chi behavior

Question
QUESTION: I rescued a 3 year old chi and have had her about 2 1/2 months. She is generally a really loving dog but we have 2 major problems. First she bites my 11 year old son at least 10 times a week! She will growl,bark and chase and if I don't stop her bite him for no reason. Some times if she just hears his voice from the other room she will start after him. I love her to death but I swear sometimes she's psychotic!!Second she is extremely dog aggressive making walking a really unpleasant experience. I have tried treats and everything and nothing works. So you know when we got her she was wearing a bark collar(those kind that zap a dog)which of course I threw away.Is there anything that you can recommend to train her I would appreciate it so much. I love this dog already and I don't want to get rid of her but I obviously don't want my son to be bitten either. Thank you so much

ANSWER: Hi Jennifer...

I can well imagine that your little rescue Chi really is a loving dog, but I can also well imagine her biting your son and being aggressive towards other dogs as those are traits that are so common for this breed.  Of course, there's exceptions for everything, but I can assure you that I hear about these TWO things all the time and the three Chihuahuas that are in my life are not exceptions when it comes to these breed traits.  This is one reason that I ask people to research the breed well before acquiring a Chihuahua.  In Southern California, there are so many Chihuahuas in shelters that they are second in number to only pit bulls as the most surrendered breed of dog. Their inability to get along with kids and the difficulty often experienced with house training are the primary reason (and I have to say that many get dumped if they don't turn out "tiny" enough).

I have to keep a very good eye on two of my Chihuahuas as they tend to growl and bark at other dogs when we're out and about.  They have been socialized and they have been to Chihuahua meetups where they did very well, but they react severely when they see strange dogs.  

First off, how does your son treat the dog?  Are you always there to supervise them? Did you get this dog through a rescue group and did they have any restrictions at all about homes with children?  If you look on Petfinder for my area (Calif.) you'll see LOTS of ads for rescue groups that will not place rescue Chihuahuas to families with children.  The fact that this dog had a bark collar on when you got her is very alarming.  Things like that tend to feed a dog's frustration and create other behavior problems.  I'm glad you threw it out.  Did you get any information on this dog's background at all?  How many homes it had, if there were children in the home, etc.?  The fact that she's a little rescue dog complicates things because I don't know what her prior experiences have been and how deeply ingrained they are.

Get back to me, if you'd like, with answers to the above questions and let's see what we can figure out.  Also, take a look at other similar questions that I've been asked at my All Experts page.

Jo Ann

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Jo Ann
    Thank you for your help. She was rescued from a lady in our neighborhood who was planning on dropping her at a shelter in the middle of the night if someone wouldn't take her and her 8 month old chi/terrier mix puppy. I didn't plan on getting her but I couldn't let THAT happen to her. Other than that I don't know anything about her history except that the dogs spent their whole lives inside and never went for walks and that she just learned how to play with toys 1 month ago. My son is exceptionally grown up for his age. He's very careful with her. He usually just ignores her unless she comes up to him first then he'll pet her.Sometimes you can tell she barks and bite out of fear.(loud truck noises,dropping stuff on the floor ect)Other times she'll freak out if she's sitting in my lap and someone walks close to me or talks to me.She tries to chase them off and I think she's being dominent.I always supervise them of course and luckily she's never broken the skin when she bites its more of a "threat" bite if you know what I mean? And of course I always watch her very carefully when outside and don't let her around other kids. My son swears that he can deal with her and I have made a commitment to her so getting rid of her is out of the question(although some days I get very frustrated). But I really need some advice on a safe effective training method for her because using treats doesn't work for her.She so fussy she barely eats dog food! Any ideas would be great thank you so much.

Answer
Hi Jennifer....

