The Chihuahua Club of America, Inc. Illustrated Standard for the Chihuahua
Illustrated Standard
for the Chihuahua
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Chihuahua Breed Standard
Taken from the AKC’s Official Web Site, www.akc.org
This is a condensed version of the CCA Illustrated Standard
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’s Official Web Site, www.akc.org
No lag time, all information is current.
Web site is changed first then any listings.
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