Tag Archives: training pad

Shih Tzu Day 51: Practice, Practice, Practice

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Practice Makes Perfect

This isn't bad, but we like our old beds.Flower spends increasingly more time on John’s side of the bed than mine when the girls come up in the morning. They play their little game where she tries to nip at him and he constantly moves his hand. That seems to be the highlight of her day.

Later this morning, I put her up on the grooming table for another practice session. I used the clippers to trim her a little and did a little scissor work. She was very patient. I’m sure I could have done more, but I am still uncomfortable and I need to re-watch the videos. I showed her a treat before, and although she didn’t want it then, after I was done practicing and sat her down on the floor, she came back looking for her treats.

Wee Wee On Target Trainer

I took Mom shopping today. While we were out, I bought a Wee Wee On Target Trainer. It’s a plastic contraption that has three sides.You put a training pad down in it, and the three sides are supposed to keep the dog in place, hence “targeting their stream” to the middle of the pad. First, of course, you have to talk the dog into getting on it.

I would have loved to try it, but the two plastic bottom pieces wouldn’t snap together. It will be going back to the store. I guess I will just get one of the trays that you simply set the training pad on. The main thing is that I need to get the dogs to start using the training pads again, instead of playing with or on them.

Now this is cozy!I also bought a plush dog bed home from Costco for the girls. I thought it was cute because it reminded me of a miniature couch. The dogs did try to lie down in it. However, if only one dog got on it, that dog always went to one corner, making the bed lopsided, and it looked pretty uncomfortable. The bed itself also seems a little lopsided, even when they aren’t in it. I think they only tried it because I put it in the corner where one of the beds from BFF Rescue usually is. The new bed will be going back to Costco.

Why Do Dogs Do That

For the second day in a row, I’ve looked up from my work late in the afternoon because of a commotion in front of me. Candy has been at the center of it. She gets in a playful mood with Flower, but I don’t understand her mode of play, which, for the second day in a row, appears to be of a sexual nature. If anyone can help me understand this, I’d love to hear from you.

Shih Tzu Day 48: My Dog, Einstein

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Flower Shows Her Possessive Side

Flower was the first one to pounce on the plastic firemen.Every time I look at Flower, I think of Einstein. She is looking rather wild.I took Lia’s advice and cut up some hot dogs to bribe Flower while I am attempting to trim her. She didn’t eat any of the pieces when she was up on my makeshift grooming table (a buffet by the kitchen door), but she came back to get them when she got down. I also made an appointment with Lia for John and I to go into Gentle Groomer next week while he is on vacation so he can practice clipping on her dog.

Flower soon claimed all the firemen as her own.Flower has exhibited her possessive side today. She collected all of the Big Blast treats from the carpet and the various places they put them and took them to the communal dog bed. Then, she collected all four plastic firemen I bought for them at the Dollar Store and put them with the Big Blasts. She didn’t seem to know what to do when Candy came and took one of the firemen back. Her attention soon went back to biting the fireman’s legs and chewing on his head. I thought it was hard enough plastic that it could keep her attention but that she wouldn’t be able to shred it, but I was wrong. It took her quite a while, but she disassembled two of them this afternoon.

She also seems to be ignoring me. She hasn’t been coming up and visiting me on the couch and she is back to running when I get near her. I wonder if it is because of the grooming I have been doing on her here and there. I managed to catch and hold her today. For some reason, I just kept repeating, “I love my little, difficult puppy.” She is difficult, but I definitely do love her.

Candy’s New Play and Sleep Station

Candy chose a comfy spot, the training pad, to play with the new toy.While Flower was chewing on her firemen, Candy decided to take a nap on the training pad. I thought those pads were supposed to have some type of scent that made them want to do their business on them, not play on them, like she did yesterday, or sleep on them. She lay down right in the middle of it. It would be great if they had that good of aim when they peed, since it seems to be hit or miss. I think it’s usually accidental for Candy and Dottie when they partially miss the pad, but I wonder with Flower sometimes.

