hi, I'm yolanda, I've got a puppy who's half chihuahua and half chinese crested. he's got his mom's skin but his dad's attitude. mom was a very petite chinese crested, dad was a robust chihuahua. Timmy is a feisty little guy with a sharp brain and very delicate and sensitive body. He's very much concerned about me being displeased and responds well to scolding and praise. born march 20th, he's just about five months old. You can see some pics on my flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/annrkis...hinesecrested/
I've joined a forum for chinese crested, it;s been a great resource, and a friend suggested this place for chihuahua related questions.
Like this one, is it common for chihuahuas to attack all strange dogs on sight, even when extremely young? How would you suggest I deal with it? I've been gathering lots of suggestions from various sources but chihuahua experience is short.
timmy has a love interest in my older dog Sarah, she's a heinz 57 "Shi'tzuranian cockapoo-poo" dog and dotes on him and tolerates pretty much anything. They play a lot and he clearly adores her just as much. The other old girl, Indigo, at 8 years the same age as Sarah but a lazy dog and battling a bad back and allergies, tolerates very little from him. Nevertheless he happily bosses them both around at will. the rabbit he cannot boss, hehehe but they have some fun playing chase when the rabbit's in the yard. dogs aren't allowed in the garden so that's where the rabbit can get away. Mostly Timmy is pretty good if he knows the rules, although he sometimes tries to bend them a bit. I am pretty confident he'll be fitting in just smooth by christmas. I'd like to take him to agility classes if I can get him past this aggressive streak.

Hey yolanda.... good to see ya here.... its a great place for your chi answers.... timmy is certainly a cutie!!

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Welcome to the board!

To answer your question.... absolutely NO, it is NOT common for Chi's to attack all strange dogs on sight. ESPECIALLY when puppies.

You might benefit from reading the recent post by another member about her "mean" chihuahua. Some good info there.

I would suggest you read up and do some research as much as you can on aggression issues in puppies. But to link it as a possible trait of Chi's - absolutely NO WAY is that common in chihuahua's.

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

Okay, i don't know much about chihuahuas except years ago I heard they were counted #1 on the list of dogs most likely to attack! They have a strong folk reputation for fierceness and quickness to attack non-family members. I've seen it first hand too so I expect they do less well with poor socialization than perhaps a shi'tzu or collie, etc. I love the small package. timmy isn't nearly as snappy as he was 2 weeks ago so I might be getting a handle on it. There's a reggae festival downtown today so I'll take him there for a bit and give him more experience.

Welcome to the forum

But that info is a pile of dog poop. Number 1 to attack hahahaha chis are tiny and not stupid. They can be snappy and yappy but that's normally down to bad breedig or more than likely bad ownership. Socialisation is the key.
Don't get me wrong any dog can attack if prevoked (as can any human) but as a responsible owner you need to socialise it give discipline and affection at the right time

Oh I'm not saying it's okay for a dog to be badly behaved because it's X breed, just that if it's a breed with a particular tendency, one needs to be more aware and work harder to control that feature. Like when I had a dog who was half pitbull, I had to introduce her to more small animals and teach her gentleness more earnestly than if she'd been, say, a newfie or some other gentle giant. Timmy is getting better. he still goes kind of nutty when another dog comes up to us but he quits sooner and starts later and struggles less if I hold him still. he's a bit less violent about it. I had him out in the park today and one little dog came pawing at my legs as I sat with Timmy on my lap. he didn't like that one little bit (cute soft thing charmed me and I wish I could have petted it) but he didn't lose his head as bad as two weeks ago at least.
it's embarassing though, a lot of people get offended as though I'd taught my dog to be an a$$ towards other dogs.

Do you have any puppy socialization classes you could take him to? He desperately needs it or you will be dealing with dog aggression for the next 15 years.

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"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way.....
but you can never say again that you did not know." William Wilberforce 1759-1833

@brodysmom I really wish we did! I cannot even find a local obedience class that uses clicker training or other positive reinforcement methods and takes only small dogs. This is a small city in the middle of a lot of farmland and yet we are the local big city for a very sparsely populated region. it's why I'm trying to farm for as many concrete suggestions as I can. i've been taking advantage of our summer and all the local festivals and such to try and expose him to other dogs but it's asking a lot of complete strangers to socialize my dog for me. What's more, none of us really knows what we're doing so we are fumbling around at it.
He's good with my two dogs at home and the neighbor's dog. When I took him over there the first time he was savage towards her so we locked him in a kennel and I left. Right after I was gone the neighbor let him out and he made instant friends with her dog. After that, it's been fine. If he could meet other dogs without me there we'd probably find it was okay.