Urban legends are folklore, often concocted by the people of a bygone era who tried to explain the unexplainable. Some of the myths and legends still linger on and are still believed today. There are many that surround different dog breeds, including Chihuahuas.

Chihuahuas Cure Allergies And Asthma

One such legend is that small dogs from Mexico have the uncanny ability to transfer their owners' illnesses to themselves and thus free their owner of such diseases like asthma and certain allergies. This legend resurfaces in the United States where Sandra Billitz of Warrior, Alabama, claims that she bought a Chihuahua with the specific intention of having it cure her mother of asthma.

Bigchihuahua.com renounced the claim that Chihuahuas can cure or lessen asthma, even though Billitz claimed it cured her mother. Furthermore, devoted Chihuahua owners who commented on the site claimed that their Chihuahua actually cured or lessened the symptoms. Bigchihuahua.com states that there is no scientific backing available to support this claim.

Possible explanations for the way Chihuahua owners feel could be pure love, "the power of suggestion, faith and belief." Also, since Chihuahuas can be either smooth or longhaired, if the smooth haired Chihuahua is the family pet, there is less dander and other airborne irritants to trigger allergy and asthma attacks in some individuals.

Chihuahua Swept Up By A Hawk

The incident occurred in Manhattan's Bryant Park where a tourist who had her pet Chihuahua on a leash witnessed a trained hawk, who was part of the park's recreational program, swoop down and dig its sharp talons into the little dog. The Chihuahua was released and suffered minor injuries.

No proof was presented to support the claim that a tiny Chihuahua had been considered lunch when the trained hawk attacked him. The hawk mostly likely thought the animal was a rat. Officials of the park have since taken precautions against this sort of thing happening again. They are continuing their hawk program, which was implemented to rid the park of its pigeon population. The hawk program is an overall success and the officials say that they are not about to abandon the program because of one mistake.

According to David Emery from Your Guide to Urban Legends and Folklore, this hawk story is what he calls a "near myth." Emery claims it would become a real urban legend if the Chihuahua had not been leashed at the time.

Nevertheless, the urban legend still exists where small pets like Chihuahuas are commonly caught by pelicans, hawks and other birds of prey. More likely, it is coyotes who hunt Chihuahuas and other small animals.

Tourist Buys A Chihuahua Which Turns Out To Be A Rat

A story widely reported around the Internet was that an American couple purchased a Chihuahua to bring home with them to the states. They found that the dog was peculiar looking, but the buyer assured them it truly was a Chihuahua. Upon returning to the states, their veterinarian confirmed that what they had purchased was a Mexican hairless sewer rat.

There are several variations of the story in circulation, some have that the dog was a stray and befriended the couple, other have that the dog was close to drowning when rescued. Still other sources claim that the veterinarian confirmed that the animal was number of different rat breeds - like Korean, Chinese, Guatemalan just to name a few. Other variations claimed that the hairless rat was actually dying by the time it was seen by the veterinarian. Again this story proves to be an urban legend.