After a short hiatus, I am back to blogging this week with our fourth Chihuahua myth, that these little sweethearts are hard to train. As with most myths, this one likely got started from at least a partial truth. Some very stubborn Chihuahuas may be a bit more challenging to train, but stubbornness and difficulty training are not exactly a common characteristics of the breed. I suspect that there are stubborn, difficult to train examples of every breed. So, let's consider the truths embedded in this myth and dispel the rest as exaggeration or inappropriate extrapolation.
One of the most common questions I get is about house training males. Our poor Chihuahua boys get a really bad rap for marking. Marking is an instinctual behavior that involves urinating on things in the environment, and it stems from the pack mentality that leads males to designate their own physical territory to keep other males away. Yes, intact male Chihuahuas will eventually mark, but the truth is, ALL intact male dogs will eventually mark, and once they start marking, it is all but impossible to get them to stop. So, there is the truth in this myth. What makes it a myth is that the behavior itself can be completely avoided by simply neutering these boys early, before the marking behavior begins. That works as well in Chihuahuas as it does in any other breed.
The little Chihuahua females present a slightly different picture with house training. This is generally where the stubbornness may come in. Some Chihuahua girls can be stubborn. That is the truth in the myth, but every one of them will respond to something...treats or other food, toys, praise....something! The key to training any dog, even a stubborn one, is to find what that thing is that they respond to and then to be consistent in offering it when they behave properly. Once you have that figured out, training of any kind, including house training, becomes easy!
Next, Chihuahuas are VERY smart, and they have the capacity to learn things that you might not consider that they can do. I strongly recommend training basic obedience, at a minimum, from an early age. If you have a high energy Chihuahua puppy, that may be a bit tricky. That is the truth in the myth, but there are some things that you can do to get the training in and minimize frustration. First, keep training sessions very short at first, until maturity calms your puppy down a bit. If you have trouble keeping your puppy's attention, then keep training sessions as short as 15-30 seconds, several times per day. You will be surprised what your Chihuahua puppy can learn in that time frame. If you do several very short training sessions each day, your puppy's skill will sneak up on you and before you know it, you will have a well trained puppy.
As with house training, you may need to find that one thing that your puppy or dog simply cannot resist. Chihuahuas tend to be very food motivated, so more than likely, this will be a favorite treat or perhaps a tiny piece of chicken. Keep training treats really tiny so you don't put unwanted weight on your dog, but keep in mind that food is a powerful motivator for most Chihuahuas. When you find that one thing that your dog cannot resist, use it ONLY when you train. Training time has to be the only time that your dog gets that reward. That usually speeds up the training process considerably and helps your dog to focus on the task at hand.
Finally, if you find that you have a really stubborn Chihuahua on your hands, there is one more thing that you can do to make training easier. You may need to assert your place in your dog's pack. The technique for that is a whole other blog, but basically it involves making your Chihuahua understand that everything good that he or she gets comes from you, and he/she has to make you happy to get it. That is a powerful message for a dog, and it establishes you as your dog's pack leader. You will be surprised how pliable your Chihuahua will become once he/she recognizes you as the leader.
In a nutshell, the notion that Chihuahuas are hard to train is a myth, despite the elements of truth in it, because for some dogs, a bit more work has to be done to determine what your dog's best motivator is. Some need tasty food, others need a strong leader or something else. However, once you have figured that out, training becomes easy, and Chihuahuas are no harder to train than any other breed.
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