Chihuahuas?

My husband and I went to the pet store today and we saw the cuttest Chihuahua, it's one of the smaller ones w/the bigger heads. Well, we absolutely fell in love with him!! However, we decided to do our homework first! SOooo, what are the pro's and con's on these adorable creatures? Any advise would help! Oh, I should mention, I do have a 6 month old Beagle (Scrappy) and a 2 yr old Miniature pincher.
We probably won't get him till maybe 3 months or so, unless we find an affordable one!!
Thanks for your help in advance!

First things first: never, ever buy from a pet store. You're taking a very high risk of a very poorly bred animal with physiological, emotional and/or mental problems, plus you are supporting back yard breeders, puppy mills and all sorts of irresponsible, deplorable people. Including the people who own the pet stores. They know what horrors they are underwriting by providing an outlet for these criminals.

Please, check out breed rescues; if you decide you absolutely want to buy from a breeder, find a reputable one. There's a good thread here with a "Responsible Breeder Checklist" that should help you.

Renee is absolutely right. The people who sell their dogs to pet stores (for the pet stores to sell to other people) do not care about health, genetics, temperament or the breed standard. They care about cute looks and making tiny (or huge) puppies.

Chihuahuas are generally a nice breed, but they shouldn't be spoiled. Chis have a bit of a bad rap around here because people spoil them to the point of making them aggressive and obnoxious. You might want to do a google search for "Chihuahua health problems" and see what comes up. Also, check the repsonsible breeder checklist here like Renee suggested.

Hi, I don't know anything about Chihuahuas but I also think you should look elsewhere for a dog. When I was looking for a dog, I went to a rescue center located in the mall. While I was at the mall I stopped by the pet store. All the puppies were so cute and I played with two carins. I seriously would have taken them home if they weren't rediculously expensive. Plus MO is the "puppy mill state" and I knew that the puppies were most likely from a puppy mill and that by buying one (or two), I would be supporting the people and practices involved with puppy mills. I had a neighbor who got a dog from the pet store at a different mall and it was the craziest dog I have ever seen; it could jump 3 times it's height off the ground! My sister said she knew someone who bought a puppy from one of these stores and it died not long after they got it. I'm sure some of the puppies are just fine and my puppy is crazy too but I suggest going to a breeder or finding a rescue as mentioned above. Also by buying from a breeder or adopting a dog, I bet you could save some money (or if you're like me you'd just use it to spoil the dog even more ) as pet stores charge outrageous prices (when we asked how much the puppies were, they guy showed us the paper as he didn't want to say it out lound!) Good luck.

Yes the number one thing you should know when buying a dog is not to buy one from a petstore. Besides the reasons given in the other posts, petstores charge you 2-3 times as much as a breeder. When buying a Chihuahua avoid breeders who specifically breed very tiny Chihuahuas and sell them for more than the average price of a purebred dog. These Chihuahuas, often referred to as "teacups", are prone to a lot of health problems because of their tiny size.

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

I got to see the difference a REAL heart-and-soul breeder makes. All the Chihuahuas I'd ever been around previously were snappy, ill-tempered, nervous, shaky little dogs. I took a friend of mine and her four year old daughter to Dollywood one day a few summers ago and while I was waiting for them (the natural results of a very big lemonade in a very little girl ), struck up a conversation with a woman and her husband who had two adult Chihuahuas and five wee little puppies. I'd never seen Chihuahuas like this in person; they looked just like the ones in photographs in old, old encyclopedias. They didn't shake or squint. They looked around at everything with interest and they were FRIENDLY! I commented on the difference in their dogs and the woman grinned and thanked me and explained that they had been breeding Chihuahuas for twenty years, breeding for the old-type (which were very much healthier), temperament and sturdiness. In the conversation I learned that they start taking the puppies out to socialize before they will allow them to leave with their new families. After my friend and her daughter returned, it was a real revelation to see what happened. Those dogs and puppies started wriggling and tail wagging and weren't happy until she sat down on the bench and played with them! I'd never seen a Chihuahua that wanted to be handled by a child, let alone have a child handle her pups! We sat there for at least a half hour and those dogs never once showed any nervousness or ill temper. They finally got tired from playing and fell asleep.

That's the dramatic difference a real breeder makes.

I have an eight month old chihuahua and she is wonderful! Everyone comments about how she doesn't act like the "typical" nasty chihuahua. I believe it's how you socialize and train them that makes all the difference. Since she was about 12 weeks old, I've made Daisy go with me to any drive throughs, have made her sit outside with me at Starbucks to greet people, take her to Petsmart to walk around, etc. She is now a social butterfly- even okay around kids. I recently joined a chihuahua meetup group in my area and the other chihuahuas were very different from Daisy- they stayed right by their owners. So I think the main thing is to socialize the chi as much as possible. As far as health problems, I went ahead and got pet insurance for her as soon as I got her. I know she has a problem with with her back knee caps that will probably have to be corrected, but that's it. She does like to bark, but even that has gotten better with a lot of consistent training. Good Luck!

Chihuahuas seem to get a bad rap. I have an 11 year old Chihuahua and she's incredibly friendly, she considers everyone to be her best buddy. I think that even though a breed may be known to have certain characteristics, personalities in dogs vary as much as they do in people. To get a better chance of having a good tempered dog be careful when choosing a puppy. Puppies should be outgoing and not afraid to approach you. The shy or pushy ones are the ones that may end up with behavor problems. Of course the way you treat puppy after you get it home should not be overlooked either.

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