If you need to help remove the afterbirth: First be sure your newborn puppy is breathing well on its own, the sac has been removed from the face, eyes, nose, head and the puppy has either been stimulated by mother or you, the doggie midwife, to breathe well on its own, you can then remove the afterbirth if it does not appear on its own of course. To do this, with one hand about one inch from the stomach of the puppy, grasp the umbilical cord and, with the other hand close to the matron, gently try to pull the afterbirth down and out of the matron, but be sure you do not pull hard on the cord near the navel of the puppy.

If your shih tzu matron does not cut the cord of the newborn puppies, and sometimes this does happen, it is wise to have on hand before the whelping day, a pinch-type clothespin which has been cleaned in boiling water or sterilized in alcohol, or if you prefer, a professional hemostat. The clothespin should be closed on to the cord about two inches from the puppy’s navel. Once you have this in place, cut the cord (with sterilized surgical scissors) on the puppy side of the clothespin or hemostat. Now you have part of the umbilical cord hanging out of your matron with a clothespin or hemostat attached and the puppy should be in your hand with about two inches of umbilical cord left on the puppy. This method prevents the umbilical cord from slipping back up inside the mother.

If the cord hanging from the puppy does not stop bleeding after you have pressed it hard on the end between your fingers for several seconds, you can use another clothespin to pinch it on the very tip of the cord for a minute or two. This should cause the blood to clot. You can tie a piece of string or thread on the tip of the cord, but I have found just pressure with your fingers or the clothespin treatment does stops the bleeding. You can also use the same kind of blood-clotting agents from pet supply houses that you use to stop the bleeding from a toenail cut too close. Cornstarch (cooking type) can be used in an emergency. The cord just dries up and falls off eventually just as they do on newborn human babies. Sometimes there might get to be an infection. I have used just plain Neosporin antibiotic gel a little dab on the area if it does get infected, and this heals up nicely.

The placenta looks like a small chunk of very ripe liver. Yelk!! Birthing puppies is a very interesting and exciting process. I like best, however, when the mother is able and willing to do the entire process while I just watch this miraculous act of mother nature.

Whelping day has always been an exciting time for me and usually it occurs in the middle of the night, which is probably why I have got my entire routine of life on a 3rd shift schedule. Just put on a pot of coffee and relax. After it is all over, give your matron lots of attention and some special kind of food you know she likes. Make it sloppy food for the first few days after the whelping.

Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets. Discounts on shih tzu puppies are offered to subscribers. Weekly updates of available puppies. Sign up at: http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com

The shih tzu with a long, flowing coat and an arrogant air is beautiful and captures the heart of many who own and professionally show the breed. Satisfaction, joy and pride can result from conditioning and growing a beautiful coat of hair for the shih tzu. For the showring, this is an absolute must. The complete protrait of a showring shih tzu is one that is draped in a long luxurious coat that has been maintained and groomed properly. This can also be accomplished by sending the shih tzu to a handler getting the shih tzu ready for the showring. If you have the time, patience and ability yourself, whether your shih tzu is a pet or a show dog prospect, you certainly are very fortunate indeed. Most likely you will receive rave reviews everywhere you and your shih tzu go.

A lot of shih tzu owners, however, do opt for the shorter cuts. In my opinion, the shih tzu is just as cute and lovely. Maintaining the longer coats is a fulltime job. It takes hours and hours of careful brushing and most often daily brushing. One of the most important aspects of the procedure is your ability to remain faithful to a schedule.

Start with good health from the inside. Be sure you keep your shih tzu free from parasites and you feed a good, quality, nutritious dog food. I highly recommend HealthyPetNet Life’s Abundance pet foods, treats and grooming supplies. I am a faithful user of these products myself and I am completely satisfied with the results evident in my shih tzu. I have a few that I try to keep in long coat. It is very time consuming, but I must admit when I see these romping around in my yard or moving about, I get an extra kind of thrill inside to behold their beauty. So I must say, a beautiful, long coat on a shih tzu is probably my favorite. I just don’t have the exact ability and time to maintain all of mine in that long coat and those I do, are still not as perfected as they could be. Personally, I have just not developed the skills to do so. I believe I have the ability. That ability has not been developed. Maybe some day…..

Whatever you feed your shih tzu, dry food is always superior. And I would think that if you are going all out for a long coat for your shih tzu, you probably will need to add some extra supplements. Again, I would recommend HealthyPetNet Life’s Abundance Daily Nutritional System, which is the dry food with a daily supplement, and add to that, their skin and coat supplement, plus add their health bar for skin and coat, which is full of antioxidants. The decision belongs to you, your vet and to your handler, if you use a professional handler or groomer.

I have found where I live that most of the groomers do not like to mess with a long coat. And when I do get this done, the expense is far greater than a simple hair cut. I do have one groomer in particular, only one I have found within driving distance who halfway was descent in combing out and grooming my long haired shih tzu. Then, the expense was so great, I could not afford using her that often. I keep most of my short at this time. The cost for me would have been at least $70 per month for one dog and that is going every two weeks. For the shih tzu lover of long, long hair, it is wise to learn how to do it yourself, yet, also you got your time and labor involved in that. Time is something most of us seem to never have enough of.

