need tips about small dogs please

My co worker has been looking for a chi puppy for 3 years. She wanted to rescue so thats why she has been looking so long, she wanted a puppy, and she wanted a chi who would be about 5-6 pounds full grown.

So everyday we do searches at work together, and yesterday I found a 3 month old chi at our local pound. She had a broken leg and she was so tiny. So my co worker called the pound to get info on her and she became avaliable yesterday, they also told us her leg is broken in two places. My co worker wanted her, she also said that we could easily fix her leg at work and most people wouldnt be willing to adopt a dog with a broken leg because of costs, which is true. So she gave me money and I went to the pound and bailed her out.

She is so sweet, just sat on my lap the whole time, i took her back to work and to my co worker who fell head over heels for her. Shortly after I left work and got a call about four hours later, I guess my co workers mother in law absolutly refuses to have a dog in the house. Just so you guys know, the mother in law had okd a dog a couple days earlier, so it wasnt like my co worker didnt ask and just surprised the MIL, she knew.I feel bad for my co worker, she already got attached and had bought all these things for the puppy.

So my co worker didnt know what to do, she doesnt want to take her back to the pound so i told her to make her comfy at work over night and i will come get her in the morning.

Im gonna find her a home, but im gonna wait till she is healthy and her leg is healed. The people at the pound kept her in their locker room so she wouldnt be exposed to all the sick dogs at the pound. She is soooo tiny, she weighs 3.3 pounds but thats with a huge cast on her leg that is as big as her.

I've never had a small dog before, her cast wont come off for a month so im trying to reserach things i need to know. Id like to get her potty trained as much as possible, then she would be asier to adopt out, im also gonna train her basic obediance while she is in my care.

Im worried about the potty training though, is it harder to train a small dog or easier?
Any tips on owning a small dog would be appreciated. Im not even sure how much food i should give, but i can ask that a work.

I also need a name for her and i will post pics later today. She is tan with a black muzzle, her cast is bright pink and matches her collar, she is sooo cute!Her name right now is Noel but it doesnt fit her. We also think she a little doxie in her. When you hold her she is sooo calm and snuggly, and when you put her down she is so hyper and funny. And with that big cast on her leg its funny to watch her play and walk around, cute little baby.

Thanks a head of time for any tips.

 

Oooooh, I want her!! I love chi's. I think they are typically harder to housebreak, though. If she is always going to be tiny, you may consider a box inside the house rather than training her to go outside. That's personal preference, though. Even with the leg, I'm sure there will be tons of people wanting to adopt her. As your friend knows, there aren't many small chi's that come through shelters. We have a rescue locally that does mostly small breed purebred dogs, but I think that is fairly rare. There are also chi rescues in various parts of the country.

Anyway. What do your other dogs think of the teensy new addition?

You might want to copy your post to the small dog forum as well, if you haven't already.

 

Personally I havent noticed any difference in the time to housetrain small or large dogs, I had a chi/fox terrier mix that needed a little work when I got her (she was about 2-3 years old and weighed between 5 and 6 #), it was done in a couple of days.

the cast may make it more difficult just in that its going to be awkward for the pup to get around (although Ive seen some dogs act as though they dont even have a cast on), I dont know if the pup is on anti inflamatory steroids but those and some other drugs can increase the frequency of urination so that could hold you back on the housetraining.

As for the feeding, every 2-3 hours and watch the blood glucose isnt dropping (I cant remember if you said your a tech or you work at an animal hospital, if so you probably know about that already). Just watch out for loss of apetite, lethargy, they will be the first signs and it can hit them pretty quick as well. Keep some karo syrup (the dark one) on hand just in case.

Good luck, Im sure you wont have a problem rehoming the pup when your ready...thats if by then you can actually bring yourself to part with her......I had no intention of keeping mine, I was only supposed to have her for 2 weeks to assess her behavioural problems, work on a little behaviour modification with her then put her up for adoption....didnt quite work out that way

 

I wonder what my dogs would do with such a little dog. We fostered a Bichon for a few days but she was a tough little thing.

 

I have heard both sides, smaller dogs are easier and smaller dogs are harder.
On one hand smaller dogs, smaller bladders, drink less so they don't need to go so often.
But then there is thearguments smaller dogs smaller bladders, need to go out more often, because it is smaller it can't hold it as long.
As for actual time to train, I am not sure.
One thing I remember about when my dog (a chi) had a cast, is that at the vets office, they put him in a cage with a wire bottom, and he was hobbling around and fell through the bottom and broke his other leg. Does that make sense?

 

I own 2 small dogs (actually they own me haha!). They are both potty trained. I think they are just the same to train as large dogs. Maybe people aren't as strict with training small dogs as they are with large dogs because a small dog makes a smaller mess. So it's not as big of a problem when a small dog goes potty inside.

But anyway, I would just take her outside to potty every 45 minutes and right afetr eating or playing. When she squats to go potty praise her like crazy and make a HUGE deal out of it. Give her lots of love and a very yummy special treat. Maybe a kind of treat that she only gets when she goes potty outside. She will catch on soon.

If you ctach her going potty inside clap your hands to startle her and say "No!" or "Uh-uh!" and immediately take her outside. Then praise her if she goes outside.

If you don't catch her in the act and find the pee/poo later, then there's nothing you can do except watch her closer and take her out more.

Good luck!!!