Chiweenie is a cross between the Chihuahua and the Dachshund. The best way to determine the temperament of a mixed breed is to look up all breeds in the cross and know you can get any combination of any of the characteristics found in either breed. Not all of these designer hybrid dogs being bred are pure. It is very common for breeders to breed multi-generation crosses.
It is common for the Chiweenie to have the long body and build of a Dachshund. They may have long floppy ears like the Dachshund or perky ears of the Chihuahua. A fully grown Chiweenie can weigh between 5 to 10 pounds and stands around 8 inches tall.
The Chiweenie is a very sweet, gentle, intelligent, affectionate, protective dog with a high energy level. They are very well behaved but may bond more with one owner like the Chihuahua and tend to listen to that person better than the rest of the family. Some Chiweenies bark very little while others bark excessively when the hear somebody outside, when visitors arrive or when they feel threatened.
The Chiweenie requires very little food and is able to self-regulate their eating habits. It has been reported that some tend to be picky eaters and get sick of their food after a while and need have it changed while others will eat just about anything. They may be fed dry or canned food twice a day.
The Chiweenie is an overall healthy dog. The life expectancy of the Chiweenie is around 15 years of age.
3 replies on “Chiweenie”
Jager’s dad is a purebred miniature Dachshund (he has the exact coloring) and his mom is a red Chiweenie (half mini Dachshund / half Chihuahua)
Jager is about 14 weeks old now. He is a very happy, wiggly little boy who aims to please. He loves attention—sometimes he will whine or bark for it, although he does not get attention when he does this. He gets lots of ‘good boy and ‘good Jager’ when he is quiet and behaving. He is learning ‘sit’ and ‘down,’ although I find him so excitable for the treat, it takes extra time and patience for him to calm down enough to do the trick. I am using clicker training, and he seems to respond well. He loves his ball—he can already play fetch! He caught on to that fairly quickly. I live in a condo, so I try to take him on at least two 10-15 minute walks a day, seeing as I don’t have a yard for him. He follows at my heel so well, that he is usually off leash.
He is a beautiful coloring, and so small. One couple thought he was a ferret at first, and I have heard he looks like a rat or mouse more than once. Mostly, I have people ooohing and awwwing and telling me he is the cutest, tiniest thing they have seen. He is on the small side—I almost wish he wasn’t going to grow much more.
This is our Chiweenie Sham Wow! (We just call him Sham.) We adopted him from a local animal shelter when he was about 10 weeks old. He had been taken from his original owner because that person had more animals than allowed by city ordinance. We realized that the shelter had rescued dozens of other small purebred dogs and puppies from that person’s house. Many of them were in very bad condition —covered in fleas, dirty and un-groomed, but in spite of the bad environment they had been living in, they were still friendly and social.
About a week after we brought Sham home he became very sick, and we almost lost him. The shelter had given him a vaccination, but it was too late to prevent him from contracting distemper. The vet worked very hard to save him and help him get better, but for a few weeks we did not think he would make it. Sham is certainly a fighter—he recovered from the disease, but sadly, some of his littermates were not so lucky. The distemper also caused a permanent twitch in his left leg, so that he is constantly “bobbing” up and down when he stands.
He is now 10 months old, and he’s a rowdy, enthusiastic, and feisty little “teenage” dog! Other than the twitch in his leg, you would never know that he had been so terribly sick.
“Now that he is a healthy teenage Dachshund / Chihuahua mix, we are working diligently to make sure that he does not become the king of the house. We watch The Dog Whisperer all the time—Cesar’s advice has worked wonders with our Beagle (and we all know how those Beagles can be!), so now we’re making sure that Sham grows up to be a “balanced dog” too.
“I try to share Sham’s story as often as possible for two reasons. First, to help discourage people from buying from puppy mills or other disreputable breeders. I believe that his original owner may have been using all those small dogs for breeding and selling puppies. Obviously the owner could not properly care for all of them, and sadly, several of them died as a result of the disease and parasite infested environment. Secondly, to encourage people to get their dogs vaccinated—and to keep their vaccinations up-to-date! Canine Distemper is a horrific disease—dogs don’t usually survive, and they suffer unimaginable physical deterioration as the disease progresses. Please don’t risk losing your family’s loving companion—be sure to get them vaccinated!!
This is my Chiweenie Buster. He is about 8 months old here. His ears are always up and he is very aware of everything that is going on unless he is tired then both his ears flop over and his eyes get droopy. He has such a great personality, he grew up coming to work with me and he has all my co-workers wrapped; he goes to one for food, another for a belly rub and another for cuddles. When he gets a new toy or a treat he has to walk to each desk showing it off! He loves kids, when we are out for walks he has to go get pets from them all. When he was young I would take his treats away from him or put my hands around his mouth while he was eating, so that when there is a child around and they do that he would not bite them, and that worked when my friend’s 2-year-old is grabbing things from him. He just sits and waits for her to lose interest then he picks it up again. I love watching Dog Whisperer and I have used some of his methods, such as making Buster wait for me to enter/exit the house before he can come in. When I am outside with him, if I see another dog or a person I say “No Bark” and he will watch them closely but he will not bark. He is a very smart dog, I get lots of compliments on how well behaved he is. I have not really had any problems with training; he was pretty easy to housetrain and he learns tricks quickly.