Tag Archives: bone

Shih Tzu Week 119: Snow!

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Oct. 3 – Oct. 9, 2013

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Friday, Oct. 4 

It snowed last night. Snow! On Oct. 3! I’m not ready to see my garden die! Also, I have been leaving the backdoor open, since Candy and Dottie still don’t go through the doggy door. So today it is closed.

I have begun to think of myself as Flower’s “Daddy Bridge.” She climbs onto my lap, and without stopping, crosses me to get to Daddy. But I am in no way complaining. I am just happy that she is that comfortable with both of us now. When she isn’t with us, or at Shih Tzu Center, she likes to sit on the back of the loveseat where she can watch everybody from a comfortable distance, and look out the window when she chooses.

Candy also continues to make “couch progress.” I never knew what she wanted before when she came up to the couch. Nowadays it can mean she wants a snack or she wants up. Today, for example, I reached to get her and she stood still and let me pick her up. Dottie was already on one side and Nigel snuggled close on the other. I sat her on the other side of Nigel, and she eventually curled up and settled down. When she was there, I rubbed her ear and realized it was soft inside, not rough as usual. That roughness, or “elephant ear,” is a sign of allergies, although I am not sure to what. I have been putting a little Aquaphor in her ear, thinking if it works for my lips it might work for her ear. It seems to be working. Also, a neighbor gave us a water cooler, so they mainly get purified water to drink, and maybe that is helping.

Flower jumped up on the couch to join us a little later, so I had all four of the shih tzus for company, although Flower definitely looked bored on her corner perch. Candy can only take couch comfort for so long, so she eventually jumped down to occupy the bed she and Nigel alternate in, by the entertainment center. Although he rarely does it, Nigel actually took a bed at Shih Tzu Central.

I have the TV on today, like I often do when I’m working, with the volume down. I just saw an image of an abused dog on an commercial for an animal shelter and it almost made me cry. I am so happy our four shih tzus have a loving home and that there are so many animal rescues and shelters out there trying to make a difference.

Sunday, Oct. 6 

It warmed up enough for us to take the dogs for a walk at Majestic View Nature Center. Since we have worked so hard on our garden this year, I have really enjoyed looking at their plants and flowers, which are usually tagged with their names.

It gives me of ideas for the future. We don’t walk there nearly as much as the shih tzus would like to, since we normally just walk behind Wal-Mart, so it is always a special treat. I tried to walk all four of them once there without John, but it was a fiasco, and I would never try it again.

Monday, Oct. 7

Nigel got a bath today. Hopefully that will stop his scratching. Each one of the dogs took their turns on the couch today again. Of course, Dottie is there most of the day. I was watching Flower roll around on the couch for a while. Not sure why she does that, but it’s fun to watch. Maybe she is scratching her back on the couch? Each time I pick up Candy and sit her down on the couch, I think about the past, when she either hid upstairs or in her corner “apartment” in the dining room, instead of joining us. I continue to be thankful for how far we have come.

Tuesday, Oct. 8 

John gave the shih tzus their pre-breakfast snack (chicken-wrapped rawhide bone) as usual this morning and they were raring to go. For some reason, Candy often doesn’t eat hers right away. She sits it in front of her and guards it. I think she keeps it just to enjoy the game. If anyone comes near it, she sounds her loud siren bark warning. I need to record it, because it’s fierce. Sometimes, like today, Flower sits on the other side of Candy’s bone and growls, trying to terrorize her sister to giving it up. However, Candy instead decided it was time to enjoy it.

Shih Tzu Week 118: Dahlias & Dogs

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Sept. 26 – Oct. 2, 2013 

We have been spending a lot of time working on our garden. I especially love the dahlias. I like to think the shih tzus enjoy them too. Candy spends the most time in the backyard, usually sunning herself on the bridge John made for them.

Sunday, Sept. 29: Spotlight on Nigel

Tuesday, Oct. 1 

Flower coming to visit us in bed each morning. Actually, I think she comes to visit John, with an ulterior motive of trying to steal Nigel’s pre-breakfast treat, if he happens to bring the leftover bone back to bed with him. Sometimes John lifts her up, but she does pretty good jumping up on her own usually. 

Wednesday, Oct. 2:

Morning Dog Walk behind Wal-Mart

 

Shih Tzu Day 153: Energetic Shih Tzus

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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.

a shih tzu with paws on a couch.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 134 (Nov. 10, 2011): More Bone Wars

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Nigel, the shih tzu bone king

a shih tzu chewing a bone on the "pee" carpet after moving the training pads.Candy and Nigel had a long romp session outside this morning. After they came back in, they were squabbling so loudly over a rawhide chew flip that it frightened me. I thought for sure they were killing each other. I yelled (bad habit!), grabbed Nigel by the scruff of his neck and pointed him towards his dog bed. The demon shih tzu worked very hard to terrorize the female shih tzus today. He finally tired himself out and crawled back up onto the couch and snuggled up next to me to get some rest, while Flower and Dottie rested on the other side and Candy wandered around. If we had a slightly bigger couch, would all four shih tzus sit up here more often? I’m not sure.

two shih tzus squabbling.After all the shih tzus had rested, Nigel was back on the prowl, growling at Flower like a ferocious  animal. I think that was over a red and white mini rawhide treat. He is under the impression that anything on the floor belongs to him, even if he has to take it out of another shih tzu’s mouth and put it on the floor. He was fixated on Flower and wouldn’t look at me when I scolded him. Either he is slightly deaf or has selective hearing. Not ever having more than one dog before, I have no idea if it’s normal for dogs to growl so often at each other over bones and couch positions. ?

a shih tzu with half of a bone.I decided to move all the treat-type bones to shih tzu Central since Nigel is being so possessive. He definitely didn’t like it. He flew outside when I opened the door, and then he flew back inside, then back out and back in again, before finally jumping up on the couch and settling down. A little later, the three youngest shih tzus roamed around the living room, glancing my way every now and then, probably wondering if I was going to break out any more treats. After a while, Flower and Candy trotted by side by side, back to Shih Tzu Central.

Candy, Flower and Nigel were very excited, as usual, when John got home. They all started running around, but again, as usual, Flower hung back while Candy and Nigel ran to the door. Nigel did it with a rawhide treat in his mouth.