It looks as if I haven't written on here in awhile but the truth is that I wrote the longest blog ever on here not so long ago. It was so long, that I guess it couldn't take it & I lost it all. I won't try to redo all of that right now. I just got carried a way that day with too many shih tzu topics all on one blog.
I am going on vacation soon in a timeshare. They don't allow pets. I'm not sure what to do. We will lose our event tickets, our money that we put into the place- yeah, even though it is timeshare- we still had to pay money. We never stop paying money. It's unbelievable & maybe I should write a blog about timeshare... Well, back to my story. I don't know where to leave them & I think that I might be overdoing it a little when it comes to them, but when I really had to think about where they could stay- nothing seems good enough.
Our parents would let them stay at their homes but they don't have fences & it's easy for animals to get hit by cars, run off, etc. Mine are indoor dogs anyway. Some people suggested a kennel. We will be gone for over a week & I just can't do it. Even if I could, I can't imagine paying for them to be in a small space. Then you see these horror stories on tv where the hidden cameras were placed at places. I have friends that lead busy lives that would let them stay in, but then there would be no one to let them out to use the bathroom & then there are friends with small children that might want to drag them by their tails or something. I hope that I can think of some place that they can stay where they will be comfortable, but if not, we have to cancel the trip & my family really doesn't like that.
I'm not sure if I am being too picky about it or not. They really are like family members to me & I was picky with where my children stayed when they were babies too.

Jett w/ bulldog

Jett met several bulldogs on his outing. He loved & licked them all. This is a picture of him after the grooming that I talked about too. He doesn't look the same, but it is keeping him cooler & was probably a good thing that they had been shaved during that camping trip.

Camping

Bruce & Jett are always ready to get out of the house. They get so excited when they see me get the leashes. They never know where they are going, but the exitement remains. Lately, it seems like they have only been to the groomers or to the vet & didn't care for either one.
Jett is only a little over a year old, so he has only been to the park for fun. We decided to take them camping. Bruce has had many adventures, but this was the first for Jett. We took them to Skidaway Island near Savannah Ga. This was a nice place & the campgrounds were some of the biggest & most private that I have seen. Usually campgrounds tell you which lot you will camp on, but this place lets you choose. They also have activities going on each night. This could have been the worst camping experience of our lives, but it didn't have much to do with the campground. It was the rain & the bugs. I did take some avon bug lotion, but it didn't work. My son noticed that it expired in 2002, so that probably had something to do with it.

Bruce acted whiny, which surprised me & campgrounds expect dogs to be on the leash at all times. Bruce doesn't understand that. He probably considers himself to be just as polite as any human & just as smart. He knows that he would never bite anyone.

Jett was good on the leash. Once I did take it off, so that he could run a little & he ran over to the guy that rides around on the scooters making sure that dogs are on their leashes. Just my luck. I start telling the guy about how my tent had a giant centepede in it. This is all true, but it had nothing to do with Jett not being on his leash. It was obvious that the guy was wondering what was wrong with me, so he left without giving me the park rules- which is what I was hoping for. I already knew them. I was really hoping that he would get the centepede out of my tent. It was as big as a small snake. Jett had a good time seeing the campfire for the first time & meeting people. We took him on riverstreet & he met many dogs that he had never seen their kind before. He loved it. Especially bull dogs. He met this one giant bulldog that was making this loud noise. I think that he needed water. I'm not sure, because I don't know anything about bulldogs except that they are cute. Jett loved him & was licking his nose.
Both of our shih tzus are great at travelling.

Cut ear

The last blog that I posted, I was wondering why Bruce kept hiding after his haircut. He may have been embarrassed, I don't know- he seems fine now. I did notice after posting that blog, that he had a pretty deep cut on the inside flap of his ear. Maybe that was the reason for hiding- who knows. It had to have hurt. I know that mistakes happen, but I won't be going back to that groomer again.

Grooming

Bruce has been groomed a few times but Jett just had his 2nd grooming. I really try to keep them mat free at home but it is hard. Jett chews on Bruces ears, so they get matted really bad. They run & play outside a lot, so the mats had gotten out of control. I took them to the groomers & they don't even look like the same dogs.
Jett had never been shaved, his first pro grooming, they just brushed it out since it wasn't so bad. This time, he was shaved. He's still adorable but doesn't really look like a Shih tzu anymore to me. Just a cute dog. I can't even put my finger on what he does look like.
We thought that Bruce had gotten fat because his fur was soooo thick. It didn't seem to be growing down like the show Shih tzus, but just everywhere. He looked like a ball of fat fluff. Unfortunately, there were many mats to the skin underneath the fluff. Now he looks tiny- tinier than ever. I think part of it has to do with the fact that when he has been shaved in the past, there was still fur on the ears.
Jett seems fine with his new look but Bruce is still hiding, 3 days afterwards. Bruce was hiding after his last grooming as well but never before that.
I wonder if he thinks he's ugly, because he isn't & i'm giving him extra attention. My friend said that she thinks that since he is such a good dog, that maybe he feels like he did something wrong & the grooming was a punishment. She said that they have to strap them down, muzzle them, etc. in order to groom. I can see why that would be needed but it does make me feel bad for Bruce because he is the type of dog that always wants to please. When I groom him at home, he stands very still for me. Maybe she has a point. I'm not sure. I am going to try better to keep up with brushing them enough that maybe we can avoid the groomers. That has always been my plan in the past, but maybe this time I can do a better job of it.

