shih tzu

portgirl123

Am after buying a 2 yr old shih tzu, she is a lovely girl, sweet temperment. Apparently the person i got her off, only had her 6 weeks she apparently wasnt getting on with her male.

Anyhows, i had to get her shaved as was quiet matted, her dews claws had grown so much they had grown into her feet.got them sorted. She is slightly underweight.

The girl i got her off said when she got her she was stinking, she thinks she came from a breeder.

My concerns is she has a habit of running around in a circle for ages. im thinking that maybe she has been shut in a cage. Could be wrong just i aint seen this before. Any ideas how to stop this?

mymo

I think you should get her seen by a vet.
I know someone has a shih tzu that does the same, runs in a circle and doesn't walk straight properly(kind of slightly odd gait), they were told it's a neurological problem. She's fine and quite healthy otherwise, nice friendly dog, but they do have to take care with her.
Hope its not this, but better to get her seen.

ABajaninCork

portgirl123 wrote: »

Am after buying a 2 yr old shih tzu, she is a lovely girl, sweet temperment. Apparently the person i got her off, only had her 6 weeks she apparently wasnt getting on with her male.

Anyhows, i had to get her shaved as was quiet matted, her dews claws had grown so much they had grown into her feet.got them sorted. She is slightly underweight.

The girl i got her off said when she got her she was stinking, she thinks she came from a breeder.

My concerns is she has a habit of running around in a circle for ages. im thinking that maybe she has been shut in a cage. Could be wrong just i aint seen this before. Any ideas how to stop this?

Well done you for saving this poor dog!:)

One thing I'm slightly surprised about. If the previous owner only had the dog for six weeks, why was her fur so matted and the dew claws so over grown they started digging into her leg? That doesn't happen in six weeks - no way!

The previous poster is right. Get her to a vet ASAP to be checked over and have the claw looked at. The vet might also be able to recommend a behavourist as well to look at the circle running.

I have a Shiu Tzu as well who does the circle running and the Usain Bolt on speed bit as well. But this is just excitement, and it soon stops. Seems to be a Shiu Tzu thing as I know of several who do this too. But best to double-check.

Good luck!

mymo

Just wondered if the previous owner had her 6 weeks, why didn't they wash and trim her and sort out her dew claws?
The first thing you'd do is make her comfortable. As the previous poster said, that didn't happen in 6 weeks.

portgirl123

thanks for the replies, she has been at vet as said dew claws were sorted. vet thinks the circling is maybe she was in a cage so has been used to circling.

this is what my conversation was with previous owner. she said she picked dog up from a person from offaly who was also selling 2 cavaliers. she said she washed dog and took the worst of the knots of her. i have got her groomed today and she looks lovely. She said she never noticed the nails!!!!!!

Have noticed as well she isnt toilet trained and if i dont get to her quick enough she will eat her poo.

mymo

Ah, getting the picture now, sounds like the poor dog was from a bad situation.

The eating the poop thing is easy to sort, give her some pineapple, once it goes through her she really won't want to eat it again, apparently it tastes awful and they stop pretty quick.

Check her teeth too, and ears. They are prone to problems if not well looked after well. Start brushing her teeth as soon as she's settled, she'll put on weight quick once on a good food.

I'm assuming she's not spayed? I would get her done soon, I know of 2 people got bitches from similar situations that turned out to be pregnant(one only found out when they woke up to bitch nursing 2 pups about a week after they got her).

Also even though she's been shaved get a brush and start getting her used to brushing, you don't want her getting matted again when hair starts to grow out(can get matted even when quite short).

The circling (if behavioral) can be sorted a bit by distracting her when it starts, use a treat or squeaky toy, whatever works for you.

Best of luck with her. Post a pic when you get a chance:D

lorebringer

Personally, I wouldn't trust anything that has been said to you about this dog (apart from by the vet). IF the previous owner had done some grooming, but from the sounds of the state she is in it she probably didn't or did very minimal amounts, they would have noticed her nails. They would have made an attempt to toilet train her, and prob been able to tell you more about her temperament. I'm not saying that the lady you got her from was lying to you, but perhaps the whole truth has not been told to you and I would be wary. Often, in these situations, people glaze over some details without even meaning to because they don't want to seem like the bad guy.

She probably came from a mill/farm situation and the circling is cage stress - when the dog gets stressed/excited/anything out of the norm, she circles because when she was caged she had nothing else to do. Now that she is free, she still does it because it's what she has always done. It is a very common behaviour seen in dogs that have come from being kept in enclosed areas for long periods of time. Distraction should work wonders on stopping this - try teaching her basic commands (sit, paw etc.) and get her to do some when she circles. It will break the cycle of emotional issues = circling. Some games and fun toys will also help with this.

House training needs patience and persistence to get right. Let her out every hour, if she goes then give her lots of praise (maybe a little treat) and if not, just try again later. Eventually she will get the message that she is to go outside. Eventually, you can start to create association with a word (eg. "go pee", "toilet") stated while she is going so that you can bring her out, tell her to go and (hopefully!) she will! If/when she goes in the house - don't say anything or give any attention, put her out of the room and clean it up very thoroughly (using an enzyme cleaner or a bio washing powder mix and some disinfectant).

On eating poo - this is another common problem with dogs that came from an enclosed environment situation (and it can be common in some dogs that come from brilliant situations) and is mainly habit. Cleaning it up before she has the chance to eat it is your main port of call. If this isn't always possible, correcting her as she goes to do it is what needs to be done. You will need to teach her "leave it" - while feeding her or giving treats, or toys, place the object or food on the floor a reasonable distance away from her and make her sit for only a second or two. Then allow her to go for the object. Increase the length of time she has to wait to get whatever it, reinforcing with "leave it" every few seconds, until she knows that when you say "leave it" she knows not to go near whatever it is. Applying this to poo is when she approaches the poo is then easy - a sharp, short "leave it" should be all you need. It may take some time but eventually she will understand to leave poo alone. In saying all this, she may get out of the habit on her own with good nutrition and a clean environment.

Well done for taking her on, you will see big improvement as she gets settled and has some stability in her life. Good nutrition, a warm safe place to sleep and lots of attention will work wonders on her! Would love to see pics

Good luck!

golden8

It does not take overnight to matt. So like previous poster said what she told you was poetic licence. I have taken on fostering dogs first is the health check then grooming straight away if able for it. Majority of the times are shave downs as the coat is like sheep felt. The dog is always happier feel good once it all comes off like a different dog.

andreac

Sounds like the person you got the pup off is a puppy farmer and were giving you a sob story to make you feel sorry for it so you would take it.

Well done on rescuing her anyway, sounds like she will have a lovely home with you.

portgirl123

thanks everyone for the helpful replys. she has been booked in monday to be spayed and her teeth cleaned, though vets says they aint to bad at all. Former owner says she never had pups and vet agrees. So thats a good thing. maybe she couldnt have pups and that is why she was sold on.
Any hows dont matter as she is a lovely little girl and seems to be settling fine. Hopefully will post some pics over the weekend