I am contacted at least weekly  by people saying they want to breed there chihuahua, or even become a chihuahua breeder. this is not a horrable idea, obviously, i do it, and LOVE IT!

 having said that, there are so many things to consider befor you decide to breed.

first~ you need quality breeding stock.  this is not optional. you need to have a female with great genesics, that really represents the breed standards.  most breeders i know do not stud out there males, i too have stopped doing this. there are alot of legal issues  to consider, what if the female is injured(or dies) in your care? what if your male is injured by an unwilling female? what if there is an undetected sexually transmitted disease that gets transmitted( dident know dogs has sexually transmitted diseases?) ok, so with all of that, you will probably need to buy your own male or set up artifical insemination with your vet. 

so, now you have spent alot of money getting your first breeding pair, if you bought them as puppies you need to wait about 2 YEARS to breed them. your male will become sexually mature at around 6-8 months of age, your female, at around 18 months -2 years. your male will "spray" urine around your home to mark his teritory. he will need to be keep far away from your female while she is in heat , starting at around 6 months, then every 6 months after. he wil be very agravated about being kept away from his female.   he will be very vocal, possably driving you crazy for up to 3 weeks, untill your female is out of her heat. while she is in heat she will bleed from the vagina, some dogs clean them selves well, others make a real mess. she will also try everything in her power to get to her male, while she is in heat.  

if you bought your male as a puppy, his testicals may have not been decended yet. if one or both fail to decend( pretty common problem) he will need to be fixed and you will need to start over.

now, lets say, your female is 2 years old, your male is sexually mature, with both testicals. ready to breed? not yet............. they both need to be tested to see if they are carriers of any genetic diseases common to the breed.  if either tests positive, that dog will need to be spayed/ nutered, and you need to begin again.

ok, so you have 2 healthy, mature, disease free, wonderful examples of the breed, so lets breed. sometimes, nature just takes its course, sometimes, it needs some help. your male will probable need a few dozen practice runs, befor he gets it right, but when he does, your dogs will "tie" during the tie, you will need to be "hands on" to be sure they do not injure each other. the tie can last up to an hour.i bred my dogs at least once every other day while the female is in heat.

you can get an ultrasound done at about 8 weeks to determine pregnancy. the ultrasound can not usually count how many pups there are(very important to know with a chihuahua) so you will need an xray around day 52.  dogs are pregnant for about 63 days. as you can see the vet bills are adding up.

during the last week of her pregnancy,you will need to be with your female all of the time. many chihuahuas die from having an unattended birth go wrong.  by the time the owners are home, the litter is lost and sometimes even the dam. most first time (and some times second and third time) mom's do not know to remove the puppy from the birthing sack.  if the puppy is not quickly removed , they sufficate. an over eager dam can chew the ambilical codr too close and the puppy can bleed to death. you need to be there when your puppies are born.

an average chihuahua litter is 3 pups.if there are less, the puppies can become to big in utero, and your female may need a c-section.

LOTS OF CHIHUAHUAS NEED C-SECTIONS! after waking up from sedation, a chihuahua may refuse to take her pups, they may kill and eat the pups. you need to be with her every second during this time, you may have to introduce the pups over and over to her. 

C-sections in my area run from 700.00- 1,200.00. thee are lots or reasons for a section. i have  had A large chihuahua, that "should" have been able to whelp naturally, but needed a secion, even though her pups were small. i have a chihuahua that had had 3 litters naturally, in her 4th litter , a puppy was bent sideways, and got stuck in the birth canal. she needed a section, her litter died and she had to be spayed. i have had several singleton litters, they almost always need a section, because the puppy is just to big. i had a female that went into premature labor, and srarted bleeding vaginally, she needed a section, her litter died and she needed to be spayed.. you need to have the money for a c- section, with every litter you bred, because you   WILL need it eventually. if the female needs a c section, she may needs one the second breeding also, if she does, she will need to be spayed and you will need to start over.

 ok, so the puppies are here!!!

but......................... mom doesent want to take care of them(sometimes the case with first time moms and moms who have had a c section) the puppies need moms colustrum, its not negotiable, so you need to either "milk" mom, hand stripping colustrum one drop at a time into the puppies mouths or into a container to bottle feed them. or hold mom still so the puppies can nurse, every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. the puppies must be kept warm. they can not regulate there own temps. so you buy a whelping nest, 150.00-300.00 depending on the  set up.

 finally after a few days mom starts taking over, feeding , cleaning, ect. but, chihuahuas are a very small dog, feeding puppies can cause them to loose huge amounts of calcium. "eclampsia" is common to small breeds. it is caused by loosing to much calcium through nursing. it can come on quickly and cause your female to die. she will need constant monitering to be sure this is not happening. if this happens your chihuahua will need  to see a vet, it can cause rapid heart beat, shaking, seisures and death. breeders take alot of time off from work during the whelping season. if your female suffers from eclampsia she may need to be spayed and you will have to start over again.

 so finally you have a healthy mom and 3 healthy pup. but you notice that suddenly one doesent look "right" its not eating like the others, it doesent move as much, and it cries more.( you need a scale to weigh your pups twice daily. i have found large postal scales work best. 30.00-50.00) the puppy has Fading Puppy Syndrome, (happens very often)it needs too be removed from mom, kept warm ( yeah another whelping nest 150.00- 300.00)    you try to bottle feed it ,(puppy formula 15.00-30.00) but it does not suck well. you take the puppy to the vet, it needs  sub q fluid every 2 hours around the clock, (you have to do this at home, your vet wont keep a newborn puppy) so you  buy all of the supplies, your vet shows you how to administer the fluids, and you go home. it takes 4 days of round the clock feeding, sub q fluids, constant temperature checks, but finally the puppy is maintaing weight.(it is my experience that these pups usually die. there is a 20 % mortality in healthy litters, fading puppies make up most of the percentage)

 so say your female finally  has a healthy litter of 3 pups, but she needed a c-section. the money you will get for the first pup, goes to cover the vet expences for your female , check ups for your puppies, shots, cost of registering the litter ext....

the money you get from the second puppy (and part of the 3rd) will go toward the c-section bill. and the remaning money for the 3rd ,will go to cover some  your supplies, even if all of your puppies sell, you are in the hole. but, what if they dont sell? can you keep them? can you afford to give them away? people are hesitant to but from inexperienced breeders,  you need to put some real thought into what you will do with your puppies if they dont sell.

so, with all of that, if you still want to breed chihuahuas, give me a call.