The shih tzu zoo

I was looking around at the kids this morning and thought, “This is a shih tzu zoo!” At the time, Nigel was snuggled up to my left side. Dottie was lying on the other side. Flower and Candy had come alive, after a nap in their dog beds, and were wandering around the floor. What is amazing is that I do fairly well as a zookeeper.

John has been surprised at that too. I was the one who really wanted a Yorkshire terrier and the one who picked out and named Josephina Ballerina, aka Joey. However, John was the one who gave her the most care. A lot was different when we had Joey. For the first several years, I worked full time out of the house. For the last eight years she was with us I did my newspaper editing worked at home, but my editing and writing duties were out of control, so I never seemed to have time for her. Luckily, she was John’s baby, so that didn’t matter so much. He got up in the morning and fed her and fed her when he got home in the evening. She sat on his lap whenever he was sitting down.

When I decided I wanted a shih tzu, I gave it a lot of thought, because I knew I would need to be more involved. I haven’t had such a hectic schedule since leaving the paper three years ago. The timing seemed to be right. Of course, I planned for one shih tzu, not for several to overrun the house! I do love my shih tzu zoo though!

shih tzu romp time

After the shih tzus ate their breakfast and did their business, Dottie, Flower and Nigel scurried inside. Dottie and Flower don’t seem to have a big desire to stay outside since the weather is getting colder. Nigel usually wants to go right back out, so I don’t know why he came in with them. I told him to go play with Candy, and he did go back out. They had a half-hour romp.

When they came inside, they started playing in the dining room, but I had the back door open a little, so they danced outside onto the patio again. Loud noises outside brought them back in, and Flower joined the other two shih tzus. Since we haven’t gotten the girls used to walks yet, I’m glad they are getting “Nigel exercise.”

Candy went back outside a little later and sat by herself. I know she always liked being by herself, and I think she still does. She still loves to wander around the yard. When she sits on the porch, though, she looks towards the door sometimes, like she is waiting. Maybe for the little boy shih tzu to come out and play? Maybe not, though. I have a tendency to read into things.

couch competition

Flower has been sitting by Dottie and me quite a bit lately. However, she had a problem today. She came and sat in front of the couch and kept looking up at it, but Nigel and Dottie were sprawled out taking up all the room. Flower went over and checked out the dog steps I bought from Ross Dress For Less, which Nigel uses to get up on the male side of the couch. She sniffed them, and eventually tried to step on one, but it moved and scared her. She investigated them again later, but they might be a little short for her, because she didn’t try very hard to use them. Eventually she wandered back over to Shih Tzu Central.

After that, Nigel carried a small bear and some treats up onto the couch. Flower decided she wanted one of the treats and took it. It was probably one the male shih tzu stole originally from the girls anyway. The result was another bone war. When Nigel tried to get it back, Flower started yipping at him and jumped off the couch. He followed her down, but then she jumped up on her couch to escape him. He responded by stretching his neck out and going “woo, woo, woo,” like he was howling at the moon.

The couch situation has also caused Dottie to often sit closer to me now than she used to, because of competition for the couch corner. Today I was typing and felt something at my side. Dottie was sitting as close as Nigel does, rubbing against my sweater and looking up at me. She didn’t appear to be in pain or to be wanting anything, so I thought maybe she just felt like being close. When I thought about it further, though, she could have just been trying to figure out why my sweater pocket smelled like the dog treats I had in them the other day.

Kong enjoys the outdoors

When I was deciding what treats to give the shih tzus, I came across the Kong I had bought the girls. They weren’t very interested, but I thought Nigel might be. I filled it with peanut butter, but he wasn’t interested either. That was surprising, since I thought Kongs were all the rage with dogs. Maybe they aren’t all that to shih tzus. Later in the afternoon, though, I noticed that the Kong was outside, with the peanut butter still inside. I imagine Nigel smuggled it out when I wasn’t looking. He didn’t want the peanut butter, but he likes the act of smuggling.

The shih tzus are much more into their variety of bones. Candy’s main interest today was a retriever roll from the Dollar Tree. I love watching her eat them, because she handles them so gently, holding them delicately between her front paws and nibbling like a rabbit.

New Dog Bed Relocation

Nigel doesn’t seem to like to keep his dog bed in one place. Today, he grabbed it with his teeth and moved it continually until he finally had it right in front of the door. Maybe he wants it there to be the first one to greet John. After he finally stopped and got in it, Flower went and sat next to him, off of the bed, for at least 10 minutes.

Training Pads

I might be getting somewhere with the training pads. I have moved them clear over by the back door now, so they are no longer in the living room or dining room, and the shih tzus have been using them. I counted three spots when I came downstairs this morning. Since the goal is to get them to do their business outside whenever possible, I positioned jingle bells above the training pads. My hope is that I will hear them and can get there before they do anything, so I can get them outside in time. I don’t think I have them positioned correctly yet, though, because I never hear them jingle. Either that, or the shih tzus are tiptoeing around.