Nappy and the Evil Bunny

Sometime ago, I found the stuffed bunny that we had given to my daughter many years ago on Easter. Well, she is much older now, and she doesn’t need a bunny to keep her company, so she left it behind when she moved out. One day as I was cleaning up her old room, I found the bunny and wondered why she left it behind. So I called her and asked her. She replied to me by saying: “That ugly bunny? I don’t want it.” I never thought that the bunny was ugly. So I brought it up and put it in the living room. I thought I’d let my dog play with it, but not in a rough way. The bunny can stay on the couch in the living room and my dog can sit either next to it, or just stare at it. It would be like it’s his buddy.

The days have gone by and the bunny sat on the couch, while my dog, Nappy, would either jump on the couch and sit next to it, or at other times would bark at it. At other times, Nappy would pull the bunny on the floor and get rough with it. The bunny is much bigger than Nappy, so you can imagine how it looks when Nappy puts the bunny on the floor and starts barking at it, or tries to pull it and drag it in the family room. On numerous occasions, I didn’t let my dog pull the bunny on the floor, so finally Nappy realized that the bunny was to just sit on the couch.

One morning, this past summer, I sat Nappy next to the bunny and took a few pictures. He just sat there content, sitting next to his buddy, the one that doesn’t bark or say anything, but just sits there. He reclined on the bunny’s lap and let me take the pictures.

As I look back at these pictures now, I realize what my daughter meant by saying the bunny was ugly. The bunny has this evil smile on his face and I can’t help thinking, how did I ever think it was cute. Looking at these pictures with Nappy, I can’t help thinking that the bunny wants to do some harm to the dog. No wonder, in the beginning when I sat the bunny on the couch, Nappy began barking at it. Of course, the bunny is not evil, only looks evil. With a great imagination we can all come up with a story about the evil bunny. But all is in good humor and we can’t possibly have Chucky the evil bunny.

The bunny still sits in my living room, just moved from the couch to the love seat. Nappy will jump occasionally to the love seat, sniff the bunny and he might sit next to it, until we realize that he is there and we‘ll call him to get down. Nappy feels content having a buddy – even though it’s almost twice his size – which just sits there and keeps him company, quietly.

When I decided to get a dog, I thought it would be a nice way for me to begin walking. Little did I know that Shih Tzu’s are not too crazy about walking. I didn’t want a dog that would run me out, but a dog where we can walk at a normal pace or walk as far as I want to walk, not as far as the dog wants to walk.

When Nappy was young I didn’t take him for walks. I waited till he became a year old before I started walking with him. In the beginning we would go just for short walks, so that he can get acquainted with the area and the fact that he is walking on a leash. Eventually, we started walking further, and further. But I always took those walks one step at a time. One day we would walk for 20 minutes, the next for 25 and so on.

Now that he is 3 years old, I am trying to walk with him for about a mile. In the winter I don’t take him walking, because it’s too cold, and besides I don’t even want to go for a walk let alone the dog. But when spring comes and the weather becomes warmer, we start walking slowly in the beginning, and gradually we walk a little further. When it’s too hot outside I still don’t take him for walks because he starts panting and I don’t want to overexert him.

Last Tuesday was a perfect day for a walk. The sun was shining there was a slight breeze and the temperature was in the high 60’s, low 70’s. It was a perfect day for a walk. The last time we went walking was a week before that and we walked for almost a mile. After about a week I thought that he would be ready for another long walk.

We didn’t even walk half a mile and he put his brakes on. Of course, during the course of this short walk, he stopped, sniffed every bush, every wild flower and every tree trunk in his way. I tried to pull him from the leash to go on, but he turned around and started walking back, pulling me with the leash. As if telling me “That’s enough, I want to go back home.” Finally, I gave in, since I saw that he was panting and his tongue was hanging out. I even picked him up and carried him half the way back. He weighs about 16 pounds. While I was carrying him he was very quiet and content. He didn’t even make a move showing that he might want to get off my arms, or show that he is uncomfortable.

We finally arrived home and as soon as he saw our house he started running towards the front yard. He didn’t even stop. He ran straight where the garage door is and waited for me to open it so that he can go inside. Once inside the house he went straight into his drinking bowl, drank as much water as he could handle, which within minutes he brought up (shih tzus are quite aggressive when it comes to drinking water and eating the foods they like, so it’s a good idea to give them everything in small portions), and then he plopped himself on the floor, all sprawled out to rest. I guess that was it for the walk of the week.

