Louise Kirby

Author: <span>Louise Kirby</span>

Chihuahua arthritis, what can I do?

September 29, 2022September 29, 2022
by Louise Kirby

How can I help with chihuahua arthritis? A case study.

A question came into the office about how to help a chi chi who is struggling with arthritis and was it Ok to feed a salmon oil supplement.

Question: I’ve got a 9 yr old and a 3 yr old Chihuahua rat terrier and chi jack russell. We’ve battled an overweight problem with my 9yr old. I know it’s the extra weight on her but she’s struggling with her weight and she’s got arthritis. I’ve recently added salmon oil to her dry food. Only in the mornings I feed them about 1/4 cup of food and about 1tsp drizzle of the salmon oil over her food. My question is is that ok to feed her this. Is the salmon oil safe? It does seem to have helped her.

Chihuahua arthritis is a common problem so I thought I would answer it as a case study for everyone to read.

Answer: I’m sorry your chi chi is struggling with arthritis. What a shame for her.

Yes, it is a good idea to give her a good quality fish oil as this will certainly help. But you can go much further using food as medicine.

Your chi is not old as they can live to be 20, but in her current condition she is looking at spending her senior years in pain, which is a shame.

Weight control

If she was my dog this is what I would do:

Getting her weight down is essential, as this is putting his joints, spine, and internal organs under pressure. Being overweight takes around 4 years of a dog’s life.

First you need to establish what is correct weight should be and feed her around 3% of this. This is his total daily food allowance. Everything you feed comes out of this total.

For example, if your chihuahua’s correct weight is 6lb or 2.7 kgs then the daily food intake should be about 81 grams a day in total.

Dry food is causing chronic illness in dogs

Move away from dry or processed food if this is what you are feeding her as it’s the carbohydrates and starch in this food that will be contributing to the extra weight. Dogs have zero need for carbs and should get most of their food from healthy fats and protein in the form of fresh meat, eggs, organ meat, fish, and oily fish with low GI veg.

Dry food is also very low protein and made from poor-quality cheap ingredients. The cooking methods used kill any natural fats and minerals. Factory produced vitamins and minerals are added at the end of the process.

Dry food and poor-quality diets are one of the main reasons dogs become ill, they cause inflammation and inflammation is the root cause of most chronic illness. Certainly, arthritis will fall into this bracket.

Feed a fresh diet

Start to feed her a fresh diet, either a good quality raw food or a cooked food that has not been ultra-processed. You could look at home cooking and this is a good option but there will be some supplements that you must add in, like calcium and taurine. These are available online.

If you decide on raw, and this would be best, you can mix raw and cooked food, like chicken for treats and training. (Some people believe you can’t, but this is not correct)

Change her diet slowly, to give the gut a chance to adapt to a higher protein offering. You may need to swap over gradually around 10-20% a day. You can help this process by adding a good quality probiotic. Dr Mercola do a good one and we always have a pot in the house.

Mixing up the food

Work out how much food she needs a day and add into this total a lightly fried egg cooked in coconut oil keep the yolk soft. (You can feed a raw egg, I prefer to lightly cook mine). Feed twice a week as part of her breakfast. Add a tablespoon of kefir daily as this helps the gut biome. You can also feed a half a small sardine that has been packed in spring water, I give my dogs this twice a week. (The bones are soft enough for your dog to eat)

These additions are included in their daily food allowance.

Turmeric for the inflammation

You can also add some turmeric, turmeric is a miracle cure for inflammation, you could mix this into the kefir. The dose is around ¼ tsp per 10Lbs of body weight. Feed daily.

What not to feed

Don’t feed any shop bought treats. Food is food to a dog; they don’t know if it’s a ‘Lily’s Kitchen cranberry sausage’ or a bit of chicken. Treats are full of rubbish and with a small dog like a chihuahua they don’t have room for the extra calories. If you want to take food out with you on a walk, just put some of their daily food allowance aside as chicken or boiled pork mince and use this.

Don’t feed lots of raw vegetables, Dogs do need some veggies in their diet, but they can’t easily digest big lumps of raw veggies and it can cause tummy ache.

Never feed your dog either a vegetarian or vegan diet as these are not species appropriate.

Don’t feed rice as this is also not species appropriate and can contain toxins that create inflammation.

Exercise

Your chi needs exercise, but if she is in pain then keep it appropriate. Don’t overwalk her. Rather than take her out on long rambles play some games in the garden over the day.

Rest and healing

Also make sure she gets plenty of undisturbed rest so the parasympathetic nervous system gets a chance to help heal. A good nap in the day is essential.

Why fresh food is best

Fresh food is as essential for dogs as it is for people. It contains natural vitamins, minerals and healthy fats that are required to maintain a healthy gut biome. A strong balanced gut biome will defend your dog against illness and senior decline.

It is an error to believe that dry food or processed food is all we need to feed our dogs and this food is somehow ‘complete’. It is very far from nutritionally appropriate and contains some ingredients that harm our pets.

You can join us in Chihuahua School (opening soon) and we will be covering diet and nutrition in detail.

