Understanding Chihuahua

Chihuahuas can be very comical and entertaining pets. They can also be very loyal to their owners. And again, they brim with personality. That means that they can be more eccentric and quirky than any other breed of dog. Understanding chihuahua is a must to build a nice relationship full of love.

Qualities

But those are the qualities of chihuahuas that everyone knows. Beyond the general ones,  chihuahuas can differ in everything. They can be bold or timid. They can be feisty or mellow. Our beloved chi can as well be confident or nervous. And they can turn out to be stubborn or very eager to please their owner.

It’s important to know though, that the way a chihuahua turns out depends on the genetic temperament of his parents or grandparents. The way its ancestors behaved or their temperament will affect its temperament too.

An entire lineage of the chihuahua can be social or antisocial. If you buy a chihuahua that has parents who were antisocial, that could be bad. If you buy a dog whose parents or grandparents were nice, you’ll have a nice experience. Training and trying to force your chihuahua to socialize most times don’t affect its bad genes. Here are some good and bad qualities of a chihuahua.

The good:

• Travel well.
• loyal and protective.
• doesn’t require a lot of exercises.
• so funny and comical
• prefer warm sunny weather
• easy to pick up
• have different coats and colors

The bad

• fragile which means that they need supervision and attention.
• housebreaking difficulties
• barking a lot

Training

That is not to say that socialization and training are not important. They are. If you’re lucky enough that your chihuahua inherited good genes, training should be easy. If you handle the training well, even a chihuahua with a bad temperament can turn out fine.

Ask five people about some dog breeds like pet bull and they will most likely not have anything good to say about them. Ask if they are nice and the answer will be no.

This reputation that some dog breeds have is not totally wrong. The reason why many dogs inherit bad genes is that most people breed them to be bad. They either fail in training them well or deliberately train them to fight.

Others that treat their small dogs like dolls and toys too don’t help. They carry it everywhere and refuse to teach it any commands. When it shows signs of aggression, they don’t correct it. When it displays bad behavior, it soothes it. They all add to the reputation that small dogs have.

Dogs are made that way by their owners. The truth is that all dogs must be trained well. They must be taught to walk on their own. They must be told what to do. Beautiful puppies must be taught to get along well with the world. If they do that, they get rewarded. If not, they should be corrected.

Exercises

The amount of exercise a Chihuahuas needs

Normally this breed doesn’t need a lot of exercise which makes them the perfect dogs for people who don’t have a fenced yard or for those who live in an apartment.

However, these tiny dogs love to run and place on the grass in a safe place.

While walking with your dog always keep him on a leash. Because their size makes them easy prey for larger animals.

Chihuahua Sociability

Chihuahua and strangers

Chihuahuas naturally don’t like strangers. In fact, they can show aggressiveness when someone other people approach them.

If you didn’t train your chihuahua when she is a puppy on how to be familiar with strangers, she will end up being aggressive towards everyone and can even bite.

However, with exercise at a very young age, chihuahuas can be familiar with strangers.

Chihuahuas and children

Children under the age of 10 are not recommended for chihuahuas, both can be damaged. Children at this age can harshly treat the tiny dog, and as a response, the dog may bite them.

In addition, chihuahuas won’t bear the loud voices and quick movements that children make, as result chihuahuas may be stressed.

Chihuahuas and other pets

Normally chihuahuas love other pets in their own family.

Mixing chihuahuas with larger dogs is not easy, there are a lot of things you should take into consideration such as a big dog can hurt a little chihuahua unintentionally, there are some dogs whose heritage is chasing prey animals, and as a result, chihuahuas will look like a prey especially when they run, chihuahuas because of their size they tend to attack larger dogs to protect themselves.

It is advisable to mix your chihuahua with other small dogs, this way you will avoid a lot of problems.

Grooming

shedding

Shedding depends on whether the coat is single or double. Many people think that it depends on whether the coat is short or long. In fact, the double coat shed more than the single coats.

YOU CAN ALSO READ: Minimizing Shedding – How Can the smallest chihuahua Sheds So Much?

Grooming

Long coat chihuahua requires constant brushing compared to their short coat counterpart. If your chihuahua has a longer and thicker coat, then more work is in demand.

YOU CAN ALSO CHECK: Chihuahua Grooming and care

Characteristic

• Getting well with people does not mean a chihuahua has to like everyone. That may be impossible. The chihuahua is naturally suspicious of strangers and can act when they are. But you can train your dog to be suspicious without letting people know or without attacking them.
• Chihuahuas may relate well with other pets in their family but when it comes to strange dogs, they react. You should do something about this though. When you realize that your pet is acting like that towards other dogs, you should correct this. If you don’t, it can get out of hand later on.
• The good thing is that while chihuahuas may not like strangers, they can still move closer. At first, they stand far and watch. Then when they see that the stranger is not pushy, they can approach. But there are other dogs that can be very friendly from the start. It all depends on the temperament.

Other characteristics

• Chihuahuas always recognize other pets that belong to their breed. It is therefore advisable that you keep two dogs as they will get on well. They will keep each other company when you are out. They can play together too. And since dogs lick their ears a lot, they can clean each other’s ears and keep warm together.
• Chihuahuas love warmth. They prefer being in a place that will keep them warm. Our little friends will select a spot where they can stay to enjoy the sunlight. They can always hide under blankets and towels too. You should provide somewhere warm and soft for them as soon as you bring them home.
• And when you want to sit down, you have to be careful because your chihuahua can be hiding under your sofa or bed. Be sure to check very well before you sit down to avoid injuring them.
• One of the most difficult things to teach your chihuahua is housebreaking. That means teaching them where to pass excreta or urinate. It can be very difficult to teach them this especially when the weather is cold.

To get around this, get them an indoor litter box they can use. That way, you won’t have to worry about them going outside to pass the excreta.

The table below may help

Temperament	Comical, entertaining, expressive, quirky, loyal,
Breeding	you must have  a lot of information before breeding any chihuahua
Size	Tiny (5-9 inches, 2-12 lbs) (teacup is an exception)
“Types”	Smooth Coat, Long Coat, applehead, deerhead, cobby build, deer build
Exercise	Minimal, due to their size they don’t need a lot of exercises.
Training	Hard to housebreak, the most difficult owner’s task is this one
With strangers	Usually standoffish, maybe suspicious, they need time to get familiar with strangers
With children	10 years and older, because children under 10 can cause big damage to them.
With other pets	Good with pets in his own family, and dislikes larger dogs.
Shedding	Average to light side of average
Grooming	Smooth Coat: minimal; Long Coat: light to moderate
Lifespan	13-15 years
Colors	they can come in multiple colors: Fawn, cream, gold, red, white, black, chocolate, silver, blue, bicolor, tricolor, brindle, merle
Puppies	Easy to find
Rescue dogs	Easy to find
Similar breeds	Papillon, Yorkshire Terrier, Toy Fox Terrier