Alpha+Chihuahua

Alpha Chihuahua

My Chihuahua’s name is Tasha and I’m her pet. She is dependent on me, yet I depend on her even more. Tasha takes me out for a walk almost every morning, and I give her a home full of love to live in. At breakfast, she sits on the table and tries to eat my food, but I won’t let her. Although she doesn’t seem to accept it, she is a dog, not a wolf. On my last Tuesday night of summer vacation I slogged around the house. I was in no desire to do anything, not to mention learning anything new, but what I saw on TV was extremely intriguing. Though I was supposed to be lazy, I couldn’t keep myself from paying attention to what I saw. Baby canine fetuses popped on the screen, and they were pretty gross ones. One belonged to a wolf, and the other to a Chihuahua. To my left Tasha was taking over the other half of the couch. As lethargic as ever, she stretched her puny legs to the sides like a new born baby. There was no way she could have been a reptile-like creature sitting in another dog’s stomach. But hey, even humans look like rats before they’re born. It just seemed a little bit odd knowing what my dog would have looked like before she was born. I stared at the wolf embryo and then to the Chihuahua’s. I couldn’t tell the difference. Seeing that the two embryos were almost identical, I began to wonder how closely related these two canines were. Dogs track their family tree back to wolves, about 15,000 years ago. It would be hard to picture my Tasha as a wolf, or any innocent and delicate dog for that matter. Oddly enough though, her breed seems to share a hand full of characteristics with wolves. It might seem impossible, but once you sit and think about it, it’s not all that surprising. Even though their sizes seem to be on opposite extremes, the rest of her traits howl ‘wolf’. Ears are an important and unique factor that both of these canines share. If you take a look around, most dog ears are floppy and hang straight down on either side of their heads. Wolves’ alert ears allow them to have sharp hearing. Even in their sleep, it is impossible to catch a wolf off guard. Wolves rely more on their ears for everyday activities. They use their extraordinary hearing to hide from human predators as well as to search for a prey. Their great vision stresses even more the fact that they are great hunters. Unlike the hunting hounds, wolves rely on their ears and eyes to hunt. They are not searching for a specific animal. Instead, they hunt whatever comes near them. Because of that, they need extreme senses. In order for the wolves to see their pray kilometers away, they need extraordinary eyesight, but in order to know where to look, they need precise and intense hearing. My Chihuahuas’ ears are up and alert, just like those of the wolf. Chihuahuas don’t usually hunt for their food; therefore there would be no real reason for them to have pointy ears, aside from the fact that they look adorable. Tasha hunts though. Although not real food, she finds it exceedingly fascinating to hunt flies around the house. When she stands still and begins to move her ears from side to side, sharpening her hearing, it’s better to leave her alone. She focuses so hard waiting on finding the fly that if you take a false step beside her; she’ll probably jerk right at you. Not only does she hunt everything in the house, she owns it. That eight pound dog, although not even as tall as my bottom drawer, walks and bosses around everyone; just like any alpha wolf would do. Wolves have a peculiar social structure. They consist of an alpha female and male, who get privileges amongst the other wolves. Tasha is superior to my Maltese. Although they are both female, and one is much older than the other, Tasha seems to be the one in control of our pack. It’s strange how these dogs gain the title of alpha. They are minuscule creatures, yet with a strong character. At home, I have two dogs. One is a Maltese, and the other is Tasha. Even though my Maltese is at least three times the size of my Chihuahua, when she sits on Tasha’s couch by accident, just with her mind, she’ll make the Maltese get off. It’s impressive! Yet it is odd to see that small creatures can have such great control over someone else. I have felt it myself. Each time I get back from school, there she is, wiggling her tail and chasing me around until I kiss her belly. It’s not something I need to do every second, but I kind of have to. It’s nice though. Living with a Chihuahua is like living with a manipulative baby, one you can’t live without. Wolves act as spoiled as the Chihuahuas. Both these canines share some behavioral characteristics that can either be seen as frustrating, or adorable. I find myself in between. Dogs and wolves bark and like to be pampered. As pups, the wolves are playful and use barking to communicate. As they grow older, they howl and communicate with their mind. Tasha mixes all of these. She pampers me with the condition that I pamper her three times as much and she makes herself the center of attention. She either interrupts me while doing homework, or she uses her mental powers to make me feed her. She gets into my mind and into my other dog’s mind in order for us to do what she wants. It’s odd to know that a dog is controlling your mind. It seems impossible, but until you live it, you’ll never understand it. Although very closely related to wolves, my Chihuahua has a great difference. She loves humans, and we, of course, love her back. You’d think wolves would be the same, seeing that they worked with humans and then began to evolve into what they are now, but the truth is, they are each other’s great enemy. Wolves attack humans, and humans attack wolves. They both fight to be the strong and the alpha, just like any feline, reptile, or mammal would to stay at the top of the food chain; therefore no truce can be found between them. Tasha also claims to be the alpha at home; she has no competition though. She knows it’s her spot; it’s her turn now.