I've never had a food aggressiveness problem with my chihuahuas, but I have
had it with other dogs. The command you want to teach is "give it" or "drop
it." This is a VITAL behavior to teach, because someday you may need to
take something dangerous away from your pet.
First of all, have two types of treats available -- a sort of mediocre treat
that takes a long time to eat (so they won't just gulp it down before they
have a chance to give it back) and small pieces of an *excellent* favorite
treat, like little bits of chicken, etc.
Give your chi the mediocre treat, hiding the excellent treat in your other
hand. As soon as your chi has the mediocre treat, say, "Give it" or "drop
it" in a quiet but firm voice, and offer the excellent treat -- hold it
right in front of your chi's nose, if necessary. Your chi should drop the
treat and go for the goody. Praise your chi and reward with another bit of
the excellent treat. Eventually, when the behavior is thoroughly learned,
you'll be able to stop giving the treat, but *always* praise. Remember,
your dog is overcoming a natural instinct to protect its food.
Repeat this behavior several times a day until it becomes habit. Remember,
chihuahuas don't learn very effectively with negative reinforcement. The
trick is to reward the good behavior, not punish the bad. Sometimes bad
behavior is actually an attention-getting device, and even scolding, etc. is
attention and therefore better than nothing. If you teach "give it"
properly and consistently, your dog views it as getting the better of you in
a trade and will be thrilled to death to relinquish whatever's in his mouth.
Anne
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