Shih Tzu - Submissive Urination/Sanitation

If your puppy gets excited and wets herself, especially when you have company or when you first arrive from being away from her, this is called "submissive urination." This kind of urination is different from breaks in house training. Puppies often outgrow the problem as they do not have good bladder control. The older dog that does this may be lacking self-esteem. Read on at: Stain Glass Shih Tzu

Housebreaking Techniques II

Doggie Doors are very convenient for older dogs. Young puppies still need to be housebroken before turning them loose to a doggie door. Your doggie door should connect to a fenced-in backyard or a small fenced-in area especially for this purpose.

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Paper training a puppy is an excellent method of housebreaking especially for owners who cannot be home enough to get a puppy outside as frequently as needed. Puppies need to urinate more often than older dogs.
How to paper train: Leave her in her space with baby gates and cover the entire floor with newspaper. After she is use to going on the paper, gradually reduce the area covered by the paper. She will probably find a specific area on the newspaper she will use consistently. Encourage her to go in one place. Leave a piece of newspaper with a urine stain on it, and if you can stand it, with a little smear of poop to mark the spot you want her to keep going at. Cover the dirty pieces of newspaper with clean pieces of newspaper. The odor will encourage her to go back to that particular spot of newspaper. Eventually you should only need a small section covered with newspaper. If she goes some place without newspaper, then increase the area again that you cover with newspaper, and gradually reduce it back down....

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Shih Tzu Whelping

The average gestation period for a shih tzu is 58 to 65 days following conception. With a first pregnancy your shih tzu may not show signs until late in term. Just before her due date the abdominal muscles may suddenly appear to distend suddenly. Some shih tzu may produce colostrum and milk. She may suffer a loss of appetite or if just eaten, they may suddenly throw it back up. She may show extreme fatique, and have very deep periods of sleep. These are all signs that whelping is nigh.....

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Breeding Equipment

The main thing is to be prepared! Have all your supplies ready before the big day arrives, preferably no less than one week prior to the due date. Formerly dogs whelped just wherever, in the barn, under the porch. Today's breeder, however, has a real vested interest in their pregnant shih tzu, one of time, money, energy and emotional investment. Breeding shih tzu is a big, big job and full of labor. If you are passionate about breeding shih tzu, however, it all boils down to labors of love!

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Exercise For Your Pregnant Shih Tzu

You, the breeder, is also an obstetrician at the time your shih tzu is pregnant. To help her pregnancy and delivery you need to keep her in peak condition physically and emotionally. If she is not use to much exercise at all, you definitely need to tone her up during her pregnancy. Even a mild exercise routine will improve the health of your pregnant shih tzu. Beginning and maintaining a regular exercise routine is not hard or expensive. The ideal time, however, is before your shih tzu becomes pregnant. A mild program of exercise may be safely continued to the seventh week of pregnancy. The best exercise is simply daily walks. And remember moderation is the best approach.

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Shih Tzu - Housebreaking

Here is another article on Housebreaking. Housebreaking does not have to be dreaded or difficult. Establish a routine that accommodates both you and your puppy's needs and your daily schedule. It takes practice, knowledge and repetition on your part.
Remember when you are trying to housebreak a new puppy, even those that usually use the backyard sometimes go in the house. The trick is to never give the puppy the opportunity to go in the house. Set aside several days to housebreaking and reinforce what she learns. Warning: It may take weeks, even months or up to a year sometimes to completely housebreak a new puppy. Just be consistent, patient and use the same set of instructions for the puppy for each training session, which should be many during the day. Count on taking your new puppy to the spot many, many times in a day. This is extremely important: Taking the puppy to the same spot, down the same pathway, out the same door many, many times during the day. At night, teach him to sleep in his sleeping spot until morning and then start the routine all over again. At first, this will be about every two hours. You will learn exactly how many times your puppy needs to urinate and defecate during the process until you can just take them out those amount of times during the day

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Shih Tzu - Toys And Special Treats

Inspect your dog's toys often. If there are pieces bit off the toy, discard it. Usually small pieces of a toy or chew will pass through a dog's system, but they could end up causing an intestinal blockage instead.
Flimsy vinyl or plastic toys or balls with squeakers and bells in them usually don't hold up. Some shih tzu will just tear at the toy until they get the squeaker out. The squeakers and bells also pose a problem of your shih tzu choking on them if he tries to swallow the objects.

