10 Things You Should Know Before Owning a Chihuahua

If you have ever seen a chihuahua, even in passing, you have likely noticed that these tiny dogs have a tendency to tremble. There are many causes for this, but the main one, at least in northern areas, is simply being cold.

The chihuahua is a tiny dog that can trace its roots to Mexico and Central America. Combine its natural preference for warm weather with its small size and short fur, and it should be no wonder that chihuahuas shed heat easily. When cold, chihuahuas tremble in the same way, humans shiver when they are cold. The extra movement helps to generate more body heat and reduce the effects of the cold.

Cold is not the only reason they tremble, however. Another common cause is simply excitement. Puppies can easily get very excited, and not knowing how to handle the excitement, literally begin to tremble. They can also tremble out of fear. Just because these little dogs are incredibly brave, does not mean that they are not afraid.

In rare cases, trembling can also be caused by health problems such as hypoglycemia, so if your pup routinely trembles when it is warm, safe, and calm, you may want to get them checked out by your vet.

This is good news for those looking for a purebred chihuahua. Unlike many other purebreds, the chihuahua does not suffer from severe genetic diseases that result from generations of inbreeding. This is likely due to the fact that the chihuahua is a fairly recently recognized breed.

The AKC only began recognizing the chihuahua as an official breed back in 1904. Additionally, the chihuahua was not bred to its current form through eugenics. Instead, the breed evolved naturally over time. Combine these two factors, and the chihuahua gene pool is fairly large compared to other purebreds.

Since they have a higher degree of genetic diversity and fewer genetic illnesses, chihuahuas tend to live 10-13 years, often more. The main cause of premature death among chihuahuas is injury, not illness. Thanks to their small size, chihuahuas are very prone to injuries from accidents that larger dogs wouldn’t even notice.

Some common causes of injury and death to be aware of are falls, falling objects, other animals, and choking. Chihuahuas usually like to be held, but not always. This can lead them to struggle to break free and falling. A fall of just a few feet can be enough to hurt your pup seriously, so if they are struggling, place them on the ground gently.

Another common cause of injury is falling objects. Your pup may pull objects off of a table or shelf, or you could drop something when they are underfoot. For larger dogs, unless something is particularly heavy, they are usually just fine, but toy breeds can suffer severe injuries.

As they are so small, chihuahuas can be targeted by birds of prey. These large birds can easily grab your pup and fly away. If you live in an area where large birds of prey are common, consider running strands of monofilament fishing line across your yard in a crisscrossing fashion. Keep the threads several feet apart, but make sure they cross. This can prevent birds from entering your yard thanks to the way the filament refracts light. For humans, it is unnoticeable, but for birds of prey, it gives the appearance of a solid barrier.

Chihuahuas are excellent dogs when socialized properly, and can make good family dogs, providing all children are at least over the age of 10. Going back to their fragility, chihuahuas can be severely injured by well-meaning children. Children are still developing their motor skills and often cannot help but be clumsy. It is not their fault; it is simply how the human brain and body develop.

Just because it is not the fault of the child, does not excuse what can happen when children are around chihuahuas. This can also be dangerous for the children as well, as the chihuahua could bite in self-defense. Defensive biting is particularly common with loud, active children.

Since children and chihuahuas do not mesh well, chihuahuas are generally best reserved for adult households. Teenage children can also be acceptable as by this point, most children have developed their motor skills as well as begun to calm down as their bodies and minds develop.

You should never have a chihuahua in the same home as a toddler or baby. Babies are usually acceptable, but once they reach the toddler phase, this is no longer the case. Toddlers tend to pet animals far too hard for their liking and treat them more like toys than animals. It is not the fault of the toddler, but this is little comfort to a dog being crushed in a toddler hug. Again, defensive biting can occur, so keep toddlers away.

Chihuahuas are willing to stand up to anything, no matter how big. They bark at great Danes and malamutes just as fiercely as they bark at smaller dogs like other chihuahuas. This is because they do not seem to realize just how small they are.

Thanks to their perception that they are as large as anything else, they tend to be very vocal and do not hesitate to bark at intruders. Sure, your little pup isn’t going to scare anyone off, but they can let you know that someone is here, whether they should be or not.

This behavior can be helpful and even cute, in the right circumstances, but anyone who has had a territorial chihuahua can tell you that the barking can get old very quickly. This is especially true for those who live in apartments. Nothing irritates neighbors and dog parents alike like a pup barking at one of the neighbors coming home from work at 2 A.M.  Since this behavior is part of the breed, it is vital to discourage barking and socialize chihuahuas early. If left alone, they can become aggressive toward strangers and even bite people they do not like.

The average chihuahua weighs less than 10 pounds. While this makes them adorable and easy to provide for, it also means that their legs and joints tend to be weak. This is from a combination of lack of use as well as a genetic tendency towards smaller muscles. This is not a genetic disease, but rather a side effect of their size. Since they are so light, their leg muscles and joints are rarely put under any real stress, which can lead to them weakening over time.

Preventing this weakness is easy but must be done consistently. The most important thing to do is to make sure your pup gets plenty of exercises. You can even talk to your vet about adding a small amount of weight when you take them for a walk. The added weight can increase joint and muscle strength and prevent atrophy over time.

Like humans, as dogs get older, their muscles and joints deteriorate. The solution is the same in both cases, exercise. Exercise is great for preventative maintenance, but once the damage is done, it is difficult to reverse. Your pup may be unwilling or unable to exercise as much as they need to in order to rebuild their muscles.

In extreme cases, surgery may be needed to repair joint damage in older chihuahuas. While this surgery can be expensive, it is necessary to prevent your pup from being in pain.

Housebreaking your pup is a must for anyone that allows their dog inside. Today most people let their furry friends live inside the house, rather than relegating them to the yard. This is a big improvement over just a few decades ago when it was far more common for dogs to be left outside, rain or shine, hot or cold.

