Shih Tzu Day 79: More Grooming for Dottie

Posted on by
Reply

Grooming Dottie for Her Party

groomingGentle Groomer suggested. Dottie is getting two grooming turns this week, though, because tomorrow she turns 6, and we want her to look pretty for her “party.” John clipped her body and her toenails. Her grooming session went better today, since we weren’t touching her face.

Checking up on Spot Collins and Panda

shih tzu on makeshift grooming tableIt has been a very quiet day. Earlier, I thought maybe Flower didn’t feel good. She ran up the stairs to get me as usual, and did her usual dance when waiting in anticipation for her food. But later, after we came inside, she just lay in her dog bed looking listless. She seemed to be okay this afternoon, though.

I brought Candy up to sit with me on the couch while I talked to Mom on the phone (she jumped down as soon as she got a chance). Spot Collins, the 3-month old kitten we got her from the Denver Dumb Friends League, can’t come out of his kennel yet, because of the sutures from his neutering operation. Mom said that at 1:00 a.m., SC started screeching. When Mom and Buddy, her adopted dog, came to see what the problem was, the screeching stopped. Spot will only be quiet if Buddy sits by her kennel. I don’t know if that means that she likes Buddy or that she is afraid of him. As for Panda, the 8-month old cat Mom adopted, Mom has fallen in love with her. All Panda wants to do is sit on Mom’s lap. Maybe later, after the shih tzus have acclimated completely, we’ll think about adopting a cat.

A Dog Treat Taste Test Tie

shih tzu upside down in dog bedThe afternoon has been very quiet. Dottie lay down next to me while I worked on the computer most of the afternoon. Flower was a little antsy, coming to see me, then going to her couch, then going under the dining room table for awhile. Candy lay on the carpet at my feet for sometime, chewing on a treat and looking cute.

I have been experimenting with rawhide and non-rawhide treats. I did a taste test, throwing out an equal amount of both on the carpet and seeing who would go for what. Candy went for the Grreat Choice Flips, that are flat, white rawhide treats. Flower seized a small Pork Chomps Mini Knotz. Initially, Dottie just lay on the carpet watching them. When I looked again a little later, she was chewing on a Flip, so Candy must have given it up. There are always half-chewed treats lying on the floor, which they pick up randomly and chew on.

Shih Tzu Day 78: Love Fest For the Shih Tzus

Posted on by
Reply

stubborn shih tzus

John tried to get the shih tzus to go outside when he got up this morning, but they wouldn’t budge. I got up an hour later, at 6:30, and escorted the shih tzus, dancing outside my door, downstairs.

I love our playtime in the morning. The shih tzus jump up and down excitedly outside the door. I reach my hand down, and each of them vies to play with it. Candy clamps down with her teeth, until I pull it away, and then Dottie and Flower grab it, mouthing it gently. Then, the cycle begins. Once we have played a few minutes at the top of the stairs, I tell them it’s time to go downstairs. The shih tzus run down as I walk, turning every now and then to run up a few steps, and then turning around again, to run down a few steps until we get to the bottom.

Once at the bottom, the hand game starts again. Here, though, the shih tzus try to grab my toes with their mouth, too. Lately, Flower grabs my hand, or foot, and then jumps up on the couch to gnaw on one of their Oinkies, and then jumps back down to join the fun.

It rained last night, so I could’t sit down on one of the chairs. I fed the shih tzus and came inside, leaving them outside to play and do their business.

the possessive shih tzu

shih tzu on dog bed.Dottie continues to be a possessive dog. Flower came and put her paws on the couch this afternoon, and Dottie, in their corner, ran over and crowded in. Later, I visited Shih Tzu Central with the idea of picking up Flower, and Dottie ran over and stood in front of Flower. I petted Dottie, picked up Flower, and put her on the couch on the non-Dottie side. Dottie came to the couch, and I helped her up. She tried to crawl over my lap, but I figured she was going to try to shoo Flower away, so I kept her on her side.

shih tzu love fest

I got back about 7:00 p.m. from picking up Spot Collins at the Denver Dumb Friends League and taking him to Mom’s. John got home a little later. After we ate, I decided to try an experiment — a love fest.

shih tzu on a couchA lot of people try to keep their dogs off the couch, for one reason or another. We, however, are constantly trying to get our shih tzus to be couch dogs. Of course, Dottie eagerly sits by me, and Flower visits from time to time. She visits less now than she did, but I do believe it’s because of Dottie. Over the last ten weeks, Candy has only jumped up on the couch when I was there once, when something frightened her. She jumps up regularly after we go to bed, because I have caught her when I’ve come downstairs at an unexpected time. She just doesn’t jump up on the couch when the humans are up and about.

<u srcset=shih tzus on a couch.” width=”300″ height=”199″ />I went and got Flower from Shih Tzu Central and sat her on the couch, but she wouldn’t stay for longer than a few minutes. Then, I got Candy and put her on the couch between myself and John. She lay down and put her paw on my leg and seemed fine. After being there about a minute, she slowly raised her head, gazed into my eyes, and then slowly lowered it again.

Candy seemed cozy next to John, so I went back and got Flower from their corner, lay down on her couch and held her on my stomach. She relaxed a little while I petted her head and her ears and rubbed her tummy. While I was on the couch with Miss Flower, Candy didn’t move away from John.

I tease John because I have slim fingers and small hands, and I always tell him his “fat hands” are better for massages. I asked him to give Candy his fat hand massage, and he complied, rubbing her face and tummy and massaging her back.

While we were with Candy and Flower, Dottie sat on her end of the couch, watching what was going on. After I thought Flower had received enough love, I brought her back to Shih Tzu Central and went and spent time with Dottie. I’m not sure how much Candy and Flower enjoyed it, but I like to think they did and I plan to schedule regular love fests.

