My mother works in the customer service department af a rather well known retail giant. She is constantly telling me stories of irate customers and off the wall occurrences from her store.

The other day she was telling me about a woman who wanted to return a PediPaws canine nail trimmer. She said when she tried to use it, it scared her chiweiner to death.

What?! Your what?! Yes, folks, that's right. She said her chiweiner. As you can imagine, my mom could not contain her laughter as she asked, "Your what?"

To which the woman replied, "My chiweiner. Its a mix between a chiuaua and a weiner dog."

This was all too funny. It got me thinking about a couple things. First of all, what does a chiweiner look like and secondly, why do we feel the need to humiliate animals the way we do?

Now, now, here me out...what I'm saying is--why do we feel the need to breed certain breeds of dog together just to call them by ridiculous names? Chiweiner? Come on. There are plenty more as well and they are all growing in popularity. While some are cute, others are really not. I will leave that judgement call up to you.

In researching the Chiweiner/chiweenie, I came across several other similarly named new breeds. Or, hybrid/ designer dogs as they are called:

The Dorkie

The Doxie-Poo

The Dameranian

The Affenhuahua

These are just a handful, and on mixedbreedpets.com, you can find an entire list ranging from Affenchon to Zuchons!

I am wondering, are the AKC guidelines going to be thrown out the window in a matter of years because we will have a whole new selection of homemade breeds? There are breeders to be found of these hybrids, selling pups and making profits. Setting their own standards for what a particular new "breed" should look and act like.

It all goes back to the beginnings of dog breeding I suppose, as that was how they did it before. Boxers, mastiffs, terriers, you name it all came from combining other breeds together for a specific look, temperment or ability. Of course, in doing such works, you are also running risks of doing more harm than good to the future breed.

Boston Terriers for example are stuck dealing with snorting, wheezing and snoring thanks to thier smushed in faces.

 What I can't figure out is when did a dog of mixed breed go from being a 'mutt' to being sought after? Now, I have had many dogs in my lifetime, some purebred, some not. Neither is an better than the other. Although, I know many people who would disagree.

We have had great dogs who were mixed breeds and great dogs who were purebred. Each individual dog is different. I think many times when we do find that amazing dog, that one of a kind pet, we constantly compare every other dog to it. Maybe that's why we keep breeding different dogs together. To find the one dog we are always looking for.

Yes, Dauchsunds and Chihuauas each have good and bad qualities, as does every breed. Whether their particular qualities will work for you or against you depends on your personal situation.

Think of the negatives associated with both breeds. Yappy barking, aggresion, protectiveness, not suited for young children...I know not all qualities apply to both breeds or to each individual dog. They are simply a few examples.

As with all puppies, it would probably be a good idea to check that the breeder you acquire your puppy from is legit. A trip to the vet immediately upon purchasing the dog would be a good idea as well.

This article is not to encourage or deter anyone from buying a chiweiner, just a subject I found interesting and thought I would share. Happy reading!! :)