Chihuahuas are adorable dogs but they are notorious for being unsocial, and difficult to train. But not need to worry with proper socialization and training you can end this behavior and make your Chihuahua a well mannered and friendly dog that is free from fear of other people and other animals. We come with different tips that will be helpful to make your Chihuahua friendly and socialized.
So, to know about How to Train Your Chihuahua Dog to Be Friendly, read our guide till the end.
How to Train Your Chihuahua Dog to Be Friendly?🐱👤
The right way to make Friendly a Chihuahua puppy🐕🦺
Age to Socialize🐾
The Chihuahua training to be friendly should begin as early as possible. It should start from 8 weeks and continue until 16 weeks. During this period, introduce a Chihuahua puppy to many positive experiences to shape their positive behavior.
Use positive reinforcement✨
Chihuahua respond well on positive reinforcement. Reward your dog with treats, toys and praise for good behavior. In this way they will associate rewards with good behavior. So to make them a friendly well-mannered dog you should use these techniques.
Expose to multiple people💇♂️
To make your Chihuahua friendly you should give him the opportunity to meet with multiple people, from kids to the elderly. In this way they will not get confused when meeting a new person. Encourage gentle interaction because Chihuahuas are fragile animals.
Practice gentle handling🧒🐩
Chihuahuas are sensitive to handling, making sure to regularly touch their ears, tail, paws and muzzle to ready them for vet visits and grooming sessions. Be consistent with touch to become a Chihuahua puppy habitual in this way they will not show aggression if being touched.
Organize playdates💥
Due to their small size Chihuahua puppies can be threatened by larger dogs. Start the playdates with Chihuahuas of the same size as dogs. Make sure to supervise the session closely to prevent any rough play that can hurt your Chihuahua.
Expose to Various sounds🔔🔔
To make them friendly and socialized, gradually expose your Chihuahua to a variety of noises such as household noises, traffic, other animals’ voices etc. By ensuring these experiences are not dangerous you can make your Chihuahua feel calm, confident and comfortable.
Meet other pets🐕🐱
To make Chihuahua friendly with other pets in the house, introduce your Chihuahua to them slowly and monitor that your Chihuahua and other pets are comfortable.
Introduce different environment☘🐕🦺
To help them adjust to a different environment, introduce him to different environments like parks, city centers, vet offices etc. Positive experience in these settings will prevent territorial aggression later on and will not confuse a new environment.
Attend socialization classes🐱👤🐶
These classes offer a safe and friendly environment to your Chihuahua puppy to learn and play. These classes are given the opportunity to your Chihuahua to learn manners and play with other dogs making them friendly.
Priority your Puppies safety🐱🐶
Chihuahua are small dogs so they are very sensitive and can be hurt easily. Always make sure their interaction would be safe especially with larger dogs. A hurt or scared Chihuahua can develop long lasting negative associations.
Be consistent✨✨
Consistency is very important in training sessions. Sometimes the positive experience is more effective than longer sessions. With consistency you can make your Chihuahua friendly and socialized that will be effective and long-lasting.
Friendly training should be in a calm Environment🧒🐩
The training process should be in a calm environment. If your Chihuahua feels any negative energy from you he will likely become upset and nervous. He will identify the person, animals and places as threatening.
Praise your Chihuahua🤽♂️🐕
When your puppy exhibits good behavior then you should praise his behavior, give their favorite treat and show him some affection. By this he will present more positive behavior to get the praise.
Show affection and give them Attention🤏💇♂️
To make a Chihuahua friendly you should show them affection. And try to spend more time with them and give them attention such as play with them, exercise with them and watch TV together. In this way he will love you and become friendly towards you.
Follow the rules of seven7️⃣🐾
The seven rules suggest that when your puppy get 7 weeks old you should done the following things:
Played with 7 types of toys🪀
Include soft squeaky, fuzzy, fabric, ropes, and small and large balls.
Met with 7 types of people🤼🐶
Including adults, children, the elderly, someone walking with a cane or walker and different races.
Walked on 7 types of surfaces💥🌟
Including concrete, wood chips, gravel, grass, dirt, carpet, hardwood floors, and vinyl.
Exposed to 7 games/challenges🐕🦺⛳
Including climbing over an obstacle, playing hide and seek, climbing up and down steps and running around a fenced in area.
Expose 7 places🌟🌟
Including car, dog park, front and back yard, living room, kitchen, groomer and vet’s office.
Eaten in 7 places🕳🥧
Such as kitchen, outdoors, crates, living room and laundry room.
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The wrong way to train your Chihuahua as friendly Dog🧒🐩
The wrong training can cause many issues so it’s very important for an owner to understand the incorrect methods to avoid turning these dogs into fearful and aggressive adults. Here are some mistakes that you should avoid while training Chihuahua:
- Chihuahua training should start early as we told above. Some owners who start their training late then training can become challenging.
- Too long training can lead to Chihuahuas becoming bored and will not take interest in training.
- Allowing your Chihuahua with other larger dogs without supervision leads to traumatic experiences.
- Ignoring the fearful behavior of your dog and not trying to calm them and continue training sessions is a wrong practice.
- Skipping exposure to every noise can lead to fearful Chihuahua.
- Forcing interaction with other people and animals can lead to reinforcing fear.
- If you do not set boundaries in training sessions can result in dogs exhibiting inappropriate behavior.
- Use punishment based methods can create negative association and fear.
- Ignoring their size and asking them to jump from high places and play rough can cause injuries.
Final Words✨✨
In summary, to make a Chihuahua friendly you have to expose them to many people, places, animals, sight and voices. Training session is not a one night process, it can take months to make your Chihuahua comfortable among different situations. With the right training your Chihuahua becomes friendly and well balanced. Training your Chihuahua as friendly is a time taking process so patience and consistency is the key.
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