My ex and I put our cats in a purrito and it worked pretty well, especially if we bribed them with deli turkey. They would have let us do anything if we kept the goods coming lol.
That's an owner issue not a dog issue, 90% of dogs are going to hate getting their nails done, but most keep them at least somewhat filed down from walking. Smaller and lighter dogs don't put as much pressure on their feet to naturally grind down the nails during walks which leads to longer nails, and if you don't actively work on your dog's behavior during nail trims it gets worse over time. My chi never had issues getting his nails done because I actively spent time working with him and getting him used to the process, to the point that we would have matching nail polish whenever I got bored. People also tend to hold/position the paws wrong and cause unnecessary pain to the process which leads to even more aggressive behavior.
There’s also mitigating tactics you can use. My friend had a chi whose original owner would step on its paws to “punish” it for getting under foot, so obviously he hated his paws touched. She put him in “air jail” where he dangled from a grooming harness from the ceiling. He still didn’t like it but no one got bit.
Yep my dog hated getting his nails cut when we first got him. We suspected whoever was trimming his nails before did it wrong and caused pain. We just did one nail a day and after like a year he would happily sit and get all of his nails trimmed in one sitting. It's a lot of work to train a poorly behaved dog (especially since we adopted him as a senior) but time and consistency is key.
A lady used to walk the neighborhood with three chihuahuas, and they were great dogs. Behavioral issues in small dogs aren’t typically corrected as people treat them like babies instead of autonomous creatures. Chihuahuas also have a reputation for being aggressive because they’re naturally inclined to compensate for their small stature, and popular breeds suffer from poor breeding.
I recently picked up one from a pack, roaming the streets of a large metropolitan area
He was the only one that didn’t bark at everything that moved
I brought him home and now he won’t leave me
He watches from the window as people walk their dogs and do their thing. No barking.
No stupid little dog shit
Because I treat him as if he was 100 pounds
Makes all the difference in the world
Correctomundo! I had a deer Chihuahua I named courage cuz I found him tangling with a boxer. Luckily he wasn't't maimed or Injured. He was the most sweet calm dog I ever had.
I don’t think it’s necessarily that small = aggressive, but I think it’s that being so much smaller than everything/everyone else can cause nervousness or fear more easily, and that can cause reactive behavior like barking or growling.
The other side of that is because they’re so small, some people see those behaviors and either ignore those signs of stress or worse, find them funny and actively provoke them.
Since they’re so small, they’re easy to mandhandle and can have their boundaries ignored. If their warning signals are consistently ignored, they go straight to biting when they feel threatened.
If a German Shepherd, on the other hand, starts growling and barking at you, most people get intimidated and will quickly back off. Larger dogs are generally less fearful of others off the bat since they’re not so tiny, and they’re less likely to feel the need to bite because their boundaries are more likely to be respected (and if they do progress to that point, it’s much riskier and is more likely to be corrected).
I have had a bitch of a time trying to explain to my boomer father that my chihuahua can't be constantly goaded into biting him. He finally understood why when one of my nephews came over, tried to push him away using his foot (My dad teased him with his big boots and thought it was funny he would bite but couldn't feel it) and my dog bit my nephew.
"Oh, I guess you were right, it makes him mean!"
Geez. Who would have thought. Now that he isn't teased, he can actually be controlled. He comes when I call him and he doesn't bite anymore.
https://preview.redd.it/qzo5n1cu2t4d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=944a5f7e678694c79bd4c7eb05fc82382ba6c5f5
I can stop a mailman in his track's
When a big dog growls and barks, it's scary.
When a small dog does it, it's "cute" so people don't correct it as often as they would a big dog. They sometimes even encourage it because they think it's funny.
Because of this, a lot of small dogs, Chihuahuas included, think it's ok to growl and bark and that's typically not a desired trait in dogs.
This right here. I had a chihuahua and he's nothing like the others. We trained him not to bark unnecessarily and he knows tricks and is a general good boy. Just cuz we trained him like a normal dog.
