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Chorkie: Breed Characteristics, Care &
Exercise Needs (York Chi)

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About Chorkie

Country of Origin, History of Chorkies

There is no known date or person who started the Chorkie breed, but it is believed it may have existed naturally over the years. However, it was only in the 1990s that designer dog breeders in the United States mixed Chihuahua and Yorkshire Terriers to develop Chorkie dogs to have an energetic, and intelligent companion dog. As demand for mixed breed dogs kept increasing, Chokies became more and more popular.

Chorkie Tools

Breed Selector Tool - is the Chorkie the right breed for you?

Is the Chorkie the right breed for you and your family?

Find out by using our Free Dog Breed Selector Tool

Check Your Chorkie's Learning Style

Are you aware dogs also have a learning style that can greatly affect their ability to housetrain as well as be trained correctly. Evaluate your Chorkie's learning style and personality using our free Learning Style tool so that you are better able to provide him with the proper Chorkie training methods.

Is your Chorkie dominating over you?

Does your Chorkie bark unnecessarily? Does your Chorkie come to you when you call? Download a FREE Report on Dog Dominance for you and your Chorkie and learn how to control your dog.

Do you make these mistakes with your Chorkie?

Are you inadvertently snow-balling bad behavior in your Chorkie? Evaluate your Dog Training Style from our Free Tool and learn how best to deal with your dog.

Chorkie Calorie Calculator

Do you know how many calories your Chorkie needs every day and how many cups of food you should be giving it every day? Click here to use our Chorkie Calorie Calculator.

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A General Appearance of the Dog

The Chorkie is a hybrid of the Chihuahua (could be long-haired or smooth) and the Yorkshire Terrier. Therefore, the dog can look like either breed or some combination thereof and its behavior and other traits can be similar to one breed or the other or a combination. Be sure to look up each breed to better understand the Chorkie.

Chorkies can look more like a Chihuahua with its large, pointed ears and short or long coarse fur or like the Yorkshire Terrier with its medium to long, silky fur and downward facing ears.

These small dogs adapt well to apartment living and do not need a yard if it gets a couple of short walks a day. Indoor play suffices for exercise—and they are very playful. They are not too happy being left alone for any length of time and may exhibit separation anxiety. They cannot tolerate very cold or very hot weather.

Chorkies can be one of the harder breeds to housetrain, but they love to learn tricks and do fun things. They may be yappy, so start training them early and include “quiet” in your training.

Chorkies are very small so can be easily injured. They prefer living in families of adults and older children. They can tolerate other pets in the household, but prefer being the only pet.

Coat

Because Chorkies are a combination of the Yorkshire Terrier and a Chihuahua, their coat can resemble either breed. Many have a silky, medium length coat with distinctive eyebrows. Their coats can be brown, white, silver, blue, and black. Some dogs have a solid color coat, but most have a mix or blend of colors. Most Chorkies have silky, medium length fur with no undercoat.

Chorkies are fairly hypoallergenic and don’t shed too much.

Weight:

8 – 15 pounds

Height:

6 – 9 inches

Litter Size:

3 – 5 puppies

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Free Course on Chorkie Training & Obedience
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Chorkie Personality Traits

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Temperament of the Dog

Chorkies are happy, active, vocal, smart, loving little dogs. They are so loyal to their owners that they can be aggressive and bark a lot at strangers. They get along with other pets, but are not fond of young children, so should be in homes with adults and older children.

The Chorkie is bubbly, happy, and intelligent. He loves to be with his owner so much that he develops separation anxiety if left home alone for long periods of time. He is easily trained in many areas, but housetraining will take extra long and require persistence and vigilance. He is energetic, but a couple of short walks a day and lots of indoor play are sufficient.

The Chorkie can be stubborn if not well socialized and carefully trained. He may be slow to trust new people and bark aggressively at them until he has time to learn to trust them. New situations can be scary.

Better suited to an indoor or outdoor lifestyle?

The Chorkie does not tolerate hot or cold weather, so prefers to live indoors and take short walks.

Are they suited to homes with kids?

Chorkies should be in homes with adults or adults and older children who can play gently with them.

