Douille: Sausage King of San Jose

Douille at 10.4 pounds - yikes!

Douille at the shelter

Douille's story very nearly had an entirely different ending. I was sent to the shelter with a list of dogs to look at for rescue. As I walked from kennel to kennel with one of the shelter staff members, I asked her if she had any super tiny Chihuahuas that needed out. It's easier to find rescue for Chis that weigh less than 4 pounds, so I always ask. She thought for a minute, said not really, then showed me this perky brown blob of a Chihuahua that was WAY over the "ultra teeny" mark: 10.4 pounds. Rescue only due to obesity. Picked up as a stray on Branham & Pearl. I must have looked at her like she was nuts because she shrugged, said he's really nice, then took me to the next kennel on the list. I did my assessments for each dog on my list and made my way to the front to say goodbye. She asked me, "What about that chubby brown chi I showed you?" and I told her he didn’t fit my criteria, but I'd ask around. After I got home and wrote up my notes, I thought of chunky chi again. I added a super short blurb to my assessments just mentioning his A#, stuck in a photo of his kennel card, and called it a day.

Love that scrunchy little nose!

The next morning I had an email from my shelter friend asking if I'd come up with anything for chubby brown chi. I realized I'd screwed up - this little dog really mattered to her and I'd missed all the signals. When you work at the shelter, it's really hard to let yourself get attached to any of the animals because it so often doesn't end well. You have to maintain a certain edge, a level of callousness, a protective shell. This particular lady is probably the toughest person they've got working there. She does her job really well and does rescue work on her own time, but she's not exactly warm and fuzzy. I asked her to show me any tiny chis and she casually pointed to the exact opposite of what I'd asked - like it was no big deal. Hello! I didn't even bother to take him out and snap a picture. Fail. All of a sudden, I couldn't get this dog out of my mind. Cue mad rampage of desperate networking for chubby brown chi! Wait, I probably need a better photo than his intake mugshot and I should probably come up with a name other than 920830 or "fat brown chi", huh? Back to the shelter I went to meet the chunk.

Looking trim, Douille!

The shelter lady was super excited that I’d come back to check out her chubby friend. She was talking about him the whole way to his kennel, telling me how he may be overweight and just another Chihuahua, but that he’d wow people with his personality. She was right. We brought him out of his kennel and he was just nothing but happiness and wiggles. He went up to every dog we walked past with a tail wag and kisses, trying to make friends with everyone. His personality certainly won me over and I knew I had to get him out. I snapped some photos, got a video, & got to work.

The handsomest sausage that ever lived

Days went by with no foster or rescue offers for the fat brown chi. I’d extended his date twice and really needed to get him out ASAP. With the help of a rescue friend and Drew’s go-ahead, I pulled him under a cat rescue and brought him home with me. He needed a name, stat. Fat brown chi wasn’t going to net him any adopters. Drew wanted to name him Sausage Cakes, but yeah…so we settled on Douille, short for Andouille sausage because he was so porky. Of course he ended up with a slew of nicknames: Dooers, Doodle, Sausage Cakes, DooDoo Brain, The Chocolate Flab, Sausage Pants, and of course THE Sausage King of San Jose. I created a Facebook page for him, took a photo of him wearing a bow-tie, and started sharing his story like crazy.

Douille out on a walk

First things first: we needed a weight loss plan. Douille weighed 10.4 pounds when he should have weighed more like 6-7. That is a monstrous percentage of his body weight. We started with daily walks. Douille couldn't make it very far at first, like to the end of the block and barely back. We slowly worked our way up to down the block and around the corner. I changed his diet to Blue's Senior Turkey Basics. Turkey is super lean and eliminating grains helps with weight control. I chose a senior formula (for a 3 year old dog) because I wanted Douille to have plenty of joint and heart support while losing weight. Such a dramatic weight loss can be tough on the body. Between the walks, a change in nutrition, and playing with our dogs, Douille began to shed weight. We noticed he had more of a neck, more energy, and breathed easier. His luxating patellae and hip mobility also improved greatly as he continued to lose weight. His "fast mode" as my shelter friend called it was actually kind of fast now! We were making big progress.

