Nuestro Perro Nuevo

This is our new dog. We adopted her from a shelter in Murfreesboro. I was excited to find a dog that fit our preferences and at the same time rescue an animal. She is 6 months old and is approx. half chihuahua and approx. half miniature pinscher. I say approx. because there is some suspicion that she might have some dachshund in her (because of her rather long, narrow back). Either way, chihuahua and min-pin are her dominant traits. As of yesterday's visit to the vet, she weighs 4.4 pounds. We don't expect her to get much bigger; 6 pounds is probably her maximum healthy weight, if not less.

We decided she needed to have a spanish name to honor her Latina heritage. We decided on Tequila, but we call her Tiki. Of course that hasn't stopped me from using several nicknames, from chalupa and gordita to cucaracha and, my favorite, "rejected taco meat." I try not to confuse her, but there is a plethora of entertaining and stereotypical nicknames available for an animal you have identified as Mexican.

She's pretty much bipolar. First thing in the morning, you would think she has been smoking crack all night. Then she curls up in your lap and conks out for anywhere from an hour to a day. She has an excellent temperament and is well socialized from her time in the shelter. She is still adjusting, but I think she is getting comfortable with us. She has started exhibiting some protective behaviors (barking/growling and noises and knocks), but I'm working hard to establish my dominance, which should help her relax and behave.

One of the great things is that she came to us about 95% housebroken. She was so used to using the ground to eliminate that she only had one accident of each variety in the apartment. Since then, only outside. The real test comes tomorrow when she will be confined during the day. She's also relatively crate trained, which is wonderful. Oksana wants her in the bed, but we're putting her in the crate for now. She whines, but she understands it is her place and hasn't woken us up from the other room (brief attempts to have her in the same room failed since she whines every couple hours).

She has shown very little mischief. She hasn't chewed on anything (we can barely get her to touch her toys, even ones stuffed with treats). She has been extremely picky about treats, which is difficult because having treats a dog loves are the key to humane training. We've already tried three different kinds (inc. one recommended by the vet) and she turns her nose up at them after trying it maybe once. I'm going to try some kitty treats today, a former neighbor of ours had success with those with her small dog.

Here are the photos. I'm afraid she is not very photogenic at all. Trust me when I say she is much cuter in person.


Scratching at her new collar.


Looking at the photographer.


Perhaps her favorite activity, couch lounging. It looks a little like she joined the police force, but that's just her harness. We switched to it because she is so small we were worried about jerking her around by the neck.