Welcome Joan, Dolly Dee and Desi Lou! Joan, I enjoyed reading how you deal living with two Chis, its a good way to learn from each other. Although not everything will work for everyone, they are good ideas of what to try if we have the same issues.
Gloria -----Original Message----- From: Joan Croft <[email protected]> To: Chihuahuas <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, Jan 13, 2011 1:10 am Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] I have a question? Hi Brea, I am new to this group. I have two Chihuahuas: Dolly Dee is 2 ½ years old and Desi Lou is almost 17 months old. I had Dolly for about 15 months before I got Desi. She did not like him at first, and I had some really bad days where I thought that Desi was going to die from Dolly’s snarling at him. She was a very sweet little girl and I felt so bad that I had ruined her life and the puppy’s life. Over time, they have become friends…I see them playing together, laying together, and I can’t take one out without that one wanting to go back to get the other one. Well, over the last 6 months or so, when I take Dolly for a walk she will stop often and squat like she is urinating and actually only makes a few drops. My vet did a urnianalysis on her three time, I had her on antibiotics for one week, and then again for an entire month…I just took her for a walk about a week ago and she is squatting and only making a drop again. I inquired with my vet’s website if spayed females mark their territories. I got the answer to bring her back in and more urine tests and cultures were done. In the mean time, I googled spayed females marking territory and there were quite a few matches and they said it could be caused by stress, trying to attract a male, or marking over another dog’s urine to mark the territory as hers. I told my vet that she does appear very stressed and is constantly gnawing at her toys. I told him that I really try to make them both feel equal…..THAT IS WHAT I WAS DOING WRONG! He said that dogs are pack animals and one has to be the alpha in the house. He said the she is the alpha and that I need to always feed her first, give her the treat first, put her leash on first, dress her first..everything her first so she realizes that she is the alpha and doesn’t have to give up that position. As far as waiting for turns, I always give Dolly and Desi a little snack before I turn off the lights. I taught them to wait by holding the treats in my hands where they can see them, and then count slowly from 10 backwards…when I get to one, then I say ‘pork chop’ (their treats look like little pork chops). They used to salivate before I got to 1, but now they just sit their patiently…if one tries to put their head forward before the end, I just tell them to wait. They have learned that way. I think that I read about counting backwards while the dog has sight of the treat in a training book. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brea Rae Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 4:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] I have a question? How do you guys with more then one dog give each one enough attention to where they feel special? and how to tackle jealousy issues? my three get along fairly well actually very well! I have a few squalbles, but handle the quickly nothing too big or scarry... but wondering if anyone has any tips or routines to try... and how to teach waiting for turns!!
