Hi,
I recently rescued a chihuahua and since I've never had this breed
before, I would like some feedback, if anyone can help.
1) When I take her outside outside in the morning after she's been
up for a few hours, she seems lethargic. She just plops on the grass
and won't move to the point that it seems like something is wrong.
She's basking in the sun but she is only 15 months and I thought
she'd have more energy. Inside, she chases her toy when I throw it
and she seems more energetic. She LOVES to go for walks in late
afternoon and has energy then. But, if I try to throw a ball or chase
her in the AM outside, she just sits there. Then she gets up and
comes over and wants to be held and yawns a lot. Are they sleepy
dogs? Could something be wrong? Maybe she just needs a lot of naps????
When she first came to my house she had more energy, but I wonder if
it was nervous energy and now that she feels comfortable, she's more
relaxed????? Yesterday, I brought her over to see a 5 month old
Yorkie that she had played with nonstop a month ago. She began
playing but then their big Golden Retriever came over and chased her
to sniff her. She was scared and tried to hide.I got her and picked
her up. When we took the Golden out of the picture, she was clingy to
me and for 2 hours, the Yorkie tried to get her to play and she
wouldn't. It was horrible to see because she was so happy to see the
Yorkie.
2) Also she seems starved and after eating, she goes over to the
empty bowl and licks it for about 5 minutes. She does this throughout
the day until I feed her again at 5 PM (1/4 cup). She goes and licks
her bowl over and over again. She eats at 8 AM (1/4 cup) and then has
a few treats about 11 and 2 and at 10 PM. She weighs 4 lbs. One
reason the owner sold her to me was that she weighed about 3 lbs and
looked emaciated. She wasn't eating and I found out later that the
previous owner took the dry dog food, moistened it, and then tried to
shove it down the dog's throat to get her to eat.It was terrified of
food. When the dog first came to my house, I put the food down,
backed off, and let her eat. She picked up one morsel and looked and
me and dropped it. But, I whispered "good girl" and clapped my hands.
It took her about 1/2 hour to eat a few morsels. Eventually, she is
eating on her own and LOVES LOVES LOVES food. SHe gobbles it down in
about a minute and a half. If I kept food down all the time, she'd be
huge. I do not think she would stop eating. (She's been dewormed even
though she didn't seem to have any). She's gained over a pound with
me. Why is she so hungry all day long? Behavioral? Medical?
3)She gets sooo cold, so easily. I have sweaters and coats for her,
but I worry about the winter in my house. She shivers at 74 degrees.
I have problmes with my heating system and it won't go higher than 66
in the winter. I have a nice warm fleece blanket on her cushy bed
that she burrows under at night. I just bought an electric warmer for
her bed for the winter. But, during the day, her tail is under her
and she's shivering unless I bundle her up in my arms and warm her. I
can't keep holdig her all day long to keep warm. Do I double up on
the sweaters and coats? She looks so uncomfortable, I was thinking
that maybe I should find her a new home that is warmer. But, I think
she likes it here. And I like her!!! (CT is cold in the winter) Any
ideas?
Thanks for any help, Terry
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