A few weeks ago my youngest daughter talked me into getting her a new dog. He’s a pug and chihuahua mix. We got him from the local shelter. According to them, he was born in another shelter in a more rural part of the state and has bounced around from shelter to shelter and has never had a real home.
The dog is just adorable…very cute. He’s maybe a year or two old and has been fixed and has his shots up to date. He’s VERY small (though according to the shelter folks he’s fully grown)…his little head can fit in the palm of my hand with lots of room to spare, and I doubt he weighs 5 lbs. Everything is great with the dog, but he’s definitely got some issues. For one thing, he’s kind of gun shy (not of real guns, just the expression). If you call him over, he sort of puts his head down and tucks his tail…it’s seriously pathetic looking, enough to bring tears to my own eyes when I see it. The other thing, though, is he can be a bit aggressive and at weird times. At night we often let him sleep with my youngest daughter early in the evening and my wife goes in to get him to put him in his little kennel thing (he’s ‘crate trained’ and according to the shelter people that’s where he wants to sleep). Sometimes he will growl at my wife though when she goes to get him, however. And he will often grown or even snap at someone who he doesn’t know or even if he does know them.
However, the biggest issue is he seems to hate my oldest son and his partner. No idea why, but neither of them can get close to him without him going wild. Even if they bring him food, he’ll take the food and then snap at them. All of this culminated in the dog actually biting my eldest son on his nose earlier today when him and his partner came over. The dog seemed to be getting along with both of them, but when my eldest son picked him up and gave him some food he took the food then all of a sudden growled and then bit him on the nose. It was definitely not a laughing matter and makes me concerned for having other people over, especially kids over to see my younger kids.
I’ve never had small dogs like this before. I know how to train and interact with larger dogs, but you almost hate to raise your voice to this little guy, especially since he goes into the absolutely heart breaking stance when you discipline him. He seems really intelligent, and for most of the time he’s a great dog…friendly, alert, loves snacks and scratches and just a wonder to have. He’s changed my entire family just by getting him. But…how do I stop him from throwing whatever switch is in him and going from being a great dog to snapping and snarling? Any advice from folks who have had little dogs?
Hmmm I don’t think there is a difference in training a big dog and a little dog. My medium-sized 50 lb dog is in an obedience class right now with a Newfoundland, a cane corso and a yorkie. No joke. Dogs is dogs. Rescue dogs come with all sorts of strange hang ups and it doesn’t necessarily relate to size.
You definitely need to get the biting and growling under control though. I don’t have any specific advice to that issue but a reminder to you and your family - it will take time, patience and most of all CONSISTENCY to get the dog to behave properly. The quickest way to derail dog training is when everyone in the house is not on the same page. Including the kids.
Former chi foster mom of at least 40 or so shelter chis (not all at once!), 2 adoptions, and 1 purebred who started it all…
What you’ve described is very common in the breed. The cowering we refer to as “the beaten dog look”. My purebred does it worse than any of my rescues did, and we raised him from 8 wks old. He’s never been hit, but to others I’m sure he looks like an abused animal. It’s embarassing. The aggressiveness is also common, although they each have individual personalities, and family and other pets can impact how they behave (yours and their former homes), chis tend to attach themselves to one person and be possessive and protective of that person, area of the house, food bowl, etc. “this is mine!”. So early socialization will help prevent this. Also happens when someone picks them up all the time or carries them around. My theory is that they overcompensate in big behavior for their lack of size. They must feel physically vulnerable so they put on a big show as if they’re a big bad dog. The damage has already been done. He may improve over time but you’ll have to work at it. Read up on the way to use positive reinforcement and ignore as punishment. Unfortunately with this breed, negative attention rarely works when they’re misbehaving. They think its fun, dance around and do it again. Turn your back to him and now he’s learning that behavior makes him unhappy. Chis don’t do well with small children. Trip and fall, drops, pulling tails, patting heads can be too rough. As can the defensive reaction from the dog. Supervise closely, shuffle feet when walking, pet him while kids are seated on the floor only (shorter distance of drop). Their little legs are like skinny chicken bones and can break easily. Make sure the kids know he’s fragile. If biting is a problem, push your hand towards his face instead of jerking away. He won’t like that and it can train him to try something else instead, like run away, or bark. Have the people who intimidate him feed him his meals and snack for a solid week, none from anyone else. They’ll end up bff’s.
Huge kudos to you for adopting! Brings back tons of wonderful memories!
I am not an animal psychologist. But my understanding is the presence of food can trigger aggression in dogs. So if you have a dog that’s kind of nervous around a particular person, the worse thing they can do is try to feed him. Being around the person and the food at the same time doubles the fear the dog is feeling and his response will ramp up - as you saw, a dog that normally growls will unexpectedly bite.
If your son cares enough to make the effort, I’d suggest he plays with the dog when there’s no food around and the dog will be more relaxed. Hopefully, he will become used to your son’s presence and not get wired up when food is around.
Chihuahua mixes, in my personal opinion and experience, are exactly like PurpleClogs describes, and unfortunately it is up to the individual owners tolerance of said behaviors as to their success in your home.