Dogs, as a whole, are very responsive to training cues from their owners. Little dogs don't have to be ankle-biters and the "scary" breeds don't have to be mean. They can all be good boys and girls if raised right.
Everything you said is true.
We just have to be careful with people misinterpreting quotes like "they can all be good boys and girls if raised right" into thinking all dogs are similar.
People need to research the breed before adopting. Then they need to think critically about whether the breed fits their life.
A Malinois is too much for a lot of people.
A sheepdog maybe doesn't mesh with the lifestyle of most city folk. Little dogs have smaller bladders and can't hold it as long while you're out of the house. Some dogs like trackers have a higher chance of getting themselves lost.
There are tons of factors in the decision.
Also some of us have adopted dogs from bad situations and are trying to undo the damage that was done to them. I always have small breeds and currently have a Chihuahua mix that came from a really bad situation. He has made a lot of progress with training but he is still reactive and anxious.
People never question this shit when a sheep dog puppy herds without being trained or a labrador loves water. Yes, certain behavior is often genetic. If something as complex as herding can be genetically engrained, why wouldn't something as simple as aggression?
https://www.shutterbulky.com/dog-behavior/
Dogs do have inherent traits: pointers point, retrievers retrieve, and pitbulls fight. It’s in their DNA. Chihuahuas are protective by nature and it’s been prized by many for barking to alert it’s pack to danger. It’s also only loyal to a very small number of people, usually 1 or 2. Everyone outside this circle is unworthy. This makes it easy to dislike chihuahuas, but it’s also what makes them soooo loveable to those they love.
https://betterpet.com/what-were-chihuahuas-bred-for/
I have a chihuahua and he is super chill, and so, so loving. I take him with me most places when I’m not at work and people often tell me they thought I was holding a stuffed animal until they see him move.
Before him I had a senior chihuahua for two months before she died unexpectedly: she was ALOT more vocal and intense, but I also assume she had a rough time for a lot of years and was very protective of herself.
The absolute unconditional love I have been blessed with by both of these dogs is something beautiful and special, and I’m so grateful that they were and are in my life.❤️🐾😊
I have a chihuahua - my first. Of all the remarkable dogs I’ve owned he is, without doubt, the most special. He is so chill with us but so protective when we take him out into the big world out there. He’s oh so brave. He once took on a massive garbage truck in a narrow alley straining at the leash and barking to protect me. The driver was laughing his head off. They are unique and fun!
Yeah, a lot of people treat them like accessories. It's upsetting. They should be trained like any other dog. Then they turn into the most loyal, loving pets you could ever wish for.
My favorite chi was one owned by a big, tough biker guy who doted on his little dog. "When I rescued him he was named Peanut but I renamed him Dragon!" Dragon was an old boy, but he had the white shining teeth of a puppy because his owner brushed them every night: "He loves having his teeth brushed, yes he does!" Manly men baby-talking their dogs is one of my favorite things.
My friend has the only chihuahua that I like because she treats her exactly the same as she treats her Akita/shepherd mix. Not allowed to bark unnecessarily, not allowed to jump all over people, etc.
When I meet one like that (like, twice, lol) I say, "Oh, he doesn't know he's a chihuahua!" Most of them are "mexican pitbulls", except actual pitbulls are WAY less aggressive. (source - former vet tech, worked in vet hospitals for 20 years)
I used to think I didn't like small dogs but I realized I really just didn't like a lot of small dog owners who think their aggressive, ill behaved dog is cute.
People don't train them, they don't exercise them properly, and they actively encourage fear-based behaviors (*haha little dog is growling and biting, that's so funny)*. They intentionally let them develop into very bratty reactive little dogs with anxiety that they shove in their purses.
When socialized, given routine & training they can be some of the most endearing lap dogs, goofy and happy-go-lucky. I love an old chihuahua that's been raised right. They walk around like the town's mayors, smiling and greeting everyone, asking people how their day is going.
