A few years ago, a close friend of mine used to have a wonderful Lhasa Apso puppy, Molly. Now Molly was the smartest dog I’ve ever seen. My friend had trained to do a number of really cool tricks. These weren’t your normal dogs tricks such as sit or beg or anything as basic as that. My friend would hide a dog treat in one hand and hold out both her hands and ask Molly to find the treat.

Every time I saw Molly do this trick, she always picked the correct hand.

Molly is also the only dog that I have seen who sorted her food before she ate it. My friend used to feed her a combination of wet food and dry dog biscuits. Now Molly wasn’t all that keen on the dog biscuits, so she would pick through her food, remove the dog biscuits and put them to one side. Once she’d completed this task, she would settle down, eat the wet food and leave the dog biscuits hidden in a corner.

With time, it became pretty obvious that Molly’s intelligence was a real double-edged sword. Molly hadn’t been feeling well, so my friend took her to the vet. The vet really couldn’t find anything wrong with her and suggested some vitamin tablets may help, just in case Molly’s diet was missing something. The idea was that Molly would take one tablet every day.

Molly really wasn’t keen on eating these tablets though. My friend tried to hide the vitamin tablet in Molly’s food. Molly would just sort through the food, remove the tablet and finish her meal. My friend tried to encourage her to eat the tablet by wrapping it in a piece of cheese. Molly would take this parcel and appear to eat the whole thing. My friend would assume that Molly’d also eaten the vitamin, until she found it lying on the kitchen floor.

If I remember rightly, my friend gave up trying to get Molly to eat the tablets! Fortunately, whatever Molly was suffering from seemed to go away and the urgency to get her to eat vitamin tablets reduced.

I was reminded of this story when I was looking for dog vitamins online for my Chihuahua, Paco. There seemed to be a number of different places to buy vitamin tablets which wouldn’t really be suitable for Paco. You see, it turns out that Paco is a very smart little chihuahua and there is NO WAY I can convince Paco to swallow a tablet, much like dear old Molly!

I really needed to find something more suitable.

My online searches eventually lead me to Pro-Vita Formula vitamin dog biscuits. The big difference with these is that the vitamins have been baked directly into the biscuit, so that I don’t have to try and convince Paco to eat them! As far as he’s concerned they are “just” his doggie treats.

The other thing that really impressed me about the Pr0-Vita biscuits (besides the fact that Paco loves them!) is that they will also take care of Paco’s teeth. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to brush a Chihuahua’s teeth, but it’s not much fun, I can tell you! Paco’s Pro-Vita biscuits also reduce the amount of tartar build up his teeth AND cure his really awful doggie breath!

If you are interested in trying out Pro-Vita vitamin biscuits for your pup, you can check out the maker’s website (and I have included a link to their site just below). In fact, I believe that they have an offer on at the moment, where you can get a month’s supply of Pro-Vita for just the costs of shipping. These biscuits are made for much larger dogs that Paco, so the month’s supply that they send me lasts me much longer than that!

Pro-Vita Formula Vitamin Biscuits for Dogs

For me, these vitamin biscuits have been a great find. I can rest assured knowing that Paco is getting all the right vitamins without the hassle of trying to force him to eat something he’d really rather not!

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You should try and take teacup chihuahuas outside every two hours to be on the safe side and feed him on a schedule throughout the day so that he can be taken outside afterwards. Young puppies may need to go out at night also unless they can hold on until morning.

If your tea cup chihuahua pup wakes up after a nap, take him out then too. If they are four months old they can usually hold it. Make sure you take your chihuahua to the same spot each time. If you have any paper that your pup has soiled, place it in the same spot so that the scent will mark the area. It is important to use the same words to tell your tea cup chihuahua puppy to defacate or urinate as he will begin to recognise these words and know exactly what to do.

When your teacup chihuahuas have done their duty, please use plenty of praise immediately after. If praise is given before, your puppy will associate the praise with simply reaching his potty place rather than completing the task. It is possible to use treats as an alternative to praise but praise really works best for your dog.

If you are outside and playing with your teacup chihuahuas, before you both go inside, take the pup to her potty spot and see if she wishes to use it. The more opportunities your puppy gets to go to her spot, the more she will use it and it will gradually become a habit for her.

Once you have got your schedule in place, it still pays to be vigilant. If your chihuahua begins to sniff the floor or walk around in circles, take her outside quickly to avoid an accident. Try not to leave your puppy on her own for too long, this will upset your schedule and also upset your puppy. She may become lonely and bored so she will become destructive and any damage caused is not really her fault.

