Tag Archives: Yorkshire terrier

Shih Tzu Day 113: Chaos at the Shih Tzu Zoo

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The shih tzu zoo

two shih tzus playingtwo shih tzus playingI was looking around at the kids this morning and thought, “This is a shih tzu zoo!” At the time, Nigel was snuggled up to my left side. Dottie was lying on the other side. Flower and Candy had come alive, after a nap in their dog beds, and were wandering around the floor. What is amazing is that I do fairly well as a zookeeper.

two shih tzus playingJohn has been surprised at that too. I was the one who really wanted a Yorkshire terrier and the one who picked out and named Josephina Ballerina, aka Joey. However, John was the one who gave her the most care. A lot was different when we had Joey. For the first several years, I worked full time out of the house. For the last eight years she was with us I did my newspaper editing worked at home, but my editing and writing duties were out of control, so I never seemed to have time for her. Luckily, she was John’s baby, so that didn’t matter so much. He got up in the morning and fed her and fed her when he got home in the evening. She sat on his lap whenever he was sitting down.

When I decided I wanted a shih tzu, I gave it a lot of thought, because I knew I would need to be more involved. I haven’t had such a hectic schedule since leaving the paper three years ago. The timing seemed to be right. Of course, I planned for one shih tzu, not for several to overrun the house! I do love my shih tzu zoo though!

shih tzu romp time

After the shih tzus ate their breakfast and did their business, Dottie, Flower and Nigel scurried inside. Dottie and Flower don’t seem to have a big desire to stay outside since the weather is getting colder. Nigel usually wants to go right back out, so I don’t know why he came in with them. I told him to go play with Candy, and he did go back out. They had a half-hour romp.

When they came inside, they started playing in the dining room, but I had the back door open a little, so they danced outside onto the patio again. Loud noises outside brought them back in, and Flower joined the other two shih tzus. Since we haven’t gotten the girls used to walks yet, I’m glad they are getting “Nigel exercise.”

Candy went back outside a little later and sat by herself. I know she always liked being by herself, and I think she still does. She still loves to wander around the yard. When she sits on the porch, though, she looks towards the door sometimes, like she is waiting. Maybe for the little boy shih tzu to come out and play? Maybe not, though. I have a tendency to read into things.

couch competition

two shih tzus sparring.two shih tzus sparringFlower has been sitting by Dottie and me quite a bit lately. However, she had a problem today. She came and sat in front of the couch and kept looking up at it, but Nigel and Dottie were sprawled out taking up all the room. Flower went over and checked out the dog steps I bought from Ross Dress For Less, which Nigel uses to get up on the male side of the couch. She sniffed them, and eventually tried to step on one, but it moved and scared her. She investigated them again later, but they might be a little short for her, because she didn’t try very hard to use them. Eventually she wandered back over to Shih Tzu Central.

 

two shih tzus sparringAfter that, Nigel carried a small bear and some treats up onto the couch. Flower decided she wanted one of the treats and took it. It was probably one the male shih tzu stole originally from the girls anyway. The result was another bone war. When Nigel tried to get it back, Flower started yipping at him and jumped off the couch. He followed her down, but then she jumped up on her couch to escape him. He responded by stretching his neck out and going “woo, woo, woo,” like he was howling at the moon.

The couch situation has also caused Dottie to often sit closer to me now than she used to, because of competition for the couch corner. Today I was typing and felt something at my side. Dottie was sitting as close as Nigel does, rubbing against my sweater and looking up at me. She didn’t appear to be in pain or to be wanting anything, so I thought maybe she just felt like being close. When I thought about it further, though, she could have just been trying to figure out why my sweater pocket smelled like the dog treats I had in them the other day.

Kong enjoys the outdoors

a shih tzu with a retriever rollWhen I was deciding what treats to give the shih tzus, I came across the Kong I had bought the girls. They weren’t very interested, but I thought Nigel might be. I filled it with peanut butter, but he wasn’t interested either. That was surprising, since I thought Kongs were all the rage with dogs. Maybe they aren’t all that to shih tzus. Later in the afternoon, though, I noticed that the Kong was outside, with the peanut butter still inside. I imagine Nigel smuggled it out when I wasn’t looking. He didn’t want the peanut butter, but he likes the act of smuggling.

