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Shih Tzu Day 105: Puppy Mill Study

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Puppy Mill Findings

a shih tzu that is a former puppy mill mother.Since Dottie, Flower and Candy were puppy mill mothers, I read everything I can find on puppy mill dogs. I read an interesting study today on dogs rescued from puppy mills. Best Friends Animal Society and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary collaborated on the study.

It said that dogs from puppy mills show significantly elevated levels of fears and phobias, which we’ve experienced firsthand as adoptive parents to our shih tzu half sisters.

three sisters that are former puppy mill mothers.The study also said that they might have a heightened sensitivity to being touched and have compulsive and repetitive behaviors. It said the most prominent difference was in the level of fear, and that compared to normal pet dogs, the chance of scoring in the highest ranges for fear was six to eight times higher in recovered puppy mill dogs.

What I thought was very interesting was that the puppy mill study showed that the behavioral differences existed whether the dogs came from dirty, inhumane puppy farms or from cleaner, law-abiding large commercial breeding operations. The reason is that puppy mill dogs are confined with little or no interaction with humans or experiences outside their confines.

three shih tzus who are half sisters and former puppy mill mothers.The study showed that dogs that have not been positively handled were psychologically in worse shape. It concentrated on former mill dogs that have been in new homes an average of two years. Although many owners saw dramatic improvement, some were still struggling. Ninety-five percent of the new owners said that would adopt another puppy mill rescue, and the researchers believe it is because bonds with mill dogs are very deep.

A follow-up questionnaire led to a list of strategies that could help puppy mill dogs adjust. This including being patient, being sensitive to the dog’s reactions, holding and cuddling dogs and having a well-adjusted dog in the household. I was happy that the study verified what I thought about Nigel probably being a good influence on the girls.

After reading the study, I thought what I have thought many times, which is that I would have liked to see what the girls would have been like if they had not spent the first part of their life in a puppy mill. I wonder how different their personalities would be. But, it sounds like there is hope. It will be interesting to see how they change as the months and years go by.

Nigel’s doctor visit

two shih tzus lying on a couch.When Nigel and I walked out of the bedroom door this morning, he seemed dejected. I think it is because the girls don’t yet ask him to join in their morning “reindeer games.” He doesn’t understand that their prancing around is their way of greeting me, and that it does not signal that they want to play with him.

Delores from BFF Rescue picked Nigel up at 10 a.m. to take him to his vet appointment at Clear Creek Animal Hospital. Dr. Lindsey said his stitches from his hernia surgery have healed nicely. She noted that he has a small cough, probably from getting over pneumonia. She also said he has a small rash on his tummy, which could be from eating grains. I will need to experiment with his diet to see if it goes away.

Shih Tzu Day 92: And Then There Was Nigel

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Spot Collins

a tabby next to a shih tzu on a dog bedThe girls still don’t quite know what to think of Spot Collins. He makes regular trips to Shih Tzu Central, to drink from the girls’ water bowl and to try out the dog beds. He seems to prefer lying next to Flower, although she doesn’t seem as happy with the arrangement.

grooming practice

a shih tzu sitting on her sisterDelores at BFF Rescue called me today and asked if I would have time to help her groom some new dogs she got in that will soon be going to foster homes. Barbara, her daughter-in-law, usually helps her, but she was out of town and I had told Delores about my grooming class. If John had been available, I would have asked him to come with me, since he does the most grooming, but he was working, so I agreed to help out.

maltese-poodle mix on couch

When I got there, Delores was conducting a necessary procedure: using flea and tick shampoo on one of the dogs that looked like he might have had a problem recently. My Yorkshire terrier never had that problem, so I wasn’t sure how to tell if it looked like fleas or ticks were present. Delores pointed out to me small dark spots on one of the dogs. She said if they weren’t moving, the problem had been fully taken care of by the treatment they received before she took them into her care. That seemed to be the case, but to be safe, I helped her wash another dog with the shampoo as well.