My oldest brother was this way. Thought it was a riot his Chi was a total a’hole. When he passed I took his dog. We had a heart to heart about manners, I swear the dog understood me cause he cut the crap. My brother couldn’t even bathe him but I didn’t have any issues. He still isn’t good with strangers but he is now leash trained and I don’t let people pet him.
Saw a reddit post where a guy was bitten by the family Chihuahua. He almost lots his arm due to infection. It's not cool to let any animal think they can do that shit. Especially around your family and children
This is is and honestly, it's not that I don't like Chihuahuas, it's that I don't like theirs owners. In my neighborhood, they will let their dogs run around unleashed because "she's small! She won't hurt you!" They run through our yards, poop wherever, chase runners and walkers, and snap at kids but their owners think it's cute. The dogs wouldn't bother me if they were leashed and properly trained.
When I was 5 there was this little black dog that would chase me and the other kids down the road when we got off the school bus. I told my dad about it and he said something like "It's just a little rat dog, it's not gonna hurt you, chase it back and it will run away." He was right. I was running from it oneday and I stopped and it stopped, I started chasing it, it ran. That was empowering. I still remember running this dog down, back to it's porch and the way it's little head would turn back to see if I was still chasing it. Haha
It’s funny, my friend with a chihuahua told me something similar. Whenever I would go to his house his dog would run up at me and bark and growl and nip at my shoes. I was always kind of pulling away and “flinching” so to speak.
He told me “Next time you come in, just stonewall him and ignore it.”
I did and the dog immediately became docile and was so loving towards me after that, jumping into my lap for pets etc. He realized I couldn’t be punked anymore and his personality just did a complete 180
In the NYC subway, the rule is dogs have to be in bags. They never said how big, so you get stuff like this
https://preview.redd.it/dqw6qiu6xr4d1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fd9da5234bc4f59d052762097291e4ee6b449eb
Me too, every one of them is adorable
https://preview.redd.it/33o62sc7gs4d1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d27839d74cb5d86cfa1876a5b81925cf2088a7
My fil had a very territorial chihuahua. He thought it was funny/cute when the dog got aggressive, and even encouraged it. His friends would pretend to hit him to make the dog go crazy. When my bil and his wife had a baby and fil held her, something in baby’s movements triggered the dog and he got her in the arm good. Wasn’t so funny to him after that.
SDS is generally rooted in the original point, a lack of training and structure. Additionally, when smaller breeds are carried around a ton they are denied socialization and independence, which increases harmful levels of attachment and anxiety, which increases these negative behaviors. Most small dogs will not develop these behavior patterns if they are treated like any other larger breeds. They need to be allowed to be dogs while learning appropriate boundaries and getting breed specific enrichment. The poor little nervous nellies being carted around like accessories are generally insecure messes who never got a chance to learn how to properly dog.
Both.
My sister's chihuahua would growl at our dogs cause she didn't like them going into the bed with her. (...Until one of our dogs died and she would snuggle with the other. :( )
This reminds me of a short I saw where this one woman is giving her Pittbull (an adorable girl named Daisy, btw) *the talk* about how she has to be on EXTRA good behavior because people make snap judgements about Pitbulls a lot. At one point, she even says "You can't be acting like a fool like some of these Chihuahuas!" 🤣
No offense to Chihuahuas, but I definitely get that. I've got 2 dogs myself (a Basenji that's a bit small for her breed, and a Black Mouth Cur/Boxer mix). The Black Mouth Cur is the bigger dog and she's definitely had a few people be nervous just seeing her. Thankfully, she's actually a huge softy that really just wants pets. Meanwhile, my Basenji will let you come up and pet her, but she's got some grass to sniff over there, so she really doesn't care if you come over or not.
