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Longhaired Chihuahua, Coat question?

Discussion in 'Dogs - small breeds (toy) specific' started by gwen13, Aug 16, 2004.

  1. gwen13

    gwen13 New Member

    I'm new here, forgive me for making a new post but I have been lurking and have seen that many people here are very helpful and after searching Google for the past half hour without any real help I decided to register & ask.
    I have a white longhaired male chihuahua, he is 5 months old now and still very small, almost 2 lbs.
    Despite being a longhaired chihuahua, he hardly looks like it. His coat still hasn't grown in fully. Does anyone know when Chihuahuas / puppies typically get their full coats? Is this something I should be worried about?
    His stomach is almost entirely bare, his back & neck has just average soft flat fur, but his ears and tail are long/fluffy as they should be. Is it a hormone problem, a diet problem, or do I just need to wait? Another thing, I live in an extremely warm climate, so perhaps his fur will even out by the time fall comes? (unless this is completely irrelevant to chihuahuas, my other dog is a Siberian Husky and this is my first longhaired chihuahua.)
    Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!!
    [​IMG]
     
  2. gwen13

    gwen13 New Member

    Hm I guess no one can help :cry: My vet didn't know what to tell me either. I'm really lost.
    I'm also confused, the thing on the right tells me that 20 something people viewed this post but no one replied, and my post seems to be the only one with no replies. Did I post this on the wrong forum? I'm sorry if I did, like I said above I'm new here.... :oops:
     
  3. MyBabyShihPoo

    MyBabyShihPoo New Member

    :eek: Hi gwen, and WELCOME to the forum!!! :eek:

    Unfortunately, I can not answer your question since I know nothing about a chi's coat, and the like. I believe there are a few chi owners here on Auspet, so hopefully they'll drop in and give you some advice/answers! I know in some dog breeds, puppies go through a "bad hair stage" where their puppy hair is growing out, and the adult hair is growing in, all of which leads to their coat looking a little strange and uneven. But I am not sure if such is the case with long-haired chis?

    However, do be sure you are feeding your chi a high quality, premium brand of dog food...a dog's diet most definitely has an impact on his/her coat!

    There was a thread a little while ago where someone posted a link to a chi specific web page w/ a message board, so that may be a little more helpful since they're all chi owners there. I didn't visit the site that was provided by this person, so I don't know how good it is, but I'll provide the link to the thread in which this person started:

    http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4201

    You may also want to do a search for chi specific message boards/forums to seek some more advice/opinions/info on your chi! I don't want to make it sound like I'm sending you away from this forum, b/c I do hope you decide to stay, we'd love to have you here, I'm just thinking that a chi forum may be a little more helpful!

    Best wishes! :D
     
  4. gwen13

    gwen13 New Member

    Thank you! I appreciate the effort, and the warm welcome. I do like it here, I will plan on sticking around, after all, my love for my babies just isn't understood by those non-dog owners :wink:
    I am feeding him Eukanuba small breed puppy food, it is what the breeder had him on and what I have been continuing since then.
    I think you could be right however with the transitioning phase, because when I first got him his coat did seem to be much fuller. It originally had the feel / fluff of a Pomeranian, but now it is softer and lies flat.
    This is my baby
    [​IMG]
    Since then the fur on his ears has grown in just fine, maybe too well even, I got asked if he was a Papillon puppy at the dog boutique!
     
  5. MyBabyShihPoo

    MyBabyShihPoo New Member

    You're very welcome, it's always great to have new members on the forum! :y_the_best:

    Tell me about it! Fortunately, the members here (including myself) are all crazy about their dogs as well, so you'll fit right in, and be understood!!! :wink: Some of my family and friends thought I was crazy when I told them that I celebrate my dogs' B-day, take them to get a pic with Santa, and all those other fun things! Once I came here though, I found out that I wasn't the only one who did such "crazy" things with their pups! :lol:

    You may want to think about switching to a higher quality, all natural brand of dog food. The higher quality foods lack the preservatives, by-products, toxins, and other assorted "things" that aren't healthy for your pup. Some examples of the high quality, all natural, premium foods would be: Innova, Canidae, California Natural, Wellness, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, etc.! To read more info regarding dog foods, and what things to avoid when choosing dog food, look at these links:

    http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm

    http://www.gooddogmagazine.com/how_to_buy_dog_food.htm

    http://www.simplyschnauzer.net/sshnnutrition.html

    The following site has a great tool for comparing ingredients in dog food brands, check it out:

    http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

    Your chi is such a cutie!!! He does remind me of Pom, but I definitely see the chi in him! You keep his coat so nice and clean, he's just beautiful (or should I say, handsome :wink: )!

