We have been struggling for a couple years with problems with Peanut, our tan chihuahua. As you’ve probably read in a couple previous articles, we’ve been through a lot with him, including having him get lost in a strange neighborhood for a few days in the freezing cold. Well, our problems began after that incident in the cold, and they never really improved after stuggling day after day to try to get him to behave properly (he always hated Sandy, growling and snapping whenever she got close to him or he to her) and he continued to pee and mark everything in the house even after being fixed, training with training pads, using “Stay-Off” spray, and everything else we could think of.

As a result of his continued “marking” issues, we’re pretty sure this is what caused my leg infection twice, both of which were very serious, extremely painful, and costly in both lost work time and medical fees. The leg infections cleared up, but I recently got an arm infection that no one can explain, so we’re assuming it is somehow connected with the previous leg infections. Anyway, we had been seriously considering our options for Peanut for the past few weeks, and thought it would be better for him in a new home. He just doesn’t–and isn’t ever–going to get along with us and learn to behave properly. We also have Socks, our black and white chihuahua, and he is the total opposite of Peanut. He has learned to tell us when he needs to go outside, in emergencies he uses his pad to do his business, and he’s very friendly to the entire family. Neighbors and outside family members are another story, but that’s just a chihuahua trait in general.

So before doing anything else with Peanut, we called our good friends who gave him to us originally, who still owns Peanut’s father, mother, and even a sibling. They agreed to take him back, which was a tremendous relief for us. It’s bad enough having to give up a pet you’ve been with for years, but at least we know he’s with a good family, and has other playmates to live with. They picked him up last night, so he’s gone now. Socks is adjusting already. He’ll get all of our attention, just like he’s always wanted, so he’ll be fine.

We just felt we couldn’t afford to have any more of my infection problems, and thought we needed to do something before anything else was destroyed in the house. He has wrecked numerous CDs, DVDs, boxes, shoes, and basically everything we’ve left on or near floor level. He would even get so angry whenever one of us left the house that, after attacking the door we walked out of, he would run around and pee on two or three things. Yes, we had already previously tried to bring him outside at these points, when we could, but it didn’t help the situation at all. And even when we crated both dogs each time all of us left the house, Socks would go willingly into his cage, sit down and be calm, while Peanut would throw a tantrum, snap, growl, and bark, while we nudged him into his cage and locked it. Even after years of this he never came around and grew into the routine.

So he’s gone now, but he’s still in town and we can visit him and his family whenever we want, so we’ll see what happens. We’re hoping he adjusts and does well in his new environment.  You can see more photos of Peanut if you’d like by clicking on the thumbnail.  That will take you to Peanut’s Photo Album.