Chihuahuas?

So my coworkers think I'm crazy, but I'm on a chihuahua tear. I want to know more.

A friend of a friend has the coolest chi ever, and he's what sparks my interest. He tugs like a maniac, roars around after the big guys on group walks, plays flyball, swims, good off switch in the house, was easy to housebreak, totally charming with strangers but not manic TOUCH ME PET ME EVERYONE like a lab or pittie, say. He's her go anywhere do anything dog. Is he an anomaly or are there super cool little dogs out there like him?

What I'm mostly interested in is
-energy levels
-drive (food, toys, could they dabble recreationally in dog stuff?)
-ease of housetraining
-health concerns

All the while understanding everything will vary hugely by line. Are there chihuahua breeders out there doing stuff with their dogs? Or are they almost entirely show/companion based?

My BF is drawn to smaller dogs, but we both still want a dog that can hike and play and go to classes. Going on a few walks with this super fabulous chihuahua we met has got us considering one down the road.

Mine is a pet store purchase / rehome from god only knows where. In my limited experience with the breed, you describe a bit of an anomaly.

- Energy levels are okay. Mega can keep up if we go on a hike, but is generally easy to manage and quick to settle at home.

- Mega's love of food is HUGE. She likes to tug and fetch in small doses. If I'd had her when she was a pup I might have been able to foster those interests into something beyond short play sessions. I toyed with the idea of doing some starters agility with her, but :effort:. She would come out and do demos with my team and generally handled it well, but could get startled and overwhelmed by the crowds.

- Ease of housetraining? Not easy. When the weather gets cold, I always expect regression.

- Health concerns. A few. Mega has crappy knees and periodic back pain. She stresses very easily and will go off her food (and as a result she feels crappier and less inclined to eat).


I wouldn't recommend the breed to anyone in a colder climate. They're not my cup of tea, but are to many other people's tastes. I would say that Mega is a bit more rough & tumble than a lot of Chis I know, but is still pretty fragile.

I remember reading your struggles with Mega. Thanks for the input. I imagine with their popularity and the huge numbers of byb or hobby breeders it'll be tough to find what I'm looking for. Going to pick this particular chi's breeder's brains a bit once I get contact info.

Your description sounds like a lot of the well bred, well raised chis I've known! I love the breed because of the dogs like that.

I'd say half the chis I know are like that, and half are snappy fear aggressive little dudes that shake if you put them on the ground. I'm pretty sure the breed is supposed to be like the former lol.

Eta: as far as hiking buddies and stuff, plenty can keep up for a while but they're SMALL with small legs. Most chis aren't gonna handle a 7 mile hike and back. They'll get there, but you'll carry them back lol. They can definitely keep up with an average family, go for walks and hang out at the park and run around the backyard, but if you're looking for an athletic companion primarily I'd knock them off. A JRT or other small terrier is probably better suited to that kind of description

My trainer runs a chi in masters USDAA. She's hilarious and quite the local trial scene celebrity. She regularly beats the other dogs in our school as far as numbers of Qs. She's tiny, made Summer look like a giant dog.

I love the breed. I lost one of my two Chihuahuas last year to CHF just 4 months short of 14 years of age. I still have my boy, Jose` who' 13. I use to live in the extreme north panhandle of Idaho where it gets very cold in the winter...not every day but a lot of the time. There were hiking trails galore and we hiked every day pretty much with my Doberman and Lab. Those little scamps were great hiking buddies and could go through places those bigger dogs couldn't...through brush, under fallen logs and they kept right up with the big dogs. The Lab and Dobe would tend to run ahead a ways, then "check in" and come back to me...back and forth often. So, because of that, the Chi's didn't run quite as far. But our hikes ranged from an hour or a mile or two to 9 miles when we went to the upper Lake. (Priest Lake) This is a pristine wilderness area and I had acreage and was surrounded by thousands of acres. These dogs had to learn some things to keep them and me safe on hikes. They had to be exceptionally obedient with the recall, had to get back onto the trail when asked when I'd let them run off to the sides a little bit....not out of my sight though. They had to have some practice with the recall in spite of being enticed by prey.

