Welcome to Muttville Ollie! Ollie boy was found as a stray, hair heavily matted, with a heavy heart. He had quite a transformation during his first few days. He got a glow up, some delicious food, and a ton of love. You wouldn’t even recognize him if you saw him. Ollie’s light shines extra bright these days. He’s enjoying the good life. Taking short little walks, playing with other dogs, and sleeping in his own bed. Ollie is a young and energetic 7-year-old Shih Tzu who is ready to seize each day from here on out with courage and excitement! Could you be the one to show him what life is all about?
Here’s some notes from his foster:
Ollie is such a wonderful, loveable little dog. He has no problem being picked up and likes to be near you, preferably cuddling in your lap. He follows us around the house and we keep an eye on him because potty-training is a work in progress – we keep to a schedule and he’s getting the hang of it. Toys don’t interest him but he loves treats. He’s learning to like his pen and his crate and even allows himself to be carried in a pet carrier.
Ollie is a prince of loose leash walking. He likes to be out in front, carefully sniffing as he goes along. He walks at the rate of the person holding the leash, adjusting so that he’s not pulling a slower walker. And he generally ignores dogs walking toward him with their owners (although he has growled occasionally). We treat every introduction individually and don’t yet assume his response. Catching up with a dog ahead seems an important priority, however, and then you may feel a strong boy pulling to get ahead. Just stopping and waiting for him to settle seems to be the best response.
He has a strong prey instinct and feels birds should not use the same part of the sidewalk he’s using at the moment. No squirrels around here so we don’t know how he’d respond. And he’s a smart little cookie – while out walking he knows which pocket the treats are in and will watch your hand in the pocket to gauge if a treat is about to appear.
He does like to play, and if you play rough with him his response is to put his mouth around an arm or a hand. No bite pressure whatsoever, just mouthing. For this reason we feel that young children might play with him in a way he thinks is annoying play and find him mouthing them which could be frightening. He might be most comfortable in a family where there is always someone around for him to be near and to protect. Children should be big enough to deal with his energy and speed.
As his time with us progressed Ollie has found his voice. He now occasionally growls or barks to say, "I have something that I want and I want you to pay attention.’ If he leads to the back door, we believe he’s asking to go out. After a nighttime walk, he curls up on the bed outside the covers near our feet and sleeps through the night – not a peep out of him till he wakes up. However, he is not an early morning riser, especially if it’s dark, cold and rainy. Stairs are no problem.
We find him to be a joy to have around.
