Showing posts with label Chihuahua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chihuahua. Show all posts

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Update on Mary Lou

Photos sent from Mary Lou's (now Imli) new owners:



Whoopeeee!

Looks to me like she's doing just fine.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Four in, four out

The adoption gods must've been whispering in people's ears over the course of the strike because on Monday all four dogs who were just listed for adoption on Friday found new homes. I kinda wanted to see that big-headed Chihuahua again but, oh well ... much better that he be permanently at home than temporarily with me.

Smokey is going to be put into rescue, partially because of his infected ear which is going to take some time to figure out what's wrong and partially because he'll do better in rescue. The kennel environment is just too stressful for him.

Bach's saga continues. There weren't enough drugs for his heartworm treatment so more had to be ordered. It's finally come in but now the vet is on vacation until next week so it looks like it's going to be Monday or Tuesday. This treatment protocol sounds like it's going to be quite tough on him. Someone's going to have to watch him immediately after the shot to make sure he doesn't move much at all to lessen the chance of a stroke. I'm glad he doesn't know what's in store.

More Bach here.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Toronto Animal Services Friday review, August 7

Carmel is a six year old, heavyset Lab. His previous owners had never bothered to teach him even the most basic of commands so it's a good thing he's so laid back and friendly. He likes to sit leaning against your leg and has no problems accepting as much ear scratching as you can dole out. With his type of personality, training will be a piece of cake.


Levi is more energetic, maybe because of his youth. His friendliness is more demonstratively displayed with kisses and paws up for attention. I doubt either of these Labs will last long in adoption.


Barney is a skinny puppy and just slightly unsure about the world but he's got an explorer's attitude so he just needs constant and consistent exposure to the outdoors and he'll figure it out how to have fun again.

When I first came upon this unnamed Chihuahua, he was like this ...

... and it looked like he wasn't going to be too pleased if I tried to remove him from the security of his padded crate. I checked with one of the staff and they assured me he was fine to be taken out ... and they were right, of course.

I pulled him out of the crate by his padding and he just stared at me with his huge eyes, hoping I wasn't going to eat him or anything.

Once we got outside, though, it was all good.

Yep, people are going to be fighting over this guy.

For adoption information on these and other dogs (and cats and other animals), please visit Toronto Animal Services.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

3 artists from Ohio

The Dancer



The Tenor



The Thespian


Available for in-home performances soon.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Farley collage


Farley came into Toronto Animal Services at the start of the new year and was immediately adopted out. I just barely remember taking his photo but don't think I ever had the chance to walk him. Anyway, his owners sent in a nice collage of all things Farley in his new home. Being spoiled rotten is looking pretty good.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Scenes from a dog park - 5

There's no snow on the ground yet but the grass is semi-frozen and the dogs' feet make crunchy noises as they trot on it. The dogs are off on a chase while a small group of us owners are standing around as Jenna talks.

"When people see two packs of lions fighting it out, they don't say, 'Oh look that one there started it so it's a bad lion.' No way. Instead they look at the lion that started the fight and think about what a powerful beast it must be to take on another lion for its land or females or what have you. So why is it that when two dogs fight, the one that starts it is a bad dog? And that's only if you can tell which one started it. Sure sometimes it's obvious but sometimes it's just two dogs giving each other the stare down and one of them goes first. Are dogs supposed to know to follow the same rules as people? As if that makes any sense."

Some in the group agree, some don't. The ones that don't agree figure that it's just something Jenna would say because she herself has a fighting dog. She didn't want a fighting dog, as she tells everyone, but that's what she got and like any good parent, she fell in love with it despite its faults.

So, its first fault, she says, is that it liked to fight. Its second fault, which was only a fault when taken into consideration with the first fault, is that it was a Chihuahua.

"Now maybe you know dogs or maybe you don't know dogs," Jenna has said, "but if you know dogs, then you know a lot of Chihuahuas have a tendency to be little scrappers." She felt that whoever bred those fierce manners into such a pip squeak of a dog sure had a sense of humour although if you ever got on the receiving end of an angry Chihuahua's exertions, you might not think it so humourous.

Hugo, Jenna's dog, was not your typical fierce little Chihuahua, though. He had something about him, a bearing that usually came with much bigger dogs, like ones that were twenty times his size. He didn't skitter around and he didn't bark much. His walk was steady and his gaze was confident. He was very kingly.

Hugo didn't just go beserkers after every dog he saw. In fact, he was, if not friendly, at least tolerant of most dogs. He only made very particular enemies. Maybe a dog would give him the wrong look, not act subservient enough, bark too much or smell funny and then Hugo would launch into an attack with the ferocity of a mini tornado. But, even with all the energy Hugo could muster, he usually could get no further than the end of his short leash which Jenna kept a tight grip on whenever any of his known enemies showed up at the park.

But that was then.

These days, Hugo off leash or not, usually just stays close to Jenna regardless of what other dogs are around.

Hugo's last fight happened when he had just turned eight and that was about a year ago. He was off leash and Jenna didn't notice the Husky and its owner come into the park. Hugo noticed, though, and Hugo didn't like what he saw. He noticed as the owner let his dog off leash and watched as the Husky walked over to a patch of grass and started munching on it, munching on piece of Hugo's grass no less.

Maybe it was the pale blue eyes. Maybe it was too hairy. Or maybe it was some signal only a dog could sense, like maybe the Husky was telling Hugo to stop staring and mind his own business. Anyway Hugo did his usual thing and walked directly up to the Husky and kept staring at it. The Husky continued munching on the tips of the tall grass and didn't seem to notice Hugo. But of course it must have. Hugo was barely 2 meters away and giving him the evil eye. Maybe that's what bugged Hugo so much - that the Husky didn't acknowledge him, the newcomer didn't acknowledge the king. Whatever the reason, Hugo, ran at the Husky with his fiercest attack.

When Jenna looks back on that day, she says that the thing that Hugo did that made him lose the fight was that he barked. He ran at the Husky and for the first time ever, Jenna heard him bark before he got to his victim. At the bark, the Husky looked up and as Hugo lunged in, the Husky opened his mouth and scooped up Hugo in mid-leap. The Husky tossed Hugo up into the air and caught him again. Then he tossed him up into the air and caught him again. He did this three times before he heard his owner scream at him to drop Hugo. But the Husky thought Hugo was a fun toy. It squeaked.

Later, when Jenna checked, she couldn't find anything physically wrong with Hugo. He still walked fine. And when they got back home, Hugo still ate up all his food and as usual looked to Jenna for more. He even slept well enough except for a couple of dreams where he shuffled and made snorting sounds.

But nevertheless, as Jenna would soon find out, Hugo was a changed dog. The next day and from that day on, Hugo lost the spirit to fight. He became more subdued in his play with his few friends and he shied away from his enemies. And when his enemies saw that Hugo was no longer interested in them, they were no longer interested in Hugo so all of Jenna's worrying about fights soon disappeared.

Jenna still thinks the Husky tramautized Hugo somehow. After the incident, she had brought Hugo to the vet but the vet could find nothing wrong with Hugo even though he still managed to charge Jenna $364 for the visit. Jenna says that Hugo's spirit was broken that day when he got tossed around like some squeaky toy. She says he was humiliated and just couldn't get back into his fighting spirit.

I don't tell her this but I think Jenna is wrong. I think she's wrong because when I see Hugo in the park with the Husky, even though Hugo doesn't leave Jenna's side now, Hugo still watches the bigger dog. He's watching and he's learning and he's planning and one day, when he gets it all figured out, the king will return.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Monday, September 15, 2008

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Saturday, August 23, 2008