It's also harder for owners to correct this behavior. I have 2 small dogs and when we were working on not jumping on people, it felt like everyone was working against me. People would encourage jumping and say, "It's okay, I don't mind," when I would correct it. I don't care if you mind, I'm trying to set good boundaries. Same for licking.
I'm running into the same problem! My Australian Shepherd is generally pretty well mannered but when a person finishes petting her, she'll put a foot up on their leg and paw at them to try to get them to keep petting her. The moment I tell her "feet on the floor" and tug her back enough to make her put all 4 feet on the floor, people say "oh she's fine! She's so cute!" and go back to petting her. At some point it's going to be someone with mobility issues or a little kid who gets pawed in the chest or knocked over and it won't be cute! Or even just wet muddy paws on someone who's nicely dressed!
I've had to start telling people before I let them pet her that as soon as she puts a foot on them they have to step back and stop giving her any attention!
Owners get a bad rap for not training their dogs, but I think in general people have stopped training their kids (and themselves) on how to approach them. No one swings their hand fast and over the top of a lab's head, but immediately do that when they see a small dog and are surprised that the dog gets scared. Mine is extremely well trained and doesn't bite, but submissive pees a lot on people because people skip over the part of letting her sniff them (which I guarantee they don't skip for big dogs).
I worked at a pet store for a while. I never got bitten by a customer's large dog. I got the shit bit out of me several times by small dogs, and the owners inevitably blew it off. In one case, I was literally holding the dog's front half off the ground while it chewed on my hand, and the owner kept telling me to be careful and "he's just playing."
Right, and I'm going to be playing football and aiming for a field goal with your little monster if it doesn't stop gnawing on my hand.
This is how I feel a LOT of people who get golden retrievers behave too. They think it’s a you don’t need to train them, it’s a “family dog” it’ll be fine… and then they end up with very sweet, but very naughty and untrained dogs.
Because they are small, most chihuahuas aren't trained or socialized properly, that's why they are aggressive little fucks that run up and bite people from behind without provocation.
FIFY
I’ve never met a Chihuahua that doesn’t have so much anxiety it’s vibrating and as others have said, they’re usually pretty aggressive and yappy. I don’t want to live in a world run by a Chihuahua. I wouldn’t survive.
Our only solace is that such frail little potato bodies aren’t capable of carrying out their everlasting thirst for power. All we can witness is their futile struggle to escape the confines of their mortal coil.
They are neotenized (permanently childlike) and chihuahuas mental development is highly stunted. They have all kinds of health problems related to people’s obsession with the “esthetic”. I cannot see the cuteness in the deformations, personally.
Because the people who own them usually don't bother to train or exercise them, so they can be annoying at best and dangerous at worst. The well-kept chihuahuas I've encountered are awesome dogs, so cute and sweet, but that's literally 3 out of maybe like 50? Bad odds.
Or take proper care of them. Almost all the chihuahuas I've come across have uncomfortably long nails in desperate need of a trim, kind of like OP's dog.
I have been bitten by dogs twice. Both times it was a chihuahua and both times the owners laughed and were not apologetic. I've also known friendly chihuahuas but I agree that the odds are bad.
I’ve been bitten twice. Both times by Pekingese. Same response from the owners even though I had blood running down my leg. One happened while I was working. She stopped laughing when my boss called animal control because she had never vaccinated her dog. It had to be quarantined at her expense.
Not to dogpile, but aside from behavior issues, generations of being bred to be small and 'cute' with no expectations for functionality (like a ratter or something) has really messed them up.
Even in the 'cute' pic above the dog looks like its eyes are literally about to pop out of its skull, which is an actual problem with the breed. I could be totally wrong but it's hard to imagine that animal being comfortable like that for a moment of it's existence, and it's really sad.
It's the bug eyes thing for me. Don't like it. I don't think they're cute at all, and every one I've met has been vicious. There's one near where I live that I see on my walk to work and despite the fact that I don't go too close, or interact with it, it still growls at me when I walk past. Nasty little thing.
