Chihuahua is a popular breed of dog which is known for their cute eyes and adorable smile. Hiring a professional trainer to train your pet could be very expensive while the results are not granted.
So, it is better to learn that how to train a Chihuahua by your own simply with the help of latest technology like the internet. This will not save your money and time but also give you better information related to Chihuahua training.
If you want to learn how to train a Chihuahua then you should read this article till the end because in this article I am covering all related information which will help you to train your Chihuahua properly without hurting him or yourself.
Chihuahua has an aggression in nature, that’s why they required extra care and love during the training process. This article “how to train a Chihuahua” is also good for those who want to train Chihuahua puppies. The following article will also give an overview related to Chihuahua potty training.
1. Fitting a Chihuahua Into Your Life
2. The Chihuahua Temperament
3. Chihuahua Health Problems
4. Chihuahua Obedience Training
5. Chihuahua Housebreaking
6. How to Handle Your Chihuahua
7. What to Teach Your Chihuahua
8. Improving Mental Stimulation
9. Final Verdict – The Best Way to Train a Chihuahua
Fitting a Chihuahua Into Your Life
It is easy to reading guide “how to train a Chihuahua “but could be difficult to follow the whole instruction because we all have a busy life. That’s why we are always in search of short cut to save time and use alternatives. I know some of my friends who adopted different pets and send them back to the pet shop or training center for the training.
Sending your pet to training center is not a bad idea but this takes your pet time to get attractive with you because your pet does not spend much time with you. Even I was guilty once when my first Chihuahua was well trained by my big brother but he hardly knows me or plays with me in my spare time.
So, if you have decided to have Chihuahua in your life then you must done Chihuahua training by your own. This will keep him attach with you and he will be following your commands easily.
You can fit a Chihuahua in your life easier by making some rules, scheduling and spending time with it. I know, its required time but not much as you are expecting as you are not going to train your Chihuahua 24 hours a day but few minutes to maximum one hours a day. Yes, it is possible by following steps:
Understand life of Chihuahua
Before you bring Chihuahua in your file, you must know about the lifestyle of this adorable breed of dog. You must know about their food, how much time they expect from their owners, what are the health problems, how to train them and what type of grooming equipment you must have at for your Chihuahua.
Have Short Training Session
Instead of spending hours in Chihuahua training, it is a good idea to set short training session. This can help you and your dog to spend more time in a day. For example, you can spend 15 minutes in the morning, evening and then after dinner instead of spending one hour in morning and disappear from the vision of your dog.
Make a Schedule for Training
Scheduling training session will make you and your dog life easy. Scheduling is also the key to a success Chihuahua training because it will make your dog to know that what time is your time and schedule about different things like potty, lunch, dinner and walk etc.
Take Your Dog Along with You
If you don’t have time for an outing with your dog, then you can take it along with you whenever you go to public places like workout walk, shopping mall and picking your kids from school etc. You can also be creative in this by keeping your Chihuahua at your side when you are watching TV, cooking food in the kitchen or working out in the gym etc.
The Chihuahua Temperament
Know about the Chihuahua temperament is necessary for both; new dog parents and one who already have Chihuahua in their life. This will help you to decide whether you should keep Chihuahua in your life and how temperament of Chihuahua will help you in a successful training.
So, before you start learning how to train a Chihuahua, you must know about the temperament of your dog. It will solve many problems including how to fit Chihuahua in your life, how to deal with it in a different situation and what not to do and what to do during training etc.
Good Temperament
Just look at Chihuahua, they are small in size, cute, loving nature, adorable and fit almost anywhere in the house. As compare to petting other dogs, it is very economical to have Chihuahua because they do not require much space in your house while training them is not as difficult as training a big dog.
You can carry them in your car, take them to walk and also have it in your arms without getting your clothes messy. Other than these, the good temperament of Chihuahua includes their powerful listening and watching ability.
They can recognize your voice easily and can differentiate between strangers and owners more quickly as compared to other breeds of the dog. Another fact which makes temperament of Chihuahua good is health problems. Yes, they have relatively low health problems and live on average more than 10 years without having any serious health issues.
Bad Temperament
To understand the bad side of Chihuahua is very important before starting the training of the dog. Negligence will lead to a lot of problems including serious injuries. Chihuahua required extra care. Especially if you are training Chihuahua puppies, you need to spend a lot of time in the first week of training. They could hurt you if you do not spend enough time with them or prefer other pet in front of them.
