Chihuahua Breed Standard
Toy Group

General Appearance
A graceful, alert, swift-moving little dog with saucy expression, compact, and with terrier-like qualities of temperament.

Size, Proportion, Substance
Weight - A well balanced little dog not to exceed 6 pounds. Proportion - The body is off-square; hence, slightly longer when measured from point of shoulder to point of buttocks, than height at the withers. Somewhat shorter bodies are preferred in males. Disqualification - Any dog over 6 pounds in weight.

Head
A well rounded "apple dome" skull, with or without molera. Expression - Saucy. Eyes - Full, but not protruding, balanced, set well apart-luminous dark or luminous ruby. (Light eyes in blond or white-colored dogs permissible.) Ears - Large, erect type ears, held more upright when alert, but flaring to the sides at a 45 degree angle when in repose, giving breadth between the ears. Muzzle - Moderately short, slightly pointed. Cheeks and jaws lean. Nose - Self-colored in blond types, or black. In moles, blues, and chocolates, they are self-colored. In blond types, pink nose permissible. Bite - Level or scissors. Overshot or undershot bite, or any distortion of the bite or jaw, should be penalized as a serious fault. Disqualifications - Broken down or cropped ears.

Neck, Topline, Body
Neck - Slightly arched, gracefully sloping into lean shoulders. Topline - Level. Body - Ribs rounded and well sprung (but not too much "barrel-shaped"). Tail - Moderately long, carried sickle either up or out, or in a loop over the back, with tip just touching the back. (Never tucked between legs.) Disqualifications - Cropped tail, bobtail.

Forequarters
Shoulders - Lean, sloping into a slightly broadening support above straight forelegs that set well under, giving a free play at the elbows. Shoulders should be well up, giving balance and soundness, sloping into a level back. (Never down or low.) This gives a chestiness, and strength of forequarters, yet not of the "Bulldog" chest. Feet - A small, dainty foot with toes well split up but not spread, pads cushioned. (Neither the hare nor the cat foot.) Pasterns - Fine.

Hindquarters
Muscular, with hocks well apart, neither out nor in, well let down, firm and sturdy. The feet are as in front.

Coat
In the Smooth Coats, the coat should be of soft texture, close and glossy. (Heavier coats with undercoats permissible.) Coat placed well over body with ruff on neck preferred, and more scanty on head and ears. Hair on tail preferred furry. In Long Coats, the coat should be of a soft texture, either flat or slightly curly, with undercoat preferred. Ears - Fringed. (Heavily fringed ears may be tipped slightly if due to the fringes and not to weak ear leather, never down.) Tail - Full and long (as a plume). Feathering on feet and legs, pants on hind legs and large ruff on the neck desired and preferred. Disqualification - In Long Coats, too thin coat that resembles bareness.

Color
Any color-Solid, marked or splashed.

Gait
The Chihuahua should move swiftly with a firm, sturdy action, with good reach in front equal to the drive from the rear. From the rear, the hocks remain parallel to each other, and the foot fall of the rear legs follows directly behind that of the forelegs. The legs, both front and rear, will tend to converge slightly toward a central line of gravity as speed increases. The side view shows good, strong drive in the rear and plenty of reach in the front, with head carried high. The topline should remain firm and the backline level as the dog moves.

Temperament
Alert, with terrier-like qualities.

Disqualifications
Any dog over 6 pounds in weight.
Broken down or cropped ears.
Cropped tail, bobtail.
In Long Coats, too thin coat that resembles bareness.

Approved September 11, 1990
Effective October 30, 1990

Taken from the AKC website

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good to know

Notice that standard says "large erect ears at a 45 degree angle".
Most show quality dogs in the ring now have smaller ears.
They also have shorter legs.They are changing the breed it
seems and it isnt standard but it sells.A lot of chis in the ring
look like tiny poms or chows in my opinion.I like the classic
mexican chi look that the show people call "deer type".
Is it pet quality or is it the original standard?
This could be a heated debate because it is over $$$$$$$$$.
Puppy sales $$$$ and stud $$$$.

Nowhere do you see "short legged" but thats what they consider show quality now.
Also it says males are to be cobby.It doesnt say both sexes should be cobby.

This made me worry because Taco never arcs his tail above his back, he keeps it down D:

Unless you're planning to show Taco he could look like a pink moose and still be every bit as fabulous JK but you know what I mean...if he isn't a show dog and just a pet, he will deviate from standard, most likely.

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Thank you Jan & Chico!!

I totally agree

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~*~ My dogs are not spoilt, I'm just well trained ~*~

Thought you might like to know that the UK breed standard had the "with or without molera" taken out some time ago however the FCI have made any dog WITH a molera a DQ!

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