u/Mumbles1988

I have two Chihuahuas and a chi-pin. They are all relatively new to the household as I lost my previous littermates relatively unexpectedly to an immune mediated disease.

My 1 y/o chihuahua plays with and cuddles my chi -pin often.

My 4 month old Chihuahua is the newest and honestly I've been worried because the older Chihuahua was very territorial with him and has growled and even nipped at him.

The last few nights they sleep touching, but not cuddling.

They started cleaning each other's ears and then I saw the older Chihuahua do something he's never done with my chi-pin; he was cobbing the young Chihuahuas neck last night.

Does that just mean he's accepted him?

This is what I woke up to this morning.

I'm not a dog breeder, but I'm absolutely fascinated by breeding, especially when done well. It's a new found passion on mine.

Since I've been seeing it a lot, what is your personal opinion on breeders that breed AKC registered dogs and raise the puppies well and don't have a ton of litters but also don't invest in OFA/genetic testing/don't do shows? 

I use Good Dog and I know it's hard to find CHIC registered parents that are also titled on there, especially in a reasonable price range, but it's possible. 

I recently lost a 700 dollar deposit on a dachshund because I thought the woman was very transparent and communicated well and raised her pups with care/in her home and I found a very cute puppy, but I backed out because I'm pretty sure that's still technically a backyard breeder if there is no health testing or titles for parents. 

Would you consider this a backyard breeder/unethical breeder, or "old-school" or "under educated"? I definitely feel she breeds with good intentions for production of pet quality dogs.

This should take you to the breeder I was considering to give you more context. 

Canisteo Dachshunds on Good Dog

https://www.gooddog.com/breeders/canisteo-dachshunds-indiana#litter\_id=326466&puppy\_id=3091011

Is there such a thing as a breeder that's somewhere between an ethical breeder and a backyard breeder/unethical breeder?

I ended up adopting a Chihuahua instead (I was interested in both breeds and have had Chihuahuas and dachshund mixes) for $2,500 that is from an AKC breeder of merit. She is part of the regional breed club and both parents were CHIC registered and had titles (GCh and Ch). She didn't provide a contract, but no other red flags and I found her on Good Dog so I feel I ended up getting a well bred dog at a good price considering the source I went with. 

I recently got into a back and forth with a breeder about how titles and health testing has been hard to find from dachshund breeders and she told me it was "people like me that have never been in the breeding world and think they have the right to call others unethical and act like they own the breed when they dont understand the poor conditions shown dogs live in and dogs don't need health testing and to be shown in order to be responsibly bred". 

Also, I have a Chihuahua from strong champion lines that was just diagnosed with bilateral luxating patellas at 10 months old that I got from the breeder at 7 months old with absolutely no potty training. He had been living in a puppy pen and didn't even come pad trained. He did not have OFA tested parents.

His breeder said it's her opinion that you either need titled or health tested parents, but not both. I bought him before I had done solid research on ethical breeding.

Because apps like Good Dog mean there are a lot of people buying from breeders in this grey area, and it would be great to get feedback from the breeding community on what exactly it takes to be ethical and if it is a backyard breeder when the breeder still produces with the intention of raising loved puppies in order to make someone happy with a well raised and loved pup without OFA testing/titles or with one or the other.

I feel like this is a bit of a grey area. What are your thoughts on this?

I don't need any more dogs in my life, but apps like Good Dog may be mostly bad...they are also opening this absolute fascination in me for dogs and breeding and what it truly means to be a good breeder.

Does anyone have a chihuahua on the smaller side?

I have a 10 lb chihuahua and recently got a 3 lb, 4 month old puppy but he's expected to be under 4 lbs fully grown.

Did you neuter/spay at 6 months? I finally found a harness that fits him today after ordering about 10.

I have three young dogs under a year. The most recent entered the house last week.

He is a 4 month old unaltered male. He is 3 lbs...

I have two of the same age as well as an 11 month old altered male. He is 9.5 lbs.

The oldest has been resource guarding against the smallest puppy I have. They are fed separately and there are no longer toys out.

He also resource guards my boyfriend and occasionally me, but just with the most recent puppy.

Yesterday they were on the couch and I was eating. The oldest attacked my new boy but let go quickly and just nipped him fast. He did leave marks on his fur in saliva and the younger puppy was whimpering for several seconds (not sure if because of fear or pain).

He cleans his ears and will cuddle with him but will occasionally lash out. How do I set them up for success?

Will altering the two younger pups help with this?

I'm hoping there are options beyond crate and rotate.

Here's our first picture. My current Chihuahua is 9.9 lbs with a body score of 5, so this guy (3.3 lbs, same body score) is throwing me for a loop! We're on our way home now. Hopefully my Chihuahua and chi-pin accept him.

I got him as a chi for immediate rehoming on FB when he was a wee pup.

Turns out he's mostly chi and min-pin, and an absolutely insane ding dong with endless energy compared to my chi, and ears for days.

For everyone that gave input on me bringing a dachshund home in June, here's the update...

I have a chi, a chi-pin, and just adopted my third and final dog, another chi. I actually paid for a dachshund but had to do some soul searching and decided losing the money was better than taking home a dog that may not be a good fit for me. Instead, I got Mr. Sam Scribbles, and he came from strong champion lines and his parents were health tested which I really appreciate. I'm feeling yucky about telling someone I changed my mind on the dachshund, but I had to go with my heart and what's best for me and the pup.

This is Mr. Sam Scribbles.