Who is the chihuahua that has a photo in your photo gallery?

This little guy is one of the first dogs we ever brought into our home. He is a 12-year-old, neutered, blue merle deer-head chihuahua. His name is Ranger, and he has no idea he is not an Irish Wolfhound or Scottish Deerhound.

Ranger came to us when we were new to dogs, and we had no idea what "research" had to do with getting a dog. We wanted a small cuddly dog, and I had known several friends over the years with chihuahuas, so getting one seemed like a great idea. We found an ad on the internet, met the family who had bred him, and decided to go ahead with bringing him home.

At 8 weeks old, Ranger weighed in at a whopping 2 pounds, 6 ounces. We figured raising a chihuahua would be simple and enjoyable. It was absolutely not. In fact, for the first several years, I found Ranger to be more challenging to train than our Lab/Weim mix. He was certainly much harder to train that my wolfhounds and deerhound. We had very few resources available to us, no experience with toy breeds, no contact with the breeder he came from, and no idea how to handle this tiny dictator we had brought home. It was a recipe for disaster, for sure.

Ranger turned out to be one of my biggest blessings, though, as he forced me to learn to be a better dog trainer, a more diligent dog owner, and more aware of what I was allowing as far as behavior in my dogs. He caused me to closely look at my life, and the life I was providing to him and the other dogs in my home.

Ranger helped me find the dog training world beyond local chain pet store classes - which were all I knew up to that point - and really learn what it meant to "Train" a dog. I had only ever thought of training as teaching basic manners and then tricks; but with Ranger I had to examine dog psychology, dog instincts, and his individual needs that were not being met.

Finding the solutions to these things meant going deeper than I had ever imagined possible, and learning I was still only scratching the surface, of "dog training." I learned that having a solid training foundation and a team of helpful, knowledgeable trainers was invaluable.

Ranger is the first dog I ever completed AKC Canine Good Citizen testing with. Taking him from nervous, fearful and unconfident to a Canine Good Citizen was one of my own personal challenges and one of the training feats I am most proud of in my life. It took us months and months and months of classes, daily homework, progressing and regressing, and I will admit that I cried like a baby the day that he passed the test. I had never understood just how big of a transformation was possible for such a little dog.

At 12 years old, Ranger enjoys basking in a sunny spot in the back yard, eating his favorite kibble, and snuggling with his giant little sisters, who all treat him gently. He is a star at basic obedience requirements, and knows many tricks. He loves to play with his personal agility set in the back yard, and has no idea he is not an agility superstar. Though Ranger is not an Irish Wolfhound or Scottish Deerhound, he is an important member of our family.