Habits and Hobbies of Lainey: Observations of a Shih Tzu puppy living her AmeriDan Dream Lainey only has three real interests: eating, sleeping, and me in whatever order she decides at any particular moment. She is capable of falling asleep at any time and in any position, no matter how much she has slept recently. She will fall asleep lying on her back on my lap, lying on her back cradled in my arm, curled in the fetal position in between my feet, on the floor completely stretched out, standing up with her head cradled in my hand, etc. Sleep is an absolute obsession with her and she takes it absolutely whenever she can. The only activity that rivals sleep in Laineys mind is EATING. Lainey can hate you like she hates being put in her kennel or hates being left alone (for a minute or two) in my car, but she will run up to you and jump in your lap and lick you if you have anything remotely looking, sounding, or smelling like food. She will sit in your lap and wag her tail the entire time you eat, desperately hoping for a morsel of tasty human food. If you open the refrigerator door or even walk to the kitchen, Lainey will go into a full bounding sprint mode in her desperate attempts to meet you there. She knows the sounds of food wrappers being opened and microwaves being used. She loves her little meat treats and bones. When you go to feed her in the morning, she is so excited that she throws her head back and forth violently while slowly backing up, to show her enthusiasm and appreciation. She also loves to lap at beer bottles and loves it when I give her an ounce or two of the stuff in her water bowl. Oh, Lainey also loves to go outside. She is not as stupid as many people believe her breed to be. She KNOWS when I am about to leave and, if she gets the impression that she is not coming with, she tries endless and increasingly desperate attempts and manipulations to get me to stay. She will run up and start nipping at my shorts/jacket as I am getting dressed...run to my shoes and carry away my socks or chew at my shoes/shoe laces in the hopes to thwart my progress... get grovely as she licks my legs or feet in attempts to get me to stay...run and do a jump full into my lap as I am putting my shoes on, wagging her tail in the air, just to remind me that I would be happier staying and hanging with her...and then, as a last ditch, she will run and hide from me, under tables, behind chairs, anywhere she can find to escape me once she knows for sure that I am leaving and she is to be kenneled. On the other hand, she knows when it is time to go outside because she jumps around enthusiastically and goes positively insane when I wag her leash at her. She even grabs the leash in her mouth and tries to drag ME out the door, if she feels like I am ambling too much and going too slowly. Once outside, she takes care of her business in a pretty direct manner, and, afterwards, she knows that I am a little slower than her going up the 5 flights of stairs back to my apartment, so she politely waits a beat or two, looking back for me to catch up, before rounding the 3 turns up the stairs. Perhaps most of all- Lainey loves ME! She follows me everywhere I go, all the time. If I get up to go to the bathroom, she runs over and, if I dont leave the door open so she can keep updated on events, will kick and scratch at the door until I let her in or open the door. When I take showers, she puts her front paws on the tub, just to make sure that everything is okay and that Im not abandoning her. When I leave and have to put her in the kennel, she often goes hysterical into high-pitched barking fits and squeals for about 2 or 3 minutes that I can hear 3 stories away and walking out of my parking lot. When I leave and she is left out of the kennel bc other people are in the apt, I am told that she runs and throws herself bodily at the door, barking and yelping and screaming before eventually subsiding into whines and cries, before she gives up and takes a nap. When I have left her for a while in the kennel and return to the apartment, as soon as I round the door and get in her line of sight, she will be there lying down, peering through the cage, and steadily wagging her tail for excitement to be let out of the cage and see me. I do not feel like I have a god complex as I have been accused of in relation to my love for this behavior, but I can definitely now understand why so many people love dogs and how flattering it is to have a dog so focused and dependent on you. It really is a good feeling. Lainey is all business when she is using the bathroom. I FINALLY got her potty-trained to go outside 90% of the time- a huge victory to be sure. So I take her out to the grass strip and she goes through her routine, very methodically, sniffing around to find an appropriate spot or the last place where she did the deal. Sometimes, she gets picky and will spend as much as 10 minutes sniffing around, which is actually pretty annoying at 2 or 3 in the morning when I want to go to bed. It also can be very frustrating because she is somewhat coprophagous, so it is hard to figure out if she is sniffing the ground or finding...a little snack. I know it is gross and I am trying to get her out of this habit, but apparently it is relatively common amongst Shih Tzus and other small-breed dogs like Pugs. For the most part, she doesnt go in her kennel/indoors anymore, though there are times when she drinks too much water and defiles the living room rug. Lainey is like CAT NIP for good-looking women. I have never seen anything like it....(okay computer acting really strangely/slowly, going to finish in comments)
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:17:49 +0000
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