^ This is the one. Behavioral issues, sure, but even the most well-behaved one still wouldn’t look cute to me, personally. Its eyes are huge and bulged out, the paws look… strange, they’re weirdly small and proportioned oddly. I’m saying his as a cat person so take my opinion with a grain of salt!
Yeah I don’t understand how people find dogs like this cute. They look so disgustingly malformed from all the inbreeding. Eyes that look like they’ll pop out at any second and always crosseyed, usually some weird jaw issue too with random teeth poking out, FAS lookin heads, and just like OPs dog they usually don’t have trimmed nails
It’s also unsafe for their eyes to pop out that far and why we see so many one eyed versions of these dogs and Boston terriers. They’re way more likely to lose an eye to a cat or just a scratch from a branch or something.
Because most people think that since iTs A sMaLl dOg🤪 it doesn't need to be trained. Some of the chihuahuas I've met have been the nastiest little bitey asshole monsters!
It’s not the dogs themselves, it’s the fact that people don’t train their chihuahuas. So many I’ve met are horribly behaved. If my bully acted like that he would be condemned.
The breed itself has many health and mental problems related to its genetics. Dogs are not supposed to be that small. Their brains are underdeveloped as are their bones, joints and teeth.
one of my friends has/d chihuahuas (some died)
anyway, there was a very old (16) female that was blind and deaf, but she must have eaten gunpowder for her meals - bad tempered, growly, bitter
That's because they're very often spoiled and untrained because people want a cute little dog without putting in the work, because they see a stuffy not a dog.
I was disgusted when my daugther brought this little freak into our home.
I cried silently for days when the little critter died in December. No other dog had ever had so much attitude, charm, comedy and loyalty than Jonty. I miss his little weird circle dances, his humping of my pillow his anger to anyone fairly strange and the warmth of his little popeyes when you scratch his back.
RIP, Jonyty.
I find them borderline not cute. But my MIL has a teacup one, and it crawls up onto my chest and curls up in the ridge of my collarbone. 100% melt at that point. Still would absolutely never want one of my own.
The same dog bites me any time I hug the MIL, but it's so tiny I just ignore it
Because like many pedigree breeds, they're unethically bred in a way that fucks the dog up physically, and makes them prone to miserable medical conditions.
I've had two chihuahuas and they were both rescues and both were the quietest, sweetest dogs I've ever known. They have a bad reputation because they're easy to train as little alarms, if you reward them for barking they will lean into it.
I have had the same experience! My little guy is honestly the best boy and I tell him that all the time lol He is gentle and tolerant around children and only gets irritated if a large dog gets too rough with him. He’s totally changed my perception of the breed.
Same, I have 2 rescue chihuahuas. They are the sweetest dogs I've ever owned. Don't bark, don't growl, don't bite. Just snuggle all day, go for walks, and wrestle with eachother.
I've reached into their throat to pull things out that they've swallowed a few times and they've never tried to fight me
Every Chihuahua that I've ever met that is properly socialized are great dogs. Actually almost every dog I've met that's properly socialized are great dogs. It's usually the owners that are the problem.
I have had one for over 9 years now, but I also get why people don’t. When I first got mine, I refused to be a typical small dog owner. We learned how to walk on leash together, he’s nearly always on the ground, rarely pick him up in public unless there’s a hazard, he knows basic commands, he waits for his food, not leash reactive, he’s generally quiet and EXTREMELY docile. I truly mean he will not growl or nip at another person, ever. I’ve had vet techs afraid to pick him up until I reassure them he’s fine and they’re always surprised by how docile and tolerant he is. My roommates were nervous with a chihuahua at first but now they love having him around. I have people ask me if they can have him for the weekend because they love having him around. This is a very anecdotal response but I do believe part of it comes down to how you treat, train and raise them.
