Meet Pickles!

Pickles at the shelter

Pickles is our latest foster. He's an adult 8 pound male Chihuahua who hails from DeKalb County Animal Services. An officer picked him up as a stray on Lawrenceville Highway near I-285. He's heartworm negative, but has hookworms. We gave him an oral medication that will get rid of them pretty quickly. Oh yeah, he has an awesome little underbite that makes his bottom lip stick out! I know what you're thinking: wait a second, didn't she just write a long ranting post about how 5 dogs is too many for her? Yeah, I did. And we still have Cowboy until April 6th, so Pickles indeed makes 5. BUT, I'm a crazy Chi lady and nothing gets me more than a poor little chachkee stuck in animal control.

Chihuahuas (and all other teeny breeds) have a really hard time in the shelter. Due to their size, they tend to get very stressed and scared in the loud foreign environment. For self-preservation purposes, Chis resort to what we call fear-aggression. Basically, they put up a mean as hell, bite your fingers off, rabid dog front because they're simply terrified and hoping that they can scare off anything that might cause them harm. Consequently, they aren't promising adoption candidates and they're less likely to make it out alive because of this. It's not that they're actually mean or aggressive, it's just that they need to be in an environment where they can relax, learn to trust, and gain socialization. Some are worse than others. Cindy Lou was the sweetest thing, even in the shelter. Pickles, on the other hand, only had two friends: the rescue coordinators trying desperately to get him out alive. Maybe I'm numb to crazy Chis after domesticating Flea, but Pickles really is a great little guy.

Pickles and Cowboy playing

Nobody wanted to see poor little Picks go down without even a chance, so we picked him up yesterday after his neuter surgery. He's doing really well! He snapped at me a few times last night because I startled him by moving my hand too quickly when reaching for my drink, but that's par for the course. He gets along great with Cowboy and Oliver, as odd as that seems. Oliver's quite clumsy with him, but Cowboy knows he needs to be gentle when they play. Cows gets down on Pickles's level and lets Pickles climb all over him like a jungle gym. They're ridiculous...I think they're in love. Head's up: the end of the video below is a tad X rated...! Bunks and Flea aren't too keen on Pickles yet, but Flea does let him share my lap when we sit in the recliner. Progress! Pickles likes Drew a lot, too. I think he likes him more than me so far. But I've gotten a few Pickles kisses already!

Pickles is available for adoption through DeKalb County Animal Services. He needs to go to someone who understands Chihuahuas and their Napoleonic personalities. I never really recommend putting Chihuahuas together with children or super big dogs (for the safety of all involved), but I think Pickles is well-suited for a home with experienced pet owners and other dogs of small-medium size. Not sure about cats. If you're interested in adopting Pickles, please email jsmartinez@dekalbcountyga.gov for application information.