Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed. The Chihuahua’s history has been hotly debated. One group feels that the breed originated in China before being introduced to Central America by Spanish explorers. Others firmly believe that the Chihuahua is a native of Central America, descended from the Techichi, a small dog who was a companion to the Toltecs as far back as the 9th century.
Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed in the world.
Small dogs much like the Chihuahua have been found in the pyramids of Cholula, which were built before the 1500s. No matter where the breed originated, it has become a popular pet in Central and North America, Europe, and the Mediterranean, as well as other parts of the world. It is a very small dog, never to exceed 6 pounds, with a bright, alert expression. Other than weight, there are no size classifications.
Photo: Chihuahuas in Beverly Hills, California
Teacup Chihuahua, Pocket Size Chihuahua, Tiny Toy Chihuahua, Miniature Chihuahua, and Standard Chihuahua are several of the many tags assigned to this breed. The use of these terms is actually incorrect and misleading. There are only two varieties of Chihuahua, and those are the coat types. The long coat variety has a soft, flat, or slightly wavy coat, while the smooth coat (or shorthaired) variety has a short, close, glossy coat. Both varieties may have an undercoat. Coat colors include black and tan, tri-colored, red, fawn, sable, and brindle.
The head is rounded, with full but not protruding eyes, large erect ears, and a jaunty curved tail that is carried gaily and loops over the back. Grooming this little dog is not difficult. The long haired Chihuahua coat should be combed every other day and checked for tangles, especially behind the ears and in the pantaloons. The smooth variety can be brushed twice a week with a soft bristle brush.
These are not sedentary lap dogs. They like to cuddle, but they also need exercise and playtime. Chihuahuas are moderately active, playful, lively, and alert. Few hours of exercise and playtime are needed each day. The Chihuahua breed’s small size makes this easy, as Chihuahuas can chase a ball or toy across the room or go for a nice walk for lots of exercise. Socialization is important for this breed. They are very loyal to one person, although they will accept other family members and close friends.
With early socialization to people of all ages, Chihuahuas can become more comfortable with people outside the home circle. Even though this is a very small dog, training is very important. Chihuahuas are bright dogs and quick thinkers. Without training, they can take advantage of a permissive owner. Training can be a challenge, but with fair yet fun training techniques, these dogs will learn and will have fun doing it. Chihuahuas are alert little dogs and try to be watchdogs; sometimes they take their job too seriously.
This breed is not necessarily the best choice for children, as the dogs can be fragile. They Chihuahuas prefer older people; however, they will accept children who have been taught to be gentle and to respect them. Health concerns include an open fontanel (soft spot on the skull), knee problems, and hypoglycemia.
Chihuahua Videos
External Links: Wiki ; AKC ; OPD
15 replies on “Chihuahua”
what do you feed them or not///////
We got our first Chihuahua last winter. My daughter works at the local Humane Society where someone had dropped off an older dog (about 15), who grew up in a crack house, named Shake’n Bake. She was adopted out once, but the woman brought her back, complaining that she pooped and peed in the house. It was obvious that the woman had mistreated her for doing so. She was old and suffering from heart disease. No-one wanted the old girl, so she cam home to live her final days with us.
We have three other dogs at home – an 18 yr old Red Healer/Pitbulll mix, a 4 yr old Beagle Border Collie, and a 1 yr old Schnoodle. Dixie fit right in and soon was running and learning how to be a real dog. Unfortunately, her heart wasn’t good and she went into failure about a month ago. We put her o rest in the back yard, along with the various fish, turtles, and birds from over the years. My husband, who never liked chihuahuas, was her biggest fan, and heartbroken when she died.
Just last week, a bevy of chihuahuas was rescued locally and brought to the Humane Society. We immediately fell in love with Archie, an 1-1/2 yr old long hair. My daughter put a bow on him and gave him to my husband as a surprise. He also fell in love.
Archie came from a house where he was never trained, so we have some work to do. That said, he is loving and sweet and cuddles and kisses. He is running and playing well with the other dogs. What a great addition to our family!
Dixie
Chihuahuas are comical, entertaining, and loyal little dogs, absolutely brimming with personality – often a quirky and eccentric personality unmatched by any other breed.
Other than that generalization, Chihuahuas are extremely variable. You can find individuals who are lively or placid. Bold or timid. Feisty or mellow. Confident or nervous. Stubborn or eager to please.
How a Chihuahua turns out depends mightily on the genetic temperament of his parents and grandparents. In other words, entire lines of Chihuahuas are social or antisocial, and if you bring home an individual who has inherited genes for a bad temperament….well, let’s just say it’s not a wise thing to do. Socialization and training often can’t overcome bad genes in a Chihuahua.
