I have a 3mo old chihuahua and last night he growled viciously at me. it is a habit of growling at us. Why?

Question

My puppy is just as cute and cuddly when he wants to be. He is paper trained, he sits and love to play fetch. However, he growls at us all. The biting is very limited because we use the "ouch" concept to teach him NO. I just don't know how to stop him from growling. Last night he was really vicious with me when i went to get him out of my daughters lap. It really scared me. I just could not believe he was acting like that. After i composed myself, I picked him up with two hands telling him "NO". I was scared, he was scared, but eventually we both settled down. It seems like he does this in the evenings, so maybe he really tired. But that's not excuse for such behavior. He also growled about 2:00 in the morning after my husband took him to potty and put the puppy in our bed. After the puppy did not get comfortable, when my husband went to pick him up to put him back in his crate, which is in our bedroom, he growled at him. HELP!!

Answer 1

Your Chi thinks that he is the dominant one in the household. I would consult a behaviorist and have them help you through it. They will probably need to teach the dog the correct dominance order in the household, which can be really mentally damaging to the dog if not done by a professional.

Answer 2

Chihuahua's tend to be high strung and dominant little creatures. It sounds like the puppy has decided the HE is the boss in your household. He needs obedience training immediately AND everyone in the household must follow the same rules with him. You MUST practice the training at home every day. People like to think their dog can't learn because he's disobedient: usually it's the owners who don't spend enough time in training and reinforcing desirable behavior while correcting unacceptable behavior. First, don't EVER allow him in your bed, or your daughter's, until the growling is under control. YOUR bed may have become HIS bed: the way dog's think, the best bed belongs to the alpha dog and they WILL defend what they think is theirs (including your daughter!) from lesser beings. Try reading a book called, "Leader of the Pack:" it helps explain why dogs do what they do and gives suggestions to gently "put the dog in his place." Get help from an experienced dog trainer and FOLLOW HER SUGGESTIONS TO THE LETTER. Your dog is still young enough to be reformed, but once he's bitten someone it's MUCH harder. If the puppy came from a pet store or multi-breed "kennel," i.e. a puppy mill, it may have more serious jproblems than just inadequate training. Again, an experienced trainer can help you figure out how to handle your puppy so he can become the cherished pet you always wanted. Good luck and don't give up, but DO take action before it's too late.

Answer 3

hes definitely a chi . Well first off you should take him to a professional trainer this isn't a easy one to fix you could discipline him as you are doing but then you ll have a nervous dog who ll pee all over when ever he get scared . Try not to be scared of him it will fuel his superiority complex into knowing that he runs the house ,be firm and pick him up and tell him no and stare into his eyes keep staring at him until he looks away this will put in the alpha dog on you to him and your family should do this also when he does this so as to let him know that hes the dog and he has a place in the world albeit lower that humans and when you stare him down dint do to it smiling he start equating that with play time . next you say that hes doing this in the evenings start putting him to bed during the day for a nap and see how that goes

Answer 4

dont let the pup sleep in your bed. dont let the puppy growl ever. its never cute for a puppy to growl...it will be an adult dog that bites. dont be afraid either! if your child yelled at you would you be scared? no! you are the boss, your husband is the boss and any human who comes into your house should feel the 'boss' of your dog...especially little chihuahua's! because of their diminuitive size....they will develop bad agressive/defensive habits so they dont get stepped on. they dont understand that touching them to pick them up is ok....they think theyre being touched as if to be injured so they automatically growl...kind of like a rattlesnake..its a warning. just tell your pup. HEY! dont cuddle or calm it or pet it after bad behavior ....because the pup will think its getting a reward for that behavior. pass the pup from person to person standing, sitting, etc. in different places around the house. without petting the dog. you will all realize its a dog...not a human. treat it as a pet. teach it good manners from the start. teach it good greeting behavior etc. never allow bad behavior while its a pup. good luck.

Answer 5

I had the same problem with my chi but she woud actually snap at me too. Mainly if I tried to pick her up when she was sleeping. My vet said it was a dominance issue. She was trying to say she was the boss. She told me to pop her on the head (not hard enough to hurt her, but enough to get her attention) and yell "no" at her. The popping her on the head let her know that I was the boss. Kind of like an alpha dog would snap at her if she challenged the position. Anyway, it worked. After just a few times she has never done it again. I could pick her up from a sound sleep if needed with no challenges now. Remember you don't want to hurt her, just establish dominance.

Answer 6

you need to show your chi that your the Alpha dog, because right now he thinks he is.

I'm sure when he was on your daughter he thought of her as "HIS" human and your stepping in. and you did right by telling him NO when you picked him up. (clapping for you)

I own 4 Chihuahua's and I've whelped 2 litters. I'm whelping a litter right now and they are going threw there growling stage.

what i do i flip them on there backs GENTLY and say NO!
once they claim down i let them up, I'm not being mean but I'm letting them know at an Early age that humans are the Alpha dog. I would have your daughter and husband involved with training also because soon her will learn to fear them or walk all over them.

my oldest chi Jamoka hated men and was scared of them because i didn't take him around men only when we went to the vet so he viewed men as people who hurt him.

so i took him to training and asked for a guy now he's oh k with them

i hoped this helped if you need any other help stop by my chihuahua forum.

http://www.mokashosue.tk

Answer 7

You acting scared is what he's reacting to. Your the Alpha dog not him. In the wild he would not (like a chi wld really be in the wild) act like that, an alpha dog would have snapped at him to put him in his place. Be more assertive and calm and stop getting all spazzed out.

Get the book Cesar's way. It's awesome. He's the guy from the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel.

Answer 8

every puppy has different temperment and they are still babies; at this time they would be learning manners from Mom ; I didn't let puppies leave here until 10 weeks old; they were better off learning from Mom and siblings setting the rules; she is a baby and is learning, patience, love , effort ; small treats by hand , praise, she is scared and that sound of aggression is really fear; take the time and work with her patiently to help her overcome being away from the environment and the love of Mom and siblings. It is up to you. A great adult dog had a good trainer when a pup, YOU; some toys to spark interest, something comfy to cuddle up with; they miss snuggling with siblings, warmth comfort and heartbeat; they have snuggle puppies which give off warmth and beating heart; all of our pups left here with familar toys, treats, and a snuggle pup to ease transition ; we still keep in contact some 5 years later

Answer 9

Your chihuahua is just being overly protective. He seems to favor your daughter. The dog is you pack leader. You must put a stop to this at once. There is a program called "The dog whisperer" on Saturdays. I don't know where you're from, but see if you can find this program. I sent for some of his tapes and believe me, they're a big help. Good luck!

Answer 10

I had the same problem with my 3 month old wiener dog...everytime I wanted her to do something and she did feel like it...for example, when she was cuddled up on my bed and i picked her up to put her in her kennel she'd viciously growl at me. I talked to my ob trainer and she asked me questions like if i pampered her and let her get away with too many things...because puppies tend to get like that if you give them too much freedom and don't dicipline them they think they are the boss and growl at us. My ob trainer said that #1 you have to make sure that when she does growl at you, you don't give in and let her win, you have to be extra diciplinary with her, make sure you pick her up and scold her and immediately make her do what you ask of her. Another thing is that you should make her work for everything, for supper, for bed, even for just a pet. If you wanna cuddle her or pet her, make her sit. If your gonna feed her, make her sit. If she's going in the kennel, make her sit. She needs to realize that nothing comes for free and everything has to be worked for....good luck !!! I hope that helped!!!