When I take my little Napster for walks, it usually takes him a couple of days to recover. He will sleep for the rest of the day and night, and will even feel tired the next day. As much as I like to take him for walks and keep him exercised I don’t overdo it with him, because I know how tired he gets.

The funny thing about this little guy is that he thinks he is human. He didn’t want to go any further and that was it. He stopped and started walking back. He definitely knows what he wants and likes. I tell the story to my friends and laugh about it, (it’s like having a child and brag about something they have done), but I am amazed at how smart they are. I read a lot about shih tzus and what fast learners they are, but I never thought that they would be this smart.

I am glad to have him as a company and laughable companion. Pretty soon I think he will start talking to me. (Really!).

Nappy – The Shih Tzu version of Lawrence of Arabia

“It is so warm and sunny here. I can walk on the beach without my leash. I can run up and down, back and forth to my mama and papa. I feel free. I am going for a walk every day, I play outside every day, and I get treats just for doing that. This is so much fun. If I feel warm, I can just run in the water and get cool. This water tastes kind of funny though. It makes me thirsty after I drink some. But it cools me off when I wet my paws. Oooops that big wave came and almost took me all the way in. I am not going back in there. I am just going to run in the sand and stay close to my mama.”

Well, this is what I think Nappy (my little white shih tzu) thought of our trip to Gulf Shores Alabama, last month.

This was the second time that we took Nappy on a road trip with us. When the day comes that we prepare for the trip, you know that he knows something is up. He is looking at us, as if telling us, that we had better not leave without him. If he could talk and think he would tell us what to take with us for him to play, or better yet, he would be getting his own suitcase ready for the trip. When the morning of the trip came, and saw our suitcases piled by the back door, he knew something was going on. But when we put his harness and his leash on, he was literally jumping up and down from joy. We couldn’t hold him back in the house to get the rest of our stuff before all three of us piled in the car. He was so excited and happy. He rushed to do his business, and ran back to the car, not the passenger side door, but the back door of the car where we usually let him sit when we take him for rides. I find it amazing of how much, just a little dog, can absorb after being with us for almost three years.

From what I have heard from other dog owners, some dogs have a hard time when they are traveling. That is not the case with Nappy. He is quite the traveling dog. He adjusts quite easily being in the car for hours. He sleeps most of the time during the trip. He might wake up and stand up on his hind legs to look out the window, just to see what’s going on, how come we slowed down, and why we disturbed his sleep, but then he will curl up at the corner of the back seat and fall asleep. Other times he will just lay on the seat and stare straight at us, knowing that we are in front of him; as if making sure that we are not going anywhere without him. Of course, these road trips are quite a treat for him, because he eats quite well.

Since he was a puppy, I gave him boiled chicken breast, per the vet’s instructions, so that he can grow strong. Ever since, he loves chicken. Therefore, when I cook it for us, I will cook a piece of chicken breast for him also. On this road trip, I made sure that I cooked some chicken, chopped it up in tiny little pieces, put them in ziplog bags, and kept them in the cooler. When we would stop and eat ourselves, I would take a bag, pour the chicken contents in his bowl and he will be in his glory. This way I knew that he would be eating something, since I noticed that he wouldn’t eat his regular dog food on a road trip at other times. Even though dog experts say not to feed your dog if you are going for long trips, just in case they get motion sickness, I decided against it. I felt more comfortable by giving him something. Of course, I made sure that he also drank plenty of water, and spent about half hour after his meal with a nice long walk so that he can digest and do his business.

When we first arrived at the condo, we weren’t sure how he would react to the beach and the new environment. He walked in every room, sniffed every corner, and then settled on the couch. The complex we were staying, allowed small dogs only, and since the owner of the condo had a small dog, we felt more comfortable being there with Nappy.

From the moment we took him for a walk on the beach, I knew he was in his glory. I noticed how much he loved the beach, the freedom he had to run without his leash. I saw him smiling, if dogs do actually smile, running back and forth, ahead of me, behind me, getting wet in the water, sampling it, sneezing and looking surprised as if wondering why it tasted funny. He made sure though that he stayed close to us. In the beginning, we were afraid to let him run without his leash, thinking that he might run away. But he didn’t. He ran just far enough, making sure that he can still see us. Like a toddler, staying close to his parents.

