Shih Tzu Happens

  Something's Up? Being a female girl dog, every 6 months or so I enter a phase known as “On Heat” which is where I become even more appealing than normal to male dogs. Usually I have a fairly easy time of this and am not very off-colour during throughout. One such occasion I was bleeding quite a lot and after the time should have come to an end, I still kept bleeding. Mum and Dad were a little concerned but kept an eye on me just in case this would sort itself out. I did not feel poorly and was my usual bouncy self. We took a trip to Grans for tea as normal and during this time, I started to bleed more heavily, and this was changing to be very dark in colour. Dad was getting worried and took me home. Mum called the vet and as this was getting late it was just an out of hours number. They called this for me and there is a pet hospital about a 20-minute drive from our house. This was the out of hours location they reached on the call. The vet they spoke to explained from the sym...

  Snow Time! Living in the North of England, wintertime can be cold and wet for months! However, every so often, the rain changes to snow. Where I live this can be quite severe. Mum and Dad hate the snow as they have to manage to get to work and to get out from our house there is a small hill but just large enough for cars to get stuck in the snow halfway up. Dad grumbles as he has to dig the street out and clear the snow followed by spreading salt and grit over the road just to make the hill passable. He has seen other neighbours sit and watch him do all this work without helping and then drive out after he had finished. This annoyed him and he said that there should be more community spirit. Mum just calls him grumpy!   Mum and Dad may hate the snow but for me this is completely different. I remember the first time I saw snow, the house door was opened and all I could see was a blanket of thick white stuff. What is this I thought, let me explore! I immediately jumped into ...

Time for a Haircut! My fur is a mix of white and sandy brown. I don’t malt like some other dogs but have fur more like human hair. The only thing is that it grows and grows and grows. When it gets too long it starts to mat together and get all messed up. I also get really hot and start walking around with my tongue constantly out flapping in the breeze to keep cool. It is at this time that Mum decides to take me to the hairdressers. There is a farmhouse not far from our house that I’m taken to where I get my hair cut. I don’t like this much but afterwards I go from Dougal from the Magic Roundabout to Kojak (nice 1970’s references for you there! Google them and you’ll know what I’m talking about.) Sporting my newly cut hairstyle! I am dropped off at the hairdressers and then picked up after I’m done. It was always a nice feeling to be back with my family. Over the following days I really felt the cold. It felt like running about in just a T-shirt in the wintertime after wearing the thic...

Ready to open my presents! The run up to Christmas was the most exciting. I loved it! As we approached Christmas there would be presents placed underneath the Christmas tree. This was a playground for me….Cover me I’m going in! with my super sniffing capabilities I could identify presents wrapped for me and on one or two occasions couldn’t wait and had to open them. This got me into a bit of trouble – Whoops! For many years there were chocolate decorations hanging from the tree. I may have been caught sampling these from time to time! Mum got wise to this an after that these were only hung on the high branches of the tree where I couldn’t reach – Doh! On Christmas Eve we all go to Nanna’s house for hot food including freshly cooked ham and roast potatoes. As a key member of the family, I was also allowed to sample the fresh ham – absolutely fantastic! I had my own bowl of ham and then moved on to Dad where I managed to get half of his share also – mission complete. On Christmas Day...

  Ho Ho Ho - Merry Christmas Everybody! One of my most favourite times of year is Christmas. Mum and Dad decorate the living room with loads of twinkling lights, huge Christmas stockings hanging down and a garland placed around the fireplace. The centre piece of the living room is Christmas tree almost as high as the ceiling. Outside Dad hangs pretty lights around the entrance porch and has a wreath hanging from the door. It all looks fantastic and it becomes a really exciting time of year. I love to get up to a bit of mischief also in the spirit of the naughty Christmas Elf. I like nothing more than deliberately walking passed the Christmas tree so close that the lower branches rub against my tail. With a well-orchestrated tail flick, off fly the baubles! Obviously by pure accident – well that’s my version of events anyway! Christmas was also a time for me to dress up in seasonal attire. Pipps was always good at seeing my full fashion potential and I have been seen on more tha...

  Do you like my new bow? As Pipps got a bit older we could play together more. She was really into her dolls and dressing up. She would set up all her toys and dolls and help style their hair, apply makeup (usually using felt tip pen!) or dress then up in all sorts of wonderful combinations. I would play next to Pipps as I always liked to be near one of the family. She would play with me as if I were her sister which I really loved. Sometimes her dressing up games needed an added extra. If only there was someone who could dress up with Pipps and parade around the house showing off their new styles in a weird form of Paris (Paw-ris) fashion show! Pipps looked around for more dolls or teddy bears to decorate but had pretty much used them all up. She was scouring the room for extra participants when suddenly there was a light bulb moment. She starred at me…………Oh NoooooooooooooooW! Anyone for a Swim? Too late, before I knew it I had been seconded into the fashion parade and dresse...