How do I teach my dog to be nicer to other dogs?

guacamol_ee: How do I teach my dog to be nicer to other dogs?
I have an 8-9 year old Chihuahua and every time one of my relatives brings their dogs over, my dog gets feisty and starts barking uncontrollably at the other dog and tries to harm them. We want to get a new dog, but it’s impossible to have 2 dogs in the same house under these circumstances. How do I teach my dog to be nicer to other dogs?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Summer
That is common for Chihuahua breed, but you should think about obedience or training school for your dog. Its best to socialize dogs when they are 4-6 months, the younger, the better. I’m not a dog trainer, but I do work at a doggy daycare. The more opportunity you have to socialize your dog, it may get better, but I would definitely look into training him/her. Good luck.

Answer by evon stark
sounds like a territory dispute to me.I found that the more you socialize the dog with others it starts to calm them down.My dog was just horrific for a while..but the socializing worked.Its also embarrassing to have a ten pound dog that acts like a pitbull !!!!

Answer by Eric
Socialize, socialize, socialize. It’s really kind of late for thinking about this but…. When you introduce your dog and if he starts barking discipline him by tugging at his leash (have him be wearing one), and use a negative behaviour word like NO or something along those lines. Keep this up and it might take some time because it is a bit late for socializing but I think it will work with time. Good luck!

Answer by Precious Gem
Your dog is the Alpha dog in his home. All other dogs are warned when they come over. Introducing a new dog into the household will take
time and a great deal of patience. Keep them separate for a while with a door between them so they can smell
each other. There will be battles as your Alpha dog sets the ground rules. Just be firm but gentle.
In time they will be best buddies.

Answer by debi c
you have to show the dog that it is not excepted, make him sit and quite use a collar close to the neck and pull slighty when she barks when she stops let the leash relax, i watch the dog whisper and bought all his videos, i highly recommend buying his video’s or even watching him on the national geog channel name is cesar milan look him up on the web and he will teach you how to become a pac leader to our little babies in a very good way trust me this guys is wonderfuld

Answer by FreezerBreezer345
i have a Chihuahua too, she is the same way. The good thing is, she is getting better at her social skills. About 1 year ago, my best friend got a new puppy, also a Chihuahua. Her mom is just like my second mom, and she is like my sis, cuz we spend so much time together. MY dog also treats my friends mom as if SHE was the one who brought her home from the breeder that day, when really my mom was. Anyway, at first when Ella, my dog, saw the new pup, she growled and snarled at her. Then she wouldnt pay ANY attention to my friends mom or my friend. She absolutly HATED the whole family, including the dog. Now the two dogs are inseperable. This story was just to show u, that u CAN get another dog…it will just take time for the two dogs to get used to each other!!!
good luck!!!!

Answer by CJP
An excellent resource for you would be the book _Click_To_Calm_ by Emma Parsons, which discusses how to deal with reactive dogs.

In short, you reinforce polite behavior from your dog toward other dogs. During the initial stages of training this requires you to be very quick- your dog glances at the other dog, you mark it (verbally or with a clicker) before any rudeness can occur, and then reinforce your dog (food is the most common reinforcer). As training progresses you can mark longer polite looks, looking back at you, or interaction such as polite sniffing.

For more information about clicker training check out https://www.clickertraining.com.