Technically, to conform to the AKC breed standard, Chihuahuas must have “apple-shaped heads.” So, if you are interested in showing your dog, or looking for a purebred chihuahua puppy for sale it is important to look for an apple head dogs variety. However, there is certainly nothing wrong with deer head Chihuahuas, most of them are mix breed, or just past trend, and a few have even become famous.
Chihuahuas display one of two different skull shapes: apple-like or deer-like. At the risk of being painfully obvious, apple head Chihuahuas have heads shaped like apples, while deer head Chihuahuas have heads shaped like — wait for it — the heads of deer.
It’s usually pretty easy to distinguish the two, but if you are having trouble, look at the place where your Chihuahua’s muzzle meets his face from the side. Apple head versions will have a roughly 90-degree angle at this point, while the same part of a deer head Chihuahua will be about 45 degrees.
Simply put, the apple head Chihuahuas feature a face that is essentially vertical, the faces of deer head Chihuahuas are sloped. Additionally, the forehead of apple-shaped chihuahuas is much more prominent than those of deer-headed individuals.
All Apple headed Chihuahuas have:
rounded head
short snout
prominent forehead
bulging eyes
The large eyes and small, rounded head makes the apple headed Chihuahua appear physically reminiscent to a human baby – which is one reason why we humans find these baby-doll-face Chihuahuas so darn cute!
Aside from head shape, the two different kinds of Chihuahua exhibit several other differences. Some of the most noteworthy differences include:
Most apple head varieties have a soft spot on their skull at birth (termed a molera), this is less common with deer head varieties.
Deer head Chihuahuas usually have longer heads, necks and legs than their apple head counterparts do.
Deer head versions are generally longer and leaner than apple head Chihuahuas.
The eyes of apple head Chihuahuas typically appear more pronounced, given the shape of their heads.
Conversely, the ears of deer-headed Chihuahuas appear more prominent and are set higher on the head than those of apple-headed Chihuahuas.
While still basically similar in size, deer-head Chihuahuas are often slightly largerthan the other variety.
In addition to differently shaped skulls, the different types of Chihuahuas also have different jaw lengths: Deer-headed versions have much longer jaws than apple-headed versions do.
Most of the deer had Chihuahuas likely had mixed breed in their blood line. They may look similar to Papilion, Dachshund, Miniature Pinscher, etc.
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