The Sausage King of San Jose

We enjoyed having Douille around the house immensely. He was just such a jolly little character and so, so, so sweet. I'd never met such a happy go lucky Chihuahua before! He'd make friends with everyone - people, dogs, cats, anyone. He absolutely loved other dogs, particularly big dogs. He'd run right up to any dog - stranger or not - and just smother them with kisses right off the bat. Stupidly adorable. He became BFF with our Hound/Lab mix, Oliver, and they spent their days romping around like goons. He also enjoyed the heck out of Boomer, another foster we had for a bit. You can see for yourself just how endearing and playful he was in the video below.

My friend at the shelter was absolutely correct: Douille had one of the most winning personalities I've come across in a dog, especially in a Chihuahua! He was dumber than a bag of rocks, but just so adorably loving. Then there's that incredibly kissable overbite, OMG. Love it! He's just a fantastic little critter. Really, truly, genuinely extra special.

Douille with his new family!

After fostering Douille for a month, we got a great adoption application from some folks in San Francisco through Jake's Wish Dog Rescue. They were kind enough to courtesy list Douille on their website and Petfinder so we could spread the word about this cheerful little chunker. The applicants drove down to San Jose on a rainy evening and met me and Douille at my store. They totally fell in love - Douille definitely wowed them with his personality, just as my shelter friend said he would! He snuggled into his new mom's neck right away when she picked him up. He fell asleep there while I helped them pick out some good food and supplies. He seemed right at home with all of them, which put my heart at ease. We placed Douille on the scale in my store before saying goodbye. He weighed 7.4 pounds - three pounds lighter than when we pulled him! That's 30% of his body weight lost in only a month's time, which is a bit faster than I would've liked it to happen, but really great. The vet said his ultimate weight goal should be 6.8 pounds, so I felt good about letting him go to his forever home at this point. He lives in San Francisco with his mom, her two roommates, and the roommates' Mastiff puppy, Chester. Remember how much Douille loves big dogs? I was so excited to send him home with Chester! They can be lazy buddies forever.

Love that overbite!

Before leaving the store, Douille picked out his very own bed. His mom put a bunch of cat beds on the floor and Douille climbed into the most expensive one, naturally. He refused to get out. In fact, they had to carry him to the car in the bed. His mom put her scarf around him and he cozied right up, settling in for the rainy car ride home. His new name is Dewey, same pronunciation as Douille, but easier to spell and no longer an ode to fatty sausage. I think it's perfect. We got an email from Dewey's mom just after Christmas. She said he's doing great so far and fitting in beautifully with the family. When I shared her email and photos with my shelter friend, Douille's #1 advocate, she said the news made her entire year.

Hugging Douille goodbye

Douille was super special and I had a hard time saying goodbye, but the hardest part of all was thinking about how close I came to not saving this little nugget. I so almost missed the boat completely and cost Douille his precious little life. Thank goodness for my shelter friend's heart and for her persistence. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have noticed Douille. I passed over him and he almost paid the ultimate price. That's the thought that made me shed a couple tears, not the goodbye. Douille's story will always be a great reminder to me of how delicate this rescue business really is, how we are the only voices for these guys, how we carry the power to save or end their lives, and how we must never get too busy or jaded that we make such costly oversights. I almost failed Douille, yet all he knows is happiness and love. That's one of so many reasons why I love dogs. Thank you for your love, Douille!

Pet obesity is no laughing matter. Being overweight can severely affect your pet's health. This goes for both dogs and cats. Chunky pets may be cute, but honestly it's not ok. Douille, for example, was suffering from breathing difficulty and mobility challenges. His joints were strained, his heart was working overtime, and he was unadoptable because of it. These are serious issues that shouldn't be taken lightly. Make sure you're feeding your pets a proper diet, following the feeding guidelines on the bag/can (they differ from food to food!), providing adequate exercise opportunity, and attending regular vet check-ups. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention has two great illustrations that are useful for knowing how your pet's weight stacks up against medical ideals, as well as several other informative resources. Check it out here: http://www.petobesityprevention.org/pet-weight-check/