Baby chi w/o mother

Question
I have a six week old chihuahua, her name is Saliena. Her mother died when she was four days old and a guy came into the pet store in panic. I got to talking to him and found out he had 4 baby chis that were 4 days old and no mother. My husband and I went and looked and at them and we came back with the cutest little chihuahua that day. I have been giving her kisses on her cheek and forhead since we got her. Now she is growling and snipping at just me when I do it and sometimes the guys but always to me. Kids like to get in dogs faces so I want to know how to get her out of this habit. Right now it's cute and funny but I know it wont be for long. I need help. Also I think some of her problem is not having socialization with other dogs a puppies, I try to treat her like her mother wold but she does not respond to it. What should I do before this goes to far?

Answer
Hi Amanda...

You're very smart and intuitive!  I think you hit the proverbial "nail on the head" when you said that you think that some of her problem is not having socialization.  Exactly!  I always recommend that pups stay with their mother and siblings until they're 10 weeks old minimum and 12 weeks old preferably because those extra weeks of socialization are SO important for a pup.  They learn from the mom and the siblings when biting is too rough and when to stop other rough behavior.  What happens when you take a pup this young and put it in with a family and human mom?  Well, it adapts to what's around it and bonds with you like you're the mom.  She most probably doesn't even "see" herself as a dog. She's growling and biting at you just like she would with her doggie mom.  AND she's just six weeks old.  I don't see this as a behavior issue at all unless it's never addressed and you're addressing it now.  You know, in zoos and the such when they have a baby animal and don't want it to bond with people, they feed it with a puppet that looks like the mom or siblings.  Well, we're not going to have you do that and I really don't want you taking a six week old pup out to parks to socialize or have it around other dogs where it could pick up a disease.  

When you say that you try to treat her like her mother, what do you mean?  I'd like to see you ignore her and put her in her play pen or dog crate for a time out when she growls or bites at you AFTER you try to direct her attention to something else that's okay to play with (play including the growling and biting).  For instance, you go to give her a kiss and she growls and starts to bite...  You pick up a soft toy like a stuffed bear (her toy, not the boy's stuff) and engage her in playing.  If she refuses to play with it and continues to want to growl and bite, then firmly tell her "NO", pick her up and put her in her play pen or a gated area where she can't be with you for about five minutes or so. And ignore her. You must be absolutely consistent about this and do it each and every time the problem occurs.  Every member of the family must be on board with this, too.  Having said that, I also want you to praise her to NO END when she does play with the toy that you used to divert her from growling/biting and even give her a little treat (like a large piece of carrot to much on which will help her with teething also).  Always keep her teething issues in mind and give her lots of SAFE things to chew.

About the boys and how they put their faces in her face.  Talk to the boys about this and let them know that she sees this now as fun, but in the future they may not want to be putting their faces in any dog's face as dogs often take this gesture as a threat or as being intimidating.  It also stimulates the pup right now to want to play more and the kids could get nipped in the process.  I just think that all three of them need to learn a new way to interact.  Chihuahuas are notorious for being very devoted to one person and not real tolerant of kids.  Because this pup has been away from it's mom since she was four days old, I highly anticipate that she's going to greatly bond with you and I don't want any problems with the boys to come up later when she's older.

Let me know what you think and answer that one question about how you treat her like her mother would.

Jo Ann