First Time Dog Owner & Ready To Learn!

starkisser24

New Member
Hello Everyone!

My name is Carrie I am from Florida and have recently become a parent to 7 Month old Toby, who is a long haired toy chiuahuah! We got him September 7th. I am wanting Toby to be a well behaved dog that can be left with family when we go away. We don't go alot, but enough to need a sitter. I have not owned a dog before so this is all new! I do have an 8 year old cat who is currently not over having a puppy in the house.

I have taught Toby to sit, stay, lie down, say please and dance. We are currently working on wait and down (when we are eating). The only problems I am having with toby is:

#1. Need to teach him to wait at the front door, I am scared he will run out, so right now someone has to hold him while the other person goes out the door and when coming home I quickly come in and shut the door.

#2. Barking outside! he barks at everything! and most of all if a neighboor comes out of their house to go to work he barks. Most of the time I can say "shhh" when I start to hear him bark and he won't continue, but he has moments of all out barking at everyone and shadows! and of course at 5:30 in the morning it's hard for me to correct him too loudly! we live in townhouses that are very close together!

#3. In housebreaking him, which he is doing very well at, we are having a tough time noticing his signals to go out! sometimes he sits by the door and other times he does a real low whisper bark looking at it, however we take him out when he does either and sometimes he just wants to play! should I just bring him in if he doesn't go potty???? he loves outside!

#4. running or backing away from me. is there a way to stop this? maybe not running, but when I want to pet him or if I need to pick him up for some reason, he moves back away from me. if I say "up" he will sit and let me pick him up, if it's something he wants to do, like come up on the couch or go upstairs when he's tired. but if I need to pick him up for some reason he runs or backs away. I am still working on teaching him "come" but even with that he will run to me but if I go to pet him to praise him for coming to me, he won't come completely close to me??

I am willing to take any advice! we also are working on biting and licking! all in all I think he is a great puppy! We take him on walks every night and play lots of ball! he gets fed 2 times a day (6 am and 6pm) and he sleeps in a "crate" and we take him to bed. He has to sit before he gets his food and before he gets his leash on to go out! I do ask him to wait before going out the door, but sometimes he gets ahead of me, am still working on that!

I hope to get lots of good ideas! and meet some new people!

Thank you in advance!
Carrie in Florida :dogwub:
 

starkisser24

New Member
Hi laura!
thank you so much for your wonderful advice!!!! I am going to print this out and use your information! i have been hopping around and reading stuff here and I am learning alot! I am so happy I came across this site!

I am practicing wait upstairs in the morning at the bedroom door! so It was nice to hear you offer that suggestion! I certainly won't be doing that at the front door without a leash!
toby has his days and actually yesterday he was being a great listener! so hopefully that will continue!

Thanks again!
 

katz

Well-Known Member
I had a shorthair chihuahua for 12 years. I litterboxed trained him because I live in Wyoming and when I opened the door he would give me that "yeah right" look. Not having the same issues with my current small dogs. You should have many years with your new little friend. It is a very devoted breed. The one thing I had to work real hard on was socializing with children. A neighbor kid dropped him as a pup and he disliked kids. While pregnant with my son we took him and socialized him with well behaved kids and he tolerated my son when he was born. Best of luck. I agree with Laura, check out the forums you will find a lot of great advice.
Kat
 

starkisser24

New Member
Thanks Kat! It's nice to hear that you were able to have the dog get along with your son! we might be having a baby at some point and I agree, the dog would have to get along with a child! We have kids in our neighborhood and when they ask to pet him I stop and let them, so working on that as we speak! Toby is such a bright dog and every day he learns more and more and suprises me! Devoted is a GREAT word to describe the breed and that's what I wanted! Good luck to you also!
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Yeah, Star, Fickla is right, you do have to go outside with your dog to train him to not bark. Yes, it is a pain, but, it is time well invested.
I had similar problem with Buddy, and i sat next to him, gave command, "shh" and got his att'n on me, and rewarded any no bark moments i could get. Didn't take him too long to understand, i do not want him barking his head off at the dog next door.
Now, if he starts up barking, i can open the door, pop my head out, and say "shh" and Buddy quits. Is cute, he sometimes whimpers or slumps/groans, like "Oh, cmon, i wanna bark some more.." kinda thing, is hilarious.

but you do hafta go out WITH the dog, with treats in your pocket, and be beside the dog to teach this, and be quick to intervene the moment the dogs begins to bark, before they have completely lost their mind, lol!
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
RE: #4, there are many great threads on "recall", getting your dog to come on command. do let us know if you can't locate these!!

Recall is THE most important command of all, imo, and takes a lot of training, and as i have learned, occasional "touch ups" to keep it razor sharp, and should be taught slowly, with increasing distractions. The dog should first learn the command in low distraction areas, like inside the house, progressing very slowly to outside, etc. do find threads and let us know if you need help.

Also, for recall, is best if you do not use dog's name as the cue to come, the dog hears his name all day long, weakens the cue. Lotsa great tips on the threads, find them?
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Aslo, on #4, not sure how long you have had the dog,(?) some dogs, especially a rescue like mine, took time to get accustomed to feeling comfortable being really close to humans. This took my Buddy some time. Fickla's ideas are great.

We could leash him when he came to us, but if he was small enough to pick up(he is just barely, lol) i don't think Buddy woulda much liked that in general too much, not when we first got him....

It does sound like maybe you wanna work on leash desensitization, as Tx recommends in your other thread..maybe your pooch is backing away to avoid being leashed?...not sure....GOOD LUCK!!
 
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