Spring has arrived in New England. Awesome, right? The sun is out, stuff is turning green, and it means I can open my window and get some fresh air, right?
…Not exactly. Down my block, about 150 feet away, is a house with two chihuahuas. These dogs are the most annoying, god-forsaken creatures ever invented. Our street is pedestrian friendly, so every single time someone is walking within 20 feet of the house they go apeshit.
I was under the impression that those dogs are indoor dogs mostly. But these freaks are outside all day. Aside from the fact that they’re really small and don’t shed, can someone explain to me the appeal of the chihuahua? I think it would be a good dog if you were an older person and you wanted a dog to alert you to people coming to your door, but why would you get such a dog to put in a yard all day to pollute the noise in the neighborhood?
I think I’m going to have to close the window in a few minutes…
It’s not just Chihuahuas, the neighbor across the street from me had a mutt in his front yard that barked 24/7. I don’t know when it slept, because it barked all day and all night. I finally had to resort to sleeping with earplugs, but come to find out I now LIKE sleeping with earplugs. I was never as happy as when the GF that owned the dog moved out. Well maybe when the gang-banger wannabe grandson moved out, at least the dog didn’t steal stuff.
It’s not just chihuahuas, but yeh, they do tend to be a bit annoying. Any dog breed when badly bred has the potential to be dangerous/stupid/ugly/etc. Just as any dog breed when well-bred has the potential to be awesome.
In particular, chis are bred to be tiny, so they tend to have a Napoleon complex – they have to put on a huge act to try to keep themselves safe. Sounds like your neighbor just has badly bred or badly socialised animals.
My chihuahua (obligatory picture) only barks at strangers, which is useful, since we live about 30 miles west of nowhere. He is a super-smart, non-yappy, well-bred version. His list of tricks include (but are not limited to):
[ul]
[li]Konichiwa – when you say this, he bows[/li][li]the standards – sit/stay/come/down/lay down[/li][li]dance – he stands on hind legs and twirls around[/li][li]put 'em up – he stands on hind legs and puts his paws up like a prize fighter[/li][li]high five – either sitting or standing, puts one paw up against your hand as a high five[/li][li]snoochee boochees – he gives kisses[/li][li]go to bed – goes to his crate and pulls the door shut[/li][/ul]
Seriously, the list is much, much longer – he is always eager to learn new tricks and loves showing them off.
I’ve known a few Chiuahuas, but I never had one. The only one I ever met that wasn’t well-trained and eager to please belonged to a hapless guy who had no talent for dog training.
Chiuahuas are allegedly hypo-allergenic. There are plenty of strong opinions on both sides of that issue. My wife’s aunt, rest her soul, was severely asthmatic, and she never had any other kind of dog. They are also said to be unaware that they are very small dogs.
You don’t want the windows open today in New England, Hippy Hollow. From at least Boston to Portland Maine the pollen count is 11 point something. On a 12 point scale. Those dogs are just trying to look out for you.
It’s funny, I’ve got a very big dog that is unaware that he is a very big dog. He never barks (except at the vacuum cleaner) and he’s always trying to climb onto your lap, and he’s totally submissive to every dog we meet. (The chihuahuas and little terriers always try to claim alpha and they always, always win.)
Of course, if a chihuahua had his personality he’d get smushed by his peers, and if my dog had that chihuahua’s personality he’d be impossible to live with. So even tho they clearly haven’t read the manual I guess it works out alright.
It’s just a sign of poor training, more a reflection on the owner than the dogs. I’m not a fan of small dogs myself; as in, I’d always pick a larger dog for my own pet but just about all of the small dogs I’ve met have been very lovely.
I was regretting opening mine last night when apparently someone got a delivery, or the winds changed or something, but the house filled with the smell of manure. It was there all night and into the morning.
But I’m glad for this thread because I hate to risk starting my own. What is it with dogs and barking at every movement outside? I can completely understand barking at someone coming in the driveway or yard, and certainly someone approaching the house. The dog would be warning the intruder, notifying its owner, prtecting its territory.
