Training adult rescue/rehomed dog

[JustGettingStarted]

Today is the one-month anniversary of my chihuahua coming home with me. He's settling in very well and I am over the moon with him.

As it's my first dog, I'm trying to learn how to do things right.

Rocky is housebroken and fairly good at being walked on a leash. He gets three walks a day for a total of 3 to 5 hours, covering 4 to 8 miles. He can pull a bit at times if I'm walking too slow for him, but as he's tiny and he wears a harness, it's not a hardship for either of us.

He is occasionally reactive to some people. Because he's so small and on a leash, people generally just laugh when he gives a little bark at them. If they actually put their hands down for him to sniff he just barks a couple of times then he will be friendly. Often he doesn't even bark. There's no aggression, really. I think he's just saying that he's there. However I don't want him to bark at children who are afraid of dogs.

He is reactive to most dogs. He will usually match their energy - if they're barking then so is he. He is much less reactive to quiet dogs that ignore him. Because he's too small to drag me anywhere I can handle it but I don't know how he'd react to a loose dog and I saw a man struggle to control his (muzzled) XL Bully as our dogs mutually reacted.

There are some familiar dogs at the park many mornings and he is very good with them. They have a quick sniff then sort of do their things in parallel.

We are working on recall. When we are in a safe place I will let him off lead and call him to me with high value food rewards. We had a lovely walk around the park this morning off lead and he was very good. When we're in other environments that aren't quite as secure he can have the extended lead and we continue practicing. I am seeing rapid improvement but if something is sufficiently exciting, he doesn't want to hear me. I hope he improves with this.

That's what we've done so far - worked on recall. I would be interested in hearing from others which cues they think are most important.

Stopping reactivity including barking at people and dogs altogether should be your number one priority over recall tbh. If your dog is reactive it shouldn’t be off a lead - regardless of how ‘safe’ or ‘quiet’ you think an area is, because all it takes is one loose dog that appears around a corner.

It’s hard to solve reactivity, but it can be done. One of mine was child/man reactive and now she’ll let both touch her and be fussed. It took me two years, but I managed it.

I really want to stress that just because your dog is small doesn’t mean it its reactivity/aggression isn’t having an adverse behaviour/experiences of other dogs. One of mine is constantly barked at by smaller dogs - and it’s actually starting to impact on his behaviour as he’s terrified by their aggression. Having your dog on a lead or being small is not an excuse.

Please don’t minimise your dogs bad behaviour just because he is small. You should see a behaviourist about it - both for your own dog but also for other dog owners

Your dog that is afraid of the barking small dogs - is he reacting to them?

No. He was trained to ignore all dogs (as all my dogs are). Other dogs barked at him when he walked past. And now it’s got to a point where he’s been barked at/attacked so much he doesn’t even want to walk past them.

I definitely agree that walking a reactive dog like yours off lead is not ok just because he is a small dog.

I would concentrate on working on the reactivity with a behaviorist. I would also suggest less walks 3-5 hours a day where he's in a heightened state because he reacts to almost all the dogs he comes into contact with is a very large amount of time for him to be on high alert and reactive.

Not the point of the thread but what is a month anniversary? Thirteen months? An anniversary is a year after an event. Why not say 13 months?

Treat him as a dog, not a small dog. Don't let him get away with things that you wouldn't let a bigger dog get away with.

Be really mindful of not letting him harass bigger dogs. They do get upset. I used to have a large dog, and hated when people used to let little dogs run up to him. They weren't a threat to him, but he couldn't understand that. I was worried that he would grab one one day (these days I would muzzle, but this was the 80s).

I don't let him run up to dogs at all. I don't scold or yank or anything but just walk purposefully on with the lead held close. Once the dog is behind us, he forgets all about it. The XL Bully was muzzled and while it was kind of funny that my chihuahua acted like he'd kill him, I didn't laugh. I actually felt a bit bad for the bully, as he was defenseless. (Don't get me wrong - I'm glad he was muzzled!)

I am reading resources on how to train dogs to ignore. I want to get it right so I'm not inadvertently rewarding the wrong cues.

I think he generally reacts to dogs the same way he reacts to an intriguing post box - he really, really wants to sniff it. If the other dog ignores him he ignores it. If they exchange sniffs, he's quickly done and moves on. If they bark or react with anxiety, then so does mine. I think I ought to be able to work with that.