Once we dried them off, I went to work clipping a maltese-poodle mix and then a type of terrier. They both handled it better than our dogs. The poodle lay down on its side and went to sleep while I was clipping him. I plan on trying that on the girls, since I just read that was a good way to groom in some instances, since you need to teach fearful dogs how to be calm and relaxed on the grooming table.

introduction to Nigel

black and white shih tzu on couchWhile I was there, I met Nigel, the shih tzu Delores asked us to foster. He is about a year and a half and only 10 pounds, which is a pound and a half lighter than Candy. He seems smaller though. Nigel is what is referred to as an owner release. He was dropped off at a shelter in Kansas City, Missouri, where they discovered he had a serious cause of pneumonia. I imagine the family wasn’t able to afford the veterinary care he needed.

Shih tzu face offThat shelter treated him before sending him on to BFF Rescue. As is the usual case, BFF took him to Clear Creek Animal Hospital, where Doctor Lindsey examined him prior to his needed sterilization procedure. During the exam, she discovered that he had a large hernia that would need surgery as well. She performed both surgeries yesterday, and prescribed antibiotics and pain medicine for ten days. Delores and I had arranged that I would get him Friday, but since I was already there, I said I would just take him home with me.

I would describe Nigel as a scrawny little dog, probably because he has been sick for a while. His face is so black that it is hard to see his eyes. It wasn’t the color as much as the wildness of his fur around his face that made me think of James Brown. The white fur around his neck is quite a contrast to his black face. His paws look huge compared to his tiny legs.

 

tabby cat and shih tzu on couchI wasn’t sure what the girls would think about Nigel. When we walked in the door, they didn’t get excited, but they also didn’t seem disturbed by his presence. They just watched him. He toured the house, including Shih Tzu Central. A little later, he visited their corner again, this time to begin stealing bones and mainly unused toys from them. We will have to get him his own dog bones and toys, as well as a dog bed. He didn’t come with one, like Flower, Candy and Dottie did.

welcome committee

 

shih tzu waiting for treatNigel gravitated towards Spot Collins, maybe because they are the “outsiders.” When they heard John’s truck in the driveway, the girls started barking as usual. Candy ran to the door, wagging her butt. Spot Collins followed, with Nigel right behind him, wagging his tail.

John was happy about his welcome committee. He has been so patient with the girls, even though they still shy away from him — especially Flower and Dottie — three months after getting here. It was nice for a dog to instantly respond well to him, since he is such a dog person and so good to all animals.

When the dogs followed us outside for their nightly treat from the Treat Man, Nigel forgot his manners and maneuvered his way quickly to the beginning of the line for possibly his first taste of Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky.

Shih Tzu Day 91: Sheltie Shack

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Digging into the Past

When I first saw a picture of Candy online in June and called Delores at BFF Rescue to ask for details about her, she explained that her and her half-sisters Flower and Dottie, all in a foster home through her rescue, had been puppy mill mothers.

She told me that a Kansas organization named the Sheltie Shack had been the rescue that was initially involved. I have recently been thinking about their origin, and I decided to look up the shelter online. I found a number for the founder, Linda, and called her. I told her who I was and that I had a blog telling the story of three shih tzus I had adopted. I said I had heard her organization had rescued them and asked her if she would tell me what she recalled about that day.

Linda was very pleasant to talk to. She remembered the dogs instantly. She said she had heard that a local breeder was not going to breed shelties anymore. When she inquired about them, the breeder told her she could take them off their hands. The breeder also relayed in the conversation that they would no longer be breeding shih tzus, and that if she wanted to, she could take the ones they had. Concerned about what could happen to them if she didn’t take them, the rescuer said she would make arrangements with other rescues to place them in homes.