Chihuahua is not really a breed of dog to have with small kids. They do not tolerate the carefree kids at all until properly trained for weeks. Regarding the emotion, Chihuahua gets aggressive very quickly if you do not spend proper time with them, that’s why they depend on the owner most and want them around all the time.
So make sure that you know about your dog temperament before you following our how to train a Chihuahua guide as following the wrong guide can make your dog aggressive which could lead to something wrong.
Chihuahua Health Problems
Our guide “how to train a Chihuahua” is incomplete without discussing common Chihuahua health problems. Chihuahua is known as one of the healthiest breeds of dog but still having information about their health related problem is one of the most important parts of Chihuahua training.
They have very few genetic defects. But it does not mean that you totally ignore them in term of their health concern. There are a number of health problems Chihuahua can be faced during their life. So, being an owner of this breed of dog, you must know about some of the common health issues which you can face:
Patellar Luxation
Usually, small size dog gets affected by Patellar Luxation including Chihuahua but the rate of getting knees problem among this dog breed is quite low. The symptoms of Patellar Luxation include difficulty in walking, sitting down, running and standing up etc. A surgical treatment may be needed in extreme cases.
Tracheal Collapse
This health problem is quite common among Chihuahua. In this disorder, the dog faces breathing related problem which includes wheezing, gagging, seizures and coughing etc. These problems can be treated automatically with the passage of time and some time required a visit to the vet.
Dry Eyes
Like other breeds of dog, Chihuahua can face common eye problem called dry eyes but among this breed of dog, this is one of the most uncommon eye diseases which has been reported yet. The treatment required eye drops for lubrication and can be permanently treated easily.
During the Chihuahua training, you must have basic knowledge about these and other Chihuahua health problems to ensure that your dog is healthy otherwise due to any health issue, your dog can be aggressive, can hurt you. So keep eye on all the related symptoms and get them treated on time.
Chihuahua Obedience Training
Obedience training is not something which all dog owners want but including this in your Chihuahua training could be fun for both; the dog and dog owner. This helps the dog to concentrate, obey the orders of owners and built confidence. In obedience training, Chihuahua usually learns to participate in different sports like obedience and agility. This could lead your dog to take participate in dog shows.
The obedience training is perfect for those who are training Chihuahua puppies because they can learn different sports more easily as compared to adult dogs. As a dog owner, you have to give more effort than a dog to teach him different things. The most common things which Chihuahua learns in obedience training include:
- Following the basic instruction of owner
- Sit, stand and walk on the owner’s command
- Heel on and off lead (walk traditional position)
- Being quite in front of strangers and other pets
The Obedience training should not be very challenging for your dog as Chihuahua is a small dog and cannot do many things which you can teach to the dogs with big sizes. The main goal of this training should be build relationship with the dog and build his confidence.
Chihuahua Housebreaking
Giving Chihuahua potty training to puppies are much easy then a grown Chihuahua. After the birth of puppies, it took their brain 6-12 months to get fully developed. This is an ideal timing for potty training and housebreaking. You can easily train your dog when and where to go for potty and how to keep the house clean etc.
Decide a Specific Bathroom Spot
For housebreaking and Chihuahua potty training, deciding a specific spot is very important. You can choose a place outside from your house or make a toilet for your puppy within a house.
This spot should be permanent so that your dog can recognize it at a toilet in future. Usually, they recognize the toilet by sniffing. In the start of Chihuahua potty training, you should reward your puppy every time when he recognizes this port for potty.
Take Your Dog on a Walk After a Meal
Taking your dog for a walk right after a meal is a great idea because they have a fast metabolism and their bowel time is around 15-30 minutes after eating meals. In the start, you have to keep eye on your dog to know that they are only going to specific spot for the toilet instead of making a new spot. If you have a toilet at home, then make its access easy for your puppy and keep him around after meals.
Use a Reward Based Approach
Using reward-based training approach is a good choice because the dog has nature to do positive things and follow the orders in exchange for a reward. Chihuahua relies on food mostly as compared to other times of rewards. So, when you give them reward in return of following your command, they will make it a habit and make the whole housebreaking training process easy for you.
How to Handle Your Chihuahua
During Chihuahua training, handling aggressive behavior could be very challenging and frustrating for the dog owner. Normally being aggressive is not the nature of Chihuahua but sometimes they could feel jealous if you have other pet in your house. So, during your Chihuahua training, you must focus on handling part as you won’t like to get bitten by your dog or harming someone else at home.
