How to Raise a Chihuahua? A Detailed Guide to Care and Training Methods

Do you keep a Chihuahua at home? The Chihuahua is not large in size, but it loves to bark nonstop in front of strangers. By nature, the Chihuahua is lively and active, and often livens up the atmosphere. Its appearance is deeply loved by people. It originated in the Americas, and in the Chinese market, the Chihuahua's price is rather expensive. Do you want to keep one? Let me slowly teach you how to raise a Chihuahua.

How to Raise a Chihuahua

1. The Chihuahua is lively and active by nature, so it cannot always be shut indoors; it must be taken out for walks, running, jumping and other activities. This dog is prone to filariasis, so keepers who keep it outdoors should pay attention to the hygiene of the dog kennel and not let it develop the bad habit of lying down anywhere. From the puppy stage, the Chihuahua should be allowed to have more contact with outside dogs and outside people, and be trained and guided to develop the good habit of being friendly and tolerant toward people. If it is always kept in a closed environment, it will develop the bad habit of being overly wary of people, or even treating people with a hostile attitude.

2. The Chihuahua's diet and health are always the most important. Remember that within two weeks of the newly bought Chihuahua arriving home, do not bathe it; let it first get used to the surrounding environment. If the dog has not had all its vaccines, get all the vaccines completed as soon as possible so the dog has strong resistance. This is a necessary step to ensure the Chihuahua's health.

3. The Chihuahua has a likable advantage: it is not demanding about its living environment or food, so it is relatively easy to raise and manage. In terms of food, giving it 60-90 grams of meat each day is enough; for larger Chihuahuas, only about 150 grams of meat per day is needed, plus a similar amount of vegetables and biscuits.

3. Since this dog cannot tolerate cold, its food should also be warm. Meat should first be cooked and chopped, then mixed with dry vegetarian ingredients and warm boiled water before feeding.

4. The amount of food supplied should be decided as appropriate according to the size of its body, whether the weather is cold or hot, and how good its appetite is. It should not go hungry, but it should not be overfed either. Generally, smaller dogs should be given less and larger dogs more; when activity levels are high, give more, and when activity levels are low, give less. When the weather is cool, give a little more; when the weather is hot, give a little less. When its appetite is strong, increase the amount appropriately; when its appetite is poor, reduce the amount appropriately. In short, the principle is to let it eat well and stay healthy.

How to Train a Chihuahua

1. The first stage is 1 to 5 days. First, put a leather collar on the dog. The collar should be adjustable in size, and the tightness around the neck should be such that four fingers held together can be inserted fairly smoothly. Then attach a 1.5 to 2 m chain to the collar. Each time you feed the dog, feed it in several portions, each time until it is 60 percent full. The dog's name must be fixed and cannot be changed at will. Each time you feed it a little food, call its name; or before feeding, blow a whistle, then call its name. But note that you must wait until it reacts before feeding it. If there is no reaction, do not give it food, but you can let it see the food, call its name again, and wait until it shows a reaction to eating before feeding. In this way, after 3 to 5 days of training, the dog will immediately show a reaction of wanting food from its owner when it hears its name called. Feeding should be at fixed times and should use the same food bowl, but the feeding location can be changed again and again. After feeding, you must stroke the dog's head or whole body with your hand and gently call its name several times. Through the training over these few days, the goal is for the dog to become close to people, initially know its own name, and initially get used to the collar and the range of activity limited by the chain.

2. The second stage is 6 to 14 days. Building on the training of the first stage, further use food the dog loves, such as biscuits or dried meat, for training, in the same way as before. In this stage, you can use the chain to lead the dog and let it walk together with people, becoming familiar with the surrounding things and environment and reducing its fear. If the dog struggles while being led, then stop. At this time you can stroke its head and back with your hand, call its name, and give it a small amount of food to lure it forward and let it follow, and never pull it by force. This training should be carried out before feeding each day. At first, do it for 2 to 3 minutes each time, then gradually increase, but never longer than 15 minutes.

3. The third stage is 15 to 22 days. Building on the training of the previous stage, you can pick the dog up and open its mouth playfully. On the basis of the command “sit”, you can force it to lie down. When it disobeys, you can reprimand it mildly; when it obeys the command, you can give it a small amount of food as a reward and praise it with the command “good”, while constantly stroking its head and whole body so it feels warmth and closeness. Through the third stage of training, the goal is basically that a dog with the chain removed, upon hearing its name in the training area, can come to its owner's side and obey the owner in picking it up, leading it, opening its mouth to give medicine, and so on, and also understands the commands of reprimand and praise.

What to Do If a Chihuahua Has a Cold

1. When a Chihuahua has a cold, it will lack energy, always hang its head, lie on the ground and not want to move, sneeze, have clear runny nasal discharge, have watery eyes, and not want to eat; some dogs will also run a fever.

2. Response: Some owners, perhaps out of carelessness or perhaps from lack of experience, think that if humans can take cold medicine, dogs certainly can too, so they take it upon themselves to give the Chihuahua human cold medicine. If taken improperly, it will affect the dog's health, cause the Chihuahua to have an allergic reaction, and even endanger its life. So for the Chihuahua's health, never give it human cold medicine. Owners should try their best to give the Chihuahua cold medicine specially made for pets, such as Wangxiang Gankeling, to help relieve the Chihuahua's cold symptoms.

Notes on Feeding a Chihuahua

1. Puppy Chihuahuas must not be given cow's milk, otherwise it will cause intestinal problems or itchy skin; they should be given dog's milk.

2. Note that puppy Chihuahuas do not know when they are full, so feed them small meals more often and do not overfeed, to avoid indigestion.

3. Do not give the Chihuahua any food other than puppy food and calcium tablets; it only needs to take in a small amount of nutritional paste.

4. Avoid feeding the Chihuahua chicken bones, fish bones and other foods that are too hard, too oily or too spicy.

From the introduction above, do you understand now? The editor reminds everyone one last time, and hopes everyone will keep this point firmly in mind: do not be very strict with a Chihuahua, especially beginners. Pay attention to how to raise it. Do not train it blindly. In short, fully understand how to raise a Chihuahua.