The short answer
Budget $22 a year for the licence, which is the fixed-dog rate and therefore the adopted-dog rate, and ask for the half rate if you adopt after September 1. You need the licence to use the dog parks and Animal Control can ask for proof. Get your building's pet terms in writing, and expect house training to stall over winter.
The line in the fee schedule nobody reads
Brandon's annual licence is $22.00 per dog or cat where the animal is sterile or has current dated veterinary certification as non-reproductive, and $59.00 where it is not, within a limit of two animals. Beyond two, both rates double, to $44.00 and $118.00 each. Every cat and dog over six months old living in the city has to be licensed. Guide dogs and police dogs are free, and a dangerous dog designation carries a far higher rate.
Underneath the table sits a single sentence that is worth more to an adopter than any of the numbers above it: the fees are adjusted to half the listed rates after September 1 for a new resident or a new animal. A dog adopted in October is therefore $11.00 to licence for the balance of that year rather than $22.00.
It is not a large sum, and that is not really the point. It is a provision most people never discover, and it is worth asking for by name when you register rather than assuming somebody applies it for you. Adopting also lands you on the lower of the two main rates automatically, since rescue dogs come spayed or neutered with paperwork to prove it.
The licence is checked at the dog park
In a lot of cities the licence is a formality nobody ever asks about. In Brandon it gets you through the gate: every dog using the off-leash parks needs a current City of Brandon licence and Animal Control may ask for proof. Dogs must be leashed until inside the park, kept under control, and no food other than dog treats is allowed. Female dogs in heat are not permitted.
Our Brandon reactivity guide covers the three parks themselves and how to use them with a dog that weighs four pounds, since none of them has a separate small dog area.
Get the pet terms in writing first
A very small dog is the easiest case a tenant ever has to make, and it is still worth having in writing before you apply to adopt rather than afterwards. Where a building restricts pets it is usually by size or number rather than an outright ban, and a Chihuahua clears any weight limit anyone bothers to write down.
Ask about noise expectations while you are asking about permission, because that is the clause most likely to matter later. Rescues will want to know whether pets are allowed where you live, and a question you cannot answer is a question that costs you a dog while another applicant moves ahead.
Barking through shared walls
This is what generates complaints, not the dog's size. Chihuahuas are watchful and a corridor supplies an endless run of things worth watching. Work out which of three problems you have before trying to fix it: noise passing the door, distress at being left, or a dog with nothing to do reacting to everything.
Each has a different answer. Corridor traffic is environmental, so move the bed away from the door and mask the hallway. Alone-time barking needs departures built up in short pieces rather than a full working day on the first Monday. An under-occupied dog needs more to think about. Punishing the noise tends to make an anxious dog more anxious, and it removes your warning that the dog was struggling in the first place.
Winter is the real work
A dog weighing a few pounds has very little mass to hold heat and a lot of surface to lose it from, so it chills far faster than a larger dog doing the same walk. A coat and boots here are equipment rather than decoration. They buy back outings you would otherwise skip, and a newly adopted dog needs those outings more than a settled one does.
House training is where this bites hardest. A short-coated dog facing cold and salt will hold on rather than go, then have an accident indoors, which reads as disobedience and is really weather. Keep winter trips very short and very frequent instead of long, work to a clock rather than waiting for the dog to ask, and reward outdoors on the spot. Rinse salt and ice-melt off the paws when you come in.
Indoors, this breed needs thinking rather than distance. Food puzzles, scent games with treats hidden around a room and a few minutes of training twice a day cover a Chihuahua comfortably in February. The dog that struggles in a small flat is the bored one, not the under-walked one. Our Brandon training guide covers what those sessions look like.
Browse adoptable Chihuahuas in Brandon
Already spayed or neutered, so already on the $22 rate, and half that if you adopt after September 1.
See Available Chihuahuas →Questions Brandon adopters ask
Are Chihuahuas good apartment dogs in Brandon?▼
Yes, and they are one of the better small-space choices. A Chihuahua needs far less distance than its energy suggests and sits well under any size limit a landlord is likely to set. Two things need planning rather than hoping: barking, because a watchful dog behind a shared wall finds plenty to announce, and winter, because a short-coated four-pound dog cannot simply be sent out into a Manitoba cold snap.
What does a dog licence cost in Brandon?▼
The 2026 schedule of fees sets an annual licence at $22.00 per dog or cat where the animal is sterile or has current dated veterinary certification as non-reproductive, and $59.00 where it is not, both within a limit of two animals. Above two animals the rates double to $44.00 and $118.00 each. Licensing is annual and the Animal Control By-law requires every cat and dog over six months old living in the city to be licensed. Guide dogs and police dogs are free.
Is it true the fee is halved if I adopt later in the year?▼
Yes, and it is the single most useful thing in the fee schedule for an adopter. The by-law states that the fees are adjusted to half the listed rates after September 1 for a new resident or a new animal. So a dog adopted in the autumn costs $11.00 to licence for the remainder of that year rather than $22.00. It is not advertised prominently and most people never find out. Ask for it when you register rather than assuming the system applies it for you.
Why does an unsterilized dog cost so much more?▼
It is a deliberate policy lever rather than an administrative quirk. Charging nearly three times as much for an unaltered animal pushes owners toward sterilisation. For an adopter the question never arises, because rescue dogs are spayed or neutered before they go home and you can supply the paperwork, so you start at the lower rate. It is worth knowing if someone offers you an unfixed dog privately, because that difference repeats every year for the life of the animal.
Do I need the licence to use Brandon dog parks?▼
Yes, and it is enforced rather than assumed. All dogs using the off-leash parks need a current City of Brandon licence, and Animal Control may ask for proof. Dogs must also be leashed until they are inside the park, owners must keep them under control, no food other than dog treats is permitted, and female dogs in heat are not allowed. So the licence is not only a compliance cost, it is what gets you through the gate.
Will my landlord allow a Chihuahua?▼
Often, and a very small dog is the easiest case a tenant ever has to make, but get it in writing before you apply to adopt rather than afterwards. Where a building restricts pets it is usually by size or number rather than an outright ban, and a Chihuahua clears any weight threshold anyone bothers to write down. Ask about noise expectations at the same time, since that is the term most likely to be enforced later. Rescues will ask whether pets are permitted where you live, and a question you cannot answer can cost you a dog.
How do I house train a Chihuahua through a Brandon winter?▼
Accept that it will take longer than the books say. A small dog holds less and needs more trips out than a bigger puppy, and in January a short-coated dog will hold on rather than face the cold, then have an accident indoors. Work to a fixed schedule rather than waiting for a signal, reward outdoors immediately, and keep winter trips very short and very frequent rather than long. Plenty of owners here run an indoor pad option through the coldest weeks, which is a sensible accommodation for a four-pound animal rather than a training failure.
Does a Chihuahua get enough exercise in a small flat in winter?▼
Easily, if you do the mental side. This breed wants company and something to think about far more than it wants kilometres, so short outdoor trips plus indoor work covers it even in February. Food puzzles, scent games with treats hidden around a room, and a few minutes of training twice a day do more for a Chihuahua than a long walk would. The dog that struggles in a small flat is the bored one, not the under-walked one.
Anxiety and Reactivity →
Fear, not attitude, and using the three parks safely.
Chihuahua Health Issues →
Teeth, knees, windpipe and heart, and what they cost.
Temperament and Training →
What the breed is like and where to start.
Chihuahua Adoption in Brandon →
Where to look, real costs, and what to ask a foster.
New dog? Start with these care guides
Everything a new adopter needs to set up a safe, happy home.