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Page Contents
Teacups
Chihuahua Colors
FROM MY HEART TO YOURS...about
teacups.
There
are as many different "ways" people determine whether a dog is a "teacup" using every form of measuring
technique from measuring the croup (rear end part of the backbone-near the tail) with a teacup, to placing them in a teacup
when they are newly born. ANY Chihuahua born should have a birth weight of 2 to 7 ounces, so, of course, they would fit in
a tea cup, right? Let's put our brains on for a moment.
I
once witnessed a woman who lovingly bragged that her 3 pound, 10 week old puppy was a "teacup". There's nothing
to do in that situation but enjoy the dog with her and help her feel she made a loving choice.
I've had people call me asking for the tiniest male and female combination, so they could breed them to get teacups.
Does anybody remember Wilt Chamberlain??? His parents were under 4', as my memory serves me, and he was, HOW TALL??? The
size of the dogs in front of you is only part of the equation.
And then I
have people who EXPECT a "teacup" to have health problems. I'm all for making lives better. Honestly, that's
what my life is dedicated to, is helping humanity make their lives much better. But do we have to "expect" a dog
to be sick in order to have the status of a "teacup" in our shirt pocket when we go to a store?
Having fleas, worms, or other parasites can reduce sizes or weaken puppies. Having
infrequent feed or "competitive feeding" can reduce the size of puppies. Premature births can decrease the size
of puppies, too, as could insufficient food or high stress.
WeeSmall Chihuahuas
and WeeSmall Pomeranians can't and won't practice these habits. I give vitamins and minerals and herbs to dogs who
are even a little weak. I hold them back from sale until they ARE strong enough in my own house and until I am confident they
will succeed without incident in your home.
If that would fail, I would put
the dog to sleep rather than send him onto you. And I use a weight measurement chart to guess, by mathematical estimation,
the expected adult weight of the dog. I do not guarantee the size of the dog; no breeder should. But I take comparative measurements
throughout the lifetime of the dog, and I pay attention to each dog's growth pattern, and to the parents' history
of children and ancestory.
I say all of this to ask, humbly, that
wee all put our thinking caps back on. Some people want to rescue dogs and don't mind paying for monthly medication. May
God bless those people for their kindnesses to our animals. But should we breed weaknesses in dogs to achieve super downsizing
just so someone can have status? I don't think such weaknesses should be expected as normal and acceptable.
And then there are people in the dog world who have a long list of pet pieves and
who get snotty whenever anybody violates their pieve list, such as using marketing terms like "Teacups" and "Mineature
Chihuahuas" or "Pocket Puppies". I homeschool my children and I haven't found, yet, that snotty words helps
them learn anything on my pet pieve list!
And I receive a lot
of people who want the tiniest dog at bargain basement prices. I take care of my mothers and fathers, I eliminate any defective
lines such as "heart defects" or "rye mouths" from our lines so you get healthy puppies who will last
a lifetime. I practice parasite elimination and sanitation practices continually, and socialize the puppies. And, believe
me, it all costs a lot of money, a lot more than I thought it would.
And if
I purchase a dog at $800 plus $250 shipping, and have to eliminate her from my lines, that just cost me over $1000. I price
my dogs to cover these costs, to sell for the market's demand, and for the puppies' early sell for their own good.
And if I have to use the "teacup" word to accommodate those people
who don't know how to describe that certain size they want, then I will compromise and use that word, reluctantly, and
with qualifying the above information. But I prefer to use the word, tiny (2-3 pounds), small (3 to under 4 pounds), medium
(4 to 5 1/2 pounds) and large (5 1/2 pounds or more). AND, I'm not afraid to make or sell an extra-large Chihuahua to
a family home because there are those of us who just don't want to take a chance and step on the little darlings, and
would prefer a larger dog!
Let's put our brains back on, for a moment.
How DOES someone new to the Chihuahua arena ask for a tiny Chihuahua if they don't know the acceptable lingo? They just
want a dog to love and my attitudes won't encourage that loving relationship. I'm giving grace to them, not my attitudes
about unscrupulous breeders with a vocabulary problem.
