We did it. We finally bit the bullet and got ourselves a housemate. She is pretty low maintenance, came with great references and brings a lot of joy with her. She does however, eat our food, likes to climb into our bed at night and she has yet to cough up any rent. It’s a strange arrangement, but we adore her and we’re willing to bend the rules for her.
Her name is Daisy, and she is a 2 and a half year old long haired chihuahua. Yes, it’s incredibly hard to believe she is not a puppy when you look at her size. The photos don’t do enough justice, but she is TINY.
It was no surprise she was the runt of the litter and she was sadly rejected by her mum. We were told she had to be hand fed until she could eat independently.
You can also see in the photos she has a cleft lip, and her nose is slightly twisted because of it. The vet advised that it shouldn’t affect her health or quality of life, and the only reason we would need to fix it is for aesthetic reasons. But we love it. It’s such a cute little quirk that makes her unique. In the future if it ever starts to hurt her or affect her well-being, we will look to get it fixed. But for now, we’re happy to leave her as she is.
Daisy was also originally called Minnie. She was named by Jamie’s ma, who has been her owner for the last two years. Unfortunately due to a change in her circumstances, she could no longer care for her and she had to make the hard decision to give her away.
Jamie and I had both met Minnie back when she was still only a few months old and we had both fallen in love with her then, so it was a really easy decision for us to take her in and adopt her ourselves.
After a couple of postponed trips to Melbourne (thank you pandemic), we finally picked her up on the weekend and have spent the week letting her settle into her new home. She was already toilet trained and house trained, so the transition was relatively easy. She just needed to get used to our house and learn where to sleep/poop/eat. It didn’t take more than a day though, she was a quick learner.
The only thing she has trouble with is responding to her name. She responds to noises and our voices, so we know it’s not her hearing that’s the issue. But she just doesn’t come when you call her name. We thought it would be a good opportunity now to change her name before we start training her to respond to it, and we decided on Daisy. We think it suits her, don’t you?
Daisy is so relaxed and mild mannered for a chihuahua. We did worry she might be a bit anxious, but she took the long drive from Melbourne to Sydney really well, and settled into her new home with no fuss at all.
Another concern was that she might a bit “yappy,” and that she wouldn’t get along with other people or dogs. But I have to say, I was so surprised to see that we could not be more mistaken. We’ve had her down at the dog park and on walks this week and she has been an absolute pleasure. She lets strangers pet her (which is great because we get stopped often by adults and children who can’t get over her size) and she will happily run and play with other dogs at the dog park as well.
The only times we’ve heard her little bark is when she is at home with us and someone walks by on the street. She is very territorial and will let everyone know of her presence. Though what she intends to do to any of these “potential intruders” is beyond me. She is quite literally the size of someones foot.
Aside from the territorial barking, she is incredibly quiet at home. It didn’t take her long at all to get used to us as her new owners, and so she either spends her time napping beside one of us, or she’ll follow us from room to room to see what we’re doing. She is also wildly affectionate and often comes over for for top of the head kisses, or rolls over for belly rubs.
It’s only been a few days, but we are both madly in love with this little fur ball. We got really lucky, folks. She’s a dream first pet for us. You’ll be seeing pictures of her a lot on here, I’m sure of it.
Laura x.
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