Mary Allen
# 16 If the little dog has contact with many people, he is lovable towards them.
# 17 If its body size matched its loyalty, the unexpectedly robust companion dog would make the ideal protector due to its alert nature.
# 18 In addition to China, Egypt and Malta, documentary and archaeological evidence primarily speaks for Mexico as the region of origin: Toltecs and Aztecs kept the breed as domestic dogs.
According to legend, Chihuahuas were not only used as sacred sacrificial animals. Aztec chiefs probably also idolized her because of her shining eyes and her round head.
This even went so far that the chiefs took the little dogs with them to their graves because they believed that the Chihuahuas would show them the way through the underworld to paradise if they treated them well during their lifetime.
In the USA in the mid-19th century, Chihuahuas were discovered as charming, lively playmates, bred, and developed their breed status. Soon the little dogs spread from there all over the world.
Rosina V. Casselli attempted a first description of the breed in 1904 in the magazine Our Dogs. She was a variety artist who trained Chihuahuas for her performances.
After their first registration in the US Stud Book that same year and the first standard in 1923, the breed's appearance solidified. Germany got to know and love the Chihuahua comparatively late - the first dogs were registered in 1956.