Updated 12-21-2021
Is Your Chihuahua a bully? Just like children, some dogs can be bullies. What is a canine bully? How do you know if yours is one, and how to stop your Chihuahua from being a bully. All these questions answered in this post.
Do you have a four legged playground bully?
Is your Chihuahua a bully at the dog park or with other four-legged family members? A dog bully is a little like a bully on the kindergarten playground. He wants to play with the other children and wants to be liked, but hasn’t learned the proper play protocol.
Dogs can be the same way. They may be overly zealous in their attempts to play, knock others around, chase them mercilessly, growl or posture. This could happen because of poor socialization as a puppy or a genetic tendency to ignore doggie social “codes”. These dogs are usually easily aroused — it has nothing to do with sex, although neutering or spaying can sometimes help,— and find it difficult to calm down.
All dogs have movements and facial gestures that they use to communicate their intentions clear with each other and with humans. Most dogs learn this at an early stage in their life if they are raised in the ideal conditions, that is with their mother and littermates until they are at least 8 weeks old. Some dogs that missed out on this may be socially “stunted”, but they can usually be taught how to play nicely with other well-mannered dogs.
Dogs with cropped ears or tails may be at a disadvantage because other dogs may perceive them as aggressors with “pricked” ears or may not be able to interpret their intent if they have “stubby” tails.
Is it different play styles?
Sometimes it is a matter of different play “styles” and two dogs with different styles can play nicely with each other once they figure out which one to use. Some dogs with oppositional play styles may not ever be comfortable with each other. This usually happens when one dog that is shy meets a dog with a more physical play style. The shy one doesn’t appreciate being mowed down and may react physically by snapping, growling, or lunging to drive the other dog away. Some shy dogs may on the other hand just shut down and try to get as far away from the aggressor as possible.
I have one of these dogs. My Remedy Jane has a different play style than any of my other Chihuahuas. Remedy is rambunctious and has a more physical play style. Pebbles, on the other hand, is more reserved and shy. To add to this, Remedy outweighs Pebbles by about 4 pounds — which in the world of Chihuahuas is like about a hundred-pound difference in people. She has let Remedy know in dog language that she doesn’t like it a few times, but generally, comes running to me or runs away from her.
Luckily for poor Pebbles, when she does, Remedy just gives up and looks at me as if to say; “why won’t she play with me?”.
When we went to Blog Paws in May 2017 I left Remedy with my son. I always take my dogs with me, but we were going to be gone for a couple of weeks and I didn’t think I could handle the convention and three dogs. My son has two Boston Terriers. Remedy tried her usual playstyle with his dog, Bella and Bella let her know in a loud voice that she didn’t like her style of play. From that point on they played very well together. Even dogs have to stand up to bullies sometimes.
Although the bullying can be corrected or at least minimized, the longer it is allowed to go on the harder it will be to correct it. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Don’t let the bully continue to practice it, he will only get better at it. Never take a dog who is a bully to a dog park. You have no control over what other dogs will do or how they will react to your dog’s bullying or playstyle.
You are your dog’s protector. So, ff your dog is stressed and seems to be trying to get away, remove him from the situation. If, on the other hand, your dog is the aggressor, remove him away from the other dogs.
There are things you can do if your Chihuahua is a bully. Prevent, manage, and train.
Preventing the bully:
Do not allow him to play with other dogs off-leash. If he is under your control with a leash he simply won’t be able to practice most of his aggressive behaviors. Please remember to always use a halter, even when training. Never attach a leash to your Chihuahua’s collar.
Managing the bully dog:
Allow short play sessions with dogs your Chihuahua knows well with close supervision. As long as he is behaving let them play but as soon as you see the first sign of bullying, remove him.
Training the bully dog:
First, become a student of your dog. You need to become aware of the first signs that he is becoming aroused and how long after that he begins bullying. Some samples of the signs are:
- Hair standing erect on the neck and back
- crouching
- moving slowly and fixedly toward the other dog
- staring
- growling or other vocalization
- ears completely forward and tail held rigid and high over the back.
Learn to know your dog’s bullying signs
and interrupt and redirect him just BEFORE he begins the bullying behavior.
- Teach a solid “focus on me” command. See: “Teaching your dog to focus only on you and why it’s important” for more information. Teach him to stop whatever he is doing and to come to you and sit in front of you and look at you EVERY time. Getting him to this point will take time and a lot of patience. But it is the best way to stop a bully.
- Once he has this down pat you can start allowing him short play periods with dogs that he knows well or dogs that are more “laid-back”. Watch him closely. After a few minutes of playtime call him to you and reward liberally.
- Repeat step 2 four or five times during each play session, then quit and separate the dogs. Reward your dog liberally, so that he learns that even when play time is over he still has something good waiting for him.
- Try a play session a day with this same dog that he knows or one with an equivalent temperament for a few weeks and gradually increase the amount of play and “time out” sessions. If at any time he doesn’t respond to your “focus on me” command he needs more training. Go back to that until you are sure that it is “solid”.
- If play and “time out” sessions are going well you can begin to up the ante, so to speak. Put a lightweight leash on your dog and ask a friend to bring their dog over to play (one that he doesn’t know so well). At the first sign of arousal, call him to you. Use the leash to reel him in if you need to. When he gets there, reward him and pet him slowly and calmly from head to tail while talking to him softly. Then release him to play some more.
- Gradually increase the opportunities to play with other dogs while under your control. Remember to call him BEFORE he begins his bullying behaviors. Never let him “practice” those behaviors. Take your time with this training. Take it slow and be consistent. If you try to increase each step to quickly, he may have a relapse. Be sure to always reward him for non-bullying behaviors.
Interrupting the behavior before it starts is the key. If he is not on a dragline, keep a water bottle near to squirt him to “interrupt” the bad behavior (although I don’t encourage “squirting” your dog, use only as a very last resort). You can always use your body to “block” him if you see him heading towards a confrontation. Redirect and reward. Should he get too aroused, take him to a quiet corner until he becomes calmer, or remove him from play altogether.
After your dog learns the “focus on me” command and does it EVERY SINGLE time he will be easier to train. If your dog never learns this you will only be able to manage his behavior. The choice is yours. This will take a lot of time and patience on your part, but it will be worth it in the long run.
How To Train Your Chihuahua
Anyone can teach you to train a dog. Only an expert in the Chihuahua breed can teach you to train a Chihuahua. What you will learn:
- How to overcome their stubborn tendencies
- The best techniques for training a Chihuahua
- 5 easy steps to correcting unwanted behavior
- How to avoid these common mistakes
- Learn step-by-step how to teach your Chihuahua to:
- Sit
- Down
- Stay
- Come
- Enough
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