitting together on porch. ” width=”300″ height=”225″ />My shih tzus are mixing things up a little. This afternoon, Flower came up to the couch with a bone in her mouth, like Nigel does. Nigel was in hot pursuit, so I imagine she stole it from him. I reached down to try to help her up, like I do Nigel, but she ran away. I don’t know why she will never let me help her up. Nigel usually makes me help him up, even if the stairs are right beside him. Since that’s the case, I put the dog stairs on the Dottie/Flower side today, to see if either of them would use them. Flower did use them hesitantly a couple of times.

Although Candy and Nigel palled around outside, she also played outside by herself a lot today. I looked outside once and she was jumping up and down and around, throwing a toy up into the air and looking like she was chasing her tail. After she came in, she wandered around for a while and then came up to the couch, something she rarely does. Maybe she was just curious to see what Dottie and Flower were chewing, since they were making a lot of noise.

Candy and Flower came up to Nigel’s side of the couch later and put their paws up together, wiggling their heads around. A short while after they walked away, Nigel jumped down and ran over to his dog bed, to make sure they hadn’t stolen anything.

When he came back up to the couch, he attempted to use the stairs I had moved, but Dottie glared at him from the couch. He must have been afraid of what the elder shih tzu would do, because he backed back down and came over to have me let him up.

The three youngest shih tzus had a lot of energy this afternoon. I heard loud breathing and scuffling often while I was working. Candy and Flower took turns doing their rodeo act, with each one trying to ride the other. As usual, Dottie was content to lay on the couch beside me.

Candy approaches

Candy came up to the couch and put her paws up on it several times. I thought she might want to come up, and I picked her up and sat her near me. She only stayed a few minutes before she jumped back down.

Shih Tzu Day 152: No More Company! Yeah!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Flower

happy shih tzus: we have our house back!

We don’t know what’s going on, but Mom and the Treat Man spent the night on the couch (I guess they call it a sofa sleeper) again last night. Us shih tzus were wondering if they are going to sleep there all the time?

We waited until 5:30 and then went to Mom’s side of the sofa and scratched to wake her up. She got up and fed us. She asked us shih tzus to come in right after we ate and did “our business.” We didn’t know why, but it was because she wanted to go back to sleep! We didn’t let her though. Nigel kept scratching at the door, and she kept getting back up to let me, Nigel and Dottie go in and out. It was fun!

All four of us shih tzus are really happy that there is no more company! Let’s see. What else. We were restless today, but didn’t know what we wanted to do. We kept going up to Mom’s feet to get her attention. I scratched her ankle, because she wasn’t paying attention. Oops. I guess I scratched it harder than I thought, because she said, “Ow!”

She finally got up and gave us some string cheese. Yum! Shih tzus — at least us shih tzus — love string cheese.

We were playing a lot and Mom said we were being “rambunctious.” Even Dottie played with me and Nigel for a while. Candy didn’t feel like playing, I guess. She was just roaming around. Oh, and when Nigel was busy, she went and lay in his bed. She really likes it. He doesn’t seem to mind that she lays in it sometimes. I’m not sure why she likes it so much though. It doesn’t seem that special to me.

Same Shih Tzu, Different Day

Journal of Three Former Puppy Mill Mothers / Shih Tzu Sisters … and Nigel