Chihhua Puppy Research Paper

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Judy Champion Ms. Corkran ENG 101 5 December 2011 A Chihuahua Puppy should not be Shipped at Eight Weeks of Age One of the greatest worries a professional Chihuahua breeder struggles with is the safety of a pet that must be shipped via the airlines. There is not a huge venue of options available to the prospective owners that need a puppy shipped across the country. One additional option the purchaser may inquire about is private pet transport services. Private pet transport services offer the convenience of door-to-door delivery of the pets. However, it is often difficult to acquire accurate health statistics for private pet transport services as they do not report to any government agencies or pet organizations. Additionally,…show more content…
The average weight of an eight-week-old Chihuahua puppy is one and one-quarter to one and three-quarter pound. The Chihuahua is recognized as the smallest breed by the American Kennel Club. In comparison, a standard breed puppy can weight four to six pounds at eight weeks of age. Giant breed puppies can weigh as much as 12 to 17 pounds at eight weeks of age. On the contrary, even a Chihuahua puppy the breeder considers extremely large would probably weight less than two and one-half pound at eight weeks of age. It is common to have a six-month-old Chihuahua that only weighs three pounds. Until a Chihuahua puppy is several months old he or she must have high quality food and fresh water available at all times. Because Chihuahua puppies have very tiny bodies, they should never be placed on a timed feeding schedule. In opposition to this, in a regulation on the number of hours it may be safe to withhold food from an animal, the IATA states that a pet can be without additional feeding for up to 12 hours after the flight is airborne (“International Air Transport Association”). Lack of food and water could be deadly to a young Chihuahua if the flights were delayed for several hours. In addition, at eight weeks of age Chihuahua puppies will not have sufficient control to maintain their balance during a rough flight. By genetics Chihuahua puppies have a large domed head in comparison to the size of their bodies. The larger head is why a young Chihuahua puppy may appear to be awkward or clumsy. As a result, Chihuahua puppies are often noted as being head-heavy until they are well past eight weeks of age. Because of the inability to maintain proper

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