nervous chi

Question
My older male chihuahua is one and a half years old. He went everywhere with me the first year of his life so he would be socialized until I got another chi puppy a few months ago. He is still insecure a nervous around strangers and will only blet me hold him. I know i created his fears. As my first chi, i was very protective and scared for his safety. I think i have past my fears onto him, now he is worried about his safety. The last thing i want is his insecurities to turn to aggression as he ages. How can i change my mistakes from when he was young.

Answer
Hi Maggie!

I actually don't think that you created the "fears" that your older Chi has as I find this behavior to be very common with the breed.  As a Chi owner, you're wise to be protective and fear for his safety.  Where I live, almost every dog park has had a Chi killed by a larger dog. Chis can and do break their legs and they can be harmed when handled by children or others who are not use to being careful with a small breed dog.

My oldest Chihuahua also went everywhere with me and was well socialized and he's very distant with other people until he gets to know them.  Additionally, he doesn't tolerate children well. He's who he is and when people ask to pet him I have to say "thanks for asking, but we don't quite trust that he won't bite".  That ends the discussion and my dog doesn't need to worry about a bunch of hands coming at him which obviously makes him feel fearful.  Would he bite someone?  Probably not, but why make him put up with a situation that obviously makes him fearful and/or face potential liability should he bite?  I have a Chihuahua that is a rescue and he's the same as my well socialized and spoiled older Chi.  My youngest Chi (a female) was much more tolerant of social situations as a puppy, but as she's gotten older, I notice that she's much more hesitant with other people.

Chihuahuas are well known for their extreme devotion to their people and I think that sometimes people misunderstand their unconditional trust towards their people and their hesitancy around other people and think that it's a behavior problem more than an often seen trait with the breed.  I run a Yahoo list for Chihuahua owners and I can assure you that this topic comes up over and over.

You could always try having visitors give your little guy a treat when they come over so that your little boy warms up to them.  If the little guy growls at strangers or friends, you can give him a stern "no" and put him in another room.  But, Maggie, I really don't think that you're responsible for this behavior trait and that you can learn to manage the situation.  You can well establish with him that you won't tolerate aggression as you also grow to understand his behavior as what it is - a breed trait rather than something that you caused.

Let me know if I can be of further help.

Jo Ann