by Lorraine Monfils
A little over a year ago we received a phone call asking us to take a Chihuahua that had been found. The girl said she had found him and had had him for three weeks, but he was just too unpredictable. We agreed to take him thinking how difficult could a small dog be.
The dog was brought in and all the necessary paperwork was filled out, he stayed in a carrier for a while as it was a very busy day. After about a half an hour, I asked my husband to take him out so we could treat him for parasites and see what kind of shape he was in. Much to our surprise we could not get anywhere near him, he would lunge at us and try to bite us. It took both of us about an hour with welding gloves and a blanket to get a muzzle on this tiny eight-pound ball of fire.
Once the muzzle was on, we could see that he was very underweight, not neutered and that he had an injury to his right eye. My husband brought him home with the muzzle on and he soon settled in with him. By the time I got home, the muzzle was off, but when I tried to touch him, here came the teeth again. I gave him his space and pretty much ignored him, and by morning he was a little more trusting of me.
We named him Cha Chi. The next big thing was to get him to the vet to be neutered and checked out.
We arrived at the vet’s office. Everyone thought he was beautiful, but anyone that went near him got to see him bare his pearly whites. Once in the exam room, I could hear these terrible growls and I was quickly called in to put the muzzle on him and calm him down. Here was this eight-pound dog in the middle of the table and everyone looking pretty terrified of him. He cleared the room almost instantly. I put the muzzle on him and held him so they could sedate him. It was determined that he had had an injury to his eye that was never treated and that he was partially blind in it. Cha Chi was neutered and he was brought back to me while still under anesthesia; I am pretty sure that was because of his previous behavior.
The vet tech would come in to check on him and ask how he was doing. At one point, I told her he was doing well and that I thought he was ready to go home. She calmly walked over looked at him, patted his head and said, “no not yet – he isn’t growling.” True to form, half an hour later, Cha Chi lifted his little head and bared his teeth — a clear indication he was ready to go.
Cha Chi has been a very difficult dog to try and place because he tries to bite everyone. I am not sure what happened during the first part of his life, but I am certain that his life can only get better from here on out.
Cha Chi has been with us for a little over a year and for Christmas my husband and I have decided to give Cha Chi a permanent home with us. Cha Chi seems to like our house and gets along with our other dogs. He does still try to bite anyone new who visits the house, but that is nothing that baby gates won’t cure. He will come and get in my lap and show me his teeth and I will say ‘Oh Cha Chi’ and he will let out a sigh and then lay his head on my chest and settle in. He really can be a love bug once he trusts you.
For the month of November, The Ark took in $2,696.08 in fund raising and donations. Our expenses were $1,952.87.
For the month of November, we took in nine cats and adopted three cats. One cat passed away. We currently have 48 cats. We took in no dogs. Adopted one dog and we currently have two dogs.
Please join us this Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. for Miracle on Mechanic Street, featuring the “12 dogs of Christmas.”
There will be various vendors present. We will be selling Christmas trees, having a bake sale, pictures with Santa and pet adoptions. We are still looking for dogs to be in the “12 dogs of Christmas,” please contact Lorraine at 532-7387 for more information.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for your continued support and as always thank you for reading our column.