But socialization and training are still extremely important! In fact, as long as your Chihuahua has inherited genes for a normal temperament, how you raise him will determine how he turns out.
Chihuahuas do not have a particularly good reputation among the general public. Ask a few people, “Do you think Chihuahuas are nice little dogs?” and see how many of them exclaim, “No! They’re nasty little things who bite!”
I have to say that this reputation has some basis in truth. As I explained, Chihuahuas often inherit genes for a bad temperament…..because so many people breed Chihuahuas whose temperaments are bad. In addition, many people treat their Chihuahua like a stuffed toy or doll, or as a substitute for a human infant. They tote the Chihuahua everywhere in their arms, don’t teach any commands, laugh at signs of aggression, make excuses for bad behavior, and soothe and coo over the dog constantly.
It’s no wonder so many Chihuahuas are neurotic! They’re made that way by their owners. All dogs, whatever their size, must be taught how to walk on their own four feet, how to do what they’re told, and how to get along peacefully with the world.
Now, “getting along peacefully” doesn’t always mean that a Chihuahua LIKES everyone. On the contrary, many Chihuahuas are naturally suspicious toward strangers. But they can be suspicious without letting everyone within earshot know it, or without progressing to threats. It’s up to YOU to draw and enforce the line.
Similarly, while most Chihuahuas get along great with other pets in their own family, they tend to raise a ruckus when they spy a strange dog. Again, YOU have to put a stop to this from day one or it will get out of hand.
Fortunately, there also exist Chihuahuas who are standoffish, but who will eventually approach people in their own good time, especially if the person isn’t pushy or insistent. And some Chihuahuas are very friendly right from the get-go and will go to anyone.
Chihuahuas do seem to recognize and prefer their own breed, so it’s a great idea to keep two of them. They keep each other company when you’re gone, they play together, clean each other’s ears (Chihuahuas can be obsessive ear-lickers!), and keep each other warm by snuggling together.
Chihuahuas adore warmth, oh, yes! They will seek out the tiniest sunspot in which to bask, and they tunnel under blankets and towels. You have to be careful whenever you sit down on your sofa or bed, as there could be a Chihuahua tucked under there!
The most difficult thing to teach a Chihuahua? Housebreaking. Chihuahuas can be VERY difficult to housebreak – one of the most difficult of all breeds – especially in cold or wet weather. Consider an indoor litter box, or a doggy door that leads out to a covered potty area.
Hi, I have adopted 3 long haired chihuhuas about a year ago and I adore them. I have two questions……i wanted to know if it’s normal for this kind of breed to have watery eyes and since it’s fur is light coloured it has always dark circles under his eyes . My biggest issue is that one of them is afraid of my husband and no matter what we do to make him feel secure he doesn’t trust him and is afraid of him no matter what, he even pees on my husband’s side of sofa and I’m sure he does it on purpose. I can assure that my husband is a dog lover and he never hit him or anything…..I will appreciate any comment. Thanks.
Most Timidity Is Preventable: When it comes to raising a confident well-adjusted puppy, an ounce of prevention is certainly worth a pound of cure. By socializing one’s puppy early on with a variety of new and unfamiliar people (including calm and gentle children), on a regular and ongoing basis (for at least the first two years of the dog’s life), you can help prevent serious behavioral problems such as shyness, timidity, and aggression from developing as the puppy matures. Once a puppy has all of his puppy shots (usually by 16 weeks of age), he should also be socialized with other friendly dogs, and acclimated to new environments beyond the owner’s home and property, by being taken for regular daily walks on a leash. Puppies raised in country and suburban environments should be gradually acclimated to city noises such as traffic noise, crowds of people and other everyday life scenerios early on. A weekly visit into town (beginning when the puppy is around 8 to 10 weeks of age) can be very helpful in preventing environmental phobias. In order to prevent exposure to disease, puppies with fewer than 3 or 4 series of vaccinations, should avoid contact with unfamiliar dogs, and be carried (in a Sherpa Bag, Snuggly or crate) to avoid contact with the sidewalk (or any other public areas where other dogs may frequent).
