Tag Archives: Flower

Shih Tzu Day 208: The Shih Tzu Bone Thief is Back

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Things never seem status quo when you have four shih tzus running around. I have been saying how Nigel has been so good lately, and today I keep getting frustrated. I bought them real bones from the local grocery store, and when I passed them around, he tried to round them all up for him. This afternoon, he keeps going over to Shih Tzu Central, for what I am not sure. Now he looks like he is trying to corral Flower back to her corner, but she escaped and jumped up on the couch, breathing heavily.

I think that the winter is making them bored. I leave the door open whenever I can, in hopes that they will go outside and play, but they rarely do, even though it hasn’t been very cold. They mainly seem to wait around to see when the next treat will be delivered.

Nigel was licking his paw earlier, and I noticed it was bleeding. John was having trouble with the nail clippers, so I might have to invest in a new pair. I’m glad Lea at Gentle Grooming had put styptic powder on the “must have” list for grooming.

Shih Tzu Day 205: Shih Tzu Improvements

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shih tzu memories are secure

It has been quite a month. A computer crash and backup hard drive problem at the same time caused me to lose all my data. Although professionals told me I couldn’t get it back, persistency and lots of computer research led me to do just that. Yesterday, I got to the point where I had even recovered my DayOne files, where I kept my Shih Tzu journal. I am so happy to get back a few lost weeks that I hadn’t transferred to my blog yet. I also recovered ALL of my videos. I was heartbroken that I thought I had lost all those firsts with the shih tzus. I was kicking myself for not having put any up on my site or on YouTube, because I hadn’t yet figured how to edit them. Now everything gets backed up on a backup drive and elsewhere!

attitude adjustment

One of the biggest things I have noticed over the past few weeks is Nigel’s changed attitude. He still gets rambunctious and still has to be corrected, but ever since I brought the “dog house” inside and put him in it when he was picking on the girls, he has not been nearly as possessive of things and doesn’t bully them to where it is unbearable.

Another improvement has been in the “tinkle” department. I got tired of putting the small carpet I put under their two training pads in the washer and dryer, because I could always smell the rubber backing, and it was too hard to wash it by hand. Instead I have been using an old dish drying mat as the base and putting one pad on top of it. For the most part, they are hitting the mark, although I do have to clean up the hardwood floor in the morning, because of whichever dog seems to squat on the edge. The best part is at least they seem to be really trying! I am not sure, but it seems like Flower might be waiting to go outside in the morning.

shih tzu amnesia

Flower and Dottie seem to develop amnesia every morning. I have been coming downstairs at 6 but John usually doesn’t come down until 7. When the dogs hear his footsteps on the stairs, they act like he is an intruder and bark like crazy, throwing in a growl here and there, even when they see who he is. But there is hope. He can now come up to them and pet them and assure them that he is not an intruder, and they do stop barking.

Shih Tzu Day 202: Shih Tzu Lost in Time

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Hello everyone! It is impossible to think that it is January 17. I know I haven’t written a word all year, except to say that I had a computer malfunction. I won’t talk about it very much, except to mention that it has been a nightmare, but things are finally getting back to normal.

As for the shih tzu sisters, and Nigel, however, we grow to love them more every day! The winter months have slowed us down, practically into hibernation. Of course, they rouse periodically from sleeping to seek out food or treats. This afternoon is typical. As I type on my computer, wondering where the time went, Dottie snores beside me. Nigel is lying on the other side, not snoring, so I can’t tell if he is asleep. Flower goes back and forth between the couch and Shih Tzu Central, where she is right now. Checking on the dogs made me realize that Candy has been outside for probably an hour.

Dottie and Flower have taken a cue from Nigel, and now know how to “knock.” Dottie frantically tapes her front paws on the sliding glass door. Flower does too, but when she is really impatient, she backs up and jumps at the door, hitting it with her front paws and then doing it again. Candy, however, sits on the porch until someone realizes she is waiting. Half the time, even when you do notice she is missing, when we go to let her in, she runs back out into the yard. Strange child, that one.

More soon, both forward and backward in time.

