Hello Foxywench,
Thank You for taking the time to get back to me. WoW, you've got oodles of great info here!!
The lady at the Chi meetup here, has a 3lb'er & he is very tiny too. Maybe not so much of a run around get going type of dog? She says he is active...active for something so tiny?
I am wondering too of whether you take him with you most places? I am home all the time, unless at the Doctor's, or therapist's, grocery shopping, longest I am away from home, is a couple of hours, other places I go for much longer, I am always able to bring a pet with me. I travel with my dad sometimes on trips, & we've looked into some of the animal friendly places.
I am more so curious as to what you mean by difficult for a first timer...? Health wise/carefulness/handling..
What are some of the best qualities you've found about the Chinese Crested?
my 3lb er can keep up no problem...(and is happy to tell me when hes done)
but i also always have to pack a bag for him. as a frist time wowie owner you need to be very aware of the risks of hypoglycemia, its comon in ALL chihuahuas before the age of 6 months, but those under 4lbs have a tendency towards lifelong problems.
i free feed my pack, it works well for them wihtout any issues but doesnt nessicarily work for all, the smaller the chihuahua the more frequently they need to eat to keep their blood sugar up. hypoglycemic shock is an incredibly dangerous and often deadly condition and more common in a 3lb chihuahua than it is in a 5lb chihhuahua.
knowing the symptoms and the "tricks" to stopping a hypoglycemic episode shoudl definatly be on the list of things to learn no matter what the estimated adult size is...but its more so common in dogs with an adult weight under 4lbs.
also when your not used to something so tiny around the house, relearning how to walk, particularly with a young puppy, chihuahuas tend to LOVE feet and even myself who greaw up aroudn the breed took a while to reteach my feet to shuffle rather than step. even at a shuffle its still possible to kick your chihuahuas halfway across the room (especailly on hardwoords or lino), and the smaller the chi, the more likely even the smallest of impacts can do some serious damage.
another thing to keep in mind is that all wowies are different...one may love 2 mile hikes another may walk for 5 minutes and be begging for up...i live with 3 and each one has a completly different energy levele and attitude towards excersize. dodger (the 3lber) HATES walking, hell walk for about 5 minutes then he will spend the next 5 minutes walking but complaining about it (he talks) then hell simply refuse to move his little legs. he loves being out in the garden though and likes to patrole his yard, but hes not big into playing...
rosie will walk for hours at a steady pace, she wont run though...however get her home and IN the house and shes running round like a lunatic playing fetch...wont run in the garden though...
and vixie...shell give you a good 1/2 hour but obviously doesnt enjoy it...bring her home and she wants to run around the garden all day with the cresties playing chase...
in terms of health concerns though that those new to the breed dont often understand...
hypoglycemia...in chihuahuas this can be a deadly situation, nutrical and frequent feedings are your friend!
the good news is for most chihuahuas mide weight range and up they grow out of this by 6-8 months of age.
open molera...at one point it was breed standard that they HAD to have. (this is essentially a soft spot in the skull where the plates havent yet filled in)
while common and ususally no problem (and some like dodger will have an open molera their whole lives) its also something to be aware of, a bump directly to that soft spot is a bump directly to the brain and i know of a few who after freek accidents have lost their chis to head trauma
just watch when puppy is running around, head long collissions into things arnt good lol.
knee problems...luxating patella is the biggest health issue in an adult chihuahua...
retained baby teeth...these arnt so much of an issue as there usually pulled when puppy goes in for spay/neuter, but they also add to the cleaning routein as nastyness builds up and teeth rot faster in the tiny areas casued retained baby teeth...
once you get them past 6 months they are typically a healthy and VERY long lived breed...make sure your ready to give 15-20 years to this dog!
there still puppies untill 3 years old, and a long haired wowies coat isnt fully in untill 3, there "slow to mature"
as to what it is about cresties...
honestly its one of those "theres just something about them"
i got ruby as a temporary foster...in the few weeks she was in my home she constantly made me laugh at her sillyness...(dont get me wrong, my wowies are fun, but she was something else) then after a badly failed rehoming attempt for a week, she came back to me a shell of what she was, the outgoing love everyone insane little dog was terrified of her own shadow, and yet despite the fear she still had that spark, she was so silly playing with the chihuahuas, her method of asking to go out was to bop you with her paw then spin around in a circle...and she was just so loving and gentle...
i was origionally going to let her stay untill i got her back to where she should be, but she got attatched to me incredably quickly and i to her, it wasnt long before she was alerting to my seizures and at that point i knew she had to stay. then i moved out of my parents and in with my boyfrined of the time...the wowies wernt interested in comming with me...but ruby did and she was lonely...this sweet silly little thing made such an impression on me that when an old aquaintence presented me with an oportunity to own a hairless male i took it.
im INLOVE.
jsapers a silly nut too...there truly entertaining, his current favorite activity is to sit on the arm of the couch and try to bite and lick at the fish in the tank at the end of the sofa...he LOVES the fishies and they seem to have fun tormenting him...nothign like seeing a 4" cichlid swim upto the face of a dog flash his fins and then do a little dance only to swim to the other side jasper following to repeat...lol. or the little tiger barb who inssits on trying to bite jaspers nose right back through the glass lol.
plus they have a zest wowies dont, seeing a dog of 10lbs bolt straight up a tree and catch a chipmonk 10 ft off the ground...well its just inspiring...
not to mention there the ultimate in dress up dogs, they BRING you clothes then it gets cold out lol