What To Do If Timidity Has Already Taken Hold: While preventive steps are best, should your puppy or adolescent dog already show signs of timidity, he should be gradually introduced to many new and unfamiliar people, until your puppy develops more confidence and trust. The following tips may be useful as a general guideline: Visitors and passersby should avoid suddenly reaching out to pet your puppy, as allowing a stranger to approach a timid puppy right away is likely to increase the puppy’s fear as well as his inclination to react defensively. In fact, when a timid puppy is first introduced to someone unfamiliar to him, the person should remain relatively still and quiet, avoid eye contact with the puppy, offer non-confrontational body language, and allow the puppy to approach the person and initiate contact. The puppy should never be forced or dragged over to meet someone he is fearful of. Asking the visitor to crouch down near the floor, with their body facing at an angle AWAY from the puppy, and their hand slightly extended to the side while holding a small puppy treat, may help the puppy to gain enough confidence to approach. The puppy should be allowed to sniff the person, and to take the treat from their hand, without the person talking to or reaching towards the puppy. Even if the puppy continues to show fearfulness, the owner should remain upbeat, and resist the temptation to coddle or “poor baby” the puppy. Once the puppy appears to feel a bit more secure, the visitor should slowly begin petting the puppy under the chin, and continue offering him small treats. These steps should be repeated with as many new people as possible, in as many new environments as possible, until the puppy develops sufficient confidence around new people.
Timidity Around Other Dogs: Fully immunized puppies who are timid around other dogs, should be socialized with other friendly, easy-going puppies (and dogs), begining with small to medium-sized puppies, then very gradually introduced to larger, more active ones, over a period of a few weeks. Observe both puppies’ body language as the meet, interact, and get to know eachother. For especially timid or sensitive puppies, one-on-one puppy play sessions are usually best. Supervised puppy play groups and puppy kindergarden classes may also be helpful, provided that bigger, more dominant puppies are not allowed to bully or intimidate the more timid ones. Puppies should be properly matched by size, age, dominance, activity level and temperament. Unsupervised group “free-for-alls” can in fact be very counter-productive. Ideally, an experienced dog trainer or behaviorial consultant should supervise all play activity and be present to prevent any overly aggressive interactions between puppies.
Chihuahuas have never been a breed I thought I would like, but we ended up with one that was a stray and took up residence at our house one day about 3 months ago. He was scraggly and thin and dirty, but , oh my goodness, SO sweet.
We took him in, bathed him and fed him and we instantly had a little loveable friend for life, lol!
It was so cute the way he ran around all excited after his bath. The kids love him and play with him constantly. I have a large family, so there is never any shortage of attention for him and believe me, he LOVES attention.
The children named him Scout since we didn’t know what his real name was, and he learned it so fast.
I am amazed at how fast he picks up on the tricks the children teach him. He goes with them everywhere and since he’s so small, that is easy to do!
My daughter even carries him around in a little bag she has and he loves it because he has already figured out that when he gets in the bad, he gets to go somewhere. He likes to sleep on their beds, and seems to switch beds each night. Makes me wonder if he’s purposely giving each of the kids a turn!
I admit that my whole viewpoint on Chihuahuas has changed because of our new family member. He gets along great with our ferrets, our cats and even our two big labs.
They’ve all accepted him, so he is one happy, active dog with a LOT of “friends” now. He is a constant source of laughter for our family and I am really glad that he ended up on our porch.
He’s not underweight anymore, and loves his nightly milk bone treat. That’s his signal that it’s time for bed, lol.
Our Chihuahua was only about six weeks old when my family adopted her and named her Suzy.
Initially she was very scared but slowly she started liking us. Now she is cute, adorable and super snuggly and likes to play a lot with me and my family.
Even though she is super loyal to all my family members but I think she has a really soft spot reserved for me. Suzy is usually quiet pleasant but gets really grouchy if no one takes her for a walk in the park at least once every day. She is very fond of all the little children at the park and playing with them really makes her day.
She loves her snacks but simply adore them if I am the one to serve her food.
She also makes a great fuss during her nap time. She simply loves to hog the bed and will continue to burrow until she finds the perfect spot to settle in or the night. Even though she usually lie right next to me in the bed but it is really funny to find her at different places in the morning. Sometimes I find her at my feet, on other occasions near my backside.
Recently we bought her a new dog bed but she flatly refused to sleep there. So I had to place one of the sheets from my bed to make her sleep there since she will only sleep on blankets or sheets with my scent on them.
Suzy is really feisty and loves to bark at other dogs. However she is a bit afraid of people especially men but really become friendlier once she gets to know them.
This makes our darling Chihuahua probably the only dog on the on the planet who does not long to bite the mailman.
Mischa Barton loves small, fluffy dogs and, if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that her dogs are much better groomed than her boyfriends. She usually carries her pooch, Ziggy, in one arm and her ‘It’ bag in the other.
