We received an email a while back from someone that didn't like the fact that it seemed we were advising folks not to adopt a so called "teacup" chiahuahua.

NOTHING could be further from the truth and we apologize if our site made it sound that way.

Adopting a tiny "teacup" chihauhua is a wonderful thing to do and it would make a wonderful loving pet.

What we promote is folks not being fooled by crooked breeders who try to pass off these tiny babies as a special chihuahua breed.

In fact we promote NOT EVER buying any dog from any breeder when there are millions of dogs of all breeds that need homes in homeless shelters.

Simply put, we encourage adopting a dog that needs a home instead of buying from breeders, but we have a special dislike for breeders who purposely breed small chihuahuas and lie to customers by saying it is a different kind of chihuahua.

By all means, if you are in the market for a chihuahua and find a teenie tiny chihuahua at a dog shelter or rescue, adopt that sweet puppy and take it home and have a best friend for many years!

A lot of people go into getting a chihuahua as a pet with the thought of wanting a so called "teacup" chihuahua puppy.

They are willing to pay more to a breeder in order to get one of these small puppies as they think a teacup chihuahua is a more desirable dog.

The official A.K.C. Breed Standard describes the Chihuahua as a small dog that comes in only two varieties or coat types. The only official difference is a Long Coat or Smooth Coat. The A.K.C. does not categorize the Chihuahua by its size.

A "teacup" chihuahua is nothing more than a smaller than normal puppy or the product of unscrupulous breeders who breed runts in order to obtain a smaller dog. This is a horrible thing to do as it sometimes leads to causing the resulting puppies to have health problems.

To make things worse, the breeder charges more for these unhealthy runt puppies as they market them as a special "teacup" chihuahua breed.

There are lots of chihuahuas out there that need a good home and there is simply no need to buy one from a breeder, much less to be ripped off by purchasing a "teacup".

Visit our Rescue Organizations page and adopt a chihuahua that needs a loving home.

About the chihuahua breed The Chihuahua is the smallest of all dog breeds. It is also the oldest breed in America. They are believed to have descended from a larger original ancient breed. The chihuahua is named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Chihuahuas are very individualistic. They have a long lifespan and each one tends to have their own personality. They are fiercely loyal and will usually become very attached to one person, sometimes two. Protective of their masters, they love attention and love to lick the face of their people. They make excellent watchdogs and are well suited for apartment life.

Chihuahua Trivia The Toltecs, who existed in what is now Mexico as early as the 9th century AD, possessed a breed of dog called the Techichi. The breed was small, but not tiny, and heavy-boned. This breed, regarded as indigenous to Central America, is the progenitor of the Chihuahua that exists today. Pictures of dogs resembling the modern Chihuahua appear in ancient paintings in Mexico. It is assumed that the small size of the modern Chihuahua results from a cross of the Techichi with the small hairless dog brought from Asia to Alaska over the land bridge that is now the Bering Strait.