Helping Toro...

Meet TORO, the problem child

Toro is a 2 1/2 year-old male Chihuahua mix that my very good friend and her family got from a shelter about 2 years ago.
At the time of adoption, Toro was only a few months old, and was a tiny, skinny little thing.
The family has 4 young children, and they all adored Toro, and were very happy with him.
My kids were so envious about the cute puppy, too....well, until about a year later anyway.

We hadn't seen Toro for some time then one day we had a chance to see him again.
We entered the house and could hear Toro coming from the back of the house, running.
When we saw him, we were stunned to see a cute.....well, fat little dog.

"Toro...?"

I almost couldn't believe it was him. That skinny little thing has turned into a little birthday balloon.
The mom looked a little embarrassed, saying "Yeah, he got fat..he eats a lot. He is always hungry"
So they leave the food out for him all the time.

That's fine by me. I'm sure it's not life-threatening anyway.
But what got me worried a little was, that Toro was now a very nervous doggy.
A frowning face, turning his head quickly where there was even a little noise with a growl, barking at pedestrians outside behind the window like crazy.

Hummmmm....

He looked angry. He acted frustrated.
I was worried.

As my boys and their youngest boy were best friends, I often got to speak with the family.
I asked them about Toro every chance I had.
Every time the family spoke of him, there seemed to be more issues.

First he was sometimes acting feisty towards their kids.
Next one of them got bitten by Toro and got some stitches above his eye.
Then he bit a friend of one of the kids and punctured his belly.
The whole time his barking had escalated and he was chasing after the kids in the house and growing more and more aggressive with them.

Last month the mom said she had bought a muzzle for him.
She said she was afraid of Toro injuring someone. She was going to have to take him to a vet for annual shots soon, she had feared he would bite a nurse or somebody at the clinic.

By this time they had started keeping him in the backyard when they had a guest. They could only let him inside the house when there were only family members.
His feistiness towards the children continued.

Things sounded pretty serious I was afraid that they would think about giving him up.
I thought Toro was a good dog. He loved me and whenever I visited them at their house, he had welcomed me with lots of hugs and kisses.
The family loved him but they didn't walk him because they were scared that Toro would act badly to other people and dogs outside. So he was always in the house.

I wanted to walk him. Now that I walk only Ginger and Anko, I can walk another.
So I asked the mom if I could walk Toro with my dogs. She was at first worried how Toro would react to my dogs, but at the end she agreed saying it would be great if that could help Toro feel better.

Of course it would make a difference! It has to!

First day I walked Toro with Ginger only. Anko was getting spayed so timing was great.
I didn't think Toro would be bad, but I was so surprised to find out how well he behaved!

No barking. No growling.
He was totally submissive. He was scared of Ginger, who happened to be much bigger than Toro.
Ginger was used to having other dogs around so Toro being around her didn't bother her much.
It was a nice & very quiet walk.

Looking tall...Looking great

The mom called during the walk. Worried.
I told her her was perfect. She was surprised but happy.

Seeing Toro trotting with a curious look on his face, trying to keep up with Ginger and I, made me smile.
He was so cute!
After about an hour, we sat down on the grass in the park.
Toro looked tired, yet happy.
He sat on the grass quietly, eating some grass and rubbing his back on it.


Watch Toro soaking up the sun


His face didn't have his recent trademark  - wrinkles on his forehead.
He looked like a wide-eyed young puppy.
He didn't bark at anybody. He didn't even look interested in people or even other barking dogs.

Great!
He is a good dog just as I thought. Just needed to get outside and have fun. Exercise and get tired.
I can help him with that. That's easy!
I can tell the family they shouldn't worry about taking him outside because he is such a good dog.

The best will be, if the family can walk with him everyday.
That would make Toro a totally different dog, and everybody would be much happier with him.

I will try to keep walking him as often as I can.
After all, I have realized walking three dogs is much more fun than walking two (only if they all get along)!

Good luck, Toro. I know it will just be so easy for you!