FAQ: Chihuahuas

26Nov2007 Filed under: Randomata

We just got a beautiful little rescue chihuahua, and I keep thinking about Sassafras and what sort of dog she is and how you adjusted to having a dog in your busy working lives - I’m sure I could glean some of your wisdom in our first few weeks with nano! How did life change? Does Sass have any nervousness or fearfulness issues (nano does!)? Any sources of advice you found useful? Was Sass housetrained when you got her, or was there an adjustment period?

Sassafras was definitely a nervous dog when we first got her, and she’s still somewhat shy. That said, moving to Capitol Hill did wonders for her confidence — the two walks a day are full of bonding time as well as nonstop stimulus in the form of other people, dogs, smells, weird garbage in the street, etc. She’s gotten way better socialized just by living in a place where we walk her more.

Also, taking a dog training class made a big difference, not because she needed to be more obedient (she’s ridiculously submissive and a very good dog) but because it gave me clicker training tools to reward her and make her feel good about herself. It’s weird: dogs just want to make you happy. If they don’t know what they need to do, they get anxious. Clickers make it really easy to let them know what you like, and give them clear rewards when they do it.

In terms of how life changed, it’s definitely happier! Sassafras stayed with my mom while we were in Iowa last week, and my mom had her for a couple days on either end of the trip … it was odd being at our house without Sassafras! We missed her presence so much. Coming home is much more fun with a dog. At our place, it means a couple quick hello barks and much scrabbling of toenails on the floor and lots of full body wiggling. It used to mean a little leaking pee, too (aka “Submissive Urination“) but that went away once we figured out that we needed to stop getting her too excited when we got home. That’s different than housetraining though — she was already housetrained when we got her, so I can’t really answer that question.

I’m actually going to punt this question to my friend Dawn, who got a rescue chihuahua named Sprocket in June and had no shortage of challenges with him. He peed everywhere, attacked her friends (drawing blood once!), freaked out whenever anyone got near Dawn. I think she’s used a lot of Cesar Milan’s techniques — the first episode ever of The Dog Whisperer is all about an aggressive rescued chihuahua named Nunu.

Dawn’s thoughts are in the comments.

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5 Responses to “FAQ: Chihuahuas”

Ellen
November 26th, 2007 at 10:21 am

I cannot advocate enough for the daily walk. On a leash. Taking a walk, not pulling and not freaking out, on a leash becomes a dog’s “job” (so to speak). They become more confident and proud of themselves. Thus, more calm and easygoing.
I swear by it.
Dawn
November 26th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

I’ll second what everyone’s saying about daily walks–long ones, on a leash–being probably the best thing.

Sprocket’s really been a challenging chihuahua with fear-aggression issues. We’ve done a combination of clicker training and Cesar Milan’s general household strategies establishing who is the pack leader (NOT a 6 pound chihuahua!) He really needed to know that he wasn’t in charge, that his life had structure and routine, that we expected certain things and will not tolerate other things. It’s required all of the housemates being as consistent as possible. When we get lazy in maintaining his strict boundaries, he gets more nutty and is more likely to get aggressive.

I highly recommend learning about clicker training, as well as reading up on dog pack behavior (Cesar Milan’s book is a good general place to start, as his ideas on dog philosophy are kind of the cornerstone of how we’ve helped Sprocket be a better member of society.)

The main things are:
1) Consistent rules — we let him know what we like (clicker) and try to never allow what we don’t like (aggression, barking out the window, freedom to mark in the house, etc).
2) Establish that you are pack leader: you go through doors first, you lead on the walk (never the dog!), you eat first, you make the dog sit to get his food, you say where he sleeps, and generally make it clear that you’re the boss, and
3) LONG WALKS EVERY DAY! I can’t stress this enough. A tired dog is a good dog. Plus, the walk lets the dog get socialized and exposed to constant stimuli, which helps normalize things in his life. It also establishes that you’re the pack leader. It’s important for the dog to be walked BY you, not take you for a walk. We do let him have a long leash (or off leash when safe) when it’s play time, but for the walk, he’s on a short leash at our side, not pulling, not directing.

We’ve had lots of challenges with Sprocket, but by really making an effort to learn what he needs and give it to him consistently, he’s becoming a better dog all the time.

Good luck!
Kriss
November 26th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

Hey Dawn and Ariel -

I’m so glad to see in your answers a lot of the tiny steps we’ve been taking with nano and to see that if we keep taking them, they’ll keep paying off. It’s been about a month and a half since we brought him home and he’s almost unrecognizable, even in the small dose of confidence he’s gained.

We definitely take long walks about 3-4 times a day, since we live in Brooklyn right next to a park, and he’s getting really confident and bold about meeting new dogs, even enormous ones. He’s a little slower with people but the four days with my family over Thanksgiving were a crash course in new people and he even let a few of them stroke him.

We’ve found the crate to be amazing; he took to it like a duck to water and loves going in and out and getting treats for practicing. Plus, loves sleeping in there!

We’ll definintely be doing some obedience training to give him confidence, and we’ve almost completely conquered the excited/submissive peeing/leaking that kept happening when we got home from work (frustrating!) - we’re getting better and not engaging him at first but letting him come to us and let us know he’s ready to say hi without losing control.

Anyway, all this is my way of saying, wow, thanks. I’ll be looking into clicker training (we’re already big Millan fans and have made sure he knows who’s boss since day one, which has really helped his confidence). Again, thanks for the tips. It’s good to hear other people with nervous chis talking about overcoming them and bringing out the happy confident little dudes inside.
Dana
November 26th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

This clicker business sounds awesome.
Kelly
November 27th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

My dog–a great dane mix–is quite a bit larger than a chihuahua–but had many of the same issues when I adopted him. Extreme shyness, etc. He’d been living in a cage at the animal shelter for nearly 6 months.

Now that I’ve had him for going on 4 years, it’s a pleasure to see the difference regular, consistent training can make. The long walks (or runs, in our case) definitely made a difference. Over time, he became more social.

Now he sometimes will approach a stranger and lick their hand. Unheard of a couple of years ago, when he would leap backwards if someone tried to pet him. The trick was not pushing him into meeting or greeting. Letting him develop at his own pace and not forcing things.

Also, even though he was very shy, it was tempting to spoil him with too much attention. Like Cesar Milan says, that’s the last thing they need, and it’s difficult to accept this when all you want to do is cuddle up on the couch with your napping/reading buddy. The regular walks/runs & making sure you’re consistent really do work. Also, use the crate! It has helped me get back many an apartment security deposit.

Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, is in bookstores now.

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