animal cruelty

I do love my dogs & are amazed by them daily. I have never agreed with any kind of mistreatment of animals at all but now that I see how smart & caring they actually are. It makes the thought of some animals being mistreated unbearable. There are organizations & people that try to make a difference with the abuse of animals. I will post some links tomorrow. My husband donates to Rescue Inc out of NY. There is a big problem out there with the way that animals are treated. I guess the main things that people should do is to get their animals spayed or neutered & stop breeding for personal gain.
It does seem like people are taking in pets more than in the past maybe & many people treat their animals above & beyond normal. It seems that pets are allowed in more places & it is easier than ever now to take pets on vacation & all.
I would love to take in every animal out there that doesn't have a home but it's not allowed since I rent & money is an issue. lol If I ever won the lottery, I would definitely do something for many animals with the money. I just know it! Maybe I should start playing!!

sweeties

They are both still doing great and still as sweet as ever!

Bruce & Jett

It amazes me how faithful they are. Every morning when I wake up, there they are. They refuse to leave the room until I do. Wherever I go, they will sleep or play beside me, until I get up. Somehow they just know to wait outside of the bathroom door when I go in there, even if I am going to brush my teeth & don't shut the door. They are just so trusting & sweet. It makes me so mad when I hear about people doing mean things to dogs because they are so sweet that they will be nice to people even when the people aren't nice to them it seems like. I'm very good to my dogs because I love them & there is no reason to ever be mean. They try to do good and they usually do. When they do something that I don't think is right, then I blame myself for not teaching it to them yet. I don't blame them because what it boils down to is that they are still dogs... they are great. I think that if I didn't have the patience to be patient with them while they are learning, then I probably wouldn't deserve to have them. Luckily Bruce learns fast. Jett wasn't very fast & there were times when I felt frustrated with him but his good points just outweighed the fact that he was slow. He got sick at one point & I was terrified. I think that is when I really realized how much I cared for him even during the time that he didn't seem to do much right. I'm glad that it worked because now I don't have any problems with Jett, he seems to have caught on & maybe Bruce helped him learn some things, i'm not sure. What I do know is that I couldn't imagine them not being in the family because they really add to our happiness a lot.

Jett & Bruce

This is Bruce when he was 6 months old. We went to Alamogordo NM to White Sands.

Jett Li

When I first got Jett- 1 year ago for my birthday- I didn't really want another Shih tzu because I felt like Bruce was enough & felt that we were such great buddies that another would cause problems. I thought that Bruce might be jealous.
Jett was sortof the coloring of a little wolf & his tongue hung out constantly. I thought that he might have problems but he was sweet so we got him anyway.
He was so different from Bruce. He chewed on everything! Furniture, shoes, papertowels, just anything that he could get his mouth on. It was strange to me since Bruce had never been into chewing on things. I bought Jett so many chew toys, chew treats & all but he still would chew on anything in site. I had a problem potty training him but hoped he would pick it up from Bruce. He did use puppy pads though or use it outside if he just happened to be out there when he needed to go.
Now, a year later (almost) He has learned to only use it outside and he has stopped chewing on things other than his toys. I was lazy with Jett and didn't push the issues hard, but he still learned. Maybe Bruce tells him and he is finally listening. I'm not sure. He is just so sweet now & a big licker. He gets along great with Bruce- they don't fight, just play & I am very happy that we have him. He has fit into the family well, gives Bruce more much needed exercise & my cat Marsha is starting to warm up to him finally.

Bruce Lee

Bruce is 3 yrs. old. I bought him in Ga. I wasn't sure what to expect from him since the only dog that I had ever owned before was a bassett hound. My husband's aunt Betty had a Shih tzu named Baxter that I met when we went to visit that made a huge impression on me. He was calm, smelled good, would sit in the begging position, potty trained & all of the things that my bassetts weren't. I wasn't sure if it was all Shih tzus or just him. We bought Bruce & he was cute, sweet and playful. The loyalty as he grew shocked me. Potty training just seemed natural for him. He didn't chew on anything other than his teething toys.
It seemed that we could do anything with him. Most hotels would allow him, he would hike up mountains with us, camp, even swim. It just seemed that for an indoor type of dog- he was very well rounded. Bruce is very smart & I notice that even more now that I have Jett. The only problem that I ever had was that when he was around a year or so, he liked to mark territory in the house. I tried everything until I had him fixed. That did stop it for awhile but we moved- a little maltese visited and Bruce started marking again. We have moved again and he doesn't do it here. Not inside anyway.

My Shih tzus

I have 2 Shih tzus that I will regularly be posting pictures of & telling about new suprising things that they do. I was always a cat person until I got these dogs. My oldest is Bruce Lee. He is extremely smart. I like to brag that when he was young, he potty trained his own self. He is just so smart that it is amazing to me. My 2nd Shih tzu is named Jett Li. He is the cutest puppy that I have ever seen. He isn't so bright but with the help of his family and Bruce, he is getting better. His tongue is too big for his mouth, so don't laugh at him when I start posting pictures of him because he can't help it. I chose the asian names for both of them since I share the same middle name & since they are asian dogs originally anyway. They both are full of energy so they might as well be little kung fu fighters!