Chihuahua Training For a Home-ready Dog
Surely one event not to catch a family offguard is the arrival at home of a pet Chihuahua. But after the initial excitement has died down, then immediately starts some serious work. Indeed, no pet Chi can be allowed to dispense with valuable Chihuahua training to help it fit into its new home setting.
Housebreaking
Among the first things in a new pup's Chihuahua training is how to housebreak it. And prior to getting your dog housebroken, you naturally need to limit its movement to a specific area of the house. Otherwise, your Chi with an all-access pass thrughout the house is likely to end up dirtying the place. And for dogs, a habit that has started really can be difficult to stop. This is the reason why most homes confine their dog to a room in the house, or leave him or her in a crate or cage when you will be away from home.
The aim of housetraining is to teach and train the chihuahua to relieve itself outdoors. Indeed a proven way to start the training is to attract it to the security and privacy of a cage or crate. You may also want to paper-train the dog, which involves putting newspapers down in an assigned area while it is still young and very open to training. You will also need to take the dog outdoors after meals. Try to get it to stay outdoors until it is done relieving itself. Give it plenty of praise when it complies. Once he comprehends that he needs to be outside in order to pee or poo, remove the newspapers.
The Need for Routine
It is important at this point to teach the dog to live according to some routine. Set routines for activities like dog walks, feeding times, sleep times, etc. Be consistent since the dog will rely very much on order and predictability.
Clicker Training
Clicker training is another helpful Chihuahua training method often used with guard dogs and service dogs, and it has been shown to work well with chihuahuas. This training involves a very basic device called a clicker which makes a clicking sound at a single press. The click is actually a sort of reward signal meant to “announce” a treat for the dog. Therefore, keep in mind that you will need to give it a treat to the dog every time you click the device.
Start the clicker training through simple commands. You can begin with simple requests such as “sit” or “lie down.” Keep an eye on the dog. When it accomplishes what you ask of it, for example it sits as you said, click and give it a treat. Slowly work on teaching it harder and harder requests. Thus, if you want to teach your dog to go to a certain area in the house away from house guests, place a mat or dog bed in that area. Click and give a treat when you are able to get the dog to lie down on the designated area. Commands can be repeated verbally while you are clicking and treating.
Oct 20, 2009 | 0 | dog care tips
