- All colours in all possible shades and combinations, except merle colour
World's smallest dog breed with long, flowing coat and bold, confident personality despite tiny size
Ancient breed descended from Techichi dogs of the Toltec civilization, refined in Mexican state of Chihuahua and standardized in Mexico and the US. Recognized by AKC since 1904
“Quick, alert, lively and very courageous”
Quoted from FCI standard n°218. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Drawn from sources, not opinion: FCI breed standard; Chihuahua Club of America - AKC Health Statement. An empty column means we hold nothing for that side, not that there is nothing to say.
What a judge marks the Chihuahua down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
The Chihuahua standard is published by the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale), the international federation of pedigree-dog clubs, and it is what show judges apply. This section sums up what it says about coat and colour and size. It does not assess any one animal: use it to know what to ask the breeder.
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
Shortened from FCI standard n°218 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
The colours and patterns the standard admits, and what it prefers, discourages or disqualifies in each. An accepted colour says nothing about health.
Quoted from FCI standard n°218. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
FCI divides the Chihuahua into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.
An adult's measurements, per the standard. It does not say how big this puppy will be. Quotations from the FCI are in English, as the standard publishes them; the headings are ours.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Chihuahua in general; any individual animal can differ.
Known hereditary risks for the Chihuahua breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
6 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Found in more than about one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened, or described as common in the sources.
The chromosome-12 FGF4 insertion makes the spinal discs degenerate early, which raises the risk of a disc rupture that can cause pain or paralysis, and one copy is enough to raise it. In a screen of more than 4,200 Chihuahuas, roughly one in eight carried it.
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents
The chromosome-12 FGF4 insertion makes the spinal discs degenerate early, which raises the risk of a disc rupture that can cause pain or paralysis, and one copy is enough to raise it. In a screen of more than 4,200 Chihuahuas, roughly one in eight carried it.
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents
Documented in this breed, but no source says how many of its dogs carry or have them. That is a gap in the evidence, not a sign they are rare.
A heart valve thickens and leaks with age. Heart disease was the leading cause of death in a large UK Chihuahua study (18.8% of deaths). Screening aims to catch early murmurs so breeding can move away from affected lines.
What to ask for
Annual cardiac auscultation (OFA cardiac exam) by a vet or board-certified cardiologist on both parents from one year of age.
A soft spot on top of the skull (molera) is long-standing in the breed and is still mentioned in most Chihuahua breed standards. The breed club's own position, based on older veterinary opinion, is that a molera on its own does not predispose to hydrocephalus. More recent peer-reviewed imaging research (2021) found that Chihuahuas with more and larger persistent fontanelles were also more likely to have low body weight, an enlarged fourth ventricle and a crowded craniocervical junction of the kind associated with Chiari-like malformation and syringomyelia — an association with extreme miniaturisation and skull shape, not proof that an ordinary molera itself causes disease.
What to ask for
No genetic test exists. Ask for the parents' adult weight (the recent research finds the strongest association at very low body weight) and whether either parent has shown neurological signs such as an abnormal gait, head pressing or seizures; a domed skull with a normal-sized molera is not, on its own, evidence of hydrocephalus.
A heart valve thickens and leaks with age. Heart disease was the leading cause of death in a large UK Chihuahua study (18.8% of deaths). Screening aims to catch early murmurs so breeding can move away from affected lines.
What to ask for
Annual cardiac auscultation (OFA cardiac exam) by a vet or board-certified cardiologist on both parents from one year of age.
Found in roughly one in a hundred to one in twenty of the breed's dogs screened.
The kneecap slips out of its groove. A large UK first-opinion veterinary study found 'slipping kneecap' in 4.0% of Chihuahuas, more often than in other dogs, and it is one of the three CHIC-required tests for the breed.
What to ask for
OFA patellar luxation exam (graded 0-4) on both parents from one year of age.
An inherited degeneration of the retina that starts as night blindness in adulthood and slowly progresses to blindness; there is no treatment. It is recessive. It is uncommon in this breed — in a screen of more than 4,200 Chihuahuas, roughly one in fifty carried it.
What to ask for
DNA test for prcd-PRA on both parents
The kneecap slips out of its groove. A large UK first-opinion veterinary study found 'slipping kneecap' in 4.0% of Chihuahuas, more often than in other dogs, and it is one of the three CHIC-required tests for the breed.
What to ask for
OFA patellar luxation exam (graded 0-4) on both parents from one year of age.
Described in this breed, but found in few or no dogs in recent screening, or only ever in one dog or one family. They are here so a test result makes sense if a breeder mentions one.
A fatal storage disease of the brain that starts in young dogs, usually around a year to eighteen months old, with behaviour changes, failing sight, loss of coordination and seizures. It is recessive. The Chihuahua has its own MFSD8 variant; it is rare — about one in seventy-five Chihuahuas in a Japanese screen of 1,007 puppies was a carrier, and roughly one in 360 in a larger international screen.
What to ask for
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 7 (MFSD8) DNA test result, on both parents
A fatal storage disease of the brain that starts in young dogs, usually around a year to eighteen months old, with behaviour changes, failing sight, loss of coordination and seizures. It is recessive. The Chihuahua has its own MFSD8 variant; it is rare — about one in seventy-five Chihuahuas in a Japanese screen of 1,007 puppies was a carrier, and roughly one in 360 in a larger international screen.
What to ask for
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 7 (MFSD8) DNA test result, on both parents
Median survival 11.8 years
95% confidence interval 11.5–11.9 years, from 3,848 recorded deaths among 10,837 dogs
Mortality hazard 1.17 (1.13, 1.21) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12.0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584,734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
A soft spot on top of the skull (molera) is long-standing in the breed and is still mentioned in most Chihuahua breed standards. The breed club's own position, based on older veterinary opinion, is that a molera on its own does not predispose to hydrocephalus. More recent peer-reviewed imaging research (2021) found that Chihuahuas with more and larger persistent fontanelles were also more likely to have low body weight, an enlarged fourth ventricle and a crowded craniocervical junction of the kind associated with Chiari-like malformation and syringomyelia — an association with extreme miniaturisation and skull shape, not proof that an ordinary molera itself causes disease.
What to ask for
No genetic test exists. Ask for the parents' adult weight (the recent research finds the strongest association at very low body weight) and whether either parent has shown neurological signs such as an abnormal gait, head pressing or seizures; a domed skull with a normal-sized molera is not, on its own, evidence of hydrocephalus.
An inherited degeneration of the retina that starts as night blindness in adulthood and slowly progresses to blindness; there is no treatment. It is recessive. It is uncommon in this breed — in a screen of more than 4,200 Chihuahuas, roughly one in fifty carried it.
What to ask for
DNA test for prcd-PRA on both parents