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Shih Tzu - Behavior Modification

Do you have a shih tzu that paws at your arms or jumps up on your lap constantly? The cause might be that he needs lots more exercise, not necessarily direct attention, but just more exercise. Try taking your shih tzu for a vigorous walk. For some, 10 to 15 minutes a couple times a day or one long romp around the yard is adequate, for others, it might be less than this. Read on at: Stain Glass Shih Tzu

Shih Tzu - Introducing A New Puppy To An Older Dog

Introducing a new puppy to an older dog can be trickey! New puppies often want to play. Old dogs usually don't and may not like puppies at all. A new puppy in the house is a big change to an older dog's life. You can help your older dog adjust to the new puppy. When you begin your training, be consistent and keep repeating the same steps over and over. Shih Tzu puppies and Shih Tzu dogs learn better from consistency and repetition. Unless your shih tzu has some kind of severe behavior problem, he will learn what you expect of him and will be glad to provide you with that behavior. Shih Tzu want to please their people, but you have to show your shih tzu what types of behavior pleases you.

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The Odd Things A Shih Tzu Will Do

The Odd Things A Shih Tzu Will Do
Why do dogs dig? Well, there are a number of reasons that dogs dig, some want to bury bones or try to dig bones up, others dig out a shallow hole to have a cool place to sit on a warm day. For other dogs, it may be a way to get rid of pent-up energy.
You might first try a vigorous play session as soon as you let him outside. Play a game of fetch. If he then starts to dig after the game of fetch, try redirecting his behavior. If he is trying to bury a bone take the bone to an acceptable digging place and encourage him to bury the bone there. If he does, then reward him with a favorite treat and lots of praise to try an reenforce a behavior that is acceptable to you. If he returns to the very same spot where you don't want him to dig, despite the attempts to redirect his behavior then try a firm "No" to discourage him, and show him where you will allow him to bury the bone or continue his digging behavior. Read on at: Stain Glass Shih Tzu

How Can I Deal With My Shih Tzu's Separation Anxiety?

Crating your dog when you leave him alone might seem easier, but it may not be the best approach to keep him out of trouble. And it may even cause your dog to experience more separation anxiety. Crating was developed as a method of housebreaking. If you will spend a modest amount of time training a puppy, they will have many years of satisfying companionship. Caging is fine if used for only a few hours at a time when you can't be there to supervise. Caging should never become a permanent way of life. Excessive caging can lead to problems. Some of the worst behavior problems seen in dogs were dogs that were crated for long periods of time. Some dogs cannot tolerate any time in a cage at all; they panic and fight to get to get out. It is also true that some dogs really do like their cages and find them a cozy refuge, a den to retire in away from the hustle and bustle of everything else. Caging or crating is an acceptable method of housebreaking if used in moderation.

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Coat Handling Basics - Shih Tzu

Shih Tzu Grooming Tips - Coat Handling Basics/The Little Guys
Use gentle action. When bathing, thoroughly wet the coat with warm water, apply shampoo and gently squeeze the suds through the coat to cleanse rather than scrubbing the hair back and forth. Use a gentle, all natural shampoo such as HealthyPetNet Herbal Blend shampoo, which is a unique blend of herbs and other ingredients to soothe dry, itchy and irritated skin as well as to condition dull, brittle or normal coats. It gently cleans away dirt without drying and leaves the skin and coat fresh, clean and healthy. The shampoo has a fresh, peppermint smell. Always follow a shampoo with a creme rinse.
In your daily brushing if you run into static electricity in the coat try using a mixture of two tablespoons or less of creme rinse mixed with two cups of water in a spritzer bottle. Lightly spray on the hair before brushing each layer. After thoroughly brushing, run a wide tooth comb through the coat to double-check for any areas you may have missed and to restraighten the hair.

