mythrainbow said:
Also the behavior you described from your chihuahua doesn't sound like a typical breed charcteristic, rather it sounds like problem behaviours that occur because some need is not being met or lack of discipline or miscomunication.
Many people treat their dogs as children, this is when you come up with many problems. That's not to say a dog is not a part of the family, because they very much are. But a dog was created for pack life, which is slightly different than family life and we have to account for this when we deal with our dogs.
Some dogs are great at adapting to us, so we don't need to change our ways. But we are more complex than dogs, so sometimes dogs can't cope, and we need to change things and understand how the dog sees things otherwise we can cause major problems.
Ok I could go on forever on the subject but instead I'll invite you to PM me with any further questions. I started training dogs when I was 11 and I started teaching others when I was 15. So even if you have a question I can't answer right away, I have sources to find you an answer.
I am sorry to read about your loss.
I applaud the people who come to CF asking for advice and giving advice.
Also there's a show that comes on national geographic.
http://poll.imdb.com/title/tt0423642/
http://www.cesar-millan.com/?source=adwords
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer/
The last website is probably the best one. If you don't have much time on your hands or don't feel like doing much else, you can probably watch a taped version of the show while you eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
This is what I've learned from watching the shows:
A dog should be a dog first. These are their needs: 1. Exercise 2. Discipline 3. Affection & should be given in this order, not affection all the time and not enough exercise and not enough discipline. Dogs need to know you are the leader. If they do not get 1 & 2 and just get 3, they can become neurotic and display behavioral problems. Even how you feel inside and your body posture, the dog will pick up on and it rubs off on the dog. I've watched a number of episodes, and Ceasar is very impressive.
This is straight from their site, I just highlighted it in blue:
Whether it's soothing the nerves of a mal-tempered Chihuahua or teaching celebrities' dogs how to deal with big city life, Cesar Millan has an uncanny ability to rehabilitate canines and teach owners to be the loving "pack leaders" their pets need them to be.
Photo Gallery
Fetch photos of killer Chihuahuas, not-so-Great Danes and more.
If mythrainbow and going to the site and watching the show do not help, maybe you could call Ceasar and have him do a show with you.
I've seen dogs on that show that were aggressive &/or neurotic changed almost as soon as he got their leash and walked them. There was at least one episode where he had to take the dog away for a little while to rehabilitate the pooch.
There are also prison facilities that work with dogs and cats to train them, so you could find more about that too, and how close the nearest one to you is. From what I've seen, you would have to drop off your dog there to be trained. I think other places have it where they train the dogs to be more adoptable. If you go this route, you might have to check to see if the one nearest you will do one that already has a home.
As far as other suggestions on what your dog snacks on: maybe vitamins, a more expensive diet or homemade diet, keeping doggy on a leash when going outdoors (if your dog is your baby, think about it like this, would you want your 1 year old eating that stuff or would you restrain your baby from that) (if your dog is just a dog to you, you do not want your dog to lick your face or anyone else's after that habit) or maybe training doggy to go indoors on newspapers or in a cat box (yes they can do that), there are also pills to make a dog stop eating its own but I'm not sure if it will work on the cats (could check to see if a vet would reccommend you give it to the cats to make their own waste not be as tasty to your dog), using a large kennel (covered with wire and some shelter and water access) with a run can keep your dog from the cats' waste and other animal waste and give some freedom at the same time, get a doggy physical and deworming and deparasitizing on all your pets in case your dog gets loose after all this (could be coming fro a nutritional deficiency caused by worms or a health problem and diet alone may not lead your dog to stop what has become a natural habit for some puppies), and by all means try to find someone who uses the techniques Caesar uses or watch the show (maybe find someone who has cable or directtv to tape it for you if you don't have it) itself if you can get it for free (he has even used a treadmill for one that could not stop pacing!).
Any dog that acts like this needs to have something better to do with its time instead of nipping or biting and eating waste.
If you get another dog, what's to stop that dog from becoming worse than the one you've got? Work on the first dog, and then figure out what you want to do as far as getting another one (I don't think you mentioned how far down the road you might get another?). If you do not want your dog after you see changes or no changes, then I hope your dog goes to someone who will treat your dog right.
The best dogs (friendliest and smartest) I have seen are rough collies, retrievers (lab or golden), and huskies. These dogs are normally friendly, and if you want a little one indoors, maybe you could go as far as a labradoodle (lab mixed with poodle specifically bred together) or mix breed or even a pure breed in a shelter.
I would not suggest a husky for you as they normally need lots and lots of exercise and pull really hard on a person's body. The breed type does not always determine the behavior all the time. I've even seen within the different breeds various personalities. For example, one collie might be hyper and a roaming excape artist while the other might be calmer and willing to stay near the house. One might be highly active and needing attention all the time to the point of crying and screaming and getting jealous when attention is given to someone else while another in the same breed might be calm, aloof, and lay around the house except to dip her feet in a wading pool or lake.
I think each dog or breed will have their own personality quirks, good and bad, and each person has to just deal with what they get the best way they can. A dog is a very big committment and can change your life while you are changing that dog's life.
If you are determined to get another, regardless of what you do with the one you have now, I would suggest getting a book or finding a website that will give you a test and match you to a dog that will suit your needs, personality, and lifestyle. I have seen a book like that when I did an onoline search a few years back that I wanted at one time, but don't remember the name of it nor who wrote it. It had a series of tests in it designed to help someone find the right dog and for the dog to be paired with the right people.
Please keep us updated on what you decide and how it works out for you.
!
