roguequilter

excellent point, dolphyngyrl, i have a longhaired german wire-haired pointer ..he's so aggressive the rescue people i took him too after he was dumped out here, could do nothing with him & were going to put him down. i told them he had been dumped as a puppy in hot, remote arid desert type region & i wanted to give him one more chance at a happy life. he'd also been abused. he's doing very well after 4 yrs, but only for me, my husband and the kennel guys that have made special efforts with him. my dental office receptionist has same dog breed and he's a sweetheart ..loves whole family and all visitors to the home. my guy has to be kenneled if we are to have houseguests for thier safety. my last canine companion was a high content wolfdog ..her parents were also high content ..mother aggressively dangerous, her father not so much, but keisha, my wolfy love, was the sweetest creature i've ever known. loved children, have pics of my oldest grand using keisha's huge furry body as perfect spot to nap. she also adopted and raised any kittens that came into 'her' house.
..so, like you say, there are aggressive & non aggressive w/in each breed. training helps, but know & work with the dog before you decide it's too aggressive to adopt. there are a lot more love puppies out there than not.

roguequilter

we dress our shnauzer/shi tzu mix when we take her outside, but we get down to single digits and snow in some winters, but in garland, tx i wouldn't think she'd need her jacket and i doubt a chihuahua would either.

crafty pat

We had one years ago and it was the sweetest little pet. She loved the family but would bite anyone else that tried to come near us or her. No one came near our house that she did not let us know. She was very small, a toy but she thought she was big guard dog when watching over her family. She was wonderful with our small boys.

Pat M.

Our Chihuahua is a male, I found him being hurt by 3 boys when he was about 6 weeks old. Took him and tried to find the owners. He is 15 now, we always take him camping with the other dogs, kids, and adults, he has always had a good temperament, BUT he is a one woman dog. Mine.

JanieH

My niece and her family currently have 3 of them. All are playful and well-behaved - they really work with them and teach them "manners". They are also cuddled and petted a lot and so are very people friendly.

SusieQOH

Dolphyngirl- great post.
I've never had a purebred dog. I've only had mutts. But rare is the dog I don't love Right now we don't have one and I miss having one.

cactusmomma

I’ve had three Chihuahuas. Everyone of them have been little angels. Never had a problem. Love them forever.

sprice

Lorimax, your dog is adorable. My Shihtzu wears hoodies all winter. She shivers if she doesn't have a shirt on. Her hair is kept rather short since she hates to be brushed. And if it's real cold, we'll put a wrap coat over her hoodie to go outside. She's 12 and a bit grouchy but we love her so much.

Garden Gnome

I love reading everyone's experiences with various kinds of dogs. I was just wondering if all those Chihuahuas there at the rescue at one time was the result of a breeder surrendering her dogs? We have that happen here pretty often. The last was a Yorkie breeder who turned over about 30 dogs...maybe more. Mostly Yorkies but there were a few other small breeds there too.
You better believe I wanted to get my name on the list for one, but DH kind of discouraged it. We have an older, rescued spaniel/beagle mix, and I think I'm glad we don't have more than one to walk. I had her trained to heel with a pinch collar--you know what a strong tracking drive beagles have. But then DH got to feeling better and started walking her, now he usually lets her off-leash, and has her trained to a whistle (MOST of the time). It's a point of contention, but all in all we really love having her.
Getting her helped my DH recover from a two year bout of depression/anxiety that I thought was going to be the death of him.

bakermom

My DD and SIL have had one for years. He is a bit "yappy" but he is a good little dog and is patient with the kiddoes. He gets a bit nervous when a lot of people are around and prefers to be in a room by himself then. While I don't care for a tiny dog with kids-too easy for it to be hurt by accident. Training is important for any dog regardless of size. Many people don't bother trying to train a small dog which IMO makes them obnoxious and a risk to become a biter