Tantrum Chihuahua!

[Sammy P]

Hi there, completely new to this forum.....and new to dog training so any advice would be much appreciated!

Our little teacup chihuahua girl is now 10 months old (where does the time go!) all fully healthy and recently spayed!

We are just wanting a bit of advice really on a couple of areas, as she is absolutely as good as gold at home (most the time), but as we have found this Christmas, taking her to family to stay is an absolute nightmare!

Also, she is petrified of all other dogs on walks, to the point where she slipped her harness the other week, luckily I managed to get her back! I dont pick her up when any dogs are approaching, as I dont feel this will help the sitcho!

When we brought her home for the first time, she had had no vacinations due to her size, they advised us they had not vaccinated her as of yet, as due to her small size, sometimes apparently the injection can have adverse effects, so we booked her in the vets the ASAP once she was home, and then had to wait the usual amount of time before taking her out, and due to this, by the time she was of age when she was fully vaccinated, she was too old to join puppy club so has not been socialised, which I know has not helped!

In regards to taking her out and about and staying with family at Christmas, she has refused to settle at all for most of the period during the day, constantly trying to find trouble! As soon as she is not receiving any attention, at any time she just continually barks!

Also, prior to Christmas, we were putting furniture together, and again, when she wasnt receiving any attention, she just continually barked at us, and if anyone could give us some tips as to how to stop the incessant barking as soon as she is not receiving any attention, would be much appreciated! She also does this when we have people round and just barks at them!

Another area which we would appreciate some tips with is since she has been spayed, she will go from being chilled to play mode and start biting hands! I have tried saying ‘no’ and movin her off me and then ignoring her, but its like she sees it as a game and just keeps coming back for more. I have also made a yelping noise when she has done it, as i guess thats how they learn boundaries with their siblings when they are young. This will stop her for a few minutes, and then she returns and carries on!

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this post! Its the first time we have had a dog, and so far on the whole, she has mastered bedtime and happily stays in the kitchen in her bed all night, is fully toilet trained and its just a few bits which we are finding we needs some advice on, as we do not want her to be ruling the roost as she gets older!

 

[JudyN]

It's a shame she missed out on socialisation - it is OK to take pups out and about with you before they are vaccinated, as long as they stay off the ground in public places, and it's OK for them to meet other dogs you know are vaccinated. The best approach I know of for getting dogs used to other dogs is behaviour adjustment training, or BAT - have a read here: Behavior Adjustment Training: A New Approach to Problem Behaviors

As you've found, yelping doesn't always work with 'puppy biting'. I would use a stairgate or puppy pen and when she bites, either walk out on her, shutting the staigate on her, or put her in the pen. Do this really calmly, without saying anything at all. Give her a 'timeout', which only needs to be 5-10 seconds long. The message should be 'When I put tooth on skin, the fun stops.' When you let her out you can go back to playing, maybe offering her a toy, and the moment she bites, stop play and do the timeout again. You might have to do this many, many times in a short space if time but if you're really consistent, you should see results.

You can also try to avoid the biting in the first place by always carrying a toy to stuff in her mouth when she gets that look.

As for her behaviour when staying with friends or when you have visitors - does she have a crate? I think I would work on rewarding her for going to her crate/bed and settling on command. You want her to see it as her own special place, and enjoy being there - maybe give her a stuffed Kong or other chewable while she's on it. When this is firmly established in your own home, you could try taking the crate or bed to a friend's house and encourage her to do the same there. Start doing this when she's tired after a good walk, and in a quiet atmosphere - not with all the rowdiness and excitement of Xmas - and build up gradually. But if she's naturally a stresshead, don't expect things to change too soon. She's still young.

 

[Sammy P]

Thanks for coming back to us!

We did still take her out and about when she was young when we could, and she has been socialised with 2 of my friends chihuahuas, who she loves, but its just any other dogs on walks when they are approaching ahe is petrified, and they all seem to make a play for her with her being so small!

I have had a look at a couple of different topics you sent, and I think that will help a lot so going to start impletementing different things with her, and hopefully, with time end as she gets older, she will settle down!

When we brought her homefornthe first time, we did try crate training her, but she just did a dirty protest and then it was a mass clean up in the morning, so after 2 nights, we just settled on shutting her in the kitchen for the night in her bed, and she is more than happy with this now, so might just have to give her a time out somewhere when staying with friends