Hope this helps and let me know how you get on.

Behaviour

Stop Chihuahua Barking

September 21, 2022September 21, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Would you like to stop chihuahua barking?

Chihuahua barking can be a problem. Chihuahua are excitable dogs and they like a bark. As a Pro Dog Trainer and Behaviour Coach this is the number one thing I get asked about.

The other evening, I happened to be in an extremely large chihuahua fan page on Facebook and saw a post asking how to deal with chihuahua barking. The post has a lot of comments with a vast array of advice being given.

Methods that make chihuahua barking worse?

Some of it was horrifying and ranged from squirting lemon in the dog’s mouth, firing water at it, shock collars, citronella collars, shaking cans of coins at them. It was really depressing that owners believe these types of training methods will solve the issue.

These are called adverses training methods, methods of training that produce an unpleasant stimulus for a dog to try and teach it something.

The error people make is assuming that the dog makes any kind of pairing between the unpleasant stimulus (squirt of lemon in the mouth) and what they are doing, (barking). What is happening is the dog will make the pairing of fear or pain from the training method being applied and the event that they are barking at. Can you see the difference?

People assume these methods work because they stop the chihuahua barking in the moment as dog is momentarily shocked. But long-term it has a very detrimental effect on the dog’s confidence. Creating anxiety and worry as it has no idea where the next bit of pain or fear is going to come from.

For example, a chihuahua barking out the window at a passer-by won’t understand that the squirt of water or loud noise from an air horn is to stop them barking. How could they? All this stimulus does is add more excitement into the situation and increase their worry about people walking by the house. This may then track up to anxiety about being walked outside. Increasing stress and therefore barking at other dogs. Around it goes in a toxic cycle of stress, anxiety, and barking. It withdraws from your chihuahua’s confidence and ultimately your relationship.

Why Chihuahuas bark

Chihuahuas bark because they are hypervigilant to sound and movement. It comes with the territory when you are only 10 inches high.

They spend a lot of time in a high state of arousal or ‘flight or fight’ mode. This means they are going to be full of cortisol, the stress hormone, which changes how they view things.

When your chihuahua sees or hears something they will ask themselves, “what does this mean for me?” then “is it good or bad?” Because they are in ‘flight or fight’ mode and more inclined to be worried by something, they decide it’s bad, and bark at it to get it to stay away.

It is entirely possible to reduce chihuahua barking in a force-free way. No gadgets or unpleasant training methods required. We reduce your chihuahua’s arousal and help them calm down. We work with them to help them understand not everything needs to be barked at. Grow their confidence and tolerance to novelty (new things).

I wrote a book about it, fully intending to sell it, but currently I give it away free. I want to reach as many chihuahua owners as possible and help owners reduce barking without the need for some of these awful training methods.

In the book I show step-by step you how to reduce barking in a kind, force-free way that will grow your chihuahua’s confidence. It’s easy to follow and fun to do.

If you would like a copy, you can get it here. Just let me know where to send it.

Yes please send me a copy

Behaviour

My chihuahua nips ankles!

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Help, my chihuahua nips ankles when visitors or workmen move!

If this happens it’s because your chihuahua is over aroused, worried, and anxious by what is happening.

When visitors enter the house there is likely to be a lot of excitement around the door. This excitement will have filled up your chihuahua’s emotional bucket and they are going to be in a state of high arousal. This will be making them anxious and worried. You may find as well that your male chihuahua will pee or mark workman’s tools or a visitor’s bags. This is overmarking as they smell different. It’s a good idea to be prepared for this and make sure your chihuahua does not have access to visitors’ belongings.

Chihuahuas are hyper vigilant to movement and a sudden unpredicted movement is going to cause them to start. Dogs like to run and bark at things that bother them and chihuahuas are no different. They want the visitor to go away or at least to stay still. When your visitor goes to move suddenly, say from sitting to standing, there is a sudden shift in energy. This will bother your chihuahua who then tries to control the situation by running behind and nipping at the back of their legs. They will often do this to children who are running about as well.

To a lot of dogs, not just chihuahuas, children are large, unpredictable giants. They lack the coordination and predictable body language of an adult. This will worry a dog and small dogs who could get trampled. It’s never a good idea to leave any dog alone with other people’s children. Even if your dog is reliable like Minnie, it can cause strained family dynamics if a child starts crying saying the dog has bitten them. You can’t prove they didn’t and it opens a world of trouble you don’t need.

There is a couple of things you can do if your chihuahua nips ankles.

Management

Don’t allow your chihuahua to have access to visitors unless they are under control. People don’t like being bitten and it can get you into trouble. Put them in another room (the chihuahua not the visitor) or have them on an indoor harness and training lead. The minimum is to pick them up.

Never leave your chihuahua alone with children if they are worried by movement. Prince and Mika would both be likely to react badly to children charging around and I never leave them alone with the grandkids. I have witnessed Prince try and nip ankles when the grandkids are running about near him.

Training

Reduce excitement around the door. Crazy excitement around the door pushes up your dog’s arousal. Grow a boundary so when the door goes your chihuahua is sitting down nicely and not charging the door. Doors are quite worrying to dogs as so much happens around them.

