Why so many Chihuahuas?

Every adoptions we get the same question at least once: "Why so many Chihuahuas?"...

There are several reasons for this... 

1. First off, this breed is the most popular in our area, especially in L.A... And accordingly, the most popular breeds are the ones that show up the most in the shelters... Most people believe a dog breed this small should have no problems being adopted out of the shelter - after all, how much can they eat?... But there are only so many adoptive homes to go around and always more dogs than there are homes!
2. At TLC, we routinely pull off of the kill lists and make a practice of pulling one 'hard case' for every four dogs... When you adopt a dog or puppy from TLC, you are not only saving that dog's life but another one or two as well... 100% of the adoption donations go right back into the attempts to save these dogs from dying... It is not unusual to pull one dog from the shelter who is sick and needs medical care - and then up with hundreds (thousands) to get them to the point they can be adopted... Once we get a dog adopted and we know it is going to 'stick,' we go right back into the shelters and pull another one off of the kill lists...
3. We are a SMALL group of very dedicated volunteers and we all LOVE this breed... There is something about 5 pounds of weight but a 100 pounds of attitude that is quiet endearing... And if you come across a 'yappy rat dog' Chihuahua, it is not the breed but the owners that have allowed a Chi to be like that... The fact they stay small all their life and are so portable is just icing on the cake... They tend to be 'clannish' among their own breed, which is why you commonly see an owner with not just one Chihuahua, but more than one... 
4. This breed was popularized by celebrities in the past 10 years, similar to what happened to the Dalmatian, etc... Once you add them into popular movies, the puppymills beef up their production in anticipation for the added volume of purchases that will be made at petshops around the nation... "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" did just this and now there an even greater glut of Chihuahua and Chihuahua mixes in the shelters...

Currently, an unwanted Chihuahua is being put down every 4 minutes and 32 seconds... We can't save them all but we do everything we can to save as many as we can...
.... that's why TLC always has so many Chihuahuas!

"Dog days" came early this year!

Chillin' out on a blankee after a rousing game of 'catch the ball'... Queenie peers over Zeus' shoulder, fast onto the afternoon snooze...

Buddy had to do a bit of the 'is everything OK?' before he settled in for his nap!

But Millie beat out everyone as she sprawled out first and caught some z's right away...

Missy then joined in after getting a drink of water...

Sandy preferred to take the 'high road' and jumped up on the doggie lounge to spread out and snooze... 

Even Teeny had to check out the action, then settle in for one of those sweet afternoon naps!

Buddy... I am SO tired...

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He was just SO tired, but we couldn't resist taking this snapshot as he fell asleep and leaned onto the plastic pole...

Sleep sweet!

Sandy

Sandy has proven to be so even tempered at adoptions, going up to anyone and everyone including children... She's turned into a 'stabilizer dog' that we count on at adoptions - a dog that is friendly, doesn't shake when faced with strangers, showing new fosters 'the ropes' and that adoptions is a good thing (lots of cookies, pats and goodies!)... 

She's not barky either surprisingly... She'd do well as a solo dog for working people or with a family who has children and an active lifestyle... 

Sweet, SWEET dog and a great example of what a Chihuahua can be to get rid of the bad impression people have of this breed... Her furever home must be right around the corner - are you the one?

Update on Pepi

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We wanted to post an update on Pepi as we noticed we'd been a bit neglectful in getting some of these blogs updated...

As you can see from this photo we took last week of Pepi modeling one of our new Chi-Weaters (a fundraising project for TLC), he is evenly putting down weight now on all four legs... You would never know he's gone through that surgery in January for other than sitting down a bit lopsided, you can't tell it ever occurred!

He readily goes up and down doggie steps, makes jumps 2' and more onto the futon in the backyard, etc.  Pepi has fully recovered now and is waiting for his own furever home!

Better photo of RubyDee's litter

This is a better, more realistic photo of RubyDee's puppies... JerryLee is on the top, JuneCarter on the bottom to the left and JohnnyCash on the right...

Update on Missy's coat

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Most of Missy's coat has now come in around the ragged edges of her ears from the flystrike... Oddly enough, it has all come in white and really is cute, adding greatly to her look...  In fact, if you look at her original photos, you can see just how much of her ears had been eaten away when we saved her~!!!

People keep passing Missy by at adoptions, probably because when they ask, we always say we think she's probably a JackChi (Jack Russell - Chihuahua mix)... While we believe in honesty with folks, the rep of the Jack is a high energy and sometimes aggressive dog that might be scaring some people away from adopting Missy...

She would make a great companion for a senior citizen who is not highly active, doing 5 mile jogs every day... Or a working couple without children because a daily walk and lots of loving is about all she needs... She could be a solo dog or companion to another dog...

When we took this picture, she had fallen asleep on the doggie step, so we couldn't resist snapping a photo of that new hair that has grown in along the top of the ears... Why she fell asleep on the doggie step is beyond us, but it was too cute to pass up!

RubyDee and her pups will be ready for adoption on 3/27/10

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RubyDee's litter born on January 29th is rapidly approaching their adoption date... Both RubyDee and her litter of three will be spayed (or neutered in the case of JerryLee and JohnnyCash) on Tuesday, March 23rd... They will all be ready for adoption on the weekend of March 27th... As puppies go VERY fast because everyone wants a puppy, please make sure to get your adoption application in NOW and faxed to us ahead of time (805-578-2604)...

