How to Train Your Chihuahua Dog to Not Growl

Hello Ann, I recommend desensitizing her to touch more and working on building respect in general. For the touch, use puppy’s daily meal kibble to do this. Gently touch an area of puppy's body while feeding a piece of food. Touch an ear and give a treat. Touch a paw and give a treat. Hold her collar and give a treat. Touch her tail gently and give a treat. Touch her belly, her other paws, her chest, shoulder, muzzle and every other area very gently and give a treat each time. Keep these times calm and fun for pup. If you are having to grab pup a lot to stop things like destructive chewing or other common puppy mischief I would also keep a drag leash on pup while you are home to supervise and make sure it doesn't get caught on anything. When you would normally need to grab pup, calmly go over and step on the end of the leash and pick it up, then direct pup where you need them to go to enforce your boundaries and rules and commands calmly, so you are being consistent but pup not getting as defensive or learning they can get their way by biting. Respect building - I recommend practicing all three commands with pup for a while. Teaching pup commands like Heel, Down, Off, Come, ect..to make communication easier with pup while also building respect through the training practice itself. Having pup work for what they want more by telling pup those commands for them to obey to earn what they want, like sit before tossing them their toy. Using the steps from the consistency method to make sure pup has boundaries - without having to get overly harsh. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you How are you handling the situation when pup growls or nips? You need to be careful not to give pup what they want when they do so - which can teach pup to use their mouth to get their way, but at the same time you don't want to encourage too much defensiveness. With the drag leash on pup, often when pup gets this way, I will stop the physical touch if pup is protesting that, but suddenly switch into training mode to address the attitude - having pup get off the couch or lap they were on, or picking up the leash and going to an open part of the room and practicing pup's obedience commands in quick succession without any treats being given - this should feel kind of like a drill sergeant telling a cadet to do a bunch of pushups. This should be calm but deliberate, then right after, drop the leash, tell pup "Okay" and let pup go back to relaxing. You are getting pup thinking again instead of in fight or flight, adjusting their attitude to you, and releasing any mental pent up energy that needs releasing. The best way to earn respect overall is calm, confident, and consistent interactions with pup. Not angry but also not pitying pup avoiding addressing the issue. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Lief, First, it sound like he is actually possessive of her - which is sort of like pup resource guarding due to a lack of respect for her. Pup wanting to stand on her lap can be related to possessiveness too (but isn't always obviously). I would start by having her gently build his respect for her through obedience practice and having him work for things he wants more, so he doesn't see her as something he can own as much, and when she gives him instruction like Quiet -when barking at you, pup will listen to her and take his cues from her more. Building respect for her can also help pup feel more secure by feeling they can trust her leadership and boundaries. Check out the article I have linked below. In this case, I would have her practice the Obedience method and Working method. Building respect through calm, patient, consistent training. Not overly physical, angry, or loud means. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you The following commands can be good ones for her to practice with the dogs gradually. She will probably need to ease into this very gradually due to pups' past. Leave It method - useful when pup is acting defensive toward you or grabbing something they shouldn't have https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Quiet method - useful for the barking toward you. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Place command - good for pup to practice being in the same room as you with structure and calmness without having to be as close to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Down-Stay - great for respect in general: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Heel- Turns method, also great for respect in general and learning to follow: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Come - Reel in method - having pup come to you instead of someone go get pup is less confrontational and scary for a nervous dog. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Off- section on The Off command - when pup is guarding her from her lap, pup needs to get off her and the couch. Possessive behavior means pup looses position and proximity to what pup is possessing. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-train-dog-stay-off-couch/ Drop It – Exchange method- also avoids extra confrontation when pup grabs something they shouldn't have, rather than having to pry it out of pup's mouth. Practiced correctly, this can build trust. https://wagwalking.com/training/drop-it Say Hi/Touch - good for her to practice sending pup to someone new, like you even, to build trust once pup is ready. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj1oMlfjPZ8 Watch Me - a good, rewarding way to get pup comfortable with direct eye contact - which people give dogs a lot, without realizing it, and can be intimidating for a dog who didn't grow up around a lot of people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zeZrOPzO-c While respect is being built for your wife, trust needs to be built with you. Trust needs to come first. I definitely do not recommend physically rough methods in your case - you are correct that that isn't the right approach here with this dog and their history. You might damage any future efforts if you go that route and you need trust before respect can be built. When you are ready to build respect, I would build that through obedience, calmness, and consistency, like the above advice I mentioned for your wife. To build trust first though, sit down - so that pup is calmer, and toss pup his dinner kibble one piece at a time without making eye contact. Do this as often as you can. Keep enough distance between you for pup to relax enough to eat the food. As he gets more comfortable, decrease the distance by tossing the treats slightly less far, so that pup has to come closer to you to eat them. Watch pup's body language to determine when pup is relaxed enough to decrease the distance - don't rush this process but do practice often at the current distance. You don't want to trick pup into coming close too soon, you want to spend enough time at each distance that you see pup's body language actually relax before decreasing distance again. Tricking