My parents have a Chihuahua/Chow mix (crazy breeding incident, father was the Chihuahua-mom the Chow!) and it was our family’s first experience with a Chihuahua. Same behavior you described, sad, beaten down approach but snappy and territorial with my Dad as his favorite. My poor Mom has been snapped at and bitten many times, with Pepe the Chihuahua at times challenging her to defy him by placing his toys near her to snap at her if she passes them in the hall. His behavior is so bad, and I feel so guilty because we got the rescue for my parents, that there were times that I was ready to kidnap him and rehome him to rescue MY PARENTS.
But worse than that, again from our own experience as well as anecdotal evidence from other pet parents, is a Chihuahua/Dachsund mix-yes, the dreaded Chiweenie! Temperamental, needy and neurotic. We were in constant confusion with him, we would show him tons of affection and all the while we were petting him, he would love it and then turn around and snap and snarl at us.
Even if he is a small pet, you should display the same pack leader behavior and expectations. I know that my parents dog Pepe’s behavior improved with age and continued pet expectation behaviors enforced by my parents.
Thanks for the responses everyone! Really appreciate it. I’ll try out some of the suggestions here and see how they work. I’m also looking into some obedience training…they do that at the local kennel we use when we are out of town.
You have to work with the dog’s pack instincts. To a dog, the people he’s living with are his pack and he’s the smallest dog in the pack. Some dogs will accept their place at the bottom of the pack order but other dogs will test people to see if they can bluff them into accepting the low spot.
This is the reason food can be a trigger for dogs. In his mind, food is limited and if he doesn’t assert himself all the other bigger dogs will eat everything and he’ll go hungry. So dogs can act aggressive around food because they feel they need to defend it.
Jeez, what a drag. I have had nothing but total love-ins with chi-mixes, but dude is acting way more like a purebred Chihuahua. They are pretty much assholes, with the occasional exception that proves the rule. If that is the case, then there is nothing you can do about little guy hating certain people. They will have to train themselves to stay away from the cuteness. You are lucky he likes as many people as he does. I’ve known purebreds that could only tolerate one person, snarled like tiny Satan at the rest of the populace.
My girls are 5 and 7 pounds, and act nothing like Chihuahuas, fortunately. Love everyone, like getting picked up and canoodled, throw themselves at children, and so on. They are also way sturdier than a purebred, despite their size. I wouldn’t worry too much about hurting your guy. I step on mine every once in a while. They know to get out of the way most of the time now.
I don’t know how to post a picture, and I would love to, cuz they are just about the cutest little doggies you will ever see. Looking forward to seeing yours!
P.S. Octarine, my cat weighs more than both my girlies put together.
Ah chihuahuas! More personality than can fit in a five pound body! I’ve had my share of my small dogs and have had similar experiences. Time, obedience training and a firm attitude are necessary. I would also suggest having the son and partner donate an old shirt or article of clothing impregnated with their scents and place it in the crate with the dog. The scent becomes familiar and they associate it with a known person. It works, believe it or not. I’ve done the same thing with a new cat with great result.
Ugh, I have a pure bred 6 lb. Yorkie that acts the same. I don’t know how his peanut-size brain can conclude that biting is the right thing to do because to my human brain, his actions are fairly random. We have another Yorkie, same age, not a litter mate, and raised in the same house who is the most loving dog ever. Nature 1, Nurture 0
I have a Terri-poo that you would SWEAR has been beaten, but he is just anxious. Anxious about remotes, phones, water bottles, pens, paper if it lands near/on him. He is also anxious when in the car (to the point of vomiting), when out somewhere not familiar or generally anywhere that isn’t right. Up. Against. Me.
It’s a little frustrating. I like DOGS. Big dogs especially. We have a flat-coated retriever cross that IS actually a rescue and an orphan and may have been abused and he is more mellow than this pampered glorified hamster. At least he doesn’t bite or snap. He prefers the ‘passive resistance’ form of protest. Putting his booties on in the winter (shut up, he needs them or he refuses to go on a walk longer than the end of the yard) is an experience. He just lays like a wet washcloth.
But, dogs are dogs and your dog has some aggression issues. Chihuahua’s are known as a nippy breed, and although not likely to tear anyone’s throat out, it’s not pleasant.
Yes, I strongly encourage you to follow this advice. Teach everyone in the family to immediately ignore the dog when he’s misbehaving. Say No! (say, don’t yell) then set him down on the floor and pretend he doesn’t exist for a couple of minutes. If he figures out that he will lose his playmate when he growls or bites, he’ll stop doing it.
Everyone needs to do this, but most especially your daughter, as she seems to be his primary attachment.
It sounds to me like your new dog is trying to be protective with his new family and the family food. The thing I would recommend is that the dog is probably still working out his relationship to all the family members. He may not understand yet that your son and his partner are ‘family’. He may see them as interlopers who are going to compete with them for a place in his new home. I would advise your son and his partner to just ignore him for now. Be calm, and certainly don’t put up with any snapping, but don’t try to push a relationship on the dog.
Also, I would recommend letting him sleep with your daughter, if that’s what he wants (and she, too, of course.) If he wanted to go in his carrier, he’d get down and go himself. If he feels safe in bed, with his person, then that’s something to encourage.
Well, some dogs do like their kennels and choose to go there and hang out. And there are practical reasons why using a kennel at bed time might be a good idea. But from a dog’s perspective, he might prefer to stay with the person who makes him feel safe. Dog families sleep together. It’s a pack thing.
