You don’t want to buy your Chihuahua from just anyone. You want to have the best chance of getting a healthy and well behaved dog, and the best way to do that is to only purchase your dog from responsible Chihuahua breeders or to get it from one of the rescue organizations that works with this breed.

With purebred dogs like Chihuahuas it is important to buy from responsible Chihuahua breeders for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that puppy mills and irresponsible breeders are so concerned with making as much money as possible that they don’t take care to avoid the genetic diseases that are common to purebred dogs. They also don’t take the time and make the effort to properly socialize the dogs, and sometimes even sell them before they should leave their mother. This leads to unhealthy dogs with poor temperaments, which is just what you don’t want. Also, even if you are lucky enough to get a great dog from these sources, by purchasing from them you are increasing the demand for their dogs and encouraging them to keep acting irresponsibly.

There are a number of different things that you should look for when you start searching for a Chihuahua. Responsible Chihuahua breeders will be able to give you registration papers for your dog, and they will have tested the parents of the dog before breeding them for eye and knee problems which are common to Chihuahuas, and will only breed parents that conform to the standard and that are well behaved. The kennels should be hygienic and the breeder should be willing to answer all of your questions.

Other signs of a responsible Chihuahua breeder include the breeder having given the proper veterinary care for both the mother and the litter, the breeder only breeding one or two types of dogs a couple times per year, and will not sell puppies that are less than eight to twelve weeks of age. The breeder should care about the puppies and interview you to make sure that you will provide the proper home and care for your new Chihuahua, and should charge enough for the dogs that it shows they are getting the proper veterinary care. Many responsible breeders have waiting lists, so this is a good sign.