Help with Annie Thanks to a crafter

Yesterday my post was on my smallest furbaby Annie and all the havoc she creates in my house. I had asked for any advice on her potty training difficulties. One of my readers and a fellow blogger emailed me with a response. I asked her permission to share her advice and give her credit which I will do now below. Right on Nancy, and thank you for your help I had other people email me and tell me they had the same problem with their small dogs and hoped I got the answer so I could pass it on to them so I’m sure they will be happy to have something to try.  I’m planning a trip to Petsmart after work to get that spray. Please check out Nancy’s blog (The Handcrafter's Cottage) at  http://thehandcraftercottage-crafter.blogspot.com/ there is a link below under “Blogs to check out”.

Hi Alexis:

I was reading your blog and the trouble you're having with Annie.  You are not alone.  It's not only chihuahuas that are hard to potty train, it's mostly all small dogs.  I have a very small female min pin who was originally pad trained and it took me forever to get her off the pad, but I still have issues in the house.  I had to put her back on the pads because of this knee problem and she's not suppose to be out.  If you want to train Annie to go on a pad there is a spray you can get at the pet store that has the pheromons from dog urine.  Spray that on the pad and that should teach her to on the pad instead of your carpet.  I had to use it outside with my male min pin when I got the yard fenced because he refused to go in the fenced yard.  It's taken two years, but he's finally doing everything in the yard.

Plus, little girl dogs are harder to potty train than males are I think.  I've never had an issue with training a male dog, but this little female is really trying my patience on the potty training. 

I hope this helps.  If she does have a specific place in the formal room, put a pad down in that spot and hopefully she'll use it.  That's about the only thing I can suggest right now. 

Also, with very small dogs like Annie you don't want them outside by themselves anyway because they're perfect bait for owls, eagles and any other large predatory bird.  My two are never outside without me out there with them. 

Talk to you later.

Nancy

Help with Annie PLEASE !!!!

First off let me say I know this is my blog and I am supposed to have all the answers here right? Hells no I don’t have the answers that is why I started a blog to reach out to the ones that do. So here’s the problem I have the most adorable little Chihuahua in the entire world little 4 pound Annie. She was a surprise to her daddy and if you have kept up with my blog you know her story, but none the less she has become the apple of daddy’s eye his little girl. See Adam and I are unable to have children and yes my 16 year old Ayrton is his best friend after me of course but it isn’t like your own child especially since Ayrton came into Adam’s life when he was already 11 so our pets are like Adam’s children and Annie is his only girl actually his first girl ever and she is so tiny he thinks she is a baby even though she is now 16 months old. So that’s the first issue is that she is spoiled by daddy the worst but I must admit  I let her get away with a little more than the boys could get away with. I have heard Chihuahuas are hard to train and man I’m having a time with Annie. I started her off in a crate when we are at work. In the beginning I had a litter box in the crate with her and one in the living room and one in the bedroom (Annie slept with us in the room there is a doggie door in the bedroom but at first I didn’t want her in the back yard alone because of the pig). First I took away the box in the bedroom and let her use the doggie door. Next I took out the litter box in the living room and finally the one in the crate. That tiny little girl is so pig headed or something and so quick and sneaky. It seems that no matter how well I think I am watching her I walk into the formal living room that no one uses (except Annie for her toilet apparently) and wow that happened here. Mostly it is pee once a week or so I find poo. I have tried everything with this one and have run out of ideas do I bring the boxes back or what? If you have any ideas for me please share them you can post them as a comment or email them to me if that is more comfortable however if you have a great idea I would love to share it with everyone. My Email is alexis.johnson3@yahoo.com .

Buddy’s courageous story

Buddy was Adam’s dog before he was mine. This story happened before buddy entered my life. At the time of this story Adam lived in the townhouse he live in when I met him. It was about 6pm and Adam had just gotten home from work and was taking Buddy out for a walk. In the course of the walk they encounter someone walking his Akita. Akita’s are known for being very territorial and this one was no exception and it became apparent they should not get these dogs close to one another so they both walked in different directions. A short time later Adam walks behind his unit and there was a corner that they came to as Buddy comes around the corner a few seconds before Adam the Akita was on the other side and pounced on Buddy. Adam immediately jumps on the other dog that at this time is on top of Buddy ripping is stomach open. At this point Adam’s hands and wrists are all bitten up and Buddy is literally open all the way down and his intestines are hanging out they are able to get the other dog off. The fire dept. show up and tell Adam they can’t help a dog. He is so instant that they finally wrap Buddy up in a fire blanket and tape it up so Adam can take him some place. Adam’s mother came over right away and they had to drive to 3 different animal hospitals before one said they could handle a case that bad. Buddy was on life support for 2 weeks and had to have extensive surgery on his bowls. Finally Buddy was ready to come home the doctors told Adam that Buddy’s quality of life may have been compromised well I’m here to tell you that I have known Buddy for the last 6 years and he is the greatest, smartest, most loving dog I know. I thank God that Adam is a person that doesn’t put a price on a pet, family member.

Annie’s grand entrance

What can I say Annie is the youngest, newest, and smallest of all the fur babies but she rules the roost that’s for sure? And sometimes it is with an iron fist. She came to our home at 6 weeks old and all of about 1 ½ pounds. She has more energy than I ever thought possible and loves to rough house with her older brothers and sister. Annie has three brothers and one sister (I’ll tell you all about them later). The day I got Annie I was in the market for a lap dog so I did what any good American woman would do and told my husband I was going to the mall to get a watch battery. When I got to the house my wonderful husband Adam was waiting at the door for me I held Annie up to is face and said “Hello daddy” he was so shocked he was frozen for a few seconds. After he recovered he told me it was a bad idea to get a new dog. The next day I was about to get off of work and I get a text from Adam it was a pic of him holding Annie up in the mirror I know he was in love from that very moment and yes she is daddy’s little girl. He lets her get away with murder sometimes. I am very happy to be able to share my house with so much life, love, laughter, and just plain noise. I would never advocate for any family to have a cat, pig, African gray, and 3 dogs but it works for me and thank god I found a man that it works for too.   

Coming tomorrow Meet Lil Annie

Don't miss this little one and her big adventures.

Meet Bailey

This is Bailey. He is a 6 year old Chiwennie and the love of my life. Here he is showing you his bologna, he is very proud of it. Bailey it the most loyal dog anyone could ever hope for. He is part of the zoo that make up my family (you will get to know the rest) and I wouldn't have it any other way. Tell me about your family. Furry or not we love them all.