Hollywood ledge Mickey Rourke was devastated by the death of his beloved 18-year-old Chihuahua, Loki – so much so in fact, that the actor took to wearing a picture of the pooch on a chain around his neck, even dedicating his Best Actor Golden Globe to the dearly departed Loki. Mickey stills owns five other Chihuahuas – including this newest addition to the Rourke family, who is never far from his side.
Diva Starr is a delightful 4-pound Chihuahua. She has the best personality and gets along with everyone; human and canine. She is friendly, outgoing and funny. She is a ball of energy and scurries around like a little bunny. Diva can bark, but she seldom does. Diva’s only bad habit is that she is a chewer; she will chew on anything. My remedy…plenty of chew toys and snacks. She enjoys the “Blue” products; the food, the cookies and the snacks. She is delightful. I have not yet met a person that did not love her almost as much as I do. I’m sure you’ll love her too. She’ll make good commercials don’t you think?
Hi there, your pup looks exactly like our little man, Jack. Wondering if you knew what (if any) other breeds are in there?
Blondie, our Chihuahua is 9 years old and has been riding with us for 5 of those years. Blondie has ridden over 1000 miles. We take her with us on long trips. If we stop to eat she has a bag she sits in quietly while we eat (of course food is snuck into the bag for her). She is the most amazing dog I have ever owned. She loves to be with us wherever we go. I make leather riding pouches and leather outfits for dogs. I sell them at motorcycle rallies and she is a great model. The picture I’m sending in was taken by our friend we were on our way to ride the Bonnie and Clyde ride in Louisiana. My dog is a balanced dog. In fact, we watch Cesar on a regular basis. On one of his episodes he was helping a couple in California get their dog, a Jack Russell, to ride. In the beginning of that episode the dog is wearing one of my outfits that was purchased on eBay. By the way, I am a dog groomer so she gets to go to work with me every day.
We got Stoli (right) 3 years ago when we were in college back east at UNC. She is a short-coat fawn with black sable. As she grew older the black sable faded and she is almost completely fawn except for the black stripe on her tail. We had to work hard to keep her from getting “small dog syndrome, ” which makes many toy breeds like chihuahua yappy and disliked by strangers. She bonded with many friends and family members and I took her to class with me and on the bus. I even took her babysitting with me and she now LOVES kids which is not a common trait in small dogs. Because of our hard work to treat her like a dog and not a fragile little toy she is very well behaved and not terrified of people and new surroundings. She also knows over 15 tricks and loves to perform! Stoli is 3.8 pounds and almost 3 years old. Just over a month ago we decided to get a playmate for Stoli that was her own size. This first picture is Roxi at 8 weeks and 15 ounces. She is a longhaired Chihuahua and should get up to 3-3.5 pounds as an adult. Her full long hair will not mature until she is around 1 1/2 years old, and in the meantime she will go through “puppy uglies” which is the awkward teenager stage for long-coated breeds between their puppy and adult coats. Her color is technically black and tan with a partial white collar and white feet. She also has merle markings that give the spotted blue and black pattern to her coat. The merle gene leeches out the most of the color from the black part of her coat leaving the grey/blue areas. It has also affected her eye color, which is marbled blue and brown. The merle Chihuahua is banned from some organizations around the world, but the AKC still allows for it in the show ring. The reason for this is possible health concerns associated with the gene. But we love little Roxi to death and she is completely healthy and growing fast! Walking around town with these two we get stopped constantly to be asked what kind of dogs they are and to tell us how cute they are. Recently we have been hearing kids yell out “Mommy look they are from Beverly Hills!” due to the new Disney movie.
These are our Chihuahua babies, from left: Maxwell (6 months), Milo (9 months) and Matilda (also 9 months). While Milo and Matilda are on the bigger side of the Chi scale at 7 and 9 lbs., Maxwell is on the more average size at about 4½ lbs. Milo is a bit more on the lazy side compared to the other two and sometimes will just sit and watch the others play. He is also a bit insecure which we are working on with him. They are all very loving however and are always anxious to share kisses with their humans and with each other alike. Sometimes they’ll lie in the sun bathing each other’s faces and making sure they are all looking their best. Then they will burrow in blankets, pillows, etc. until they fluff it up just enough to get comfortable and then proceed to take a long nap. While none of them are the “alpha” (that’s the humans job, isn’t it?!) our female, Matilda is by far the most bossy out of the group. If she wants to play, you’d better play or else you’ll get a “donkey kick” until she gets a reaction. Typical female! (and yes, I can say that because I AM a female! :o)