Behaviour | Chihuahua School by Chihuahua Power

Category: <span>Behaviour</span>

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.

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.

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?

Louise Kirby

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!

aggression towards dogs

Understand your chihuahua reactivity

November 6, 2021April 27, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Why do they bark at other dogs, why can’t they just get along, they’re all dogs after all?

Understanding chihuahua reactivity is a big step in being able to work with them and help overcome it.

What reactivity isn’t is your chihuahua trying to dominate all the other dogs they meet. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard people use the term ‘small dog syndrome’ or ‘he thinks he’s a rottweiler’.

This belief that dogs strive to be ‘top dog’ over every dog they meet is very ingrained in people’s thinking. It originates from a very old study done in the 80s based on a pack on unrelated wolves and how they interacted. Even the originator of the study has acknowledged that the findings were flawed.

But it spawned a very aggressive form of dog training that told owners they had to be the alpha dog, or your dog wouldn’t respect you and this is an idea that is still widely believed even among other dog trainers today.

Domination or the need to be the ‘top dog’ is not what’s happening with your chihuahua. So, park the idea that they are striving to take over the world. They just want a happy life with their human family.

Why is he barking at other dogs out on walks?

The answers will vary slightly from dog to dog. But pessimism, overarousal and fear of novelty will be playing a big part of it. When they see another dog, they are worried about what that dog’s presence means for them. Is this dog a threat? Will they have to interact with it?

Imagine you see a clown in the middle of a field. Unless you’re at the circus that would be weird, and you would be crazy not to be wary. That’s how your chihuahua feels about stranger dogs or ambiguous things they don’t understand.

But, before you start beating yourself up and think you’ve done something wrong, pessimism is a natural state for a lot of animals, it helps them live longer in the wild. A pessimistic animal that doesn’t run up to something novel is likely to live longer. But pessimism is not something we need in our domesticated dogs; it can make things difficult and cause unhelpful behaviors like barking and displays of fear-based aggression.

It’s not about socialization

A lot of people will tell you it’s about socialization, but that’s not the case and often pushing a dog through a regulated programme of socialization can cause many of the problems you are experiencing now. Taking a puppy into a noisy class full of over excited dogs and stressed owners can cause multiple issues. Unless the class is very well run, and often they are just a free-for-all, you can end up with a stressed barking chihuahua.

How to stop chihuahua reactivity

Despite what the guy on the TV says there is no flick of the lead that can cure chihuahua reactivity. We need to look under the hood and fix it there. Turn your chi into an optimist, create a more relaxed chilled out animal that’s not always on the lookout for trouble. Reshape their thinking so when they see another dog, they can ignore it.

This may sound like an impossible dream, but it can be done. You can have a chihuahua that walks along happily and doesn’t go off like a rocket when they see another dog

Louise Kirby

barking

Is your chihuahua ‘action-prompting’ you?

September 28, 2021January 18, 2022
by Louise Kirby

If your chihuahua nudges you, paws you or barks at you to keep doing something they want this is called action-prompting. On the face of it, giving you a little nudge with their nose to keep to stoking them seems harmless enough but this behaviour can escalate into continual barking to throw the ball or play with them. This action-prompting behaviour can become annoying if you are trying to read or worse if you are working from home and in the middle of a work call.

If you have a chihuahua puppy, action-prompting may look like mouthing or biting or nipping at clothes to get you to play.

If action prompting behaviour is causing a problem in your house this road map will help you get it under control and divert your chihuahua to a calmer state.

The action-prompting road map.

Action prompting is when your dog ‘prompts’ you for interaction.

Nudging
Barking
Dropping a toy
Nipping
Jumping

Often this is because your chihuahua is in a more excited headspace than is appropriate to you are the environment. For example, they will drop a toy at your feet while you are working, trying to read, or just doing something that doesn’t involve them.

Why ignoring it is not a good idea

Conventional training suggests that you ignore action prompting, but this can be hard if their chosen behavior is barking, and you are working. Ignoring can also lead to frustration in the dog and they may up their game to nipping and biting to get a reaction. While they are doing they are going to be getting more and more excited and less able to calm down.

