Maybe not the absolute best photo that I'll ever take of her, but the very first one shot as soon as my husband had brought her home. This was the moment when I first got to meet her. Just like he did 7 years ago to get Bella in Italy, my sweet hubby again acted as a "pet nanny service" by going to get our newest baby from her breeder.

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What can I say about our newest little girl?
Well, she's exactly 9 weeks old and weighs about 16.5 ounces. She's tiny. Because it's too soon to tell about adult weight, she could end up being between 3 to 4 1/2 pounds tops. At this time, she's currently charting for 3 1/2 pounds adult size. But again, she's too young to really make a good guestimate. I'll know more in another 7 or 8 weeks. Meanwhile, she definitely will be a smaller sized adult. This will fit in well with our 3 older, small girls.

What else can I say?
Well, she probably was too young to be separated from her mom and to go to a new home. Twelve or thirteen weeks old is usually the very youngest that a show breeder will release a puppy. But this was a special circumstance in which the breeder became extremely ill and could not care for the litter once they were off their mom. There were six in the litter, which is a super large Chihuahua litter and a lot of work. The breeder is a respectable show breeder. The puppy's parents are AKC champions. The daddy is a Grand Champion. I don't think the breeder would have released newly weaned pups so young if she hadn't been ill. Her mother was caring for them until they could go to new homes.

What else?
The above puppy came with a temporary name, which we plan to change to something we prefer. Bailey also came with a name many moons ago that we liked and kept. Bella's breeder may have given her a name that they called her, but they felt that we should have the privilege of naming her, so we never knew what they may have called her. We named Bella. Chile came with a name that we liked and kept. But now, I'm looking for names that may fit the new puppy better than the one she got from the breeder. Suggestions welcome.

What else?
The breeder's mom (who had the puppies at her house because the breeder was too ill to take care of them) repeatedly has said our new girl is a little "spitfire." With this puppy only being with us a very short time, I can't comment on her personality other than she seems non plussed about suddenly finding herself with new people in new surroundings. She's eating up a storm and happily playing with toys I gave her. She wags her tail and comes to greet us when we come into the room.

What else?
Since it's been over 15 years since we have bred a show litter of Chihuahuas ourselves, I had forgotten just how much work a 9-week baby can be. She eats and drinks and poops and pee. On an hourly basis. We are changing puppy pads about every hour or two. We've had to refill her food bowl 3 times in 12 hours. This tiny girl has an enormous appetite. Which means even more poop.

I always outdoors house break my dogs. But after a very warm Fall, the weather is now shifting to Winter like cold weather which could be problematic for such a tiny 9-week-old going outdoors. Right now, she is using the pee pad in a small x-pen set up on the front porch. Fortunately, she has been quick to do what she needs to do every single time I put her outside. That's a good start for housebreaking. In addition to that, have set up a small X-pen set up on a tarp in our living room. She has a tiny, open-door crate (which she immediately understands is her bed) a small play area, and another piddle pad for in case she needs to potty in between our putting her outside every 2 hours. She only uses the piddle pads and keeps everything else clean. The front porch piddle area and the set up in the living room are only temporary until she's out of "new puppy" isolation. Not knowing what she was exposed to before she got to my home, I always do an isolation period for any new dog brought into the house to protect our other dogs.

What else?
She had a health check by the breeder's vet last Saturday and got a clean bill of health. However, we're still taking her to our vet tomorrow (just 4 days later) to verify that. Plus, even after then, she will continue into a week's isolation period (before meeting our older dogs nose-to-nose) just to make sure. This is the same as we've always done with any new puppy to join our family. Bailey, Bella, and Chile all went through the same thing. I'm extremely protective of my dogs.

What else?
Once again, she sure eats and drinks and poops and pees a lot. I don't remember any other puppy keeping us constantly requiring keeping up with their needs on an hourly basis. Did I mention that she poops a lot? I'm a little concerned because her poops are Dairy Queen soft. No other new dog to join our family has ever had this problem. Stress or something else? We may know tomorrow after the vet checks her.

What else?
She is SUPER cute and has great show dog structure. This is exactly what we've been looking for during the past 3 years. Plus, what I've seen of her personality, it seems fantastic. I know Bella is going to love her as a playmate. Meanwhile, Bailey and Chile are totally disinterested that there is a new Chihuahua in the house. Although none of our older girls currently can get close to the new puppy, Bella is curious.