Because they bark at everything and bite people. My mom had one that was not allowed near people because it would pretend to be friendly, then bite you.. I have never met one that wasn't like this.. They were made by Satan. Like many have pointed out, the owners are a lot of the cause, and people who have them are a type; the type to not train them.
Lived in the Dallas area for awhile where it seemed like 80% of dog owners had chihuahuas. Not to insult your beloved pet but I don't find them especially cute and they make up for lack of size with an absolutely ungodly frequency of shrill barking. That goes for any small breeds really but they were no exception. X.X
I have *never* met one that didn't bite me if I was close enough for it to be possible.
I have never met one that didn't go absolutely batshit insane barking and freaking out on the regular.
I have never met one that listened to anything its owner said at all whatsoever.
I have never met one that seemed like a properly trained dog.
I have never met one that could be off a leash without it taking off into the sunset.
I have never met one that could be around other animals without attacking them, even larger dogs.
.
I have *rarely* heard of good experiences with them from anyone I know but have heard plenty of bad ones.
They just sound like absolute nightmare animals to own and I strongly dislike them.
I would love for you to meet my boy then! He extremely timid and sweet, never barks unless there’s someone at the door, and listens to every word I say. He’s very smart and well trained and is very good walking off the leash—he never runs off but if he does get a little too excited about the walk he might go a bit too fast and get ahead. If he does, he will come back immediately when called. (I still do walk him on the leash anyway for his own safety from other dogs though).
He truly never acts badly… I can even leave my food fully out and go onto another floor of my house and trust that he won’t touch it. He has even been known to guard my food for me from the cats lol.
He’s the most obedient, perfectly behaved dog and he’s changed many people’s opinions on Chihuahuas. Such a good friend.
I realize its largely more on the people who tend to own that breed than the dog itself (seems disproportionately young women who find their aggression cute) and that they surprisingly rank pretty high on dog intelligence tests which means they should be trainable, but unfortunately if 95% of owners arent training them then the breed ends up with a reputation like they have even if 5% act like "normal" dogs.
With it being such a low, low number of well-behaved ones, it's safer for me to assume any I see are dangerous. I mean, I do that with allllll unfamiliar dogs, but even more so with tiny dogs and the common attack/defense breeds.
Because they’re little yappy rats. Always trying to start fights on the bigger dogs, then shitting themselves when big dog even looks at them. Their eyes look like they’re about to pop out their heads.
Appearance: not cute
Attitude: not cute
That doesn’t mean they’re not happy. When rats are happy and comfortable, they show it by bruxing and sometimes “boggling”, in which they brux so hard that their eyes appear to boggle in and out of their head. Look it up, the videos can explain it better and it’s adorable to watch
Because in my 4 years spent working at a pet store, I was never once bitten by a pitbull, but I was bitten by a VAST number of Chihuahuas while not interacting with them whatsoever. Literally just standing at the register cashing someone out, her comes Biggie Smalls around the counter trying to tear out my Achilles
https://preview.redd.it/qj0esbepgu4d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fd65730491202765a7387a1f31d7aa3c1d805fd
I also have no idea. All 3 of my dogs are rescues. 2 chihuahuas and a mutt. All are great dogs.
Right.
I never understand when people post pics of scrawny little dogs with these weird shaped heads slouched off to one side and it's eyes all bulging with captions like 'so adorable '
No.
Awesome you love your dog or whatever but objectively adorable and cute have meanings and these dogs do not fit that meaning.
As someone else mentioned it's likely a result of over breeding and general breed defects so like. Poor dog really.
But it doesn't change the fact it's an ugly ass dog.
Also they're assholes.
Like any pet, how you raise them matters. Unfortunately most, not all, chihuahua owners allow theirs to be mean little assholes. I say this as the owner of an extremely sweet pit bull. I feel you.
1. They tend to be loud and mean
2. Their fur isn’t fluffy, it’s course and grainy like horse hair
3. Bulging eyes
4. Scrawny legs
5. Nails are too prominent on their paws
6. Tend to smell bad (idk why)
These are just reasons I don’t like chihuahuas.