    Have a great day! :D
     
  6. gwen13

    gwen13 New Member

    Thank you!! :eek:
    You have been very helpful. I have definetly been wanting to switch foods, for the both of my dogs, because I've heard about all of the preservatives and what not in most pet food. Because of this my other dog has mainly had a diet of human food (this sounds so bad..I get scolded for it by friends all of the time!) But it's not how it sounds, I usually just boil some chicken breasts & mix it with an egg & 1/2 a cup of brown rice (not much considering she's a siberian husky) & she seems to love it. However it's always hard to find time to cook a meal for yourself, yet alone your dog, so if I could find some equally healthy dog food that would be great.
    Where do you buy these type of dog foods? I'm ashamed I've never even seen them before, I will definetly look into this and ask my vet today considering I must go for my chi to finish up his vaccinations.

    & Thank you for the kind compliments, I'm sure it would make him very happy :mrgreen: He just loves attention, he's never met anything he didn't like! We were so lucky we got an extremely sweet-natured outgoing chi. We were thinking he would be terrified of our husky or even snappy, but the second he saw her he immediately wagged his tail and started climbing on her (now he considers her a jungle-gym, it's his favorite thing to do while she's sleeping, he'll even hide his little bones in her fur only to just sit and make curious faces when she wakes up and eats them!)

    Are those your babies in your avatar? They're so precious! People here have very cute pets I see :D
     
  7. MyBabyShihPoo

    MyBabyShihPoo New Member

    You're most definitely welcome, glad I could be of some assistance to you! :wink:

    It's great to hear that you're interested in feeding your dog a high quality brand of dog food, it's definitely in your dogs' best interest to do so! :y_the_best:


    I know exactly what you mean!

    Well, that's one of the drawbacks of purchasing high quality, human grade, premium brands - they're not exactly easy to find all the time. Most of the traditional pet stores do not carry the premium brands of dog food. They're usually found in stores that specialize in all natural, human grade, holistic type pet products. What I have done in the past to find out where I can purchase the brand of food I am interested in is by visiting the product's website, and looking at their store locator. For example, here are a few links to the store locators of a couple of high quality dog food brands (do keep in mind that many of the dog food manufacturers will ship as well, so if there isn't a store near you that carries the brand you are looking for, you can always order via the Internet or phone):

    http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=stores-tab
    (They have several types. I specifically like Innova...although, I have not tried any of the other types they have.)

    http://www.chickensoupforthepetloversso ... utors.html

    http://www.canidae.com/
    (This isn't a direct link to the store locator, but rather the home page for the product, for some reason their store locator wasn't working for me, so you may want to try later and see if it'll work for you.)

    ETC.

    Please do note that I didn't list all the high quality, human grade, all natural, premium dog food brands...there are several more out there that are also great! To find certain brands and their web sites, just do an Internet search online to find the brand's official web site, and once in the site, look for the 'Store Locator' feature!

    Admittedly, the higher the quality of food you buy, the more it will cost! However, with the premium brand foods, you don't have to feed your dog as much as you would with the lower quality foods that contain a lot of fillers! So, you actually save more by spending more on the higher quality brands since you feed less! Just something to ponder!

    In addition, I also feed my dogs some raw vegetables and fruits each day to give them a little variety and added nutrition!!!

    Hope this helps! :D
     
  8. MyBabyShihPoo

    MyBabyShihPoo New Member

    :oops: Sorry, I forgot to answer one of your questions in my previous post!

    Yes, those are indeed my two wonderful boys - Mickey (on the right) and Tigger (on the left)...I just love 'em to death! Thank you for the kind compliments, Mickey & Tigger really appreciate it! :wink: To see more pics of them you can click on the "WWW" tab at the bottom of my post! (Can you tell I'm a proud mommy! LOL :mrgreen: )

    You're right, people here really do have some pretty darn cute furbabies! :eek:

    :D
     
  9. puttin510

    puttin510 New Member

    Welcome aboard, fellow L.A. poster. What city if you don't mind me asking. I'm in San Pedro. I must say your chi is somewhat a rarity to me. You don't see that many all pure white chi's. Most dogs coats take up to a year to two years actually to be what they are going to be. I know the poodle coat takes nearly 2 years.. Chi's are one dog I would like. especially the long hair. I would love a chocolate one with green eyes.
     
  10. Jas

    Jas New Member

    Welcome Gwen! =P~

    When in doubt talk to the breeder of your dog. They should know the lines, the health, typical development and perhaps have a look at your dog.

    Very cute!
     
  11. MonsterBailey

    MonsterBailey New Member

    :eek: WELCOME :eek: GWEN and your baby! (Did you give us his name?)

    He is tooooooo cute! I'm sorry no one here has been able to answer your question about your chi's coat..... Like mybabyshih said, there are other chi owners on the board, so perhaps they'll be able to pop in and answer for you...... Don't get frustrated, you definitely posted on the right board. A lot of times people view the threads (often just lurkers who haven't joined yet) but if they don't have an answer, they won't say anything... I think I was one of those first views, as a matter of fact. :oops:

    Anyhow, good luck with your food switch.... Another great brand is NUTRO. You can find that at Petsmart, Petsco, etc.
     

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