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Shih Tzu Day 356: Vet & Escape

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June 19, 2012

Vet Visit 

Flower and Nigel on the way to the vet.

Flower and Nigel on the way to the vet.

Nigel hasn’t been feeling good, so I decided to make a vet appointment for him and take Flower in for her annual checkup at Clear Creek Animal Hospital. I put her and Nigel on a couple, and she did well in the car on the way to the appointment. She also did well in the lobby and in the exam room, although she did pee on the floor. I was very proud that she let Dr. Lindsey examine her. It was quite different than her exam last year!

Flower with Dr. Lindsey.

Flower’s checkup with Dr. Lindsey.

 

 

I shared with Dr. Lindsey how she had been kicked out of grooming class but how she has improved so much since then. She was also good with the other dogs in the lobby on our way out. I stopped at McDonald’s for a Coke and then decided to take her and Nigel into Petco to try on harnesses. And there the perfect morning ended!

The Great Shih Tzu Escape

As we were coming up to the door to enter Petco, it opened and the noise scared her. She bolted, pulled out of the harness she was wearing, and ran out into the parking lot. I was frantically trying to figure out how I was going to hold Nigel and chase her when a woman near the door asked if I wanted her to hold Nigel’s leash. I quickly handed it to her and took off running after Flower.

Flower's new harness, which hopefully is escape-proof.

My hope is that Flower won’t be able to pull out of her new harness and escape!

I chased Flower for five minutes, calling her name, trying to keep my voice calm. She was getting dangerously close to the road, and I was panicking, thinking, “All that hard work and she gets hit by a car!” She finally slowed down and stopped on a grass area near feet from the road. I sat down, opened my purse and pulled out the heartworm treat from the vet, and then coaxed her to me. When she came close enough, I grabbed her. When I finally got back to the door, I thanked the woman profusely for watching Nigel and took them both inside. I found someone to help me fit Flower for a harness that I hope will be escape free!

Shih Tzu Day 139: Nov. 15

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thrashing shih tzu

Somebody threw up in Nigel’s bed and on the floor near it before I came downstairs. I threw it in the laundry and checked breath, but couldn’t tell who might have done it.

Once I settled down on the couch and Dottie came up, she started thrashing around, making a whining sound. I couldn’t tell if she was in pain or not. She was on her side, and she put her front paws together and moved them up and down on the sofa. I scratched her ears in case that was the problem, and when I went to move them, she lifted her head and touched my hand with her mouth, so I kept doing it. When I stopped, she had stopped thrashing.

the green dog mystery

Flower ran up to the couch a little later, Nigel in hot pursuit. After she jumped up I noticed that the green dog was lying on the floor in front of me. Either Flower had it, and that’s why Nigel was chasing her, or he brought it as a gesture of peace. I imagine it was the first scenario.

Once Flower jumped up on the couch, she kept staring at me, so I figured she wanted her haunches rubbed. She loves that the most. She always raises her head and then moves it from side to side when I give her a massage, her eyes looking bigger than normal.

Nigel ventured back to the couch for the green dog, and then ran out the door with it. When I ended Flower’s massage, she jumped down and followed him outside. She came back in with a rawhide flip in her mouth; I think Nigel smuggled it outside earlier. Nigel ran in after her, but then did his roadrunner beep beep routine, running into Shih Tzu Central and then back out and out the back door. I couldn’t tell if he had something in his mouth, but he was probably stealing something else.

Flower’s partial escape

When we brought the female shih tzus home, we made a makeshift fence so they couldn’t get up on the landscaping tiers and escape into the backyard of the neighbor behind us. Flower found she could get through a small entrance, though, and when I looked out, she was on the bottom tier, making a dash in the direction of the squirrel, high above her head. I had to get up on the landscaping tiers and chase her down. John will need to secure it a little better.

Paws up

Candy and Flower both came and put their paws up on the couch this afternoon, their cutte, little faces next to each other, moving from side to side. Looking for treats, I presume. I am still not used to Candy doing that. It always makes me smile to see both of them there.

Later, Candy came up to the Nigel and John end of the couch and put her paws up on it and looked at me and at Dottie and Nigel. I picked her up and she sat down for several minutes before crossing over me to sit next to Dottie. She let me pet her for a while, and then she moved next to me and curled up and stayed there for a while. She surprised me again by going up to John later for petting and sniffing his boots.

Shih Tzu Day 109: Touch and Go Leash Training: Flower Escapes!

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Leash training trials and tribulations

The girls started barking at 6:45 this morning. I got up a little after 7 so they would stop barking and John could sleep. Candy and Nigel played outside for a while after eating.

two shih tzus preparing for a walk. We decided it was time to do a little leash training again. Of course, Nigel needs no training. He would love to go walking everyday, and I hope we can accommodate him. Our leash training class continued this morning with Candy. There is a grass area behind our local Wal-Mart that is perfect for walking. She did okay, although ever so often, she stopped. i can’t say that she had fun, but she wasn’t as stressed out as she has been on previous walk attempts.

a shih tzu on a leash. We were brave and decided to continue our leash training with Flower. First, when I picked her up, I guess she knew something was up, because she pooped, right down my favorite light blue jeans. I didn’t want to postpone our walk, so I grabbed a microfiber cleaning cloth and water and scrubbed at the spot and then grabbed another one to clean off Flower’s butt. Once we rinsed her off, we put her in the harness we just bought from PetSmart.

a shih tzu resting on a porch.She seemed to be doing okay today, although I knew the leash training was stressing her out. She walked a little with me, very slowly, and then ran a while with John. Suddenly, though, she escaped her leash and harness. It was panic time. If she ran east, she would be running towards Sheridan, a busy street, and if she ran south, towards the apartments behind Wal-Mart. If she ran west, she would run towards our house, but have to cross one street and who knows where she would go from there. Running north, she could escape through an entrance leading to the back of Wal-Mart.

a black and white shih tzuI stayed calm, calling her name and trying to lure her with liver treats. She kept darting back and forth, while John tried to grasp her collar. I was standing near a tree, and she kept coming back to where I was, but if I took a step, she would run again.

In the meantime, I was still holding onto Nigel’s leash, and he was distracting me. John finally told me to put Nigel’s leash around a pole that I imagine was there to make the tree grow straight. I did that, and then concentrated on again luring Flower with the treats. She finally came close enough for me to grasp the ring on the front of her collar. I guess we will have to continue her leash training in our backyard for now. That was a little too scary.

The rest of the day

two shih tzusI was hanging clothes up upstairs after we got back when I realized that my little shadow Dottie was always one step behind me. She is such a sweetheart. When we went back downstairs, Nigel the bone collector had collected several of the girls’ bones in his dog bed. I took a few away and put them back at Shih Tzu Central.

I heard a pitter patter of paws a little later and realized that Candy and Nigel had another play date. They started their waltz-wrestle-boxing match near the dining room, but later moved on to Shih Tzu Central. Later, I noticed Nigel nuzzling Flower, attempting to get her to play. I wonder if Candy thinks he’s two-timing her?