Rico - PomChi

by Nora
(Winston-Salem, NC, USA)

My Pomchi's name is Rico and he is a year and a half old. He weighs 6 lbs. He is tan and black and looks more Chi than Pom, but does not yap like a Chihuahua. He is very loyal...but mainly to one owner. He loves me most! He likes my three year old and my husband, and pretty much just tolerates the rest of the world. We rescued him and were disappointed to find that he had a hard time dealing with being part of a large family. We take him to Petsmart often to socialize him. He has gotten better.

Rico mostly likes to follow behind me, and would rather lay under the table where I am sitting, than do anything else. He sleeps alot but will get a burst of energy and tear through the house or in circles...so funny! He does like to play with my three year old, and does ok with the older kids, though if he had it his way, he'd prefer not to be bothered. He is very fearful, nervous and jumpy. When the kids wrestle or race, watch out! If I drop something or place my cup on the table too hard, he will jump or yelp in fear. He spends alot of time in his crate; he rarely ventures out if I am not home, even if the others are. I hate that somebody treated him so poorly that he developed such intense timidness! We are working on it.

If you are thinking of getting a Pomchi--yes they are smart! Maybe, a little too smart-as in figured out how to climb baby gates and learned to pee out of the crate at night! It was very easy to teach him commands and tricks, like sit, stay, take it, leave it, up, down, etc. He learned to scratch at the back door to go out and will roll over to say rub my belly, or curl near your feet to cuddle.

People laugh when I say it, but, Rico is also an excellent guard dog. He lets us know if anyone is coming toward the house, or if any of the kids go out. He also tells me everyday when the school bus arrrives! He is very protective and will even try to defend our little ones. Overall, he is a very good dog, it's just unfortunate that his previous owners made him so nervous.