What is the Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix breed?
There are literally hundreds of various dog breeds out there, including all the mixed breeds that are currently increasing in popularity nowadays. Nonetheless, the ShiChi, or the Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix is not the best choice of dog for everybody – make sure that you take the time to know about its personality, temperament, and its requirements to assess whether or not this could be the ideal dog for you.
Basic ShihChi Information
You do not have to know a lot about this dog breed to have a primary knowledge of what a ShiChi is – it is all there in its name.
This breed is a Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix–two of the most common toy dog breeds. Both of these dog breeds are more on companionship, so they do not have any specific skills or instincts for hunting or any other dog sports. Nevertheless, the Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix dogs have a loving and friendly temperament, which makes this hybrid breed an ideal choice for a pet of families with children.
You would have to bear in mind, nonetheless, that hybrid dog breeds get a lot more than just physical characteristics from both parents; they likewise inherit their personality and behavioral attributes from them, so you would not really know what you are going to get.
ShiChi Weight and Size
For first-time Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix dog parents, questions about their size and weight are always the first thoughts that come to their mind.
This is a bit tough to answer since you’re not referring to a pure breed dog that has a standard size and weight.
Hybrid dogs, like the ShiChi, are a mix between at least two breeds. Hence, their genes play a significant role in ascertaining the Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix dog’s size, weight, as well as their other traits, so you could not always land an accurate guess.
Because both the Shih Tzu and Chihuahua are small dogs nevertheless, you could expect your Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix adult dog to be around eight to sixteen pounds. Still, the only way to know the max Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix size is to wait for them to grow up.
Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix Lifespan & Health
Even though they might suffer from some health issues, the Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix is mostly known as a healthy dog breed.
Toy dogs like the Shih Tzu and Chihuahua tend to enjoy relatively long lifespans (ten to eighteen years for Shih Tzus and twelve to twenty years for Chihuahuas)– a lot longer than large-breed dogs, like Labradors and Golden Retrievers.
What these numbers mean is that the ShiChi lifespan would be somewhere between ten and twenty years.
Temperament and Personality
What type of temperament and personality does the Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix normally have, and how do they behave around kids, strangers, and other dogs?
Although you cannot make accurate and precise predictions about hybrid dogs, you could expect the Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix personality to be playful and upbeat.
Training a Shih Tzu Chihuahua Mix
Toy dogs are particularly challenging to train, particularly when it comes to potty training them—and Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix dogs are no different. Small dogs usually have too big personalities that they do not like being asked what to do.
Both the Chihuahua and the Shih Tzu are intelligent breeds, so they have the ability to learn very quickly–you just need to engage and motivate them. You should likewise keep your training practices brief enough that they do not become bored.
Training a Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix would need you to keep a consistent and firm position of leadership—they should see you as the alpha.
However, you should not impose your dominance and compel your Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix to be submissive, but you should establish firm house rules.
In training your Shih Tzu Chihuahua mix, you would want to start early while they’re still pups. You should begin with the obedience training early on, and you should also start enforcing strict house rules from day one.