But does the darn dog next door have to bark at cars going by all the way down the block? At another dog minding its own business down the street? At the train going by? What are they proving when they do this? If I could understand better maybe it wouldn’t make me so pissed off.
Heh…well, ya know…I wanted it to be lifesized…Actually, I think the picture was originally taken with a cell-phone and so was just a tiny file.
Freudian Push Up Bra, I always have had big dogs, too. Big as in Arctic Timberwolf (whose was able to look me in the eyes while standing on all 4), German Shepherds, St. Bernards, etc. I hate to admit it, but Chili was an impulse buy – we stopped to look at the puppies and he was so cute and so eager to please that I just couldn’t resist. He has not disappointed me.
As for chihuahuas being hypo-allergenic, I donno – Chili is long-haired, he sheds. I would imagine that he might cause issues with someone with dog-hair allergies, but the short-coats don’t shed so much, so maybe?
Different barks for different reasons, but mostly it’s because their people aren’t taking care of their needs.
Our dogs bark when they see the neighbor on his deck–one bark to say “someone’s outside, mom.” One of our dogs, Pi, barks at our other neighbor’s dogs–play barks as they run along the fence with each other between times of laying on their respective sides of the fence, apparently doggy communing.
IME, incessant barking is usually a territorial issue–the dog saying “This is my yard, stay out.” It’s because they are doing their “jobs.”
I think this happens more with dogs who are not secure in their territory. For instance, one neighbor’s dog would stand on their second story deck and bark at everyone she could see–letting them know she was on guard. I told them to block off the deck stairs so she couldn’t see everybody and now she barks much less; usually when the weiner dog behind them starts his obnoxious fence running.
The other neighbor has a 4-foot high fence that his Lab rests her front feet on and talks to people walking by–inviting them to play. If you acknowledge her, she stops barking. She only does this when her owners are not home. If they had a 6-foot fence all around the yard, she would only bark when playing with Pi as mentioned above.
We specifically fenced our yard with 6-foot wooden fence all around back yard so our dogs would know their territory–this is where we play, and they get to hang out sometimes by themselves when we are home. Our “dog yard” is a 20 x 20 foot fenced area not bordered by areas accessible to neighbor dogs so they don’t spend all day fence running and barking. This is were the dogs stay when we are both gone and it has shade, fresh water, grass, shelter, etc. The gates are locked so no one can accidently let them out. This helps keep our dogs feeling secure and happy, so they don’t bark much and are not a nuisance to the neighborhood.
IME, most people are unwilling to take the small steps necessary to make their dogs a non-intrusive part of the neighborhood. When we walk our dogs, neighborhood dogs bark from behind their chain link fences; dogs bark at animals they see outside their yards; they fence run and are generally irritating. I love dogs, but the people they live with sometimes suck.
Small dogs seem to bark alot because their people let them. People let small dogs get away with far too much and they are far more dangerous than people think.
We had a chihuahua when I was growing up. We also had a toy Manchester terrier (same size).
I can see how people outside my family and regular visiting friends would think these dogs were horrible. They barked a lot and they were never friendly to new visitors. However to the family and close friends, they were sweet as can be. They were incredibly loving little dogs when you got to know them. They loved attention and would follow you like your shadow. They were great cuddlers and could really warm up the blankets on cold nights. They just were never good with strangers.
It was all in the training. My parents never bothered to teach the dogs to trust strangers. They didn’t consider it neccessary for small dogs (under the mistaken impression that “they can’t do much damage at that size”).
My former neighbors had chihuahuas. Two chis and a mastiff. The chis weren’t yappy and weren’t kept outside unless they were with someone. One of them hated me. When she was a pup they had her spayed and the vet missed two stitches when he took out the spay stitches. Since I’ve removed stitches from my dogs they asked me to come over and remove hers. They were tiny and sort of imbedded, and although I didn’t hurt her, she never forgave me for the tugging. After years, she still hated me.