Scatter feed in the garden so when the visitor is coming in the front door your chihuahua is busy in the garden. Scatter feeding is an arousal down activity. Introduce your chihuahua to a visitor when they are calm and don’t leave them alone if they are likely to snap.

Put a calmness protocol in place so your chihuahua is in a calmer state overall. Calmness is the foundation of all dog training and is essential for these excitable little dogs who can go from 1 – 100 in a nanosecond.

In the UK the law is very strict and clear on dog bites, and you are legally required to always keep your dog under control. Just because they are small does not mean it’s different.

aggression towards dogs

Get stress-free walks with your chihuahua

September 2, 2022September 8, 2022
by Louise Kirby

From ‘chippy chihuahua’ into ‘I got this!’

Arlo (pictured above) is a funny chap and has the loudest bark you have ever heard from a small dog! He came to us through a rescue having been surrendered at 19 weeks because of his aggression towards his sibling. We thought it was just excited play.

But the truth is he can be chippy and aggressive. It’s something that’s kind of crept up on us until one day we realised we had a real problem. For a chihuahua he has a long muzzle and a big bite, so it was something that had to be taken seriously. Last week I took Arlo and little Macy out for a walk on their own. I like to mix up the groupings a bit. We went to some fields that are separated by a large ditch. Arlo is perfectly able to jump the ditch and has done on more than one occasion. Anyway, Arlo was on a long line and Macy was off lead.

A walker with two dogs came into our field behind us. I bent down to secure Macy, and was momentarily distracted. I just didn’t see the other dog in the next field. Separated by the ditch but still only 2 yards away was a little black poodle. It was staring at Arlo. My heart leapt and I went into panic mode until I realised that Arlo had seen the dog and was ignoring it. He just shrugged it off. Nothing happened! I couldn’t believe it. Not so long ago he would have turned himself inside out, barking and lunging, basically, a full-on meltdown. It was amazing. He was amazing!

Honestly, I was so proud I cried. Only someone with a reactive dog will understand this.

How we got our transformation

Arlo’s transformation has taken time to achieve. But it’s not an accident. We have been playing training games to help change his perception of what he considers a threat. We’ve played games to build his confidence, a solid proximity and recall. But one of the most important things he’s learnt to do is disengage. This is the power to see another dog and ignore it. It really is a superpower and is huge for Arlo, before he would have chased the dog hard just for looking at him.

Chihuahuas are hyper aware of movement and will see another dog (or something that worries them) and refuse to let it be. Escalating things until you have a crazy chihuahua spinning and barking on the end of the lead. Completely over threshold and unable to think or engage with you.

Through games we have rebuilt Arlo’s confidence and kind of rewired him so he can make better decisions.

Building in proximity so he stays by our side unless we say it’s Ok to ‘walk on’. The incident in the field made me realise how far we had come.

If your chihuahua is reactive and goes off like a rocket every time it sees another dog, or a bird or even a bag blowing in the wind it can be frustrating and embarrassing. People tut and point, and it makes you stressed when you take out your dog.

This is why I am starting the Chihuahua School Membership. So, I can take you and your chihuahua through this transformation. It doesn’t matter if you are lead on or lead off, imagine taking your chihuahua out for a walk and not being embarrassed or worried about a meltdown when another dog comes into view.

You are not under any obligation to do anything, I will just let you know when we open next.

Get on the waitlist for Chihuahua School!

Put me on the waitlist

Behaviour

No need for senior decline in chihuahuas

May 24, 2022August 1, 2022
by Louise Kirby

We all want our dogs to live forever and chihuahuas are blessed with a longer lifespan than most dogs. Chihuahuas can easily live until they are 16 and some have happily made it to past 20 years old. Which is well over 100 in human years. But there is a difference between living to a ripe old age and passing away a happy old dog and living to be old and aging badly, beset with health issues that are the result of senior decline.

Obviously, there will be changes in our dogs as they get older but there really isn’t the need for our dogs senior decline mentally and physically to the point when days are full of confusion and pain.

It’s all about gut biome

How can we ensure our dogs become senior without the senior decline that dogs often suffer? Scientists, nutritionists, and vets are doing a lot of work around aging in dogs. The link between gut biome and brain health is astounding. Gut microbiome are the microbes that live in the intestines. The gut biome is so influential that it’s being called a ‘second brain’. Having a healthy, balanced microbiome is essential for our health and it’s the same for our dogs.

Turn back you dogs aging brain

It is possible to restore your dog’s the ageing brain by making some simple changes to your dog’s diet and fitness regime. What this means for us as dog owners is it’s never too late to make positive changes to our dog’s wellbeing and overall health and turn back the clock and help them grow into a healthy old age.