The shih tzus are much more into their variety of bones. Candy’s main interest today was a retriever roll from the Dollar Tree. I love watching her eat them, because she handles them so gently, holding them delicately between her front paws and nibbling like a rabbit.

New Dog Bed Relocation

four shih tzusNigel doesn’t seem to like to keep his dog bed in one place. Today, he grabbed it with his teeth and moved it continually until he finally had it right in front of the door. Maybe he wants it there to be the first one to greet John. After he finally stopped and got in it, Flower went and sat next to him, off of the bed, for at least 10 minutes.

Training Pads

I might be getting somewhere with the training pads. I have moved them clear over by the back door now, so they are no longer in the living room or dining room, and the shih tzus have been using them. I counted three spots when I came downstairs this morning. Since the goal is to get them to do their business outside whenever possible, I positioned jingle bells above the training pads. My hope is that I will hear them and can get there before they do anything, so I can get them outside in time. I don’t think I have them positioned correctly yet, though, because I never hear them jingle. Either that, or the shih tzus are tiptoeing around.

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 Prelude: Runaway Shih Tzu Home Alone

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The Stray Shih Tuz Stays Home on Father’s Day

When John came downstairs this morning, “Bella II” was sitting on the chair, looking a little guilty. We assumed that her family probably didn’t let her sit on furniture. But we didn’t care. Joey always sat on the furniture. In fact, we bought our Yorkshire terrier doggy stairs, so she could have easy access to us.

When John came downstairs again a little later, the shih tzu had wandered over and sat on the couch. Although we hated to, we had to leave her alone for several hours. It was Father’s Day, and we were spending the day at Bandimere Speedway with the children, Leticia, Gabriel and Candace; the eight grandchildren: Rema, Oriana, Junior, Evita and Dulcea; and Victor and Candace’s children, Keith, Jurrian and Caliyana; and with Candace’s husband, Victor; and Gabriel’s girlfriend, Crystal.

When we got home, we were relieved that Bella ate a little bit of the food we bought from PetSmart. I picked her up and sat her on the couch with me, and she seemed content. She seemed like such a good-natured shih tzu, and I was beginning to bond with her.

Shih Tzu Prelude: Bella, the Foster Dog —Encounter One

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Encountering Bella the Foster shih tzu at PetSmart

When our 14-year-old Yorkshire terrier died a year and a half ago, I didn’t have any idea that an encounter with a shih tzu named Bella and her foster mother would be the first step in getting another dog.

Bella, a shih tzuJohn and I had talked several times about getting another dog, but we’d always put it off. At first, it was too sad to think about replacing Joey. Also, I promised my sister Sandy that we would visit her in Florida before we got another dog, since Joey kept us from traveling together for many years.

Dogs can also get expensive, especially if they have medical problems, and we had our share with Joey, including the fact that she was a breast cancer survivor. Also, since I have been freelance writing and editing for the last few years, and haven’t had a full-time job, it never seemed to be a good time to get a dog.

On March 5, my mom, John and I were headed to the Brewery Bar II in Denver. My niece and nephew were moving to North Dakota because of Herman’s new job, and he was leaving a few months earlier than Heather and the boys. Herman wanted Mexican food for his going away party.

We picked up Mom a little early, so we decided to stop at PetSmart. It’s always “doggy alert” when we am there, and John and I spotted a cutie right away. We went up to say hi, and asked her person what and who she was. She told me she was a shih tzu and her name was Bella. We talked for a few minutes and she told me Bella was her foster dog. She said she was fostering her through the Evergreen Animal Protective League. As we talked, she told me about a medical condition Bella had. We also talked about the fact that she was a little heavier than the average shih tzu.

Later that day, I was still thinking about Bella. I couldn’t resist looking up the EAPL and looking at her picture. I fleetingly wondered if I was ready for another dog, and I looked at the site several times to see her picture. Her adoption fee was $300. That is a common amount for an adoption fee for a dog of her breed, but I didn’t think I should be spending that much on a dog at this time in my life. And that would just be the beginning. Her medical condition probably required ongoing medication, and I didn’t have very good luck controlling Joey’s weight, so a dog with just a few extra pounds worried me.

What Other Shih Tzus Need a Home?

With a small touch of dog fever, I also looked at the Denver Dumb Friends League site, and saw a shih tzu named Happy Flower that I thought about going to see. But I didn’t do anything. Too many things to stop me — mainly money. I decided not to do anything about finding a new furry friend just yet.