"HOW DO
TEACUPS ENTER INTO THIS DISCUSSION, SARAH?"
Two things.
One. Tiny "teacups" are a bonus, not our goal. Wee have some tiny puppies,
in fact we have some huge puppies, too. But tiny puppies are often requested but don't always find a home until they
are four to nine months because it's hard to find those people when you have the 2 pounder in your hand and you're
charging $1200-1500 for the privilege of a healthy dog.
Two. In five years,
I have had two puppies with that perfect personality in a very small or tiny body. I have calls from all over the United
States asking for that perfect personality in the tiniest package, regardless of color. Let me be honest. If I have only
had two in five years, that means the perfect personality dogs are quite rare, and THOSE puppies are worth the money we charge.
Shehadda Victory and deKay, both found on the front page of our web page,
Shehadda Victory reaching 2 pounds, 2 ounces, and deKay reaching 3 pounds, 2 ounces.
People ooohhhhed and aaaawwwed when they saw these two girls' personalities. They were confident, sassy, confident,
pleasing, in-tune with you, confident, resiliant, happy-go-lucky, fiesty, compliant, independent, confident, people-pleasing
and a sheer-delight. It was that perfect personality everybody said they wanted but could never find. And did I mention
confident?
Shehadda Victory reached 2 pounds, 2 ounces, and struggled. I
discovered NuVet vitamins/herbs/minerals at the tail end of her struggle, which has cured almost every single incident since
then, and have found better ways to help those little puppies.
deKay is so
in tune with the owner that she reads them, she THINKS, and she sits on collar bones and hip bones in the most "I AM
YOURS" kind of way!
In a desperate attempt to capture a photo of several
girls, I placed Honey Boy, deKay and Taffy in several positions with camera ready over several different days, and began shooting.
Those three gave me tremendous results! All were tiny and all were quite enjoyable.
On one of those days, when I placed a human cracker "treat" for them to reach, they strained and stretched,
without results, for several minutes. deKay THOUGHT about the cracker she couldn't reach, climbed onto the back of the
couch, across my collar bone, and down my arm, stretching her tongue out as far as she could to capture the nibble from my
hand. She was balancing down the length of my arm with her tongue stretched out, to get the treat. I was so shocked that
I quit the game in hysterical story-telling antics to my family.
deKay
returned to my lap. When I glanced at her, she was looking at me, stoopified, with the expression on her face of, "I
don't understand. I thought you wanted to give me that treat. I don't understand. I don't know what you want
me to do." Her little heart had sunk down in disappointment. I had never seen her disappointed before. Never before,
nor ever since.
I was the delight of her heart, her every though every waking
moment of the day. I had promised her a treat, and then failed to give it to her even though she had tried to figure out
what I wanted. Well, she got the treat, and then a few more! And THAT was the day she captured my heart, even though I had
tried to not be attached to this puppy I had to sell.
Shehadda Victory and
deKay have that personality which is in-tune with you, delightful, almost-human-like, and quite pleasing. They are dainty,
bold, sassy, compliant. If you place all the opposite personalities on either end of a piece of paper...bold/compliant, submissive/assertive,
then you would have these two girls, deKay and Shehadda, owning both sides of the paper. They are a perfect balance of personalities.
If you are looking for tiny or "teacup"
dog, please let me know ahead of time. I'm looking for STABLE homes with stable incomes to take a smaller dog. But I
don't want them to wait six to seven months before I find a good home for them.
Someone might say to me, Sarah, that's quite greedy to mention stable incomes. But if you've ever walked
around a 2 pound dog in your kitchen for ANY length of time, you quickly face the reality of the increased risk of injury
for such a tiny dog, and quickly see the income has to be stable just in case an accident does happen.
Again, I think we have to put on our brains for a moment. Most small Chi's live happy,
long lives in pampered bliss, without any incident ever happening. I have to place them responsibly, and preferrably at earlier
ages.
