In these television ads, which debuted last September, the struttin' Chi with a serious taco Jones rejects a trembly, wet-eyed Chihuahua girl, answers a "Jeopardy!" question correctly and trashes one of those bobbing-head dashboard atrocities. The TV Chihuahuas' names, for the record, are Dinkie and Gidget.
They work for little pieces of chicken and steak, not tacos; but if you can't get cynical about a television commercial, what can you get cynical about? Adweekmagazine ranked the commercials among the top 50 campaigns of 1997. Entertainment Weekly had them in the top 10. The dog's ultimatum at the end of each commercial -- "Yo quiero Taco Bell," ("I want Taco Bell") -- will no doubt be part of the language for at least 15 minutes.
All This and Charo, Too!
That will be 15 minutes too long for many Chihuahua breeders. "My phone hasn't stopped ringing since the first commercial," says Eileen Woliver of Dayton, Ohio. "They all want a dog 'just like the one in the Taco Bell ads.' Heaven help us! That dog looks like Chihuahuas did 40 years ago, but I'm afraid we're saddled with the TV image for a while because the same [kind of] dog appeared in the Tommy Hilfiger commercials during the Super Bowl. Everyone in the world probably saw that."
Chihuahua fanciers might not be ecstatic at the golden-oldies look of television Chis, but the determined, independent gait of the taco warrior is an improvement over the lingering image of the Chihuahua as a coddled, vile-tempered marsupial in somebody's handbag. That image was popularized in the '40s and '50s by band leader Xavier Cugat, who gave the world Charo and who was in the habit of appearing on stage and screen with one of his many Chihuahuas tucked into the pocket of his jacket. One of Cugat's dogs was immortalized in the children's book Pepito the Little Dancing Dog: The Story of Xavier Cugat's Chihuahua.
Mute Testimony
Fast food and rhumba kings notwithstanding, the genealogy of the modern-day Chihuahua can be traced to the Techichi, a small, heavy-boned, long-coated dog kept by the Toltecs, a people who had conquered much of central and southern Mexico by 1100. The Toltecs established their capital at Tula in the Mesa Central region and also built the city of Teotihuacan near present-day Mexico City.
The Techichi, whose defining characteristic was the fact that it was mute, is thought to have been indigenous to Central America; and some historians believe that the ancestors of the Techichi, which was somewhat larger than today's Chihuahua, may have existed in Central America as early as the fifth century. An interesting historical note places the Techichi in Cuba, which Christopher Columbus appropriated in the name of the king of Spain. Columbus' report of that annexation mentioned small dogs "which were mute and did not bark, as usual, but were domesticated." What's more, the remains of pyramids and other historical clues found on the Yucatan peninsula suggest that the Techichi may have also lived in Chichen Itza in southeastern Mexico.
Ready or Not
The Techichi was popular as both a pet and a religious fundamental among the Toltecs and, later, among the Aztecs who had supplanted them by the time the Spaniards arrived in Mexico in 1519. Both tribes believed the Techichi safely guided the human soul through the underworld, warding off evil spirits until the recently deceased arrived at the Great Taco Bell in the Sky. In addition Toltecs and Aztecs sometimes burned a dog with a human corpse in the belief that the latter's sins would thus be transferred to the dog. Red being the primary color of temptation, red dogs were the preferred media for this transaction.
The remains of dogs in human graves have been discovered by archaeologists in Mexico, but Exhibit A linking the Techichi to the Toltecs can be found in pictures carved on some of the stones of which the monastery at Huejotzingo is constructed. Built circa 1530 by Franciscan monks, the monastery is an early example of recycling. Some of its stones formerly belonged to pyramids assembled at the city of Cholula by the Toltecs. A number of those stones contain carvings of dogs that closely resemble the Chihuahua of modern times.
The Techichi, for all its seeming ubiquity, was not the sole ancestor of the Chihuahua. According to K. de Blinde, a Chihuahua breeder and authority who spent years traveling parts of Mexico on horseback, Techichi were bred with tiny, hairless dogs brought from Asia to Alaska and points south over the land bridge that now lies at the bottom of the Bering Strait. This hairless dog, similar to the one found in China, increased the Techichi's bark while decreasing its size.
Another Chihuahua authority, Thelma Gray, who has written two books about the breed, believes Spanish invaders were accompanied on their voyages to the new world by a small black-and-tan, terrier-type dog that was popular in Spain at that time. Gray asserts that fraternization between the little terriers and the Techichis gave rise to the Chihuahua as we know it today. This theory is supported by the popularity of black-and-tan Chihuahuas in Mexico.
From the Halls of Montezuma
After Hurricane Cortez had stormed through Mexico during 1519-20, little remained of the Aztecs or their wealth and civilization. Practically all the worldly possessions of Montezuma II, the last Aztec ruler of Mexico, were wrung from his dying grasp by the Spanish invaders, his dogs included. Thus, we find a three-century gap in Radio Chihuahua, which doesn't resume transmission until the middle of the 19th century, when the earliest specimens of today's breed were found in the Mexican state of the same name in old ruins close to Casas Grandes, ruins that are said to be the remains of a palace built by Montezuma I.
