Adopt a Chihuahua / Cattle Dog / Mixed (short coat)

This beautiful little lady is as sweet as candy once she trusts you. Ella appears to be a Chihuahua mix about 3 years old and around 10 pounds, though she could stand to lose a pound or two (but couldn't we all?).

Ella has a gorgeous merle/brindle coat, and one of her eyes is 1/3 blue. She has the cutest flopping ears, and a sweetness for life that is hard to be match. Though she may LOOK small, she's got a BIG personality! Ella plays great with other small dogs - she tussles around with her Chihuahua foster brother regularly - usually at night on the bed when everyone lies down for the night! She likes riding in the car and going places with her human. She's a cuddle bug who gives lots and lots of lovings, she's even-tempered once she trusts you, gentle and a bit goofy. She LOVES to play with toys, and has several favorites that she will keep herself entertained with indefinitely. Though she doesn’t require a fenced yard, she does enjoy her foster home's fenced yard to explore, sniff around, and run around in with her Chihuahua foster brother.

Ella is house trained though prone to accidents if a potty pad isn't left out. She is tolerant of the crate, but would prefer not to be crated; she is not destructive and will use well-placed pee-pads so use of a crate while her humans are away is not essential. She walks well on a leash and is always eager to get where she is going (which is always around the next corner). Even though she has short legs, her joie de vivre for walks seems endless, especially if YOU are on the walk. She would make a great jogging partner once she bonded with her person, and exercise could be a healthy outlet for some of her anxiety. Walking her with another dog can be difficult, as she can be reactive, so it would be best for her to be walked by an adult with no other leashed dogs.

Ella's appearance and cuteness are sure to suck you in, but anyone who adopts her needs to understand that she can be reactive to new stimuli - new people, new dogs, new noises, and children. Her reactivity stems from fear - she is a SMALL dog in a BIG world - and she also has some underlying anxiety. When meeting new people, children and dogs, it is best to go slow with her and have the new stimuli completely IGNORE her - not make any eye contact, reach for her, talk to her. Tossing treats in her direction can help to win her over, but ignoring her until she trusts you (sometimes several days) is the best way to build a relationship with her. Some folks (for seemingly no reason) she mistrusts right away and it is hard to overcome this. For this reason, it will be important that all members of her new household meet her prior to adoption and her new family should also be prepared to need to limit who she is introduced to and expected to interact with. A new home with a limited number of individuals might be the best match for her, and any newcomers will need to be introduced slowly and over time, and there may just be some people that she will not like or do well with. Her new family will need to understand this, and make arrangements for this. Her ideal new home will have a small nuclear family, and not have many new people coming and going. She would love to have a small, non-anxious, playful canine companion in her new home. She has been doing great in her foster home which has two adults, three other dogs, and rarely any visitors.

Ella is eager for acceptance and praise, and knows some basic commands but will need consistent reinforcement to re-learn them with her new people, as we all do commands just a little differently.  She is sensitive and will thrive with strong leadership, as that will help reduce her anxiety and give her a sense of what is expected of her and what she can expect. We strongly recommend that all our dogs attend obedience classes, not only because you get to learn commands together and it offers an opportunity for confidence building and socialization for the dog, but because it helps to strengthen that ever-important bond between the dog and her human family. This is true for Ella and may also contribute to reducing her reactivity over time.

This little girl is the best work-at-home buddy, snuggler and commute companion you could ask for! As long as her new family is understanding, prepared to progress slowly, and ready to have their hearts stolen and lives changed forever, Ella will make a great match.

Medical Note: Ella is currently on Prozac to help reduce her underlying anxiety. This prescription costs about $4-10/month (depending upon the pharmacy), and her new family should expect to keep her on this for at least 3-6 months after adoption for consistency. She will likely always need to be on this, or she may be able to be gradually weaned off this under the supervision of a veterinarian behaviorist.