Rambo the day he was born. Rambo and his mom with Jessica and I. He is about 2 weeks old.
I love Chihuahuas. Some people call them rats, mean, yappie and I guess to some extent they are all those things. Except the rat thing. I can't stand rats.
I went against my rule of only rescueing dogs not buying them from a breeder. I had been wanting a Chihuahua for years, and my husband said "Just go get a puppy like you want". I contacted my vet and asked for a reputable breeder. The rest is history. Rambo was born on July 17, 2009. I met him on the day of his birth. He was so tiny he fit on my hand as shown in the picture above. The breeder was a sweet lady but oh so poor. We became quite acquainted as I visited Rambo weekly. On the 4th week she called and said he was weened and eating solid food. I had a hunch she just needed the money, but I went and picked him up anyway. She was keeping the puppies inside her home which was infested with ants. Everytime I left Rambo there I was so nervous for him and the rest of the puppies because of the ants. His mom too. But I couldn't take them all.
When I brought him home I had NO idea how hard it would be to take care of him. It was like having an infant all over again. He weighed less than one pound. I had to feed him constantly, watch his bloodsugar, and keep him warm. (Please if you want a puppy for a small child don't make it a Chihuahua. They are SO fragile!) I had to feed him by hand every 2-3 hours, but not at night. When we held him we had to have a towel wrapped on him because he had no control of his bowel movements or urination. That went on for months. He required as much attention as a human infant.
One morning I woke up and got him out of his kennel. He started sneezing. His entire body would tremble and mucus was coming out of his nose and mouth in large air bubbles. I thought he was dying and I became hysterical. I started crying and asking God "please don't take my puppy". I woke Jessica up and she rushed him to the vet so I could calm down and get dressed. Jessica kept saying he was going to be fine and he wasn't going to die. She told me later that she thought he was having a seizure.
The vet checked him out and he had a severe upper respiratory infection. Rambo spent the day in the hospital. So I had to give him antibiotics with a syringe, vitamins, special sugar for small puppies, and a special food. I didn't know this until I decided to have a very small dog, but they suffer from low blood sugar and can die rather rapidly before you know what is happening. The sugar I was giving him came in a tube like toothpaste and smelled like syrup. Rambo liked it.
He overcame the infection and kept growing. Everyone loved him. My boss, Fr. Charles, lets me take him to work. I didn't let a lot of people hold him because he was so suceptible to germs. Rambo became socialized very quickly. He was sweet and so tiny!!
As Rambo grew so did his personality. He became agressive. He would growl and bite. At 3-4lbs he packed a powerful bite! I have scars on my hand from him sinking his teeth into me then tearing my skin. A dog bite is very painful. Many times I went to work with several band-aids on my fingers. He would bite me because I picked him up, petted him, touched his bed, you know horrible stuff like that. I had a talk with the vet again and she thought he would out grow it and gave me some pointers. They worked to some extent, but he was still biting me.
I had enough one day and videoed him growling and biting me. Dr. Morgan couldn't believe it. So she put him on Reconcile (Prozac) and I took him to puppy training.
Rambo was agressive in training at first. He even growled at an 80lb. German Shepherd. But we pressed on and he relaxed when he realized he was not my boss. He caught on to things very quickly, but with an attitude.
Rambo weighs 4lbs now, full grown, and is my little man. He still snaps at me occasionally. I have learned through the training that he bites because he is frightened and insecure. I don't raise my voice to him anymore. I talk baby-talk to him when he misbehaves and it works! He listens to me and calms down. I'll ask him if he is growling at me and he will kiss me real quick then turn his head. It's like he is mad but sorry for his behavior.
I love Rambo. I take him everywhere. He always behaves. Right now I don't know what I would do without him. He has taken on a few nicknames ~ Rara (ray-ray), Mister Wiggles, and Rambicans. He loves our other dogs. He and Duke love to play tug of war with toy. Chloe likes to wrestle with him. Raphi will paw at him ever so gently. Once in a while Daisy will clean his face and ears.
One thing about a 4lb. dog is he gets stepped on. We have all done it. Kicked him too because we didn't see him. Right now his right hind leg is sore because I stepped on him while on a walk.
I love Chihuahuas, but I especially love Rambo.
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