Thanks MJ, but Shanna wasn't to happy with it. She said she knows all of that?? -------Original Message------- From: maryjane turner Date: 1/15/2011 1:58:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] I have a question? Shanna Peggy, What a wonderful message just filled with helpful hints. This is one that I will save. Thank you so much. Hope it helps Shanna and Rikki.
On Jan 14, 2011, at 10:51 PM, Peggy & The Girls wrote: Shanna I feel bad for you and Ricky. It's sad because you both can't enjoy each other because of his issues. You have probably done this, but has he been completely checked by a Vet, to void out any conditions that may cause his ups and downs? Most dogs that have real 'aggression' issues are aggressive 'all' the time, and usually over the same issue, i.e, a particular toy, bone. or food dish, leash aggression, etc They usually don t swing back and forth so easily. I have heard of dogs that have an unbalanced thyroid can be like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the same is true of dogs that have their sugar level go up and down all the time. Maybe it's time for some blood test including the thyroid test. You may also want to Google-aggression due to illnesses in dogs, and see if you can learn anything more. If all is physically well, then do you tape and watch the Dog Whisperer and Victoria's series to see if you can pick up on anything that may help you to understand his mood swings? Princess, my Eskie was deemed to be put down because of her aggression. Eskies are stubborn and willful dogs, ad if not trained and socialized properly when young can be very aggressive. The woman at the shelter knew of my training of dogs from years before, and that is the only reason why I was allowed to adopt her. In fact I was the only person that the shelter would allow to take her, she was scheduled to be out down within five days. You wouldn't know that she is the same dog, she really is a mascot for the seniors in my apartment complex. It took a lot of consistent training before I would let anyone even get close to her. I will tell you this, daily obedience training of the basic commands is a must, to establish yourself as the pack leader. Apparently Ricky doesn't acknowledge you as that. Take 15 minutes 2x a day and put him the sit, then down, stay come exercises. Walk him around the house on a leash, and when you stop, he has to stop and sit and wait for you. He will learn that he has to follow the pack leader, and not try to be one. Make him work for his food and affection. That means at feeding time, he has to sit and wait for the okay command before you feed him. No treats, unless he does something nice for it, like sit and shake paw, then a treat. When he does his business, he gets a treat. Anything that he does that is positive is rewarded with a big 'good boy' and a pet or a treat. Anything he does that is negative is to be ignored, as in turn you back to him. That's what another alpha dog would do, ignore and walk away. Dogs do not li ke rejection from their pack leader. In time he will figure out that a good attitude is rewarded and a bad attitude is ignored.But be consistent and have a good schedule planned before you start. Be calm and positive and firm, don't show a lack of patience or that you are upset or afraid that he may bite you. Socializing him on walks: if you see some one coming and you know that Ricky is getting tense, then do a 360 and walk the opposite way. Be calm, most people have a tendency to tighten up on the leash and pull the dog away from the on coming person, what you are really saying to the dog when you do this... is that their is a reason to be afraid. Just turn yourself around and ignore the person. Ricky should be on a short leash next to your left side to begin with. When you do walk him, be relaxed but stand erect, like you are in charge of the walk and not him. This was a major issue that I had with Princess, she is 4x the size of a Chi and can administer a very bad bite. When she would growl, and show her teeth you knew she meant business. I simply gave a slight tug on the leash with a NO and turned her around and walked the opposite way. It took a couple of months for her, but she now just walks past people as if they weren't even their. Every day she got walked in town where their was a lot of people, always on a short leash, with the collar high up on her neck, so that I had full control and always at a heel on my left side. She learned it well and it is a joy to go for walks now. Another heads up, is that all commands should be only one word. I get the greatest kick out of people who tell their dog to sit down and the dog doesn t do anything! Why? Because the person said two commands together and the dog is confused. Either it sits or it lies down. A lot of people use the down word when they really want a dog to get "off' of something, again it confuses the dog. Or another one is "get off"..... get means the dog is to walk away. "off" means you want it off of somthing like when he is jumping on you or on a chair. "down" means to lie down. Always use single words to avoid confusion. Hope this helps. -------Original Message------- From: Shanna Machanpalli Date: 1/14/2011 11:30:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] I have a question?
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