What would you do about this dog situation?

[TheWorldIsCrushingMe]

Hey all - looking for some perspectives on this situation please.

I've had a Chihuahua for the past 12 years, since he was a pup. Generally, I'm the only person he likes (which I hear is fairly typical of the breed. They are one-person dogs). But six years ago, I met my husband, and ddog really started playing up, being territorial of me etc.

We did everything we could to break that down and he did start behaving, but now I have a toddler and ddog behaves in a similar fashion to him (growling, snapping etc. but he's never bitten him). And now ddog is older, he is far less responsive to our attempts to train him out of it.

It adds so much tension to the household but none of the available options seem attractive exactly. I keep thinking (shamefully) that given his age, he won't be around for that much longer so I'll just keep him separate/ supervised until nature takes its course. But he's as fit as a fiddle 😬

What would you do, in my shoes?

In your shoes I'd carry on. I would get a professional dog trainer too, there's quite likely someone who could help. There's going to be lots of people saying PTS but in your circumstances I would carry on.

I appreciate that you don't have a time machine but you should have dealt with this years ago
I imagine that because your dog is small you have tolerated a lot of behaviour that you wouldn't if it had been a GS for example, I have seen this many times. Even a small dog can inflict a lot of damage, especially on small children
Get some professional help and if that fails you may have to PTS unfortunately

He may live for years yet! Get professional advice but if it proves that the behaviour won’t change give him up for adoption rather than put to sleep! There must be a chihuahua rehoming centre somewhere

Agree. You could have another 8 years with the dog. Chihuahuas live a long time.

Get a behaviourist and start to do proper training, should have been done years ago, but it’s not impossible.

My dd chihuahua was exactly the same with small kids…absolutely hated them ( and anyone else apart from myself and dd). We just kept her away from my grandchildren and any visiting kids. Just keep them separated until your dc is older.

It depends how stressful this situation is for your dog.

Chihuahuas can live long lives so you could be in for another 5+ years and if your dog isn’t happy it’s not fair to just keep going.

I would be getting opinions off of a few dog behaviourists and going from there. If the say your dog would be better off in a single human household I would then look into finding the perfect adopter.

I'd get rid of the dog.

I would re-home him to a family without children. If he bites your child you will regret not taking action.