TW: mention of animal abuse

Before I got my baby Whiskey she was living with my sister's fiancé, who was abusive toward her to hurt ny sister. He would call her over to him and then hurt her by pulling on her ears and legs and even choking her, he would even throw her sometimes.

Because of this, she's terrified of coming when I call her name. She associates being called over with getting hurt, and it's made teaching her the "come" command incredibly difficult. We've been stuck on it for months.

I've tried calling her in a soft, gentle voice, petting her, and rewarding her with treats whenever she does come to me, but most of the time she just runs away.

It's been years since she experienced that abuse, and I genuinely don't know what else to do. My boyfriend has trained several dogs before, and even he's struggling to make progress with her.

I love her so much, and I just want her to feel safe when I call her. Has anyone dealt with something similar or have any advice for helping an abused dog overcome this kind of fear?

Edit: She will come to me of her own volition, just not when I call her. She has no problem approaching me when it's her choice. I also want to clarify the come command isn't all that I want, my biggest goal is for her to not be fearful of coming in general.

Widget has his little tongue poking out (At varying degrees) much more often than any other dog I have ever known. He has all of his teeth. EDITED TO ADD: Please feel free to add your pets name age and anything else you would like to share

Treatment ends tomorrow. He’s a 100% better now. Still rocking for 12 years old.

Cutie either way

Broccoli Throb 🥦

Cheers to Broccoli Night and Darshan’s Visa!
This song is dedicated to Boy Throb and the American Dream.
(For Tzipporah that would be broccoli every night)

This is Bambis best friend, my sisters dog. She’s called Bonnie. Bambi absolutely adores her and they have a beautiful friendship. She’s 6, so 4 years older than Bambi.

I can’t stress enough how valuable it has been for me & Bambi for her to have had Bonnie in her life from 8 weeks old. She has learnt a lot from her, even the “drink water” command from watching my sister & Bonnie do that. Bonnie has taught Bambi boundaries like when playtime is over she will tell her “enough” 😂. When Bambi sometimes won’t listen to me Bonnie will also tell her off 😂😂. Bonnie plays with Bambi different to how she plays with other bigger dogs because she knows she’s small.

Bonnie also has been a help with Bambi navigating socialising with other dogs. Bambi isn’t a fan of male dogs in general (there’s a couple she likes) & Bonnie will tell other family dogs off if they try and sniff Bambi too much or are too rough/excited.

I just wanted to share with you all how much I value my sisters dog and how valuable it is to have an older, well natured dog for your puppy to learn from 🩷

He's cwtched up snuggled between the cushions.

Our great guard dog, Penny, just eyeballing the backyard and neighborhood. Almost looks intimidating. Little would anyone know, her greatest weapon is...nose kisses, lol!

So close Stella. So close

I got her last year from my best friend. Her mother was a Chihuahua - Pug mix and escaped for a day, so we have no idea what the father was. I ended up getting her a DNA test and I’m so happy she ended up being over half Chihuahua. I’ve had full breed chihuahuas my entire life so I’m happy she’s at least over half of one!

little buddy wasn’t a fan

He’s incredibly salty with me today 😂

Timbit has been a bit congested lately and we think it might be a tooth problem and the vet couldn't get inside her mouth to get a good look so they sent me home with sedatives to give her. Y'all...I'm so nervous to give them to her. I know it's my anxiety and she'll be fine. I double checked the dose. Gahhh .. I don't want to see my baby stumbling around 😕

My two chihuahuas, Puntti and Pipp, are a father and a son. Couple weeks ago I was told one of the "puppies" (they are 5), my dogs' daughter/sister, was looking for a new home and maybe I would like her? I agreed of course though I was bit worried about how they would get along. Puntti, the dad, is very chill and everything is easy with him but Pipp is... not. Like at all. And from what I understand the girl is quite similar to Pipp. But so far it seems to be going well. I guess they remember each other and maybe it helps although they didn't seem particularly happy to reconnect at first. Longhaired one is the new girl, if it's not obvious, and Pipp is the one with more white in the second pic.

I’ll go first.

This is Ozy!

She might be small, but her snacks are not 🫣🤣 I only let her chew for 30 mins a day, otherwise she would just eat it all 🤣

What are your pups favorite chew snacks?
😄💜

Unhide to show what it is, if you are not sensitive about animal products 😊

50cm natually dried horse skin

We had to say goodbye to our sweet boy earlier this month.

It had been exactly a month since he'd had an MRI scan showing he had symptoms similar to hydrocephalus but to make sure; we had his genetics screened and it confirmed he had an incredibly rare and aggressive congenital disorder known as NCL. This has no cure.

In life he was always so happy and affectionate, I have truly never met a dog as sweet as him.

I'm heartbroken but I want to share his story and urge anyone who breeds these beautiful dogs to get them screened to make sure they're not a carrier of this horrible disease. This condition is severely understudied in Chihuahuas. The mutated gene that causes NCL is recessive so it requires both parents to be carriers in order to pass it on to their offspring which will in turn have a dramatically shortened lifespan due to its effects.

He would've been only 2 years old next month.

He passed on peacefully, warm and deeply loved. Words can't describe how much he will be missed.

Edit: thank you everyone for your lovely comments. I'm unsure if I'm able to pin a comment, I've done the next best thing and provided a link directly to the comment where my partner explained the symptoms Haru experienced: Haru's Symptoms

It's become incredibly important to me that there needs to be more awareness for this disease. It really is a silent killer since it's early signs strongly resemble hydrocephalus. Due to how rare this is; If any veterinarians would be interested in seeing his MRI scans, I made sure to get copies of the files from our vet. Feel free to DM me and I will be happy to help in any way I can.

This is him saying " fuck you adopted mom let me out of this fucking sheet burrito." He's so pissed!!!! He wouldn't stop luxkinf his paws and I hate the cone so I opt for sheet burrito.