Chihuahua aggression.

Question
Please can you help us with my chihuahua (Lily) aggression. She growls at anyone other than our family, which we can do anything to her and she does not get cross at all, but anyone else and any other dog other than our 12 yr old one and my sisters 6yr old dog she goes crazy at them.We have started to take her ourside to settle her down then we bring her in. It takes about 5 times to settle her down. It has gotten quiet embarrasing and she has started to make us nervous to take her anywhere. In our house she rates third best. She has to wait until we have finished tea then our other dog Roxy gets fed first then Lily. She sleeps in our daughters bed and Roxy our other dog sleeps in ours which we have not found a problem at all. Roxy  does not have a mean bone in her body. Lily was born on July 9th 2006 and we brought her home on September 24th. Toilet training her is also a problem. She understands weeze and does a wee but then she will come straight in and do another one on the floor. This is the same with her pooing. She goes outside as well as in. We have caught her and told her naughty...but she goes and does it again. Im at my witts end with her.She attended puppy pre school which she sat in out laps the whole time as the other dos were soo big and she growls at them every time they came near her. She is starting dog obedience in the next few weeks but I can not let this go on any longer as the more we leave it the more out of control she gets. Please Please help. Thaks heaps. The Kahan family  

Answer
Hi Lea;
Usually aggreeeion in very small dogs is because they are spoiled rotten and allowed to rule the house, or and this we see a lot of, she is so small and wants to warn others off so she won't get hurt.
It sounda like that is the case with Lily.
She is sure your other dog and your sister's dog are not going to hurt her, but strange dogs are a risk, also other people.
If she barks and makes them think she is dangerous, they are less likely to try anything with her.
She just needs to learn she is safe.
I use animal massage a lot for fears, and problem behavior.
The obedience training will do her good, but it won't overcome that much of her fears.
If she is just warning, and not trying to attack the other dogs, then it is not a real aggression problem, rather an insecurity problem.
That the massages will help a LOT with.
The massage for calming is to rub your hands over their face and eyes, and carry it out to massaging the ears.
You can go to this site and read about the massages and what you can do with them, and order a video to teach the proper way to give them.
When you take her somewhere, a 5 or 10 minute massage before she meets the other dogs and/or people, and if yiou have to take her out to calm her down, a massage at that time would ease her a lot.
I don't recommend scolding because this sounds to me like she is afraid, and punishment and scolding would just make that worse.
She need calming and reassurance.
The masages are differnt for different animals because they have different muscle structures etc.
They have videos to teach the proper massages for dog, cats, horses, almost every animal you can think of.

Go to   www.lindatellington-jones.com

EAting:
I would not feed the older dog first, but feed them both at the same time.
I have three dogs of my own, and now it looks like I have 2 more.
When I give them treats, they take turns.
If there is more than one treat or bite, they each get one, and then they get the second one in the same order they got the first.
There is no threat to their food supply, so they eat out of the same bowl.
They are all on the senior formula, so they need the same nutrition.
Apparently you need to take her out for longer than 15 minutes.
You should stay out with her until she finishes.
The same with pooing.
She will need too urinate after she drinks, and she will need to have a bowel movement after she eats.
It is usually from 5 minutes to a half hour after they eat that they have to relieve themselves.
Exercise heklps urge the organs to act.
Walking, or running should help her have to go.
Scrub where she has gone inside so that she can't smell it anymore.
When humans cannot detect any lingering odor after scrubbing, the dog can still smell it, and it spells "My place to go".
I use Simple Solution to scrub after an accident.
I foster dogs for a couple of rescues, so I do have accidents in the house, until I get them housebroken.
You have to schedule her potty breaks around when she eats and drinks, rather than at timed intervals.
She may be stubborn at fiirst about finishing outside, but keep her out there until she is finished, and praise her like she did the greatest thing in the world by going outside.
When you find a place she has gone indoors, take her to it, point at it and really chew her out royally and tell her what a bad dog she is.
If you see her sqwat to go, grab her up, saying "NO!" take her outside and when she goes out there, pet and praise.
I just read back in your letter.
She is still very young, and at 4 months she won;t have complete control over ber organs, so you will need to be more vigilant about seeing that she goes out after she eats and drinks.
I would encourage you to get the videos and learn the massage for calming before obedience class starts.
That will help her maximize the training.
She is so little and the world around her is so big.
Look at the difference in her size and everyone around her.
She must feel like a guppy in a bowl of larger fish.
Be patient ,MOm, and teach her gently, but when she has to be scolded, do it right, not just a NO'NO.
She can't be allowed to feel she can dominate either.
All my children are grown up, and have families of their own, but our dogs are equals.
My children had different needs than the animals in the family, so I had to see that everyong had their needs met.
The children were responsible for seeing their animals needs were met.
Actually, I raise my animals just like I raise my children.
Some just had 2 feet and the others had 4 feet.
Our children always had a pet of their own, and they were to train them, etc, but MOM, is the alpha( dad is everybody's buddy.LOL)
Mom and dad make the rules and the kids follow them.
As new dogs join the family, they take an equal status with the other dogs. Nobody is the favorite.
Mine are so used to sharing they actually help me train the rescues we take in.
Charlotte