I have been taking such long walks because he seems to be inexaustable. But I think if I'm going to be giving him lots of little chicken titbits every time we see a dog approaching, it would make sense to limit that, at least for the sake of his diet!

Well done on all the work you are doing with him. Regarding the walks- it's brain work that tires them out - walks just make them fit!

I say go with the chicken. Dogs really don't need to sniff each other when walking, and knowing how to ignore another on lead dog is an important skill.

He's not interested in toys at all. All he cares about is cuddles, walkies, and food. I encourage him to sniff as much as he wants because that's supposed to be good for them (sniff bushes and posts, etc, I mean.)

We just had a quick pre-lunch walk, so he could have a pee. He really just marks every other sniffy thing and I figure if he's lifted his leg a dozen times, he ought not to be bursting... But he can take a while to fully empty!

Anyway, we're right in the town centre and it's very, very hectic. There were some dogs that I could distract him from with Chicken but a couple were very reactive, themselves, and he wouldn't be distracted at all. I think maybe the midday walk is too stimulating for him. There's a slightly less stimulating way to walk that I'll take in the future. Plenty of stuff to sniff but much less footfall.

We're opposite a busy vets so there's always likely to be a dog.

Five hours of exercise per day for a chihuahua is absolutely crazy - why on earth are you doing so much?

I would bet that a lot of his behaviour is because he's far too overstimulated - I would cut his exercise right back to about an hour a day and use his food for training and mental stimulation instead.

Many reactive dogs actually benefit from reduced exercise (many trainers even recommend full days off occasionally). Its not that exercise per se is bad, its that if your dog is reactive to things outside the home, you need to give them a chance to relax and decompress - and they can't do that if you're constantly taking them out.

He really seems to enjoy his walks and I can stand to be more active so I assumed it was good for him! When he's home he just snoozes.

His previous home had a small back garden so he was able to do his potty frequently and I just felt like I should give him three opportunities.

Maybe the hour in the morning - as its very early and there's not much about - is still good but I'll tone down his later walks.

It's good for him one sense but too much exercise just creates a super fit dog who is impossible to tire out.

I'd really look into the links between excessive exercise and reactivity. If he's out for five hours a day and spends that time constantly on edge, it can't be very pleasant and he's going to find it really hard to switch off and relax.

I will try to limit the amount of time spent in the busy areas, too. Very early morning is less stressful and I'm going to keep his noon pee break short and to the quiet car park behind the shops.

I've had my PomChi a year now, she's nearly 9 years old, and she came very reactive to other dogs. She either ignores people/children unless they pay attention to her then she just wants pets, but other dogs are big nono. She used to live with a French Bulldog and had to put up with Labradors, I don't think she's ever really learned how to be polite around other dogs.

We have done SO MUCH WORK over the past year and, while she still has her off days, she's so much better than she was. We did a Dogs Trust Reactive Dog School class with her which helped give us some pointers and worth it if you have one near you.

We did an early morning walk this morning which did result in some reactivity. We walked past one other Chihuahua (they are almost twinsies!) quite closely as she refused to go into the long wet grass to avoid the other dog and I try not to pick her up unless I absolutely have to. She lost her tiny mind for a few moments, fortunately the other dog didn't and was just curious and the other owner stopped to chat a few feet away while I got her attention back on me which she did and was able to sit, do a little paw trick and get a treat all while another dog was only a few feet away. We're not quite up to letting her sniff other dogs, especially when she's got all amped up, but we will get there.

One tip the behaviourists told us was that when sniffing they get all the info they need in 2 seconds, any longer can cause the situation to get tense. She can get very intense with sniffing the few times she's been allowed to and if the other dog sniffs her face she snaps. So when we do allow a sniff, it's 2 seconds sniff and then she's called away and given a treat for being good.

It takes time, and there will be off days!

W hen we adopted our last dog, a foxhound, we were constantly being told they need loads of walking. So the first weekend we really went for it with the walking and he reacted like an over tired toddler.
so we slowed down allowed him to meander and sniff, completely different dog. So we did 20 minutes morning and evening and an hour in the afternoon.
We started training behaviours at home and lots of licky mats and kongs to help him relax and unwind