 

Shih Tzu Day 77: Visit to the Denver Dumb Friends League

Posted on by
Reply

More Grooming For Dottie

We put Dottie on the grooming table this morning. Surprisingly, she wasn’t as good as Flower was the last few times. We couldn’t get her to keep her head still, when we were trying to groom her face, mostly. Also, she kept wanting to sit down, so I had to keep sitting her back up and tickling her tummy to try to get her to stand.

shih tzu on a makeshift grooming table

Dumb Friends League Visit

I left the house when John did, to take my mom to the Dumb Friends League has waived their fee temporarily on cats over one years old. Cats between six months old and a year are $50, and kittens under six months old are $120.

You can see kittens playing when you first go to the cat area at the Dumb Friends League. I fell in love with a tabby named Spot Collins. Mom liked a small black and white kitten, but someone else did too, because they pulled it out for someone while we stood there.

We were told that some of the cats were in a confined area because of a highly contagious upper respiratory infection, but that we could still look at them. We put down the numbers for three of the older cats, plus Spot Collins, and then waited to visit with the pet counselor.

shih tzu on makeshift grooming tableAs it turned out, two of the cats we wrote down had the URI, and Mom didn’t want to affect her other cats, so we crossed them off our list. I founded another cat, 8 months old, and already neutered, whichI thought Mom might like, so I had the counselor bring him into the room so we could visit with him. He was black and white and named Panda. She liked him, so we started looking for a friend for him. We brought an orange tabby in, but he didn’t seem very friendly, so we ruled him out.

I talked Mom into visiting with Spot Collins, and he passed inspection. We brought Panda home, but Spot Collins, 3 months old, needed to be neutered, so I will have to go and pick him up at the Dumb Friends League tomorrow. I would have liked to take him to our home, but I don’t know how the girls would react. Maybe at a later date.

Ants in Candy’s Pants

I didn’t get home until late in the afternoon. Of course, the girls were excited, to see me, and I’m sure, to get their afternoon treat. Candy seemed to have ants in her pants later on. She jumped and danced all over the carpet, and then went under the table and started growling, at seemingly nothing. It is possible that she saw a mouse that we have seen a few times. That’s another good reason to bring a cat home.

Flower kept coming up and putting her paws on the couch. I think she would want to sit with me, if Dottie wasn’t always there.

It rained, so when John got home, he gave them their evening treat from the couch. Dottie and Candy eagerly took theirs. Flower eyed him warily, ran up, took one, and then ran around in a circle on the carpet. I really wish I knew what causes her erratic behavior.

While John was out of the room, I put Flower on the couch, on the other side of me. She stayed for a while, but jumped down, so I went and got Candy. She seemed relaxed. She put her head on my leg and stretched out. She was there for probably 15minutes. When John came back into the room, he sat on the other side and petted her. She didn’t get up until he got up about ten minutes later.

Shih Tzu Day 76: Grooming Is Not So Scary

Posted on by
Reply

Another Good grooming Day

We aren’t doing well with our plan for the girls to go outside in the morning with John, and then for him to come back to bed and get a little more sleep. Again, none of the dogs would go out with him, so he just came back upstairs. I got up a little later, and opened the bedroom door to three excited dogs.

groominggrooming lately. Flower still looks shabby, so we but her up on the grooming table after breakfast. Her paws were too dirty from running in the wet grass, so John just worked on trimming up her face a little more and clipped her body a little with the scissors. She was very good again, except that she got startled when John’s arm hit a treat bag, and she managed to jump off the grooming table. I caught her and put her back up for a few minutes. Then, we sat her down and gave her hot dog pieces.

We also gave her a bath. That went well too. I didn’t blow dry her. I just towel dried her and let her go back to their corner.

I decided I wanted to work on the computer outside, so I dropped a blanket down from our bedroom balcony for some shade from the sun. It ended up falling down a few hours later. Candy had a good time rolling around on it, leading Flower to do the same.

The girls were a little better when John got home.

 

 

Shih Tzu Day 75: The Lion Dog Queen

Posted on by
Reply

Who Do You Think You Are? The Queen of Sheba?

I have started calling Dottie the “Queen of Sheba.” I do think she has signalled to her half sisters, through growling or just dirty looks, that the couch, and for that matter, Mom, is hers.

two shih tzusI love that she always wants to be by me, especially when I sit on the couch, but I would like the other girls to come up and join us. I don’t know why Flower comes up several times during the day, puts her paws up on the couch, stretches, stares at me and then goes back to the rug or Shih Tzu Central. But I do think Dottie has something to do with it.

Dottie usually leaves several inches between us, but today, she was very close to me, wiggling and squirming on her back, and even putting her head on my leg for a few minutes. She probably was just scratching herself on the blanket, but it was cute.

shih tzu on red blanket.Later, Candy spent a lot of time near my feet, playing with her Oinkies. Dottie remained by me. For some reason, instead of sleeping, like she sometimes does, she just kept staring at me. I started singing “Charmer,” the Kings of Leon song to her: “She’s such a charmer … She’s always looking at me.” We actually sing that to the girls quite often. Flower casually hung over the edge of her couch, making sure she didn’t miss anything.

Stranger at the Door

Tonight when John got home, none of them — even Candy — acted like they knew him. It probably was because he took the Jeep to work and came in through the garage door instead of the front door. I guess they really are creatures of habit.

Dottie wouldn’t take treats from him outside, although Flower and Candy had no problem with that. Once inside, though, Candy sat near his feet on the rug, watching him. Later, he opened the door and she and Flower went outside. When John went outside, Candy was very playful, running back and forth on the porch, being cute and doing her circular paw thing, which John calls her “wax on wax off” move.