Shih Tzu: First Week Experience with our New Family Member!
If you thought buying a puppy and getting used to it would be a cakewalk, know this – YOU are the Cake & It will walk ALL OVER YOU! 😉
Like all new (read: naive) dog owners, we too were excited when our Shih Tzu puppy was about to be delivered. Since we had watched many Youtube videos prior to selecting this particular dog, we thought we knew everything and couldn’t go wrong. Little did we know what was about to EXPLODE.
Frankly, the puppy put up its best behaviour during the first couple of days and deceived us into thinking that we owned it. From the third day onward, when it knew it owned us, we realized what we had unleashed on ourselves.
The little monster wouldn’t sleep in a separate place outside our bedroom. We too thought, how sweet, and kept it inside a basket in our room. Half an hour is how much tolerance Madam Highness had for that location. It woke us up at 1 A.M. (or was it 2?), demanding that we leave it freely outside. Since we wanted to get back to sleep quickly, we complied.
At 2.30 A.M. (or was it 3.30?), it woke us up again. No particular reason this time – it was perhaps bored. After playing with us for 30 minutes or so, it went back to sleep. Since this waking up-sleeping-waking up-sleeping routine was new to us, we couldn’t sleep much after that. I mean, for the entire week – not just that day.
Finally, we learned to ignore its sounds and could sleep for 6 hours yesterday – not continuous sleep, but total sleep anyway. Wow, you know how sleeping continuously for six hours feels? We just (re)realized that bliss…
The first day, when we walked it on our terrace, it kept following us at a distance. Just like that vodafone pug ad. How sweet, we too thought. The second day, it followed us very closely, sometimes touching our feet with its legs. Still sweet enough? Wait.
From the third day onward, it started to sprint and bounced on our legs at every possible opportunity. For what, you think? For BITING OUR LEGS. What started during our walks on the terrace continued inside the room whenever it spotted any of our two pairs of legs on the ground.
On third day, we bought a pair of shoes – not because we wanted to start exercising in the nearby park to keep ourselves fit. But to walk with the shoes inside our room to make the Shih Tzu puppy BITINGS a bit more tolerable.
In the night, since the light is off, we have no clue where the puppy is. So initially, I kept a confident stride down on the floor. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds. After that, the puppy pounced on my *you guessed it right* legs from under the bed and started BITING. So nowadays, I don’t keep my legs on the floor, I just directly keep it on the shoes and wear it within *you guessed it again* 2 seconds.
One night, things were unusually calm until I went into the bathroom and closed the door. That was a nostalgic moment as I enjoyed the calm and peace I had – just a few nights ago. But once I opened the door – there it was, ready to pounce.
I should clarify that the puppy is not always this aggressive – it’s very peaceful and adorable when it’s sleeping and when it’s eating. Fortunately, it goes to sleep or deep rest for many hours a day BUT *with ears alert in the direction of our bathroom door*. Waiting for its prey to hunt (our legs). I think it’s learning to hunt, and we are its training prop.
Someone consoled us, “Don’t worry, this is very normal with all puppies. Their teeth will grow only after six months”. You mean, this is what puppies can do when their teeth are just starting to grow?? I am already researching on Amazon about what kind of military boots I need to buy after six months!
Today, I read in Wikipedia that the name Shih Tzu means “Little Lion” in Chinese. Now I realize why elders used to say we need to learn foreign languages while in college. Only if I had learned Chinese back then… Hmm… 🙂
If you are a member of blue cross and you are offended by my ‘little monster’ comment somewhere above, ignore this post as it was written in a humorous tone. Like humorous fiction.
For the rest of you – when are you buying a puppy? 😉
Destination Infinity
PS: We’re calling the puppy ‘Chikki‘. There is one popular song on Instagram, ‘My name is chikki, chikki chikki chikki’ – that was the inspiration.
Congratulations. She biting you in the legs may have several reasons. She may be scared or wants to play with you or something else. You may want to find out the reason and take corrective action. There is one way to stop the biting. When she starts to bite you, just turn around and move away. After a few days, she will realize you don’t like that and stop doing that. I am not an expert. This is just my personal experience.
She does realize that biting us hurts. So many a time she restrains herself from doing that. But sometimes, her animal instincts get the better of her and she is unable to control. We’ve been advised by the veterinary doctor that it’s normal during the first four months for all puppies. So we are hoping for the best 🙂
Destination Infinity
Sometimes, night time, you both in bed, and the dog may become jealous. Not joking. Seriously.
Could be, but my guess is otherwise. Shih Tzu is a very social dog and likes as many people around as possible. She gets used to strangers almost instantly.
Destination Infinity
Very cute pup…your experience is hilarious 😂
Enjoy the growing phase!
Yeah, we are enjoying & tolerating the growing-up phase alright 😉
Destination Infinity
Wow! Congratulations on the new addition to the family. We never had a dog. Not sure if we will have one. But we have had cats of various ages. So, a lot of stuff that you have narrated here, I can relate to the cats we had. They are not very different. After all, they are both pets. I am sure as it grows, it will learn how to behave.
I thought cats made better pets. But now, once again, I have realized that the grass appears to be greener on the other side!
Destination Infinity