From that humble reemergence the Chihuahua proliferated and eventually caught the attention of American tourists. Chihuahua, the state, is bordered by Arizona and Texas to the north; and the dogs found in that state were, for obvious reasons, called Chihuahuas. Chihuahua, for the record, derives from the Náhuatl word xicuagua, which means "dry and sandy place."
Those first modern Chihuahuas varied considerably in looks, size, color and coat length. The only feature that was consistent from one little creature to the next was a soft spot at the top of the dogs' skulls. American Kennel Club (AKC) records indicate that Chihuahuas were first exhibited in the United States in 1890. The breed was slow to catch on in this country, and in 1915 only 30 Chihuahuas were registered with the AKC. Eight years later the Chihuahua Club of America (CCA) was established. The smallest breed registered by the AKC, the Chihuahua ranks 12th among the AKC's 143 recognized breeds.
A well-written breed standard has given Chihuahuas a consistency of type they lacked in the early days, and even though there are two coat varieties, smooth and long, the requirements for both, aside from the amount of coat, is exactly the same. The long coat is soft to the touch and either flat or slightly curled. An undercoat is preferred so there are no thin or bare spots visible. Chihuahuas should not exceed six pounds, and should be compact and sturdy for their size. All colors are permissible, and Chihuahuas can be solid, bi-colored or splashed.
Living With a Chihuahua
Anyone interested in owning a Chihuahua must understand the breed and be able to provide the kind of safe environment in which the dog can thrive. Chihuahuas routinely live well into their teen years, and some have been known to reach the age of 20. Consequently, they should be acquired from a breeder known for producing mentally and physically sound animals. Temperament varies significantly among different Chihuahua bloodlines, ranging from quiet and collected to catastrophic. Some Chis are known to be stubborn, clannish and preposterously brave – one late Chi confronted a boa constrictor on a patio in California not that long ago. Thus, prospective owners should spend some time with the parents and relatives of the puppy in which they are interested.
Young children have great difficulty understanding how delicate a Chihuahua puppy can be. For this reason Chihuahuas cannot be recommended for homes in which toddlers preside. Rough handling, being dropped or, worse yet, fallen on can permanently injure or even kill a Chihuahua, particularly when it is still a puppy.
Otherwise, the Chihuahua is an easy breed to keep. The long-coated variety wants a bit more grooming than the smooth-coated dog, yet a thorough brushing twice a week will keep the long hair in tip-top shape. And if the average Chihuahua never achieves the status of the Taco Bell or Tommy Hilfiger dogs outside the home, it is sure to be the fun-loving center of attention, particularly where space is a consideration or an owner is incapable of handling a larger dog. As most any Chihuahua owner will tell you, the only small thing about a Chihuahua is its size.
Molera and Other Misgivings
The Chihuahua is surprisingly hardy for its size, but it is, nevertheless, susceptible to a number of health problems. These include cleft palates, hemophilia A, collapsing trachea, heart valve complications, hypoglycemia and luxating patellas.
Hemophilia A, a sex-linked recessive trait carried by females and manifested in males, is a blood-clotting disorder brought about by a deficiency in certain substances responsible for normal blood coagulation.All Chihuahuas are born with an opening, most directly apprehensible as a soft spot, at the top of the skull. Known as the "Chihuahua molera," this phenomenon is similar to the open fontanel with which human children are born. It makes the skull more flexible, thereby facilitating the emergence of the Chihuahua's rather outsize head into the world. The molera often closes by the time a dog reaches maturity, but this is not always so, and extra care must be given any dog that retains this feature.
Collapsing trachea is an inherited condition characterized by softer-than-normal cartilage rings and connective tissue in the windpipe. In times of stress or excitement the rings can fold inward, causing the dog to gasp for air or even to suffer a temporary blackout. Collapsing trachea, if it isn't severe, can be managed with a bronchodilator such as the drug aminophylline.
Heart valve complications occur when the mitral valve, located between the left atrium (upper chamber) and left ventricle (lower chamber) of the heart, has an enlarged flap (or flaps) and excessively long supporting muscles. Therefore, instead of closing evenly, one or both flaps collapse or bulge into the atrium, sometimes allowing small amounts of blood to flow backward into the atrium. This disease can lead to a compromised quality of life or, in some cases, death.
Hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, can occur with such startling acuteness that one Chihuahua breeder cautions, "Every owner should have a tube of Nutrical or Nutristat in their cupboard. These high-sugar supplements cost only a few dollars from your pet supply store and they can save your Chihuahua's life."
Luxating patella is a dislocation of the small, flat, moveable bone at the front of the knee. An inherited tendency, luxating patella can be aggravated by excess weight. The condition can be corrected by surgery.
Some veterinarians not familiar with the molera may diagnose it incorrectly as hydrocephalus (water on the brain). Hydrocephalus is usually apparent by four months of age. For this reason alone responsible breeders should keep Chihuahua puppies until they are at least that old before letting them go to new homes.
In addition to determining -- as much as one can determine -- the occurrence of inherited problems in a particular line of dogs, anyone who is considering a Chihuahua or any dog should ask the seller or provider of that dog who will be responsible for the vet bills if a radiant-looking puppy should be victimized by an obviously inherited condition later in its life.
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