This afternoon I began my search for a quality Chihuahua breeder at a bulletin board in the supermarket.
I found that many online sites were simply too far away for me to travel to and check out for myself, while others held little contact information at all.
I proceeded to drive to a local dog show and chat with some quality Chihuahua owners as they groomed their dogs.
Within a few hours, I had acquired a lengthy list of places that I kennels I could visit and had made wonderful contacts that my new dog and I could later socialize with.

Finding a companion for my Chihuahua dog turned out to be a difficult search. It took a lot of digging to find a Chihuahua breeder with a good reputation.
So many times I passed people selling puppies on the side of the road and was tempted to stop in and end the search. I just could not risk getting attached to a dog that ended up being sick.
I called my local veterinarian; they had no idea. I started contacting local pet stores; they didn't want to tell me anything.
Eventually, I looked online and found a list of Chihuahua breeders. I contacted a few and got a list of references from each of them. After a little legwork, I adopted a beautiful Chihuahua puppy. She was worth every minute of work that it took to find her.

If someone had told me that finding a quality Chihuahua breeder was so difficult, I might not have agreed to get my daughter one for her birthday.
Friends and family all shared their nightmare stories about getting a dog with this ir that wrong with it. No one seemed to be able to point me in the right direction as to where to start the search.
I went by our local dog park every day for two weeks before I finally saw someone with a beautiful, healthylooking Chihuahua dog. I talked to the owner and was thrilled when he agreed to call me later with the breeder's information.
The instant bond between my daughter and her puppy brought a joy to my heart that is hard to describe. Knowing that the Chihuahua will probably be with her for many years brings me peace of mind.

Our latest addition, the rescue Chihuahua dog I have been trying to get certified for elderly therapy groups has a new health issue that is going to put both of us to the test. The vet has diagnosed her with progressive retinal atrophy, which will eventually result in her becoming totally blind.

The condition is advanced enough that there is nothing that can be done for her. Of course, there were no warning symptoms that I could have seen. The result of all of this is that she will be an extremely hard adoption placement now. Perhaps Mike and I can just adopt her.
We will be exploring our routines to incorporate ways of making them more blinddog friendly. At least the condition, at least according to the vet, isn't causing her any physical discomfort. I'm sure the mental and social stuff she is going through is quite painful all on its own.
Apparently it is most common in Chihuahua dogs that are between four and six years of age. This little darlin' is about 56 years as best as we can tell. Due to her rescue background, there are so many variables I am unsure of. Regardless, she can still lead a normal life and we will do our best to make that happen.

When grooming my Chihuahua, I focus on what the intention is here: To remove any dead hair and to stimulate the skins' oil producing glands. This must always be done gently of course, to prevent my Chihuahua from any stress and to keep the situation fun.
Sometimes my Chihuahua gets an especially matted section in his fur that I can't get out with the help of some cooking oil. At this point, I will just cut it out with scissors instead of irritating my dog with more tugging.
When I use a new brush, I always try it out on the back of my handif it hurts my skin, it will probably hurt my Chihuahuas' skin.
During grooming I always keep a careful eye out for any reddening of the skin, signs of fleas or other parasites and any spots that are swollen or painful to the touch.

I think it is good to be prepared for times of emergency with my Chihuahua, as it may happen that the veterinarian could already be busy treating another animal.
I asked my veterinarian what would be some good things to include in an emergency care kit: Medications, bandages, restraints, health records and blankets.

Since a Chihuahua dog will still have wild tendencies if he is in pain and disoriented, I think it is a good idea to keep a muzzle in the kit to prevent any misplaced bites.
If I do have to take my Chihuahua to the Veterinarian for emergency care, most times they patch him up and then send him home to recover; so I have to be prepared to care for him and keep him calm, warm and hydrated.

My Chihuahua was crazy when we were driving, so I knew he needed some lessons in car manners. To begin with, I taught him to sit before entering the car and to lie down in the back seat. I looped his leash through the seatbelt to keep him from hopping around the back of the car.
As soon as he was behaving in the back, I turned on the car and we just sat in the driveway with the engine idling.
I checked on my Chihuahua and saw that he was still calm, so I backed out of the driveway and we started driving down the street.
Any barking was met with his immediate expulsion from the car. I would pull over, get out and ask him to sit before exiting. Then we would go through all the steps over again and eventually he was a wellbehaved Chihuahua when we were driving.

When we brought the puppy home I had a lot of different items we would need to give him proper care. I thought I had everything.
However, never occurred to me that brushing a dog's teeth would be considered part of Grooming your Chihuahua so I didn't plan accordingly. Of course after a day or two, the doggy kisses were kind of brutal and I got a clue. The breath was horrid and I finally got to thinking, something has to be wrong.
The pet store was able to help me select a toothpaste specially made for dogs and some chicken toothpaste, that smells awful but must taste okay because the puppy seems ok with me brushing it over his teeth.
Note to self, keep enough doggy toothpaste on hand for months to come. If you do run out of doggy toothpaste don't ever use human toothpaste instead. There are ingredients in human toothpaste that can be harmful if swallowed to a dog and there is no way to encourage the dog to spit it into the sink.

For several days my Chihuahua had been gnawing at the base of his tail and scratching behind his ears. I suspected fleas were the culprit and so I reached for a finetooth comb to help in making my assessment.
I shook any loose matter onto a white piece of paper for closer inspection and found tiny red flakes. These red flakes were flea feces and indicated a potential problem since fleas can spread and infest the entire household.
I easily found a whole section of flea treatments at the local supermarket that ranged from powders and collars, to sprays and shampoos.
After shampooing my Chihuahua and then spraying down the areas if the home he frequented most, I took him to the vet and he got a medicinal flea preventative.

Even if you have decided on the correct breed of dog, for some people thinking about the whether to purchase a male or female Chihuahua puppy is part of the new pet process as well.

Consider a male Chihuahua puppy if you have not plans to have them neutered, but would like to use them as a stud, for a female Chihuahua, in the future.
Everyone has their own preference to either a male or female Chihuahua puppy, and it is a good idea to look at the genders of the dogs you have had in the past, and which dog gender you where more wellmatched with.
Generally there are no hard and fast rules to use in choosing either a male or female Chihuahua puppy.