We spent a week in Gulf Shores, and I knew that Nappy missed the beach when we came back. If it was meant to be a vacation for us, it was definitely a vacation for Nappy. Ahh, it’s a dog’s life. In my next life, I want to come back as a shih tzu.

Just a note: In some of the pictures, you will notice that he has squatted down on the sand. That’s when he reminded me of the camels in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” thus the title of this article.

It's so cold outside....

It’s so cold outside…..

Since the beginning of January, the Midwest has been hit with quite a few snow storms. And not just snow storms, freezing temperatures and cold winds, way below normal. It is difficult for humans to deal with the cold let alone animals and pets. Sometimes I wonder how the animals that are not house bound live in this cold weather. Do they survive, or just simply do the best they can and if the freeze to death, then that’s life, animal life that is.

I noticed how difficult it is for animals to live in this cold climate when my little white shih tzu just stepped out on the deck, in the piles and piles of snow to do his business. It didn’t take long for him to lift his one paw and hold it up, and then the other, alternatively, because it was so cold on his bare feet. He came in the house as quickly as possible (actually, I don’t think he completely do his business, just enough to be comfortable), limping. I felt so sorry for him. I didn’t know how to warm up his tiny little paws. Basically, it’s like us walking on the snow without any protection. I picked him up and tried to dry his paws and warm them up. Then I remembered that I had picked up some paw socks last year, that he didn’t really need them, since last winter was a lot milder. I put them on him, and to my surprise he kept them on. He didn’t try to pull them off his paws like he’s done before. Obviously, he needed them.

For the rest of the day, he just laid low, lying on the couch and sleeping. I realized how harsh it must have been for him to go outside. He must have really felt the bitter cold.

For those who have a pet and live in as cold a climate as the Midwest, it is very important to keep them warm. It is always safer to dress them with a warm sweater or jacket and put booties on them, if you are planning in taking them for a walk. It doesn’t matter that they have a fur. The fur that they have is actually their skin, and it won’t keep them as warm. It will be like us going out with just a wool sweater on. I prefer not to take my dog for walks in the winter. It is very cold for me to be out there, and I figure it is as cold for my dog. So I keep him in the house, warm, and when I go out, I try to stay warm, so that I can come back to my little sweet shih tzu as quickly as I can.

Why do Shih Tzu's hate water?

I have a shih tzu myself. Giving a shih tzu a bath is like giving a baby a bath. First of all, you have to fill up the tub, either a laundry or a bathtub with water. But not too much since all small dogs are afraid of water. I fill it up enough to cover his paws, so that they will clean. My little shih tzu doesn’t run away when I put him in the tub. However, he does run away from me when he realizes that I am in the process of giving him a bath.

When he is in the tub, he will stay quietly until I finish his bath. Of course, you have to work on a fast mode, because towards the end of the bath the shih tzu will become uneasy. The longer you leave him in the water the more uncomfortable he will become and he will want to get out. By filling the tub with a little bit of water, you will be able to clean his paws without much effort. As you progress to finish his bath, let the water out of the tub and he will feel more comfortable. Shih tzus, as with any small dogs, don’t like being in a tub full of water. What can you expect from a little guy like that? Of course, he will be afraid of the water.

Yet, when we take him with us to the boat in the summer, he is the first one to go into the lake. He is not afraid of that water. He will dog pedal as if he was born with it. And they actually are. It’s inbred in them of how to dog pedal. The first time I saw him do it, I was amazed. I thought that it was something that dogs learn as you get them familiar with water. But no. As soon as we put him in the water, he started dog pedaling and he didn’t seem afraid at all.

Actually, I don’t think that shih tzus are afraid of the water. Maybe in the beginning of a bath, but not as long as they are used to it. They don’t like getting wet when it’s raining. Whenever it’s raining and he has to go out to do his business, he does it so quickly, that he runs back in the house. However, he loves the snow. He will run in the snow and will not come inside, unless I pretend that I am closing the door. The other day we had a few inches of snow, and he was outside playing. When he came inside, he had snow caked onto his paws and under his belly, that I had to use hot water to melt it down. He didn’t seem to mind.

I don’t think shih tzus are afraid of the water. If you bathe them often, once a week, they will not be afraid of taking a bath either, or going to the groomer.