The Chihuahua is one of the most popular dog breeds in the world and that is not surprising at all. Not only are these dogs the tiniest of all breeds, they are the oldest as well. According to the American Kennel Club these dogs have been around from the time of the Aztecs. You will find these dogs to be very attractive growing no taller than nine inches and weighing a mere three to six pounds. They have a sweet small face with a sharp muzzle and large fox-type pointed ears. Their eyes are large and quietly intelligent. The Chihuahua coat comes in two varieties - one is short and straight and another is long and fluffy.

Grooming your Chihuahua usually does not involve much effort or time. This dog's coat is either short and straight or slightly long and fluffy. Both types of fur are easily manageable and would not require more than twenty minutes of brushing every alternate day (for long coats) or thirty minutes for bathing and brushing (for short coats).

Besides washing its coat, grooming your Chihuahua would involve de-matting its fur, clipping nails, checking ears and paws, wiping and inspecting eyes for infection and checking for injuries. You would do best to allot a day every week for grooming your Chihuahua and on each of those days you could concentrate on one particular aspect of grooming besides combing the fur.

There are no problems involved when grooming your Chihuahua is a routine matter. However, when your Chihuahua rolls into some indescribable stuff and smells terrible as a result of that you will probably need to give it a good bath. This will disinfect your dog from any unsanitary dirt and remove the awful smell that you might find it problematic.

Take your Chihuahua and wrap it tightly in the large towel just like you would wrap a baby leaving only the feet free at both ends. Ask the person who agreed to assist you to hold the dog tightly in his or her arms. The dogs usually love this because they love cuddling. Check carefully how far the quick is and then cut the nail straight across.

Sometimes it will be difficult to clip the nails of the dog even with the utmost patience and precautions when grooming your Chihuahua. But do not fret, because there are two ways to reduce the length of a dog's nails. One is to exercise and the other is by having a professional do the job for you.

Use a blow drier to gently dry the fur and pay attention to the fact that these dogs are extremely prone to cold and infections. In fact, before you bathe it, it would be best if you put two cotton balls into its ears to prevent the water from entering them.

Nail clipping might be a little difficult with the Chihuahuas because they tend to get frisky about this particular task. Be patient with the dog and very careful that you do not cut too much. If you find you are unable to do a good job take it to a doggy beauty parlor. They charge a minimal fee for this - and it is well worth it.