My Neglected Baby

Koh Weng Shan, Shan as we all call him is my 1st baby. He is my 9 years old shih-tzu whom I've had since he was 12 weeks old. He was the one that was pampered for 2 years. He was groomed daily and got to go everywhere I went. He got to sleep on my bed and would jump to top of the backseat(where the speakers are located) whenever we went out in the car. Then came the day we brought Gilly back from the Hosp. Poor Shan was pushed aside for sometime. Now he wasn't allowed to get onto the bed as we feared he would eat baby Gilly. I didn't have any time to brush his hair anymore and we started getting him the "Puppy Cut". Gone are his long long lovely hair that got tied up. I think he likes it short, sometimes when I try tying his front hair, he does a funny dance and next thing I know the rubber-band is gone.

I sound so terrible neglecting this dog when my kids were babies. Funny thing is this dog has not blamed me for the "neglect". He has been a wonderful dog to my kids. My kids when they were babies had abused him but he never once growled or bit them. I've been very fortunate to have such a loving dog.

When Gilly used to cry in her crib, he would run to the doorway to see her then coming running into the kitchen to look at me, then run back to Gilly. He would go back and forth until I would go check on Gilly. Later when Gilly was in her Terrible 2, I would catch her pulling his beard and lifting him up. His front paws would be up in the air and he would just wriggle to free himself off her. He never yelp to say he was in pain nor did he growl.

I once caught Greg, when he was also 2, pulling Shan from one end of my foyer to the other (about 30 feet distance). Oh... I forgot to mentioned Greg was pulling him by his tail. And this Dog just let Greg have his fun. He just walked away the moment Greg let go off him. No... He has never bitten my kids.

He thinks he is getting a treat, that's why he is doing his "stand"

He has had this red ball since he was a few weeks old.

These few photos below were taken in sequence:
1) Greg is eyeing on the dog.

2)Greg is now touching the fur

3) Greg going for the kill...

No.. we quickly got the dog to sit up before any harm came to him and YES we did wash Greg's hand. Greg was about 10 mths old when this photo was taken.

What prompted me to blog about Shan was an incident that happened 2 days ago. From 10 am till 4pm, Shan was acting weird. He kept running into the kids' bathroom and I kept calling him out. Not only did he run into the bathroom, he would be sitting in the bathtub. Yes, weird. I concluded that he was telling me he wanted his bath. I do bath him about every 2 weeks even when I do send him to the groomer. So there I was thinking "wow my dog is so smart". hahaha.. Even when Gilly came home she notice Shan running into the bathtub and also thought he wanted a bath. I was busy doing 3 loads of laundry and at 4pm, with Gilly home we went down to get the last load. Only then Gilly notice that his drinking bottle was empty. hahaha.. all this while Shan wanted was WATER... and I guess in his doggie world, bathtub = water= thirsty. There goes my theory that my dog is smart.

I do have to admit he is very well trained. ahem ahem.. by me. Before the babies came, I had all the time in the world to train him. He does obey certain hand signals and I don't have to scream "sit" or "come here" or "stand". He doesn't run out of the door whenever he sees the door open. He doesn't go into our bedrooms and doesn't jump onto sofas as he knows he is not allowed to do so. Believe it or not, he used to pee and pooh on command. Hubby took over the duty of walking him for his "relieves' and didnt' bother using those commands. So Shan doesn't respond to those commands anymore. He is basically a bright, loving and adorable dog.

Only damn setback now is that he doesn't get hugs from me anymore nor is he allowed to lick me. 2 years ago, I found out I was allergic to him. That explained alot about the bumps that I get whenever he licks my hands and legs. I do give him a pat here and there but I've to make sure I wash my hands right away. That also explained why I'm always congested. The day I found out I was allergic to my Dog, I told myself that Shan is family and I do not get rid of family. I just know now on certain days where pollen content is High to take anti-histamine.

If anyone who is thinking of getting a dog and are planning to have babies anytime soon or have small kids now. Think of getting a Shih Tzu. They just have a sweet personality that they will do well with your babies.