You are a very lucky person, JD. I believe the chiweenie chose you. Animals have a way of doing that. She loves your son and it's a good learning experience for all involved.
Like you, I didn't want a Chi at first. I'd only known the nippy, yippy and mean ones. I did know that the way a dog was raised and treated had a lot to do with their personality, yet no Chi for me. I had dachshunds and always would. Yeah, right. As I was getting to know my neighbor, I found out he had 2 Chi's. The friendliest and cutest I'd ever seen. That put the thought in the back of my mind that maybe I could get a Chi someday. Well, that day came. My hubby's dachshund had to be put done, Morty. When he decided he wanted another dog, we went to the shelter and he chose a very timid dog, scared 14 lb dog. Hubby named him Mickey. He's a 4 yr old Chi mix. We don't know what's in him. About 2 months later my 6.5lb dachshund, Bob Barker, was put down. He was 17 and had renal failure and we thought he was also pinning away for his best friend and surrogate mama, Miss Millie, a dachshund/bassett. Bob was my best friend and shadow. I wasn't about to pine away when I could use that time to put my energy into another dog. I waited almost a week to give myself time to not look for a dog that reminded me of Bob. I looked at shelter websites during that time. Finally we started going to shelters. I think I still had a bit of Bob clouding my choosing a dog. In the third shelter, I was about ready to give up when hubby called me to one of the cages to see a little cream colored Chi. I bent down and got her to come to the door. She was a bit nervous but curious, yet the other dogs barking didn't seem to bother her. She was in a cage by herself with access to a small yard. What a cute little girl. She was all ears. She was taken out to a play area with a volunteer so we could meet her. She came right to me. She let me pick her up and she licked me all over. I was a bit leery because I'd never had a pup before. The volunteer said we had to bring Mickey to see if he would be ok with her. The little Chi was put on hold and we raced home to get Mickey. Mickey was so happy to meet the little girl. The little girl was not scared of him at all. I guess since both had been in cages by themselves, it was a treat to be able to play together. I was raised with dogs but had not really seen dogs play a lot together. Well, Mickey and the little girl started chasing each other and wrestling and play growling and having lots of fun. At first it frightened me a little because I'd never heard Mickey growl like he was and the girl was little. We decided right then to adopt her and name her Minnie. She's was almost 8 months old at the time. She's a year old now. Every day Minnie does something really cute that makes me smile. Every morning when she has to go outside, she'll carefully and as lightly as possible sneak out of her bed, which is at the bottom corner of my daybeds that I sleep on, sneak up and lick my nose or cheek very softly to wake me. I wake with a face in mine, ears down and wagging tail with wiggly butt. It's so cute. I hope she never grows out of it. She's becoming a lap dog now. At first she would put her front paws on my (or anyone's lap) to get pets. Now she comes right up into your lap all wiggly, looking for attention. I bet I'm as happy as you, JD, for getting a Chi. Minnie is a deer-head Chi. Her head is almost apple shaped but her ears are deer size. A lady at Lend A Heart therapy dog recognized Minnie as a deer-head right away. I hope you'll tell more stories of your life with your Chiweenie. \ \ /\ Alice ( ) [email protected] .( ). Sent from my iPhone 5 > On Aug 8, 2013, at 7:20 AM, JD <[email protected]> wrote: > > OK I just have to say this .I hope it doesn't make me sound callous. > When I thought about getting a dog, I really wanted to rescue a Pittbull. > They are awsome with kids and normally the first to be put down in shelters. > My sister raised her son with a pitty and this kid sits on her head, pulls > her ears and the poor dog just looks at us like "help me" but NEVER bites or > reacts. > > I started fostering dogs to test the situation out with my son and it turned > out he's still afraid of big dogs. To him a big dog is anything over 15 > pounds. So I tried fostering smaller dogs and puppies. It turned out to be an > easier transition. Maybe because he thought the dog was a weird barking cat. > However he was, for the most part, gentle with them. So I knew I had to go > the very small dog route. So I looked into Yorkies, Chi's, Maltese's, toy > poodles and other small dogs. Chi's were always put on the back burner > because, as the world knows, they are nasty mean nippy yippy dogs who bond > with 1 person and make terrible family pets. > > However the universe was giving me a different message. I kept seeing > hoarding situations going on with Chi's and the rescues I worked with were > getting involved with rescuing and rehoming Chi's. Eventually I took the > plunge and decided to adopt an apple head Chi from one of the rescue > situations going on. I wanted a Chi but not a mix. I def DID NOT want any > doxie (weenier dog) or mix with my Chi. I dis like the look and worry about > their knees and back. > > So when my rescue friend told me she was pulling several apple head Chi's > from a hoarding situation, I asked her if they were Chi's or mixes. She said > they were apple head Chi's. I then jumped at the chance believing this was > yet a message for me to rescue a Chi. When I got her, I was so over joyed of > rescuing that I didn't really notice that her snout was longer then a Chi, > that at 3 months of age she was about 4 pounds and that her body was a bit > longer then a Chi. I wanted to make sure she had her crate, food, toys and > accessories. As time passed her body grew longer as did her snout. I became > upset because her look is exactly the opposite of what I wanted. Her > Chi-weenie mix is exactly what I didn't want. For a brief moment in time I > even considered rehoming her with my friends rescue because of it. > > However, as more time passes, I realize I got wanted I needed and not what I > wanted. Her temperament is amazing. She plays with my son like a champ, > sleeps with him, does well with my cats and strangers. Doesn't see a lap that > should be empty, is dog friendly and now is willing to play fetch. > > She's going to make a wonderful AAT dog. I see that the Universe intervened > and gave me what I needed to have in my life but not what I wanted. > > I just had to share this story. > > JD > > >
