Chi Poodle mix
Chihuahua Poodle Mix
The Chihuahua Poodle mix is a rather popular mixed dog. This mixed, called the Chi-Poo is not recognized by the AKC. It is, however, recognized by the American Canine Hybrid Club, which dubs this mixed dog as the Wapoo. Other names for the Chihuahua Poodle mix is the Poochi (or Poo-Chi).
While we personally do not condone the mixing of different breeds, this section is for information purposes only.
In many cases, a Poodle and a Chihuahua will be mixed and the dog ends up at a shelter. With some luck, he will find his way to a loving, adoptive family who will want to know some facts about this unique hybrid/designer dog.
When breeding a Chihuahua and a Poodle, for safety sake, the Poodle should be a Toy (most common) or a Miniature. Standards are not (or should not) be used.
The dam should be a Poodle and the sire, a Chihuahua. This is because the Poodle, whether Toy or Miniature will be larger than the Chihuahua (the smallest breed in the world) and will have a much better chance for a healthy pregnancy
and delivery.
Even when 2 Chihuahuas are bred together, they have the highest rate for cesarean sections and puppies are extremely tiny (just ounces). The dam (female) should be at least 2 years old before breeding. The sire should be at least 6 months old (Canine sperm is often not active before this age.
One will never know whether more of the Poodle traits or the Chihuahua traits will be more predominant in the litter of puppies; however in unofficial studies, it appears that most often it is the Poodle’s coat which comes through and the Chihuahua’s body size. Even so, one Chipoo can look completely different than another one.
One must remember that although the Poodle breed is said to be “hypoallergenic”, due to the dog having hair as opposed to fur, that some people are allergic to naturally occurring dander in the hair, thus making the Poodle not completely hypoallergenic.
Another element to consider is that there are 2 types of Chihuahua: The short coat (most popular) and the long coat. When creating a Chihuahua Poodle mix, it is the short haired Chihuahua
that is most commonly used as the sire.
Even though the Chi is very tiny, one must know that the size of the puppies can never be predicted. Those looking for a smaller dog, would of course, want to go with a Chi/ Toy Poodle mix.
Coat color cannot be known in advance, as well. However, if 2 dogs of the same solid color are bred and when looking at pedigree, if those solids are shown though the past 3 generations, one can have more assurance as to the color of the puppies….For example a tan Chi with a tan Poodle. If one is able to look back through 5 generations, this is even better.
We must note, that as Poodle experts, we along with the AKC and the Poodle Club of American do believe that mixed breeding should not be done. Why? Because each time it is, the Poodle line loses a bit of its strength. It is only through careful breeding that the Poodle line can continue to be perfected and strengthened.
However, to be fair to both sides on this issue, the American Canine Hybrid Club argues that many of the breeds we know of and love today, are a direct result of cross breedings in history… were it not for this, we would not have many dogs that are so popular. For example, the tiny Pomeranian, a toy dog, originated from a much larger dog and bred down in size, thus becoming the Pomeranian.