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Shih Tzu Day 11: Dottie’s Two Cents

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DottieHi. This is  Dottie. Mom has been telling our story, but she said we could give it a try. I’ll just start with what happened this morning, because sometimes my memory isn’t so good. I don’t know if that’s common with all shih tzus, or just me.

We waited forever for Mom to come downstairs. I think it was almost 8 when she got up! I was up hours before, with Candy and Flower, playing and barking and trying to get Mom to come downstairs. We ran to the bottom of the stairs and told her to come down several times. I went up two stairs, but I still don’t know what will happen if I go up further, so I stopped. Then, finally, Mom appeared. We were so excited.

When she came down, she said, “Naughty dogs. No. No. No. Poop doesn’t go here.” We just look at her. We don’t know what that means yet.

That other Human, the one with the deep voice, didn’t come down with her, so we were really excited! We still aren’t sure what to think of him.

While we were dancing around, playing with Mom’s hand, I kept trying to reach up and see her face. She was on the couch, leaning over it to play with us. I could tell she was surprised when I licked her face. I licked it just a little. I heard her say, “Did you just kiss me?” I don’t know if I did. I wish someone would tell me what a kiss is.

Mom wanted us to go outside, so we all went out and played, but then Flower sneaked back inside. Mom went in to, and she went into the kitchen. We knew from the noises we heard that she was preparing our bowls of food for us. Candy and I were good and ate it outside. Flower wouldn’t listen to her though. She went back in the pen, and Mom had to coax her. She never did get her to go outside and eat it, but Flower met Mom halfway and ate her food in the living room.

Mom and the other Human left for a couple of hours and came back. He wanted us to go outside again. When he tells us to go, we don’t know what to do sometimes. We ran under the kitchen table and back out, and then Candy and I went outside. Flower went back into the pen, but he went and told her to go outside. That time she went.I don’t know why they want us to go out there, except maybe Mom doesn’t want us to get food on the floor inside. I keep hearing her say, “Okay, now, poop and pee.” Poop? Pee?

Mom came out and sat down on a bench and watched us. Flower came up to sit by her on the porch, but then the Man came out. Flower barked at him, but he wouldn’t leave. Candy and I didn’t bark at him. It doesn’t seem like he’s too much of a threat. Still, we all liked it better when he went inside.

After we went inside, Mom picked me up out of the pen and walked around with me in her arms. I think it was because I was shaking outside. Something about being outside scares me. When we go back inside, though, I usually feel better.

I liked Mom holding me. I sat with her on the couch for about ten minutes, but then I went back to the pen to see what Flower and Candy were doing.

It got dark outside, and we kept thinking maybe the Man would go somewhere so we could have all of Mom’s attention. But they always left and came back together. Finally, we decided to come out of the pen and see her anyway.

He was sitting right there on the couch, beside her! But we were brave. We walked right out of our pen, at least a few feet. Then we all ran back inside our pen.

The Man got up a little later and pointed towards the backdoor. We all scurried back outside. He sat down beside Mom. Flower was sitting between her feet, and Mom reached down and picked her up. Then, that Man picked me up! I didn’t know what to do. I heard him say to Mom, “She’s stiff as a board.” I wish I knew what that meant.

Although I don’t think I like it when he holds me, I do like it when he gives me treats. Also, it feels kind of nice when he rubs my ears. I don’t know why I did it, but I did get kind of close to him when he was on the couch. I sniffed his toes. And for some reason, my tail started wagging. I don’t know why it does that sometimes.

Shih Tzu Day 8: A Lot of Shihtz in the House

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I don't mind sitting with you, but I'll stay a safe distance.I stayed home with the girls all day. Dottie, Flower and Candy played together a lot. They come up to the couch often to see what I am doing. Sometimes they come to the front of the couch, but sometimes they stay in their Superyard, and peek up over the end of the couch. When Dottie did it, I pulled her over and sat her beside me. She sat  on the arm long enough for me to take a few pictures before jumping off.

I am going to take Deb’s advice and buy a dog whistle to see if I can get better pictures. Also, I tried to set my camera with her directions to take pictures of the dogs when they are romping wildly. However, I still need a lot of practice.

 

Flower has a bit of a jealous streak. Whenever I pet Dottie, she usually tries to get me to pet her instead. Look, Ma! I have on Candy's body!Then, sometimes, they end up wiggling around, jumping up and down excitedly, wagging their tails. Sometimes, Candy comes up and starts jumping on both of them.

I admit that I am probably creating monsters out of these shih tzus. I lured Flower up on the couch to get Milo’s chicken jerky. She jumped up three times, grabbed her jerky, ate it, and then jumped down. When I went to the kitchen to get me an apple, she jumped up again and walked up and down. So did Candy.

If you give me more jerky, I'll sit on the couch with you a little longer.I got their food ready while John was on his way home. It was bad timing. They had just come up to their bowls eagerly when he came in the door, and they went back to their communal doggy bed. They all just stared at him, but at least there were few growls or barks. I brought their food bowls over to them and they continued their dinner.

Later, after I had gone upstairs, John stepped in poop on the carpet. At least they are using the training pad to urinate. But, like my friend John Little said in a comment on one of my Facebook pictures of them, “That’s a lot of shitz in the house!”

Shih Tzu Prelude: Getting to Know You

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Day 1 of Shih Tzu Visitation

I had my first visit today with the shih tzu half-sisters, Dottie, Flower and Candy. Five-year-old Dottie actually seemed to warm up to me quickly – at least she didn’t seem to be afraid of me. Two-year-old Flower was a different manner. Barbara, Delores’ daughter-in-law and the dogs’ foster mom, went to pick Flower up to hand her to me, and the poor little thing was so frightened that she pooped. Barbara said that she definitely was a “special needs dog.” (That didn’t frighten me too badly, because, frankly, I always thought that our precious little Yorkie, Joey was a special needs dog, too, and she had never had the traumatic experience of being a puppy mill mommy. She did, however, have the experience of being a temperamental writer’s fur baby.)

As for 2-year-old Candy, Flower and Dottie seemed intent on protecting her from any harm. I took the fact that they sat in front of their sister to guard her to mean that she was the most vulnerable and timid sister.

I stayed for about an hour, attempting to get the shih tzu sisters to let me into their world. Barbara helped by giving me a chicken jerky treat to feed them. Dottie and Candy took it from me, but Flower kept her distance, growling every now and then.

In my head, a vision appeared: it was of friendly, fluffy puppies romping around the house, spunky and lovable. I knew that if I brought these dogs home, if we signed adoption papers, it would not be that vision. I was already a little concerned. Would they be “lovable” dogs? Would they ever be lap dogs, like John and I both wanted? Like Joey was. Like Rosie would have been. Heck, like many other dogs would instantly be. What if we got them home, and they never became “normal”?

While I visited, Barbara had told me that she had been fostering the shih tzu sisters for more than three months. She had also adopted a poodle that she had been fostering, who had also come from a puppy mill. She said the poodle had been very fearful when she got her. She was definitely a lap dog now. Also, she didn’t seem to be afraid and she seemed to love people, especially Barbara.

After hearing about Barbara’s foster experience, I asked her if she thought Delores would agree to John and I being foster parents to Candy and Flower, with the intention of eventually adopting them. I know. It seemed a little less frightening to think of checking these two shih tzus out like library books, instead of signing papers saying they were our responsibility, forever and ever.

I told Barbara that if Delores would agree to that, we would probably foster Dottie as well, so the sisters wouldn’t have to be separated. Barbara thought it might be a good idea and said she would talk to Delores. I left thinking that John would probably like that idea much better too.