[happyker]

So not even a week ago my best friend who would have been 16 this March passed away. Its been one of the hardest points of my entire life and I think I cried more for her then when both my grandparents passed away (the only other close deaths Ive had to deal with). I got her as a puppy from a petstore so she had been with me her entire life.

My room and life feel so lonely and empty now. I always said I wouldnt get another dog because my life is so busy but it hurts so much and since I know I cant get my best friend back I wish I could at least have a new friend to curl up next to me.

My best friend was a short haired chihuahua named Twinkle. I am open to another chihuahua but wanted to also look at other breeds that may suit my lifestyle as well so here is a little about me:

I am a 23 year old single professional female. I have a roommate and although he may take care of my dog in an emergency he is pretty lazy and could not be relied on to take help me take care of a dog more so then that. I live in a somewhat small apartment in NYC (although from what Ive seen, kind of large for NYC) and because of this and other reasons I would like another small friend. I would also highly prefer my new friend to have short hair.

I contract through different companies for work so, at least as far as work is concerned my life is very unpredictable. I could be sitting at home doing nothing for a week and then suddenly work 7 plus days straight. I do always come home at the end of the day though and am not much of a partier. Actually when Im not working Im kind of lazy and stay in the house a bit too much. If I ever went somewhere overnight Twinkle would always come with me as opposed to having anyone watch her. She loved roadtrips and would always just curl up in the seat next to me. I travel alot in my car so whoever my new friend is will too.

While I may not be able to always give my new friend attention during the day while I am working, she would always sleep with me and have my full attention when I am home as I am looking for someone to be my buddy. I prefer a less hyper dog as Im a more mellow person but I do obviously want someone to give me affection of course just not so much the crazy jumping up and down hyperness like my parents jack russel can be like. This is why I am considering another chihuahua as both Twinkle and the other chihuahuas that I grew up with (but were more my mothers then mine) were not too bad.

Ive been seeing alot of things online about getting an adult dog as opposed to a puppy. While my heart would like a puppy I do realize an adult dog may be better because I may not have the time to devote to training a puppy. I dont want so old that I miss out on at least some training though because I do actually want to be a big part of training Im just concerned about the time limitations in my life.

I posted this in breeds section of the forum as I am mostly looking for advice on a breed that would be good for my lifestyle but I would be willing to listen to other advice too.

Thanks for reading, Kerri

[CorkyMax]

It sounds like the chihuahua is a pretty good choice for your needs but being a somewhat timid breed--Will it mind being home alone too much! I am giving you this link--Maybe it will help you decide.---> Find the Perfect Dog, Dog Search, Dogs broken down into Search Categories, Which Breed is right for you, Breed Search
Note the title about which dog is right for you (something on that order) in all the 'wordings' at upper , more to the right area. But be sure and put in each breed you want to know about as you will get a lot of info there too!