Chihuahua Problems

Question
I recently rescued a female Chihuahua, she shows many signs of abuse. They range from tinkling on herself when you go to pick her up to running and yelping as you walk toward her. She does not like my husband nor my son, and has tried to bite them on many occasions. I am the only one that she will let come near her or pick her up, and I would really like for her to be a family pet. She did great about going outside to do her business for the first week, then she got to where she will go into my sons room and poop under his bed, and pee in front of my bedroom door. What do I do with her? I don't want to get rid of her but my husband says that we need to get her to where we can all touch her, without her trying to bite, or she has to go. Please help me. Thank you so much for your help.

Answer
Dogs often end up in rescue because of particular problems they have due to the fact that their previous owners did not bother to train/work with them as they should have. Most likely your dog was NOT abused, but is just reacting to the extreme stress she is under due to being rehomed. You need to have a lot of patience with her. http://britmorschnauzers.com/rehoming.html

You need to get a crate for her and begin housebreaking again to remind her where she is supposed to potty. http://www.inch.com/~dogs/housebreaking.html Block her so that she cannot return to those areas where she prefers eliminating, and make sure to clean those spots so that no odor remains.

As to the biting and handling situation, you really need an animal behaviorist to come in and properly evaluate the dog and show you how to modify her behavior. Your veterinarian should be able to supply you with the name of a good behaviorist.

If the dog is truly biting and not just snapping to warn people away, she probably should be returned to the rescue agency as they should NOT have placed a dog with a history of biting.