This brings me to crating. If leaving your teacup chihuahuas pup for a while, either choose to leave them in a room with a paper covered floor, or a crate with the same. Make sure that your crate is large enough for your puppy to turn around in. Leave a radio on and give her some chew toys to play with, or ask a neighbor to pop in and check on her perhaps taking her for a walk. Please also be aware that using paper can delay full potty training. If a tea cup chihuahua uses paper first rather than going directly outside, it simply prolongs the experience.

Accidents can sometimes occur and if you catch your tea cup chihuahua pup mid-accident, call his name to stop him and pick him up quickly, taking him outside to his place. Never hit, shout or scold your puppy as this detrimental to the whole process and your dog’s personality. If you yell at your puppy, he will not understand why and begin to fear you.

In conclusion, most teacup chihuahuas can be trained by six months but it usually takes a year to become totally accident free.

Enjoy your tea cup chihuahua, be patient with him and you will be successful.

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In addition, the “molera” (soft spot at the top of tea cup chihuahua’s heads) do not seal completely. This often makes me think that there may be a market for tea cup chihuahua crash helmets!

These factors mean that your tea cup chihuahua is vulnerable to injury if not treated correctly.

So, what should you do?

Before purchasing teacup chihuahuas, I would endeavour to “tea cup chihuahua proof” your home. Look around the environment in which your tea cup chihuahua will be spending most of her time. Are there any large, heavy pieces of furniture which could topple and injure your pup?

You could also consider protecting your tea cup chihuahua by wrapping the furniture legs in bubble wrap to around 12 inches or so, just in case!

Given their tiny size, teacup chihuahuas may not be suitable for a household that have young, high energy children. It’s also suggested that you keep your teacup chihuahuas in a more quiet environment, especially when you first bring your new BFF home.

Consider how you would cope with a situation in which your pup manages to escape. I have heard it suggested that you tattoo a telephone number or something similiar to help you get your tea cup chihuahua back. Personally, I think there are far better, less barbaric options available.

A much better idea is to get your tea cup chihuahua microchipped. Your local vet will be able to tell you more about this, but essentially a small device is injected just under the skin. This device will hold all of the owner’s information, such as your name and current address. Should the worst ever happen and your pup be found, the rescuers will be able to scan her and return to you as soon as possible. Just remember to update your address if you move!

Technorati Tags: tea cup chihuahua, teacup chihuahuas

That said, if you are interested in how your little tea cup chihuahua started her life, this will of great interest to you!

When the female tea cup chihuahua is found to be pregnant, the breeder will start to keep an eye on the days. In some situations, the first stages of labor may pass without notice. However, you can detect these changes if you monitor your tea cup chihuahua’s temperature regularly. Normally, her temperature will be around 101F. Once she is pregnant, her temperature will drop a few degrees, to around 98F. The breeder may also have the dam X-rayed to determine the number of pups to be expected.

When the breeder finds that the temperature has fallen and remains at this level, there is normally around 12 hours before the dam begins to labor. This is normally accompanied by restlessness in your tea cup chihuahua. She may move around a lot in an attempt to get comfortable.

In addition, the dam may also start to vomit or “move her bowels” in an attempt to release the pressure in that area. There is also an increase in urination and limited interest in food.

At this point, the experienced breeder will collect a number of items to have on hand, just in case. These items will include warm towels (of course!), scissors (sterile), food, water, some antibacterial ointment and lubricant.

After some time, there may be some discharge from the vulva and it’s appearance may change; it may become more swollen. This will turn to a greenish discharge after a tea cup chihuahua pup is born. Your dam will now be digging in her box and contractions will begin. After several contractions you will see a balloon-like sac appear outside the vulva. This is the first of the teacup chihuahuas!

The tea cup chihuahua will start to lick her pups to clean them and remove the sac which encases them. At this point, the pup should start to breath on their own. Each tea cup chihuahua pup should be pushed out in around 15 minutes. If the dam appears to be straining and no puppy appears, the breeder may contact the vet for further assistance, depending on their experience.

Once the pups have been born, the umbilical cord will need to be cut, as the dam will be unable to do this. Taking the sterile scissors, the breeder will cut the cord (carefully!) leaving around an inch of cord attached to the pup.

As you can tell, breeding is not for the faint of heart!

Technorati Tags: tea cup chihuahua, teacup chihuahuas

Technorati Tags: tea cup chihuahua, teacup chihuahuas