Chihuahua Chaos

Looshkin

Hey all!
We have a 19week old male Chihuahua. He's a very loving fella but despite our best efforts, he still isnt grasping that puppy teeth and human skin are a no go. I've had dogs from pup before and never had a problem with this, but our little guy really uses his teeth to get our attention (not that we aren't paying attention, just that he wants more.) He isn't snarling just very snappy. I've tried time outs, holding him on his back until he is calm, etc. I've been training him command words which he is picking up quickly but he will not listen once he is in 'play-mode'
I don't want to let this behaviour become the norm now and become a huge issue as he gets older and he gets his adult teeth. He is also extremely demanding when we eat and barks like a lunatic demanding that we share with him (we don't but he still feels it's worth trying even if he is put in another room)
The rest of the time he is very affectionate. He's great on the lead and gets loads of exercise and play time. We are in the Laois/Carlow area and I would even be happy to take him to proper obedience classes if there are any good ones around.
If anyone has any advice or tried and tested methods they wouldn't mind sharing that would be great. ☺

Looshkin

Just thought I'd add that he isn't going to be bred and will be getting the snip as we want to be responsible owners.

DBB

Hi op,
Classes, as such, would not be appropriate for the troubles you're having. I think a one-to-one session with a good beaviourist would be the order of the day.
For now, stop holding him on his back... This will cause more trouble for you.
Can you describe exactly how you carry out those time-outs?
You're lucky to have a super behaviourist who covers your area, Emmaline Duffy-Fallon of www.citizencanineireland.com would be well worth getting in to help you, it sounds like you need to tweak some of what you're doing, and completely stop some other things!

Looshkin

Thank you! I'll definitely get in touch with her. So many 'professional' sites and books suggested holding him on his back (it didn't work, he got more hyper so I stopped). I'm just stumped with him, he learns commands so well and then he could be so good and obedient most of the day but then he just goes nuts out of the blue. What starts as him trying to get our attention becomes very 'toothy'. He responds well to positive reinforcement when teaching commands but nothing discourages the nipping. Time out usually means removong him or myself from the situation and having no contact for a minute or 2. I wouldn't use his crate as I don't want him to associate that with punishment, I want it to be a safe place for him (I dont mind crate training as toilet training but not as a punishment). He isnt a vicious dog, he is very loving and is brilliant with strangers and other animals and dogs. I get the feeling that when he wants to dominate us at times during play and that needs to be stopped before it starts. Any thoughts on this?
Oh and I don't mind him getting giddy, he is a puppy after all, but the nipping can't keep happening.

DBB

Don't worry about him trying to dominate you, that whole explanation for why dogs do stuff like growl, bite, pull on the lead, charge through doors etc has been utterly disproven, so don't clutter your thoughts with it.
Dogs do what they do because it works for them, not because of any desire to climb a social ladder. Sometimes, it's hard for us to see how he could perceive a certain action as working for him, but a bit of digging around will always reveal likely reasons for him to feel it's worthwhile repeating the behaviour.
The whole not using the crate for punishment, I have my doubts about tbh. I don't believe that dogs who are already acclimatised to a crate take any issue with the crate itself when they're timed-out in it. No more than when I was sent to my room as a kid made me dislike my bedroom. It didn't.
When you've used time-outs, how many times did you use them in an average day, and for how many consecutive days?
When you remove him, how do you actually carry out the process of getting him from A to B?
My guess is that there are small mistakes being made in timings or consistency of things you're already trying, which is where the eagle eye of a good professional comes in! It sounds like you've the right ideas, they just need some tweaking

DBB

Don't worry about him trying to dominate you, that whole explanation for why dogs do stuff like growl, bite, pull on the lead, charge through doors etc has been utterly disproven, so don't clutter your thoughts with it.
Dogs do what they do because it works for them, not because of any desire to climb a social ladder. Sometimes, it's hard for us to see how he could perceive a certain action as working for him, but a bit of digging around will always reveal likely reasons for him to feel it's worthwhile repeating the behaviour.
The whole not using the crate for punishment, I have my doubts about tbh. I don't believe that dogs who are already acclimatised to a crate take any issue with the crate itself when they're timed-out in it. No more than when I was sent to my room as a kid made me dislike my bedroom. It didn't.
When you've used time-outs, how many times did you use them in an average day, and for how many consecutive days?
When you remove him, how do you actually carry out the process of getting him from A to B?
My guess is that there are small mistakes being made in timings or consistency of things you're already trying, which is where the eagle eye of a good professional comes in! It sounds like you've the right ideas, they just need some tweaking