My Venomous Spaz Beast was free through my daughter's bio-family network. In the underclass people still like to keep pets, but they don't spay or neuter them or take them for vet care because it's Too Expensive. The VSB came to us from a couple of dogs who actually had a long-term relationship and had had a couple of litters together. But because of the living conditions around that neighborhood, the VSB's littermate and her older sister from a previous litter both died young. Originally the VSB was destined to be used by my daughter's cousin to get a girlfriend, however my daughter called dibs on the pup and proceeded to reject and ignore her, treating her exactly the way her bio-family treated dogs. The pup, frantic at being neglected, bonded to me out of a need to survive. Since then the relationship has blossomed into something beautiful and I'm finally experiencing the positive aspects of an emotional bond: my ex-girlfriend said that perhaps adoption, for me, was simply a very expensive and time consuming path to Chihuahua ownership. Meanwhile, in the neighborhood the VSB came from there's a lot of turnover in dogs. Her older sister was critically injured when she got involved in a fight between two larger dogs, and her littermate brother died because he was so skinny, tiny, and starving he couldn't put on weight (possibly due to never being dewormed). The pup was so hungry he'd eat anything, and eventually he got a mouthful of rat poison that had been left outside. So you really can see natural selection in action. In the dog population there's no nonsense about patella problems or anything else since the dogs are not AKC and contain out-crossings in the distant past from pugs, Min Pins, Doxies, and other small breeds while remaining characteristically Chihuahua. So the VSB has a slight under-bite but outstanding teeth, and she's mellow enough to let me examine and touch them. She is almost preternaturally healthy. The fact I let her cram in as much high protein puppy food as she wants while giving her lots of exercise and providing regular shots and spaying has been a factor. She's very buff, cut like a racehorse but you can't see her ribs, and she scampers around so much on concrete that I seldom have to trim her nails. She's put on nearly a pound since I had her spayed and that got her well out of teacup territory (much to my relief). I don't think she'll make it to five pounds because she burns off the calories doing her walks, playing fetch, and training for Doggie Ninja Warrior.
Although the potty training has had a few setbacks (characteristic of the Chihuahua breed) the VSB is a healthy little doggie. Not show quality due to the under-bite, and although she was small she's now over four pounds and out of teacup territory. She's a little leery of high-energy dogs but likes other small dogs and cats and is extremely fond of children. When I walk her in the neighborhood all the kids know her and want to play with her. Seldom have I seen a pup so eager to snuggle up with kids who sometimes play a little rough, and because she's so personable, easy-going, cute, and quiet all the kids want a VSB of their own.