Chihuahua Weight Chart and Puppy Development Guide

Chihuahuas are one of the smallest dog breeds in the world with one of the biggest personalities. They’re known for their tiny size and the words ‘teacup’ and ‘handbag’ dog is often associated with them. Chihuahuas can vary in size; some being super tiny while others are standard size. If you have a Chihuahua puppy, you might be wondering how big they will grow. Keep reading and we’ll tell you everything that you need to know about your puppy’s growth, including a Chihuahua weight chart. 

What Affects the Size of a Chihuahua? 

Before we look at growth charts, we’ll discuss what might influence the size of your Chihuahua puppy. Genetics play a big part in this. That means that you need to look at the size of your puppy’s parents. If they are small or big there’s a higher chance that your puppy will follow their footsteps. This isn’t guaranteed, but in general smaller dogs should breed smaller puppies and likewise larger dogs should breed larger puppies. 

Puppy nutrition is another big factor. Your growing puppy need lots of nutrients like protein, calcium, amino acids, phosphorus etc. They’ll initially get these nutrients from their mother’s milk and then from puppy food when they are weaned. They need to be on a very high quality puppy food and receive adequate amounts of this. If they’re on a poor quality diet, their growth might be affected and they could be stunted or become overweight or even obese. 

Over-exercising your Chihuahua can affect the growth plates in their little puppy legs. This can cause premature closure of the plates or abnormal growth. This can affect the height of your puppy and cause them to be shorter than they would have been if they hadn’t been over-exercised. Consult with your veterinarian if you’re unsure on how much your puppy should be exercising.

Underlying health conditions that cause your puppy to be unwell and potentially cause weight loss or reduced appetite, can affect their growth negatively. High parasite burdens are detrimental to a puppy’s development. Ensure that your get your puppy checked by your vet if they seem unwell and keep parasite treatment up to date. 

Over-exercising your Chihuahua can affect the growth plates in their little puppy legs.

Chihuahua Growth Chart

Many people attempt to guess how big their Chihuahua puppy will be by looking at the size of their parents and also by looking at the size of the puppy’s paws (bigger paws = bigger puppy). However, this isn’t always accurate. Genes can skip generations so smaller parents don’t necessarily mean that the puppy will be small. Paw size isn’t accurate either; I’ve seen many dogs with small paws grow to be quite large! 

The Chihuahua weight chart below can give you a good idea of what size your puppy will be as an adult. Simply find their age on the column on the left and slide across to the weight that they are now. Then slide down to see what estimated weight they’ll be as an adult. 

If you want to convert ounces (oz) to pounds (lbs), divide the ounces by 16. This will give you the amount in pounds. 

This Chihuahua weight chart gives you a pretty good idea of what size your little puppy will grow to be! However, it is only an estimation — underlying factors such as the nutrition of your puppy, exercise and health issues will affect these figures. 

When Do Chihuahuas Do Most of Their Growing? 

Newborn Chihuahuas sleep and eat a lot (initially from their mothers and then food through weaning). It goes without saying that they grow a huge amount during this phase of development. They usually go to their permanent home around 8-12 weeks of age. 

From this age until around 5-6 months old they do most of their growing. You may notice your Chihuahua going through various growth spurts throughout this period. If you haven’t noticed, look back at old photos and I’m sure you’ll notice the change. They regularly need their collars and harnesses loosened during this time as they are growing rapidly. 

Until 5-6 months old they regularly need their collars and harnesses loosened during this time as they are growing rapidly.

When Do Chihuahuas Stop Growing? 

Chihuahuas usually reach their adult weight between 9-12 months of age. The average weight of a Chihuahua is between 2.5-4.5 lbs and 5-8 inches tall but this can vary between dogs. In general, standard Chihuahuas shouldn’t be over 6lbs in weight. Chihuahuas can continue to grow a little bit beyond 12 months of age until approximately 18 months. This is often described as them ‘filling out’. 

If your Chihuahua is still growing a lot past 9-12 months of age, it would be advised to get them checked by your veterinarian. There might be an issue with overfeeding. 

How Can I Monitor My Chihuahuas Growth at Home? 

Your puppy will be checked and weighed during the various veterinary visits that they’ll have during their first year (e.g. at vaccines, for worming treatments) but you can check this at home too. This could be a good idea if you’re worried about their growth or if they have been unwell. 

You can weigh them in two different ways. You can weigh yourself and then weigh yourself holding your Chihuahua; the difference in weight is the weight of your pup. As Chihuahuas are so small in weight this might not be the most accurate method and the other option is to use a weighing scales. You can use a kitchen weighing scales if the puppy is quite small or you can buy a dedicated dog weighing scales. 

The other parameter that you can monitor is your dog’s body condition score. This allows you to judge how much fat coverage they have and if they are under- or over-weight. See the body condition score chart below from WSAVA. 

Your dog’s body condition score allows you to judge how much fat coverage they have and if they are under- or over-weight.

When to See the Vet 

If you think that your Chihuahua is underweight, you should schedule a check-up with the vet. They could have an underlying illness making them lose weight or fail to thrive. It’s important to have your puppy on a high quality puppy food to encourage growth.

On the other hand, if your Chihuahua appears overweight and it isn’t due to overfeeding then you need to visit the vet. Though rare in young small breeds, they could have developed an underactive thyroid or diabetes. 

If you’re in any doubt and are concerned about your puppy, don’t hesitate to contact your veterinarian. 

Conclusion 

Chihuahua puppies grow rapidly during the first year of their life. It’s important to monitor this growth and make sure that your puppy is developing normally. The Chihuahua growth chart will help you monitor their expected growth and you can weigh them at home or at your vets to check this. Visit your veterinarian if you’re concerned about your puppy’s growth. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a healthy weight for a Chihuahua? 

A healthy weight can be between 2.5-4.5 lbs but this can vary between dogs. A Chihuahua shouldn’t weight more than 6 lbs. 

Is a 10 pound Chihuahua big? 

A standard Chihuahua shouldn’t weigh more than 6 lbs so 10 lbs would be considered large. Check with your vet to see if your dog is overweight. 

What is considered an overweight Chihuahua? 

Over 6 lbs could indicate that the Chihuahua is overweight. It’s important to check this against its body condition score. 

How big will my Chihuahua mix get? 

This depends what the Chihuahua was mixed with, but in general adult Chihuahuas are between 2.5-4.5 lbs. If it was mixed with a larger breed, it might be bigger than this.