The breed gallery
Chihuahua
The Chihuahua is the smallest dog in the world and the last to believe it himself. The breed owes its name to the Mexican state where American travellers bought him at the close of the nineteenth century, and its prehistory most likely to the techichi, the little dog of the Toltecs.
For a portraitist the Chihuahua is an exercise in proportion: the eyes and the ears take up half the head, and that is precisely what the portrait must show.
- Origin
- Mexico — named after the state of Chihuahua; recognised in 1904
- Coat
- smooth or long; virtually every colour and marking is permitted
- Height
- roughly 15 to 23 centimetres
- Weight
- roughly 1.5 to 3 kilos
- Life expectancy
- roughly 12 to 18 years — one of the longest-lived breeds
- Character
- watchful, self-assured and strongly attached to one or two people
Character
A Chihuahua chooses a person and stays with that choice. Towards that person he is affectionate to the point of the shirtsleeve; towards the rest of the world he is watchful and not seldom loud. The breed has a reputation for being sharp, but what passes for sharpness is often insecurity that was never taken away.
Upbringing makes the difference here. A Chihuahua treated as a dog rather than as an accessory — with walks, rules and encounters — grows into a surprisingly balanced housemate.
Appearance and coat
The standard knows two coat varieties: smooth, sleek and close-lying, and long, with feathering on ears, legs and tail. Colour is free — nearly every shade and marking occurs, from cream-white to chocolate and black and tan.
With a Chihuahua one paints not a dog but a pair of eyes with an animal attached.
The skull is round — the apple head of the standard — with a short, pointed muzzle, large upright ears and large, round, dark eyes set well apart. The head is the portrait; the little body is incidental.
Care
The coat asks little: a weekly brushing suffices for both varieties. What does deserve attention is the teeth — small jaws fill with tartar quickly — and warmth: this breed cools down fast and seeks out your jumper for good reason.
History
The Toltecs and later the Aztecs kept the techichi, a small and silent dog with a ritual role in their culture. From that line — and from what was running about in northern Mexico in the nineteenth century — American travellers bought the first chihuahuas in the state that gave the breed its name. Recognition followed in 1904.
The portrait
Your Chihuahua as an art portrait
A small sitter calls for a light hand: too much texture and the head disappears beneath it. Watercolour, floral work and soft planes let the eyes do the work. Photograph low and close, so that size no longer plays a part.
