What do I do...I succumbed to temptation and bought a 17 wk Shih Tzu...

[SeaBreeze]

That's my Bella!

I bet she's adorable! I've always used newspapers for potty training, kept in kitchen, small area near back door to yard. I'd bring the pup out on a leash to do her business, and gently praise for any results. I'd block off the kitchen doorway at night, and provide a little 'bed' for them.

Slowly, when they showed progress, I'd introduce the pup to another room, under supervision. If she started to peewee, I'd pick her up quickly and place her on the papers, tell her 'you go here'. I'd get them outside early in the morning, before they started waking and stirring around, the always have to go after a sleep or a nap.

Never used a crate for training my dogs, I think it's cruel and unnecessary. Over the years they have had the run of the house, allowed to live just like us, and when we were working, they could stay in the house with no accidents. If gone for a full shift, I'd keep a square of newspaper down for emergencies.

 

[Aneeda72]

I bet she's adorable! I've always used newspapers for potty training, kept in kitchen, small area near back door to yard. I'd bring the pup out on a leash to do her business, and gently praise for any results. I'd block off the kitchen doorway at night, and provide a little 'bed' for them.

Slowly, when they showed progress, I'd introduce the pup to another room, under supervision. If she started to peewee, I'd pick her up quickly and place her on the papers, tell her 'you go here'. I'd get them outside early in the morning, before they started waking and stirring around, the always have to go after a sleep or a nap.

Never used a crate for training my dogs, I think it's cruel and unnecessary. Over the years they have had the run of the house, allowed to live just like us, and when we were working, they could stay in the house with no accidents. If gone for a full shift, I'd keep a square of newspaper down for emergencies.

Yup, this is how my daughter does it, except in her new house she has a doggy door for the 6 little ones. She diapers them when she comes to my house. The big horse of a dog has to hold it.

If I left my Bella loose in my kitchen she would eat my cabinets and the floor. I once had a cocker spaniel who, when put outside with another dog to play, ate the siding off my house. Neighbors German Shepard did the same thing. . Then he went and bought a crate.

Different people, different dogs, different methods.

 

[Ruby Rose]

I am writing this cause you asked for suggestions. You can , of course, ignore everything I said or don’t read it. I am not telling you what to do.

I assume you have a crate and are crate training her, puppies need their rest. I recommend crating her, if you are not, but don’t take my word for it, google the info if you are not crate training. At four months she should hold it for 4 hours. My Bella will hold it for up to six hours, I don’t know how she does this. it’s nice cause if we get stuck some where she will not go in her crate.

Also, at four months time to take her to training classes to learn her basics. Is she housebroken or are you? Cause with my Bella I found I was housebroken. Taking her out, treating her for potty, I was taking her out all the time as well. She wanted those treats. I created a treat monster. When I stopped giving her treats for potty, she started potting in the house. Potty training has been put on the back burner for now.

But when taken out, Bella pees right away, within two minutes so it’s out then back in. Takes her about five minutes for a poop, cause as we all know, poop has to be precisely placed, and involves the sniff and circle around three times poop dance.

My Bella, now almost 4 months plays most of the day outside where she now prefers to be. She is a very independent pup, not a lap dog for sure. Doesn’t mind an occasional pet or tummy rub, but wouldn’t think of sitting on our lap. She is non stop moving.

If you can’t go to puppy classes the best command to teach is sit, after sit, come. IMO. I was surprised when you said she was housebroken because Shin Tuz, while gorgeous dogs, are known to be very hard to housebreak and like to eat their own poop. You can google this. Being housebroken gets you a leg up for sure, but most puppies are only housebroken to their original house which is why you have to housebreak her to your house.

Anyway, if you crate train that helps with learning to “hold it” as most puppies will not go in a crate. However, if someone buys a puppy from a pet store, they are very hard to housebreak because they have learned to potty in a crate. Anyway this can all be goggled. That is what I do, goggle goggle goggle.

Thank you, thank you Aneeda72! I can't seem to load a picture of her, don't know why but will keep on trying.

As per the (home) breeder, she was crate-trained along with the other siblings first, then put always out to do her business. I was told the puppies loved being outside. She was born in November, so a winter baby, thank goodness. As soon as I got her home, she relieved herself with pee and poo both in designated fenced-in area. I was told to put her out every hour or so, which I do, and she performs three quarters of the time. Seeing I don't get any treats for bathroom moments, neither does she (haha)--we do praise, though.

