Chīmalmā
Today I’d like to introduce you to someone near and dear to my heart. She has a rub my belly demand, an affinity for broccoli, and a toothy grin that intimidates. Her name is Chīmalmā, named after the goddess of Aztec mythology, Chimmie or Chim for short. She’s a chihuahua, although I’m pretty sure she may have some min pin as well. Her name means “shield hand” and she is a guarded girl. She was born on Halloween of 2020, and was up for adoption in a nearby town that December. I recently lost my previous chihuahua Zita at Thanksgiving time of old age (she was 16) and knew it was time to bring in a new life. She uses her intimidating face mask to ward off unworthy petting and interaction (just like me 😆). It is just for show, she is the sweetest most loving dog I’ve ever known.
Every dog comes with personal quirks, hers are unique for sure. She hates clutter on the kitchen counter and will bark continuously at it until it’s gathered up and taken to the garbage can. That is the strangest thing she does and she rarely barks otherwise. Other things she does that is peculiar is meow (mE-yoo) and groom herself like a cat. She normally meows when she greets you after waking up from a nap directly after yawning as if cheerfully saying “hello!” She doesn’t know many tricks but learned sit and paw shake on accident, and she also likes shot with finger guns she falls over for it, how on earth she learned I don’t know.
She is very punctual with her schedule, especially meal times, and she can count! Don’t try an pull a fast one on her, if a meal is late she will look at you with side eye from across the couch and whimper, eventually flinging herself on her back in a tantrum. When she has to poop she comes over to dig at my leg and bites at me. I know that’s horrible but…it’s kind of funny at the same time because it’s so bizarre. She acts as if it is my fault she has to poop and she’s frustrated or something because she is uncomfortable 🥴, I tell her, “go poop”. Then she does, and she doesn’t bite anymore, this is one reason I always have a throw blanket on, it’s bite protection. She also always comes to me to wipe her butt, she’s a clean freak. She used to bite me the same way when she was tired and refused to nap. She out grew it, but she never out grew the peepad. She is really good at it, never misses. I’ve tried and tried to get her to go outside, but she won’t no matter how long she’s out there. Outside is for digging useless holes and getting her picture taken.
I mentioned she was a clean freak, she volunteers to bathe about every two weeks. She really likes a bath and she will come lay down by the kitchen sink area when she’s ready for one. It’s so cute. After meals she will run up to you and lick your chin, if you say “awe hug!” She lays her body down on your chest and legs and head over the shoulder to be squeezed 😂. After dinner she lays across the lap and needs constant petting, if you stop she will roll her body over to look at you with an offended paw up. As if to say, “why you stop?” If you ignore she will nuzzle your hand to try and pet herself with it.
To get her to stop any bad behavior I just quietly ask her if she “wants a drink?” In combination of showing her a drink in a bottle. It doesn’t work with cans. That is so strange but it works every time. She just gets up and walks away looking back at you with a “no way…that’s crazy” look on her face. I don’t understand why she doesn’t like bottles, but it breaks her focus on being bad. She also comes to a mourning dove call, because she thinks she’s a bird...
Lastly she has a few minutes of crazy time before going to bed each night. So she picks a toy and zooms around the house in circles, she likes the Chimichanga song so sometimes I play that for her. The very first night she came home she was exhausted, and so tiny, I just had her sleep in the clothes basket I brought her home in, she slept all the way through. But every night after that she slept in bed with many potty breaks over night for about six months, until she was able to hold it until I got up. Eventually after learning her puppy stairs she was able to get off the bed by herself safely and make it to her peepad. That was a great day! 😂. She also had a playpen for place to put her up to eat and be out of the way when cleaning, etc. Now she has the run of the place, these days she’s big on sleep. I think that covers it for an intro, I was so used to old dogs that I forgot how challenging puppyhood was, but we made it through, lol!