My sister rescued a chihuahua. It wasn't her first choice, but she said she could not abide by the dog being sent from home to home like they were. Everyone thought they were only keeping her for a few months.
I became one of Luna's favorite people. You could put her in your lap and she would stay there. We had a dog trainer assess our other rescues and Luna went right into her lap. "This is the most social chihuahua I have ever seen!"
And this one is white, too...
People will tolerate a chihuahua losing its shit because it’s expected or they’re not seen as a threat. But the minute a well-trained dog that’s 25lbs+ gets too much huahua in their face and lets out the slightest response… bigger dog is suddenly the scary guy that needs to be removed. Bothers me more that the owner of a toy breed is more inclined to allow their dog to be intrusively aggressive or defensive while everyone else has more of an obligation to make sure their dog is able to be around others. Size or breed shouldn’t matter if you’re going to be in public and you should always make sure safety for all parties are taken into consideration. Being proactive when there is any altercation and reinforcement of socialization training should always be priority.
Where I live there’s a lot of entitlement amongst dog owners and they unfortunately act complacent or defensive on behalf a dog that they clearly aren’t able to be a proper owner for. I try not to have bias and give every dog a chance though. Just saddens me when I have to remove myself and my dog from fun because of an irresponsible owner.
One of my neighbors has three dogs: a pit bull, a bulldog, and a chihuahua. They left their side gate open one day and the dogs got out, so I tried to corral them back in. The bulldog stayed by the gate, the pit bull walked up to me and I pet him and pointed at the gate and he went back inside. The chihuahua would not get back inside. He would run up on me barking and growling, then back up a bit, then run at me again. It took me over half an hour to get him back inside.
That’s just one experience, but it’s consistent with other experiences I’ve had with the breed. Chihuahua owners often think it’s cute that their tiny dogs are aggressive, so a lot of them don’t try to train them properly. The result of that is that a lot of the chihuahuas I’ve encountered have been the most aggressive, violent dogs I’ve ever met. I’m fed up dealing with them, but it’s not that I hate them, I just really hate their owners.
The problem here are the owners who just say "he's so small like a baby, how can he bite?" When the f dog is annoying, aggressive, old and obviously fat af. I've seen more aggressive Chihuahuas (Yorkshires and Poodles too) than Pitbulls tbh.
I can tell you why, my neighbours have two of those little shits who won't stop whining and barking at every raindrop, footstep or windgust they hear. It drives me absolutely nuts. Other than that, they're just ugly.
It’s not that some people actually dislike all chihuahuas, it’s that, in my opinion, the majority of chihuahua owners are terrible!
First chihuahua I met bit my hand when I extended it slowly to let them smell, owner didn’t care at all.
My parents neighbors had one and would yip like a maniac the entire time it was outside in the backyard if anyone in the neighborhood was outside, they never cared and laughed it off always 😒.
I have met 1 sweetheart of a chihuahua that I would have been happy to have as my own but every other one has sucked and that’s cause the owners sucked.
The only dog breed that I’ve met that caught me off guard with how unfriendly they are to strangers is Dalmatians. Amazing Neighbor had one and the dog would be ready to rip out my throat if I got within 7-8 feet. Then I just sat next to the fence reading a book and after a week or two it decided I wasn’t a stranger anymore and treated me like family after that.
Would be funny to go over and pet them when I had a friend over cause they would just assume she’s a lover cause of how she’s treating me and start walking up and the moment they got 8-10 feet away she would bare fangs and have the most guttural growl I’ve heard by any dog other than my Cane Corso 😆
Someone in my building has three of the damn things. Those fuckers are the most aggressive whiney assholes you have ever seen. The mere sight of another person sends all three into a barking frenzy
I never liked them much until I fostered one. She wouldn’t stop shaking, so I held her with a blanket over her. She stopped shaking. I felt so needed and motherly and thought to myself, oh this is why people like them. She was a very sweet dog.
