What is Cobby versus Deer?
Longhair versus Shorthair?
Deer and Cobby are slang terms used to describe pet quality chihuahuas only. Teacup is also a slang term used in marketing those chihuahuas on the smallest end of the breed. The American Kennel Club (AKC) standard for show quality chihuahuas is very particular, has only weight requirements, not size requirements and does not break out the differences in the breed into deer, cobby or teacup. Chihuahuas come in all colors and all sizes from eight ounces to 15 pounds in any combination of styles: cobby or deer, longhair or shorthair and anything inbetween.
What is cobby? Short, stout, compact with an "apple" head and short snout. On the other hand, deer is slim bodied, long legged, has larger ears, has a longer nose and a sloping forehead. Chihuahuas can be any combination of those two types: cobby body with deer legs, deer head with cobby bodies, all cobby or all deer and so on. And!! You can get these different combinations all in the same litter!! By the same token, you can get longhair and shorthair puppies in the same litter. Body style has no bearing on whether they will have long or short hair, it could be any of them!
We had four - now only three -chihuahuas and none of them looked alike!! All our dogs are purebred and paperable, though we opted not to register any of ours and had all of them "fixed." We have a "monster" cobby shorthair - not exactly bred to standard. We have a tiny four pound show quality cobby longhair. We have a six pound deer longhair who is beautiful in motion and all gangly in hand. No longer with us was the six pound female who was a longhair cobby with a deer head.
To get a closer look, click on thumbnails to pop a larger picture up in a new window.
Prusilla Pipsqueak (Pru) - Cobby/Shorthair with a deer head
 Notice the short legs and the stout body. |
 See the width of the chest? I can fit my whole hand on Pru and only two fingers with Lhamo. |
Anniebear Wiggoworm (Annie) - Cobby/Longhair. She fits the AKC standard perfectly.
 Notice the short legs, the stout body, apple head with a short nose and sharp angle between snout and forehead. |
Lhamo Longlegs (Lhamo) - Deer/Longhair
 Notice the long legs and the slim body. |
 Deer normally have huge ears, a sloped forehead and longer noses. |
Chiquita Juanita ('Quita) - Cobbie/Longhair with a deer head
 Look carefully at 'Quita's head. It is marginal according to AKC standard and could be referred to as a deer head. |
 Notice the short legs which are a cobbie trait. |
 Notice the difference in height between Lhamo on the right and Quita on the far left! Lhamo's legs are twice the length of Pru and Quita's! |
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Group Shots
 Poor picture, but this shows the classic compact body of the cobby chihuahuas. |
 This is an excellent comparison between the deer in the window and the cobby on the desk. |
 Here are the two cobbies with the deer in the background. |
 This shows the difference in the three longhairs. |
 Quite a difference in appearance among the four dogs, hm? Yet they are all purebred chihuahuas! |
