Teddy-4lbs!

My story

Meet our freakishly tiniest little freak of nature, Teddy! At 2 years old and under 4lbs, he makes our chihuahuas look like giants. Though he looks like a cuddly adorable little stuffed animal you would want to carry in your purse, he’s not that type of dog at all. While not aggressive at all, he’s not a big fan of too much touching or being held or groomed and just panics and flails and tries to get away. He does have his reasons: as a young puppy he was very sick with parasites and almost died, and had several seizures which lasted a while and likely caused some brain damage and potentially neurological issues. Combined with the trauma of being poked and prodded so much during his formative months and associated touch and restraint with pain, it left a lasting impression. He’s not had any seizures since he was puppy and isn’t on any longterm medications, but is a bit of a special needs baby. He sometimes spins in circles when stressed or excited, although he’s been doing better with it in his calm quiet patient foster home. He was never able to be housebroken in his previous home which was the main reason he was given up, but has been doing better with some structured trips to the wee wee pads and confinement when unsupervised. He doesn’t really seem to understand how to interact with other dogs and gets stressed by too much barking or fast movement, but might be ok with a tiny calm old dog who won’t really acknowledge him. He is getting better about relaxing once you are holding him but still tries to dart away or take suicidal leaps from your arms, so extra care has to be taken by anyone handling or holding him so that he doesn’t get dropped or fall, best to sit and hold him on the floor when practicing for safety! And obviously no children, he’s far too breakable. Tiny Teddy has shown there is hope and room for improvement, but it has to be on his terms and a slow and steady process with realistic expectations. No bows in his hair or dressing him up- he got so upset by a thunder shirt being tried on him he vomited 😳. Sleepy drugs for grooming and vetting work wonders to prevent a complete panic attack. Just pretend he’s a baby wild fox that allows you to live with him but isn’t quite tame. He doesn’t just have a bad haircut- his hair on his back never grew back after his previous shave downs and we aren’t sure it will grow back normally. If you want to help an adorable unconventional little teacup 🫖 friend find his version of happiness, email njwoof@cs.com to meet Teddy in Northern NJ Since COVID-19, we are no longer holding our Sunday adoption events until further notice, but we are scheduling meet and greet appointments with a specific dog or dogs at our meeting spots in Northern NJ. To streamline adoptions, all communication before, during, and after the adoption process is done through email only: we have limited volunteers able to return phone calls. Submit an application from our website www.secondchance.petfinder.com to speed up the adoption process and email any questions to us at njwoof@cs.com. Please check your email regularly for next steps. All our dogs reside in foster care in Northern NJ until adoption and we do not have a central shelter location. We are a small all-volunteer organization focused on rescuing local dogs from area shelters, as well as accepting some surrenders and puppy mill rescues.

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Teddy-4lbs!, please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.