ARMED THUGS CHASED OUT BY A CHIHUAHUA

HE'S the little dog with the big heart, undaunted even by an armed robber shoving a shotgun in his face. 

LA County sheriff's deputies released a video of the barking Chihuahua angrily chasing off robbers at an Altadena smoke shop.

Two hooded bandits, one armed with a rifle can be seen running into the Ace Smoke Shop on July 7 and demanding money.As the store owner begins putting money in a backpack carried by one of the men, the owner's Chihuahua begins barking incessantly and jumping at the men, chasing them out of the store and down the street.
Neither the store owner, nor the dog was injured and it's unclear how much they got away with and cops are still searching for the thieves.

DOG GONE MIRACLE. PET RETURNED AFTER FIVE YEARS

COOKIE

HER disappearance left her owners barking mad, but for five-years they had no leads as to where beloved family pet Cookie had gone.
But over half-a decade after the chihuahua disappeared she was returned to her owners, who had long given her up for dead.
Owner Alejandro Pantoja had almost given up Cookie for dead after she vanished from his San Diego, CA home.    
"We were surprised," he told the Union Tribune. "We had nearly given up hope on ever finding her."
He added that she seems to remember him, his wife and his three daughters.
Cookie was returned after a woman called animal services to say she found the tiny dog on her doorstep along with a black terrier.
Monica Madrigal told the paper: "I really didn't want to give the dog back because she was so cute, and I really like animals too, but I knew what the owner must have been going through."
She added that she gave the canine couple a bath after finding them last Tuesday before contacting animal control officers.

Pantoja was determined the owner when Cookie was scanned for a microchip.

Cookie will be in good company too, as Pantoja and his family had purchased a new puppy a mere day before Cookie's homecoming.
They now own three Chihuahuas and Cookie is settling back into life with the family again.
It's not really clear what Cookie was up to for the last five years, but the stories she could tell...if she could talk.

BUD WALLY RUIZ COULD GET LIFE IN DOG KILLING

HE'S on his third strike and it could well mean he serves a lifetime behind bars for the brutal killing of his pet chihuahua.
Bud Wally Ruiz threw his pet pooch at his wife Marcela after she objected to him taking it with him during a heated row with her at their Gilroy, CA home.
But he tossed the six-week-old puppy with such force the he killed it and now faces two felony counts for cruelty to animals.
He is also suspected of assaulting his wife before fleeing and was charged with a misdemeanor count of spousal battery.

But because he already has four 'assault with a deadly weapon' convictions on his record, and under California's "three strikes" law, he faces a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life if found guilty.
Marcella Ruiz claims her husband did not mean to hurt the animal, but was throwing it in her direction after she objected to him taking the dog with him as he left.
Ruiz is scheduled to plead guilty to the charges on Tuesday according to KCBS.