• Designate a potty area outdoors.

• Guide your Teacup Chihuahua Teacup Chihuahua Puppies there to do his business.

• Heartily praise him when he goes.

By occasionally giving him a treat right after your Teacup Chihuahua Teacup Chihuahua Puppies finishes, you can encourage him to potty in the desired area. The odor left from previous visits to that area will quickly mark it as the place for the pup to do his business.



Timing Is Important!
A six- to eight-week-old Teacup Chihuahua Teacup Chihuahua Puppy should be taken outdoors every one to three hours. Older Teacup Chihuahua Puppies can generally wait longer between outings. Most Teacup Chihuahua Puppies should be taken out:

• After waking in the morning

• After naps

• After meals

• After playing or training

• After being left alone

• Immediately before being put to bed

• Make some chicken soup (low sodium variety or make it yourself) ice cubes and give them to the puppy.

• Soak a clean rag in water, wring it out and then freeze it (rolling it up helps) and give it to your puppy to chew on.

• Soften the kibble a bit with water.

• Discourage biting on your arm or hand for comfort.

Teacup Chihuahua Puppies lose their teeth in a distinct pattern: first the small front teeth come out. Then the premolars just behind the canines. Then the molars in the back come out (and you'll see adult molars behind those erupting as well). Finally the canine teeth come out. Sometimes the adult canines erupt before the baby canines have come all the way out.

Newborn Teacup Chihuahua Puppies receive immunization against diseases from colostrum contained in their mothers milk while nursing (assuming the bitch was properly vaccinated shortly before the breeding took place). Initially, during their first 24 hours of life, maternal antigens (passive immunity) are absorbed through the pups intestines which are very, very thin during those first few hours (this is why it is so important that Teacup Chihuahua Puppies nurse from the mother during that critical time). After the colostrum ceases (a day or so later), the maternal antigens decline steadily.

During this time, Teacup Chihuahua Puppies cannot build up their own natural immunity because the passive immunity gets in the way. As the passive immunity gradually declines, the pup's immune system takes over. At this time, the pups should be given their first immunization shots so they can build up their own antibodies against them. However, there is no way to tell when passive immunity is gone. This is why pups should be given a shot every few weeks (2 - 3 weeks apart and a series of at LEAST three shots).

Picture a plot of antibody level versus time. Maternal antibody is steadily declining. You just don't know the rate. At some level, say X, protection from parvo is sufficient. Below X, protection may be less than effective against an infection. In general, vaccine antigen cannot stimulate the puppy's own immune system until the maternal antibody level is below X. Let's say it is .7*X. Here's the rub. The antibody level spends some time dropping from X to .7X. During this time, even if you vaccinated every day, you would (in this theoretical discussion) not be able to stimulate immunity. Yet you are below that level of maternal protection at which infection can be effectively fought off.

Thus the importance of giving several vaccinations at 2-4 week intervals until around 16-18 weeks. One maximizes the chance of catching the puppy's immune system as soon as it is ready to respond, minimizing the amount of time the puppy may be susceptible to infection.

IMPORTANT: The last shot should be given AFTER 16 weeks of age (4 months) to be SURE that dam's antibodies have not gotten in the way of the pup building up its own immunity (read the label of the vaccine!).

Up until 8 weeks or so, the shots should consist of Distemper, Measles, and CPI. After that, it should be DHLPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza and Parvovirus). This is at minimum: you may need to add other vaccinations appropriate to your area, such as Lyme, Heartworm (actually a preventive medicine), Rabies (most places), and so on.

You should keep your puppy away from all strange dogs. If you know that a particular dog is current on its shots and not carrying disease, then go ahead and let your puppy socialize. The same holds true for people. Ask them to wash their hands before they play with your puppy. It can't hurt and it could save you a great deal of grief. As your puppy gets its shots, you can slowly add more and more exposure to its life. But keep in mind this is an infant and needs gentle care!

Because Chihuahuas are small dogs they make great apartment dogs, however they do not do well with small children.

Because of the Chihuahua delicate constitution, they are purely indoor dogs; prolonged exposure to the outside will make them ill.

Because these dogs are so tiny it is not wise to leave them outdoors unsupervised, these dogs can become prey to larger animals such as coyotes.

Did you know that Chihuahuas come in two different coats, the dominant smooth short coat and a long haired coat that can be flat or curly?

Did you know that a Chihuahua puppy by the name of Heart-Kun was born in Japan with the actual pattern of a heart on his coat? The little Chihuahua made television news and has captured the hearts of people worldwide.

Many Chihuahuas have difficulty in birthing because the puppies' heads are too large for the birth canal. Many Chihuahua dames need immediate caesarian delivery or even die from birthing (whelping).

The world's smallest police dog is a 7-pound Chihuahua, Rat Terrier mix called Midge. She is training as a drug sniffer police dog.

Even though Chihuahuas are tiny dogs they have no fear of larger animals. If not kept on a leash, they will run after them and attack. The problem is the tiny Chihuahua can get seriously hurt.

Did you know that Chihuahuas can be born with a molera, a soft spot on the skull, similar to the fontanel in human babies? The molera also hardens with age just like a human.

Chihuahuas are fragile dogs and can break their bones very easily. Even jumping from a chair can cause hip displacement. Chihuahuas often suffer from patellar luxation, knee displacement, ulcers on the eyes (corneal dystrophy), heart problems, liver shunts, hypoglycemia and other genetic disorders.

Some Chihuahuas can make amusing trilling sounds when they want to communicate with humans. Some people call it a cross between a bird and a squirrel sound.