How to stop senior decline

Stop feeding kibble and over processed dog food like pouches of slimy jelly that contain a substance similar to antifreeze to keep it soft. Kibble or dry food is not a species appropriate food. Kibble is full of carbs and fillers and generally have a low protein offering and does not contain enough moisture essential for digestion. Because of the way it’s cooked it is a ‘dead’ food and synthetic vitamins and minerals must be added. It is so far away from the ‘balanced’ diet that vets and the petfood industry want us to believe. Kibble is the worst thing that has happened to dog health and is responsible for a wide range of illnesses including obesity and tooth decay.

Feed your dog a range of fresh foods that are rich in antioxidants. Muscle meat and organ meat, Raw is preferable either home-made or brought if it’s good quality. If you can’t feed raw look at a high-quality semi moist food. Dogs need fat and protein, they don’t need carbs. Research what goes into a homemade diet so you are feeding a balanced meal. If you’re not feeding bones then you will need to add calcium in the form of ground egg shells. Never feed the same meat everyday.

Make sure your dog gets additional eggs, cooked or raw. (Not the shell). 2-3 a week

Add in some oily fish (sardines packed in water but not tuna or raw salmon). Around half a sardine per 4.5Kg of dog.

Add some superfood veggies like sprouting broccoli to their dinner as a topper or give them instead of ‘treats’. While low GI veggies are helpful to a dog they must never be more than 18% of their daily food allowance.

Add a tablespoon of Kefir (1 tlbs per 4.5 kg) to their dinner daily.

Stop feeding treats. These are full of rubbish and don’t have any kind of nutritional profile. Chihuahuas are small and treats can take up a big part of their daily food allowance. Food is food to a dog so use their dinner for training.

Get appropriate exercise and have a fitness regime in place. A little sensible exercise every day will help halt senior decline. But don’t assume more is better and over walk your dog as this can fill their bucket and make them reactive.

Keep them at their correct weight. Being obese can cost a dog 4 years of its life. If your dog is overweight, you don’t need prescription diet food from the vet. Just weigh their daily food and make sure you feed them for the weight they should be. An adult dog that has been nurtured needs around 3% of their bodyweight. A complete dog (one that has not been spayed or neutered can eat more). Speak to your vet who will advise what your chihuahua should weigh.

Cut back on the vaccinations, if your dog has had a booster every year, they never need another one. Over vaccination is harmful for your dog and expensive for you. If you live in the US, the rabies vaccination for small dogs is causing a lot of controversy. Have a look at this website. Protect the Pets http://www.protectthepets.com

Summary

In summary freed a range of fresh food, get sensible exercise, cut out the rubbish treats and keep weight stable, get plenty of real rest and reduce the stress. Seems obvious really.

poo

Why does my chihuahua come back in and pee?

March 11, 2022May 9, 2022
by Louise Kirby

It is a standing, but unfunny joke, that chihuahuas will go out and then come in and pee in the house. It is something that I get messages about a lot. It can be a relationship breaker for some chihuahua owners.

In the week I had a message from Jon who was clearly frustrated by his chihuahua’s lack of toilet training. The issue seemed to be exactly this, his chihuahua would go out and then come in and pee in the house. He was clearly at the end of his patience and considering neutering his dog to try and solve it.

So, why does my chihuahua come back in and pee?

First, we need to understand the difference between peeing and marking. Peeing is a full on empty of the bladder and marking are the little squirts that mainly, but not only, male dogs do up furniture and items left on the floor. Marking is often an excitement behaviour and understanding your dog’s emotional bucket will certainly help you manage this better. Follow the links to read more about these issues.

Once you have established that your chihuahua is really coming back in to empty their bladder you need to consider the next issue. Communication.

Communication.

So, we know as humans that when the door is open that this is an opportunity to go out and pee. It makes perfect sense to us. But the fact that your chihuahua will come back in and pee in the house is telling us that somewhere we haven’t communicated this to our dogs.

Humans are very good at putting their own narrative on a dog’s behaviour. Especially if the behaviour they are presenting is challenging. Owners really start to believe they are doing it on purpose, but I can promise, your chihuahua does not do things to spite you.

Are you confusing your chihuahua?

So, the door is open, your chihuahua hops outside has a sniff about then comes back in the house and does the deed on the rug. What’s happening?

What do you do when your chihuahua pees in the house? Do you make loud noises of consternation?

“Oh, bad puppy, do your wee in the garden!”

Then think about what you did when they peed outside when you were training them? Conventional training would have advised a high excitement congratulations party and treat your chi.

“Oh, you’re a good pup, good dog, super dog!”

But the confusion may happen because the noise could be startling and similar. You are making the same noise to, and they may be worried they are doing the wrong thing.

What to do when your chihuahua comes back in and pees

So, your first action point is to go out with your chihuahua and stay with them so you can quietly mark the correct behaviour. No party or whooping, just a quiet cue of your choice and mark instantly with high value food. (Food from their daily food allowance is always best.) It also gives you the opportunity to check they have gone to the toilet.

If they play a lot in the garden, then try and build value in peeing in one place. If they associate the garden with lots of high excitement, they may lose focus once they are out there.

Have you really spent the time in toilet training your chihuahua? It might be time to go back to toilet training 101 and rebuild the connexion.

Clean up any areas where they are peeing. Get rid of the smell so they don’t think this is a toilet area.

