Soon to be a new furry addition to our family.

I currently have a neutered male chihuahua (he's big for a chi, I've posted concers questioning if he's purebred or not....but he's not more than 10lbs) but anyways, he's a very laid back dog and he's a huge part of our family. The only time he's really home alone is when my husband and I are at work. we've always talked about getting a second small dog to keep Chavo company, but in the end we decided against it. So I was just out of town with my parents and 13 month old daughter, and we saw an ad for "toy" chihuahau's....and I'm a sucker for puppies, especially chi's. So we got there (I only intended to look!) and my mom and I could hardly contain ourselves. There were 2 litters, one was a 1/4 jack russel 3/4 chi, and the other litter was pure chi (We saw the parents to both litters) I decided this would be the best opportunity for us to get a chi. It was an Amish family, and I think my uncle ended up knowing these people....so I know I could always go back if I had any questions, or for some reason needed a medical history on the parents. So, 1st question....would you suggest a female, or male? (I chose the female) and 2nd question, do you think my spoiled rotten Chavo will adapt alright with a new pup in the family? Also, they told me I could come get her the last week in May, as then they'd be 6 weeks old. I'm really considering writing them a letter to see if they'd mind keeping it for at least 2 additional weeks, as I think 6 weeks for a chi is too young to leave the mother. I'm open to any input! Thanks very much for taking the time to read my novel!
-Mandi

*edited to add a pic of my mom holding my new baby:


(I don't know how to post pics, so if it doesn't show up, let me know!) :y_the_best:

 

Oh How cute i have never been a big fan of chi's but she is adorable.

I will see if i can get that pic up for you...

Mike

 

Oh, thanks Mike!
Is there a post, or a sticky telling how to post pics? I had trouble last time too. :?

 

Do try to get them to keep the pup until it's at least 8 weeks old. They need that extra time with Mom and their littermates to learn about being a dog. That's also the time Mom will teach the important lesson of bite inhabition; if you're going to play, play nice, and don't bite hard. And believe me, she can teach it much quicker than we can.

How does Chavo react to other dogs he meets? Or does he get to meet other dogs at all? If he's sociable with other dogs now, introduce the new puppy on neutral territory, and bring them home together. That will decrease the possibility of problems.

3 months ago I introduced a 12 week old dachshund puppy into our household. My older dachshund took to him right off the bat. He's done a wonderful job of teaching baby to mind his dog manners, lol. Of course, we told him "This is YOUR baby. You have to be gentle but firm with him. You have to teach him to be a good dog." Not that he understood a word of it, but he did understand our attitude and tone of voice.

So, my suggestion would be, so long as Chavo isn't really hurting the new baby, no blood is being drawn, allow him some leeway in disciplining the pup. Your new puppy will still have a lot to learn about being a dog, being respectful of other's property (no stealing toys out of somoene's mouth) and respecting Chave when he says "Go away kid. You bother me."

In my experience, when you allow the older dog to set some ground rules with the new kid on the block, the older dog is less likely to have problems with jealousy and territorial issues. But you still have to enforce the human rules; No fighting, No biting!

 

Great advice, thank you.
Chavo doesn't pay much attention to other dogs. If we're outside or on a walk, he minds his own business and doesn't even look their way. However if it's a dog he knows, especially my parents beagle....he likes to play. He gets along great with our cat too....the cat grooms him all the time. It looks a bit odd, but he likes it.
I wonder if I can't get these folks to keep her until June. I definately think that's important, especially in smaller dogs....the longer they're with mom, the better. However the other pups will most likely be gone when they are 6 weeks old, so will she still learn what needs to be learned with just mom around after that point? We got Chavo when he was 8 weeks (even tho they had them for sale a lot sooner :| ) and he's never been a biter. When my daughter gives him treats, she doesn't know enough to open her hand up, so Chavo just tries to pick it out as gentle as possible. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, would leaving her 8 weeks be long enough? or should I try for maybe 9 or 10 weeks? As bad as I want to get her now, I know it's best for her to stay with mom. I'll have to brush up on my handwritting, as I'll have to write a letter to get in contact with these folks! The dogs didn't even bark when we came, it was amazing. Tho Amish have quite the training skills when it comes to animals. From what I've seen anyways.

 

The way you posted the picture should have worked i can not understand why it did not.

When hosting your pictures on photobucket or something like that just copy the url for the picture then come back here click in the IMG icon above then right click and paste URL then click IMG again and should show the picture up as soon as you click post...

Mike