Training

Housetraining can take extra time and vigilance. Chorkies are smart and like to learn things that get them attention like tricks. However, they are stubborn so they tend to learn and obey obedience commands only when they want. Fully training them to obey takes persistence and treats.

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Free Chorkie Training Secrets

Free Course on Chorkie Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting

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Chorkie Activity Level

How active is the breed?

Some short walks and indoor playtime will satisfy the Chorkie's need for activity. He will enjoy being with his owner and following him around the house or going to run errands.

Grooming

Be sure to get regular vet checks and keep up with vaccinations. Chorkies need their nails clipped once a month, their teeth cleaned several times a week, their ears checked for debris or infection, and their skin checked for issues when they are brushed a couple of times a week.

If your Chorkie has overactive tear glands, you will have to wipe his face around his eyes frequently and if he is light-colored, you may need to use a product like Angel Eyes to keep his face from staining.

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Free Chorkie Training Secrets

Free Course on Chorkie Training & Obedience
Stop All Bad Behavior, Excessive Barking and Biting

Sign Up Here

Health and Care

The Chorkie is fairly healthy, but can be predisposed to skin problems, allergies, knee problems, and hypothyroidism.

Be sure to get regular vet checks and keep up with vaccinations. They may need their anal glands expressed periodically. Chorkies need their nails clipped once a month, their teeth cleaned several times a week, their ears checked for debris or infection, and their skin checked for issues when they are brushed a couple of times a week.

The Chorkie may be prone to overactive tear glands which can lead to stained fur on the face. A product such as Angel Eyes can be helpful. Anal gland expression may be necessary if your dog is scooting or dragging its bottom on the ground.

These small dogs will need a bath every 4-6 weeks and may need grooming by a professional groomer several times a year.

Life Span: 12 – 15 years

National Breed Clubs

National Breed Clubs: none at this time

Other Recognition:

ACHC = American Canine Hybrid Club (Chorkie)
DBR = Designer Breed Registry (Chorkie)
DDKC = Designer Dogs Kennel Club (Chorkie)
DRA = Dog Registry of America, Inc.
IDCR = International Designer Canine Registry® (Chorkie or York Chi)

Group: Mixed Breed Dog.

AKC Popularity Ranking: Not recognized by AKC.

Also Known As: Chiyorkie, York Chi, Yorkie-Chi, Yorkchi, Yorkiechi, Yorkchi, York-Chi, Chiorkie.

Train Your Chorkie To Listen To You

Get Instant Access to Your Training Now - For Free

Sign up for our Free Chorkie Mini Course to have a housebroken, obedient dog that happily comes to you every time you call.

You'll learn new commands to obedience-train your dog as well as how to housebreak your dog in 6 days or less.

You'll also learn how to eliminate bad habits like barking, nipping or biting, jumping, or pulling on the leash.Here's just s small fraction of what else you'll learn in the course:

  • How to lead and think like a pack dog - the new psychology.

  • 3 dangerous mistakes that most Chorkie owners make when they are trying to potty train their dogs.

  • The 2 main reasons why your dog barks excessively and how to control its excessive barking.

  • How to obedience train your Chorkie to permanently end behavioral problems like Jumping, Aggression, Pulling on Leash.

  • A surprisingly easy way to teach your dog cool new tricks.

  • How to improve your dog's lifespan and keep it from getting overly heavy with a healthy and nutritious diet.

  • Getting Pro help fast - how to get access to our expert trainers when you need them most.

  • One hidden psychological trigger that all Chorkies have... that practically allows you to "analyze" and "control" your dog's every action.

  • Priority access to the free online seminars conducted by our training experts.

Whereas other dog training related web sites and books offer generic information for dogs in general, ours is the ONLY web site that offers Chorkie information specifically, from a renowned panel of experts - because as you probably know, Chorkies have their own special training requirements that other dogs don't have.

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Our Dog Experts

The Chorkie training information you will read here was developed by a panel of renowned dog training experts whose combined wisdom represents nearly 100 years of specialist experience training dogs.

Here are a few of our experts:

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