9781422279328

other parts of Europe. Evidence of this comes from European paint- ings of the period. There is even a tiny dog, resembling a Chihuahua, featured on a fresco in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Developing the breed We now take a great leap for- ward to the 1850s, when small dogs were found living in Mex- ico. Some were smooth-coated, some long-coated, and some hair- less (later to become the Mexican hairless, or Xoloitzcuintli). Some of these dogs were tak- en to the United States, where they were known as Arizona

Chihuahua basics

dogs or Texas dogs. Later the smooth and long-coated varieties were christened the Mexican Chihuahua, after the Mexican state where they were discovered. American debut In 1884 the first Chihuahua was exhibited in the American show ring; it was entered in the Miscellaneous Class as a Chihuahua Terri- er. James Watson, a well-known American judge, described the Chi- huahua in 1888 as a small, smooth-coated terrier, with a molera and a flat tail. It is interesting to note that all the early show dogs were smooth-coated, and many regard them as the original Chihuahua. At this stage the breed appears to have come in different sizes and in a variety of colors, all based on imports fromMexico. AChihuahua named Midget was the first to be registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC), in 1904. The AKC was just 20 years old at the time, mak- ing the Chihuahua one of the oldest registered breeds in America. However, in the early 1900s people tended to want dogs who could perform some work, such as hunting or herding or guarding.

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