tkmc

This is Fifi with one of her brothers at 6 weeks and a few months later. I am really starting to wonder if she is just small or there is something wrong with her, can dogs be dwarves? She was pretty slow to develop as well, ie teeth and she didnt realise she could bark or make noise until she was like 6 months.

Fifi is a white pure bred Maltese, she is really small though, she will be 2 in December and according to our vet has finished growing and weighs only 1.9kgs. Fifi is a very quiet timid dog who is very gentle and a little bit snobby. I am interested to know if there is a reason to her being so small? Ebony is our Shitzu x Silky who is 1 in October. She is affectionately known as "Fat Girl" she is a hefty 6 kilos and a bundle of energy. We are having a lot of trouble training this one and she is proving to be a very big handful. She loves attention and chewing undies, pen lids, toilet rolls, baby toys, pretty much anything she can. The girls get along ok as long as Ebony doesn't come near FiFi while she is eating or sleeping. Both my inlaws and parents have little dogs as well and they all get along. Its funny cause the other dogs only pretend play fight with FiFi cause she is so little, they all watch out for her when they play. Its great having 2 dogs with such different personalities. FiFi is definatly a Mummies girl while Ebony is a bit rough and tumble for us. Although at night time after a tough day of playing she likes big cuddles and a scratch behind the ear.

My shitzu x silky is a jumper, I have taught they kids to turn away from her until she calms down and I do the same. It is really hard for the kids though (they are all under 5) because she is pretty full on and force full. She is slowly getting it though, it works best when i do it although when she does calm down and you go to pat her she gets all excited and starts biting and jumping again. I think the main thing is consistency my husband generally yells or pushes her away, so I have to remind him to stop and turn his back without making any noise. And yes it is very frustrating when friends come over especially people who aren't into dogs (is there such a thing??).

HELP!!!! Our 8 month old Shitzu x Silky regularly treats our bed, the spare bed and the couches as her toilet. Yes both no#1's and no#2's. We are at our wits end. We take both our dogs outside to the toilet on a regular basis, and she goes pretty much every time and comes bounding back for a pat (and a smackos). This has been going on for quite sometime now and I have been monitoring her behaviour and just can't figure it out. She will just out of the blue jump up onto the couch or run upstairs to the bedroom jump on the bed and squat. This is really the only time we have accidents in the house now as both dogs are pretty much completely trained. We usually find the nasty suprise later on , but I have caught her in the act a few times. When this happens I raise my voice and she runs off and hides under the stairs. Our vet has mentioned something called a DAP Diffuser but I can't really find much information about this. We wash all linen, couch covers, etc with biozet (reccomended by our vet to get rid of the smell) clean all furniture with No Vac (also recomended by the vet) as well as Urine Off. It doesn't seem to make a difference except that I am sick of washing and we have had to buy extra bed sheets, quilts, blankets etc. It is not just our house either, when she stays with my parents she will go to the toilet on my parents bed and on their upstairs carpet ( we don't have any carpet at our house) and she can go outside anytime she likes there. Does anyone have any suggestions???? Thanks Trev and Kiri