Aquiring a Chihuahua - how are they with Babies?

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Gambitx

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Hello,

My MIL is moving back to the USA and giving us her 5 month old Chihuahua one concern I have is that we have a 15 month old baby. I have read up a little about the breed and general thoughts are that they can be snappy. She is quite a timid dog and runs away and hides rather than be sociable although she was fine when held and I let my baby stoke her.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on if the breed characteristic is correct - are they snappy around babies?

She is a longhaired type, very small - although not the tea cup type small..

Also, is a harness better than a lead as I would think she would slip her coller quite easily.

Many thanks

Emmax
 
I did read that they should wear harnesses for walking as their wind pipes are so delicate. I know people who own one and she is great with their kids, but they're 8/9 years old so not so sure of a baby.
 
The long-haired chis tend to be friendlier in my experience. As with any dog, if raised with kids, they ought to be fine.

I would work on building her confidence as a nervy dog is more likely to nip if it feels threatened. Also, the dog won't be able to tolerate the roughhandling a Lab would willingly endure, so make sure your child grows to be aware of their delicate nature.

Good luck, and post some pictures!
 
We used to have long haired chis when I was a child. They were great with us but could be a bit snappy with strangers. I had a little dog who used to guard me from everyone, even tried to bite my Dad once. He also cocked his leg on every visitor! Because they are so tiny I think they are more defensive and you would have to be careful young children aren't too rough with them, but we found they were great little dogs. And because they lived with GSDs all ours seemed to think they were big dogs anyway.
 
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