Shelter tells man chihuahua would stay tiny, 40lbs later he demands answers

Due to his small living quarters, a San Diego resident wanted to adopt a small dog, which led him to a Chihuahua mix, but about 40 pounds later, he was searching for answers.

Owner Jonathan Ray told Newsweek that he adopted his dog, Pharaoh, in 2024 when the pup was about 7 weeks old. At the time, Pharaoh weighed just 2.7 pounds. The animal shelter listed him as a Chihuahua mix and assured Ray the dog wouldn’t grow beyond nine pounds, especially since he was the runt of the litter.

Realizing he was limited on space, Ray thought Pharaoh would be the perfect match. He imagined him as a “backpack puppy,” and for the first month together, he carried Pharaoh everywhere. But then Pharaoh kept growing.

A few months later, when Pharaoh hit roughly 25 pounds, Ray returned to the shelter hoping for more insight into the dog’s parents. Staff confirmed his mom was a 13-pound Chihuahua, but they had no information about the father. While the dog’s size never swayed Ray’s commitment, he was determined to find out how a so-called Chihuahua mix more than doubled—and then quadrupled—the expected weight.

Photos of Pharaoh, a Chihuahua mix, as a puppy when he was first adopted.

With no luck at the shelter, Ray turned to DNA testing to finally get some answers.

“Turns out, he is a Chihuahua and that’s first on the list,” Ray said. “Second is pit bull terrier and third is American Staffordshire terrier. Fourth is toy poodle and miniature pinscher, both single digits.”

The toy poodle listing left Ray laughing, noting that only the very top of Pharaoh’s tail resembles the breed.

Now, as he approaches two in March, Pharaoh weighs nearly 40 pounds, while a Chihuahua weighs no more than six pounds, according to the American Kennel Club.

Mislabeled Shelter Dogs

A 2016 University of Florida study underscored just how tricky visual breed guessing can be. When researchers compared staff guesses to DNA results from 120 shelter dogs, they found that dogs with pit bull-type ancestry were correctly identified only 33 to 75 percent of the time. Dogs with zero pit bull DNA were still labeled as pit bulls as often as 48 percent of the time.

The study highlighted that even experienced shelter workers often rely on appearances that can be misleading

The mislabeling frustrates Ray, even though the adoption worked out. He thinks shelters should get contracts with DNA companies to help connect breeds with adopters. The results will also give parents an idea of the dog’s likely personality and health issues, making them better prepared.

Photos of a Chihuahua mix named Pharaoh, who was the runt of the litter, but now weighs about 40 pounds.

Match Made in Heaven

But despite the miscalculation on the dog’s size, Ray wouldn’t be complete without him. He loves all 40 pounds of his high-energy dog, even after frustrating chewing incidents early on together and Pharaoh’s skin condition.

“He would scratch his ears till they bled and had rubbed the fur from around both of his eyes,” Ray said. “He requires a Cytopoint shot every two months…The vet informed me that it was something he could grow. It seems he has. He hasn’t had a shot since July.”

From riding the bus or trolley together to spending time outside, the two are constantly together. The mix-up turned out to be a perfect match.

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