I have been away for around a year because life has just been so busy and there have been many changes in our life. I've even moved twice, but we're now more or less settled in our new home in a new state.

Anyway, I'm considering a blue and tan Chi. I have heard there can be problems with them, but I'm wondering at around what age the problems show up. His coat is in great condition, and he has blue eyes.

He was born with a hernia that needed to be fixed when he was around 5-6 weeks old. The vet said she hadn't done surgery on a dog that small. Unfortunately the hernia was protruding through his scrotum area in a way that she had to also neuter him at the same time. He's 10 months old, and he seems completely fine even though he was neutered so young. He has no bladder or urination problems. He has no other known problems.

The original owner is giving him up for adoption because her daughter needs heart surgery and there is a lot of aftercare involved. Her daughter was born with a heart defect years ago but she now needs more surgery. She is concerned that she can't devote the time and energy to her daughter. She also has to relocate to a relatives house for the surgery and aftercare because she's far from the hospital that can perform the surgery.


BTW, Venus is fine and still a wonderful Chi.

If you adopt a puppy from the pound anymore, they will not let that dog go without being neutered or spayed. So all puppies are having it done at 8 weeks old. I think that is a bit too young, but I haven't heard of any complications yet.

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Thank you Jan for the wonderful siggy!

I fostered a blue and tan girl from the shelter a couple months ago. The hair on her back was wiry and thin. I thought it was kinda strange. But Id never seen a blue and tan chi, so thought it was normal for the color.
pam in TX

Neutering a puppy REALLY young (before 6 months) can compromise skeletal size and strength, so the puppy may not get as big as it would if it wasn't neutered and it will be more fragile.

Teddy was neutered at 7 months. 10 months is really not young at all. If you wait until after 1 year for a small dog they will potentially start urine marking, humping, etc. Small dogs hit sexual maturity sooner than large dogs.

Teddy is a blue fawn chi. His mother is black/tan and his father is cream so it diluted to blue fawn with a blue mask with him. He hasn't had any health complications other than paraphimosis (penile retraction issue common in small male dogs), but I don't think that's related. I've heard of blue merles having health issues but not blue/tans.

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Thanks to Jan for my siggy!

The only real problem sometimes is their lack of coat. Some are actually bald with a few tuffs of hair, some, like my two, just have very thin hair, almost like fuzz, rather than a normal coat. And Billy is bald from his chin to his butt underneath. I have to keep them in clothes during the winter or they are just too cold to move and will sit there and shiver.

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Thank you Jan for the wonderful siggy!

Ninja is blue and tan he's completely bald from the bottom of the neck to where his testicles used to be before he was neutered (haha best way I could think to describe it) the hair loss didn't appear until around 8 months- 1 year old he is now 4 1/2 years old

Prada is ninjas daughter also blue and tan and has thick full coat no hairloss what so ever and she is 3 1/2 years old

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The owner tells me he is 6 lbs and has been that weight for at least 2 months so he's a really big one. She weighed him today, and he's still hovering around 6 lbs. The vet who did the operation really didn't have a choice but to neuter him because of the way the hernia was, and she was afraid of a few complications that could have happened if she didn't take his testicles at that time. She didn't want to operate on such a small puppy twice if she could avoid it. He was about 11 ounces at 5-6 weeks old. Hopefully his bones are okay and not any more fragile than if he had been intact.

I was told that his coat is in great condition and has no bald or thin spots. I can't see any bald or thin spots in his pictures. I know that it's a risk because he's only 10 months so he may get thin hair at a later date. My Chi has very thin hair under her chin all the way to her stomach.

dexter is a tri blue but still cute as ever even if he had bald spots on his back, back of his legs, top of head. he still has his awesome lion mane lol when he was a pup he was fluffy as ever but as the puppy uglys stage came about thats when it all started

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"I told him that if a lady who doesn't cook can make such yummy Jerky for Dexter then we can do it too" - Lynx8456

http://www.facebook.com/dextersheep