In the winter, those trails were too piled up with snow so we'd walk around the golf course or the little roads around there. The little girl, Chulita occasionally needed a coat but Jose` hates coats and happens to have a thicker fur coat of his own. (these were byb dogs) Anyhow, a well bred Chi ought to be fairly tough if kept exercised. But I wouldn't over do it either. Lots of our hikes were just an hour long and not too difficult. You don't want them to get an enlarged heart. But as far as keeping up, I had no difficulty with that.

I like their play antics...very unusual and fun. I always loved how they could be playful, but the second I'd stop playing and sit down, they'd be curling up right near me...kind of matched what my mood was. Mine weren't and aren't hyper in the least, not that high energy but enough, (nothing like my Poodles) lol. And were just dear little dogs. I found Chulita to be smart enough, but it did take her several more repetitions to learn a new thing. Jose` is very quick to learn. So, I suppose that might vary. They're loyal, little dogs and easy to care for, minus watching for birds of prey, bigger dogs that might hurt them, being careful not to step on them, warning others in the house or putting them away when unfamiliar visitors are around. There are some precautions with any tiny dog. But otherwise, easy to bathe, feed, travel with. They shed a little but not a ton since they're so small. (I prefer the Poodles in that respect) Chulita came with dirty puppy syndrome and took me quite a while to get her house broken. Jose` got onto it in a matter of weeks. So, who knows? I think if you're very diligent and don't give too much freedom too soon around the house, lots of reward when they go outside, they should be able to learn as well as any dog.

I think they're a relatively healthy breed. But they do have their potential issues. You can research that and see what you find. Be sure and don't do what I did. Go to a reputable breeder. Mine turned out pretty well...lived to a pretty ripe age and both had/have terrific temperaments. But sometimes un-careful breeders don't wind up so lucky.

So, spend some time with some and see what you think. Good luck.

Here's one of my favorite pictures. My niece's dog is out in front. We use to love going around the golf course. That must not have been a very cold day...probably early spring. If it got under about 15 or 17 degrees F, we'd skip the walk.

Ru weighs a little over 6 pounds and lives in a heated bed on the couch. That said, he handles 10+ mile hikes straight up mountains just fine. I've even taken him on boulder scrambles and rock climbs, and while he needs to be carried across big gaps and up steep faces he keeps up just fine the rest of the time. He does love to zoom around in circles when the mood takes him. He's also excellent at snuggling and prefers to be carried when we're not in the move.

We did some obedience and agility when he was little, but his willingness to participate was entirely dependent on the temperature. Indoor classes don't exist here, and outdoor evening classes are really the norm. Ru would happily bounce and tug until the temperature got below about 75 degrees. Then he would turn into a crying shivering mess. Putting a jacket on him didn't help as it was obvious the grass was making his feet cold. I think that he would have been a fun agility dog if there was such a thing as indoor training facilities here.

Ru is always, always dressed. No matter how hot it gets, unless he's moving he never overheats. We live on the beach though, so he has never had to deal with freezing temperatures. I have a hard enough time keeping weight on him now, I think he might wither away into nothing if he had to deal with snow.

Ru is almost certainly a byb dog here in the land of a million chihuahuas.

Thanks for the feedback! I think a rescue/rehome is not the route I'm willing to go, since this seems to be a breed people tend to miss the boat on with regards to puppy upbringing.

I have started putting out feelers even though next dog is still a year or two away... I am sick with chihuahua fever and the only cure is chihuahuacillin.

I've met a few well-bred Chihuahuas, and would totally own one. There's someone locally who runs 3(?) of them in obedience and they are ridiculous. Cutest dumbbells ever!

Ru approves.

My family has a 7 lb (fairly big) pet store Chi named Popcorn and my aunt has a 6 lb rescued Chi named Lucy.

-energy levels
Good energy level. He has no problems doing a couple of miles in the park. I haven't seen him get tired or refuse to walk yet so no problems here. My aunt's dog doesn't go out much but she seems to have good energy too.

-drive (food, toys, could they dabble recreationally in dog stuff?)
Both dogs have very good toy drive and food drive, but they're not really that biddable. Popcorn will try to claw at you and get the toys/treats without really listening to what you're asking him to do. But that might be because of how he's raised by the family...