Is it raining?

Some chihuahuas don’t care about the rain and some hate it. But what confuses owners is why they stand there for 5 minutes getting wet while they consider their options then turn around and come in. We know they could have just done a quick pee, and all done.

I can only theorize; they are checking scents and they don’t feel safe. Doing a pee or poop does leave them in a vulnerable situation. Small breed dogs are programmed to worry about threats from above. You will just need to go out with your dog, take an umbrella or have a garden umbrella up. Another good idea is to take your chi to a different location. I take Minnie out the front of the house and for some reason she is happier to pee there when its raining.

If you have dealt with this issue, please leave a comment and tell us how you did it.

barking

Help, my Chihuahua barks out the window!

February 16, 2022June 1, 2022
by Louise Kirby

If your chihuahua barks out the window you’re not alone. I get a lot of questions about how to reduce it. Chihuahuas like a bark and barking out the window is something they excel at. If your chihuahua barks out the window this article will give you some helpful strategies to reducing it.

Barking out the window is a common issue with chihuahuas. Not just chihuahuas, a lot of dogs do it, but chihuahuas are very good at it.

They will bark at people walking past, dogs, delivery vehicles, cats. The list can be a long one. Different owners take different views, some don’t mind and consider it chihuahua TV, some like the warning that people are on their property. But for the majority of chihuahua owners the barking is annoying and causes issues in this WFH era.

Are they protecting the house?

Some owners believe that the dogs do it because they are protecting the house and it can look like this, but the reality is they are barking out the window because the activity outside is causing anxiety. To get more out of this article you need to understand the theory behind your chihuahua’s emotional bucket so if you haven’t read it then I would do that now.

Chihuahua’s emotional bucket

The noise and activity around the window will be adding to and helping to fill your chihuahuas emotional bucket. They will start to bark excitedly. If you shout or use gadgets like water squirting or air horns, you will be adding additional stress and excitement to the situation. Some people are very pleased with themselves when they tell me they only need to touch the gadget and their chihuahua stops, but they are missing the point.

Why gadgets are not the answer

You need to understand that your dog makes no correlation between these gadgets and not barking out the window. It may stop them barking in the moment, but longer term it causes more damage than it solves. It adds more stress and anxiety into the situation and damages the trust between you and your dog and could potentially cause a conflict of emotions.

Imagine this. It’s dark, you’re downstairs and your partner is upstairs. A creepy clown face suddenly appears at the window. You scream because, very sensibly, no one likes creepy clowns. The clown gets closer and appears at another window. You scream again and your partner rushes down. But rather than try and soothe you, they shout at you through a megaphone. Then, even though the creepy clown face turns out to be a hamburger wrapper, you would feel rattled and jumpy for the rest of the evening. The event has paid into your bucket, and if something else was to happen you may overreact. This is how using air-horns and squirting water affects your dog.

Incorrect pairing

In addition to adding in more excitement and stress, they may also pair the fear and anxiety these gadgets cause with the activity outside rather than the act of barking, which means a more fearful and overexcited dog out on walks or charging around the house.

Conflict of emotion

The conflict of emotion I mentioned above is your chihuahua becoming wary of you. They want to trust you, but they are never sure of what’s going to happen next. One moment they are sitting on your lap enjoying being fussed, then you lift your hand in a way that startles them and they bite. This happens a lot to owners who punish their dog by smacking or flicking their nose. You must never mentally or physically punish a dog.

A longer-term strategy

There is a simpler more effective long-term strategy to help if your chihuahua barks out the window. It starts with management. Some trainers don’t believe management to be real training. But it prevents rehearsal which is vital to unpicking unhelpful behaviours.

Prevent rehearsal

When a dog does something over and over, they get good at it. As they practice it daily it becomes a default behaviour.

They see something out the window and bark as a default behaviour. What we want is, they see it, but it means nothing to them and they are able to ignore it.

Preventing rehearsal means cutting down access to preforming the behaviour. In the case of Prince and Macy we stop access to the front room when we are not there so they can’t just sit and bark at anything that moves.

We also put some static cling frosting across the lower half of the window, while this won’t cure barking on its own it has been a very useful tool. Remember they are worried by the activity out the window. The frosting stops movement catching their eye and sending them into a tizzy.

Build a calmer chihuahua

Building calm around the window. Calm should be a default behaviour in your house. Have in place a calming protocol that will bring down your chihuahua’s overall arousal. This will affect their behaviour and make them less likely to bark at triggers when they are out and at home.

Build a calming cue that can be used in stressful situations, once this is in place, use it around the window. The calming cue is known as DMT or (distract, mark, treat). Build it like a piece of code and then run it when you need it. Use the diagram below to set it up. Once the word nice has a calming effect on your chihuahua you can build it up slowly by using it in and around higher distraction environments. At the moment, to stop Prince barking at people in the street, we have built the cue and will gently introduce it in more populated environments, like the edge of a supermarket car park.

