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Chihuahua

Chihuahua

FCI standard Nº 218
Origin
 Mexico
Translation
 Chris Seidler
Official authentic language (ES)
Group
 Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs
Section
 Section 6 Chihuahueño
Working
 Without working trial
Acceptance on a definitive basis by the FCI
 Friday 04 December 1959
Publication of the official valid standard
 Wednesday 04 September 2019
Last update
 Friday 04 October 2019
En français, cette race se dit
 Chihuahua
Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar
 Chihuahua
En español, esta raza se dice
 Chihuahueño
In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd
 Chihuahua
In his country of origin, his name is

Chihuahueño

Usage
Companion dog.

Brief historical summary
The Chihuahua is regarded as the smallest pedigree dog in the world and carries the name of the largest state of the Mexican Republic (Chihuahua). One assumes that these dogs used to live in the wild and, at the time of the Toltec civilization, were captured and domesticated by the natives. Representations of a Toy dog called « Techichi » which lived in Tula, were used as decorations on town architecture. These statues are very similar to the present day Chihuahua.

General appearance
This dog has a compact body. Of great importance is the fact that his skull is apple-shaped and that he carries his moderately long tail very high, either curved or forming the shape of a semicircle with the tip pointing towards the loin region.

Important proportions
Length of body slightly greater than height at withers. Desired, however, is an almost square body, especially in males. In bitches, because of the function of reproduction, a slightly longer body is permitted.

Behaviour / temperament
Quick, alert, lively and very courageous.

Head

Cranial region
Skull
 Well rounded apple head (a characteristic of the breed). 
Stop
 Well marked, deep and broad as the forehead is rounded above the set-on of muzzle.

Facial region
Nose
 Any colour permitted. Moderately short, pointing slightly upwards.
Muzzle
 Short, straight seen from side, broad at set-on, tapering towards the tip.
Lips
 Lean and close fitting.
Jaws and teeth
 Scissor or pincer bite. Overshot, undershot, as well as any other anomaly in position of upper or lower jaw must be strictly penalized.
Cheeks
 Only slightly developed, very clean.
Eyes
 Large, roundish in shape, very expressive, not protruding, perfectly dark. Light eyes permissible, but not desired.
Ears
 Large, upright, widely open, broad at set-on, gradually tapering towards their slightly rounded tip. In repose inclined laterally forming an angle of 45°.

Neck
Upper profile slightly arched.
Medium length.
Thicker in dogs than in bitches.
Without dewlap. In the long-haired variety, the presence of a neck-ruff with longer hair is highly desirable.

Body
Body
 Compact and well built.
Topline
 Level.
Withers
 Only slightly marked.
Back
 Short and firm.
Loin
 Strongly muscled.
Croup
 Broad and strong; almost flat or slightly sloping.
Chest
 Ribcage broad and deep, ribs well sprung. Seen from front, roomy but not exaggerated. Seen from side, reaching to elbows. Not barrel shaped.
Underline and belly
 Formed by a clearly tucked up belly. Slack belly is permitted but not desired.

Tail
Set on high, flat in appearance, of moderate length; broad at root, tapering gradually towards the tip. Tail carriage is an important characteristic of the breed : when the dog is moving it is carried either high in a curve or in a semicircle with tip towards the loin region, which gives balance to the body, it should never be carried between the hindlegs nor curled below the backline. The hair on the tail depends on the variety and is in harmony with the body coat. In the long haired variety, the tail coat forms a plume. Tail is pendant in repose and forms a slight hook.

Limbs

Forequarters
Generality
 Forelegs seen from the front form a straight line with the elbows. Seen from the side, they are upright.
Shoulders
 Clean and moderately muscled.
Upper arm
 Good angulation between shoulder-blade and upper arm.
Elbows
 Firm and fitting close to body, which ensures free movement.
Forearm
 Straight and of good length.
Pastern
 Slightly sloping, strong and flexible.
Forefeet
 Very small and oval with toes well apart but not splayed (neither hare- nor cat-foot). Nails particularly well arched and moderately long. Pads well developed and very elastic. Dewclaws are not desirable.

Hindquarters
Generality
 Hindlegs well muscled with long bones, vertical and parallel to each other with good angulation at hip, knee and hock joints, in harmony with angulation of forequarters.
Metatarsus
 Short hocks with well developed Achilles’ tendons; seen from rear, they are well apart straight and vertical.
Hind feet
 Very small and oval with toes well apart but not splayed (neither hare- nor cat-foot). Nails particularly well arched and moderately long. Pads well developed and very elastic. Dewclaws are not desirable.

Gait and movement
Steps are long, springy, energetic and active with good reach and drive. Seen from rear, hind legs should move almost parallel to each other, so that the footprints of the hind feet fit directly into those of the front feet. With increasing speed, the limbs show a tendency to converge towards the median plane (single track). Movement remains free and springy without visible effort, head raised and back firm.

Skin
Smooth and elastic all over body.

Coat
Hair
 In this breed there are two varieties of coat.
• Smooth-haired : Coat is short, lying close all over body. If there is an undercoat, the hair is somewhat longer; sparse coat on throat and belly permissible; slightly longer on neck and tail, short on face and ears. Coat is glossy and its texture is soft. Hairless dogs are not tolerated.
• Longed-haired : Coat should be fine and silky, smooth or slightly wavy. Not too thick undercoat desired. Coat is longer, forming feathering on ears, neck, rear of front and hind legs, on feet and on tail. Dogs with long billowing coat will not be accepted.
Colour
 All colours in all possible shades and combinations are admitted, except merle colour.

Size and weight
Weight
 In this breed only the weight is taken into consideration, not the height.
1 to 3 kg. Ideal weight: between 1,5 and 2,5 kg. Subjects weighing less than 1 kg and more than 3 kg shall be disqualified.

Faults
• Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.
• Faults listed should be in degree of seriousness.

General faults
 Missing teeth.
 “Double teeth” (persistence of temporary teeth).
 Pointed ears.
 Short neck.
 Long body.
 Roach or hollow back (Lordosis or Kyphosis).
 Steep croup.
 Narrow chest, flat ribcage.
 Tail : incorrect set-on, short or twisted.
 Short limbs.
 Out at elbow.
 Too close behind.

Serious faults
 Narrow skull.
 Eyes small, deep set or protruding.
 Long muzzle.
 Under or overshot mouth.
 Unstable stifle.

Disqualifying faults
 Aggressive or overly shy.
 Deer type dogs (dogs with an atypical or extremely stylized structure: refined head, long neck, slender body, long limbs).
 Dogs with an open fontanel.
 Drop ear or short ear.
 Deformed jaws.
 Extremely long body.
 Absence of tail.
 In the long- haired variety : Dogs with very long, fine and billowing coat.
 In the smooth-haired variety : Bald patch (alopecia).
 Merle colour.
 Subjects weighing less than 1 kg and more than 3 kg.

NB :
• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• The above mentioned faults when occurring to a highly marked degree or frequently are disqualifying.
• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.

Bibliography
http://www.fci.be/
Details
Also available: Français (France) Deutsch (Deutschland) Español (España) Nederlands (nl-NL)
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