Monday Mischief #10 - What does the dog(s) say?

The pups went to a Halloween party at a pet store Sunday. We haven't finished their costumes so Onyxx wore a red tie and Mr. N wore his costume for last year. They each did a trick for one of the employees. Mr. N danced which is his default move when he sees food and Onyxx sat. I got to spin the wheel to determine their prize. They both won toys. Onyxx picked out a moon squeaky and Mr. N got a ghost toy.

Between Mr. N who was overly stimulated and barky and Onyxx who found a box full of treat samples under a table, I had my hands full. So no pictures from the party. I've added a few from last year.

Dogfish? From last year.

The pet store brought in a pet psychic to do short readings for the customers. One of the employees approached us to see if we wanted to do a reading and I said sure. I wouldn't pay to do a reading but it is fun.

She told us that Mr. N knows how cute he is (!) and he is pretty happy. He likes Onyxx a lot but found our foster of a day to be very annoying. He wants Onyxx to stay so we don't have more fosters. The psychic said that was strategic of him. Who knew he had cat-like deviousness?

He doesn't want cats in the house (probably doesn't want the competition!). He prefers people to dogs (which is true) but he was also demanding attention from her so there is that. The psychic also said he is smart and opinionated. She said pets appreciate being informed and if we're going on a vacation or other big events, we should tell him a couple of days in advance so he knows.

I iz a cat?

As for Onyxx, she said he knows that we're not keeping him but that he likes it here. Also he doesn't like being in limbo and wants a good home of his own. She did say we could manage two dogs but not three. Managing Onyxx is not the problem however!

Onyxx is very sweet and he generally is a pretty easy dog. However, Mr. N isn't. He is high maintenance. As the boyfriend says, two Onyxxes is less work than one Mr. N.

Also I'm hoping to do therapy work with the next dog (which probably won't happen for five years or more) and neither Mr. N or Onyxx have the temperament for it.

After the reading, Mr. N was getting a little loud so he went to go wait in the car. I took Onyxx back and we looked around the store (so many cute sweaters) and bought some treats and left.

I took Onyxx to Petsmart afterwards. The other volunteers all admired his tie and his new tricks. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to attract much interest. One woman asked about him but the rescue director suggested another dog who is known to be cat-friendly (she has several cats). She also thinks Onyxx should go to a home with another small dog which I agree with. He loves to play.

There are over ten pages of Chihuahuas in Portland on Petfinder. There are four Yorkies (and their mixes). It's hard for an all-black Chihuahua to get noticed. Even the woman at the (human) Halloween party who had a Chihuahua herself spent five minutes talking about Mr. N and how cute he was before noticing Onyxx and commenting that he is mellow. I would like to point out that Mr. N was throwing a fit because her off-leash Chihuahua came running up to us and was in his face while Onyxx barely twitched. It's like Mr. N is getting rewarded for his misbehavior!

So I'm sitting with Mr. N in my lap trying to quiet him down and she is just standing there asking questions about Mr. N. Poor Onyxx.

Mr. N almost always gets noticed first. Part of it is sheer personality. He is not shy about demanding attention. This is a dog that jumped/climbed four feet (four times his height) to get to two men to demand pets. And as previously mentioned, knows how cute he is and is not afraid to flaunt it. Onyxx is a little shy around new people and situations.

Mr. N and one of his new fans.

I also think Mr. N has more flashy looks. He's not merle or anything but he is parti-colored and basically looks like a stuffed animal come to life. Maybe black dog syndrome is also affecting Onyxx?

Any ideas on what I can do to make Onyxx more noticeable? Several pet stores have shared him on their Facebook pages and he wears his adoption vest and bright colors when we go out. He's also increasing his repertoire of tricks. He knows how to high five now.