Ah - Beverly Hills Chihuahua came out this weekend, and with ads for the movies, and Chihuahua clothes - and even sunglasses for chihuahuas more people than ever will want a brand new Chihuahua that they can call their very own.
That’s fine and dandy if you know what to expect from a chihuahua, and you don’t just want a dog to be trendy.
So often when dogs are featured in movies, there’s a “run” on that dog, and everyone wants one.
After a while the novelty wears off, and you have thousands of abused, neglected or abandoned dogs.
Once upon a time my aunt and uncle had a litter of chihuahuas, and one of them was a blue gray chihuahua.
I decided then that I wanted a chihuahua, and when I was grown and decided that it was time for me to get a dog I ended up finding a blue gray chihuahua in a nearby town.
I went to look at the chihuahua, and I couldn’t believe what I saw.
The home had rows of wire crates in the backyards where the breeder dogs lived.
The chihuahuas were in a shed in cages that were stacked on top of each other, kind of like the cages in a boarding kennel, or one of the stores that sells puppies.
I looked at the blue gray chihuahua puppies that were small enough to be held in one hand, and I was scared to touch them.
I was scared not because they were so small - but because of the ringworm that was obvious on two of the puppies in the cage I was looking at, and on at least one of the puppies in another cage.
The breeder just treated it like it was nothing - and to her, it probably was.
Oh - did I forget to mention that these blue gray puppies only had a hint of blue gray on them - so they weren’t exactly what was being advertised.
I knew then that there was no way I could buy a puppy from a puppymill.
I started looking at my local humane societies, at local rescue groups, and some not so local rescue groups - I even ended up looking at dogs that I really had never thought about wanting before, and I finally found the perfect puppies for me.
I adopted Scooby and Scrappy about 4 1/2 years ago from Ratbone Rescues, a national rat terrier rescue.
If you are familiar with rat terriers, you can probably see that Scooby and Scrappy aren’t full blooded rat terriers.
They are rat terrier dachshund mixes whose mother was pulled from a dog pound while she was pregnant, or right after she gave birth.
Since Ratbone is a national rescue, if you’re interested in adopting a dog that isn’t near you, they’ll find volunteers to help drive the dog to you - of course you’re usually expected to drive the last leg yourself.
Getting my puppies from a rescue was a great experience, and it was a great way for me to get exactly the dogs I wanted, without being limited to the dogs which were available in my area - most of them were larger, and the only large dogs I ever really wanted were so large that I wouldnt have been able to fit their crate in my car.
Oh yeah - I was talking about chihuahuas, wasn’t I?
If you are looking for a new dog, I highly recommend that you rescue a dog - from your local rescue groups, the humane society, a breed rescue, or a national dog rescue.
Sure you won’t be able to see the parents - but you can’t see the parents if you buy the dog at a pet store, a flea market, or behind the Home Depot, which is where folks seem to buy dogs around here.
Most pet rescues spend a lot of time trying to figure out a dogs personality, and whether or not he will do better by himself, with other dogs, without kids, without cats, and so on.
They’ll help make sure that the dog you get will fit in with your lifestyle, which can eliminate a lot of problems.
Also - if you want a dog because it’s cute that’s fine - but if you want a chihuahua because it’s popular, know what a chihuahua is.
I’ve seen too many people pay big bucks for “a purebred chihuahua” only to have their vet tell them that he didn’t know what kind of dog they had - but it most certainly was not a purebred chihuahua.
Here are the Chihuahua Breed Standards from the American Kennel Club to help you figure out if a potential new puppy is up to par.
Did you know that Chihuahua’s are supposed to be under 6 pounds, but because people are more concerned with making puppies and making money than maintaining the standards their weight has slowly crept up?
Did you know there’s no such thing as a toy chihuahua?
Or that they are the fifth most posted breed for adoption on Petfinder?
I didn’t.
If you want a chihuahua - or any dog (or cat for that matter) consider adoption.
There’s a dog out there that’s waiting for you - all you have to do is be patient, and look around for a little while.
The blooms on the Thanksgiving Cactus are finally starting to open.
