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Dog Behavior
- Question and Answer Period
Training Toy Dogs
© Darlene
Arden
Question:I am looking to find effective training classes for my two chihuahuas. I love my dogs dearly, and fortunately they have warmed up to my three roomates. The unfortunate thing is that they bark at anyone who is within sight of our house, car, etc. When people who they do not know walk in the door, my dogs have been known to jump and bite. When walking them, they will bite if someone unexpectedly reaches out to pet them and I don't have the chance to warn the person. I can't bear the thought of giving my dogs to someone else, and I have worked very hard with training and disciplining my dogs, yet I am feeling helpless with the barking and biting! I have purchased humane devices that do not work. I am hoping that you will be able to help. I am wondering the prices of your classes, as well as if there are services available in my area (Thunder
Bay, Ontario)
Thank You, and I await your response.
Sincerely, Tara
Answer:
Hi Tara,
I can feel your frustration right through the internet! It's obvious that you love your little dogs but I think, from what you've said, that in some ways you've
inadvertently gotten off on the wrong foot, or paw. Let's see if we can help you turn that around....
First, there are two things that you have to understand.. One is that Chihuahuas are Terrier-like. That's part of their breed description, so they'll be a little feisty. But even if they weren't, someone reaching out to pet a tiny dog is very frightening to the dog. A hand that's bigger than the dog's head must look like the sky is falling on them! The whole world is gigantic to a little dog. And that can be pretty scary. Also, if someone leans over the dogs, that's considered, by the dogs, to be a dominant act. Never pat a Toy dog on the head. Let him sniff the knuckles on a closed fist and then just gently begin to scratch under the chin and work your way slowly around behind the ears.
I'm concerned about two things you said: you used the expression "training and disciplining" and you mentioned training devices. First, let's be perfectly clear on one thing that is accepted by behaviorists: aggression begets aggression. And it sounds as if that might have happened here although I can't be sure since I am not able to see you interacting with the dogs. It would be unethical for me to make a blanket statement or give that kind of specific advice without seeing what is happening.
All dogs, but especially Toys, should be trained with positive methods only. It works best and fast. It's the difference between working for someone who tells you you're an idiot and someone who praises the work you do. Which person is the one you want to employ you? :-)
To find in person help in your area, I have three suggestions from which you can choose. You can look at the website for the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants ( www.iaabc.org
), and look for people in your area; you can look to your Association of Pet Dog Trainers and search for someone doing positive training, preferably clicker training (operant conditioning), or you can go to clickertraining.com and click on the link for clicker trainers. Then click International and search the list of the trainers in Canada.
In Canada, there's The Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers (or CAPPDT or www.cappdt.ca ).
One more bit of advice: do not put a choke or prong collar on a Toy dog. All Toys are subject to collapsing trachea if they don't already have one and you could end up with a health problem. A harness is a good idea for small dogs.
Good luck! And I hope you'll let us know how things are progressing.
Warmly,
Darlene
If you have any dog behavior questions to ask Darlene Arden, please
submit them here.
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