Does anyone have a chihuahua, Pomeranian or mix of the two?

[KidsHappen]

We are going to pick up a mixed breed one from the shelter today for my 13 year. This will be her dog and she will be resposible for walking it, playing with it, training it, feeding it grooming it and it will sleep in her room. From I understand they are difficult to train so even though I have some experience with dog training I am not sure how hard this will be. Does anyone out there have an experience, advice or words of wisdom for raising this type of dog?

[hornblower]

They can be hard to potty train. They needs LOTS of frequent bathroom trips & even though it seems that their bladder is proportional to their body & they should be able to hold it the same lenght of time, the reality appears otherwise.

 

Absolutely clicker train AND have your dd hand feed all the meals while doing a bit of training. One difficulty with the smaller guys is that they don't eat as much & so it's harder to use reward training without them turning into little plump piggies. So the trick is to use the dog's regular meals, & hand feed all or 80% of the meal. Each morning, just prepare a container with the dog's portion for the entire day measured out. Throughout the day, have several training sessions & just use the regular kibble for training around the house & on leash walks. Feed tiny kibble - there are several brands which make very small size kibbles for the little dogs.

 

For more 'exciting' training - like proofing a behaviour in a place with distractions, you can add something like a teaspoon of pepperoni sausage, cut up very fine. Toss it in a bag with the kibble & it will coat & scent all the pieces & they'll now be special and more desirable.

 

If the dog also finds toys rewarding - excellent! Many dogs will also 'work' for play rewards & so a game of tug or going to fetch the stuffy can be used as a reward when the dog performs well.

 

Clicker training makes these guys think & they need to think. Some of them are 'nervous nellies' and when they learn to think & problem solve a bit using clicker training, they can really blossom & overcome some of their anxiety.

 

Get your dd interested in training tricks. There are hundreds of fun tricks & I'm now of the opinion that time spending on tricks is one of the best investments you can make in your dog. There are some wonderful inspiring trick videos here: http://silvia.trkman.net/videos.htm

 

(Silvia Trkman is a world agility champ & I think her debut on the Slovenian national team was when she was in her mid-teens.....)

 

Would your dd be interested in doing agility with this dog? There are many venues which you can compete in with mixed breed dogs, or she could just do it recreationally. It's a whole lot fun & not terribly expensive.

 

Also RallyO & Musical Freestyle are lots of fun. There are tons of good videos on youtube & they can get her motivated about all that's possible to achieve with a bit of time and patience.

 

how exciting for you guys! Have fun with your new doggie & THANK YOU for choosing to adopt. :hurray:

 

 

p.s. I have used dog training as a large chunk of curriculum for both my kids. They've learned a lot about learning theory, behaviorism - how it applies to other animals v. humans, esp. where it falls down for humans, ethics, philosophy etc.

Karen Pryor's classic Don't Shoot the Dog was in the parenting libraries for La Leche League for a good reason :). There's an audio book version of this book which the kids & I listened to. Pryor has a new book out called Reaching the Animal Mind which dd & I will read this summer. http://reachingtheanimalmind.com/ Getting involved in really training dogs, really learning about what works and why, is very educational - and fun. :D

[MaMa2005]

I have had chihuahuas all my life. Wonderful dogs, very stubborn BUT very protective and loyal. They do not realize how little they are and that can often lead to big trouble, i.e., taking on the neighborhood German Shepherd. Be aware that they do pine for their owners when they are gone.

 

Also, be aware that because of their small size, they can go from being healthy to death's doorstep in small amount of time. If things seem 'off', don't delay too long before seeking help from the vet.

 

Don't let them get too cold. Our little lady, who is 12, has a heating pad that she sleeps on from September through May. She gets soooo angry when I put it away for the summer. They love to be toasty warm.

 

Good luck!

[KidsHappen]

Well, my dd and the dog have bonded very well. He never wants to be out of here presence. She has already made progress with sit, down and stay but potty training is going to be harder than I thought. The puppy is 4 mos old and had only been paper trained. He won't go out side at all. He has went six hours without going to the bathtoom till he could get to papers. My dd will stand outside with him for an hour and he won't go and then when we go in he will go. The foster home kept his paper in his crate but I don't want to do that. I was thinking about putting the papers just outside his box and then move it closer and closer to outside until we get outside and he gets the idea that he should do it out side. We are planning on giving treats after every success. Will this work and if so how long will it take? Anything else I should be doing?

