Page 28 - ShowSight Presents - The Chihuahua
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The origin of the Chi- huahua is mysterious. It is accepted by most historians that the Chi- huahua is a native of the country of Mexico. Still,
there is conflicting information about the origin of the breed.
We know that the Toltec people of Mex- ico kept a little dog known as the Techichi which had a fat body and large, “Chihua- hua-like” ears. When the Aztecs came into power, the little dogs were owned by the nobles in Aztec society. These dogs were more than just companion animals. The Aztecs believed that when an Aztec noble would die, it was necessary to slay a Chi- huahua and bury or cremate it with the body of the human. They believed that the spirit of the dead Chihuahua would act as a guide through the afterlife for the soul of the dead noble. The human spirit needed help swimming across a river into the afterlife and would crawl onto the back of the Chihuahua spirit to reach his heavenly destination in the afterlife. There is speculation that a Chihuahua sacrifice would absorb the sins of the human spirit.
With the sins transferred to the spirit of the dog, the human was welcomed into the afterlife. The color of the dog might have determined its function to mankind. Some historians believe that only certain colored dogs could perform the function of swim- ming into the afterlife. There is evidence that they were kept by Aztec nobles in large packs of hundreds of dogs.
Other theories suggest that the origin of the Chihuahua was not in Mexico. Some authorities have theorized that the Chihuahua may have been brought from the island of Malta by the Spanish con- quistadors. Others believe that the Chi- huahua may have originated in China and other places of the Far East. This theory would accept the concept that the Chihua- hua traveled with people across the Alas- kan Bering Strait into the Americas.
Early writers even addressed beliefs that the Chihuahua was not fully canine. It was written that they were closely related to chipmunks. Others speculated that the breed was a cross between small, wild dogs that lived in the mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico with domesticated dogs of the ear- ly Mexicans. With all the conjecture about
By William H. “Billy” Miller
the origin of the Chihuahua, the breed’s true origin might remain somewhat of a mystery. This author envisions the Chi- huahua as an adorned companion of Aztec nobles, being cared for as if they were gods themselves. There is even evidence that the early people of Mexico worshipped a dog-god called Tula. Rightly so, one of my champion Chihuahuas bears this name.
In the late 1800’s the first Chihuahua appeared at a dog show in Philadelphia. The judged placed the dog last in the Foreign dog class. James Watson, a noted author and dog exhibitor, purchased a Chihuahua in Texas for the sum of $3.00 in 1884. This was not Watson’s only Chihuahua as he later acquired others. He told of the pur- chase of one dog where he bought the dog from a Mexican offering a rare Chihuahua in a basket at a train station. The seller told him that it was the only one that was for sale. When he passed the seller later, there was yet another tiny “rare Chihuahua” for sale in his basket. Certainly, this man was a clever salesman!
A Chihuahua named “Beppie” was born in 1903 and became the breed’s first AKC champion in 1905. This dog was
THE HISTORY OF THE CHIHUAHUA
“THE HUMAN SPIRIT NEEDED HELP SWIMMING ACROSS A RIVER INTO THE AFTERLIFE AND WOULD CRAWL ONTO THE BACK OF THE CHIHUAHUA SPIRIT TO REACH HIS HEAVENLY DESTINATION IN THE AFTERLIFE.”
