Page 189 - ShowSight - June 2020

JUDGING THE CHIHUAHUA
THE CHIHUAHUA IS OFTEN CONSIDERED TO BE
the smallest of all purebred dogs.
THIS IS IN SIZE ONLY.
There are some generic kinds of evaluations that a judge should make just as he/she would judging any breed. These include spring of ribs, pasterns, condition, elbows, etc. The Chihuahua is often considered to be the smallest of all purebred dogs. This is in size only. A typical Chihuahua is often guilty of forgetting his size and will challenge a dog much larger. Handlers have to be constantly aware of this problem, and not allow their Chihuahuas to go after larger dogs.
The Chihuahua has personal space just like a Doberman or a Mastiff. Judges do not get into the face of a Dobe, but there are some judges that think they need to get into the space of the Chihuahua. This is a pet peeve of mine. There is no need to get right in the face of a Chihuahua and talk baby talk to it. Even the most well-behaved Chihuahua will not tolerate such an invasion of personal space nor should it. This problem seems to happen less often of late.
I don’t think a person has been born who can tell for sure if a dog is over the six pound limit. That is why we have scales available to the judging public. Don’t guess about size; call for the scale. A 5 lb. 15 oz. entry should be given the same consideration as a tiny competitor. As long as a dog does not exceed the six pound limit it should be given full consideration. Our standard no longer says the smaller entry should prevail.
There are only four disqualifications. These should be consid- ered as the dogs are being examined. Broken down or cropped ears is a difficult DQ to understand. (I have included a photo of a dog with broken down ears.) Handlers of a dog with questionable ears don’t usually allow their entry to look down. If you question an ear or ears, bait the dog so that the dog has to look downward. If the ear cannot be held erect while looking down, the ear(s) is/are a disqualification. The example included in this discussion has a crease at the outer edge of the ear. Sometimes a dog will have ears that bounce as the dog moves around the ring. This is not neces- sarily a broken down ear. You will not see cropped ears in the show ring nor will you see docked tails or bobbed tails. Bareness in a long-coated entry is seldom if ever seen. My experience has taught me that bareness appears under the chin and down the throat of the dog. Here again, this is a DQ that you most probably will not see in the ring.
The Chihuahua Club of America has spent many long hours working with an artist and club members to create an illustrated standard. Once completed this illustrated standard should prove to be an invaluable asset to all judges of the Chihuahua.
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2020 | 187