Although Chihuahuas make for an ideal companion, they are sometimes difficult to train. The dogs are known for their liveliness as well as their courage. The Chihuahua is a very loyal and strong willed dog that becomes attached to their owners quickly.

They are usually wary of strangers and sometimes it can be difficult to train them otherwise. The more time you spend training your Chihuahua, the stronger your relationship will become. The dog is fond of its own breed, but can sometimes become aggressive towards other dogs. Some require a lot of socialization with other breeds to better their temperament towards them.

When training your Chihuahua, you need to keep in mind that the training needs to be done in an authoritative but positive manner. Chihuahuas are very intelligent, so they learn quickly. Work with them several hours each day, but go through the exercises as quickly as you can to ensure that they do not get bored.

Good eating habits should be established early if you want to avoid major problems in the future. We are regularly asked for advice by dog owners who find that their dog becomes aggressive if they approach it while it is eating.

This behavior is quite a normal instinct in some dogs— they are only behaving the way they would in the wild, where protecting one’s food is vital for survival. However, the same behavior is unacceptable in human society, and we have to teach this to our dogs.

During the early stages of your pup’s life—for about the first six months—it will be very dependent on you, and seem quite devoted.

However, this situation will change once the pup is about seven months old. This is usually the age at which pups become more adventurous and more independent, although, of course, this stage will vary from pup to pup, depending on each one’s temperament and degree of confidence. In general, though, most pups start to disobey or challenge their owners around this time.

Once you have gained on-lead control of your dog, the transition to having the dog walking correctly by your side off-lead will be easy—for both you and the dog. The only condition for success is that you should maintain exactly the same body language as you used in the earlier exercise.

If you have been holding your hands a certain way when grasping the lead, then they must be in exactly the same position when you are doing the off-lead training. There are two reasons for this. Dogs learn by association. By seeing you in the same position as you were at an earlier stage, they will respond to you as they did previously. Also, if your hands are in a different position now that the dog is off the lead, it may soon realize that you are no longer holding the lead.

In the first two techniques for teaching the “finish,” the two actions of “recalling” and “finishing” are part of a single-sequence. With the third technique for teaching the “finish,” however, the two actions are treated as separate entities. The dog will have finished its “recall” and will be sitting in front of you waiting for your next command. Now you will get it to do the “finish.”

At most training schools, owners are taught that, when they wish their dogs to take up the “finish” position on their left side after entering from the right side and circling around the back of their legs, they should command the dog to “Heel.” However, we feel that this is very confusing for the dog, because, to a dog, the “Heel” command generally means that it must move off by your side and keep walking beside you until told otherwise.