Is Your Chihuahua a Biting Machine?

If your Chihuahua is biting a lot, there are many reasons why he may be acting this way; and most are very fixable!   It is important to know that a Chihuahua does not just bite for fun.  Your dog has a reason for biting that makes sense to them.   If you want to stop your Chihuahua from biting, you must first learn the cause.

The reason may be a simple and easy to fix reason such as teething when a puppy to more complicated issues such as Separation Anxiety.  However, no matter what is making your Chihuahua bite, you can reverse this dog biting behavior.

If your Chihuahua is a biting maniac,  and you just want to have a normal, friendly Chihuahua that does not attack you, don't worry!  There are many ways to train your Chihuahua to not bite.

Why Chihuahuas Bite

There are many reasons why a Chihuahua will bite. Although small, if your dog is biting you will soon find out he or she has sharp teeth!   There will always be a logical reason as to why your Chihuahua is acting out of control and biting.  This can range from a dog previously owned by an abusive person to a medial issue.  The answer may lay somewhere in between.  If your dog does have a medical problem and it is causing pain, this will make your Chihuahua bite.  It will appear to you as if he is biting for no reason at all, when in fact he is suffering. Your dog  may look perfectly healthy; however may be so sensitive that he does not want anyone to touch them. 

If previously owned by a person who mistreated them, a dog may be in constant fear; taught to be afraid of all humans.  They may then bite as an act of self protection.  It is very sad when a dog was hurt and abused; but with a loving owner, patience and time can bring a dog back to being happy and healthy.  You must take things in small steps to very, very slowly bring your Chihuahua from being afraid to jumping in your lap to give you kisses. 

The main reason for a puppy to bite is teething, this can be a difficult time and you must have patience.  The same advice given for babies works for Chihuahua puppies.  Babies need something to chew on when teething.  Your Chihuahua needs something to chew on also and not your fingers!   Give your Chihuahua many different options of toys.  And it is great if you can put some of the toys in the freezer to make them cold when he bites on them.  If you don't mind wiping up the water, you can give you dog an ice cube.  Dogs love this!  If given to him on a linoleum floor you dog will entertain himself for quite some time,  chasing around the sliding ice. 

The instinct to protect may be one of the causes of why Chihuahuas bite. Even though a Chihuahua is a very small dog, he still has the same instincts to protect.  Your Chihuahua will bite to protect her puppies, this is completely normal behavior. A mother Chihuahua will bite your hand in a second if she feels you are a threat to her pup.

A Chihuahua will also bite if he is protecting his territory, another normal dog instinct.  A dog will bite to protect what they consider their own personal space.  This can be fixed by proper training.  Your Chihuahua may also bite because of fear, again this is something that can be fixed with the proper Chihuahua training and making sure you handle your Chihuahua properly.   Training to stop a Chihuahua from biting will be different than the training of other types of dogs.  A toy dog such as the Chihuahua can not be trained in the same way as a Lab.  One way is to put your Chihuahua on his or her back when they bite, this puts them in a submissive position and shows then you are in charge.  You should choose only one short word to say when doing this, such as "no".  Yelling a sentence will not work, dogs only pay attention to the first syllable that a human says. 

How to Stop a Chihuahua From Biting

Your Chihuahua will not stop biting unless you show him that it not acceptable. There are many ways to do this, however you must never hit your Chihuahua or do anything that causes pain, discomfort or scares him.  If you do so, all you will be doing is teaching and training your dog to be afraid of you.  You will lose the opportunity to have that amazing relationship between human and canine.  

Allowing your Chihuahua to keep biting you or others will make everyone unhappy and you will miss out on having a peaceful happy dog.  Your Chihuahua does want to make you happy! No matter what you have heard, it is not true that small toys dogs such as the Chihuahua are snippy biters.   This dog's behavior instinct is to please their owner or owners.

Time and repetition are the key to stopping any dog from nipping or biting.  When your Chihuahua bites you must immediately react as if you are shocked.  Firmly say no and then ignore your dog.  Your Chi wants your attention more than anything; deny them that and you have control over their behavior. Do not yell or hit your dog; simply firmly and strongly say "No" so that your Chihuahua will understand from the tone in your voice that they did something unacceptable.  It may be difficult to keep your calm; but one of you must!  Any time that your dog is playing with you, interacting with other, etc and not biting, you must give praise. 

You can also sit down with your dog in a quiet room.  Move your hand in front of their mouth.  If they do not nip at you, reward them with happy words and pats.  If they nip, strongly say, "No" and ignore them for a few minutes.  Then you can go back and begin again.  With repetition, your dog will learn what is acceptable.

A small dog such as the Chihuahua does not need to live up to its infamous reputation of being a barking, snippy dog.  A Chihuahua can be cute and friendly and just as wonderfully trained as any other  breed.  The one element to change this all is to train your dog properly.   Your Chihuahua needs to be shown what is correct behavior and what is not.  It is your duty to show your dog this.  Once done, the training will last a life time, and you and your Chihuahua will be happy.  You do not need to stop your life and devote every second to Chihuahua training, you simply need to take a reasonable amount of time to teach your Chihuahua to stop biting.

Saying No and Meaning No

If you implement one thing at all, it should be that your dog must have a clear understanding of the command word "No".  When an owner says "No" to too many things, the word loses important meaning.  You may be saying "No" more times than you think.  Try to keep track for 1 day and see how often it is said when it could have been replaced with something else that was more appropriate.

For example, if your Chi always sits and watches you cook dinner and you say "No' without thinking about it, your Chihuahua will think that biting and watching you cook dinner are the same value of bad behavior.  Instead of saying "No" when they watch the soup boiling, you can say anything else such as "Silly dog, you're not getting any of this".  Save the use of your command word for when you really need it and have its meaning solid and strong.

It will be worth it in the end.  If you do nothing, six months from now your  Chihuahua will still bite.  If you begin proper  Chihuahua training, six months from now you will have a loving, cute, little canine who will not bite you.