We have always had gundogs for 10years, and dogs in general all my life. We have a neighbour who in the past has had dogs then give them away after a while, his current ones are a pair of chi's, a boy and girl, boy 17weeks, girl 13weeks.

Last night he called mum over, and basically said he didnt want them anymore, the boy has had problems, it turns out he has been fed too much, has a bloated stomach but is skinny on his back and hips. Mum comes back with them in hand and their carry basket and some 'food'.

The boy had a very large belly, and looked very weak and nervy. The food included 2 very large tins, one was butchers choice and the other a can of lidl gerodog or something...very low in everything i think!

We settled them in, and they slept through night together, this morning I went out and got some puppy nature diet, which i gave a small amount to them for brekky, which they loved, they have also had another meal at 2pm.

Throughout the day the boy has really sharpened up, his stomach looks smaller so he looks more in proportion. He is more independant, he just wants to be picked up and cwtched, whereas the girl is like a normal hyper pup always wanting to play and cwtch. The boy doesnt want to play with her at all, and has a go at her when he gets fed up. He does hump her occasionally too,a few times today when I have been playing with them this has happened.

After calls to the RSPCA and vets etc, we plan on keeping them, and getting their diet right, we wrote a contract up which the oldowner signed, which states he has signed them to us for our safety and their security. We will then be looking to home them, we will be getting in contact with the chihuahua club for advice too.

Can people give us advice on feeding, exercise, general chi advice please? we are used to labs and spaniels...! the chihuhuas are housed in a crate in dining room, they are getting breaks out for toilet and playtime throughout the day.

Thank you!

oh and we called the 'breeder', she wanted nothing to do with the pups, she literally said she got her money and thats all she cares about! they dont have papers either, think he paid £1200 for the pair, i told him that was cheap for so called pedigree chi's.

think he wanted to breed them, but when he found out they werent pedigree he no longer wants them :(

what a stupid woman who bred these and what an ignorant man

> think he wanted to breed them

Are they littermates or separate litters ?

Have you thought about what you will do when she comes into season ?

Re. the swollen stomachs -best worm them as well to play safe. I've got toydogs but not Chis, however there are several Chihuahua people on here so I hope somebody will come along with breed specific advice soon. :)

Are they littermates or separate litters ?

The OP mentioned they were different ages.

At this age I don't expect mine to be weak and nervy!  Poor little mites - probably not even socialised.  The girl that I have kept to show is in this age group, and she is outgoing, and into everything, and totally confident around the Beardies and my Border Collie boy.  It is a shame that they haven't been given the best start in life.

Don't forget that this breed is sexually mature far, far earlier than the breeds that you are used to.  I did think worming when you mentioned bellies.  By this age mine would have already had 5 courses of Panacur (the 3 day job.)  Unfortunately it doesn't sound as if the breeder would have been bothered enough to carry out correct worming.

At this age mine are only crated at night, and they have free run with the Collies, playing chase and digging in the compost heap, and generally being active and getting nice and toned.  A couple of 15 minute walks is ample, they are on the go for most of the time.  If the puppy nature diet suits them, I would be offering it 4 times a day, although mine have free access to the Royal Canin mini junior day and night as well.  I find that I never have a problem with hypoglycemia this way.  It's not a breed that could ever get by on one meal a day.

You do need to be aware that they have no idea of their size, and think they can jump on and off just about everything, and I do discourage this until they are around 6 months old.  You don't say if they are Long Coat or Smooth Coat.  If Long - be aware that they are coming up to the age that they go through "the uglies" and look awful for several months.  I don't have much experience of the Smooths, but the basic care is the same.

st domingo - separate litters obviously, and please re-read my post - we are rehoming these separately, so no we are not thinking about the bitch coming into season.

we have 5 gundogs, 2 bitches and 3 dogs and we have a good way of coping when the bitches are in season ;) we have lots of options for housing.

yes worming - i have a bill from owner to show he had panacur paste for them, but i'll get them done again with panacur, gotta check when they last had it.thanks for the advice so far ;)

> After calls to the RSPCA and vets etc, we plan on keeping them, and getting their diet right, we wrote a contract up which the oldowner signed, which states he has signed them to us for our safety and their security. We will then be looking to home them, we will be getting in contact with the chihuahua club for advice too.

