corvus
Posted : 7/31/2007 4:05:15 AM
My boyfriend's parents have a minpin. He's a sweet dog, but tends to be anxious. I think you have to be patient and understanding of these dogs. The one I know, Alex, seems well aware of how small and fragile he is. He can get very worried about things and used to fear bite strangers. I don't know if he still does. I don't see him that often, so I'm not sure if he's stopped biting me because he knows me now or because he doesn't do that kind of thing anymore. Even with the fear biting, I always liked Alex. He's sweet, like I said. He looks like a little gazelle and he likes cuddles. I think he has a lot of potential, but my boyfriend's parents don't really appreciate how anxious he can get, so they sometimes make it worse.
Alex is a poorly bred minpin, and he has luxitating patellas on his back legs (do dogs have knees on their hind legs?). Anyway, his hind legs slip in and out of joint at the knee joint, and I believe he's got some other obscure health problems as well, all due to poor breeding. His vet gleefully told my boyfriend's parents that Alex was going to pay for his retirement. [:'(]
So my advice is, be understanding and patient of them, and make sure you get one from a really good breeder that does joint x-rays and all the rest. They're a small dog with a lot of potential, IMHO.