Corky
Looking for my- forever home! | 
 | | Barked: Sat Feb 2, '13 5:52am PST |  | |  | | First, the potty training:
Corky is from a hoarding situation, and conditions were pretty filthy, but they were not confined to crates. He's adapted very well to being expected to potty outside. So yes, you'd be doing potty training, but you won't necessarily be dealing with "dirty dog" syndrome, which is common in puppy mill rescues.
As for the health issues: It's true that small breed dogs tend to be healthier and longer-lived, but under-sized or "teacup" small breed dogs are often so small because of underlying health problems and/or really crappy breeding. In a hoarding situation, you can pretty much count on really crappy breeding.
Blindness, due to progressive retinal atrophy, is a significant risk in poodles. If she's affected, she would eventually, probably around age five to six, go blind. It would be gradual and painless and doesn't have to limit her life. Corky is blind, born blind, and he gets around just fine. An older Crested in the home of the breeder Addy and Dora came from, the lady's first Crested, went blind from PRA and lived to be eighteen, happy and secure, and getting around her home and her yard just fine.
Other health problems in poodles, especially toy poodles--many of them would have shown themselves by age three. Embrace Pet Insurance has decent rundown on health issues in poodles.
I had, for a few years, a "teacup" cat, the runt of her litter--less than half the size of her littermates. She was healthy and happy and a joy to have in my life for four years, and then she died. Massive organ failure. Her organs were under-sized even for such a tiny kitty, and not up to the task of maintaining. The organs compensated for as long as they could, and then they failed. And I would adopt her again in a heartbeat. I seriously would not regard concern about this possibility as a reason not to adopt your little hoarder rescue.
Depending on what the hoarding situation was, exactly, she may well be, as Corky is, very confident with other dogs. The thing about hoarding is that there are always other animals around, and socializing with other dogs is not a big problem.
Obviously, with a dog that tiny, you do need to be careful of how the other dogs react. I see that Floppy is a chihuahua mix, so you probably have some experience with this already. However, with such a tiny one, you will find yourself picking her up for her own safety, sometimes, because she can get stepped on or mistaken for a toy or prey by a bigger dog who isn't at all "dog aggressive." So it's not just a matter of her probably quite decent dog socialization; it's also a matter of being aware of what the other dog might be thinking.
One of my other dogs, Dora, is just eight and a half pounds, not as small as this little girl, but pretty small. She enjoys her walks, and does fine with other dogs, though I'm careful around very big dogs whom we don't know.
I have met people with very tiny Yorkies, dogs so tiny you would think that dog can't walk outside--and they do absolutely fine, as long as their people are aware of things that might be a risk to them but not to other dogs, and are ready to pick them up when necessary for their safety.
So, yeah, there may be some increased health concerns, but if you like this little girl, there's no reason she shouldn't be a wonderful new family member for you.
I hope at least some of this is helpful. |  |  | |  |
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