The Potty Gang: Day Six

Who are the Potty Gang? They are brothers that we are fostering for a local rescue shelter Fuzzy Friends. The brothers are a Chihuahua mix. Their mother is a Chihuahua and Rat Terrier mix named Cheyanne. She is available for adoption. The Potty Gang will also be available for adoption when they are old enough.

When considering adopting an animal, look for a reputable rescue in your area. An good animal rescue will be concerned about matching the right dog with the right family. They may ask you to sign a contract with stipulations about how you care for the dog. That’s a good thing. In our area, we have had great experiences with the people at Fuzzy Friends.

 

Chewie, The Snuggler

 

Roscoe, the Explorer

 

Powder, the Instigator

 

Shattering Prejudices

My preconceived notions about Chihuahuas was that they are small yappy dogs with added bonus of being highly intelligent, small yappy dogs who think they are highly intelligent big dogs. So, you would be right, if you guessed that a Chihuahua would not be on the top of my list when selecting a family pet. Yet, fostering these rescued pups seemed like a good way to get to know something about this breed (even if they are a little mixed up).
My own experiences with maligned breeds and watching The Dog Whisperer (Amazon Instant) keeps me open to the possibility to that my assumptions about a breed may be based on popular presentations and human failure. So, I already had my suspicions that the Chihuahuas that I have encountered have been yappy and nippy because the owners allowed them to be yappy and nippy.

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The Potty Gang: Day Four

Here Comes the Rain

Today, Chewie, Roscoe, and Powder experienced rain for the first time (as far as I am aware). When I took them out to do their business, the rain had just started. It was not a cold day but they did not want to be out long and I did not want them to risk getting too wet.

Puppies in the Transportation Pod

The Potty Gang are doing very well in the potty department. As I sit beside the Gang sleeping in there kennel, I see one yellow spot on the pad with which the crate is lined. Except for the first day, they have not pooped inside the house. They whimper when they need to go out. However, for the most part, we are taking them shortly after they wake up from their nap.

Uncle Rolo’s Tail

Rolo is doing very well with the puppies. He really wants to play with them but they have short attention spans. He will nudge them with his nose to initiate. However, most of the time, these efforts are met with the pups rolling over into a totally submissive posture. Still, when they have the all clear, they will return to Uncle Rolo to offer a counter-attack.

The Potty Gang: Day Three

Potty Gang: Day Three

Today, we had a good routine down or at least Vanessa did. I slept in and, in the afternoon, I took Christopher and Caleb to our church’s annual car derby. Christopher won a second place trophy for car design. When we left, the puppies were sleeping in their crate. When we returned, Vanessa had the puppies outside to do their business and frolic. And frolic they did.

Meet the Neighbours

The Potty Gang: Day Two

Backyard Adventures

The puppies woke us up with whimpering this morning. Vanessa came up with a way to take them outside. We set the puppies one at a time into a flexible plastic bucket with carrying handles to carry them outside together. As Chihuahuas, the Potty Gang may find themselves in a purse someday. So, they might as well experience various transportation methods.

The Gang’s mother was at Fuzzy Friends and she is not a little Chihuahua. So, I’m not sure how big these guys will get but there are some big purses out there.

From the moment I first saw the Gang, I could see some personality differences. Powder and Roscoe already had their feet up on the baby gate at our approach. Chewie was curious but sitting back and waiting. Powder and Roscoe are high energy dogs. Roscoe is the first to go out, explore, and expand his territorial knowledge. Powder (or Powder Keg) likes to pounce on his brothers. My question, Is Chewie a medium energy or a low energy dog?

The Potty Gang: Day One

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The Decision:

In October, our long time family member Boci (Boatsie), a 16 year old English Spring Spaniel died peacefully in our home. Boci was the eldest of three dogs in our pack. My wife had Boci since before we were married. Boci was adopted from a couple going through a divorce. Our other two dogs are also rescues.

Boci

Toffee, our big girl, is a German Shepherd mix. She is about 4 years old. We adopted her from Fuzzy Friends a local animal shelter and rescue.

Rolo, is my buddy and my therapy dog. Rolo is a mix of something and something else. He is a mediums sized dog with Rottweiler style coloring. We found Rolo (or Rolo found us) while my two of my sons and I were playing Frisbee Golf in a local park. It happened to be my youngest son’s birthday. He never made it to the shelter.

I will tell you more about our other dogs in later posts. This post is about the newest members of our pack, the Potty Gang.