Anatomy is the study of body structure. When you begin to
read about Chihuahua standards, structural weaknesses in Chihuahuas and faults
you will need to know what part of the body people or books are referring
to. So before we learn about the Chihuahua Standard as prepared by the Chihuahua
Club Of America, let's first learn the basic parts on a Chihuahua.
Look very carefully at the chihuahua skeleton and then in
your mind's eye, apply it to your chihuahua.
Notice how the bones in both the front leg and rear leg are
the same length; which determines your dogs movement.
Notice the topline and then feel your dog's topline. This
little give is like shocks on a car.
Notice the length of the tail.
Notice the length of the neck.
Notice the length of the bridge of the muzzle in comparison
to the length of the skull.
Notice how the bite sets scissors and not level.
A Leap Into 1910
For your enjoyment and something to think about. The black
and white picture below was taken from The Complete Chihuahua
Encyclopedia (pg 6) as written by Hilary Harmar. The picture displays
a chihuahua skeleton sketch of 2000 and another skeleton of one that walked
the earth back in 1910.
Now, look at the caption under the picture;
: full grown and 7 inches long from nose to tail ~ WHAT TAIL??
Why are chihuahuas so large now?
MOLERA: 3 extra moleras on one side. WOW! and we complain
when we have just one?
I say breeders have come a LONG way in developing the chihuahua
breed as we know it today! |