You know, I always wanted a shih tzu growing up. They seemed so cute and cuddly with their little Ewok faces. But after my childhood dog Clipper passed, college came soon after and I had to put my desire on the back burner. Finally, about two and a half years ago, we moved into an apartment complex that allowed dogs.

Now, it wasn’t my first thought to adopt a dog. Already owning a dwarf rabbit and two cats, I figured that was enough living things to share my space with (or, to be totally accurate in their space). Wally, my dwarf bunny, had developed a great rapport with Tiberious and it seemed our family was complete.

Wally and Tiberious

Then, one fateful afternoon I was driving home from class when I saw tiny furballs frolicking on a lawn. Leo has told me repeatedly that I have the inability to not stop whenever I see a puppy (which, I admit is true), so I pulled over. They were shih tzu puppies, about nine of them. The parents were on site and the owner told me that this particular litter was an accident. I took video of them and hurried home to show Leo. Surely, I thought, surely he will talk me out of adopting one. I just needed to get away from the cuteness and I’d start thinking clearly. Leo will talk some sense into me.

Like that was going to happen.

As soon as I showed him the video, I could see his resolve weaken. We started talking about the pros and cons. Mostly cons: we would be straining our budget, the cats would hate it, Leo wanted a new TV, etc. But somehow we ended up visiting the house that Sunday. Just to see them. Just to steel our resolve.

Then Leo saw him.

A tiny little tri colored pup, ignoring his remaining sisters in order to play with his daddy. The little guy kept jumping on the dad, letting out little puppy yips and growls as the dad would swat and roll him around. It was over; there was no question. We happily traded Leo’s TV fund for 4 pounds of wriggly, squirmy shih tzu.

On the way home, we came up with every possible way to excuse our decision. After a pit stop at PetSmart for puppy essentials, which included a stuffed frog we called Carlos, we got home. Willow immediately hissed at the scrap of dog that bravely trotted into the living room, immediately sniffing and rubbing himself in a pile of laundry I was doing.

We were worried about how the cats would react to their new roommate. We knew what to expect from Willow, but Tiberious was a wild card. As far as we knew, he had never really met a dog before. Surprisingly, after a few initial cautious sniffs, the curious cat decided he was ok. As a matter of fact, it took all of a day for us to find that Tiberious decided that the bath we gave the pup wasn’t good enough; he started grooming the puppy. And the puppy was enjoying it!

We named the pup Thor and were proud of the fact that our little guy never once cried when we brought him home. Potty training was a challenge; shih tzus are notoriously stubborn. Thor was no exception. After six months, he finally seemed to get it…until he decided that he needed to show us he could still poop in the corner if HE chose to. Also, cat litter and poop. He LOVES cat litter and poop. Disgusting habit for us to deal with; but that led us to upgrading the cat’s litter box to a covered box which the cats and I (being subjected to the smell of an uncovered litter box when the cats decided to visit it) favored more. In all, we followed the general methods of potty training and acclimation for Thor, but we did put our tweeks on some of them. For some excellent dog potty training tips, click here!

For example,  crate training was something Leo and I both wanted to do, but I quickly realized I could not listen to him cry in the living room in his crate at night. (I know, bad mommy, I should have let him cry it out…) I also didn’t like the idea of locking him in his crate when we were gone. Not having a yard, I felt it wasn’t fair to confine him to a smaller space when we weren’t home. So we made a few adjustments. First, we decided in order to save our carpet during those first months during potty training, we had to confine him to the tiled kitchen when we weren’t there. We purchased a baby gate and when we would leave, we would put his crate, Carlos, his water bowl and puppy pads in the kitchen. He was allowed to be free when we were home. Feeding time was always in the crate, so he could learn that his crate was a positive space. But we also taught him that was where he needed to go if he misbehaved. We would never lock him in, but we would stand in front of it so he knew he had to stay until we allowed him out again.

Today, when Thor hears me getting his food ready, he runs to his crate without us having to tell him. He is a happy pup that gets along with everyone…except children. I’m pretty sure he would eat them if he could; that or herd them.