Please contact me at (304) 534-0696 (not an e-mail) to discuss a "teacup"
or a "tiny" dog if you decide you want a "call back" and if you are willing to wait for that ultra extra-special
personality.
WHICH WeeSmall MOTHERS AND FATHERS POTENTIALLY PRODUCE TEACUPS?: Dottie
and Rocket, both, separately, produce smaller puppies. Together, they typically produce 2 to 3 1/2 pounders, both traditional
and merled colors, with nicer characteristics than other dogs. Touchdown was Dottie and Rocket's male. When
bred with Leah who is quite small with small genetics, they are producing smaller puppies with a higher percentage of appleheads
and finer bones. Because of their recessive coloring, wee are expecting more recessive colored dogs, though not merle. Wee are keeping Leah and Touchdown's male puppy to breed with a Dottie and Rocket daughter from which we expect
teacups. That male will also be bred to Boom Boom and another female.
CHIHUAHUA COLORING
Below is an outline describing
merle coloring, traditional coloring and brindle coloring, along with photo examples of each.
THE MERLE CHIHUAHUA:
Merling is a dilution
gene which can express itself on dogs in a most creative way. It looks rather splotchy like acid being splashed on a dogs'
coat, that acid diluting the existing color.
It is unknown how the merling gene came into the Chihuahua lines
though some attribute the genes incorporation to a different breed being secretly bred in; while others maintain that the
gene was in the genetics all along without being recognized as "merling" by breeders who either didn't know
what they had or who didn't appreciate the coloring and bred away from it. Still others think it was a genetic mutation
probably brought on by severe inbreeding. Science is tending to prove the latter.
The American Kennel Club (AKC)
and the Chihuahua Club of America (CCA) have accepted merling as a viable color in Chihuahuas. This is significant because
AKC and CCA are the dog husbandry groups in charge of preserving the Chihuahua breed.
Breeding a merle-expressed
dog to a merle-expressed dog is hazardous to the puppies and won't be done in THIS house. I am not a geneticist and I
will not pretend to be. But I will educate myself continuously on the merling genetics.
I don't hand out Chihuahua
breeding rights to just anybody and I am breeding quality dogs into the merle lines to improve the lines to the standard of
the more traditional Chihuahua colors. I have a merle line, a brindle line and a traditional line; three separated lines.
WEE DO HAVE MERLE-FREE AND BRINDLE-FREE PUPPIES SHOULD YOU WANT THAT.
My main concern is to breed
quality Chihuahuas to the best of my ability, and to continue my ongoing Chihuahua education. If a tiny size comes from that
breeding, that is a bonus, though not the goal. If a few merle or brindles can be added into my lines in a healthy, educated
fashion, then that, too, is a bonus, though not the focus.
I have attached photos for your comparison; photos
which will be improved as time progresses.
Isaiah and his mother, Oddysey, the first day in West Virginia. Isaiah and Oddysey, as well as deKay (above) are blue, white
and tan merles.
Below is Toffee, a fawn merle.
Any color on the dog could be "merled". The merle could also fade away, called a phantom merle or a cryptic
merle. AKC asks us to note the merle markings on all AKC papers when you register the dog with AKC, even if the merling phantoms
out.
TRADITIONAL COLORING:
Black Tan and White (called Tri), Black and Tan, and fawns are the most common colors. These two fawns have black masks too,
though their sabling faded.
Traditional colors of Chihuahuas tend to fall into these colors...fawn, tri which
is a black and tan with white markings, black and tan, and black with white markings. They could have a black facial mask
or black hair across the back called sabling, be ticked, or be a white dog with black spots.
Less frequent colorings
of red, white, cream, and blue can also be found, though they are more rare, not usually as "refined" in the preferred
Chihuahua features, and usually more expensive.
A blue-eyed dog is as rare as are all-white dogs. And there are
20% more males born than females which would explain why breeders usually charge more for females.
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