Hi everyone, my chihuahua is slightly past 1 year old and starts growling at kids and tries to lunge at them when he sees them on the streets. Is there a way to stop this behavior and what causes this behavior?
Thanks for taking time to read this!
Yes, this can be fixed, though it sounds like typical chihuahua!
Chihuahuas know they are small, but they are not wimps. So they make it their policy to intimidate anybody larger. A lot of small dogs do this. It’s pretty effective to keep from being bullied.
First you need the dog to obey you. Your dog should be able to obey "sit," "stay," "heel," and "down." If you can’t teach these behaviors on your own, invest in an obedience class. A lot of chihuahua owners are scared to discipline such a tiny dog, and end up with Dogzilla. Sure they aren’t as dangerous as an aggressive Doberman, but still…..
So when you take the dog for a walk and it starts to threaten children, make it sit. Insist upon this. Your dog may be stubborn, but you have to enforce your will. Tell your dog how good he is for sitting. Whenever he doesn’t threaten children, tell him how great he is! Take him to watch children at the park. Tell him how cute the kids are and how good he is for being a good dog. When he’s being nonaggressive with children, give him treats. If he growls, barks, or lunges, make him sit immediately.
Now if you know any children that could help, that would be good. Take the dog outside and off your property at first, and let him get used to the children. Have them talk to him. When he’s ready, let them give him treats or pet him. When he finds out that children can give him treats, this will help his attitude a lot. Tell him how nice the kids are and how good he is. Also, if he likes toys, let a child play with the toy briefly, and then give it to the dog. You might have a certain toy the dog can have only when a child is around.
Carry some treats with you when you go for a walk. Then if you think the dog is ready, you can let children give him treats or pet him.
Basically this is the idea. Teach him that he loses freedom when he threatens kids, but he wins praise and treats when he doesn’t. In fact, he gets more treats and fun when children are around.
Of course you have to be careful around children. Your dog is right in thinking that a child could hurt him even by accident, being so big; so make sure that doesn’t happen.
In order to get them used to children is to get them around children. Make sure the children completely ignore the dog. And soon the dog gets used to children being around.
References :
I have a chihuahua and it use to do the same thing..
but then small kids use to come to my hosue to play and my dog got more use to them..
maybe your dog isn’t use to seeing small people.
References :
I have no idea about dog training but this is what i did when i had my chihuahua….
i have a lil niece, she’s about to turn 2.
i’d sit with my chi and my niece and have my niece sit and "pet nice" my chi didnt like it much at first, but after a day or two she’d go and sit in my nieces lap. you have to get them used to lil kids.
References :
honestly im a chihuahua breeder and they dont really care much for kids but if you need to get to dog training and they will be able to show you some tricks and help you, they should be socialized with kids from the beginning on its better when theres good kids and they know they wont terrorize them
References :
your chihuaha has anger management issues he needs to deal with, perhaps he hates bratty little children like me, I sure would bite them if i was in his shoes as well, whatever the issue may be you better find out and get his $hit together before he really hurts a child, you can get into serious trouble and im sure you wouldn’t want to have your dog put down over a dumb kid. Hope my answer was of use to you
References :
many small dogs and in my view especially Chi’s are nasty around children..he was more than likely not socialized with kids and most dogs who have not been socialized with kids see them as a threat..You can call in a behavior expert,,you can muzzle the dog and have it near children who pet it gently to help alleviate the dogs fears..and maybe a few treats for good behavior..
References :
haha mines does that too.
its funny!
References :
Three things need to be done:
1) Proper training class.
2) Socialization with children
3) Proper exercise
This is usually fear aggression. Many dogs who are not use to children are confused and fearful of the quick irregular movements they make. The don’t smell like adults, they don’t look like adults and they’re unpredictable.
Kudos to you for taking care of the situation. WAY to many people with small dogs think "she’s small, he can’t do any harm" and end up with wildly out of control dogs. It was put best to me by a rottie owner "If my dog behaved the way half the chihuahuas I see do, someone would be dead". Again, a pat on the back to you for being a good dog owner!
References :
Yes, this can be fixed, though it sounds like typical chihuahua!
Chihuahuas know they are small, but they are not wimps. So they make it their policy to intimidate anybody larger. A lot of small dogs do this. It’s pretty effective to keep from being bullied.
First you need the dog to obey you. Your dog should be able to obey "sit," "stay," "heel," and "down." If you can’t teach these behaviors on your own, invest in an obedience class. A lot of chihuahua owners are scared to discipline such a tiny dog, and end up with Dogzilla. Sure they aren’t as dangerous as an aggressive Doberman, but still…..
So when you take the dog for a walk and it starts to threaten children, make it sit. Insist upon this. Your dog may be stubborn, but you have to enforce your will. Tell your dog how good he is for sitting. Whenever he doesn’t threaten children, tell him how great he is! Take him to watch children at the park. Tell him how cute the kids are and how good he is for being a good dog. When he’s being nonaggressive with children, give him treats. If he growls, barks, or lunges, make him sit immediately.
Now if you know any children that could help, that would be good. Take the dog outside and off your property at first, and let him get used to the children. Have them talk to him. When he’s ready, let them give him treats or pet him. When he finds out that children can give him treats, this will help his attitude a lot. Tell him how nice the kids are and how good he is. Also, if he likes toys, let a child play with the toy briefly, and then give it to the dog. You might have a certain toy the dog can have only when a child is around.
Carry some treats with you when you go for a walk. Then if you think the dog is ready, you can let children give him treats or pet him.
Basically this is the idea. Teach him that he loses freedom when he threatens kids, but he wins praise and treats when he doesn’t. In fact, he gets more treats and fun when children are around.
Of course you have to be careful around children. Your dog is right in thinking that a child could hurt him even by accident, being so big; so make sure that doesn’t happen.
References :
Try to tell your dog no very firmly, and hold him back. My chihuahua has done this too and I very firmly told her no and ignored her completly. She has not tried to do it again since. Sometimes dogs have had a traumatic experience with kids when they were younger, dogs remember very well what happened to them, even if it was almost a year ago. You could also try to get a few well-behaved kids, tell them not to make eye contact with the dog and ignore it completely. Then tell the kid to sit or lie down and be still while you take the dog calmly towards the kid.
Good Luck!!!
References :