Tag Archives: barking

Shih Tzu Day 15: Morning Salutation

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Morning Salutation of the Shih Tzus

The shih tzus sure like those midnight hours. Candy and maybe someone else began barking at about 3:30. The barking stopped for about 20 minutes and then began again. I decided it was time to start turning the TV off at night, no matter how long it takes to warm up in the morning. John went down and turned it off. I don’t know if the shih tzus stopping barking because he came down and told them to or because the TV distraction was gone, but they did let me sleep for a couple of hours before starting up again.

I got them all to go outside this morning, but then Flower came back in and I couldn’t convince her to go out again, so I fed her inside.

The Waiting Game

Dottie followed me upstairs most of the times I had to go up them today. Once she was there, she just sat in the hall and waited for me, then followed me down again.

Candy was on the couch when I came back from Walmart. She jumped off, but instead of running to the pen, as usual, she ran to meet me. So did Dottie. Flower hung behind in the pen. I think she waits to see if that Man is with me.

Canyon Creek and Kong

Candy and the Kong teddy bearCandy keeps a watchful paw on the Kong teddy bear.

I gave the dogs a new treat: Canyon Creek Ranch Big Blast duck wrapped pork skin with liver centers. Whew. That’s a lot to say. They loved unraveling it. I also bought them a little Kong teddy bear. Candy carried it up on the couch with her.

Flower and Candy also love to bring their treats up on their couch with them. At one point, I looked up from the computer and saw Flower contentedly gnawing away at her treat on her couch. Candy was at the other end of the living room, sitting on the carpet doing the same thing. Dottie had wandered over to my couch and was burrowing between the throw and the couch, wrapping it award her. I thought of the importance of the fact that they were that comfortable, instead of huddling together in their pen, with Dottie shaking, Flower growling, and Candy looking frightened.

Dottie has begun coming up to me on the couch and wanting up. She can’t seem to jump that high successfully, so I pick her up and she lies next to me while I work.

Shih Tzu Day 3: Yum, Yum, Yogurt

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Say pretty please, and I might eat some more yogurt.

You're not fooling me. I know all people are BAD!

Flower hasn’t decided to be friendly yet. She had a fit when I walked into her pen to guide her outside, but she finally went.

When John went outside, she started barking and growling. I was sitting at the edge of the steps, and she tore towards me and flew up them and beyond me, squeezing herself through the narrow door opening into the kitchen and into her play yard.

Her attitude frightened Dottie, who started shaking again. None of it affects Candy.

About an hour later, I gave the three shih tzus a little bit of Noosa Yoghurt. All of them gathered around the container and eagerly licked it up. At dinnertime, I picked pieces of chicken off chicken wings and fed it to them.

Candy continues to come out and roam around the living room and dining room. I sat her on the couch with me and fed her a small piece of chicken jerky. She let us pet her ears for a while before jumping off. Flower’s eyes still get huge when I pet her, but she doesn’t act startled.

If this is yogurt, I guess we like it!

I have nicknames for all of the girls. I call Candy “Candy Mandy,” which is what we used to call my stepdaughter, Candace. I also call her Skittle, because she is skittish. Dottie is Dippin’ Dots and Polka Dots, and Flower is Flower Child. Collectively they are the little Ewoks or Furbies, and sometimes even “Children of the Corn,” or “Cujo,” depending on how they are acting. Of course, the last two references are exaggerations. They never act that bad, although Flower tries to be scary when she growls and barks.

Candy is getting more and more bold. She came up and put her paws on the couch, looking for more Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky, I assume. I had some, but didn’t want to make it too easy for her to get, so I held it away, hoping she would jump up on the couch. She started barking and wouldn’t stop. I thought earlier that she might be too short to jump up, but I found out that isn’t the case.

After I went up to the bedroom, John came downstairs and found Candy on the couch, searching for the jerky. So, I guess she can jump that high. The next time he came downstairs, Candy and Dottie were wandering around the living room and ran back into their pen. That’s the first time Dottie ventured out into the living room on her own.

Shih Tzu Prelude: Flower’s Carefree Side

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Visitation Continues

I went to see my potential foster daughters this morning. I am not getting far with Flower. That little shih tzu began growling instantly. Dottie seemed a little friendlier. She did let me hold her, but she won’t make eye contact. When I tried to sit in their pen, Flower began barking and immediately rushed to sit in front of Candy. I think that Candy would probably adjust more quickly if Flower wasn’t trying to protect her.

I startled the dogs by rattling one of the bags of dog treats, and Dottie jumped off my lap and ran to huddle with the others. I finally convinced her and then Flower to take some chicken jerky. Candy had to venture out a little to get some from my hand, and I picked her up. I could tell she didn’t like it, because she leaned away from me, but she did let me scratch her ears and pet her for a while.

Once they went outside, Dottie and Candy ran up to me repeatedly for a treat. Flower finally came over. The most hope came from the fact that Flower jumped up and down excitedly near Barbara when she came outside. I take that to mean that one day she might be excited and happy around us, instead of growling and barking and scared.

Barbara said that they were gone quite a bit over the weekend, so the dogs weren’t that happy with them.

I am hoping to take the dogs home by July 4, so we need to hurry up and get the needed work done. We have to provide them a dog run or exercise pen and make sure they can’t get under the porch. We also have to put up something over the bottom of the fence, such as chicken wire, so they can’t get out. Then, if we put the exercise pen in the living room, we need to figure out how to herd them from the pen and out the back door. I think we can pull the couch out and make a walkway so that they walk behind the couch into the kitchen to go outside.