A Shih Tzu Saturday Morning

No sleeping in anymore, even on Saturday morning! I think I got to stay in bed until 5:30. Got up and started doing laundry, helping the shih tzus with their Twitter account, deleting old email. Flower barked when John came downstairs. I think she thinks he needs her permission to move around the house. I finally stopped her. She barked while she was outside waiting for food, but stopped as soon as I brought it out.

I sure wish I could get control of the peeing and pooping in the house situation. Someone, probably Flower, thinks she should pee when she comes upstairs to greet me in the morning, too. Always in the same spot.

I watched Dottie use the training pad the other day,so I know she knows its purpose. However, she only managed to get half on the pad, and the other half on the freshly steam vacuumed carpet.

I also watched Flower squat right next to it, like I saw Candy do the other day. I stopped Candy in time, but not Flower.

The Horrible Harness

I succeeded in almost putting the Comfy Control Harness on Flower. I didn’t get it on quite right, and when I tried to fix it, she tried very hard to bite me. It’s hard to take her serious, with her eyes so big and her head bobbing from side to side. She looks more like she is trying to catch flies than bite me.

Dottie is the calmest of the bunch, so I slipped the harness on her, attached the leash and had her walk around wearing it, the leash dragging on the ground. I took her outside and she took a few steps, not really knowing what I was trying to accomplish.

When John got up and came outside, I decided that he could try to get her to walk on the leash while I tried to get the experiment on video. Dottie suddenly wasn’t calm anymore. She bucked like a Bronco, twisting and turning, then stumbling over something on the ground. John decided it might be better if I held the leash next time. I went and picked her up, but she wouldn’t look at me. I’m sure she felt I betrayed her by taking her out of her comfort zone.

A Playground for the Dogs

John and I spent the afternoon expanding the dogs’ playground. We gave them the entire backyard, except for a very small area we fenced off at the far back, where the landscaped area slopes up to the neighbor’s fence. It would be possible for a determined dog to get up there and get through the fence into the neighbor’s yard. I doubt if the shih tzus would venture up there, but Shiloh already has climbed to the top.

When we brought the dogs out for treats, they forgot all about eating. We had thought they might slowly venture away from the area they had used before, but that wasn’t the case. Flower started sniffing around outside the old perimeter, going further and further, followed by Candy and finally Dottie. They all explored quite a bit.

After getting treats, Flower and Dottie went in, but Candy the Inquisitor was content to roam the yard for another 30 minutes.

The Dog Whisperer Barker

Shiloh had a little extra fun in the afternoon. He got to sit on the riding lawn mower with John.

Later, however, he got into trouble. He just can’t stand it when dogs bark on the “Dog Whisperer,” and I refuse to not watch it because of him. We have three shih tzus to train, and we need all the help we can get! This time when he ran to the TV, tried to leap into it and began barking, we pulled him back and put him on a leash. He still rushed the TV, barking, a few times, before he got tired and settled down. My fear is that the shih tzu princesses will follow his lead.