My New Chi Puppy!!!!!! Whooo hooo Tharrell!

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Hey Taryn, are you out there?

I want to know how much larger I can expect his neck to get for collar sizes? His neck is 8" now and I want to buy this gorgeous Coach collar for him but the XS size is for up to 10" and then the Sm is 10-13" so I am unsure which size to buy.

I found several Chi growth charts and checked them all, and it looks like he will be between 5-6 pounds at maturity. Here's hoping. I don't want him huge.
I took him to the pet store to socialize him with more people on Tuesday and we ran into a woman with a 1 year old female Chi who was 5 pounds. Max is just teetering on 3 pounds right now, and while he weighed less than her, he was nearly the same length and height as her

He is 17 weeks now.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

and O.M.G am I in love with this puppy! He is just amazing. I was never a Chi person originally but them started wanting a small dog. I had heard nightmares about them being terrible to housebreak and train but he is SO smart! Not a single accident still and last night he even got himself out of out bed, got off the bed, and used the puppy pad and then couldn't get back up on the bed so he started barking lol But I was impressed that he took himself to the bathroom like that!
He came to my husbands work with me yesterday and spent the whole day at the movie theater, watched movies and got lots of snuggles and all that. Everyone loves him.
I have already knitted him two sweaters too. I get to combine my loves now, dog and knitting! YAY!

OH and he's not attacking my husband anymore either!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

 

[ksacres]

He looks like a Corgi to me. Even the coloring fits.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

There is no way he is Corgi... lol
He is no where near as bulky, furry, or short-legged...

 

[tharrell]

I just saw your new posts, sorry! As for the collar size if it was me I would either wait another month (chi's usually are basically full grown around 20-25 weeks or so, just some more bulking up to do), or if you can't wait (which sounds like me) I would buy the 10-13 inch size. And remember you want to be able to put two fingers sideways in between the collar and his skin so add another 1/2" to a full inch just in case. And does it look like you could add an extra hole in the collar if you had to without making it look bad? If you can I would go for the 10-13 for sure!

And yes no where close to a corgi. Everyone needs to remember chihuahuas come in any color marked or splashed!!! Corgis are simply colored fawn with Irish markings, and that's exacally how Max happens to be colored as well! There are brindles, merles, solid black, chocolate, solid white, piebald, and every other color combo in between in this breed.

And I'm so happy he's working out well for you! Toy breeds in general can be a little harder to potty train, but it's worse in terriers. My parents have an 8 year old yorkie who I trained that knows over 50 commands, including lifting his legs the second he hears the word potty. He still pees in the house when he feels like it. Now I have had a couple over emotional chis who if were the tiny bit mad at me would go to their puppy pads, get my attention, then step right off and pee while staring at me. Silly puppies!

Oh, I forgot to add, I would put him more between 4.5-5 pounds full grown, which in my opinion is the PERFECT size for a chi; not too big, not too small!!!

 

[Keisha]

Quote:
www.barkindogclothes.com
I've only bought belly bands from her for my male Paco, but they were very nice and the cheapest I could find anywhere. Shes reasonably priced and all of her prices have shipping included. So you can buy an xsmall shirt and have it shipped to you for $8. She also makes everything herself.
Oh and while it is okay to have your pup wear a collar, when walking him on a leash it is better to use a harness. Being that chihuahua's are so small you can pull too hard accidentally and hurt their trachea when using a collar.
www.chihuahua-people.com is a great forum about chihuahua's.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Thanks guys!

Yes, I immeadiately went out and bought Max a harness because the breeder only had cat collars on them and I felt awful walking him on a collar. I know they have delicate parts and I wasn't comfortable with just a collar.
The collar I want to buy for him will simply be for holding his tag and fashion LOL
I plan to get him microchipped for sure when he gets nuetered because I can't see putting too many tags on this small of a dog. My lab has like 4 on his collar, rabies, registration, and his service dog tag, and his ID tag.

Ooo I just saw that the Coach collars have engravable tags already on them! Sweet!
I love Coach

 

[tharrell]

Your not kidding about the tags! I rarely put my dogs collars even on, usually only when we go out into the front yard. This is poor Rocky with his on, the only tags on there are his rabies and AKC ID tag. They almost drag to the ground and get in his way when he walks!

And I also want to caution you about the harness. While it is much better than a collar on their neck, a regular harness is not the best tool for walks. It actually encourages the the dog to pull, that's why they use them for sled dogs (to all of you out there who have any breed of dog that pulls on walks if you are using a regular harness you could be adding to the problem!). There is a company called Easy Walk that makes a harness that you attach a leash to on the front. It discourages pulling by turning the dog sideways when it tries, much like a halti(sp). Eventhough you have a dog that might only max out at 5 pounds, a dog at any size pulling on a walk is not fun!

 

[Keisha]

Toodlelou
and that was a sweatshirt that my rat terrier used to wear, its a little big needless to say. but she likes snuggling in it.