Overview

You may wonder what the difference is between a 'regular' Chihuahua and a teacup Chihuahua. The truth is, there is no difference at all and there is no such official breed or variance as a miniature or teacup Chihuahua. The Chihuahua is the smallest dog breed of all; he simply cannot get any smaller.

Yet, this term is used quite often. Typically, it is used by breeders as a marketing term. Since the words tiny, teacup and miniature succeed in catching the attention of a throng of puppy buyers, breeders around the world label dogs as such - even if the puppies met established breed standard size.

Of course, misleading the public is unethical and is a gauge of one's moral compass. With that said, there are some reputable breeders who will use the term.

Why the Term Exists

There are 2 reasons for this.

1) The first has to do with competition. Before 1990, it was word of mouth that helped a breeder establish his or her reputation. A person's name would be circulated around the show ring and little if any advertising was needed.

Other, less reputable breeders - puppy mills in particular - would simply sell puppies to pet stores. Once the Humane Society of America and other organizations worked relentlessly to stop the formation and existence of puppy mills, this lead to many pet stores limiting their merchandise to supplies and no longer included puppies that the public was - rightfully in most cases - led to believe originated in mills.

While a breeder may indeed gain a solid reputation in the show ring, the socially driven, website world that we live in today dictates that a business needs to have an online presence. Even if that business is a small at-home breeder.

Keeping this in mind, one aspect of ranking where the potential puppy buyers will find you is by having certain words appear on your site. We do this here; you'll notice that the term 'miniature Chihuahua' appears many times

This is of course, because we are discussing the matter, but also so that you were able to find us. Breeders do the same thing; therefore knowing that there is a percentage of people who are looking to purchase a so-called teacup (even though it does not exist) that terminology will be placed on the breeder's website to attract customers.

Some will only have AKC registered puppies that meet the breed standard (or CKC if in Canada, KC if in the UK, etc.) there are also others that will purposefully breed for smaller than standard sized dogs… And that brings us to the 2nd instance in which the term miniature or teacup Chihuahua will be used.

2) To describe a puppy or dog that is smaller than the standard.

In every litter there is a chance that a pup will be smaller than expected. This pup is often referred to as the runt of the litter; though that wording does sound a bit harsh.

With the Chihuahua breed, the smallest of the litter may end up being the largest adult since growth during the first year can be so staggered.

With this being said, there are far too many breeders that are working diligently to purposefully produce Chihuahuas that are smaller than nature intended.

Let's keep in mind the size of a standard sized Chihuahua:

AKC - No more than 6 lbs. (2.7 kg)

UK - 2 to 4 pounds is preferred (.9 to 1.81 kg)

CKC (Canada) Up to 2.7 kg (6 lb.), with 1.8 - 2.7 kg (4 - 6 lb.) preferred

FCI (Europe) - 3.3 to 6.1 lbs. (1.5 to 3 kg)

As you can see, this is a very small breed and the Chihuahua is in fact the smallest of all purebred dogs in the world. Miniature Chihuahua dogs - when purposely breed to be super tiny - will be smaller than 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) as adults. This gives us adult dogs that are only 2 to 5 lbs. (.9 to 2.26 kg). The puppies will range from just mere ounces to 1 or 2 lbs. (.45 to .9 kg).

It is an understatement to say that these miniature Chihuahuas will have a host of health problems and will be extremely vulnerable to injury.