Any Chihuahua owners?

I find it really odd how small my Chihuahua is in comparison to others that I see. When I took her to the vet yesterday, she weighed five pounds. There was a male Chihuahua in the waiting area also, and he weighed fourteen pounds! Do the weights vary that much, or perhaps the other dog was not purebred. I know that Chili is a purebred Chihuahua. I'm starting to think maybe I should be feeding her more!

are her ribs showing? If not than I don't think you need to feed her more. My Chihuahua is 10lbs and to be honest..he's a tad bit on the chunky side..if he lost some weight..ideally he'd be about 8 lbs or so?...that's not too far off from 5 lbs..and he's a male..females are generally smaller..I think she's perfectly fine lol

Although the standard is 6lbs, Chihuahuas size range varies quite a bit even for a purebred. My Chihuahua weighs around 11lbs. There's lot's of purebred Chihuahuas that exceed 6lbs without being overweight.

Chihuahuas On The Web
http://www.freewebs.com/chihuahua

I felt that the 14 pound Chihuahua was definitely not purebred, although his owner claimed that he was. He wasn't overweight, but he had a large frame. She actually asked me if I was interested in breeding my dog. I didn't know what to say! It seemed that it was obvious that breeding wouldn't work for those two. I'm getting her spayed next month anyway.

Technically, yeah they're suppose to be not larger than 6lbs but this isn't a perfect world and there are lot's of Chihuahuas that are over that size. Because a breeder has large Chihuahuas it doesn't mean he's not responsible, it just means when you breed Chihuahuas sometimes you will get large ones, like a lot of things in life, there's no guarantee you will get the size you want.

Chihuahuas On The Web
http://www.freewebs.com/chihuahua

The explination I got is that Chihuahua's are hard to breed due to their size. Dilervery is said to be difficult for them and they tend to have one or two pups at a time. I know that puppy mill chihuahuas are huge because the moms are big so they have bigger litters...
At stores, like Pet Land and such, chihuahua puppies are sold very young so the buyers will be convinced that they will be small dogs, and often times they grow to be over ten pounds, and not overwieght.

my roxy weighs in at 5 pounds. shes not a chi though.

That's the first I heard of puppy mills breeding large Chihuahuas so that they'll have large litters, far as I know even large Chihuahuas still have small litters. A ten pound dog is still a very small dog and it's not going to have a whole lot of puppies.

Idunno, just telling you what I was told. If the mom's are bigger they're suposed to give birth easier or something. A 5lb chi usually has, what, 1 or two pups? I know large chi's having 5

I don't think any breeder would intentionally breed large Chihuahuas, it's the other way around. There are lots of breeders out there that breed very tiny Chihuahuas and the end result is a very fragile and prone to poor health dog. There aren't really any health concerns of an oversized Chihuahua. The 10+ Chihuahua is not very common and quite possibly a mixed breed but 9-10 pounders are common and personally I don't think they shouldn't be bred just because they don't conform to the "standard", the original Chihuahuas weren't that small anyway. I think that all this selective breeding and getting a breed to be a certain way is what caused all the gentic problems you see accociated with various breeds, but that's just my opinion. I guess you can tell I'm not much for the "show dog". lol

EMC. What Serena was saying is correct. People who breed "larger" or "smaller" dogs than what the Chihuahua is supposed to be according to Standard (there are actual ranges that need to be followed if you ARE breeding for the betterment of the breed, and if you aren't, well then you are indeed an irresponsible owner).

And your comment about not breeding Chihuahuas because they don't conform to the standard..I disagree strongly with this remark. A responsible and reputable breeder will only breed dogs for the betterment of the breed, combining careful and selective breeding, like Serena mentioned. If a dog is too large or too tiny and they are being bred regardless, they are simply backyard breeding the dogs and have absolutely no knowledge of the breed or whats best for it, to begin with. If a breeder is truely a responsible one, they will do thorough health checks on the dogs, including hips, thyroid, gawd only knows how many other exams are involved.....and only when the dog is proven to be completely healthy and stable, only then are these dogs bred, in turn decreasing the chance of having a dog with genetic or health problems...of course it is a dog, and dogs get sick just like people..so we can't expect some sort of a robot. But, a good breeder will and does ensure that the quality of the breed will increase, not decrease...or they just don't breed at all.

Well said.

Mine is only 5 pounds. The standard says it shouldnt weigh more than 6..

There are many bone sizes of Chi's, my last one was fine boned, she weighed 6 lbs., my new one is broad, and not as fine boned, she is reg. and she will weigh ever bit of 9 to 9.5 lbs when she is grown, it is the AKC that sets the standards, which mean nothing to my Chi., she is loved and she is all Chi.,

Donna

My boy is underweight because he's ill, however he weighs a bit over 4lbs now (should be up over 5...I'm trying to get him to put on weight..but it's a slow process).

Cass.

Wow, this is an old thread.

Chihuahua breed standard says that chis should weigh between 2-6lbs. A responsible breeder will not breed a bitch over 6lbs.. and the dog should weigh less than the bitch. Even if both parents' weights fall within the breed standard, they can still have puppies larger than 6lbs and smaller than 2lbs (unlikely, though, that they'd be under 2lbs). This does not mean that these dogs are not purebred... they are just out of their breed standard for weight. However, most puppies born will weigh between 4-6lbs...

old thread or not, the 3 chihuahuas in my.
dodger is 3.2lbs full grown, healthy weight.
Vixie is 5.4lbs full grown, healthy weight
Rosie if 4.9lbs almost full grown, healthy weight (she should be about 5lbs full grown)

there are MANY chihuahuas out there that dont conform to breed standard. and they shouldnt be bred. plain and simple.
Just wanted to add, THANK YOU for saying no to that guy and getting your girl spayed! this breed is prone to c-sections and other problems even with extreem work to assure otherwise. least your girl is safe and going to be with you a long time as your loving pet!

Like the Maltese should weigh between (4to 7 pds) A reputable breeders pups will most likely stay within that weight. There are some who come from reputable breeders and weigh more but it's not alot. Nemo is 10 pds and he is from a petshop (Before I knew the whole puppymill thing) he is not bred well he is all maltese, but not standard..Do I care, no... but my next dog will be from a reputable breeder..
Andrea

My ex boyfriend has a 4 pound chi. I personally wouldnt buy a chi under 4 pounds because health problems are increased the smaller they are. I wouldnt buy a chi over 6 pounds because I would consider the breeder a byb.

Madison weighs 6.5lbs, Rylie weighs 3.5lbs, and Chloe weighs 5.5lbs