The Chihuahua: An Excellent Family Dog
The name of the Chihuahua comes from the Mexican state that is located next to west Texas and New Mexico, but the breed actually came from the ancient Techichi dogs of the Toltecs when they were crossed with a hairless dog from the Orient. Indigenous to Central America Techichi dogs were a heavy-boned small dog that had a long coat. The modern day Chihuahua is smaller than the Techichi and the original breed was mute. When the Aztecs conquered the Toltecs the dogs became a sacred icon of the upper class society and was used in religious ceremonies to help guide the spirits of the dead.
The breed wasn’t discovered outside of Mexico until the 1850s and soon after it became very popular throughout the world. In 1904 it was first registered with the American Kennel Club in the modern breed we see today. Today there remains the smooth-coated, vocal Chihuahua and the more traditional longhaired Chihuahua breed.
Graceful, alert and agile with a compact and terrier like quality is the official description of the Chihuahua breed given by the American Kennel Club. Generally the Chihuahua is a very graceful, energetic and swift dog, but each Chihuahua has it’s own unique personality and some can be very grumpy, haughty or even nasty when provoke if they have an extreme terrier like quality to them.
This terrier like quality doesn’t make the Chihuahua a good breed for large households or those with small or noisy children because of their clannish tendencies and suspiciousness of other people. But the curiosity, intelligence and extreme loyalty of the breed make them an excellent pet for the elderly, individuals and disabled people.
But for the individual or elderly couple they can be an excellent pet that loves to be pampered and are good for apartment living or those with limited incomes. It is best to get a feel for the temperament of a Chihuahua before determining if this is the right breed for you.
Despite the Chihuahuas small size, they often aren’t aware of it. Many times a Chihuahua will be much bolder than other dogs that are three times or more their size. Because of their fierce loyalty to only one or two individuals the breed will often become highly protective of their owners. It is because of this nature that they are often wary of strangers or any new guests that are introduced to the household that the Chihuahua considers it’s personal domain.
A Chihuahua requires a lot of human contact in the form of touching, petting and general attention. Without this, the breed often resorts to various attention getting tricks until they gain attention.
This makes the breed seem too needy for some, but you can get so much back if you just give the Chihuahua love, affection and care.
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