Taking care of a Shih Tzu

We’re looking at the possibility of adopting an older dog and, of course, it pays to know what you are getting into.  This binder is a collection of websites regarding any information on Shih Tzu dogs, their breed, dog grooming, nutritional needs, dog recipes and general discussion sites for various Shih Tzu health related issues.

Shih Tzu dog care

The wrong dog – Part II

I wrote a post back in February on the trials of my rescue dog Toah. Part Pit bull, Toah is a scary looking dog with yellow eyes and serious issues – he was extremely afraid of people and aggressive toward other dogs.

But my problem with Toah wasn’t him, he wasn’t the wrong dog, I was just the wrong owner. I needed some serious obedience classes.

My core issue was that you cannot be passive or lazy when you have a dog with issues. Through my friend Beverly Ulbrich, the Pooch Coach, and through reading all the resources on the web, I learned how important it was to establish the hierarchy in our “pack” (our family). I also learned how incredibly important it is to consistently reinforce that he was on the bottom of that hierarchy – below the children. Once Toah realized his place in the pack, he became so much more comfortable!

Today Toah has made wonderful progress and will stand quietly next to strangers – though he still tries to run if they try to pet him. He plays well with other dogs and is never aggressive on the leash. I no longer worry about him when people come over to the house. He comes right up to them with me. But I never give up the training. It is the consistency that makes him aware of his place and that is what makes him comfortable.

Since Toah is in such good shape, there is more time for fun, so here is a binder with some fun puppy sites:

puppy fix

One fun thing about Toah is that in addition to Pit Bull, he is part Corgi with short little legs that make him look like a pocket-sized pit. This is my binder (that I still refer to occasionally) on dog training. It also has some additional pictures of Toah.

Dog Training

The Wrong Dog?

The humane societies are full of pit bulls and pit bull crosses available for adoption. So when we went looking for a dog, I thought it was important to consider these often looked-over animals. I’ve had a wide variety of dogs over the years, but the best one by far was a corgi/rottweiler cross from the humane society. So when we saw Toah, a corgi/pit bull cross we thought we would give him a home.

This was a mistake. Don”t get me wrong – Toah is a good dog – well trained, loves the kids, loves a good car ride, behaves well on his walks, and he doesn’t chew or dig. But he was not socialized young, is afraid of strangers, and is naturally an aggressive dog.

When you have an aggressive dog, training is imperative. You must be extremely disciplined and keep your dog in line constantly. As a result, it is a lot of work for someone who is lazy like me.

I believe this is where pit bulls get a bad name. You can be lazy with a tiny dog and let it yap and even nip and people will just think it is obnoxious. But you can’t be lazy with an animal that has been bred to do harm.

I was lucky enough to have a good friend who is a dog trainer who trained me to train Toah. There are also some great dog training resources on the web that I keep in this binder. You can make a copy of this binder for yourself and add to it or delete the ones you don’t like.

Dog Training