 

PS. I will post pictures as soon as I can get my kids to help me. He is really cute. :)

[katemary63]

My DD18 adopted a 1 year old chihuahua from a vets office where he had spent 6 months living in a cage. He was never able to be potty trained. The only thing we could do was take him out frequently to avoid messes. When we weren't home he was put in a crate. We was a wonderful dog and we loved very much. DD had clothes for him and dressed him up and took him places. It was adorable. We are glad we him for the time we did.

 

(He was snatched off his ou side cable by a predator (bear? Eagle? Coyote?) about a year after we got him - DD was devasted.)

 

We will not be getting another small dog.

[hornblower]

Your idea of moving the paper bit by bit is sensible but I'm an impatient trainer. I'd at least TRY to jumpstart this by putting paper outside. Perhaps used papers to really give him the idea. Then, I'd try again to wait him out & see if he'll go there.

 

If that doesn't work, then yes, try moving them bit by bit, & reward each advance.

 

Also, how is he with other dogs? Does he show any interest in marking? Sometimes dogs will pee on an area where another dog has just gone so maybe try arranging that....

 

I wanna see pix!

 

p.s. I just spent a long time chasing down a chihuahua that was running loose in our neighbourhood. Gosh he was fast & just running like crazy. I was in the car, dd was with me & we were driving around like crazy & then leaping out the car to try to head him off. Eventually we got him cornered in someone's back yard (yup, trespassing like crazy). A very frantic owner contacted me through CL and the silly old guy is happily home now. :) It was like chasing a greyhound - sheesh!

[annandatje]

We are going to pick up a mixed breed one from the shelter today for my 13 year. This will be her dog and she will be resposible for walking it, playing with it, training it, feeding it grooming it and it will sleep in her room. From I understand they are difficult to train so even though I have some experience with dog training I am not sure how hard this will be. Does anyone out there have an experience, advice or words of wisdom for raising this type of dog?

 

We have a shelter pom who weighs 20 pounds. He is not overweight but large for a pom.

 

I suspect he was a shelter dog because he has serious issue with territorial marking although he is otherwise housebroken. Short of diapering him, we have not had success with stopping the marking behavior. We decided to deal with it as best we could and replace carpet after he passes away.

 

Although he is medicated daily for arthritis, every day is good day for him once he gets his engine warmed up in the a.m. He is the perennial favorite dog of the visitors to our home.

[hornblower]

annandatje - have you tried belly bands? They often work well for marking boys.

 

IME, some boys also mark b/e they're anxious so I'd look at some relaxation strategies, Ttouch, massage, DAP (dog appeasing pheromone). Doing clicker training is also good as it gets them thinking and wears them out mentally in a positive way.

[KidsHappen]

Your idea of moving the paper bit by bit is sensible but I'm an impatient trainer. I'd at least TRY to jumpstart this by putting paper outside. Perhaps used papers to really give him the idea. Then, I'd try again to wait him out & see if he'll go there.

 

If that doesn't work, then yes, try moving them bit by bit, & reward each advance.

 

Also, how is he with other dogs? Does he show any interest in marking? Sometimes dogs will pee on an area where another dog has just gone so maybe try arranging that....

 

I wanna see pix!

 

p.s. I just spent a long time chasing down a chihuahua that was running loose in our neighbourhood. Gosh he was fast & just running like crazy. I was in the car, dd was with me & we were driving around like crazy & then leaping out the car to try to head him off. Eventually we got him cornered in someone's back yard (yup, trespassing like crazy). A very frantic owner contacted me through CL and the silly old guy is happily home now. :) It was like chasing a greyhound - sheesh!

 

We have a Golden and they seem to get on fine so far. We did take him to the out to the same location the Golden uses in the yard hoping that he would get the idea but that didn't work either. I have thought about putting the papers directly outside, so I might try that. I just find it hard to believe that he hasn't already been trained at 4 months. I will get a picture up as soon as I can. He is absolutely adorable.

[Tabrett]

I have had 3 poms. My first I was able to potty train. She was an excellent dog. My next two are from the same litter. They are 2.5 years old. I have never been able to get them fully potty trained. I don't know why. I used a crate and took them out all the time. I have trained several dog, but these two just.will.not.train! They have several accidents a week.

[Guest ToGMom]

A friend of mine adopted a Pomeranian from a couple -- NOT a shelter. The dog was 3 years old and still not house-broken. :glare: They worked with him for 6 months and he still wasn't house-broken.

 

He would do his business anywhere and everywhere -- whenever he felt like it. He could have just been outside and he would come inside -- just to pee or poop on the floor.

 

ETA: I wouldn't own one (Pomeranian) if someone paid me to take it...

Edited May 25, 2010 by ToGMom