Dear Ole Dottie

There isn’t much new to say about dear, devoted Dottie. Each morning, she continues to run up the stairs and try to get me up. If I don’t get up, she sits by the bed quietly and waits. However, If I try to put her up on the bed with me, she dances away. During the day, off and on, she comes and lies next to me while I work. She is also the only one who follows me around the house. Granted, she is usually wondering if I am going to produce food.

 

 

 

Shih Tzu Day 37: Candy The Lap Dog – Kind Of

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Candy, the sort of lap dog

I have been wondering how the shih tzus would handle their next round of company: my mother, her niece, Becky, visiting from Midland, Texas; her daughter, Teresa; Teresa’s 16-year-old daughter, Heather, and her 19-year-old son, Alex.

When the visitors first arrived, the shih tzus exhibited their normal unsocial behavior. Candy fled to her corner in the dining room, beyond the table and chairs. Flower ran from Shih Tzu Central, jumped up onto my couch, jumped back down and ran to hide behind the dining table. And, yes, she did leave a trail of poop behind her, particularly on the couch where I had been planning on having my guests sit. I explained her problem and went around the living room and dining room, picking up poop.

Dottie stayed at Shih Tzu Central, growling her disapproval. It always surprises me when she growls, since she is so passive. Shiloh, of course, wandered around visiting everyone personally.

All of our guests are dog people. Heather and Alec attempted to get to know all of the shih tzus. Dottie eventually took treats from them, but the other two kept their distance.

I did something I hadn’t ever attempted to do. I went and got Candy, picked her up and held her on my lap, even though, like her sisters, she is not a lap dog. She stayed there, calmly, for at least thirty minutes, before letting me know she was tired of company. When I let her down, she wandered back to the corner in the dining room, where she could watch at a comfortable distance. I explained to our company that, regrettably, none of the girls were lap dogs.

who stole the Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky?

While our visitors were here, we watched YouTube dog videos they told us about. One particularly funny one was about a guy trying to find out which of two dogs had stolen the cat’s treats. The video was even more appropriate after I returned from a late lunch.

When I walked in the living room, I spotted a torn and empty Milo’s Kitchen chicken jerky bag on the floor. I realized that after letting Alec and Heather try to bribe the dogs, I hadn’t put away the treats. I don’t know where they had put them, but someone had found them. I thought that the 18 oz. bag had been at least half full.

I assume that the shih tzu sisters shared the bag, while poor Shiloh, in his kennel, had to watch them have all the fun without him. What surprised me was that none of them exhibited signs of an upset stomach. Of course, no one confessed to the crime.

Shih tzu poopy

While I was cleaning up poop earlier, my mother commented that she never expected to see me cleaning up after animals. I agree. This is all new to me. John was the one who mostly cared for Joey, a genuine lap dog.

I definitely am getting a lot of experience in the clean up area now. After company left, I had to give Flower’s back half a bath. After using plenty of shampoo and water and using the scissors to cut out some particularly problem areas, Flower was back to normal. I only hope I can keep her that way for a while.

I also made a discovery today. I know that at least one shih tzu uses the training pad regularly. I know Dottie does, although she gets as much on the carpet as the pad. This evening, I watched Flower squat down right next to the pad. I ordered her to stop, but before I got there, she had done her business.

We still have plenty of work ahead of us, including housebreaking and creating a genuine lap dog or two!

Shih Tzu Day 29: Black and White Dogs, Black and White Dreams

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Candy, help me! He's out of control.

Dreaming in Black and White

You did too lead me on, Flower.John got up at 4:30 a.m. with a headache, signaling all the dogs to come and try to lure me out of bed an hour earlier than usual. I lay in bed lazily, trying to ignore them, but gave up and hung my hand over the side for them to play with. Of course, Shiloh jumped in clumsily, so I had to keep trying to get him to play gently.

You're not the only one who is Angry, Bird!Since I didn’t get up right away, Shiloh jumped back up on the bed to get in a few extra winks, and the girls migrated back downstairs. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep and planned on getting up at 5:30, but then I fell back asleep and had a really weird dream about black and white dogs, black and white hamsters, black and white cats. It reminded me of a line from the movie, Sentinel: Black and white cake; black and white cat.