Bella is a lap dog as well as very energetic, but, because of such, she does flop down like a Raggedy Ann doll and is out like a light--naps a lot! She has had the odd accident indoors, presumably due to timing. She loves tummy rubs, tickling, and brushing seemingly always. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, she runs and races around with the big, gentle dog from next door.

Like most dogs, she reacts instantly to someone at the door. She does not bark all day long, thank goodness. If we think it is time to go out, we ask her, "Want to go out?" and she rushes to the door. Works good most of the time. My son, on the other hand, whistles for her to go to the door and out. She is obliging, loves to go out.

I am feeding her as per weight and age, even though she could eat more, but obesity would be bad for any dog, especially for her.

We are both schedule people, seeing as we are both writers, so this is somewhat trying, but we are definitely trying! My daughter and son-in-law keep laughing and laughing at us, but we will show them! Keep sending me tips, they are very appreciated.

 

[Aneeda72]

Thank you, thank you Aneeda72! I can't seem to load a picture of her, don't know why but will keep on trying.

As per the (home) breeder, she was crate-trained along with the other siblings first, then put always out to do her business. I was told the puppies loved being outside. She was born in November, so a winter baby, thank goodness. As soon as I got her home, she relieved herself with pee and poo both in designated fenced-in area. I was told to put her out every hour or so, which I do, and she performs three quarters of the time. Seeing I don't get any treats for bathroom moments, neither does she (haha)--we do praise, though.

Bella is a lap dog as well as very energetic, but, because of such, she does flop down like a Raggedy Ann doll and is out like a light--naps a lot! She has had the odd accident indoors, presumably due to timing. She loves tummy rubs, tickling, and brushing seemingly always. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, she runs and races around with the big, gentle dog from next door.

Like most dogs, she reacts instantly to someone at the door. She does not bark all day long, thank goodness. If we think it is time to go out, we ask her, "Want to go out?" and she rushes to the door. Works good most of the time. My son, on the other hand, whistles for her to go to the door and out. She is obliging, loves to go out.

I am feeding her as per weight and age, even though she could eat more, but obesity would be bad for any dog, especially for her.

We are both schedule people, seeing as we are both writers, so this is somewhat trying, but we are definitely trying! My daughter and son-in-law keep laughing and laughing at us, but we will show them! Keep sending me tips, they are very appreciated.

I have to watch Bella like a hawk. When I let her out of the puppy pen and into the yard, she will pick up and try to eat everything, especially wood. Since we live in a 1955 house whose yard has never been kept up, it’s a nightmare.

I always have treats in my pocket. . Sometimes on my walks I leave a trail of treats down the sidewalk and pick them up on the way back. Treats are expensive. Anyway, Bella is 50-50 on drop it. So when she grabs some thing I missed seeing, I show her the treat, toss it, she chases it, and I grab the garbage. She finds the smallest pieces of crap.

I can not bend over and pick it up with her nearby, my hands vs her teeth, not good. She is like a drug addict--it’s been, I think, 5 days since she last bit me. . Does your Bella mouth you? Because corgis bark so much from the beginning, we have trained her not to bark. She is really good at not barking. Except birds, she barks at birds, that will stop.

Once she has her rabies shot, off to the park to learn to leave birds alone.

 

[Lewkat]

They are great dogs, Ruby Rose, enjoy her to the max.

 

[Ruby Rose]

Happy for you @Ruby Rose . I too, have a Shih-Tzu, mixed but mostly Shih Tzu. A sweeter dog doesn't exist. Always wants to please and loves to be petted. I wish you many happy years of companionship and fun.

Would love to hear all about your Shih Tzu! Attached is a picture of baby Bella!

 

[Pappy]

Congratulations on the new wigglely baby. Shih Tzus are our absolute favorite dog. Our Sassy was rather hard to train and very strong headed. Actually, I guess she trained us. Good luck.

 

[Ruby Rose]

I have to watch Bella like a hawk. When I let her out of the puppy pen and into the yard, she will pick up and try to eat everything, especially wood. Since we live in a 1955 house whose yard has never been kept up, it’s a nightmare.

I always have treats in my pocket. . Sometimes on my walks I leave a trail of treats down the sidewalk and pick them up on the way back. Treats are expensive. Anyway, Bella is 50-50 on drop it. So when she grabs some thing I missed seeing, I show her the treat, toss it, she chases it, and I grab the garbage. She finds the smallest pieces of crap.