Good coats are inherited in many lines. I really do have some show dog coats of hair in my bloodlines at Stain Glass Shih Tzu, and one day I hope to be able to at least take a course in grooming. When I do, I most likely will include what I learn through the course in my articles and e-books I will offer to others. Most likely, this is coming soon. It is just not totally right it seems to not at least have one very long haired shih tzu in the crowd. For some bloodlines, to grow a long and flowing coat is impossible. You will see beautiful and cute faces, wonderful personalities still, but the coat of some of the shih tzu bloodlines just will not grow. There is no other choice in that matter but to the keep it clipped. One of the goals of my breeding program is to continually search for the bloodlines that most closely meet the AKC standard for a long, flowing coat. I am very partial to the smaller sizes, but even in those, I search for the long flowing coat of hair. My Holly, Simon, Danny Boy and Jane Jane all have this type of coat. Holly probably had the best of all. It was extremely long and thick, but guess what, time was not on my side about keeping it that way, so I had to opt for a shave down to start all over. She is still just as cute and perky, and I think she has been very happy with her new haircut. I was saddened to tears almost, but my own fault. A person has to allocate the time to grow these beautiful long coats or else hire someone else to do it for them. That is just the starting point for the entire process.

There are lots of products to help us deal with the shih tzu that do not have the better coats of hair. And as I mentioned before, HealthyPetNet products is always my first choice. There are, however, dozens of other products you can try that may suit you and your shih tzu even better. If you have the time and money, it can be a very enjoyable hobby. I have too many hobbies concerning the shih tzu right now anyway, but…..I do plan on gaining more skill at coat handling and grooming. I just recently bought my first clipper, a must for the types of work I am in at this time – raising puppies. Many times, shih tzu moms need to be completely shaven down for the sake of cleanliness and this is a routine I follow with mine. In my plans is a special grooming room with all the bells and whistles – a nice tub – tables and all the right equipment. Even for the person who has only one shih tzu, having the exact equipment needed and the lighting and tubs can be a very fun experience and much more rewarding than using the family bathtub and a small space in the corner of one very dimly lit room. I tell you what…..my plans include a nice grooming room with all the bells and whistles. I just hope I am not 95 before I can afford that. I plan to live to be 100 years old. And then, I plan an afterlife for myself, not as a shih tzu of course, but just as a soul that lives on….that’s a whole other topic however.

Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets. Discounts on shih tzu puppies are offered to subscribers. Weekly updates of available puppies. Sign up at: http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com

The pins of your brush should make contact with the skin at the beginning of the brush stroke. From there, make a straight stroke outward to the ends of the hair. Try to teach your dog (and I say this in a do as I say, and not do as I do, because this is a very hard thing for me to teach my dogs to do….but that is me….and I need more practice. So with practice it can be done, and if you are planning to have the long coat of hair on your shih tzu, you will need to teach the dog to lie still on his side. Brush one layer at a time, then pull another layer and repeat the process until you have brushed to the center part of your dog. So the dog is on its side and you begin brushing at the lower end of the body and work your way up to the top part of the body to the part. Once you complete one side, turn the dog over and repeat the process.

Start out slow, and start midway in the body. Do the legs, the tail, the feet, the head and stomach area last. These can be some of the touchiest areas on the shih tzu.

If you run into static electricity you can try a mixture of two tablespoons or less of your favorite creme rinse mixed with two cups of water in a spritzer bottle and lightly spray that on each layer as you are brushing. Put on some relaxing music for the both of you and try to make an enjoyable time of bonding.

After thorughly brushing the dog, run a wide tooth comb through the layers. What I do is have several types of combs on hand. I have one very wide tooth comb, a regular comb and a very small comb that is actually best to use on the face or the feet. With a comb, you can then get even closer to the skin and drag at each and every tangle. Not really drag out, but gently remove the tangles that get very close to the skin. And if you keep up on your brushing daily you won’t have a big problem running your combs through the coat slowly and gently.

After the bath,when blow drying your shih tzu, turn the temperature down as the hair begins to dry. You can put your shih tzu in a cage with a dry towel in the bottom after they have bathed and you have toweled dried. Allow the dog to shake out as much extra moisture as possible. Turn the dryer in the direction of the cage to blow-dry some of the moisture from the coat while you are not brushing. This can reduce the brushing time and takes some of the stress out of brushing and drying the hair at the same time. You will have a nicer affect if you finish the drying process out of the cage while you brush the hair out.

Now for that beautiful, finishing touch – the topknot and bow. The absolute best way to become a pro at this would be to watch a pro do it, such as a professional dog groomer or handler.

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Connie Limon publishes a FREE weekly newsletter. A professional newsletter with a focus upon health and wellness for you and your pets. Discounts on shih tzu puppies are offered to subscribers. Weekly updates of available puppies. Sign up at: http://www.stainglassshihtzus.com