Life With Chi Chi

Our puppy Chihuahua named Chi Chi now just over two-and-a-half months old--I wrote about her on this Armenian blog a few weeks ago--has taken over our lives. Most of our free time is spent on placating the puppy's whims and demands for affection and a hand to chew on. She hasn't quite doubled in size but she is significantly larger than when she came home in mid-November.

For about two weeks she was sleeping between us under the covers or else in Anush's arms while she laid on her right side and thus away from me. After a week she started running under the sheets and nibbling on our toes. We put a stop to that at the beginning of the month by kicking her out of the bed, but her crying at bedside was nerve-racking, with her intensely persuasive calls for forgiveness. But it had to be ignored, no matter how tempted we were to pick her up and lull her to sleep. She had to understand that her place was not in our bed. The first two nights were pretty rough. I inserted ear plugs to muffle the cries meant to persuade us to have pity on her. They worked very well, while Anush was able to block out the noise somehow, refusing the plugs. Chi Chi soon realized, thankfully, that sleeping in her basket by the oil-filled portable radiator wasn't so bad after all. Now she cries sometime between 7-8 in the morning demanding that we get up, serve her breakfast and entertain her. She can't jump into bed just yet (although that is inevitable) so she licks and lightly paws our arms laying near the bed's edge in hopes that we will be obliged to pay her attention.

Chi Chi is a sweet dog, and you can't help but adore her and soon as you cradle her in your arms. Naturally she loves to be held but once you get into a comfortable position with her she begins to gnaw. Depending on how revved up she is the pain can be mild to intense. She's teething, and being a small puppy she's only doing what comes natural to her, so you can't hold her at fault. Her teeth are like dull pins but regardless, if she bites down too hard she can inflict some pain. In place of a baby pacifier I shove a cork from a wine bottle in her mouth to calm her down--I have them handy in every room now. I've also given her a walnut for her to chase--the bumps on the shell cause it to roll around unpredictably on hardwood and laminate floors, so she's quite entertained. She seems to have a fetish for the hem of a pant leg, attacking it with much fervor, especially when were walking between rooms.

Unfortunately, because she moves around so damn fast, it's hard to capture decent photos of her while she's in action. For some reason I haven't begun shooting video footage of her yet but I think I'll need to soon to remind us of how cute she was at this age in a year or two from now. With the way she is eating she's going to get considerably bigger. She is now off the chicken and rice soup and is eating normal dry puppy food to her heart's content.

Her mother was a full size Chihuahua, which is still smaller than a toy poodle, but like her and the other dogs the breeder had running around his home, Chi Chi is bound to start jumping up on the furniture in a few months time, perhaps even sooner. Chi Chi has a slight pot belly, and some Yorkshire Terrier breeder who happened to be in the Vernisage Saturday morning where Anush was walking around while carrying her made a comment that Chi Chi was fat (which may be the reason why she doesn't noticeably shiver as this breed tends to do whenever excited or feeling a chill). But since the guy knows nothing about raising Chihuahuas I brushed off his clueless comment when Anush told me afterward. He wants to sell his Yorkshire for $1200, while someone purportedly offered to pay Anush $800 for Chi Chi there. Had my wife agreed it would have been the only profitable transaction I had ever made. Too bad we're so in love with her.