Meet the dog halfway

We are going to re-direct the dog to a more calming activity, thus avoiding an escalation of the behavior and frustration in the dog. Eventually the dog will learn that action prompting does not yield the desired results and the behavior will reduce.

Figure of 8s

Figure of 8s is a calming walk that involves walking your dog around in a quiet figure of 8. This action has a meditative effect and will help your chihuahua calm down. Using a double ended lead and a two point harness makes this easier.

Direct to boundary

Boundary training is when your dog is directed to an area where sit until directed to leave, a raised bed is often used or a crate. The boundary is always an area of calm and often your dog will settle down for a sleep or be given a long chew.

Settle down with a Kong

Feeding you dog in a Kong is very helpful as it gives you chihuahua lots of fun and engagement trying to dig the food out. Rather than give your dog all their daily food allowance in the bowl in the morning spread it out and use it during the day. Think of food as currency and spend it to give your chihuahua something to do over the day.

Calm road walk on two-point lead

If your chihuahua is able to walk outside without becoming over excited, then a calm road walk can help put them in a better head space.

Settle down with a hoof or long-term chew

When we talk about long-term chews we don’t mean anything you are going to buy from the supermarket. That includes dental sticks which are often full of empty calories and rubbish, or plastic bones that are meat flavoured. Think about using a hoof, raw bones (remove the marrow), pigs ears or something natural. Avoid rawhide as this can cause stomach upset.

Scatter feeding

Scatter feeding is another great way to feed your chihuahua and get fantastic value from their dinner. It is simply getting some of their daily food allowance and scattering on the grass. Your dog will really enjoy hunting and snuffling about for it. If you don’t have a garden then think about a snuffle mat. See Minnie in the video enjoying her snuffle mat. The act of hunting and snuffling for their food is very calming and hardwired into their psyche. Dogs are natural scavengers and this is a natural behaviour for them it’s even got a name, contrafreeloading. It is much better for your dogs mental health to work for their food.

Plan for it

If your dog is an action prompter, then plan for it. Have things ready so the behavior can be dealt with in the moment.

Have the dog on a soft harness so you can do 8s
Frozen Kong ready to hand out
Long term chews ready to go (not anything from a supermarket packet)
Boundary training in place

Louise Kirby

aggression towards dogs

Change your ID tag to reduce chihuahua barking

March 17, 2021August 14, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Can changing your ID tag help reduce chihuahua barking?

Having an ID tag on your chihuahua is essential and a legal requirement. The most obvious reason so that if your pup gets lost you can be contacted quickly. But can the type of tag reduce chihuahua barking?

It’s so ingrained in us that I’ve never given it a second thought. Each one of my dogs has a small tag with my surname and contact phone number and it’s attached to their collar or harness. When they walk it makes a noise and again, I’ve never given it much thought. Until now!

Barking on walks

Chihuahua like to bark at other dogs, it’s one of the main reasons people contact me. (They want coaching to help reduce chihuahua barking and being aggressive towards other dogs). Owners don’t understand that if your chihuahua barks and lunges at other dogs on a walk they are overwhelmed and stressed. Your chi is not doing it because of ‘small dog syndrome’ or because he thinks he’s a rottweiler. It’s not good for them or you.

So what’s the ID tag got to do with it?

A dog’s hearing is very sensitive they can hear four times further away than we can and at a much higher frequency. Think how quickly they arrive when you open the fridge door!

Which means they can hear the tinkle of another dog’s collar long before it comes into view. Then the dog appears, and a pairing of the collar sound and an approaching dog is rehearsed over and over on every walk. Now the sound of the tinkle is a trigger for a full-on chihuahua tizz.

My dog doesn’t bark at other dogs

Even if your dog is more chilled and doesn’t react to other dogs you may still need to give it some thought because the issue works both ways.

You may meet another dog’s that is dog-dog reactive. Hopefully they are on a lead, but they will also be sensitive to the sound of the tinkle of a dog collar and have rehearsed the pairing in the same way. So, it will be a trigger for them as well.

This mean that when your chihuahua potters into view the other dog would be hyper aware of it and ready to react by barking and lunging towards your chihuahua. The worst may be just barking, but if the dog is off lead he may lunge. Your chi is likely to run which may prompt a chase situation.