I can not bend over and pick it up with her nearby, my hands vs her teeth, not good. She is like a drug addict--it’s been, I think, 5 days since she last bit me. . Does your Bella mouth you? Because corgis bark so much from the beginning, we have trained her not to bark. She is really good at not barking. Except birds, she barks at birds, that will stop.

Once she has her rabies shot, off to the park to learn to leave birds alone.

Yes...yes...yes all of the above! Also steals my slippers and hides them in her bed...another habit to break...unties my indoor shoe laces...etc etc. Today I thought that she was nibbling twigs and such and my son-in-law just told me no...'Tis rabbit poo who come and eat dropping from my feeders at night!!! Going by the thickness of her hair and being so fine, I can see that I have to groom her at least twice daily. I have nightmares of her getting tangled in the thorn tree...if she did probably would have to shave her!!! All in all, she is doing good...have to maintain giving her only a certain amount of food in spite of all her energy expenditure in and outdoors which is hard.

How much is too much 'rawhide' for her?

 

[Aneeda72]

Yes...yes...yes all of the above! Also steals my slippers and hides them in her bed...another habit to break...unties my indoor shoe laces...etc etc. Today I thought that she was nibbling twigs and such and my son-in-law just told me no...'Tis rabbit poo who come and eat dropping from my feeders at night!!! Going by the thickness of her hair and being so fine, I can see that I have to groom her at least twice daily. I have nightmares of her getting tangled in the thorn tree...if she did probably would have to shave her!!! All in all, she is doing good...have to maintain giving her only a certain amount of food in spite of all her energy expenditure in and outdoors which is hard.

How much is too much 'rawhide' for her?

Any rawhide is too much rawhide, don’t give it to her. Get bully sticks, give them to her. Bella has short hair doesn’t need to be brushed and no shedding yet. We take her to the groomer once a month.

Yup, your dog likes poo , it makes mention of this on a lot sites. Just don’t let her lick your face. Most people shave these dogs, the long hair is a nightmare. But even shaved they are so cute!

My Bella loves to grab my slippers then the chase is on . You might need to fence around the thorn tree cause wherever you don’t want a dog to go, that’s where it goes.

 

[SeaBreeze]

When my dogs were pups, I bought a package of small rawhide bones. Kept one in my pocket around the house, so did my husband. When the puppy started to chew on something, including us, we'd calmly say, 'no, you chew on this', and give the rawhide to the pup, who always accepted it and chewed it for a few minutes, then walked away. We'd pick it up again for the next 'lesson'. Worked like a charm, basically a satisfying distraction, and being young like that, they lose interest quickly.

It is important not to leave them lying around if you have a puppy, they should always be watched if they have them. My dogs when they became older, were given the large rolled rawhide to chew on, the one my dog has was given to him around six months ago, still in great shape, he buries it in the house more than chews on it. My other dogs chewed those down more, and when it became smaller or unraveled, I'd toss it and give a fresh one.

They need a lot of chew toys to occupy themselves, that's for sure. I always have one for my dog now, and one squeaky ball in the house that we toss for him. He has his outside ball too. Anything they chew on has to be inspected often and tossed when needed.

Your photo of Bella is too cute!

 

[Aneeda72]

When my dogs were pups, I bought a package of small rawhide bones. Kept one in my pocket around the house, so did my husband. When the puppy started to chew on something, including us, we'd calmly say, 'no, you chew on this', and give the rawhide to the pup, who always accepted it and chewed it for a few minutes, then walked away. We'd pick it up again for the next 'lesson'. Worked like a charm, basically a satisfying distraction, and being young like that, they lose interest quickly.

It is important not to leave them lying around if you have a puppy, they should always be watched if they have them. My dogs when they became older, were given the large rolled rawhide to chew on, the one my dog has was given to him around six months ago, still in great shape, he buries it in the house more than chews on it. My other dogs chewed those down more, and when it became smaller or unraveled, I'd toss it and give a fresh one.

They need a lot of chew toys to occupy themselves, that's for sure. I always have one for my dog now, and one squeaky ball in the house that we toss for him. He has his outside ball too. Anything they chew on has to be inspected often and tossed when needed.

Your photo of Bella is too cute!

I used to use rawhide but now it’s not recommended. My Bella is a strong chewer and eats like a horse so I have a variety of chews but none last very long. On the bright side nothing gives her diarrhea .

 

[Keesha]

View attachment 154382
Would love to hear all about your Shih Tzu! Attached is a picture of baby Bella!

