Ollie Chihuahua Manhattan, KS

Ollie is a buff color, 7 year old Chihuahua Dachshund Mix that weighs 17lbs. He’s neutered, microchipped, UTD on all shots and dental care, and has negative heart worm test and 5 month supply of heart guard.

Ollie has been in and out of the Lawrence shelter since 2018. He was significantly abused and appears to have a permanent bald area on his throat from a shock collar and he has coughing fits if he gets too excited.

Ollie is easily frightened and acts terrified about eating and drinking, which is a struggle because he can go between one and three days without eating or drinking. He gets jumpy when putting on his harness and leash but he really enjoys walking and being outside. He will get frightened on some walks for a variety of reasons but generally does ok. He can listen off leash too but can get distracted by wildlife or people and chase or bark at them.

Ollie can get frightened enough to bite but not very hard. He doesn’t like being picked up and will twist out and fall to the ground. I can clip his nails and give him a bath but that’s stressful and he’s afraid of the blow dryer so he’s more of a towel dry kind of guy. He’s also highly distressed by the vacuum and will run to and fro like he can’t decide where to hide.

Ollie gets jealous about sharing attention, however, he’s not aggressive with my cats or other dogs after he meets them. I think he wants to play with another dog because he tries to play with me like I’m a dog. He doesn’t understand dog toys or fetch but he likes zoomies in the yard and doing a zoomy drive by on the neighbor dog.

Ollie is house trained but will have the occasional accident if he has to wait all day. I’ve had to leave him for about 6 hours during the day a couple times and he had accidents. I take him out about every 3-4 hours and he sleeps all night. He needs his own bed for refuge so he’s got one near me on the sofa and another in the bedroom. I have a pop up crate but I only use it if he has to go to a sitter or I have to leave him for more than 4 hours.

Ollie needs a calm and patient person that understands how to manage his fearful behaviors. Ollie is a good dog and he needs a space and atmosphere to recover from the abuse he’s suffered. He was terrified to pieces when I got him out of the shelter and he’s improving slowly. He can’t go back to a shelter or to an impatient person. The last thing is, his old name was Max so he will become super stressed if he’s called that.