When she picked them up, six shih tzus were in an outside chicken coop-type dog kennel. They were in need of grooming and affection, having lived a life isolated from humans, but otherwise, the rescuer had seen fair worse cases among the hundreds of dogs she had rescued. I was relieved when she said that. I thought maybe their life hadn’t been as bad as I had imagined.

She told me a few of the shih tzus acted very frightened. The others simply acted confused, most likely because they were being moved from the only home they had ever known.

I thanked Linda for sharing the story with me and asked her if she might have some pictures of the girls from the day they were rescued. She said she would look into it and send me what she could find. I will share those pictures if she finds any.

Shih Tzu Day 45: Foster Dog Difficulties

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our foster dog

I am still waiting for my forever home. We have been talking to Delores for a while about BFF Rescue finding Shiloh a more suitable dog foster home. I think that he would make someone a wonderful foster dog or “regular” dog. I don’t, however, think that we’re a good fit as dog foster parents for him.

Anyone who has come to visit over the three and a half weeks that Shiloh has been here has liked our foster dog. Everybody loves the fact that he is so playful. I like that he is playful, too, although I don’t like that the playfulness causes lots of scratches on my legs and arms.

This foster dog loves attention, and it is hard for me to divide my attention between the shih tzus and him. He also loves to ride in the car with me, but pet-friendly places are out, since he barks aggressively at other dogs. I like the fact that he wants to sleep with us, since the shih tzus haven’t shown that desire, but it does make for tension in the morning when I am trying to play with the shih tzus when they come upstairs and he jumps into the middle in his clumsy and playful way.

Delores agrees that the girls have waited for a good forever home for a while, and that things might be better without a foster dog around. She suggested we take him and another BFF Rescue foster dog, Oliver, to the farmers market in Golden and walk around, with the foster dogs in their “adopt me” harnesses, to see if anyone might be interested in adopting one of the rescue dogs.

It was a good idea, but Shiloh was the wrong foster dog to bring. He exhibited dog aggression, barking at random dogs. Delores suggested he might be barking at non-neutered dogs, and it did seem like that was mostly the case, although not all the time. We decided our foster dog wasn’t making many friends and ended up putting him in the car for a while. I think Lia is right in that Shiloh could benefit from discipline classes. Oliver, on the other hand, displayed a sweet disposition, and a few people stopped to inquire about him.

Dotty fights the leash again

Being at the farmers market and seeing all of the amiable dogs wandering around made me more determined to teach the shih tzus to walk on a leash. I brought Dottie out back and put the leash on her. She did go a few steps, in her attempt to get away from me, and then fought me. Candy was next. She actually ran around the yard a little, again, trying to escape, but making me believe that she might be the first leash dog. If it had been cooler out, I would have tried a little more, but I thought that was enough practice for the day.

Since Candy was nicely groomed and all ready on her leash, I picked her up and carried her next door, where the neighbors were having a post-wedding party. I didn’t set her down on the ground while we were there, but I did keep her there for about ten minutes. She didn’t seem to be nervous or afraid. I set her down when we got ready to leave, and she trotted back home behind us. Too bad I didn’t have my camcorder or camera handy.

When we came back home, I noticed that we had a call. Delores had talked to another foster parent and she was willing to take Shiloh in for a while. She came by and picked him up at 6. She asked if she could take the safety gate back that we had taken from Barbara’s. We had hooked it to ours to keep the dogs from climbing up the landscaped area in back and getting out of the yard, but we realized that Shiloh was the only one who could or would try. We unhooked it and rearranged the fencing

When Delores left, John cooked up the rest of the steak from last night’s dinner and used it for quesadillas. We shared a little of it with Candy and Dottie. For some reason, Flower wouldn’t come to get any. She is acting afraid of John again. When he called them, they ran right to him; she ran out of their safe zone with them, but ran right past, and then turned around and ran back to Shih Tzu Central. Some times I wonder if she’s just a little bit off — in a very cute way, though.

Shih Tzu Day 38: Another Saturday with the Shih Tzus

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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.