THE LIFE OF MY LITTLE MONKEY (Chihuahua)

Member Name: leeanne160480

Product:	Chihuahua
Date:	29/09/08 (376 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gorgeous dogs

Disadvantages: none

I absolutely love Chihuahuas and you will see from my picture that my gorgeous one, Pippa is there. Well strictly speaking she isn't mine, but my grandparents. I am like her surrogate mum and steal her away as often as I can as she is a great little soul and she loves to play in my garden, often it's a fight to get her back inside.

Anyway, what about the breed? Chihuahuas are from Mexico. The word Chihuahua is Mexican for Mexican Mouse Dog, as these dogs primarily run about catching Mice. Pippa once got a mouse, we are unsure if she killed it or just found it, as when we got down the garden, found a tiny field mouse at her paws and she was looking sorry for the creature. She can do a lot of things, but talk she can't!

They come in different colours. Pippa is Red Sable, Gizmo was White and Brandy was brandy coloured!

Chihuahuas are meant to be the smallest dog breed in the world, but due to my dad constantly feeding Pippa, she is not the smallest Chihuahua. I think an average weight for these dogs is about 7lb, but Pippa is 9lb. Maybe not the heaviest thing, but with anyone overweight you have to think about her heart.

Chihuahuas come in short haired or long haired. We've had 3 short haired ones, and although the long haired ones are beautiful, I do prefer the short haired dogs. They say that the long haired ones shed more hair, but Pippa casts her fur on a daily basis. I don't think the other 2 dogs cast as much as her, but they were both male and she's the only female one we've had, so whether it's more for gender, but I doubt it! Maybe twice a week she will get her coat combed with a wire comb, and this gathers most of the loose fur in it's bristled, so she doesn't cast too much after this.

Eating habits. Well Pippa must be one of the luckiest dogs around, as she eats better than most humans - including me. The Chihuahua before Pippa, who was called Gizmo the only dog food he liked was Caesar out of the little foil tins. Anything else he would not eat, and even if you tried to fool him by putting another kind of dog food into an empty Caesar pouch and showing him you scooping it out of this into his dish, he still turned his nose up at it. Pippa does not like or eat any dog food. So what does she eat? Ready for this? Chicken, Liver, Mince, Mince Pie, Chilli Con Carne, Pancetta, Turkey Ham, Chinese Chicken, Steak, Corned Beef, Fish Sliced Sausage, Apples, Grapes. In the morning when you are buttering your toast, she appears at your feet to get a corner of toast. She also likes a drink of Tea. Also if I ever have a microwave Lasagne, I eat it out of the plastic tray and will leave a bit cheese and mince in the bottom for her to lick clean. I done the same thing with a chocolate mousse and she was able to stick her whole head into the pot to get the dregs out of the bottom. At least I got a laugh with a dog wandering around with a mousse pot covering her whole head. I did help her take it off though! She eats once a day at lunch time and she gets maybe a slice of cold meat later in the day. You just hold the meat and she can chew it from the slice. These dogs tend to gulp things down, so this way you can make sure she eats it proper. She will get a dog chew around 9pm as well.

Don't tell her, but she sleeps in a cat basket! You do get dog baskets for small dogs obviously, but we have found that cat baskets since they are a little bit smaller, then they are cosier for her. She has an igloo style one for sleeping in at night, which has a small cushion in it and a fluffy hand towel covers her. She also has an open basket to sit on the couch, since my grandparents have just bought a new leather couch, and strangely think her claws will catch on the couch - don't think so somehow! I bought a fluffy dog cover from Ebay for her for this, it has paw prints on it and it is her cover for this basket. We have one of these baskets at our house for when she is here. Again her food and drink bowl is a cat one, for the size as well.

So what are Chihuahuas temperament like? They are good-natured dogs. The old dog Gizmo was a bit unsociable. He was my best friend and me and him used to sit on my skateboard and go down the small hill at the back of my hill. He was happily tucked into my jacket and we'd do that for about an hour, which was fun - well I was about 9 years old! Gizmo was never really around children, but Pippa is, since there are more children in the family now. When my nephew used to get babysat by my grandparents and they used to put him down for an afternoon nap, Pippa used to lie under the cot and sleep there until he woke up and was taken back downstairs. If you came into the room she would watch you. It was like she was protecting him. Often in our old house we would look out of the kitchen window and see Pippa lying on her back getting her tummy rubbed by the children going to school. Pippa has growled at my niece twice, but that's because she wouldn't leave her alone, so I guess that's just the dog showing she's peed off! Because of their size it is easy for them to hide under beds and tables, it's when the kids are able to follow them there that they get cornered and that's when she showed her anger.

Pippa hates cats with a passion. At our old house the neighbour's cat used to wander into the garden. It was an old cat and Pippa used to take offence, as it was her garden. The cat didn't care and even when Pippa wandered up and, like what you would see in a cartoon, hit the cat in the face with her paw, the cat just lay down in the sun. Unfortunately Pippa now thinks all cats are "easy" and when she bumped into the neighbours cat at our new house, the cat jumped onto the fence and basically goaded her "See, I'm too high for you short legs, have a go if you think you're hard enough!" unfortunately all the shouting from Pippa did nothing apart from make her need a drink, and the cat stayed put!

Pippa is a pure pedigree. Was have her Kennel Club paperwork, and it covers 6 whole generations of her family, and they were all pedigrees. In fact one of her ancestors was at Crufts!

Chihuahuas are noted for being intelligent dogs, but maybe fighting with cats isn't that smart. Every time she hears our car she runs to the door to meet us, but other cars she doesn't bother about. There is nothing special about the clattery diesel we have. Also she knows when chew time is. As I said it is 9pm ever night, and it's like she recognised a theme tune and when she hears it, she jumps down and sits at your feet. Don't ask me how she can do this, but honestly she can. The only trick I've managed to teach her is "Pippa, Sit" and when you say this, no matter where she is she will come to your feet, sit down and look up at you. Other phrases she understands is "Going out in the garden? Do you want to stay over? Where's the Pussycat? Give your dad big kisses." If you say the last one, she will climb up and give my husband a lick on the nose, ear and lips! She certainly has a big kind heart!

An average life expectancy for this breed is about 14 years. The other 2 Chihuahuas died at aged 13, and Pippa will be 9 this year. I am dreading her time to go, as she is totally one of the family and a friend to everyone, but I'd like to think she'll go of natural causes and will have had a good and happy life.

The price of these dogs is costly. Often they will and can cost £1000. They are certainly not an uncommon dog these days, and since a lot of celebrities have this breed, then maybe that's why the price stays high. We got Pippa for £280, which was a bargain in 1999. The man who was selling the puppies loved them all, but could afford them and had just lost his job and that, so maybe that reflected the price.

These dogs are known as lap dogs. They love getting love, getting their tummy rubbed, head scratched and she loves nothing more that sitting in your arms and falling asleep. They are very affectionate and any time I'm a bit down it's like the dog senses it and will come and cuddle in.

I wouldn't say these dogs are anymore demanding than other breeds. Pippa loves to go on a walk, but you don't have to go on a big walk, as she only has tiny legs and will get tired out. Even a run about the garden lets her do the toilet and get exercise.

My favourite kind of dog, beautiful, affectionate, not too high maintenance

Dedicated to my handsome Chihuahua Gizmo, who died in June 1999. A friend for life and who hopefully will look after my baby Pippa when she joins the other world.

God bless

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