*Build a calming cue or calming word like ‘nice’ and use it to reduce anxiety around the window.*

Catch them doing nothing or Ninja feeding

This is a very simple training method, but it does require you to have pockets full of food. It looks like this. Your chihuahua is sitting doing nothing, they are calm and quiet. This is what we want from them, so to get this message across we are going to reward this. Quietly and without a fuss feed the bed or whatever they are sitting on. It will build up value in this as a concept and position.

*Catch them doing nothing and reward by feeding to the bed.*

These are some basic strategies that should help reduce barking out the window. But they take time to put in place. It’s always tempting with dog training to go for the quick fix. But quick fixes cause other issues and damage your relationship with your chihuahua.

Would you like more information about a 121 online behaviour consultation . Just drop me a line and I’ll come back to you.

Behaviour

What is in your chihuahua’s emotional bucket?

January 31, 2022September 19, 2022
by Louise Kirby

What is your chihuahua’s emotional bucket?
Why is it important?
What pays into it?
Can we manipulate it?

What is your chihuahua’s emotional bucket?

Some of you may be familiar with the term ‘emotional bucket’ and how it fills and empties over time, affecting our well-being and behavior. This is a concept used in schools a lot when you work with children. But very few people have ever thought about applying the same concept to their dog. But believe it or not, your chihuahua has one too. Simply put, your dog’s bucket fills with events and eventually overflows creating overspill behaviors. This is your chihuahua’s emotional bucket.

Obviously, emotions will drain out over time, some dogs can do this quickly, but chihuahuas are not so chilled. Typically, they have a very small bucket with a very small hole, and they are not prone to forgive and forget!

How does your chihuahua’s emotional bucket fill up?

A dog with an overflowing emotional bucket is likely to be one that is charging around all over the place, constantly barking at every sound or movement. This type of behavior is very typical of chihuahuas and as they get more stressed the behavior can escalate into nipping, biting, and marking in the house. Their bucket can fill over the course of a day or in a nano second if an exciting event happens.

Multi-dog household?

Got more than one dog? Then each dog will have a bucket of their own and you also get a household bucket. For instance, each dog feels differently about the doorbell, but the act of one charging around when they hear it will fill the household bucket instantly and each dogs individually.

Why does it matter?

How full and how quickly your chihuahua’s emotional bucket empties will be affecting not only their behavior, but their longer-term health as well. A dog that spends most of its time in fight or flight mode is healing less, as the parasympathetic nervous system that deals with healing will shut down. Things that affect the state of your dog’s emotional bucket is 1, the size, and 2, how big the hole that allows emotions to drain. The average chihuahua has a very small bucket with a very small hole. Leading to constant high arousal and stress related behaviors mentioned above.

What pays into it?

It’s very interesting to start looking at the day’s events from your chihuahuas point of view and once you do it’s easier to see what sort of things pay into the bucket and how this will impact on behavior. Interestingly, good excitement from play or a long walk will have the same effect as a visit from the window cleaner. Once the bucket is full, it overflows, and you end up with a chihuahua that reacts.

Your chihuahua’s emotional bucket may look like this.

As an example, a trip to the vet. There are many areas of the event that can cause your chihuahua’s bucket to fill. For some dogs it may start with putting on the harness, then going out the front door, or the car journey, the waiting room and being lifted against their will onto the table. The vet then goes to touch him and snap, it’s just too much for the dog and he growls or bites. It’s never just about the moment the incident happened, but all the smaller events that filled their bucket before they even arrived.

You may see form the diagram I have added training methods. If you are using an air horn or water sprays or e-collars then this will certainly be paying into your chihuahuas bucket.

Can we manipulate your chihuahua’s emotional bucket?

Once you understand the concept around the emotional bucket you can start to see how to manipulate it.

Think about what things send your dog into a tizzy and fills up their bucket and make a list of all the things that cause crazy excitement for your chihuahua, both positive and negative. It could be things like.

Visitors coming in the front door
The window cleaner
The dog over the road barking
Going for a walk

Once you have a list of the things that cause your chihuahua’s bucket to fill you can pick those events apart and work on them individually. So, for a chihuahua who finds being in the car stressful, you can put in a programme of training that builds confidence around the car. For things that you can’t avoid like the window cleaner you can either take your dog out while it’s going on or try and distract them by giving them a long-lasting chew like a hoof or ostrich spaghetti. What you wouldn’t want them to do is chase the window cleaner around the house jumping at the windows barking and snarling.

Calm

What you’re aiming for is a dog that spends most of their day in a calm state. This can be easier said than done with this excitable little dog. What we want to create is calm chihuahua who’s emotional bucket is more robust and has a larger hole so emotions drain our faster.

Read more on how to calm your chihuahua. But your homework is to have a look at your chihuahua’s day and decide what pays into their bucket sending them into a tizzy, and think how you can manage the situation. To get you started you can scatter feed which is a very useful technique. Read more about scatter feeding here.

Characteristics

How to deal with chihuahua aggression

December 13, 2021September 19, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Chihuahua aggression is something I get asked about a lot. They have a reputation for being yappy and aggressive. If you are a chihuahua parent, then you may be familiar with the ‘curled lip of doom’ and the growl of disapproval towards strangers and the full on meltdown at other dogs. But you also know that, at home your chihuahua is adorable, cute, and hilarious. So, what on earth is going on?

