Chihuahua training

Chihuahua training

Chihuahua training begins as soon as you

enter the home. Interestingly enough, training

is a two-way street. You must realize that

your pet will train YOU, unless you establish

yourself as master and not broodmate.

It is tempting to excuse bathroom lapses and chewing errors during an initial period of adjustment. But that is not best for the animal. Chihuahua training must start as soon as their feet touch the floor of your home.

If you are bringing an older dog into your home, most likely Chihuahua training has successfully instilled the desire to go outside to urinate and defecate. There need be taught only the signals necessary to gain outside access. If possible, a dog door could be used advantageously to eliminate the need to continually let an animal in or out. Keep in mind, however, that what a dog can advantageously use for entry can also be used by "others"--and those others may not belong in your home!

If your new Chi is less than 6 months old, Chihuahua training requires a distinct area of your home be set aside for their own special place. You'll be housebreaking your Chi by lining the floor completely with paper. Include a dog bed or blanket for them to snuggle in to sleep. Don't forget, Chis love to hide under things--whether it is your lap or their bedding, they'll burrow!

Chihuahua training is like any other training: accentuate the positive! Reward for messing in the desired area. It will take time, but your young Chi will eventually develop a distinct preference for a certain area of its special room for defecation. After this develops, gradually remove paper from an area farthest away from this preferred messing place until no accidents occur.

Proper Chihuahua training requires extreme patience and consistency. A pup does not know right from wrong in the area of bathroom etiquette and cannot "hold it" for long as they don't even have full bladder and bowel control for the first 6 months! For them, "food in" equals "food out"! If they mess anywhere except on paper, go back to putting paper on the entire floor. You do not want them to feel your home's wood, linoleum or carpeted flooring is an acceptable place for defecation or urination. Habits are hard to change. Develop desired habits from the beginning and life will be happier for all.

When Chihuahua training in other areas, the more time you can actively spend with your dog, the faster will be the desired result. Do not scold for an inappropriate action in the past. Your dog will not be able to associate a chewed chair leg with the chewing behavior. If you catch the chair leg being chewed, however, then a strongly voiced "SHAME!" or "NO!" is appropriate. Even better is to reward for a desired behavior just as soon as it occurs.

There is a type of training called Clicker Training. It is not solely restricted to Chihuahua training and it is very time-intensive. The very slightest of twitches in the desired direction gets a click and a treat from the trainer. There are many tricks and complex behaviors that can be taught with clicker training, but it requires a huge amount of trainer patience, consistency and attention to detail.

Your chi wants to please YOU. The time to spend now in good Chihuahua training development will pay off big time in the future.

Interested in reading more about chihuahua training? Go shopping on Chihuahua Chic training books review page.