Train Your Chihuahua

Most Chihuahua owners do not consider training as part of raising these little dogs. One reason is its cuteness and harmless look. These dogs are known to be aggressive despite their miniature size, and they are hardy too. For their known stubbornness, they should be taught to obey while they are yet puppies.

Why You Should Know How to Train a Chihuahua

Chihuahuas were bred to be just pets with no additional skills. They had been treated this way for many years. As such, the they have developed the nature of being content with being mere companions. Although this can do some good to the owner in terms of stress reduction, this has a downside because it can lead to aggression. Thus, training the Chihuahua is necessary to socialize it and to arrest future aggression problems.

Most Chihuahuas do not know that they are small, a large percentage of them act bigger than they actually are. This will put the it at risk for obvious reasons. These little creatures are known to be unfriendly and hostile against other dogs and kids. They easily get excited even with slight commotion.

How to Train a Chihuahua

The Chihuahua has a high sense of dominance. Being allowed to run freely in the house, it thinks that it is in control. If you want to train your Chihuahua, the very first thing you must do is to let it know that you are the alpha leader. Do not allow it to go just anywhere it likes. Establish boundaries and clearly define the places where it is not allowed to go. This will be clear enough to make the it learn that you are the one in control.

Take control of your Chihuahua’s feeding schedule and let it know that it can only eat at your disposition. This is one way of getting its allegiance.

Exercise it two times per day to prevent it from getting bored. Choose which way to go. Do not allow it to dictate which direction you should take, as this can also trigger its sense of control. Use the leash as a signal that you are its leader.

Impose your leadership by not allowing the dog to go anywhere it wants, as it could give it a sense of control. Clearly impose boundaries and do not allow it to claim your space.

Do not caress your it each time you arrive or leave the house as this reinforces separation anxiety in them. You have to ignore it for at least 10 minutes. You can stroke it only when it calms down. This is a way to make it understand that good behavior is rewarded.

It takes an alpha leader to train a Chihuahua. They need to submit in order to remove their tendency to dominate.

Optimizing Mental Stimulation

If you let your Chihuahua perform what bigger dogs do, it easily gets exhausted, but if you will leave it alone, it also gets bored. Arouse its alertness by teaching it to perform basic commands like sit, stay, speak, quiet or fetch.

Setting the rules and being consistent with them will make training easier for the Chihuahua. By all means, do not allow it to impose dominance. Make it perform the tricks you taught it in a consistent manner. Training the Chihuahua is improving its behavior as well.

Stan Beck is a dog training consultant whose free Dog Training Guide has helped many dog owners improve their dog’s behavior. Find out how Stan Beck can help improve your dog’s behavior by visiting his website which is filled with useful tips on how to train your dogs the easy way.