That's a long time for a little dog to be in a home where they haven't been outside or socialized and then forced to wear a "bark collar" on top of everything else. There's little wonder that she is aggressive towards other dogs and shows little tolerance for your son.  She doesn't have a clue that anything she's doing now is wrong because she's been living for three years under different circumstances than what you're offering now.  I actually don't know if she can be re-trained.  Some of what she's doing is common for dogs of this breed and some of it has been instilled due to the circumstances under which she was kept for 3 years.  Training is especially difficult when you mention that she doesn't respond to treats.  When you say that she barely eats dog food, that begs the question of what you're feeding her?  I'd highly recommend that you get her on a premium, high-quality food like Natura's EVO or Innova.  One dog food that fussy dogs really enjoy is Evanger's.  Whole chicken legs, carrots, other vegetables, etc.  It actually will make your stomach growl when you open a can of it.  Cut out the human treats and stuff.  She needs nutrients that she's not getting when offered "people food" like leftovers.  My dogs enjoy baby carrots and cooked green beans as a special treat and I think you can get your girl to a point where she enjoys healthy nutrition.

Does she enjoy going for walks?  Does she get excited when she sees you bring out her leash?  I'd take her for a walk and the first sign of aggression towards another dog would be met with a firm "NO" and then just stand there and don't continue walking for a minute or so.  Be sure to use a harness with her instead of a collar as you don't want to harm her trachea when she pulls at her leash.  Chihuahuas are prone to collapsed tracheas, so you want to make sure she's not wearing collars when walked.  Jennifer, you repeat this process over & over when you're walking her.  She shows aggression, you tell her "NO" firmly and stop walking for a minute or so and don't give her eye contact.  When she stops barking or ceases to bark when she sees a dog approaching, you then PRAISE her to no end - lots of "good girls" and kisses and hugs.  She wants to please you - you just have to show her how it's done, what pleases you.  It takes repetition and lots of it.  She didn't get this way in a day and you shouldn't expect that she'll overcome this problem in a short time either.  I don't think she'll totally overcome her aggression towards other dogs when you go walking due to it being so common with this breed, but I do think that the aggression will lessen the longer you have her and the longer you work with her.

About your son.  It sounds like you're a team when it comes to this little dog, so as a team you must agree to be consistent together in how you respond to this dog by doing the same things the same way.  Your dog sounds like a Chihuahua that I once had that I rescued.  She was extremely devoted to me and didn't want anyone else around me and would strike out at other people that just walked by me while I was holding her.  It took a long while for her to accept my husband, but she did.  He didn't push things and she ended up being quite fond of him.  We just didn't expect it or force it.  Your son must make an absolute commitment to not tease her.  She already doesn't want to share YOU with him (I have a feeling) and he has to show her that he, too, is someone trustworthy to love.  What do you think about having your son feed her?  That is after you find a good premium food that she'll eat?  She should eat twice per day and if your son were to feed her and praise her when he puts the food down, I think she just may start to see him a bit differently.

It's so common for Chihuahuas to choose one person to be "their person" and it sounds like your dog has chosen you as the love of her life and you're right about how she's "threatening" others who even look like they're going to interfere with "her person".  Some of this is common for the breed and some of it is due to her having been abused and not properly socialized in her past home.  Jennifer, you're not going to be able to completely change her, but I think that with time and effort things will get better.  Can you and your son accept the fact that this dog is special due to her abusive past and that she chose you to trust in particular because you rescued her?  I think if you can both accept these facts, it will be less stressful to work with her and you won't set too high of expectation levels.  She is who she is and what she is, but she can probably be a bit better with time, commitment and consistency.

For now, praise and lots of it.  It's a stretch to have you do this, but if she actually bites your son and he didn't provoke it, I want you to tell her "NO" very firmly and then put her in a room or her crate for no more than five minutes where you ignore her.  BUT, only do this if you're willing to also PRAISE her faithfully when she does NOT bite or growl at your son when he walks by or does whatever it is that provoked the biting to begin with.  I stress not to do this unless she really did try to bite with NO provocation (there must be no teasing or screaming at her or anything else that would cause her to react).

I think you're absolutely right that she reacts out of fear and I would like to see you give her lots of positive reinforcement when she gets scared when there has been a loud noise or something drops.  So much at your house is new to her and she needs to know that it's okay.  She's going to depend on you to teach her that it's okay.

Jennifer, I promise you that she will be your best and most loyal friend even if she doesn't come around exactly like you want her to.  Let me know what you think of all of this.  I really would like to see her on a really good food and would like to hear what she's eating and what you might plan to try in an effort to get her to eat better.  Forget supplements and things like that - she needs a good, nutritious diet that will aid her nervous system and make life easier for you when you feed her.

Jo Ann