I have spoken to more than one owner whose dog has been attacked and tossed ‘out of the blue’ by a larger dog. But the chances are the attacking dog is reactive and hypervigilant and trying to deal with its own full emotional bucket. This will be a frightening enough for both you and your chihuahua and could have long term behavior consequences.

1 negative interaction outweighs 100 positive ones.
Dr. Tom Mitchell, Behavavet

What to do about it.

Change your ID tag to a silent one that is either made of silicone or that threads through the collar or harness. Don’t put your dog’s name on it in case of theft. Put your surname.
If your chihuahua is reactive to other dogs, then desensitize him to the sound of a tinkling collar will help.

How to make a start

When your chihuahua is in a calm frame of mind have a harness near him. Make a tiny movement so it makes a sound when your chi looks at it reward him. Do this a few times. Don’t be stingy with the food. (That’s why we use his dinner rather than extra treats)

Do this calmly, you are not wanting to pair the sound with a different excitement. Build this up over time until your chi seems more relaxed about the sound. Try it with different sounds including bells. For some reason people put bells on their dogs, I can’t imagine how stressful this must be for it, filling up their ‘emotional bucket’ before they even get out the door!

It’s difficult to quantify the result of this training in a blog post, but you know your chihuahua so you will be able to gauge your dog’s reaction. But you are a step closer to helping your chihuahua bark less at other dogs out on a walk.

Try this as well

If you take your chihuahua out regularly for walks and he barks at other dogs, then this becomes a deeply rehearsed behavior. Dogs will do what they have always done. It can take 72 hours for a dog to calm down after an ‘incident’ so if he goes out every day, he is going to still be psyched up from yesterday’s interaction, this is called trigger stacking. Try giving your dog a few days rest and just play with them in the garden.

Need more advice

If you would like more advice about how to stop your chihuahua barking at other dogs, jump on a short call and we can see if behavior coaching can help you and your chihuahua enjoy a calmer life. It might not be right for you, but if we don’t chat, we won’t know, and I’ll enjoy talking to you anyway.

Louise Kirby

Get help with chihuahua behaviour

Join the happiness project now!

Your chihuahua transformation starts with a free discovery chat to see how I can best help you. Please get in touch I look forward to hearing from you. Together we can get back the dog you always wanted.

Behaviour

How to toilet train your chihuahua

February 8, 2021September 5, 2022
by Louise Kirby

Chihuahuas are notoriously hard to toilet train. We get more questions about this than almost anything else apart from barking! There are a couple of issues that can make it difficult to toilet train your chihuahua: Their reluctance to get cold or wet and the fact they can be a little stubborn. But like any dog with the right encouragement they can be reliable. We often have five chihuahuas in the house and rarely get peeing indoors.

Modern training methods has moved away from the ‘rub their nose in it’ aggressive style to a more reward based positive reinforcement. Your chihuahua will generally want to please you and once they understand that peeing outdoors or in the designated place is what you want, they will try to get it right. But it can seem to take a long time for chihuahuas to pick this up.

It’s also worth noting that it can be 12 weeks before a puppy even has the ability to control its toileting. So, trying too hard to get a very young puppy to be clean is setting yourself up for stress. It’s also recommended that small dogs like chihuahuas stay with their mum until this age, anyway, so don’t rush your chihuahua puppy home too early. If the breeder insists you take the puppy before this time take a good look at who you are buying your puppy from.

In-built behaviour

Your chihuahua will search for a surface that they are used to going on, if that’s a hard floor then this is what they will look for. Although in my experience they do prefer an absorbent surface.

If you get your chihuahua as a puppy, the chances are that they will be used to pee pads. Even better if the breeder has been taking them out on the grass as most of the work will have been done for you.

Your chihuahua will need to wee about 3-4 times during the day and can be expected to hold their poo & wee for an hour for every month old they are to the maximum of 8 hours. But I feel expecting your dog not to go to the toilet for this long is unreasonable (unless it is overnight) and could lead to bladder problems.

Be zen

First, it is vital that you never shout, display anger or upset when your chihuahua has an accident in the house. Going to the toilet is natural to your dog and if you start shouting or making him anxious about it you could end up with him eating his faeces to hide it.

