[MayaMartina111]

Hello, everyone!

I'm really happy to join the community.

My name is Catalina. My husband and I have always been dog people, grew up with dogs and started volunteering at our local shelter right after we got married. A while ago we started fostering, and that's how sweet Pango came into our lives, stole our hearts and we couldn't let go.

They say the best advice when fostering a dog is not to foster "your type" of dog, and for a while, this worked for us. We were big dog people, and grew up with labs, goldens and pitties. Pango, on the other hand, is a white and scruffy shihtzu mix who was surrendered by his owners because they couldn't deal with his matted hair (because they never brushed him in 1.5 yrs) and he was not eating anymore.

After we brought him back to full health and he came out of his shell, we realized he was the perfect dog for us: a sweet, yet spunky, laid-back couch potato. And that's how he became our first fur baby!

Given that we have absolutely no experience with smaller dogs, and this is the first shihtzu that has ever crossed our path, we look forward to getting your input and words of wisdom, and hearing your experiences!

Any shihtzu parents out there? Foster fails? Rescue dog parents?

 

[GitaBooks]

Welcome to the forum! So glad you could join!

I love to foster, thank you so much for doing that! I also love a good foster fail.
: )

We've pet sat a couple shih tzus before, never actually owned any. They seem like sweet dogs, snuggly but energetic and generally good around other dogs. The shelter I volunteer at as also adopted out a number of them, and they were all nice as well. All and all not as yappy or territorial as a lot of other small, terrier type dogs.

Feel free to ask any questions, make comments, and just share fun stories and pictures!

I look forward to seeing you around. : )

 

[McCourt]

Hola Catalina. As you can see from my profile photo, I have two dogs very similar to your dogs. One is a Yorkie and the other a Morkie. Both harry little fellows who are groomed once per month. I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable life would be or them if they didn't get their hair cut or combed or over a year. That's just ridiculous. Anyway, I can see by Pango's bowtie that you're prepared to spoil him rotten and that's probably just fine with him.

 

[MayaMartina111]

Thank you! Great to meet a fellow shelter volunteer.
And yes, part of what we loved about this one is how mellow and quiet he is. When someone is at the door, he just barks ONCE as if announcing the visit...
Cracks me up.