Shih Tzu Day 110: Dog Play and Dog Treats

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Experimenting with dog treats again

a shih tzu near a dog bed.I experimented with dog treats again today. I still haven’t quite figured out which dog likes which dog treats. I threw several out on the floor, to see who would go for what. Flower and Nigel seem to be the most versatile as far as dog treats go. They all seem to like pig ears, and Nigel and Flower really like the bully sticks. It’s touch and go with the Greenbrier Kennel Club mini red and white rawhide bones, pressed rawhide bones and retriever rolls from the Dollar Tree. Sometimes these dog treats lie around for days, and then someone picks up one and begins to chew on it and all the other dogs want it. Then it’s back to bone wars.

a shih tzu pulling a sock off. Today, the other three grabbed a Beefeaters pig ear strip, but Candy chose a red and white rawhide bone. Dottie usually likes the rawhide bones too. Nigel doesn’t seem to discriminate between dog treats. He likes anything, and is expert at unraveling the Oinkies pig skin twists, but something has to be eliminated from his diet, because he has been stinking up a storm. My guess is the rawhide dog treats, which I have debated giving the dogs, because I have heard such mixed opinions about rawhide.

Overall, at the top of the dog treats list is a good-old fashioned, real dog bones from the meat department with real marrow in the middle. I bought some this week. Five minutes after I passed them out, Flower had collected three in her bed, so I had to confiscate two and redistribute. They are a little pricey where I found them, at five dollars for five small bone pieces. Not bad if you have one dog, but giving them to four dogs makes a difference!

A different life

a dog stretched out on a couch.I was thinking today how different life is from a year ago, when I edited or wrote alone in my quiet house, sometimes with the TV on in the background. Now, it’s normal to have to pet a dog on each side between making editorial corrections. I also used to worry about forgetting to take my eyes off the computer screen for long lengths of time.

a shih tzu chasing another shih tzu.Jumping up dozens of times a day to open the door when Nigel scratches at it, to either come in or go out, changes that. Plus, watching the shih tzus when they start playing also gives my eyes the opportunity to rest from the computer. Definitely, I laugh and smile more than I used to, because how can you help it with so much cuteness around?

My couch gets more and more use these days. While I worked on my laptop this afternoon, Nigel rested on one side of me and Dottie and Flower on the other. Dottie seems to be getting used to the fact that she can’t always have the very end of the couch. She didn’t growl today when Flower sat there. Flower stayed on the couch for some time. Their body language is so different. Dottie lies down, her head down, Nigel cuddles up right next to me and Flower looks like she is always on guard.

Nigel still seems a little put off at times that he can’t always get them to play with him. He especially can’t understand that when I get up in the morning, they want to play with me. That is “our” time, from when I walk out the bathroom door until when I go into the kitchen and start putting their breakfast together. He lunges at Candy and then Flower, but they ignore him or yap at him. I always think of Rudolph not being a part of the “reindeer games.”

Since the girls were ignoring Nigel this morning, and I had gathered up all the dog treats, he decided to look for attention elsewhere. He sat at my feet and began pulling a sock off my foot. Sometimes I let him take them off, but sometimes I stop him. Today, I allowed him to pull one off before I retrieved it.

Candy and Goo Goo Doll

I was watching Candy trot across the floor today. With her fur longer, she reminds me a lot of the Persian cat we used to have, Goo Goo Doll. They could have been good friends.

two shih tzus on a couch.We got Goo Goo Doll, named after one of my favorite bands, at the same time we got our Yorkshire terrier, Joey. About a year later, we brought home a Rottweiler for my teenage stepson, who was living with us. Bo, who came from a farm, seemed like he got along with both Joey and Goo Goo Doll. However, our son kept him downstairs in the day when we were gone. One day, however, Bo got loose. Goo Goo Doll was dead when we got home. It broke my heart, and Bo went to a home without cats.

I think Goo Goo Doll even had the same type of temperament as Candy. After thinking about the similarities, I picked up Candy, hugged her and carried her around a while, and then I sat down and put her on my lap. She lay there for a while before she got restless.

I knew she had answered Nigel’s call to play a little later when I heard a rapid pitter patter of little paws and looked up to see her running by, Nigel behind her, with Candy’s tail in his mouth.

Flying Flower

two shih tzusI have a lot of nicknames for Flower, but John gave her a new one: Flying Flower. He calls her that because of the way she flies across the floor and leaps up on the couches, and because of the way she leaps and dances when I come down the stairs, when she is going to get breakfast and when I come home from somewhere. Sometimes she twirls around in the air in a complete circle before touching her feet to the ground again.

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.