Mary Allen
The ideal age for Chihuahua puppies is 12 weeks. The puppies had enough time to play with their littermates and learn bite inhibition. Of course, the mother dog and other dogs of the kennel also contributed a lot to teaching little Chi dog language and dog etiquette. These are all important cornerstones of socialization.
Chihuahuas are often given away between the 8th and 12th week of life. While dropping it off before the eighth week is seen as totally irresponsible, picking it up by the new owners before the 12th week isn’t really ideal either.
Chihuahuas are still very fragile and light at this age. When moving to a new home, however, it is not uncommon for dog children to refuse food for the first few days. All the new impressions and the stress sometimes lead to diarrhea. However, both can lead to dangerous hypoglycemia and/or dehydration in such young Chihuahua puppies.
Breeders should therefore definitely point this out when giving away from the 8th week or better not give up their protégés until they are 3 months old.