Got a Small Dog With a Big Attitude? Learn How to Train Your Chihuahua

The Chihuahua is one of the most common breed of dogs in the USA. The problem is many owners don't really take in account of training there small pet because of it's size, how much trouble could it get into? Chihuahuas may be cute dogs, but it is also one of the most aggressive and stubborn breed of dog, especially when it comes to obedient training. When you want to properly train your Chihuahua, you need to start them young and start the training immediately.

Why You Should Know How to Properly Train a Chihuahua?
Chihuahuas have many different kinds of temperaments. First, your Chihuahua will be happy just spending time with you but if you choose a Chihuahua as a companion dog, they are going to follow you around no matter what and wherever you will go. The problem with that is that behavior can lead into a dominant behavior and if your pet Chihuahua is not socialized with other dogs, there are a lot of aggression issues that can come up if you don’t.

A Chihuahua is a breed that acts like they are larger than what they look like and if they can’t be trained properly they can be very dangerous. And add to that, Chihuahuas are really standoffish with people they don’t know, can get aggressive when they are with other dogs, can be snappy with kids and are jumpy when they would hear noises outside your home. The good news regarding about this is that all of these behaviors can be controlled when you trained your Chihuahua properly.

Training Your Chihuahua
The first thing you can do when you are training your Chihuahua is that you can take control of your household. No matter how cute or small your Chihuahua is, when your Chihuahua thinks it is in charge of the house, it will do whatever it wants especially if you let him.

What you need to do is that you have to establish the boundaries and let them show that you are the alpha dog. Here are some tips to help maintain alpha dog status.

Jumping and Furniture – Having a small pet like a Chihuahua, you can just easily get it up and let it do whatever it wants. It is important though that set boundaries. Limit when they can sit on the furniture, I know they are small dogs and there is plenty of room, but control when your dog sits on the couch or your bed.

Walking – When you are walking your Chihuahua, it is important that you take control of the walk and you do it at least 2 times a day or more. Never let your dog pull the leash or choose which direction to walk. Controlling the leash is important when you are training your pet.

Feeding times – Feed your dog on a set schedule. Never let your Chihuahua be the boss when it is time to eat.

Coming and Going – when you are coming and going from the house, you need to ignore you dog. Give attention to your pet when it is calm and not demanding for attention.

How to Optimize the Mental Stimulation
When your Chihuahua don’t get enough exercise and mental stimulation it needs, it can be easily worn out quickly. Have you ever seen people that play fetch or walk their dogs in the park with a small dog like that? What you can do is that you can train your Chihuahua with basic commands like sit, stay, speak, quiet and fetch. They would really benefit from this. It is important that your Chihuahua have enough mental and physical exercise so you can lessen the bad temperament issues your pet can have.