Tag Archives: eye contact

Shih Tzu Day 111: Candy and her Boy Dog

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The trouble with boy dog friends

girl and boy dog friendsCandy and her boy dog friend have been frolicking again, inside and outside. I know she enjoys playing with Nigel, but there are times that she does not want his attention. I always know when that is the case, because she yips loudly and looks like she wants to bite his little boy dog face off. I have had several stern talks with him that when a lady says “no,” it’s not “maybe,” and he has to stop and not force her to play. If he learns that, she might like him better and go out on more dog play dates. Of course, it would also help if he stopped stealing her bones and the other girls’ dog treats. Then they might all like him better.

Nigel and the cable guy

I had to have Comcast send a cable guy out today because of trouble with my cable box. Nigel greeted him at the door with his tail wagging and was practically sitting on his lap when he sat down on the couch to do some programming. Not my girl shih tzus, of course. I was in the kitchen and heard a low growl. I asked him what happened, and he said, “I don’t know! All I did was make eye contact!” It was actually kind of funny. My girl dogs are definitely different than our boy dog.

I don’t really think it’s a case of girl dogs or boy dogs, however. It’s more likely because of their time at the puppy mill. From Nigel’s behavior, he probably had a good home at one point before ending up at a shelter, so he has a lot better social skills. He definitely wouldn’t make a very good guard dog!

A boy dog in Shih Tzu Central

a black and white shih tzu on a dog bed. After the cable guy left, I took Nigel for a walk to tire him out. I sure don’t have a lot of stamina since I stopped taking regular bike rides. Running up the hill beside him tired me out! When we came back, I had the back door open for the dogs and a bee came in. I was trying to figure out where it went and looked over at Shih Tzu Central; it was flying around near Nigel, and he was trying to bite it. I was thinking that he looked funny trying to bite at it, and then I realized something. He was “at Shih Tzu Central” trying to bite it. He was actually lounging on the blue dog bed.

Four shih tzusFlower and Candy didn’t seem to think anything about having a boy dog in one of their beds in their private corner, although Dottie seemed slightly put out. They all mainly just ignored him. Since that was the case, I thought I’d work on a little bit of togetherness and moved his bed in there as a test.

He lay in there for a while without any reaction from the girls. However, he didn’t stay very long and seemed lost without his dog bed being in the living room, so I moved it back out.

Dry training pad

The training pads I have down were dry all day. It’s possible that the girl shih tzus are learning how to hold it until they go outside. I didn’t find any evidence that they had gone anywhere else in the house. My fingers are crossed.

Shih Tzu Day 2: Candy, the Early Riser

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Where can I hide?Dottie, Candy and Flower made it through their first day here as foster dogs. It probably has been how Delores first expected. The shih tzus have been tentative since Delores and Barbara left.

John got up at 4 a.m. this morning, because he kept hearing someone’s dog tag tinkling. Barbara told me that her husband usually got up about that time and took them outside before he went to work. I hope they will adapt their schedule to us, instead of the other way around.

When he came downstairs, Candy scurried back into the Superyard. She hesitantly came back out, and then she went outside and did her business. John said she growled and barked at him. She has never growled at me, so men must frighten her.

I came down about 7 a.m. and got Candy to go outside. I also picked up Dottie and took her outside. I couldn’t get Flower to budge. I should have left her, but I went in her play yard to try to get her to go outside. She went, but she wasn’t happy.

I was just getting used to my last foster mom!

When we came back inside, I put Dottie on the couch next to me. She was still shaking a little, but she did allow me and John to pet her, and every once in awhile, she’d look up at me. That was at least better than yesterday, since she wouldn’t make eye contact with me at all then.

Nothing smells familiar!

After John got up from the couch to get ready for work, she jumped down off the couch and went back in the pen with her sisters.

Candy surprises me. She came out of the pen a couple of times when I was talking to Mom on the phone. She was the last one I expected to venture out 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.