The one where I rant about the neighbor's "chaweenie"

We got new neighbors a few weeks back. They got a puppy this weekend -- A chaweenie... the husband says in his very Southern drawl.

Of course this is the first red flag (the chaweenie part, not the Southern drawl). Let me tell you the sad saga that is this dog's life.

This chihuahua/dachshund mix is from a place called "Pet City." I have never heard of this local pet store, but apparently they sell dogs. Lovely.

This dog weighs UNDER 1 and a half pounds. At first I gave them the benefit of the doubt, thinking the dog was maybe 7 to 8 weeks old. No. This lady told me this dog is 3 months old! No way. Just not even remotely plausible.

Oh, AND it wont eat food. She said she's tried everything, dry food, wet food, people food, chicken and rice. Tell me what healthy 3 month old dog wont eat chicken and rice! She's currently feeding it puppy formula from an eye dropper. I asked her if she had taken it to a vet yet, since it wouldn't eat and whatnot. Of course not. Her mom "raises" yorkies and told her what steps to take. Of course the dog has "low blood sugar," although I'm not sure how she knows exactly since the dog hasn't seen a vet. And she's feeding the dog nutra-cal like it's going out of style.

Now, let's compare my 4 year old, 6.5lb, papered, well-bred, pure-bred yorkie to that, shall we? When we got Rigel at 8 WEEKS old he was 2lbs. And ate like a little pig! He was all puppy belly.

Anyone with a small puppy knows what nutra-cal is and the dangers of low blood sugar with a small puppy. But Rigel never needed it.

So let's say you have a 3 month old puppy bought from a pet store that is seriously underweight and refuses to eat. Wouldn't you take the thing to the vet???

Am I completely off base here with the size and food thing?? Let me know. My mother in law has two miniature Dachshunds. We saw these dogs as puppies and they weren't this small. And they had hearty appetites too. They were fully grown by the time there were about 7 months old. Rigel was at his current full grown weight at about 6 months.

Thankfully, this pup seems to be full of energy. When I brought Rigel outside on his leash, this puppy, Cooper, bounced right over to us and wanted to sniff my little monster. Cooper wasn't fearful of this 6lb dog sniffing him either. I hope this little one is nursed back to health soon and starts to eat something. Joe thinks the dog is under 4 weeks old to still need puppy formula from an eye dropper. I dug Rigel's baby scrapbook out (yep, that's what I said) to do some comparison. We have pics of him at 2-3 weeks, when they still look like little rats, and 5 and 6 weeks when I went to visit Rigel when he was still with his mom. His baby book says he was weaned at about 4-5 weeks old. This whole situation makes me so sad and angry. I'm glad the puppy is out of the puppy mill, but super annoyed that these neighbors didnt know better. And still wont take him to the vet!