Any wise chihuahua owners out there?!

[Chichichochi]

I recently adopted a little chihuahua girl, around 8 years old, who has slotted straight into the home and routine so easily. She gets on beautifully with our current dog, she’s quite dependent on him for company and good at sharing both food and attention!

The only real challenge is that she’s quite reactive to other dogs on walks. I’ve seen a trainer and we’ve been working on positive reinforcement and trying to calm her on walks, but I don’t feel like we’re really getting anywhere. She’s really up and down each walk! 🤯

Would love to hear from other chihuahua owners - any tips or advice? 😅

It's a long, hard slog to deal with reactivity - I've had 3 reactive adopted dogs and we were at it all their lives with us. You'll find yourself getting despondent but all you can do is use the strategies to make your dog focus on you when they see another dog, get a reward and move on.

"Curing" it such that they can meet other dogs - near impossible in my experience. But dogs don't have to meet other dogs so just look at each encounter as a fresh start for your dog.

I'll add that dealing with a chihuahua being reactive is a bit easier than the two mastiff crosses we had (not together!)!