Fostering a shih tzu

jazzyj1021

jazzyj1021

Sunshine&Lollipops
Nov 13, 2011
693
0
#1
My little cousin is busy with school activites and sports, her mom is too busy to take care of her. The little brother is tooooo rough with her... So they asked if I could take of her for a while. Her name is Oreo and is two months old. :smile:
Any tips dealing with this type of dog? I have a cocker spaniel and a winnie dog. So I'm not used to such a teeny tiny dog(:
 
#2
Aww, 2 months old, she is just a baby! I have a Shih Tzu and he's old man now, so he might be different, but I find the breed to to have a really laid back personality.

Tips, I could think of at the moment... Shih Tzu's have a flatter face than most breed so it's nice to have a shallow drinking or food bowl.

For grooming, they have a coat that sheds minimally, so they need to be brushed daily to keep the mats out especially as their hair grows out. They also have huge eyes which gets irritated easily, so you should check up on it from time to time and make sure to clean the sides of the eyes from keeping it stained.

Keep any puppies off high edges as they tend to have a very poor judgement of heights and will jump.

Enjoy her! She must be so precious!
 
#3
My friend has a shih tzu mix (I think he's mixed with Yorkie?) and he is a great little dog. Mostly just remember that small dogs are more delicate as puppies so like the PP mentioned make sure she doesn't try to jump off of or onto anything that is too high. Also now would be a good time to get her used to trimming her nails and grooming her since she is so young. They require a lot of grooming with their long hair so the sooner she gets used to it the better!
 
#4
Congrats on the new addition! If I'm gathering the information correctly.. Oreo is about 8 weeks old? That means your cousin didn't have her for too long. So you're probably going to have start all over with potty training & obedience training. Shih-Tzu's are pretty laid back from what I've heard & experienced. We have a halfer... part shih tzu & poodle.. but didn't inherit the laid back part.. lol.

Like Buzzy said.. daily brushing is ideal.. but whats nice about the Shih-tzu hair, is that it doesn't shed as much. She's going to have to be bathed once a week to every 2 weeks depending on it's skin and your own preference. Grooming once every 6 weeks depending on how long you'd like to keep her hair. I've found that shorter hair.. keeps the matting at bay. Anyhow.. good luck~! Post pics when Oreo arrives :smile:
 
#5
What a shame that her family is too busy to take care of her. Why would they adopt her if that was the case?? You are an angel for taking her in. They expect you to do all the hard stuff and just give her back when they have time? Sorry, this kind of thing pushes my buttons. You will need to get her on a schedule. Feed at a certain time and bathroom breaks a little while after each meal and every few hours in between. While she is little anyway. Then you can space them further apart. It is a lot of work to potty train a dog. I am a bit mad at your family for pushing that on you. If it was me I would keep the dog. I wouldn't give her back to selfish people. Just my opinion of course.
 
#6
Hi All!
I decided to do a little update...
Oreo is all mine now. I guess they didnt want her back. But its ok because I became SO attached to her & vice versa. She follows me everywhere and sleeps with me.
She got parvo in Feb. I was devestated so I ended up paying for her hospital stay and her medicine. (Mind you this was before she was officially mine) I knew I wouldnt give her up back to my cousin after that. Lol.

Well..now heres are problems right now..
** I CAN NOT GET HER TO GO POTTY OUTSIDE!!! **
Are Shih Tzu hard to potty train?

Oh and she got cherry eye.. her vet said it doesnt hurt them..its just unsightly to look at.
(Sigh)
 
#7
jazzyj1021 said:
Hi All!
I decided to do a little update...
Oreo is all mine now. I guess they didnt want her back. But its ok because I became SO attached to her & vice versa. She follows me everywhere and sleeps with me.
She got parvo in Feb. I was devestated so I ended up paying for her hospital stay and her medicine. (Mind you this was before she was officially mine) I knew I wouldnt give her up back to my cousin after that. Lol.

Well..now heres are problems right now..
** I CAN NOT GET HER TO GO POTTY OUTSIDE!!! **
Are Shih Tzu hard to potty train?

Oh and she got cherry eye.. her vet said it doesnt hurt them..its just unsightly to look at.
(Sigh)
Click to expand...

:useless:
 
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