Colors and Coats of the Chihuahua

[Anatomy]  [Attitude]  [Colors] [Weight]

The Chihuahua comes in two varieties. 

Smooth Coats - the coat should be of a soft texture, close and glossy.  The coat should be well over the body with the ruff on neck preferred, and thinner on the head and ears. Hair on tail should be furry.

Long Coats - the coat should be of a soft texture, either flat or a little curly, with an undercoat. Ears will be fringed. The tail is full and long as a plume.  There will be feathering on the feet and legs, pants on hind legs and large ruff on the neck.

Disqualifications- In Long Coats, too thin of a coat that shows bareness.

Pads- Chihuahuas with self-pigmentation (ie pink or brown noses and eye rims) will have pink or brown pads - self-pigmentation is permissible in light colored dogs with light eyes.  Otherwise black noses, eye-rims and pads are the order of the day, but generally speaking I have yet to see a judge who would penalize any chi who didn't have black pads.  Some dogs with dark pigmentation sometimes have pink and/or black mottled pads. The Breed Standard makes no mention of the color of the pads.

Some people think that the short list that is found on the puppy application is the only color choices available for Chihuahuas. Listed below is the complete list of acceptable colors. It is also incorrectly believed that AKC establishes these colors. The colors that are available for use are voted on by the "parent" club for each breed. The "parent" club for Chihuahuas is THE CHIHUAHUA CLUB OF AMERICA.

COLOR LIST FOR CHIS - for examples check out kandee's chihuahuas

S 007 BLACK                               A 045 BLUE & WHITE
S 018 BLACK & TAN                         A 356 BLUE BRINDLED FAWN
S 044 BLUE & TAN                          A 036 BLUE FAWN
S 071 CHOCOLATE                           A 271 CHOCOLATE & WHITE
S 072 CHOCOLATE & TAN                     A 359 CHOCOLATE BLUE
S 076 CREAM                               A 355 CHOCOLATE BRINDLED FAWN
S 082 FAWN                                A 358 CHOCOLATE SABLED FAWN
S 086 FAWN & WHITE                        A 077 CREAM & WHITE
S 140 RED                                 A 357 FAWN BRINDLED BLACK
A 014 BLACK & RED                         A 091 GOLD
A 016 BLACK & SILVER                      A 092 GOLD & WHITE
A 019 BLACK & WHITE                       A 146 RED & WHITE
A 354 BLACK SABLED FAWN                   A 176 SILVER
A 353 BLACK SABLED SILVER                 A 182 SILVER & WHITE
A 037 BLUE                                A 199 WHITE

(S=STANDARD COLOR, A=ALTERNATE COLOR)

MARKINGS

S 073 BLACK BRINDLING                     A 005 BLACK MASK, WHITE MARKINGS
S 004 BLACK MASK                          A 006 BLUE MASK
S 072 BLACK SABLING                       A 044 CREAM MARKINGS
S 071 SPOTTED ON WHITE                    A 008 FAWN MARKINGS
S 014 WHITE MARKINGS                      A 023 RED MARKINGS

(S=STANDARD MARKINGS, A=ALTERNATE MARKINGS)