Chiweenie - Dachshund x Chihuahua crossbreed

1) Designer dog breed
The Chiweenie is a so called designer dog breed, which is basicly just a different term for a crossbreed. It is not a mutt, because mutt has an uncertain ancestry, while crossbreed, or designer dog breed always have an ancestry of two purebred dogs, in this case a Chihuahua and a Dachshund.
2) Origin
Of course, there have been unintentional mixes of Chihuahuas and Dachshunds for a long time, but those dogs were not bred intentionally and they were not named as Chiweenies. The intentional breeding with a goal of creating a new dog started in the late 1990s, most likely in North America, which is a home to most of todays crossbreeds. The main reason to cross these two dogs was to minimize the back problems, which are very typical for long Dachshund dogs.
3) Companions
The Chiweenie is a great companion, but it is rather active and playful companion than typical calm lap dog. It is because both, Chihuahuas and Dachshunds are known for their confidence, playfulness, higher energy especially for a small dog, charming and playful temperament and independent mind. If you are an active person who like outdoors, it is very likely that the Chiweenie will enjoy any activity with you. These dogs can also live with other dogs or pets in the family, but they should be socialized together from the puppyhood.
4) Training and exercise
As i just mentioned, this is relatively active breed, especially for its small size. These dogs need daily walks, playtime and fun training sessions to stay healthy and happy. Without enough physical and mental stimulation, they can develop some unwanted behaviour, most commonly excessive barking. The training of Chiweenie is not the easiest, since they are known to be independent and to have stubborn streaks, but with enough patience and consistency, they can easily learn all the basic obedience commands. Just like with any other breed, you should train the Chiweenie by rewarding them for positive behaviour by a lot of praising and treats. The training should be firm, but kind.
5) Appearance
Just like with all crossbreeds, even the apperance of Chiweenie is little bit unpredictable. Most often these dogs look like Chihuahuas, but with longer body and shorter legs. But they can inherit the Dachshund head as well. Typically these dogs have smaller head, bigger ears, small feet and long tails. They have alert, but gentle and loving expression in their large and dark colored eyes.
6) Size
As you can probably expect from a cross between Dachshund and Chihuahua, this is a very small dog. Most often the height is somewhere between 6-10 inch, which is 15-25 cm and weight is usually between 5-12 lbs, which is 2-5,5 kg. There are no extreme size differences between males and females.
7) Name
Just like majority of crossbreeds, even the Chiweenies name is a mix of its parents names. Chi is from Chihuahua and Weenie is from the Dachshunds nickname – Wiener dog. The Chiweenie is known under some other names as well, such as Mexican Hot Dog, Doxiwawa, Dachuahua, Chiwee, Choxie or German Taco. But most often, people use the name Chiweenie when they are talking about this crossbreed.
8) Coat
I mentioned that the appearance of Chiweenie is not predictable and that is especially true for the coat. It is because both – Chihuahuas and Dachshunds – have different coat types, which include short and long hair for both plus rough Dachshund coat. The Chiweenie can inherit any of these coat types, but most often, they have a short and smooth coat. These dogs can be found in almost any color and color combination, but most common colors are brown, black and white. Some dogs are singlecolored, some can be in mixture of various colors and some can even be brindle.
9) Maintenance
The maintenance and grooming really depends on the coat type your Chiweenie inherited, but the most common short coat is very easy to maintain. Even without any grooming, they will keep the coat in good condition, but of course, regular brushing is beneficial as it will remove dead hair and dirt. The long haired Chiweenies coat needs to be brushed more often in order to prevent tangling and matting. But overall, the maintenance and grooming is fairly simple. Just like with any other breed, you should regularly check their eyes, ears, nails and teeth and clip them or clean them if needed.
10) Health
The Chiweenie is a relatively healthy dog breed with great lifespan around 15 years. Of course, they can suffer from some health issues and they are predisposed to the same health issues as its parents, which may include patellar luxation, intervertebral disc disease, hemophilia, hypoglycemia and very common are dental issues.