[Corella]

My husband and I recently adopted a new dog. He is a 2 year old chihuahua mix, Rommel. We already had another dog, a 1 1/2 year old chiweenie, Piglet. They get along, that's not the problem. Every time we take the dogs for a walk they go crazy when a dog or a person walks near us. We live in a pet friendly apartment complex. I want to socialize my dogs with other dogs, but other dogs and humans are freaked out by them. I don't know what to do. There are so many places I wanna take my dogs, but I don't feel like I can. Does any one know what I can do?

[nattiej1976]

Corella, you may find taking them to some obedience classes may help. It will give you and your dogs the opportunity to expose them to new people and new dogs in a controlled environment, and they are likely to give you some good training tips too.

You are going to need to come up with some way of being able to get your dogs focusing on you and you alone when there new people and dogs around. Food or favorite toys could very well be a solution.

Take your dogs out one at a time with some cooked chicken or bacon, and when an unfamiliar person or dog comes by, stop walking, get your dog to sit, and focus on you, and encourage your dog to remain calm and quiet as the person/dog passes by.......it is important to reward them as they get it right, you will probably have to repeat this over and over, and may find that your walks will not take you very far, at first. Over time, if you keep practicing this, they will learn to understand your expectations, and you will then find that you can move further and further away from home with fewer issues.

As things get better, allow people/ dogs to get a little closer before getting your dogs to sit and focus, but watch for the signs of getting ready to start their antics......stiffening of the body, starting to growl or bark at the sight of the oncomers, is your queue to stop your dog there and then and come back to the sit and focus until the distraction passes.

Once you have them working individually and able to get them to focus on you, try them out together.

[Corella]

I will try that. Thanks!:-D

[piratekitty]

Originally Posted by nattiej1976

Corella, you may find taking them to some obedience classes may help. It will give you and your dogs the opportunity to expose them to new people and new dogs in a controlled environment, and they are likely to give you some good training tips too.

You are going to need to come up with some way of being able to get your dogs focusing on you and you alone when there new people and dogs around. Food or favorite toys could very well be a solution.

Take your dogs out one at a time with some cooked chicken or bacon, and when an unfamiliar person or dog comes by, stop walking, get your dog to sit, and focus on you, and encourage your dog to remain calm and quiet as the person/dog passes by.......it is important to reward them as they get it right, you will probably have to repeat this over and over, and may find that your walks will not take you very far, at first. Over time, if you keep practicing this, they will learn to understand your expectations, and you will then find that you can move further and further away from home with fewer issues.

As things get better, allow people/ dogs to get a little closer before getting your dogs to sit and focus, but watch for the signs of getting ready to start their antics......stiffening of the body, starting to growl or bark at the sight of the oncomers, is your queue to stop your dog there and then and come back to the sit and focus until the distraction passes.

Once you have them working individually and able to get them to focus on you, try them out together.

All great advice!! Classes are a must, and working on it daily will only improve this. The only thing I would add is keep your cool, voice calm, when this happens because your dogs will feed off of this, also dont tence up on the leash keep it relaxed. My pin did this to other dogs, people. barking, barking. Two years in training. He now goes and sits by any breed of dog, when I tell him to with no problems. He will walk up to people to sniff and then wait for a chest rub. Really dosnt like his head petted. And he has learned so much more through good training classes. But you need to use what you learn daily or your dog will forget and return back to bad behavior.