Helping Chihuahua Adjust to New Home

By

meoowmom

My friend had a similar prob it turned out. The people she got her chihuahua from spoke Spanish to the dog and it took a while for him to learn English. Be paitent he is scared and needs love.

By Bev (Guest Post)

I find that dogs relate to our feelings. This dog has come to you with problems that need to be resolved. Just be yourself with the little guy and his personality will come shining through when he is ready.
Patience is so important. It is like a warm cuddly blanket. Sometimes there is pain that we cannot even imagine and this affects your dog in many ways.

We have a 5 year old Pom, Willis, and on Wednesday we got a young German Shepherd from Dog Control in a town about 25 miles away.We named our princess, Sasha. We love her already and we know she is bursting with energy so she will keep us busy. Have you thought of taking a short break from your dog and see how you feel without her. You may learn a lot. You might be belong together or your might be the wrong mix. Good luck to the doggy and the human sides of this heart pulling question.

By

micksgirl

Maybe you have the same problem my parents did. THey wanted another poodle and got one from a breeder, something I wouldnt recommend anymore. They lied said he was a house dog and very loving. Turned out he was older than they said, had been in a kennel his entire life and never loved on. He had medical problemds, which they made the breeder pay for. They refused to return him, which is what the breeder wanted, after the vet turned them in. It took a very long time for him to be comfortable with anyone. He would always go to my mom, but no one else. Now he just loves us, he still wont have anything to do with strangers. Also he doesnt eat much either but its just the way he is, so your little guy just may not be much of an eater. Teddy cracks me up, he will go get one peice of food, bring it into the living room, eat it and go back and get another, lol. If you havent taken him to the vet yet, I definetly would.

By

lavonneann

Chihuahuas are a different kind of dog for sure! They do like to be held and like to be touching you if possible. They like blankets to bury themselves in even in quite warm weather. They also like to have alone time in a place they feel safe. My latest is 16 and will still act like a pup and a BIG dog! She knows she rules the roost.
If I am gone for a while she is mad at me and shows it.

By

Thrifty Me

Hi Malia,

I found a chihuahua in our backyard six months ago, and he is still fearful. He has come around a lot, but it has been very slow. You have to be patient with chihuahuas. When you go outside with him, give him plenty of time to explore, before bringing him in. Our chihuahua spent a long time in a crate in the dining room, where he could see into the kitchen, especially me. Eventually, he started resting somewhere else, and the crate is now back in the basement, but we left it out for a long time. When he came into the house, he cowered all the time and still runs if you reach down to pet him. Six months. They pick one person to follow and in our house, it's me. At first he wouldn't let me out of his sight, but now he'll sleep upstairs for hours without checking up on me. Our vet says he's seven or eight years old. He must have suffered a lot. Good luck. They deserve our love.

By Red (Guest Post)

Hi Malia,

I just adopted a 5 year old chihuahua 8 weeks ago and your current experience was similar to mine. I also felt the same way you do about sending the dog back to it's breeder/rescue group. She was whining and crying a lot, always looking out the window for her foster family - she was terrible with the walks - always freaked out and wouldn't pee on pee pads which was a big deal to me because it does get cold in the winter and there will be days she can't do it outside. Quite frankly, it was frustrating.

But my husband said "we have to give her a chance." And so, we did. Besides, it took her 3 months to feel comfortable with her foster family.

It's her 8th week with us now and she's doing great. She adjusted well on the 4th week.

Chihuahuas need security, lots of gentle, positive training and a lot of time before they come around to trust you back.

It wasn't easy for the first few weeks, but that's just how things are at first.

Give your chihuahua a chance. But if you're not happy about the situation, do what you feel is right for both you and the dog. Otherwise, he'll just keep feeding through the negative energy and both of you will be unhappy.