Train Your Chihuahua

Jan 27, 2011 by Stan Beck

The Chihuahua is one of the cutest dogs in America. Few owners are ever interested in training their little dogs, considering their small and harmless demeanor. But despite its size, it is a breed of aggressive little dogs. Chihuahuas are known to be very stubborn. Hence, they need a more serious training regimen which should be started while they are young.

Why You Should Know How to Train a Chihuahua

Chihuahuas were bred to be just pets with no additional skills. They had been treated this way for many years. As such, the they have developed the nature of being content with being mere companions. Although this can do some good to the owner in terms of stress reduction, this has a downside because it can lead to aggression. Thus, training the Chihuahua is necessary to socialize it and to arrest future aggression problems.

All Chihuahuas do not realize how small they are. This will give them the tendency to be aggressive towards other dogs which have all the capability to hurt them. They are also prone to be unfriendly. Training your Chihuahua to be more sociable will keep them out of harm’s way.

How to Train a Chihuahua

Despite their size, Chihuahuas have a dominant nature. They want to take control. It is difficult to train a Chihuahua if you won’t make it understand that you are the leader. So the first step you need to do when training them is to impose your authority as the alpha leader. Show it by defining its territorial limits on a consistent basis; it should not be allowed to go just about anywhere in the house so that it will know that somebody else owns the entire territory.

Another way to impose authority on the Chihuahua is by controlling its feeding times. When the it asks for food out of designated time, you should not give in. This will make it think that it has the control and not you.

Exercise it two times per day to prevent it from getting bored. Choose which way to go. Do not allow it to dictate which direction you should take, as this can also trigger its sense of control. Use the leash as a signal that you are its leader.

Impose your leadership by not allowing the dog to go anywhere it wants, as it could give it a sense of control. Clearly impose boundaries and do not allow it to claim your space.

No matter what it does to catch your attention, ignore the Chihuahua as you arrive or depart from your house. Only attend to it when it relaxes.

Be the alpha leader, otherwise you will not be able to control it.

Optimizing Mental Stimulation

Most Chihuahuas lack exercise because they are too small to perform routines that people let normal sized dogs do. Train your Chihuahua to perform basic commands such as sit, stay, speak, quiet, fetch and other tricks. This will give them mental exercise.

You can train the Chihuahua by eliminating or limiting its chances of challenging your leadership. Avoid getting overwhelmed by its energy and stimulate it mentally by teaching it to perform some basic commands. This will reduce the bad temperament issues of your cute little Chihuahua.

Stan Beck is a dog training expert whose free Dog Training Guide/’ can help improve your dog’s behavior. Visit his website and get very useful insights on simplified Dog Training Ways.