A chihuahua Named Kiki - The Stray Dog

Contributed by Rowan - Albuquerque, US

This story is about Kiki, a chihuahua, age 3. My stepfather teaches history at a local high school, in a portable classroom. The door, on nice days, can be left open to the outside. It was one such day when a young chi, not more than six months or so old, came staggering into the classroom. She was thin, dirty, and covered in ticks. She stumbled in and collapsed in front of him. My stepfather would never consider turning an animal like that back out to the elements, nor would he just let the animal shelters take care of her. He brought her home, and removed the ticks. As we have sometimes done for strays, we nursed her back to health, with the intention of finding her a good new home. We are not a rich family, and we already had multiple dogs and cats. In the end, though, the home the little yellow stray found was ours. She was, despite an obviously hard puppy hood, one of the sweetest dogs imaginable, and she provided a much-needed companion for our other chi, since the other two dogs in the household are both very large. We kept her, named her, and you would never know to look at her now that she used to be a tiny thing on the brink of starvation.

This breed is is small - 2 - 6 lbs. and 8"-9" in height. They are lively, alert, and make good companions. They seek and demand affection, and they are very spunky by nature. The chi are determined, courageous, and become very attached to their owner(s). They are intelligent but some are difficult to train. They do not like to be teased or pestered. This would not be a good choice if you have young children. They tend to have a jealous streak and the is usually aggressive towards other dogs.