A chihuahua is not as resilient to the elements as larger dogs. Sure, they can do fine in warmer climates, but they dislike the cold and can quickly succumb to hypothermia.

Like other toy breeds, chihuahuas are very difficult to housebreak. That is not to say that you cannot housebreak them. The key is to start early and be consistent. If you are still not able to housebreak your pup properly, you can try alternatives. Training a chihuahua to use a litter box is easy, but you cannot use cat litter. Your dog can eat the litter and make themselves sick, so special litter is necessary. Alternatively, you can try teaching them to use the toilet.

While it is certainly easier to teach a cat to use the toilet than a dog, it can be done. If you choose to go this route, you must always be sure to leave the lid up and seat down for your pup and also provide them with a step to get up to it. This takes a great amount of commitment, but once you have trained your pup to use the toilet, you don’t have to worry about finding a mess on the carpet anymore.

While it is not uncommon to see designer dog breeds of different sizes, this is not the case with the chihuahua. Over the last several decades, breeders have begun to use other terms to describe the size of dog breeds such as the toy poodle, or miniature dachshund. The AKC, however, only recognizes chihuahuas in one size, toy.

This is important to note because some breeders attach a size label to the chihuahua in order to try and charge a higher price for the pup. Teacup and toy are common attachments, but these have no official meaning. If you see a breeder using these terms, it is likely they are a disreputable breeder anyway and should be avoided. At worst, you save some money by not falling for their scam, and at best, you avoid getting a pup with serious health problems and deny sales to a bad breeder.

Breeders that attempt to scam people with such terms are much more likely to be running puppy mills or overbreeding their dogs. In these cases, inbreeding is a common occurrence, and puppies may be locked in a cage until they are sold.

In Aztec culture, yellow was seen as the color of death. Since chihuahuas are often yellow in color, the breed became associated with dying and passing on to the afterlife. They believed that when someone died, the chihuahua would guide their soul through the nine rivers to the underworld.

Unfortunately, this association with death often meant that when someone died, their survivors would sacrifice their dog as well. This was meant to allow the dog to accompany them and guide them through death. If the deceased did not have a yellow dog, they would find one and sacrifice it. Ideally, the sacrifice was performed before the death of the person, but this was not always possible.

Many believe this is why General Santa Anna always had a yellow dog with him on the battlefield. If he died on the battlefield, his men would have killed the dog as well so that he could successfully enter the afterlife.

While this may seem extreme today, it was a common practice in pre-Columbian Mexico and many other parts of the world, though using different animals. To understand the Aztec fascination with death, it is important to note that the Aztecs believed that blood-fed the sun god Hu?tzil?p?chtli who was in a constant battle with the moon and stars who were trying to kill him. If he ever weakened, the Aztecs believed that the world would be consumed by darkness. While it is easy to decry such traditions today, when you consider their reasons, it is hard to blame the Aztecs for their use of human sacrifices.

Gidget, better known as the Taco Bell Dog, was a female chihuahua used in Taco Bell advertisements throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Using voice-overs, the ads featured Gidget urging the viewer to go to Taco Bell. Gidget sadly died in 2009 at the ripe old age of 15. Even for a chihuahua, Gidget lived a long life. At the time the ads ran, she was one of the most famous dogs in the world. If you exclude Paris Hilton’s chihuahua, which most people do, Gidget is perhaps the only famous chihuahua in the US.

Gidget was originally cast to play the girlfriend of the Taco Bell dog, not the lead role itself. The director, however, made a last-minute decision to make Gidget the lead dog, making her one of the most famous dogs in the world at the time. Even today, many 90s kids remember Gidget with great fondness, despite the clearly racist overtones of the commercials by today’s standards.

Chihuahuas have a lot going for them in the grooming department. While their fur can vary from short to medium length, they are generally very easy to keep clean and well-groomed. Their fur is very fine and only a single coat, thanks to their warm nature. This means a light brushing is all that is typically required to keep their fur healthy.

Though they do not shed much, chihuahuas do shed, particularly when it gets warmer. You are not going to find massive clumps of fur like you can with long-haired breeds, but occasional patches should be expected. Again, a light brushing is all that is required to deal with this.

Thanks to their small size, bathing chihuahuas is easy, and they often enjoy a nice warm bath. Just make sure that the water is warm, but not hot. Too cold and your pup can freeze, making bath time uncomfortable for both of you and making your pup reluctant to get in the bath in the future. Too warm and the water can easily scald their sensitive skin. Remember, dogs have much more sensitive skin than humans. This is especially true since they are not bathed as much, so their skin does not grow accustomed to the heat and lack of oils.

Overbathing can also be a problem. You should not bath your chihuahua more than once every two weeks. One per week is acceptable but can dry out your pup’s skin, so be sure to use a gentle, moisturizing shampoo.

Conclusion

Chihuahuas, while a fairly recently recognized breed, are actually one of the oldest dog breeds still in existence today. These pups can trace their lineage back potentially thousands of years in Mexico and Central America. The breed has certainly changed over time, mostly by getting smaller, but their key features have remained the same. Even today, chihuahuas have less than 2% European mitochondrial DNA.

The chihuahua has a long history in the region and has even served as a guide to the afterlife for the Aztec civilization. Records indicate that they may have been used for food, but since these records come from Conquistadores trying to demonize the non-Christian natives to dog-loving Europeans, it is likely that these stories are entirely fabricated.

The chihuahua is one of the most loving dogs around, and they are easy to care for, even in a small space. This makes them the ideal companion for apartment dwellers and people who have difficulty getting around. They are also a sure-fire way to make a new friend when out in public since no one can resist stopping to see a chihuahua curled up in a pocket.