Lily

Lily is the most gorgeous little dog you could find. She is outgoing and social with everyone, and is developing into a confident, well mannered pup, who has been no trouble integrating into our household. She is crate trained, and loves her food. No need to dice up her veggies, Lily is happy to chew up her pumpkin, zucchini, or other chunky veg that goes with her raw meat. She loves to gnaw on bones, and has sparkly new teeth coming through. She loves to run on the farm, doing zoomies, or engaging in bitey face with the other dogs. She has a severe overbite, which just makes her extra special and extra adorable! Lily has received positive experiences with baths in the sink, getting lots of treats, and so is very easy to groom. She is showing a great recall response, and picking up basic commands like a pro. Lily has a low prey drive, she is mixing with chickens and pocket pets with no issues. Prey animals immediately read her as non threatening, and although she’s a pup and will need ongoing supervision for a while yet, she can go to a home with any other animal. There is nothing negative to say about Lily, she is just everything you could wish for.

Lily wasn’t house trained when she arrived, and would do excited little wees. However we’ve been working on this, and she is almost 100% continent. Very proud of her, and how far she’s come in that area. For anyone wanting Lily to share their bedroom, be warned that she does occasionally snore. And like other chihuahuas, occasionally grunts like a pig, and does other strange sounds when excited.

Although Lily is the perfect dog that everyone falls in love with, people wanting a small dog are the issue. I will be very particular in where I place Lily, if I place her in a home at all. I see far too many families wanting small dogs, doing the wrong thing, and causing issues in dogs that needn’t be there. Well intentioned, ignorant people are the root cause of all issues that have given chihuahuas such a bad reputation. In their shoes, I would be snappy too!

Big dog experience preferred. Chihuahuas require strong leadership skills, and just want to be treated like the dogs they are. People are always amazed at the great socialisation skills all our rescued chihuahuas have had. Like the others, Lily did not arrive from the pound with these skills. She used to be fearful of other dogs, now she’s confident and knows how to properly engage in social interaction. Putting her in safe, controlled environments, to continue her development into the model citizen she’s become, is important. Equally as important, is not allowing behaviours you wouldn’t accept from a larger dog, and not being an anxious helicopter pawrent, which in turn would cause Lily to reflect their pawrent’s anxiety. Chihuahua’s do not suffer anxiety problems in the right homes.

Lily would prefer a home without children. Not because she isn’t great with them, but because children aren’t great with her. Very few kids are taught how to properly interact with a dog, as I’ve observed with a lot of the families that come to visit the shelter. Lily needs an owner that will advocate for her needs, over being polite to strangers. Allow her to be trusting and loving, while screening those you allow to contact her.

As a young pup, Lily has high energy. If you want a great apartment dog, get a greyhound, or a large, laid-back breed. Lily needs to be able to have exercise on her terms, which is to say no long, enforced walks, but rather free ranging where she can run and play as she requires, to allow her bones to develop properly. Lily currently lives on a farm. It's hard to beat that.

Lily is smart, sweet, kind, social, easy to care for and highly loveable. She is very happy where she is, and we’ll only part with her if we feel the home is perfect for her needs (not yours).

March 2026 Update: Lily continues to make milestones with her toileting, and controlling her little bladder. She has been excellent with pooping outside for months now, and hasn't done any inside the house since the first few weeks of arriving from the pound. She is learning lots of tricks, like sit, drop, shake, spin, wait, and "onto River" (where she puts two paws on another dog and holds position for photos). She's keen to learn, and knows how to put her head through a slip lead when asked. Continues to be perfect with everyone and everything. She will sit still while trimming her nails. One of the most endearing behaviours she has, is while sitting on your lap, she will crawl up your chest with a big smile, and stretch her body so her head and front paws are over your shoulder, giving you a big hug. She's happy to fall asleep on your lap, while you watch tv or work on the computer. When on lead, if you get busy and she feels you have forgotten about her, she'll give your ankles little licks to gently remind you she's there. Lily is such an endearing angel!