Thursday, February 9, 2012

Chimmie the Chi-Chi

Chim is on the far right. 
Linda was doing a little research on dog breeds.  She was curious if Chimmie is the way he is from his genes or environment.  There is so much information on the net, it's hard to know what is true and what is false.  One author said the the chihuahua is the only breed not descended from wolves.  They are part of the fox family.  (Linda couldn't find any other research to back that up.)  The article also stated that the chi is the largest brained animal in relation to their size.  The same author said they don't need much exercise and prefer to live the pampered life sitting on the couch.  Linda quickly dismissed that article.  First of all, Chimmie has the least common sense of any dog on the planet.  He has been disciplined 25 times for pulling the pillow off the couch.  We even keep a can of coins that Linda shakes at him when he goes near it.  Chim is deathly afraid of the coins.  Last night he came trotting down the hall to the den with the pillow dangling from his teeth.  When he saw Linda, he remembered the coins and went ballistic trying to find a place to hide.  
Oh, and the part about the breed being brave?  Not Chim.  He's afraid of leaves blowing on the sidewalk.  You all know his inexhaustible energy.  He can walk a solid hour and need to to greyhound laps around the backyard for 15 minutes when he gets home.  In this video, he was racing for a good 10 minutes before Linda got the camera ready.  At the end he has a little breathing attack and has to go get water.   Just about every expert agrees that a real chihuahua weighs between 2-6 pounds.  Chim is pushing 15 of solid muscle.  The ACK standard disqualifies any dog over 6 pounds. 
He is so long and lean and does look a little foxy in the face.
Linda saw Chim as a newborn with his litter and parents.  They were all full breed Chi's and his parents were only 1/3 of his current size.  He is just a mutant beast.  The only true fact she found that fits Chimmie is that they love to lick their owners faces.  Yep!  That's Chim alright.   .