Hi Sheila More than happy to answer your question!
I have known small breed dogs and chihuahuas that were more than happy to be on their own. They weren't clingy. They were equally happy on your lap as they were on the floor in front of the fire. Like most dogs, they appreciated the attention and enjoyed being on your lap or beside you. But their comfort levels were not dependent on this nearness. They could do without it. As I'm pretty certain I will be moving into an apartment in the future, small size seemed more appropriate to space restrictions. And I knew, that if I had to be gone for an extended amount of time during the day, I had a dog small enough that I could essential be litter box train it without too much trouble. To a lesser extent, while I'm generally drawn to larger breeds, I recognized that I'd be much more able to care for a chihuahua financially. And I thought I'd also be able to accommodate their other needs. That's proved less true. This girl, when we first met, was more interested in exploring than people. She wasn't jumping up to meet people at the kennel gate. I thought great - low energy, independent dog that's not scrambling to be in your face or on your lap - it was almost cat-like behavior but a bit warmer if that makes sense. This ended up being an unfair way to assess this particular dog as she was far sicker than I was given to believe. When I was first at the kennel, she was described as on the mend and finishing up her medication for kennel cough. Granted I'm returning to the vet tomorrow to have her assessed, this was definitely not the case, and she was definitely not 'on the mend'. Although she is getting better day by day. To be honest - I don't hate lap dogs. But, if this makes sense, I work much longer hours when I'm freelancing from home. That means I'm in a high backed desk chair for most of the day. I've tried having her on my lap while I'm working. It's impossible, and it can't be comfortable for her. If I were working a regular 9-5 sort of job, than when I came home in the evenings, there would be definite lap time. I don't take many breaks except to run errands and take care of the various living things around here. It would also be a lot easier if I had someone else living with me. Being a single pet parent with my current work load has proven surprisingly difficult to manage. Especially with a dog that I haven't really figured out how to handle. I had mistakenly thought that being at home all day would make rehabilitating and working with a shelter dog a more reasonable task. It's actually a lot worse. I'm constantly worrying about her. For now, I've said screw the money and purchased a small crate and x-pen from Amazon. I can't keep leaving her in the hallway. It ends up being far too stressful for both of us, and I don't know how long it will be before I can place her. She's also started having housebreaking issues. She was using piddle pads or going outside when she first came. Now she ignores the piddle pads, and I can have her outside for quite a long time, bring her inside, turn around, and have her wee on the floor. Yet another issue to work on. What I underestimated was how much 'lap dog' was built into the animal. To the point that it overrides quite a lot of the 'animal' in some ways. Hopefully that made sense? And answered your question! cheers Autumn --- In [email protected], "dasha" <dasha48@...> wrote: > > I am not being mean when I ask this but can I ask why you got a small dog > like a chi when they are pretty much always lap dogs? That is their nature > and a big reason why so many get small dogs like that. If you are not a > person that likes dogs on your lap or if you are someone that does not like > to cuddle with dog, a small dog seems like such an odd choice. > > My mother is the same way about dogs and she has a Yorkie. Luckily he is an > 11 pound Yorkie and has bonded with her husband who loves on the dog all the > time. > > Sheila > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of freddyscribbles > Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 2:11 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re-homing is official - Los Angeles/Antelope Valley > > Please help me find Pia a home. > > I have had a lot of time to think about this. This has been a bad match. I > was hoping to find a dog-dog. And Pia was almost perfect except there's way > too much-lap-dog in there among other things. > ------------------------------------ We are now on Facebook! Join today! http://www.facebook.com/groups/chihuahuasclubYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/join (Yahoo! 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