-ease of housetraining
Popcorn's housetrained with a bit of difficulty but the house he lives in is humongous, 6 floors, 2 living rooms and 7 bedrooms/studies so I don't blame him for getting confused! He was pee pad trained before he came to us so he was kind of confused for quite a while. When he really needed to pee, and he couldn't find the front door of the house, he would find the nearest white mat (usually or door mat or rugs) and pee on it. However, that's a habit that can occur with any dog that was pee pad trained before in my opinion. Lucy had no problems being house trained. She was rescued already house trained and had no problems adapting to my aunt's house.

-health concerns
I've known a few Chis with luxating patella but as a breed, they don't have a ton of health problems. Ours is 6 years old and has never had any problems.

Other things I wanted to add is that Popcorn is very very clingy. He will literally follow his favourite person around all day long and try to climb on her continuously. He also tries to scratch at her hands to make her pet him.

Over the past few years, he has become leash reactive/dog reactive and reactive to children as well. He seems to have very low tolerance and will easily snap when confronted. For example, if we are sitting somewhere and someone's child tries to come up to him and reach towards him, instead of growling or moving away, he will snap at the hand. Also if dogs pass by him on a leash, he will growl and snap and act like a crazy dog. Off leash he is better most of the time but will also sometimes react depending on the dog. It's kind of strange, he used to be the friendliest dog to people but over the last 4 years he seems to have become more shy and fearful of strangers.

Lucy is also quite shy and scared of strangers. However, she's not very confrontational, she will hide while barking at new people in the house for hours. Overall, Popcorn is pretty quite, doesn't bark while Lucy is quite a barker. People passing by on the street causes her to bark, strangers makes her bark more.

Of course, our 2 are not necessarily good examples of the breed, and training is not a huge emphasis in both households. However, that's my experience with our two.

A lot of the things you mention, I think, could be chalked up to training and socialization issues. My little girl Chi was extremely outgoing and friendly to any humans, just really loved everyone and was eager to make friends. With dogs she was more aloof...disinterested except those that were her friends or those she lived with. She was sweet and gentle with children. Jose` too is friendly, but a tad more reserved than Chulita was when it comes to strangers and not that into children... but still warms right up in no time. With those he knows, he's very outgoing and friendly. Never has either of them been snarky in any way to anyone...just sweet, easy dogs and VERY loving and into their family and each other.

They were and are very willing to do what I wanted them to do as long as they were motivated and understood what I meant. Chulita wasn't as quick on the trigger I don't think as Jose`, who is very quick to learn new things. Little Chulita loved doing things with me. When I got out the clicker, she would prance around all excited. Jose` too, loves learning. I have found them to be very biddable little dogs. They were bred for companionship basically, so naturally they really love their humans.

The Poodles I have now learn new things in just a couple reps....really quick on the trigger...smartest dogs I ever had. But they're not always easy. They think too much sometimes. LOL.

Love your photo there Pinkspore.

I have a couple of friends who are Amstaff breeders and also own Chihuahuas. From what I've seen, when well bred and raised properly, they're much like everyone has described. Really neat little dogs. One of my friends has a little female who is a hoot. She is super smart and thinks she's a 60 pound Amstaff.

I've also met some at some UKC conformation shows and been really surprised by how nice they were. Very friendly and sweet. They were from responsible breeders and since they were show dogs, they were very well socialized. There was one little male I would have taken home in a heart beat. He would dance around your feet to be picked up and cuddled, or sit in your lap. Then he would turn around and trot around the ring like he was hot stuff. Really cute. Not shy at all.

Ack I emailed a breeder. Earliest I'm considering one is maybe this time next year but I wanted to open up communication.

How exciting Straw! Good for you to start looking at breeders. It can be quite the process to find one that does all the necessary genetic health testing, who has some titles to prove their dogs are conformationally correct and have correct temperaments. Shows, local breed clubs are good places to look. Ask other breeders, show people, exhibitors etc what they think of a breeder you have in mind. I think if you do your homework you'll find a great little pup.

Mine were not well bred...from a byb. (years ago) And yet they came out with marvelous temperaments and relatively healthy. But I was lucky.

I had occasion when I was showing Matisse to come across some Chihuahuas. One was in one of my handling classes....so nice looking and sweet. Another time recently I came upon one was at the ferry dock in the waiting room for walk-ons. That little one wasn't particularly correct...must have been a byb or mix. But ohhhhh soooooo sweet and friendly...calm about it too. Just lovely.

Well, it will be a very thrilling time when that time comes for your new addition.