I’m not an allergy specialist, but I can vouch for my experiences with this. We have a long hair chihuahua (scroll down a wee bit); he’s great! My wife is allergic to just about everything, including most dogs, but not him. He does shed a lot, though, about as much as a cat depending on season. Can’t win 'em all, I guess.
I never liked small yappy dogs, but I have to say, the chihuahua’s changed my mind about this breed. They’re very intelligent, easy to train, you name it. Him and the cats play with each other all day long.
Regarding the OP: I can’t imagine leaving a chihuahua outside all the time. They ARE territorial and they think they’re bigger than they are; they’re gonna bark. They’re not really meant to be alone, but that doesn’t mean you can just dump another dog in with them and everything will magically be okay. Your neighbors are ruining two perfectly fine little dogs, it sounds like. (Not to mention the neighborhood…)
According to my friend the dog trainer, (some) dogs bark at the car all the way down the block because they want the car to stay away from their territory - the dog barks, the car keeps driving, and the dog thinks “oh boy, that was really effective!” It makes sense if you’re a dog, because you’re clearly getting the desired result from your barking. For some reason, this does make me less pissed off, because I get a kick out of thinking what is running through the dog’s mind. “Yeah Mr. Train, you better keep moving down that track!”
Litoris, your post makes me want to come visit you and your dog! My DH and his brothers grew up with big hound dogs, and speak fondly of all the dogs of their youth, but their mom had a chihuahua, and they all get emotional when they talk about that dog. Apparently the smartest dog ever. One of her best tricks was “Pocket” where she would jump into the front pocket on a sweatshirt on command.
This must be it. She’s kind of a psycho dog (used to be feral-ish) and gets all het up pretty easily.
I had to smile yesterday as she “sang” along with the siren going by. We also have a train track right out front and I think she does bark to keep it moving.
But Saturday night she went nuts and I did shout SHUT UP! I think her “parents” might have heard me because she got taken right inside. :o
(Not to mention the neighborhood…)
I had to smile yesterday as she “sang” along with the siren going by. We also have a train track right out front and I think she does bark to keep it moving.