I have Cody on the tiniest little leash and seldom let him go outside.
Nan, Izzie and Cody 'When you reach the end of your rope.... You will find the hem of His garment.' “For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” Ralph Waldo EmersonSing praises to HIM speak of all his wonders 1 Chronicles 16:9 ________________________________ From: Robin Gordils <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 6:40 AM Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Agressive Sister They should always be kept on leashes as even a well trained titled dog can bolt and be killed by a car, dog or even a bike. If they run up to the wrong dog they can be killed or kicked by a non dog lover. Four months old is the start of the independence for puppies and they start their running off and other bad behaviors. When someone is coming have them sit and feed a high value treat to keep them focused. If the person is willing they can give a treat as long as the dog is sitting. My dogs are usually trained to an AKC Companion Dog level so I use a mini pinch collar or micro for toy breeds and do heel work. The dog has to remain focused on my not the distraction or I do an about turn and they correct themselves. I train from 8 weeks on up and have shown my dogs at 4 mos in obed matches and started getting a title at 6 mos and 1 day old. A well run obed class is always good. But IMHO betting your dogs' lives on training is not good, I know of 2 top titled dogs killed when they chased a squirrel into the street. I have had my multi titled dogs bolt when scared by loose dogs and when in chase mode. Eventually something will happen and off leash dogs are illegal in most places and can get you sued. Robin, Dobe Axel CGC, TT, German Pin Ranger CGC, TT, Chihuahuas Alice CGC and Monte CGC, MinPins HoneyB, Brutus, and IMPS foster Jordan Www.minpinrescue.org Www.chi-rescue.com Http://chihuahua.rescueme.org/Florida leakaweah <[email protected]> wrote: Hi everyone, I'm new to this group. We adopted two chi mixes a few months ago when they were around 9 weeks old. They are from the same litter. Nugget was the runt of the 6 puppy litter, and Jewel was one of the bigger ones. I live part time on a farm at an intentional community. I frequently walk through the community with Jewel and Nugget, and for the first few weeks it worked beautifully. The two would follow me everywhere and were friendly with everyone they came upon. However, for the last few weeks (they are now ~4 months old), Jewel, the larger sister, has started chasing people bicycles, usually barking and growling, so I had to start keeping her on a leash. I'd very much like to go back to the beautiful times of walking with the two of them off-leash. Has anyone gone through this and figured out how to stop the chasing/barking/growling behavior, or can anyone recommend a particular training method? I've trained them both to sit, stay and come, but all that is out the window for Jewel when she is in "attack mode". Jewel still follows me, and eventually will return after a chase scene (but I don't allow this to happen anymore because I always put her on a leash when we're out on the farm. Jewel remains an extremely sweet and obedient puppy when she is not after someone, and never acts agressively towards me or my husband. I read "The Dog Listener" and have tried to incorporate the behaviors that signify myself as the alpha. We have mostly kept them together, though they sleep in separate crates and eat from separate bowls. We've heard it's important to keep them separate a lot as puppies to avoid them becoming a bonded pair, but we haven't followed through with that intention very well. We are just beginning, however to have them separated during the day for 2-3 days a week. We may try taking one or both of them to an obedience class at some point. Any advice anyone has would be most appreciated. I've posted a couple of photos under a new folder "Nugget Jewel" Thanks! Brenda
