Chihuahua Puppies

The Techichi, and the state that named the breed

Long before anyone said the word Chihuahua, there was the Techichi — a small companion dog kept by the Toltec people of central Mexico more than a thousand years ago. The Techichi was larger and heavier than the dog you know, and it lived alongside people rather than working for them, which is a useful thing to understand about a breed that still prefers a lap to a lawn.

When the Aztecs took over from the Toltecs in the twelfth century, the type came with them and grew smaller and finer in their hands. After the Spanish arrived in the 1500s the dogs went quiet in the written record for three centuries, carrying on in villages in the north of the country. Then, in the mid-1800s, American travellers began buying tiny dogs from vendors in the state of Chihuahua, carried them home, and named the breed after the place they found it. The American Kennel Club recognized the Chihuahua in 1904.

So the modern Chihuahua is not a novelty of the last century. It is one of the oldest companion breeds in the Americas, and the job it was bred for — being with somebody — is exactly the job it still does.

Six pounds of dog, and all of it in use

The breed standard is unusual in that it sets a ceiling rather than a floor: a Chihuahua should not weigh more than six pounds. Most stand five to eight inches at the shoulder. That makes it the smallest recognized breed in the world, and the size is not a quirk of the dog — it is the entire premise of it.

The head is the signature. A well-rounded skull, the famous apple dome, with a short muzzle meeting it at a definite stop, and large, round, luminous eyes set well apart. The ears are big, held erect when the dog is paying attention — which is most of the time — and flaring out to about forty-five degrees when it is not. The tail is moderately long and carried up in a sickle curve or looped over the back, and the standard likes to see it up.

Underneath, the body is a little longer than it is tall, with a level back and a surprisingly deep small chest. The gait is brisk and level and covers ground. What people notice standing over one for the first time is not delicacy but posture: a Chihuahua holds itself like a much larger animal and moves as though it has somewhere to be.

Smooth coat, long coat, and every colour there is

There are two coat varieties and they are the same breed. The smooth coat is close, glossy and soft, usually with a ruff of slightly longer hair at the neck and very little on the head and ears. The long coat is soft and flat or a touch wavy, with feathering on the ears, a plumed tail, feathering down the legs and a fuller ruff. Long coats arrive slowly, so a long-coated puppy often looks almost smooth for the first few months and then furnishes up over its first year.

Colour is wide open — the standard permits any colour, solid, marked or splashed. Fawn, cream, red, sable, chocolate, black and tan, blue, and every one of those combined with white. Two puppies in the same pen rarely look much alike.

Neither coat asks for much. Smooths want a rubber brush or a soft glove once a week, which lifts the loose hair and brings up a shine at the same time. Longs want a comb through a couple of times a week, particularly behind the ears and under the front legs. Both wash easily and dry fast.

Nails matter more on a dog this small than the coat does, since long ones change the way it stands, so trim a little and often rather than waiting. Ears get a wipe while you brush. Teeth are worth brushing from the first week, at which point a Chihuahua decides the toothbrush is simply another thing that happens in the evening. Ten minutes a week covers the whole job.

The one-person habit

Chihuahuas pick somebody. Most of them spread their affection across a household and then keep one clear favourite, and the favourite gets a level of attention no other breed quite matches — followed room to room, watched from the arm of the chair, escorted to the kitchen and back again. This is the oldest thing about the breed, and it is the reason people who have owned one go on to own another.

With visitors they take their time. A Chihuahua makes up its own mind about a new person, in its own way and at its own pace, and once it has decided you belong to it, you belong to it for life. Puppies that get out into the world often through the first year — different floors, umbrellas, hats, wheeled bins, calm dogs, people of every size — find the world a very manageable place, and that early travelling is the single best thing you can give one.

They also have a voice, and they use it to report. Somebody at the door, the mail arriving, a squirrel taking liberties: a Chihuahua will tell you. Most owners settle into the same short routine — go and look together, thank the dog, and get on with the day — and taught from the first week that a report ends with a thank-you, a Chihuahua keeps the whole business brief.

And they are warmth-seekers. A Chihuahua will locate the warmest square foot in the house and install itself in it: a patch of sun, a folded blanket, the inside of a sleeve, the small of your back at two in the morning. A soft-sided bed with a blanket to burrow under is the best few dollars you will spend, and a light coat by the door is worth having for a cool morning.

Training a very small dog with very clear ideas

Chihuahuas are clever, quick to read a room, and strongly motivated by two things: food and your attention. Keep sessions to a couple of minutes, ask for one behaviour at a time, mark it the instant it happens, and stop while the dog still wants another go.

Two things repay real time early. The first is handling — being picked up, held, combed, having feet touched and nails done. Start with ten seconds and a treat and build from there, and the next fifteen years of grooming take care of themselves. The second is house training, which goes best when it is boring and predictable: outside first thing, after meals, after naps, after play, and a proper celebration every single time it happens outdoors. A small dog has a small tank, so frequent trips do most of the work for you.

The third, and the one owners are gladdest they taught, is a cheerful recall and a wait at doorways. A dog this size is quick on its feet, and a habit of checking in is worth more than any amount of equipment.

What a day with a Chihuahua looks like

Two short walks suit a Chihuahua well, and the walk is about the news rather than the distance. In a Florida or Tennessee summer the early and late hours are the pleasant ones, and a shaded route is worth going out of your way for. A harness rather than a collar is the usual choice.

Indoors, the day fills itself. Five minutes of fetch down a hallway does as much for a dog this size as a long route march, and a treat hidden under one of three cups keeps the mind busy for a surprisingly long stretch. Chihuahuas are also excellent travellers — a carrier the dog likes is a door into the rest of your life, and most of them would far rather come along than stay home.

Evenings are the point of the whole arrangement. This is a companion breed by a thousand years of selection, and a Chihuahua that has walked, played, reported on the mail and been properly included will spend the evening pressed into somebody, one ear still up in case anything else happens.

Come and meet the Chihuahua puppies

Photographs make a Chihuahua look like an ornament. Standing over one, what you notice is the confidence: how squarely it stands, how directly it looks up at you, and how quickly it is working out which person in the room it intends to belong to.

Our Chihuahua puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can tell you how a particular puppy has been getting on with people and whether the coat is coming in smooth or long. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to sit on the floor and let a puppy come to you before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.