RubyDee is VERY, VERY friendly and outgoing... She is very well mannered and behaved... She's been a great mom to her pups as well... Nothing much throws RubyDee - she rolls with just about every new situation and would probably be fantastic in a home with children and a lot of ongoing activity, but also as a solo companion to someone who is at home and wants a loving dog of a larger size (RubyDee is 13-14 pounds)... She's either a Manchester Terrier or a Chi-Weenie for she is very heavy-footed like Doxies are... She has no Terrier qualities, so we consider her a Chi-Weenie... Has few Chihuahua qualities either, but that is what the shelter labeled her...

The largest puppy in the litter is now JohnnyCash - he is primarily black but has exceptionally LONG hair, unlike his two siblings... Almost Border Collie long and lush, in fact... For those that know our TLC mascot, Nacho, he would be a close match if they were together... We expect JohnnyCash to grow to the size of his mom, but again, without knowing who the father is, there is telling or guarantee of eventual size... Despite the angle of the picture above, JohnnyCash is almost twice the size of his brother, JerryLee...

JerrryLee and JuneCarter look the most alike with the collars of white but they are more shorthaired than their bigger brother... JerryLee has his mom's tan eyebrow markings... And these two have 'found their voices' much quicker than their bigger brother, so we may have two fathers in this litter...

While JerryLee is bigger than JuneCarter who is VERY petite, neither puppy is large so we are asking homes interested in either one of these puppies have neither toddlers nor large dog companions...

JohnnyCash has been nicknamed "Moose" by us because he is just a big, fluffy teddy bear... He has the most settled personality in the bunch, whereas JuneCarter is a bit of a prima donna at times... JerryLee is the more adventurous of the bunch, but all three are guaranteed tail waggers as soon as they are picked up to be cuddled...

We have held these pups since they were but minutes old and all three have gotten their mom's loving and even keeled personality... While they will use the training pads, they are NOT housebroken yet.

Puppies will be up-to-date on their shots and microchipped, spayed or neutered prior to adoption... They will need their rabies at 4 months and to be licensed... RubyDee will be up-to-date on her shots, spayed, microchipped and licensed prior to adoption...

Queenie is now ready for adoption

We found Queenie in a local shelter a few months ago, virtually starved to death (for months according to our vet)... She has gained 2+ pounds and is now healthy, ready for adoption - please read her blog HERE and see more photos.

How did she ever

Every once in awhile you come across a pup in a shelter that you spend hours wondering how they ever ended up in such a situation at all... Those aggressive, untrained dogs that have behavioral issues?... Well, you can somewhat understand why this kind of dog ends up in the shelters... Or one that is not potty-trained, etc... 

And then you run across a dog like Trudy... 

We can ONLY believe her owner(s) were unable to provide medical attention for her and felt compelled to surrender her to the shelter system... 

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As you can see from her before picture, she arrived at the shelter with a GROSSLY swollen set of glands that threw the excess over her collar... We can just only imagine how painful this was...  Similar to advanced tonsillitis in humans, the shelter started her on antibiotics and we continued the treatment accordingly after we pulled her off the kill list...

Cinnamon in color with white brushes across her face, you can practically fall into those endearing eyes of hers... Her coat is like pure silk, and thoroughly enjoyable to stroke and pet...

Trudy is SUPER sweet and friendly, so her owners must have loved her and just fallen on hard, economic times...

Trudy is 5 years old (young for a Chihuahua which have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years), spayed, up-to-date on her shots, microchipped and licensed for the County of Ventura...

Trudy is TINY at 4.5 lbs, so no toddlers or big canine companions please!

Four females were spayed yesterday... Two went through it very well, but two were 'hurtin puppers'.... (sigh...)... I HATE having to speuter dogs... The males are up and about within hours but because it is an invasive surgery for females, some just are more affected by it than others... 

Goldie is what I would consider a 'sensitive Chihuahua'... She is VERY in-tune to humans around her, as well as her environment... She is also very 'kissy-face' as we call it, preferring to send time on a human's lap or in their arms if at all possible... Sometimes I think she must have been a parrot in another life, because her favorite place to nap is around my neck, laying on my shoulders... 

Goldie's spay went fine, but because she's a sensitive Chi, she was also complaining about the amount of pain that goes along with it after recuperating... Thankfully, the spay clinic is extremely aware of which dogs need extra pain meds afterwards versus others that do not... So Goldie has spent most of today on a soft blankee in the bed that sits on my computer desk (Prince's old hangout)... That seems to be the 'recovery spot' for all fosters who are getting well it seems!

I snapped this photo of her just now and she's still sleepy-sleepy from the after effects of yesterday's pain meds... Goldie did a lot of crying, despite having them, so I would have hated to go through last night if she hadn't gotten them!... She wants to do nothing more but curl up and sleep today, but that's OK... Poor pup~!!! By Friday AM, she'll be up and about, running and playing 'Catch Me If You Can' with the other dogs... For today and tomorrow, she'll be spoiled with extra TLC...