Prancer, the ‘demonic Chihuahua,’ gets adopted

Prancer, a 2-year-old Chihuahua described as a “Chucky doll in a dog’s body,” in a widely viewed adoption ad on social media has found his forever home.

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Ariel Davis, 36, of New Haven, Connecticut, learned about Prancer and immediately felt a bond with the misunderstood “demonic Chihuahua,” Today reported.

Foster owner Tyfanee Fortuna initially wrote the painfully honest adoption ad after repeated attempts to find a match for Prancer, a dog available through Second Chance Pet Adoption League in Morris Plains, New Jersey. The animal shelter fielded potential adopters from across the country but said they were only interested in local applicants.

“I had a dog that I adopted probably about seven years ago and I raised him from a puppy and he was a Chihuahua/Jack Russell Terrier mix,” Davis told Today. “He had a lot of the same qualities as Prancer, he was a little neurotic, and he barked a lot and he didn’t work well with other people and other animals. I spent a lot of time working with him and understanding his personality and learning about myself through him.”

>> Painfully honest pet adoption ad gains attention for ‘demonic’ chihuahua

Davis had to surrender that dog, named Doodle, and her other dog, Blue, after she went to rehabilitation for drug use. They were adopted by families while she spent two years in rehab. Davis now works at the facility. She has been sober for three years.

“I’ve come to the point in my life where I’m stable enough to now have dogs again,” she said. “I talked to all the people in my community, my sponsor, my network, my therapist, and they all agreed that they were at the point where I could look into having a dog. I read the article, I connected to it, and I was like you know what, why not? I’ll just send them an email. What’s the worst that could happen?”

So, Davis wrote the shelter an email that she felt checked all the boxes.

“Reading about Prancer brought back intense memories of the dog I still love so much,” she wrote. “They were very similar in demeanor and looking into Prancer’s eyes in those pictures I saw the little (expletive) Doodle I love so much (I say this lovingly!)… I am not looking to replace Doodle, but I am looking for a companion that I can take proper care of and give a loving home.”

The shelter said they sifted through hundreds of applications to find the right match. Prancer’s ad also brought attention to other dogs at the shelter, getting 10 others adopted as well.

Davis was invited to meet Prancer at the shelter. She brought his favorite food to ensure she made a good impression.

“I got there and we just connected,” she said. “Prancer took pretty well to me. Eventually, I took Prancer for a walk and he wasn’t nipping at me or biting at my heels. We just got along. With my story and the fact that I didn’t come off as incredibly crazy just kind of meshed, and everything seemed to go well. He went home with me that day. He was a perfect little gentleman in the car.”

Davis said Prancer is sweet and loving. He is doing well on their walks together and acted like a gentleman when she took him to work, where there are 15 to 20 other women. She even created a social media account for him.

“I would love to keep everybody in the loop and upload pictures, but I do think that it is important for him to live a normal lifestyle,” she said. “He is a dog, he’s no Grumpy Cat.”

Fortuna, who fostered Prancer for nearly six months, was grateful her adoption ad for him was a success.

“His adoption day was one of the best days of my life. On the flip side, I couldn’t help but feel a bit wrong....it was like expelling myself of a demon and passing it on to someone else,” she jokingly wrote on social media.

It’s been about a week and both Prancer and Davis are still adapting.

“We’re one week into the adoption and he’s really changed my life, too,” Davis said. " We’re both adjusting.”

Cox Media Group