The legends of the origin of the Chihuahua are varied and like so many Legends we must read between the lines for faint glimmers of the truth.

Chihuahua’s are reputed to have originated in the Valley de Allenda in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico from where they acquired their name. These little dogs were the sacred dogs of the Mayan Indians and the Toltecs and can be traced back to between the 7th and 9th centuries A.D. It is written that the Aztecs following the Toltecs continued to develop the breed. When an Aztec chief died all his belongings including his little dog, were burnt and the legend goes that when the chief crossed the nine deadly rivers of the underworld the holy dog with the symbolic cotton cord tied around its neck would be waiting on the furthest bank for its master. As soon as the dog saw him he would swim across the turbulent waters and guide his masters soul to safety.

Amongst the material passed down from the early Indians especially from Colima, are statues, which are unmistakably Chihuahua’s. These statues are known as the pottery dogs of Colima.

The Spanish conquered Mexico in the 16th Century so it is reasonable to assume that specimens of the smooth coat Chihuahua were returned to Europe Many little dogs resembling chihuahua’s have been depicted in oil paintings particularly in Italy, and it is well known that a similar variety of smooth coat chihuahua existed in Malta.

More modern thoughts were chihuahuas were really Chinese dogs, which were imported into Mexico by Chinese merchants. One story is that Asians dwarfed animals and trees and thought they might have reduced the size of the Chihuahua. The flat furry tail, an important characteristic of the Chihuahua breed is also common of other Asian toy breeds.

Other thoughts on the matter are that the Chihuahua breed originated somewhere near Peru as there is evidence of them with the Inca’s, Mayan’s, Toltec’s and Aztec people and looking at a map of where these civilizations were settled supports the theory that early Chinese merchants may have brought the breed into the South American civilizations.

However, we may never really know the truth, a great cloud of mystery surrounds these unique little dogs, with high intelligence and untold love to give to us humans, they have many excellent qualities all rolled up into a small package. How lucky we are to have them.

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