Are chihuahuas more aggressive than other dog breeds?

I want to say no here, but the evidence does point towards yes. So why is that?

They are small, chihuahuas being the smallest dog breed. They naturally need to be wary of what’s around them and above them.

Another reason is that conventional training and socialization ideas do not generally work for chihuahuas and other toy breeds. Owners often start out with the idea of taking them to puppy class to then find out their dog is completely overwhelmed by the noise and larger breeds. They then either shut down and become a nervous wreck or they have a meltdown barking and lunging at the other dogs. This becomes a default behavior when they see another dog.

Owners then take to the internet and start copying adverse training methods like spraying water or rattling cans at their dogs.

Wholesale neutering of male dogs. Remove a male dog’s testosterone and you can turn your male dog into a fear barker. Research has shown that male dogs do better if left intact and females do better if spayed.

Willingness to let bad behavior go. Because chihuahuas are small some owners tolerate more. A snapping growling chihuahua can be laughed at, just search YouTube but a snapping growling German Shepherd is not so easily ignored.

Chihuahua aggression can manifest in different ways.

Growling at partners
Snapping at fingers when you take things away
Barking out the window
Snapping and growling when you move them
Chasing at the fence
Barking at other dogs on walks
Guarding their food

I’m sure there are other examples I haven’t thought of. So why do they do it, why are chihuahuas so keen to live up to their reputation of being yappy and aggressive? Why can’t they be more chilled out and friendly?

What chihuahua aggression isn’t

What I want to explain first is what chihuahua aggression isn’t. They aren’t protecting you; they don’t think they are a rottweiler and they don’t want to dominate every dog they see. I hear these things a lot from owners. They misunderstand their dog’s behavior and put a human narrative on what they see. The good news is it’s also unlikely to be anything you’ve done.

So, what is causing chihuahua aggression?

When a dog sees something, they will ask themselves ‘what does this object mean for me’ and is it good or is it bad? If they are barking at it then most certainly the answer is ‘it’s bad’. This will then instantly fill up their emotional bucket.

What is an emotional bucket?

If you follow my blog or ever listen to a Facebook live, you will hear me talk about a dog’s emotional bucket. Like humans they have one and like humans they fill and, once full, you get on overspill behavior. Think when you have ‘one nerve left’ and someone gets on it, and you explode.

Things that pay into a dog’s emotional bucket are interesting, fear, anxiety, feeling unwell or itchy. But also, happy events like fast play, a family member coming home or even a walk. Happy excitement and worry excitement fill up a dog’s bucket in the same way and have the same effect once your dog see’s something they are not sure about.

It’s also how quickly emotions drain. How fast your dog can calm themselves down and the size of the bucket. Dogs that are more chilled and relaxed are likely to have a larger emotional bucket that drains easily.

Pessimism

This will certainly be playing a big part in how your chihuahua behaves. Dogs tend towards pessimism and optimism in the same way humans do. A happy-go-lucky dog that runs up to everyone pleased to see them will lean towards optimism and the more cautious dog that hangs back, avoids things are more likely to be a little more pessimistic.

But before you worry your dog is a pessimist, this is a more natural state for an animal. In the wild, an animal that avoids ambiguity or things it’s not sure about is more likely to live longer and get to pass on its genes. An animal that sees no danger is more likely to get eaten. But this is not the case for our domestic dogs, so we want our dogs to change from a pessimist to an optimist.

Resource Guarding

Pessimism is most certainly playing a part in a dog that resource guards, a dog that worries food or possessions are going to be taken away and will snap or growl at people or other dogs that come near them in certain situations. This can get so bad that just walking past their bed while they are in it will get you growled or snapped at. This is not ideal.

Lack of confidence

Lack of confidence will certainly be paying into their emotional bucket and cause your chihuahua to bark at novelty or things they are not sure about. If you take your chihuahua out for a walk and someone appears in the field, or a crow fly’s down, or a carrier bag blows past they may start to bark at it. This is because they are unsure of the object and ‘what it means for them’ and this worries them. Building a tolerance of novelty or new things and growing your chihuahua’s confidence are key.

Illness

Being itchy, in pain or having a tummy upset will have a big impact on your chihuahuas demeanor. Dealing with anything physical like this would be the first place to start when trying to unpick your chihuahuas aggressive behavior. Imagine constantly itching and not even being able to scratch it. This would make even the most even tempered of us a little tetchy. Diet will certainly be part of this picture and poor diets will often be the cause of gastric upset, itchy skin and sticky ears.

Diet

Whenever I start with a new client, one of the first things I will ask is what are you feeding your dog? If it’s a weak or dry diet, then this is where we will start to unpick their behavior struggles. A properly balanced diet is essential and dry food, no matter how science based the packet looks, is not a good diet. There is also a lot of research that shows a direct link between gut biome and brain function. So, step one is certainly make sure your dog is getting a good diet based on fat and protein.