pup into coming too close and touching too soon can lead to a fear bite - watch body language to see how you are changing pup's emotions about you. When pup will come within a foot of your chair to eat the food and is relaxed at that distance, start to practice this in other positions like standing up, sitting on the ground or laying down. When you change positions, you will likely need to go back to tossing the treats further away again because the new position will probably make him nervous again. Once pup will go up to your chair when you are sitting or in one of the other positions and is even more comfortable with you both in general, put on a harness or martingale type collar that pup cannot get out of on pup. Spend time slowly introducing the harness using the method from the video linked below once pup is comfortable enough to get closer to you. Your wife may need to start the harness with pup first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn5b8u1YS_g&feature=emb_title Choose a secure, front-clip type harness. Ideally, practice this in a fenced in area since pup may be a flight risk. Clip his leash on the harness and go on a walk with pup and your wife. If pup is nervous, stay several feet away while walking in the same direction as your wife walking pup at first - with your wife holding the leash. As pup relaxes during the walk, gradually get closer until your wife can hand the leash off to you and let you continue to walk pup alone - without her. This might take several sessions before you can do that without pup stopping or tensing up when you gets close. Don't rush this - be aware of pup's body language and any tensing up. Definitely practice in a fenced area if available, even though that will mean walking back and forth a lot. Once pup will walk with you and get close to you, practice hand-feeding him the dog food and walking him regularly to develop more trust. When you get that far, also teach him commands and tricks using positive reinforcement to further build trust. Check out the article linked below as well, and be aware of pup's body language and not putting him into situations that might lead to a fear bite. https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-socialize-a-shy-dog/ I would practice the training with the dogs both together and alone - since they will respond differently in both situations and you want pups to be good in both circumstances and not only depend on the other and take cues from the other all the time. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Phyllis, First, check out the free PDF e-book AFTER You Get Your Puppy, that can be downloaded at the link below. www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads Specifically pay attention to the socialization and desensitizing pup to touch and handling tips there. Second, I would consider enrolling pup in a puppy kindergarten class for the socialization benefits. Speak with the trainer before enrolling about your current concerns to make sure their class is a good fit for pup. Third, check out kikopup on youtube and her videos on fear aggression, reactivity, shyness, and socialization. When is pup growling at you? Is it when you touch pup, take something, come toward them, ect...? I am guessing that pup is growling at others due to a need for more socialization. Pup might be growling at you because they associate you with punishment, aren't comfortable being touched, ect...But there might also be additional things that need to be addressed, like resource guarding or other forms of aggression starting. I would need additional information to address pup's behavior more accurately. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Celesta, Without being there in person to hear pup's growling and see pup's body language I cannot say for sure - is the growling aggressive or playful for example? I suspect that pup is becoming overly sensitive to being touched because of some bad experiences with being touched or being a more sensitive pup. It's not something you want because it can lead to aggression, but it's not uncommon with some puppies if you don't practice the right king of touches. If you are using any methods that involve physical roughness with your hands, then I would switch to a different method. Work on getting puppy more comfortable with touch and handling. Use puppies daily meal kibble to do this. Gently touch an area of puppy's body while feeding a piece of food. Touch an ear and give a treat. Touch a paw and give a treat. Hold her collar and give a treat. Touch her tail gently and give a treat. Touch her belly, her other paws, her chest, shoulder, muzzle and every other area very gently and give a treat each time. Keep these times calm and fun for pup. Each time you pass pup to another person, have the other person offer a treat first so that pup associates the hand-offs with treats, and begins to look forward to another person reaching for them gently. When you must move pup while they are napping, gently wake them up without touching first, such as by saying their name and tossing a small treat over to them when they look. You want to avoid scaring pup by touching them and startling them while sleeping. Some puppies are more sensitive to being woken up while asleep and can feel like they are in danger if they don't realize its you at first. Feeling stressed about being woken up over and over can cause them to act more defensive about being bothered while sleeping in general. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Karae, For this issue I do recommend hiring a professional trainer who specializes in behavior issues like aggression to help you. Working with the trainer I would start by increasing Ruby's respect for you through obedience commands and a lot of structure in the home. I would have you be the one to make and enforce all rules between the dogs. You may need to keep Ruby on a drag leash or wearing a basket muzzle if she has ever shown any form of aggression toward you as well, even if that aggression was redirected toward you while they were fighting with your other dog. When Ruby then tries to control your older dog I would calmly step in, picking up the drag leash and make Ruby be the one to leave the area. If needed I would also do impromptu fast paced obedience drill session, where you run through all the commands Ruby knows in quick succession with little praise or treats - just a calm, matter of fact attitude, to get Ruby's focus back on you and into a calmer mindset again. Working method and Consistency method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Leave It method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark Place command: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Heel- Turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Come - Reel in method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Off- section on The Off command: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-train-dog-stay-off-couch/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden