My Cute and Lovely Shih Tzu Puppy - Yuri

by Geronimo Parungao
(Garnet St. Villa Cecilia Subd. Sto. Cristo Baliuag, Bulacan Philippines)

To have a Shih Tzu is my dream. One day, my sister said that she would buy one for me. I was so happy! I searched the Internet and I found one that I like. In the same time, I've also learned from my college mate that his classmate is selling his 4 month old female shih tzu puppy. I chose to buy that puppy. When I saw her, I felt an unexplainable happiness. She was a little bigger from what I was expecting but she was very cute. When we reached home, we decided to name her as "Yuri".




Yuri is a tricolor shih tzu with soft and silky hair. She is very cute and lovely. She is sweet and playful too! Upon her arrival to our life, I read a lot of articles about how to care for a shih tzu. I also learned the tips on how to take good care of a dog from grooming, nutrition to dog behavior modification training.

I started at pad training (Potty Training a Puppy). Whenever I observe that she is smelling the floor and turning around, I will bring her to her pad and she will eliminate. After that, I will praise her and give her puppy treat.

One problem that I encountered is that my shih tzu loves to bite things includes our furnitures which my sister doesn't like. I stop the puppy biting problem by giving her dog chewable toy available in the market to satisfy her during her teething stage. I also give her many safe toys for her to save her from boredom.

Whenever Yuri is doing unpleasant things, I just scold her and keep her away from what she is doing. In contrast, whenever she is doing pleasant or cute stuffs, I will praise her and give her reward. That's my way of modifying her behavior and from my observation, it's working effectively.

As of now, I'm still dreaming of having another shih tzu so that Yuri will have a companion. Sadly, I know it's still a dream. Being just a student, I cannot afford that at the moment. I'm looking forward for that dream to come true in the future.

Having a shih tzu gives color in my life. All the hardships and patience for grooming and taking good care of her health fades away when I'm seeing her cute and lovely appearance. We love out Shih Tzu - Yuri very much and I'm sure she loves us a lot too.