Training methods

I am adding this in here because it’s so important to your relationship with your chihuahua. They bark a lot, and this can be annoying and get you into trouble with your neighbors or landlord. If they are barking, they are worried about something. Shouting, spraying them with water, using an air horn or another gadget to stop them are very common methods to interrupt this behavior. While it may do so it will be adding to the excitement of the situation and filling their bucket, so you will pay for it later and your dog will start to not trust you.

Rest

Being overwrought and overtired can also pay into behavior. Chihuahuas do like a snooze in the day, but they are also up and barking in a nanosecond. So, it’s not real deep rest. They need a good snooze out of the way of footfall, children, and general interference. If you have crate trained your chihuahua then use a crate or if not, then use a puppy pen and put them down for a good nap in the day.

Can you cure chihuahua aggression?

Certainly! you can work with your dog and turn them from a pessimist to an optimist, grow their confidence and tolerance of novelty, build a calming protocol so they have appropriate rest and calming activities and make sure they have a well-balanced diet.

How we do this is by using short training games that anyone can access. Games that help re-shape their brain and help them relearn responses to situations. Anyone can do it if you have a few minutes to spare for your chihuahua each day.

Got more than one chihuahua. No problem, you can still resolve the issues.

Where to start to transform my chihuahuas behavior?

My name is Louise Kirby and I’m a freelance writer and certified Pro Dog Trainer. I adore and train all breeds but have a special interest in chihuahuas and their rehabilitation. Chihuahuas are awesome little dogs, spunky, full of joy, loyal and tenacious. But some present with behaviours that make them a challenge to manage. I’m on a mission to restore the relationship between owners and their dogs. To help you get back the dog you always dreamed of. That’s why dog training is a happiness project!

chihuahua agression

Scatter feeding can calm your chihuahua

November 10, 2021May 9, 2022
by Louise Kirby

What is scatter feeding?

If you have never heard of scatter feeding it’s a very simple process of throwing a proportion of your dog’s daily food allowance over the grass. They then must root about for it. It really is as simple as that.

Why is scatter feeding a good idea?

Dogs are scavengers by nature, it’s hardwired into their DNA. If they were wild, they would spend the day hunting and scavenging for their next meal. Being given food direct into their bowl every morning and every evening seems ideal, but in fact it does them a disservice and can be bad for their mental health. Working for food is part of a dog’s nature, it even has a name, ‘contrafreeloading’. Think how much they enjoy chewing a bone or nagging on a hoof.

Scatter feeding can calm your chihuahua

Scatter feeding is a calming activity, dogs enjoy the process of snuffling around in the grass and eating what they find, so if your chihuahua is a bit reactive and stressed then this simple activity can help calm them down. It also has the added benefit of helping them become calmer in the environment. So, if they are normally running the fence or barking at pigeons, scatter feeding gives them a new focus and brings down their arousal level, making them feel less stressed outdoors.

It’s also extremely useful if you have visitors coming and your chihuahuas normally charge the front door in a barking frenzy. Get your visitors to give you a moment to chuck some food on the grass before they come in the door, and your chihuahua will have something to do while your visitors come in.

If you don’t have a garden, you can improvise, indoors you can use a snuffle mat or roll out some fake grass and sprinkle some of their food onto that. If the weather is nice then take them to the park and eat alfresco, scatter feed on the grass. I do this with Arlo who can be a bit worried by the environment. It calms him down, brings down his arousal level making him less likely to be worried by everything he sees and therefore less likely to bark at it.

What sort of food can you use?

Use their dinner rather than treats, this way you can be generous and make it a real experience for them and they won’t get fat. It’s best with a semi moist food. You can use dry as well but remember to take some water if you are out. Raw is more problematic, but because we are solution based, you could freeze it or dehydrate it. However, you can successfully mix raw and cooked food so maybe for this exercise boil some pork mince.

When to do it

People tend to feed their dogs twice a day sometimes once. (For a small dog like a chihuahua I recommend twice a day). I often do a small scatter feed first thing in the morning and let them go hunt for it while I get myself a cup of tea. As I mentioned above, I will use this method to calm them down if visitors are arriving or if I think they are a bit bored and need some fresh air.

One of the main worries my clients have about scatter feeding is how to gauge how much their dog has eaten. If you only have one dog, then this is easy to manage. Weigh out their daily food allowance and you will know how much your dog has eaten. If you have a multi dog household reduce each dog’s daily food allowance by the approximate grams they have snuffled on the grass.

I am quite strict about how much I feed my dogs and always weigh out their daily food allowance and this notion did worry me for a while. But just keep an eye on your chihuahua, then if you feel they need it, adjust how much they eat up or down. If your chihuahua is overweight read this.

My chihuahua gives up

This can be a thing if your chihuahua is a princess and very used to being given everything. So, the first step is to avoid feeding them treats, treats put them off their dinner, makes them fat and can make them lazy. Grow the scatter area gradually, so in the beginning only throw the food over a small area, as they get more skilled at it you can scatter further afield.

Give it a try and let me know in the comments how it went.