Last night as we were getting ready to leave from my Daddy's house, a little chihuahua ran up to me, shivering and nervous. I reached down and picked her up, receiving no resistance. She was wearing a new-looking pink collar. Attached was a piece of leash that had been chewed, making me think she had been tied outside unattended long enough for her to chew loose. She has been neglected, for sure.
I've seen this little dog before. Awhile back she ran through my Daddy's yard dragging a pink leash. That time I could not catch her. I was afraid she would get hung up on something or get hit by a car, but instead of coming to me, she quickly ran away.
This time, she came right up to my feet and looked up at me, as if asking for help.
Daddy said, "Aw, just put her down. She'll run back to where she came from." But my daughter said, "Look how skinny she is! She's pitiful. Look, Mommy, she's trembling."
I wondered where she had come from. Daddy said he might have seen her before, but he had no idea who she belonged to. Several of the neighbors have chihuahuas. So we took off up the street to ask around. We checked with all the neighbors in the area. We saw several chihuahuas. But no one knew who this one belonged to.
One neighbor pointed out how skinny she was. "That dog ain't been fed," he said.
Her ribs are very, very visible. And her stomach is sunk in.
Then he noticed the leash attached to her collar. "And look at that piece of leash! She's been tied out for a long time. They ain't checked on her. It took a long time for that dog to chew off her leash like that. I'd call Animal Control. Somebody is mistreating that dog. Call Animal Control. They'll come pick her up."
I sure did not want to do that. I know they already have too many homeless dogs to take care of. I don't like adding to that if I can do something myself. So we brought her home with us. On the way home, my son decided she was probably hungry and offered her a goldfish cracker. She wouldn't take it.
We figured she was thirsty. When we got home, we offered her some water, but she didn't drink. Wouldn't eat either. Our dogs are much larger, so the dog food we have is big chunks. Catfood will be easier for her to eat, I thought. But she wouldn't eat it. So my son said, Maybe she's used to table scraps. He offered her a piece of chicken, but she wouldn't take that either. Then he said, "Well, she's a Mexican dog. Maybe she likes Mexican food." So he put some tortilla chips in a bowl and set that down for her. She grabbed one and ate it. Then another. And another. Aha! She likes junk. Oh well, at least she ate something. And finally, she drank a little water. We took her outside on a leash to see if she would go potty. But she ran to the neared porch post, as if expecting to be tied. Poor little thing. No tying out tonight, little sweetie. She never did go to the bathroom that night. I'm thinking she was dehydrated. We kept taking her to the water bowl, but she drank very little.
Finally, it was bedtime, so we put her in a crate to sleep. She whined for awhile and then got on her blanket and went to sleep.
This morning's storms kept us from being able to take her outside early for a bathroom break. When the storms finally let up, we were able to take her out, but she still wouldn't go potty. We brought her back inside and offered her some water and more of the cat food. She was too excited to eat or drink. Little boys are more interesting, I guess. She's watching their every move.
After a while though, she did go to her water bowl and drank quite a bit. Then back again. I guess we'll spend the weekend waiting to see if anyone claims her. And if not, I'll take her to the vet to see if she has any health concerns. I tried weighing her. It was close to 5 pounds. She appears to be full grown. Hopefully her appetite will pick up soon.
UPDATE: No one claimed this little chihuahua we called Taco, so we found a home for her. A young lady drove down here all the way from Atlanta to pick her up. We are confident she will be loved and probably spoiled.