If you are planning to rehome them wouldn't it be sensible to do this sooner rather than later?  You will have time to correct their diets whilst you are looking for better homes for them.  I'm sure that new owners would prefer to have them as young as possible so they can socialise them and start some training.  Presumably there is no need for them to be homed together so you can look for homes to suit their individual requirements and dietary needs.  Working with the breed rescue is a great idea :)

> the chihuhuas are housed in a crate in dining room, they are getting breaks out for toilet and playtime throughout the day.

I don't have such a small breed so I'm not sure what is acceptable but do you mean that they are spending the majority of their time in the crate?  I know that you'll need to be careful around your bigger dogs but is this the best option; could you create a safe but bigger area with the use of a baby gate?  Freecycle is great place to get one if you don't already have one

You and your family have done a really nice thing to take these dogs on.  I do hope you can find good homes for them. Good luck

jean - great advice thank you, they are short coats, the boy has an 'apple' head, and the girl is a diamond head, she has a rougher coat actually, the boy is more of a typical chi to me, bigger eyes etc and shorter smoother coat.

> separate litters obviously, and please re-read my post - we are rehoming these separately, so no we are not thinking about the bitch coming into season.
>

Apologies , that's what you get for posting before digesting information !!

Hope you find them forever homes soon .

I am so glad that you have been able to help them. I have a chi x pom as well as a gsd. She is our first little breed so learning as we go (1 year now). Basically she is treated exactly the same as the big boy ( well she is allowed on the furniture he is not) including raw diet and excercise. I crate her when we go out for safety and at night so I know she is safe and keep my eye on them just because of the size difference during the day. GSD could easily hurt her by accident but she is v.good at dodging things and keeping out of his way if he has a silly moment. Otherwise I have found that there is little difference except it is far easier to take her out and about because people just seem to accept such a tiny one even shops have invited her in !
Wish i could offer a home but oh says we are full just now lol. hope you find a nice forever home soon.

Glad you 'rescued' them, good luck and any chance of seeing pictures?

hey thanks ;)
dont think i can post pics can i? as its seen as advertising... the boy does look a sad state though, and doesnt move very naturally, the little girl however is like a little ferret, full of fun!haha
my little sister is quite keen on keeping the girl, and i secretly am but think we have to be very sensible in this situation...

> but she is v.good at dodging things and keeping out of his way if he has a silly moment

This must be a built in safety feature!  :-)   Mine are very adept at missing Collie feet!  But, tiny though they are, I have found that they are reasonably intelligent.

They must be, as I have two that are far too small, and they get on the Collies backs if they are trying to get a better view of something!

Sounds like you're doing a great job for them already.They sound adorable,it's a good thing your mum and all of you were there to help when they needed you.Your pictures of the rabbits are amazing by the way.I,ve never seen ones with ears like that,and your dogs are lovely too.Good luck with the pups.

Let us know what the vet says particulaly about the little boy sounds like he may need a little more help to get back to where he should be

Mine is also not adverse to jumping on/across our gsd if he is in the way of something she wants. He just ignores her.
You may have guessed having been one of the " why would anyone want one of those " brigade I am now completly smitten and will be getting either another pom or chi in the future (or possibly both lol)

> This must be a built in safety feature!  :-)   Mine are very adept at missing Collie feet!  But, tiny though they are, I have found that they are reasonably intelligent.

Haha! yes they must have a built in safety feature! :-) my boy always manages to dodge everything :-)

I havnt got lots of Chi experience, just from owning my boy, so dont really know what many others are like but mine is so intelligent! he loves obedience and agility :-)
He thinks hes the same size as my GSD and im sure the GSD thinks shes the same size as him! she tryed to get threw the cat flap last night after him!

Well done to the OP for getting the two little ones, I hope they find great forever homes :-)

Hi Kiger wondered where you were. Yep I agree our little one is v. bright too  and thinks she is just the same size as my gsd funnily she doesn't use the cat flap and gsd did until he grew and got stuck and broke it !