Flower Forgets to Be Distant

What did you want me to do with this thing?Flower forgot to play hard to get when I picked her up this time. Earlier she ran from me, and when I caught her and held her, she leaned away from me. A few hours later, I picked her up from the dog bed and she didn’t fight me at all. She didn’t lean against me, but she didn’t lean away from me. I rewarded her with lots of kisses, but I know she would have preferred treats.

Later, she let me pet her for several minutes outside and played at my feet when we came back inside. When Dottie and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon, Flower jumped up tMom says I look like Candice Bergen. Do you see the resemblance?o sit with us. It’s probably because Brutus, Shiloh’s name for today, is making weird growling noises.  I just love it when Flower comes up and puts her paws on the couch, stretches, and looks at me all loopy.How can I look like Candy Bergen and like a rabbit?

Candy might be taking her sister’s lead. She doesn’t try to escape so much when I approach her. She usually just sits still. I picked her up and held her twice today for a couple of minutes each time.

Diarrhea

Sorry I'm not trying to be cute today. My tummy is upset.I’m used to picking up the kind of poop that’s easy to pick up, but today was a different story. Somebody must have an upset stomach. Today wasn’t hamburger day, but it’s possible it could be effects from yesterday. This morning, John also hand-fed them from the Fromm salmon sample package.

Later in the day, I caught Dottie pooping next to the training pad, and the texture identified her as the dog with the upset tummy. I picked it up and pointed to the training pad, asking her to please do her business there. About an hour later, she went back to the same spot, squatted and pooped before I could get to her. When I got to the spot, I firmly asked her to use the training pad. I tried to catch her by the collar to sit her on the pad, but she pulled away and I tugged back, saying a little impatiently, “Dottie, use the pad!” and placing her on it. The poor little thing cowered before me. I guess when a doggy has an upset tummy isn’t the right time to train them where to poop.

What's wrong with Dottie, Mommy? I picked her up and held her, petting her tummy. All afternoon, whenever I approached her, she cowered down or ran and hid under the table. I felt very guilty for showing my impatience and being too forceful. I have to get on John’s iPad and start reading the “Fearful Dog” book to get some help on what to do in situations like this.

I tried to be very careful with what all the dogs ate today, to avoid any more instances.

Shih Tzu Day 18: The Strong Willed of the Shih Tzus

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a chorus of shih tzus

two <strong srcset=shih tzus running up cow painted stairs.” width=”514″ height=”381″ />

Woke up a few times this morning, without a chorus of shih tzus barking, but forced myself to stay in bed. I was tired after getting up at 6 yesterday, plus, I knew if I moved, even to go to the bathroom, the shih tzus would hear me. Finally, when I was wide awake, I got up at 7:30 to go into the bathroom. Sure enough, I could hear the tags jingling, so I tried to stay very quiet, hoping the shih tzus would think they had been mistaken.

two shih tzus on a landing.

I had brought my camera upstairs last night, and set it down on the desk in the spare room, while the battery charged. I tiptoed in there to get it, but I wasn’t quiet enough. Candy came barreling up the stairs, with her shih tzu half-sisters behind her.

I made a mistake when I allowed Candy to enter her sanctuary. She disappeared inside and under the bed. I tried to snap photos of Dottie and Flower, but they moved too quickly. Also, they love to play with my hands in the morning, playfully biting them, and it’s hard to allow them and shoot pictures at the same time. Someday I need to get John up and have him hold the camera.

When I came downstairs, I was happy to see two separate urine spots on the training pad. Who would have ever thought that would make me so happy? My happiness was quickly dampened, however, by the sight of at least two sets of poop sprinkling the carpet near the pad. Sigh.

the strong willed shih tzu

Although I picked up all the poop I saw, John still stepped in some when he came down the stairs. Something about the way Flower was acting, plus a trail she was leaving, made me try to approach her to clean her butt. That was a step back.

Each time I got close to Flower, she bolted, until I finally felt my patience fraying. I finally walked out of the pen, pulled the section closed behind me, and said, “Fine. All of you are grounded!”

It was funny that the other two shih tzus knew they hadn’t irritated Mommy. They easily nudged their way out of the gate, although Flower sat in her bed, looking at me, thinking who knows what.