New to.. All of this..

[Mrt0mjones]

Hi guys, a new member, and new small dog lover here.

My life i've always had larger breeds (Rott's, Weimeraners, flat coat retrievers, Dalmations)

But i've grown rather fond of these small guys, and i've come into the great cirucumstance of picking one from my friends litter (both purebread shorthairs with papers) he's going to give me one as a gift.

I've been doing lots of intense research on the dog, and have found lots of mixed reviews on the food... they say commercial food is bad, and to give raw vegetables (fresh) and fresh turkey and such...

whats going on with this??? any tips and such..

housebreaking, or any other tips.. i have about a half acre backyard so i can run around with him...

i dont know what all to say, i'm just very excited.. any helpful advice will be great!!!

Thanks,
Tom

[veguroev]

Hi Tom and Welcome to Chi Talk!
As far as food, I feed mine hollistic food, they love Innova brand. It is human grade food and has vegetables and fruits.
Potty training..... I'm still working on that with Jerome my Yorkie, I've tried everything that I used for Chiki my Chi and he just doesn't get it, but I've heard that some dogs are more stubborn that other ones.
This site is getting a whole lot more traffic than it used to, so I'm sure someone else will advise you on the other quiestions you have.
Gald to have you as a member:)

[Nanobb]

Welcome to the world of Chis! I too, am a former big dog person. Now I don't think I'll have anything else.

I'm currently feeding my girls Royal Canin Mini Puppy 33; when they are a little older I will be switching them onto Wellness CORE or Merrick's. I have nothing bad to say about Royal Canin; they are a reputable company with years of research and experience behind them but I suspect one of my girls of having a food allergy or intolerance to gluten.

To me, it really boils down to the individual dog and what he/she does best on. Your dog's appearance will let you know if the food he is on is agreeing with him. Best of luck, and welcome to the forums! :)

[Mrt0mjones]

Ok, so the big night is tonight (i get them!!!) 9 weeks old, ready to roll.. i'm about to head to the store and see if theres anything else i can possibly get... like little neat toys and stuff.. so they have something to bite.. (soft stuff, but thats better than them biting my feet!)

The breeder (my best friend) is really excited to see..

i keep saying them.. i'm getting TWO! Bro and Sis.

I'll try the different types of food.. i'll also try some avoderm.. i' heard its some nice stuff.

[Fruitopee]

Socialize your puppy. That's probably the best advice I can give. I haven't experienced it personally, but I've been told that chis become territorial and aggressive if they aren't socialized at dog parks and whatnot. My baby now is the best boy ever, totally not the stereotypical chihuahua. He's very lovable and cuddly to anyone once he warms up to them. If you don't socialize your baby, he/she could very well end up like the chihuahua who chased my dad (a 200 pound man) out of a house. And as for food, we give Toby small dog Pedigree hard food, but his teeth are really tiny, so I'm considering giving him wet food with meat chunks or something. As for potty training, when we adopted Toby, they said he was potty trained, but when he took him home, he acted like he had never been outside in his life. One night, though, it clicked that he had to go outside and not inside, and he's been going outside ever since. Also, I've heard of people liter training their chihuahuas.

[Mrt0mjones]

these dogs are really smart.. at 9 weeks, i put him on paper and he goes.. the girl does too..

one was whining while i was sleeping to wake me up.. i was curious and put him on paper again..

there he goes again..

i'm thorougly impressed!! and they are so adorable!

[Fruitopee]

Wow, that's amazing! Yeah, encourage them to use the pad, then once they get used to it, start moving it closer and closer to the backdoor until you have outside and they're going outside. That's a good way to potty train puppies. Do you have any pics yet?

[veguroev]

How is everthing going with the new family members so far? Do you have any pictures yet?
I don't know if I mention this before, but before Jerome was diagnosed with HGE I used to feed both Chiki and Jerome hollistic food. You can't go wrong with that. The one that my baies loved was innova, dry and canned. you can buy it at mom an pop pet stores. I used to buy it online at petfooddirect.com.
I hope that helps.:)

[Austinsmom622]

Welcome to chihuahuatalk