Hey Megan, good to hear from you! I had wondered how you and Lance have been So he's housebroken......wonderful! Okay, here goes for his territorial aggression. Actually there are two ways. You can leash him and make him stand on your side. Do not hold and carry him to the door, that makes them more protective of you and also makes them feel more insecure because there is no where for him to run when that stranger is standing there. So walk him on the short leash, take a deep breath so he feels that you are calm, make him sit next to you as you open the door. As soon as you feel him growl and pull give him the correction with the lead, by giving a tug to your right, never pull back on the lead as that makes them go forward, (it's a reverse reflex with dogs). As you step backwards from the door keep pulling him with you so that he is constantly at your side. If he is barking and growling, give him the Quiet or Shh command, or what ever he knows and responds to.
I trained Princess that when I answer the door she is in a sit and stay about 3-4 feet from the door. Note that the sit & stay was perfected before I did this. She is forbidden to move until I release her. That took a lot of time, and basically you don't even need someone outside to do it because most dogs will follow you to the door if they think you are leaving, so each time she did that I stood in front of her and and walked which made her walk backwards and I used the "back'' command as I did that. Once she was far enough away, I made her sit and stay. Then I would walk to the door and open it, and as soon as she got up, I would either point and say 'back' then sit and stay, or again step in front of her and force her to move backwards to the spot. I found training them this way to begin with saved a lot of aggravation when some one was actually at the door. I never used treats with her, just verbal commands. Although some dogs you just have to use treats if that is the only way you can get them to listen, and then hopefully wean them off of the treats so that only the command is needed. Okay, so now that your company is inside keep him on the lease at all times. Have some one stand up and walk towards you, and as you walk towards them with Vance he will undoubtedly start growling, that's when you show him that you are the pack leader and he doesn't have to protect you, because a pack leader protects the pack. You do that by claiming your company as part of the pack. As you come in front of your company, turn you back to that person so that now you are facing Lance. As Lance tries to move side to side to get at the person, you have to move the same way and block him. When he finally stands still and just looks at you in that split second tell him to sit and stay and slowly turn your back to him, facing your company. If he starts to move you will feel it in the lead. So be in tuned to what you feel in the lead, and immediately turn facing Lance and block him again giving the sit and stay. You will have to repeat this several times until he 'gets it'. It also helps a lot if your company totally ignores him and acts very calm and not want to jump out of the way for fear of being bit. Your company represents another dog in the pack, and another dog going into new territory wouldn't show fear, but would be calm and assertive and keep his eye at all times on the leader of the pack. So before your company arrives ask them to walk in and totally ignore Lance.....no mushy stuff and wanting to help calm him down, and be friends, or staring at him, because it just does not work that way with dogs. Your company should walk in like they live there and own the place. I had a friend that from the very first time she visited me, before I could even wink, Princess was in her lap. My older sister is a mushy, baby talk type with dogs and Princess would be all over her too with non stop barking because she wanted undivided attention. On the other hand, the first time Princess met my younger sister she completely ignored her. A dog as a person sized up the very moment they get their first whiff of them at the door. My younger sister walks in like she owns the place and couldn't care less if Princess were to try and attack her because she knows how to handle her, and Princess sensed her calm and assertive personality, where as the other two would get all excited and try to do their thing to get in control of the situation instead of letting me be in control. Of course from that very first visit my friend and older sister learned the proper way to make an entrance into a home where there is a dog and no further problems on their next visits. If he is off the lease at any time and he goes to bite anyone, then you have to take a deep breath and feel calm, but grab him and lay him on the floor belly up, and hold him there until is completely calm and breathing calmly. Don't say a thing and don't stare at him until he is totally mellowed out, then say he is a good boy and release him, but also tell him to go to his spot if your company is still in the same room. Which reminds me, when you have company, his safe spot, bed or crate should be in the same room so that you can always send him there. So you can see that the sit and stay and back commands can be used for many situations. A well trained dog will stay for 15 minutes before you give the release command. I have Princess up to 12 minutes, which isn't to bad considering she was very aggressive when I got her. Gigi has about a 5 minute attention span, but if I use food it is a couple of minutes longer. Lots of Luck and you can always email me privately too. Peggy -------Original Message------- From: Megan Burleson Date: 3/16/2013 10:01:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re: Help with aggression... HI all, I havent posted for quite awhile either but I do keep track of whats going on with the group I have a similar problem with my year and a half chi, Valken. Hes the only dog in the house and hes pretty good about most things BUT anyone comes into the house and he goes nuts. If I hold him he seems to calm down but as soon as I let him down, he goes straight for the person to try and nip their ankles etc or if I am holding him and get close to the other person he will try to nip them. If I take him anywhere, hes fine but in the house he just goes nuts. Anyone have any ideas of the best way to go? I havent been able to really devote lots of time to it before now and I had been trying some of the stuff that I saw in a dog whisperer video (dont laugh!) where he worked with a chi with the same problem. Obviously, I missed something because we still have the problem. Any thoughts? I really dont know the most effective direction to go with him. After we first got him a year or so ago, Peggy gave me a very specific list to follow to get him potty trained and we were able to get it done. Im hoping that I can get some training so he can be a gentleman when guests come to the house. Thanks. (and thanks again, Peggy, for the potty training!) Megan Megan Burleson Merrimac Alpacas Snohomish, WA www.merrimacalpacas.com 425-397-9201
