Tag Archives: leash training

Shih Tzu Day 115: Flower Power, Play Dates & Leash Training

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 A blooming Flower

a black and white shih tzu nibbling on an apple.I get a kick out of Flower. Today, she walked up to the couch, licked my feet and then walked by. That’s the most licking I get from these shih tzus. What I do get, though, is some good entertainment. Like when Flower comes up, puts her paws up on the edge of the couch, stares into my eyes with her big eyes and then slides down. She did that routine twice today.

Later, Flower didn’t hesitate to go up to John for dog treats. John has taken the dogs out for their treats the last two evenings. They follow him quickly, which is great to see. In fact, Flower was following right at his feet like he was the Pied Piper. And Flower has been jumping up on the couch often. Beyond that, miracle of miracles, she let John pet her today.

Dottie

three shih tzu sisters on a couch.Even Dottie jumped off the couch and followed the Pied Piper. Then, this afternoon, we took Nigel and Dottie for a walk. Actually, I couldn’t call it leash training. John walked Nigel on the leash. I carried Dottie to the green area behind the Wal-Mart a block away, so she could “watch” John and Nigel, and hopefully get a hint that walking can be fun. However, when we were at a point where I didn’t think she would run off, I set Dottie down.

At first, she walked a few steps and then stopped. However, when we got to a place that was more like a path, she walked behind and beside me for probably a minute until she heard a voice from a nearby apartment. I let her stop a while and then picked her up again. We walked a ways and then I put her down again. She walked again until she heard another voice. That time, she started shaking. I picked her up and carried her back to the house, praised her and gave her a treat. She was so cute walking by me, but, sorry to say, I didn’t have my camera with me.

also 

Nigel is a real apple lover, unlike our female shih tzus. He also loves playing with Candy outside and inside. This afternoon John was holding Nigel and I couldn’t resist putting Candy on his lap too. They were so cute sitting there. It looked like they were on a date.

a boy and girl shih tzu on a "date."We now have several couch dogs. Today, Nigel was sitting between us, Dottie was next to me and Flower next to her, and eventually, Candy moved over near her shih tzu sisters. I was very excited when we bought our couch from American Furniture Warehouse last year, but it actually is a pain in the butt. It’s a sofa sleeper, and it is not very good quality, as far as we are concerned. Because of having John and Nigel on one side and Dottie and sometimes Flower on the other, I have to sit right in the middle, half of me on one cushion and half on the other. And, the cushions sink in the middle. It is a bummer to have to think about the As Seen On TV product, Furniture Fix, when we just bought our sofa six months ago. Instead of buying that product, we put a board under the cushions. It seems to be working right now.

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?

Shih Tzu Day 31: Leash Training with the Comfy Control Harness

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I'm not budging from this spot.

leash training for Dottie

John woke up at 4:30 this morning and took Shiloh downstairs. I thought the shih tzus would come prancing up the stairs, but he was very quiet and they didn’t rustle. However, the shih tzu sisters did come up to get me at their usual time of 5:30. I tried to ignore them, but it’s difficult to ignore so much cute, even that early in the morning. I finally got up and took them outside. Then, I had mercy on them and fed them early too.

When we came inside, I sat Candy on the couch with me, and Flower jumped up too. As is the usual case lately, Candy didn’t fight me, but as soon I let her, she jumped down. Flower, however, sat in the corner of the couch and let me pet her. She didn’t leave until I stopped giving her all my attention.

Shiloh chose to sit in Dottie’s chosen spot, on the right side of me, so I had to help Dottie up to the other side of me, where John usually sits. She tried to sit on my lap, but I think it’s uncomfortable for her when I am stretching my arms out to type (my laptop sits on a TV dinner stand) so I moved her back to where I had set her down earlier.

Whatever you think you're doing, it's not working.

I decided it was time to do a little leash training and I chose Dottie as the guinea pig.

I got her in the Comfy Control harness and we took her outside into the exercise area for our leash training session. I asked John if I needed to give her a treat, but he thought we were just teaching her typical behavior and that she didn’t need one. I’m not sure I agree with that.

Giving me one of my favorite treats won't make up for what you did.Maybe the treat would have been in order if we had succeeded in our leash training session, but that didn’t happen. She didn’t shake, but she didn’t walk either. She sat down, stiffened up and wouldn’t move. John tried to encourage her by tugging on the leash while calling her name, but he ended up dragging her a few inches. He tried to lift her up on all fours, but her back legs froze. Flower and Candy came outside to see what was happening and started barking, believing that John was trying to hurt her.

This morning was exhausting. We decided to take Dottie out to the front yard to continue the leash training where her sisters couldn’t try to defend her, but we didn’t have results there either. It’s obvious that I have to do a little research on how to get a fearful dog to walk while on a leash, so I will be doing Google searches and viewing YouTube videos on the subject before we try any leash training again.

Dottie seemed remarkably calm 30 minutes later. I gave her one of her favorite treats, Canyon Creek Ranch apple and chicken wraps, for her troubles. The other girls calmed down too, but it was a step back in their relationship with John. It’s possible that I need to do the leash training, with him coaching, since they trust me more. I have just always looked at him as the dog trainer, but these girls obviously aren’t Joey, or the other dogs John has had.