chihuahua Archives - Page 3 of 3

Meet 2 Chihuahuas and Their BGFs (Best Giant Friends)

Two Chihuahuas and their much, much larger canine friends have been making news headlines this week. A video of a Chihuahua sleeping on a Great Dane has gone viral, and news is spreading of an abandoned Chihuahua puppy in England who was taken under the wing of the shelter manager’s Neapolitan Mastiff.

But is it safe for such small dogs to be around dogs 25 or (many) more times their size? Yes, according to Pedigree.com, as long as the dogs are socialized at an early age and closely supervised the first few months they’re together.

Without further pawdo, meet Kizzy and Dayna, and Digby and Nero.

Kizzy and Dayna

Although it was posted on YouTube by Emma Pia back in 2011, an adorable video of a teeny Chihuahua in PJs falling asleep on top of a giant Great Dane has gone viral over the past couple of days.

Kizzy, the Chihuahua, is 3 years old and “little sister & bestie” to 4-year-old Dayna, the Great Dane, according to the unlikely pair’s Facebook page. (Check it out for lots of ridiculously cute pictures of this pair.)

Digby and Nero

Digby, an abandoned 5-week-old Chihuahua puppy who weighs only a pound, quickly became best friends this week with Nero, a 126-pound Neapolitan Mastiff. Nero, a former pound pup himself, belongs to Anna White, manager of the RSPCA Southridge Animal Centre.

Two days ago, Digby was found dumped next to trash cans outside an apartment complex in London.

“When I first came across Digby, he was frozen and shaking, and had just been left to die,” RSPCA animal collection officer Natalie Ditchfield told the London Evening Standard. “He’s really tiny — small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.”

Digby and Nero became instant chums, White said. “It was as if the little fellow took on Nero as his personal minder,” she told the Standard. “Poor Digby had to be rescued once by the RSPCA, and it seems like he is taking precautions to make sure nothing can happen to him again.”

Ditchfield agreed. “He seemed to come out of his shell as soon as we arrived at Southridge and spotted Nero,” she said. “It really is a love story.”

Digby has been adopted, according to the shelter’s Facebook page today. Hopefully his new forever family will arrange play dates with Nero so this love story can continue.

Photo via Facebook

Joanie Still Loves Chachi – The Pit Bull and Chihuahua, That Is

It was a sight that would even make the Fonz shed a tear or two.

In early July, a stray female pit bull mix was spotted on the streets of Savannah, Ga., carrying a long-haired male chihuahua in her mouth. The smaller dog had a nasty eye infection. Occasionally the pit bull would set him down and gently lick his gooey eye, much to the appreciation of the chihuahua.

The BFFs were picked up by animal control officer Christina Sutherin on July 10, and named Joanie and Chachi after the two lovebirds on the ’70s TV sitcom, “Happy Days.” Chachi immediately underwent surgery, but his ruptured eye could not be saved.

A few days later, he was reunited with his lady love, “and shelter staff were treated to an emotional reunion of the two canine friends, complete with licking, whining, caressing and finally cuddling,” according to a July 16 update on the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department’s Facebook page.

“It’s not every day we get to see such devotion between two special dogs like this,” Sutherin said at the time. “They are both such sweet animals. But the relationship they share just sets them apart. It would be wonderful if we could find a home that could take both of them. But that is not always possible.”

If this were a “Happy Days” episode, the show’s theme song – performed very, very slowly by violins – would start up right about now.

…But hold those violins! Sutherin, who in February received a Civilian of the Year award for her work with shelter animals, was able to find a new forever home for Joanie and Chachi in Florida. They will relocate there this month, after the waiting period required by state law to transport animals across state lines after inoculations has passed.

Here’s hoping Joanie and Chachi last a lot longer than 1982’s short-lived “Happy Days” spinoff. I’d like to dedicate its theme song, “You Look at Me,” to a very special pit bull and chihuahua.

Photo credit: Facebook

‘Airhead’ Cop Leaves Blind Chihuahua Next to Busy Houston Highway

Little did a nearly blind chihuahua’s dog dad know that simply forgetting to use his turn signal would lead to the death of Guero, his 15-year-old dog.

No, the man’s failure to signal when changing lanes on Highway 59 near Collingsworth, Texas, on July 13 did not result in a horrific crash. A Houston Police Department (HPD) officer pulled him over for the minor violation, found drugs in the car, and arrested the man and his passenger.

After summoning a tow truck for the car, the HPD officer picked up tiny Guero – who was nearly blind due to cataracts – and set him down alongside the road.

“My husband pleaded with the officer to let him call someone to come get Guero, and asked him to call BARC (Houston’s animal shelter), but he said it wasn’t his problem, that the dog would be fine,” Josie Garcia, Guero’s dog mom, told KTRK. She said the drugs belonged to the passenger, not her husband.

Garcia posted Lost signs with Guero’s picture around the area, and three days later got a phone call from someone who found her dog.

Guero had been hit by a car and was lying dead on a shoulder of the road. Garcia wrapped his body in a blanket and took him home to bury him.

“I felt so much pain like I never knew I had,” she told KTRK.

Garcia filed a complaint against the officer with the HPD internal affairs department. Earlier this week, she told her story to the Houston city council.

“Let me give you a public apology right now on behalf of the city of Houston,” Mayor Annise Parker told Garcia. “I don’t know what airhead — there’s another word in my mind, but I’m not going to say it — would throw… you wouldn’t put a kid on the side of the road. You shouldn’t put someone’s pet on the side of the road.”

City council members are looking into city policies regarding pets involved in police procedures. The officer in this case has not been identified or made any comment regarding the incident.

The charges against Garcia’s husband were dropped – just as Guero apparently was alongside that busy highway.

Photo credit: Facebook