Public Service Announcement: Proper Grooming

My friends, I'm blogging today to stress the importance of proper Shih Tzu grooming.  You can't just take us to the groomer every 8 weeks and torture us with baths occasionally at home.  You've gotta brush our furs, too.

• Even when we don't like it and have a fit about it.
• Even when moms are crazy busy at work, working long hours.
• Even when moms are on multiple business trips in a single month.
• Yes, even during holiday trips to grandma's house.

Let my recent torture be an example to you of why brushing is important.  You see, when you don't get your tail brushed -- and when it's constantly wagging -- mats form.  And mats in your tail are nasty and they can get ouchy.  And you know how to fix a badly matted tail???  You can't.  Instead, THIS happens:

That's right.  I have a shaved, nearly-naked tail now.  No big floofy tail anymore.

It's so embarrassing.

I have definitely voiced my displeasure at Mom over this atrocity.  It's just ridiculous.

Let me show you just how bad this is for my floofy furs.  Here's what I looked like the morning of my groomer appointment:

  

And here's a picture from the morning after.  Naked tail.  No floof to wag.

I suppose I shouldn't give Mom all of the blame since I don't like to be brushed anyway.  She feels terrible, too, of course.  She says every time my little naked tail wags it says to her, "You're a bad mommy. You're a bad mommy."

But it IS nice to have those nasty mats gone.  And it's easier to wag now that my tail is more aerodynamic. And let's face it...this certainly hasn't impaired my ability to roll on toys...

(Or to roll "near" toys, I guess...)

(My aim was a little off...but I was sure enjoying the moment!)

And a shaved tail doesn't impact my ability to nap, either.  Napping is important, you know.

So take a lesson from Mom and I.  Brush your tail.  Brush it regularly.  Please.

This concludes my Public Service Announcement.

P.S. Do you think they make hair extensions for doggie furs???

Wordless Wednesday: Rub My Belly

Even while sound asleep, I can still assume the "RUB MY BELLY" position.  And let's face it...this belly is irresistible.

Wordless Wednesday: Dog Beds

Yes, I have countless dog beds.  But sometimes it's just nice to snooze on the floor...

Dixie

I'm twelve years old now, and I've lived with my forever-and-ever Mom for almost three years.  I had a really great foster family before Mom adopted me.  And let's face it, if you're going to end up living with a foster family TWICE, then it's a real blessing to have such a wonderful one to begin with.

Why am I telling you this?  Well, foster family recently got a little smaller.  Sadly, my former foster sister Dixie went over the rainbow bridge.  We know she's running and playing like a puppy now, but it's still sad when a family member has to leave us.  Very sad.

Here's a picture of me with my foster sisters, after a mini hike we all took together.  That's Dixie, Sydney, Shawnee, and me...back when I was a New Jersey girl.

Rest in peace, Dixie. Rest in peace...

Sniff-A-Thon

I told you Mom was slacking on my blog time, well this is a fine example of that negligence.

Mom found this post saved as a draft.  No text, just a lot of pictures...from over a month ago.  It was even already named "Sniff-A-Thon" and tagged with keywords.  She uploaded the photos.  Just never helped me write anything.

Geez.  What a slacker!!!

So I'm going into my "way back" machine to try to remember exactly what happened this day.  I'm pretty sure Mom and I went for a walk around the pond near our house.  And I'm pretty sure that I sniffed everything in sight, too.  (It's a talent.)

Mom remembers taking these next couple of pictures because she says it was the only time on the entire walk where I actually walked.  The rest of the time we slowly inched along as I sniffed everything in sight.

But of course I had to stop and sniff the end of the bridge.

And the ground right on the other side of the bridge...

Apparently all of that sniffing must have worn me out.  The next two pictures in our long-lost blog post draft are of me snoozing with a duck in my mouth.

I'm sure they'd have a better impact if we remembered why I was sleeping with the duck as a pacifier.  Oh, well.

I hope you've enjoyed this "long lost" post.

The End.

Bad Mom

I wanted attention tonight, so I started barking at Mom while she was trying to eat her supper.  And I kept it up until she finished.  After she put her dirty dishes in the kitchen, she got down on the floor to play with me.

By then, however, I had decided that I no longer wanted to play.  So, I hopped into my doggie bed.

And that's when the evening took a very disturbing turn...  Mom decided to COVER ME UP with my toys!  Seriously.

What on earth got into her?!  I just sat there like a good girl and took the abuse.

And yes, I fell asleep.

The pile of toys snored for a while after that.  He he he.  Mom finally got tired of taking pictures of me and left me alone. I don't think she realized that sleeping in toys is puppy dog Heaven for me.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  (O.K., so maybe it's Happy Two-Days-After Halloween now because Mom's been slacking on my blog time...)

This year Mom conspired with my neighbor and they decided that I needed to wear this peacock costume for Halloween.

I actually didn't mind it too much. Mom and I had a disagreement about whether or not the peacock hat was a squeaky toy.  She seemed to think I should wear it, not attack it.  Once it was on my head, though, I left it there.

I strutted my stuff all of the way over to our neighbor's house!

Well, I had to make one little detour to take care of some business...  (Mom says she assumes this was to voice my displeasure at having to wear a costume.)  I was a poopin' peacock.

Here I am at our neighbor's patio...  "TRICK OR TREAT!"

The neighbor had her camera, too, and refused to open the screen door until I was properly photographed. If you look closely you'll see a few little leaf things stuck in the fur on my chin.  Those things get stuck on me every single time I sniff the trees near my neighbor's place.

The best part about my peacock costume was that it actually had a coordinating peacock SQUEAKY TOY!!!  Seriously.  Can you believe that?  I attacked, of course.

Is it cannibalism to see a peacock chewing on a peacock?  He he he.

And you KNOW I had to roll on that squeaky toy...

Still rolling...

My totally awesome neighbor had a bag of Halloween squeakies waiting for me for my trick or treating.  Yep.  A BAG of Halloween squeaky toys!  And she put out a BOWL of Milkbones for me, too!

Now here's where the evening took a slightly evil turn...

Yep.  Mom brought another costume.  She thought she'd display my ornery side by dressing me like a little devil.

I put up with it...

but I really just wanted to play with my new toys.

So I told Mom and our neighbor just how I felt!

Thankfully, we got down to business playing tug, bitey face, etc., right after that.  It was awesome.

After a while, however, Mom decided to torture me again with yet another outfit.

Seriously.

Sure, the skeleton pajamas are cute, but I think you can tell that I was NOT amused.

But then I got another new toy, so the skeleton PJs were quickly forgotten.

And I played and played and played.

Tushy shot:

Then Mom and I walked back home.  She left the skeleton PJs on me.  Lots of people ooh'd and aah'd over me on the way.

Mom and my neighbor decided that they liked the peacock outfit the best.  I have to admit that I do make a cute little peacock.

Would you believe they went out shopping today and found TWO more costumes to put back for next year?!  I'm doomed.