Congratulations on your new adorable Shih Tzu!
Adorable!

 

[Jeweltea]

We had a Shih Tzu several years ago. She was so sweet we named her Sugar.

 

[Aneeda72]

We had a Shih Tzu several years ago. She was so sweet we named her Sugar.

We had one several years ago and she was the cutest, dumbest dog we ever owed. She was part poodle but that didn’t help in the “smarts” department.

 

[Jeweltea]

We had one several years ago and she was the cutest, dumbest dog we ever owed. She was part poodle but that didn’t help in the “smarts” department.

Ours was not the smartest dog but not the dumbest either. She was the sweetest until we got this Bulldog.

 

[Ruby Rose]

Ours was not the smartest dog but not the dumbest either. She was the sweetest until we got this Bulldog.

We adopted an old English Bulldog many years ago and he was the ugliest dog we had ever owned but the most wonderful and loving we ever had. It was a re-homing situation that we most certainly never regretted. I can still picture him along with my cat both stretched out in the hallway with the sun beaming in on them.

 

[Ruby Rose]

We had a Shih Tzu several years ago. She was so sweet we named her Sugar.

Tell me something about your 'Sugar' if you can. A bald eagle was spotted yesterday flying around our area yesterday and we were advised to keep a close eye on anything small...I still have goosebumps at just the thought of it!

 

[Aneeda72]

Tell me something about your 'Sugar' if you can. A bald eagle was spotted yesterday flying around our area yesterday and we were advised to keep a close eye on anything small...I still have goosebumps at just the thought of it!

Yup, we have to do that with our Bella, we have hawks. During winter she looked like a bunny hopping in the snow

 

[Ruby Rose]

Yup, we have to do that with our Bella, we have hawks. During winter she looked like a bunny hopping in the snow

They have sighted the huge nest....the eagle swooped down on one of the wild rabbits yesterday...have to keep a close eye on the small chickens, etc.

 

[Ruby Rose]

Yup, we have to do that with our Bella, we have hawks. During winter she looked like a bunny hopping in the snow

And...part of the problem is we still have snow to melt and little Bella is mostly white!

 

[Jeweltea]

Tell me something about your 'Sugar' if you can. A bald eagle was spotted yesterday flying around our area yesterday and we were advised to keep a close eye on anything small...I still have goosebumps at just the thought of it!

Sugar was a stray we found. I put up signs and advertised and called the animal shelter to try to find her home but no one ever claimed her so we kept her. She was white with just a little tan and was a little big for a Shih Tzu. In fact, I wondered if she was a pure bred but one day I had her at the vet and there was a woman there with one that she showed (it had that beautiful long hair). She assured me that Sugar was pure bred. Of course, I did not really care. She was sweet to everyone and other dogs (mostly...she did have an occasional fight with one of our dogs when he would do dumb things like get in her face). She did like to chase our cat unfortunately. She died in 2015. I don't know how old she was but we had her 8 years.

 

[Jeweltea]

They have sighted the huge nest....the eagle swooped down on one of the wild rabbits yesterday...have to keep a close eye on the small chickens, etc.

We have hawks and coyotes and foxes where we live now so we have to keep an eye on our dogs too. We have a Chihuahua in addition to the Bulldog.

 

[Ruby Rose]

We have hawks and coyotes and foxes where we live now so we have to keep an eye on our dogs too. We have a Chihuahua in addition to the Bulldog.

We can hear the coyotes howl at night...gives me the creeps!

 

[Ruby Rose]

Sugar was a stray we found. I put up signs and advertised and called the animal shelter to try to find her home but no one ever claimed her so we kept her. She was white with just a little tan and was a little big for a Shih Tzu. In fact, I wondered if she was a pure bred but one day I had her at the vet and there was a woman there with one that she showed (it had that beautiful long hair). She assured me that Sugar was pure bred. Of course, I did not really care. She was sweet to everyone and other dogs (mostly...she did have an occasional fight with one of our dogs when he would do dumb things like get in her face). She did like to chase our cat unfortunately. She died in 2015. I don't know how old she was but we had her 8 years.

I don't intend to show her so she will be getting hair cuts....I am letting Bella play like an ordinary puppy splashing in a puddle and flying up and down snowbanks, etc. All in all, she is such a joyful little puppy...full of love to share. My daughter living at the ranch here agrees but I feel my other daughter, a city woman down East, would not. Thank you for sharing Sugar.