Overview
Chihuahuas are notorious for their stubborn attitude and behavior. You have to be the leader and never let your chihuahua rule over you. Your chihuahua must listen to you. When your dog is not trained to listen to your orders, he will display unwanted behaviors such as barking, growling at others and won’t show any interest in learning commands. In addition, when your dog listens to you it will help him to be a social pet and also will show respect to you as a leader of the pack.
Also, a chihuahua who doesn’t listen will make his owner’s life terrible. For this reason, you have to train your dog to be a good listener from early, in order to encourage good behavior and stop poor behaviors.
When you bring a new chihuahua home or when you adopt an adult one the first thing you have to do is to set the boundaries. This way you will let him know that there are some expectations you want from him, so he knows how to behave. Like all dogs, rewards are the best manners to encourage your chihuahua.
You have to plan some training sessions, be patient and persistent. Always reward good behavior and correct bad ones. Show your dog that he can earn treats by listening.
What if your Young Chihuahua Puppy Won’t Listen?
Puppies under the age of 4 months won’t listen because of age. As at this very young age puppies don’t know exactly their world. When they are 5 months or so, they start to have more awareness.
You have to put in mind that your young puppy can’t focus on one thing for a period of time longer than 5 minutes. For this reason, it’s hard to tell that your little puppy displays disobedience or impassiveness.
It is advisable to start training at this young age even if the outputs are not guaranteed. However, as your puppy matures he will start understanding the world around him and will pay attention to his parents which will make him able to focus on tasks and to follow orders.
The causes of Why a Chihuahua won’t listen
The reason why your puppy who is under the age of 5 months won’t listen is that he doesn’t know that he must listen to you, all he knows at that age is to follow his instincts.
Chihuahuas are the smallest dogs in the world, but they share the same instincts as larger dogs. In other words, chihuahuas live in a pack hierarchy they like to know who is in charge. The pack rules are there no matter how chihuahuas were raised or where they live.
In a chihuahua’s world, there is only one leader, called also The Alpha. Chihuahuas also believe that they are a member of the pack, including all humans and pets they live with. And regardless of the number of the pack members, there simply must be a leader.
All dogs including chihuahuas live in a pack. This latter has one Alpha that is always obeyed by the rest of the pack. Also, there are many roles attributed to Alpha. For instance, the alpha gives commands, sets rules. On the other side, the rest of the pack must listen to their Alpha, respect and love him. This is the dog’s hierarchy, this word is their own and makes sense to them. A chihuahua who feels that he is a member of a pack will be happy and will follow the owner’s orders with enthusiasm. Because he knows that he is protected and lives in a safe environment.
The Alpha must always do his job as possible as he can and he never must show any sign of weakness. Because when the dog feels that the Alpha who is in charge is no longer strong, he won’t listen and will try to step in to take his place. This is the main cause of a chihuahua who no longer listens.
There are 3 situations you have to take into consideration when your chihuahua won’t listen:
- Your chihuahua believes that their no leader, so he considers himself as a leader especially if he is the only pet in the house. Therefore, the dog won’t listen to you.
- The chihuahua doesn’t know who is in charge, for this reason, he will take the opportunity to try to be the alpha.
- When there is a lack of communication between the owner and the dog, the latter will think that he is truly the Alpha.
How To make a dog a good listener?
Now you know exactly why your chihuahua is not able to listen to you. As he believes that he doesn’t have to. Don’t worry this issue can be fixed. We advise you that all family members in the house must be involved in training because the dog sees that all humans are leaders.
In fact, there is only one true leader, he is the one who cares a lot about the chihuahua and who gives most of the dog’s meals. But our purpose is that your chihuahua will listen to all family members, this way the dog may he can obey them all
You may think that these tips are simple and ineffective, however in fact they have a great impact on the dog. If you want to make the training effective you should never skip any of the days. Because when you have an “off day”, your dog may consider it as hesitation and it can cost you more time and energy.
1. Feeding:
foods are a great way to make your dog listen to you and execute orders, so when you want to give them some food, even if it is just a little piece of meat order them to sit.
Note that your dog has not the ability to know where the foods come from. So, the owner must understand that this is a big opportunity to train his dog.
Also in order to show your dog that you are the Alpha, never let him eat before you. Show him that you have the authority to give him food whenever you want.
2. Go out and come in:
This event is also crucial and a lot of owners ignore it or don’t know its importance.
You have to see things from the dog’s perspective, this means that when you let the dog exit before you. You send him a clear message that he is the most important member of the pack. So this can cause trouble.
Combining this with wrong feeding will eventually lead to a chihuahua that doesn’t listen.
3. Other tips to establish yourself as the Alpha
- Determine the sleeping area of your dog, Never let him sleep with you in your bed
- When your dog is lying on the floor, don’t circle around him, he has to move out of your way.
- Controle your dog’s reactions, don’t let him set rules
What to do after You Chihuahua Knows that You Are the Alpha?
1. Calling the dog by his name
Does your dog recognize his name? does he look at you whenever you pronounce his name? Teaching the chihuahua his name is the first thing you have to do. Because, when your dog doesn’t know his name is not easy to have his attention which means it is hard to teach him commands.
There is a technique that a lot of experts use to make their dogs know their names. Which is to take a treat in your hand. Then calling the dog’s name. As a consequence, the dog will look at the treat in your hand. Keep calling his name until he looks into your eyes. Allow him to eat the treat immediately. Be persistent in doing this exercise until the dog recognizes his name.
2. Teaching orders
This element will never work if you are not established yourself as the leader of the pack, because your dog will never listen to you. Teaching commands come after the two elements we mentioned before which are proper feeding and entering/exiting the house.
When your dog is sure that you are the Alpha now the time he will take to know commands is 2 to 3 weeks.
After teaching your dog the basics, you will have a great companion who is well trained.
So in order to help you, here are some tips in teaching commands:
- Teach your chihuahua one command at a time, start with the basics like sit, come, down commands.
- Never try to be aggressive with your chihuahua, take it easy, and have fun while training your dog. Because your chihuahua will love it, which means that she will make more effort and work hard.
- Reward your chihuahua when she does a good try.
- The focus and endurance of your dog have a limit, so you have to respect them.
Last word
If you have tried many ways to make your chihuahua listens to you but it is not working, don’ take it personally, because the lack of listening is due to a lack of training.
If you want your chihuahua to listen to you, you have to start the training as early as possible. You need to be consistent, they forget also. Do not always give in to all requests, learn to say no. They are animals with a brain also, correct your chihuahuas if they make a mistake.
If you don’t know what to do and how to do it. It is time you seek the help of professional dog trainers to help you out. You will need to lead and organize the training process.
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