Once upon a time, there was a barkless Chihuahua . . .
No, seriously. A lot of them. Really!
Well, technically, not the Chihuahua we know today, that has, often unjustly, been
labeled as a “yappy little dog” (usually because of owners who assume that cute little
dogs don't need to learn manners -- but that's a misconception for another article); the
ancestor of today's Chihuahua, the Techichi dog. When Columbus wrote to Isabella,
describing his “discoveries” in the New World, he included a description of a dog kept by
the natives, a very small dog, one that did not bark, but was, for practical purposes,
mute.
The Techichi wasn't as diminutive as their descendants are today, but there is little
speculation or argument among the archaeologists who study the relationships of man
and dog that the Techichi dog of the Toltecs is a progenitor of the Chihuahua.
There are several theories about other contributing ancestors of the Chihuahua. Two
involve small breeds that were brought to Mexico with Spanish colonials, specifically an
old breed, native of Malta, that has been called the “Maltese Pocket Dog” seen in
portraits of Spanish nobles and the other a small, black and tan Terrier brought with the
conquistadores. The case for the Maltese dog is especially intriguing. The Maltese
Pocket dog had a natural molera, a gap in the skull where the three plates of the skull
meet, similar to the fontanel in a human baby's head. The Chihuahua is the only
modern breed with a natural molera. Most of the time the opening gradually closes as
the dog matures, again, like a baby's fontanel, but it is not unheard of for the molera to
remain in some degree throughout the dog's life.
A Botticelli painting in the Sistine Chapel further bolsters the hypothesis of European
progenitors. Depicted in the painting is a small dog very similar to the Chihuahua. The
painting was completed in 1482 . . . a decade before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Another possible contributor to the gene pool is the Chinese Crested or some similar
breed brought to the Spanish colonies in Mexico by sailors and traders. Cresteds are an
ancient breed and are avid hunters of small vermin, a trait that, along with their spacesaving
size and matching appetite, would make them valuable on sailing vessels and
readily carried to colonial ports.
Another likely suspect is the Perro Chihuahueno, a small foraging dog native to the
mountainous areas of Chihuahua. The Perro had a round head and the erect ears and
long claws for digging. Archaeologists and zoologists speculate that the Toltecs may
have purposely crossed the two native types of dogs.
It is also a pet theory of some archaeologists that the Techichi did not originate on the
North American continent, but crossed over the ancient land bridge from Asia, coming to
the American continent in the same way humans are believed to have arrived. Long trek
for a small dog! It leads one to a humorous mental picture of an ancient, unibrowed
ancestress of Paris Hilton with a tiny little dog tucked into the prehistoric forerunner of a
Gucci tote.
The Toltecs, and later, their conquerors, the Aztecs, attached great spiritual significance
to the little Techichi. They were believed to have power and influence with the gods, and
to be capable of transferring the transgressions of the soul of a deceased person to
themselves, a belief that caused the little dogs no small amount of grief as they were
burned as sacrifices along with the corpse of the dead human. Another function they
served was as guides to lead the confused spirits of the newly departed to their alloted
station in the afterlife. The red coated dogs were thought to be the most adept guides.
Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of their accompaniment of humans after death
as far back as the fifth century B.C.
A belief that carries through to today in different forms is that Chihuahuas can take a
person's sickness into their bodies. Part of this may have come about from their use as
living heating pads on sore joints. It is easy to speculate that as the heat their bodies
generated with their high metabolic rate sank into sore or arthritic parts of the body, pain
would dissipate, as pain does when heat is applied. It would not be a large leap of
rationale for ancient people to then assume it was a spiritual quality of the dog that
relieved the pain. The belief persists today in the old wives' tale that Chihuahuas cure
asthma. Even today there are traditional Sioux who believe that sleeping with a dog will
cure disease through transference.
Provided by Becky Roche of www.pet-super-store.com: Where you can find "little" Dog Beds and Dog Steps
