#humonsdogs

[thehmn]

I swear to god chihuahuas are masters at using body language. Ellie sometimes looks like a playable character with emote buttons.

She’ll go from happily walking around on her leash, sniffing the ground and seemingly not have a care in the world…until she realize we’re near one of the paths that’ll take us back home and suddenly her ears and head go down, she haunches and her tail goes between her legs while she pulls in the direction of our home. She’s clearly trying to look as sad and uncomfortable as possible as if saying “I’m soooooo cold and it’s probably about to rain. Pleeeaaasseee take me home :(“

Bitch I saw you switch body language in the blink of an eye! I know what you’re doing! But fine, let’s go home.

At which point she immediately switch back to happy carefree mode. My family has had many many dogs and I’ve never seen any of them be as obviously manipulative with their body language as my chihuahuas. God I love them.

[thehmn]

I’ve had some pretty bad luck with dogs. Tesla had to be put down because he jumped down from the sofa and suddenly lost all mobility and feeling in his lower body due to a discos prolapse and couldn’t even pee or poop, and Marie died suddenly from an unknown illness in the brain. Only Percy made it to seniorhood so he had to experience losing two friends and getting two new ones.

When I bought Marie the seller asked me to bring both my housemate and Percy so she could see what kind of environment we’d provide. I was pretty nervous about it because to be frank Percy is an asshole to dogs he doesn’t know so I was sure he’d ruin my chances.

When we got there he immediately told the puppies off by snapping at them and then walked over to a carpet and laid down, refusing to look at them and showing his teeth when they got too close. To my surprise the seller said “I think he’s handling it great. He’s not attacking them, just telling them off. I can tell they’ll be great friends”

And I knew he’d warm up to Marie because he always does but I was super surprised the seller knew too.

When Marie died I looked up adult dogs and found Ellie. I offered to bring Percy and again he was an asshole who snapped at her and wouldn’t let her get close but somehow the sellers were like “Yeah he’s a good one” and as expected he loves her now.

People in my area think Percy is aggressive because he’ll bark his head off at dogs he doesn’t know and snap if they get too close (and trust me they’re the ones who are getting too close because he doesn’t seek other dogs out) so it’s not like he has a friendly aura about him but somehow people who are used to having a lot of dogs around them can tell he’s a big dumb softie on the inside.

[thehmn]

I tried taking a cute photo of them but they came out looking like characters from a dark fantasy game who give you riddles and trick you.

[thehmn]

Btw I’m sorry for posting so much about Marie. They’re never my most popular posts but I just want to put some chihuahua positivity into the world. They’re on the top of the list with pit bulls of most abused breeds because people choose to blame them for bad training. Becoming fashionable was probably one of the worst things that could have happened to them.

And sure, she can be a little shit who really doesn’t like young children and barks like a mofo but that’s my responsibility. I’ve never met an adult who didn’t like her. Heck, even small children can tell she isn’t mean, just scared of them because they have big stomps feet and grabby hands, and they’re all willing to put in the work to be friends with her. Little dogs deserve a chance too.

[thehmn]

I’m kinda impressed by dogs’ ability to put two and two together sometimes.

As a chihuahua Marie has a bad habit of barking if I let her out into garden, especially after dark. I ended up buying an anti-bark collar that would make a beeping sound the first three times she barked and finally vibrate like a phone if she didn’t stop. It was a requirement if she wanted to go outside after dark to avoid complaints from the neighbors.

She quickly figured out how it worked. I don’t bark, it doesn’t go off. So she never feared it because she knew she was in control of it.

I was honestly kinda surprised when during the day she’d scratch on the door to be let out, but when it got dark she’d scratch on the table where I put the collar, like “Put it on me! I want to go out!” She knew where I put it and that she had to wear it but only when it was dark outside.

Maybe I’ve just had dum dogs before her, but I’m impressed by how observant she is. I also now know that she just pretends to be helpless and stupid when she’s too lazy to do things on her own 😑

[thehmn]

People: “You have a chihuahua? I bet your house smell of pee and poop because they’re impossible to potty train”

My chihuahua: will literally rather climb several stairs to get to my housemate who’s working from home to tell her she needs to be let out if I’m not home than pee or poop inside.

I didn’t even know she did this until my housemate told me a few days ago. I had no idea the training had been that effective. The training: Let the puppy out every three hours and after every meal and playtime. Bonus: if you say “pee” every time they pee they’ll learn to do it on command.

[thehmn]

It’s a work in progress, but having now lived with a chihuahua for almost three years my theory is that they aren’t more scared or angry or any other emotion than other dogs, they’re just overly expressive.

In situations where another dog might just stare at something they consider dangerous, a chihuahua will bark. When another dog will lie next to you because they love you, a chihuahua will climb on your chest and press their whole body up against your face. When another dog gets scared and looks away nervously, a chihuahua will shake and look like they’re afraid to get a beating. When another dog will look pathetically at you to get you to pet them, a chihuahua will look like they might die if you don’t shower them with love this instance.

Marie reacts exactly like all my other dogs in the same situations, just way more. Don’t get me wrong, she definitely has the temperament of an alarm dog and will always let me know if something doesn’t seem right to her (which is most people or dogs walking past our garden) but I can also see that my Shih tzu is having the exact same thoughts as her but way more subdued.

So yeah, my experience is that a lot of chihuahua training is about teaching them to be less expressive. As a puppy Marie would bite if we did something she didn’t like but I very quickly taught her that was a big no-no. She hasn’t bitten me since but sometimes she still slams her nose with a closed mouth into my hand because she can’t help but express that she doesn’t like what I’m doing. That’s okay, she’s allowed to say no, just no biting.

So if you’re not up for having a dog that will always let you know exactly how it feels, I would not recommend a chihuahua. 😂

[thehmn]

I tried to capture proof of the happy scrunchy face Marie gets when she sees a baby but it was the wrong angle. She has also learned that babies have dangerous hands and feet so she knows only to say a quick hello 👋😅