need some help with Romeos attitude towards other dogs

Fran101

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#1
Now. Ive been having issues recently with romeo

With other chihuahuas. hes fine..

but with ANY other kind of dog.. little man throws a fit. if we walk by them he will bark, and when he first meets them he will growl..

Now, when I brought romeo home for winter break, I basically put him on the ground with kenya and the crew and let him deal with it. and he did, after a bit of snarkiness (grrrrrrrr...), he eventually warmed up to them and was fine

but id like to deal with his attitude when he just meets/walks by/sees other dogs. they dont even have to LOOK at him, hes already in his GRR BARK BARK BARK mode. Hes so cocky, even when these dogs are like 10 times his size or not even paying attention

What can I do to help? whats the best thing to do when he starts to react that way?

We are always in situations with other dogs. all around campus,and especially in Miami.. my whole family has dogs. they are all over the place, he doesnt have to LOVE them, I just would like to stop the snarkiness!

Ive talked to a trainerover the phone and they told me "its because hes scared" well, honestly, he doesnt look SCARED. he starts it! the dog doesnt even have to be looking at him, and he struts as close as he can get to them on leash and is all BARK BARK BARK!

ugh. hes perfect otherwise, great with people and all that. I just wish I knew how to deal with this
 

Criosphynx

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#3
lol, start reading the reactive thread in training. :)


But yeah, CTC and Control Unleashed. Pick 'em up, its a bit detailed to get into the whole thing here. :)
 

FoxyWench

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#4
i will add this is a VERY common chihuahuas problem, as a breed they are "clanish" most chis are fine with other dogs in thier family, but for the most part prefer the company of other wowies...and do NOT like strange dogs lol.
as a breed they also tend to be incredibly pushy about other dogs comming neer THEIR person!

id definatly suggest click to calm
and if possible find other dog frinedly dogs to start letting him mix with in a safe environment.
start with other small breeds, and work up.
 

~Jessie~

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#6
Tucker is like that as well sometimes... he's fine just walking by other large dogs and people (quiet as can be) but when it comes down to actually interacting with them he'll bark/growl.

I'm currently reading Bones Would Rain From the Sky, but once I'm done with it I'm going to look into getting Click to Calm and Control Unleashed, as I've heard good things about them.

And yep, chis tend to be very clannish.
 

Laurelin

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#7
Just saw this. It's not just chis that do this. Mia does it too on occasion with certain dogs and I honestly think she's fear reactive. She puts on a show in hopes that they don't come up to her. Mia is fine with other paps and some chihuahuas who are smaller than her. Though the other day she was attacked and pinned down by a 3 lb chi who decided to bite her... That's turned her off chis a bit. Yeah she will sometimes start a barking and growling fit but it's because she's scared. Imagine being that much smaller than everyone else, lol. From a ways away she looks aggressive but if the dog actually approaches her, she'll usually tuck tail and run. On occasion a dog has cornered her and caused her to snap at it, but it's not aggression, it's fear.

She has had some bad experiences with bigger dogs. I'm working to desensitize but it's hard. We make progress and a situation happens which will set her back. It's frustrating.
 

Whisper

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#8
Lucy's a bit like that. As a puppy she generally liked other dogs, but as she's matured she's getting more selective about the dogs she likes. She's fine with most small dogs, but most others not so much. She seems to like other chis, some poms, and a couple of paps.
She's a couple pounds bigger than most chis but she still has the same attitude.
 

LilahRoot

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#9
Root does this too, and he is a papillon. We took the dogs to the dog park for the first time yesterday and at first Root would not stop barking. He barked at everything, but once we got him into the actual park and off leash he was fine. If a large dog got too personal with him he would give a little growl and go to a different area.

I try to get Root out and desensitize him as much as possible, but it seems like he forgets from day to day. *eye roll*

I'm going to try click to calm. I'll let you know what happens. lol
 

LilahRoot

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#10
Just saw this. It's not just chis that do this. Mia does it too on occasion with certain dogs and I honestly think she's fear reactive. She puts on a show in hopes that they don't come up to her. Mia is fine with other paps and some chihuahuas who are smaller than her. Though the other day she was attacked and pinned down by a 3 lb chi who decided to bite her... That's turned her off chis a bit. Yeah she will sometimes start a barking and growling fit but it's because she's scared. Imagine being that much smaller than everyone else, lol. From a ways away she looks aggressive but if the dog actually approaches her, she'll usually tuck tail and run. On occasion a dog has cornered her and caused her to snap at it, but it's not aggression, it's fear.

She has had some bad experiences with bigger dogs. I'm working to desensitize but it's hard. We make progress and a situation happens which will set her back. It's frustrating.
Not to thread jack, but is this common in paps like it is in chis?
 

lizzybeth727

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#11
If a large dog got too personal with him he would give a little growl and go to a different area.
To me that's perfectly acceptabe. Just like small dogs need to learn to accept large dogs, large dogs also need to learn to give small dogs space. Growling is communication, and as long as the other dog recriprocates - backs off - and your dog doesn't try to go farther - like snapping at the other dog as he's backing off - I think it's perfectly good communication.
 

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