If your chihuahua does have an accident and looks contrite, it’s not because they have any notion of doing wrong, but he is watching and picking up on your body language. If you appear angry or stressed this will frighten your dog. Scientists have discovered that dogs have developed additional eyebrow muscles that allow them to make ‘puppy dog eyes’ at humans, and they use this to appease us.

If an accident occurs, then ignore it and clean it up calmly. If he comes in from the garden and pees in the house, then he simply has not understood what’s required of him or does not feel safe outside.

Tips to successful toilet training

It is not enough to just open the door and expect your puppy to go out and do his business. Also, young pups need to be supervised. It’s not uncommon for puppies to eat their poop, this is a habit that you want to discourage from the off. If you see this happening then have a handful of your puppy’s food allowance with you and throw it in the opposite direction, when he runs off to enjoy his alfresco dinner clean up the poop quickly and quietly.

Quiet spot

Find a safe quiet spot where your chihuahua will feel safe. Conventional wisdom suggest that when you get a result (your pup peeing) then you should make a song and dance. But doing this will up your pups arousal and turn the whole going out for a wee into a game. Definitely reward your chihuahua, make sure it’s high value food and not just one measly piece. But offer it calmly and feed to the mouth. While you are waiting for her to pee stand calmly. She is not out there to play.

Once your chi is regularly peeing outdoors, as you feed the reward start to pair it to a cue, we use “wee wee garden” this then tell our dogs wherever we are, what they are going outdoors to do and what I expect from them.

Timing is everything

Toilet training your chihuahua needs to start with maintaining a regular schedule of toilet breaks. If your chi is a puppy then every hour to start with. This means going out at regular intervals so your chihuahua knows he will have access to the outdoors. As I tended to get engrossed in writing I sometimes would miss the signs, so I put an alert on my phone. (We need to develop a chi-wee app. 🙂

The change in culture to remote working should help with toilet training and in general be better for your pup. If you ever get back to the office arrange a trustworthy person to come in and let them out for a pee. But, no dogs should be left for more than 4 hours and chihuahuas find this especially stressful. Toilet training your chihuahua will be more difficult if you are not home and able to work with her.

Peeing in the rain

It can be hard to get your pups to go out if it’s raining. One way to do this is have a sheltered spot that you’ve cultivated from the beginning and got your pup used to. We have a tray of turf in a sheltered section of the garden. We’ve had some success with this but the best way seems to be taking them somewhere different. I put there harness on and take them out to the front of the house. They will instantly be more interested and want to mark their territory.

Maintaining calm

Chihuahua are excitable dogs and can go from zero to one hundred in a heartbeat. Maintaining calm and keeping your chihuahua relaxed will have an impact on how much they pee in the house. If your chihuahua is in a constant state of high arousal then they are more likely to excitement wee or mark. Keeping your chihuahua calm and not letting them rehearse behaviours like barking out the window or chasing the cat will impact on their ability to think and learn. Less excitement means less marking, especially from the boys.

To help with this I give my chihuahua half a teaspoon of Calm K9 supplement. It contains, among other helpful ingredients L-Tryptophan, a natural amino acid found in many proteins involved in the production of the hormone serotonin. A-OK9 also supports the gut and I have noticed a reduction of anal gland issues in Mika and Minnie. I don’t often recommend products but have been impressed with this one and have become a calm supplement partner.

Rescue chihuahua

If you have rescued your chihuahua you might not know what her background is, or what her expectations are. Under these circumstances it is important to start with a schedule and keep to it calmly. She is already going to be stressed without more upset over toilet accidents.

Learn to read the signs

Chihuahuas, like all dogs will display certain behaviours when they need to go to the toilet. Walking around in circles, sniffing the ground or staring at you. Being able to read her body language will help you toilet train your chihuahua. There is a definite toilet etiquette that all dogs follow.

You can also be certain that he will need to toilet after:

Sleeping
Excitement
Eating or drinking

Pee pad & litter trays

It is possible to toilet train your chihuahua to use a pee pad or a litter tray. If you live in an apartment, then this might work for you. Make sure it is in the same place all the time, if you move it about, she will find it confusing.

About the author

Louise Kirby

Get help with chihuahua behaviour

Join the happiness project now!

Shop

Buy CALM K9 here