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Teaching Your Shih Tzu To Chew Appropriate Items

Your puppy is so adorable and affectionate it is hard to believe there would be times when her behavior would truly try your patience to no end. Try to understand her needs. If you will apply a few practical training techniques you will probably be able to reduce many of the problems that try your patience and some problem behaviors you can eliminate altogether

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Shih Tzu Brought To England

Two women in China, one Irish and one English were both extremely fascinated with the Shih Tzu and highly determined to take the little dogs to England. Miss Hutchins from Ireland and Mrs. Brownrigg from England found this was not an easy task to accomplish. Breeding in the Imperial Palace had stopped many years ago, although people outside the palace were still breeding, they were still very possessive of the little dogs and did not want them to leave the country. Miss Hutchens obtained a dog she called Lung Fu Ssu and weighed 14 lbs. Many people in China were still breeding this kind of dog (sounds like this was some of the dogs that might have been sent out from the palace). The Shih Tzu that were sent out from the palace as rejects were still good dogs, just bigger! During this time, however, there began to be all sizes starting to creep up, some very tiny ones, others quite large. Mrs. Brownrigg was on the search for a middle size. At last she found a bitch that weighed 12 lbs. and she called her Shu Ssa. She was white with a black patch on her side, root of tail and head. On the head was a white topknot or apple mark. Her hair stuck up all around her face and her large eyes were captivating. She was also extremely clever!

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The Last Shih Tzu To Leave Peking

The Japanese occupation of Peking in late 1937 stopped future dog shows. Breeding in Peking continued on a limited scale. There were a few accounts of Shih Tzu in Asia during this period of time.
Mrs. Audrey Fowler of England was a great lover of the Shih Tzu and tried diligently to acquire breeding stock without much success. Her interest in the little dogs began in 1935. Mrs. Fowler made many trips to various sections of cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai looking for the golden long-haired dogs. Mrs. Fowler was acqauinted with a man named Dr. Vincent Nesfield who did acquire a gold and white Shih Tzu back in 1904.

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Shih Tzu Have A Difficult Start After The Fall Of The Imperial Palace

After the fall of the Imperial Palace breeding continued outside the palace in the homes of both the Chinese and foreign families. Kennels were developed that produced the Tibetan Lion Dogs, or the Lhasa Lion Dogs, as they were sometimes called. There was a lot of confusion during this time period trying to distinguish between the Tibetan breeds and there was no central registration system until the 1930s. The Apso and Shih Tzu types were grouped under several different names: The Tibetan Poodle, Shih Tzu Kuo (Lion Dog), Lhasa Lion Dog, Tibetan Temple Dog, Tibetan Holy Dog, Tibetan Holy Dog, Lhasa Terrier, Tribute Dog, Apso....

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Is My Shih Tzu Pregnant?

The earliest sign of pregnancy in a Shih Tzu is often behavioral changes. She may demand extra attention or she may become depressed, lethargic and withdrawn. In these cases, try to give her as much emotional support as possible to help her retain the pregnancy. Gestation last about 63 days.
Other changes you may observe might be in the way she walks or carries herself. She may appear to move differently once bred. Her appetite can change rapidly, sometimes within a few hours of breeding and conceiving. She can show either an increase or a decrease in appetite as signs of pregnancy. She may even suddenly become very picky about what she eats.

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Shih Tzu - Creating A Breeding

Natural breedings don't always occur. Timing is critical. Even when you think the time is right, the female may refuse to stand for the male or the male may not be interested in the female.
If nature proceeds normally, the female's vulva will enlarge and soften as the time nears to breed. She may begin to tease or "flag" the male that the time is right and the time is now or never....The male and female will engage in a period of play and foreplay. The male will attempt to mount the female within minutes of this foreplay. If the female is ready, she will whip her tail aside, presenting her rear to the male, and stand steady awaiting the male to penetrate her. This is an assertive invitation of the female toward the male to begin the mating process. Not all females, especially a first time female, will remain in a ready position once the male attempts to mount. She may slip out from under him and run in another direction.

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Tips To Eliminate Tear Staining

Tear staining can be from many different causes. Also consult with your vet first. There are antibiotics the vet can prescribe that will help some cases of tear staining.
Here are a few other tips you can use to help with tear stain removal.
Use filtered or distilled water.

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