The Chihuahua comes in two varieties: long and smooth coat.
The Toltecs, who existed in what is now Mexico as early as the 9th century AD, possessed a breed of dog called the Techichi. The breed was small, but not tiny, and heavy-boned. This breed, regarded as indigenous to Central America, is the progenitor of the Chihuahua that exists today.
The breed derives its name from the Mexican State of Chihuahua, where the earliest specimens of the breed were found.
The Chihuahua is clannish, preferring companions of his own breed.
Pictures of dogs resembling the modern Chihuahua appear in ancient paintings in Mexico.
It is assumed that the small size of the modern Chihuahua results from a cross of the Techichi with the small hairless dog brought from Asia to Alaska over the land bridge that is now the Bering Strait.