Know You Chihuahua First
Until you do not understand the mentality of your Chihuahua, you won’t able to train him properly. You can easily know about his mentality simply by observing what does he like, what makes him aggressive and what toys he like to play most. The toy can be used to cool down your dog in case of aggression.
Make Rules for Your Chihuahua
Training Chihuahua puppies about the rules are very easy as compare to teaching rules to an adult dog. These rules should not be limited to your dog only. If you are teaching him to obey a rule, then you must also follow it all the time in front of your dog. In this, you can set rules for what to eat, where to sit, how to react in front of guests and other dogs etc. These all rules can be taught to the dog during basic training.
Know How to Response Your Dog
Your dog must have at least one toy which he loves to play. This could be his weakness as well. Use it to respond to your dog on different situation. For example, if your dog is not following your potty training then the response in the same way by taking his favorite toy away from him etc.
What to Teach Your Chihuahua
Teaching about different trick is an important part in our how to train a Chihuahua training article. Like other breeds of the dog, you can teach a number of different tricks to your Chihuahua training other than just responding to the clicker, knowing the name and touching to the required object.
Defiantly, it could take the time to learn different tricks especially if you have not bought your Chihuahua at the time of birth. As compare to young and adult dog, training Chihuahua puppies are quite easier. The basic things which your dog must learn include:
- Site, down, stand and release commands
- Come to your side or stay away from you
- Take or leave object from owner’s hand
- Bringing an item like toy when you asked
- Learn name and identify names of objects
- Different types of jumping like leap and hoop
- Ask for food, go to place and shake hands
- Fetching, leasing and getting dish for food
- Searching, finding and catching items
On the advanced level, you can teach jump rope and other types of jumping tricks. But don’t overburden your Chihuahua with many tricks and know that whether your Chihuahua likes to get trained new tricks or not. The one in which your pet show more interest should be taught more at it will be picked by Chihuahua easily and quickly.
Improving Mental Stimulation
Improving mental stimulation of Chihuahua can help your dog to learn new things easily. This is why mental stimulation is one of the most important facts of Chihuahua training because it brings best among them. It has been believed that playing with dogs is enough for this purpose but it does not. You need to challenge the brain of your dog to improve their mental stimulation.
Purchase Puzzles Toys
Today, there are so many puzzle games are available for dogs to play. Purchasing 1 or 2 of the challenging puzzle games help a lot in the improvement of mental stimulation of Chihuahua. Purchase puzzle toys as per the age of your dog. Do not go for a very challenging game for your newborn Chihuahua or 1-year-old puppies.
Let Your Dog Explore
Taking your dog to walk is a great way to improve their physical health. You can use this time for mental stimulation by allowing them to explore new things during the walk. Allow them to sniff and explore new items around them. So next time when you take your dog to walk, instead of walking straight, allow them to sniff and explore new track by their own.
Teach Your Dog New Tricks
Teaching your dog new tricks does not make your dog popular among your friends and family but also it does increase their confidence to try new things. Instead of very general tricks, it is always better to go with advanced level tricks which could be anything from jumping to following your directions etc.
You can also use the internet to learn new tricks for your dog. One of the best way to teach new trick is to show your dog TV where dogs are doing something different and tricky etc.
Play Nose Work Games
Chihuahua has great power of smell. So why not play nose work games? You can make your own nose games for mental stimulation which includes hiding their food or their favorite toy and allow them to find these things around the house. This will build confidence within them. To make them more productive, purchase nose work games for your dog.
Play Like a Dog
Playing like a dog can help your dog to learn new things in much shorter time. This sound bit weird but they will follow the new things more quickly when they see that their owners are doing it for them. You can jump for them in front of them and do different things in front of them to teach them how to do it correctly etc.
Video: How To Train A Chihuahua Dog
Final Verdict – The Best Way to Train a Chihuahua
To train your Chihuahua in terms of the best way, first, you need to be the friend of your dog and won his heart. This could be done by spending maximum time with your dog. Keep your dog along with you when you eating, watching TV, working out, walking or doing other regular stuff.
Without having the good relationship with your dog, you cannot learn how to train a Chihuahua. So, if you really interested in doing this training on your own, then the first step should be to make your dog your best friend.
If you’re interested in reading similar articles, here’s good one on Dog Training Whistle. We’ve also posted a good guide Dog Pees on Bed.
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