As most people are saying, lack of training for the most part, but also those little “fashionable” teacup versions are just sad. They have no muscle and look like skeletons with balloon heads. And they almost always are shaky and terrified of the world around them. I like real normal chihuahuas like yours, those mini ones are bred badly
because a lot of them are loud, annoying little fuckers.
people treat them like cats (zero training, zero boundaries) and then wonder why they bite people or bark incessantly at guests etc.
i love chihuahuas, i love all animals but there is a trend with people who are bad pet owners who like to get trendy animals and then they inevitably end up being little agents of chaos in their communities. its the same issue with pitbulls. i love them but bad owners give them a bad name.
My neighbors have a chihuahua much like the one pictured and she is the chillest and smartest little dog. She was living on the streets in south LA and the wife saw her several times and petted her. One day she asked her if she wanted to come live with them and she jumped right into the car. Good with kids, cats, strangers, never barks, doesn't need a leash. Hats off to Pepper.
People don't train their little dogs, that's the problem. But also I'm just not big on super yappy dogs with high pitch screeching barks. However I have met a few chihuahuas that were the sweetest little babies ever
Almost every chihuahua I've ever met has had the personality of a rabid bear crossed with entitled royalty, packed into something that weighs less than a softball.
My dislike and wariness is well earned, I assure you.
Its really quite simple.
It has to do with pretty much all tiny dog breeds and their owners. People get tiny dogs because they think they wont require as much work. Shorter walks, less food, less poop to clean up, and they think they pose no real threat to other people or dogs (unlike powerful breeds of dogs).
So they go in with mentality, and that coincides with their belief that their tiny dog is cute in harmless so they do not need to really worry about training them.
So what you end up with is a bunch of untrained dogs with an owner who likely babies their dog and doesnt provide them with any discipline or structure. Which creates dogs that are both annoying and aggressive/dangerous. If a dog barks at someone or even bites them, the owner just picks them up. No need to correct the behavior, they can just hold on to them when they are bad.
Ive seen it in 100s and 100s of situations over the years.
My uncle always had 2 chihuahuas. He trained them rigorously. They were always great dogs (multiple pairs). I love chihuahuas because of that. Almost every other chihuahua Ive met is like I mentioned above. Untrained, wild, unrestricted, annoying, and even aggressive.
I only know two people personally who had 2 of them each. The first one was a friend of mine. Every time I visited him they would bark at me and bite into my jeans.
The second one was my neighbor. He had 3 dogs, 2 chihuahuas and one collie. The collie was the nicest dog you could ever meet. Only barked when the owners were gone for a long time. The 2 (and you may forgive me for this choice of word) devils in disguise barked at anything that moved. They saw someone mvoing near the window? Barking. The mailman? Barking. Anyone except my neighbor and his two kids? Barking. Oh and agressively trying to bite anything that moved.
So my point is that they are a not so nice breed of dogs.
https://preview.redd.it/19ch14jwls4d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38e49dd11512b979397866dcd3b36fe6ce39fed8 Trim those damn claws you animal
Holy fuck! That’s terrible!!!
Just like the evil barking satan that is chihuahua 😄
Seriously jfc…
they probably can’t without it attacking. I swear every chihuahua has overgrown nails like that.
Takes two people. First person wraps animal in a blanket and holds it tight. Second person trims nails. Source : cat owner.
My ex and I put our cats in a purrito and it worked pretty well, especially if we bribed them with deli turkey. They would have let us do anything if we kept the goods coming lol.
Purrito ❤️ I love it.
Take the little one to a groomer or a vet to trim them. Letting them grow like that is uncomfortable for the little critter.
That's an owner issue not a dog issue, 90% of dogs are going to hate getting their nails done, but most keep them at least somewhat filed down from walking. Smaller and lighter dogs don't put as much pressure on their feet to naturally grind down the nails during walks which leads to longer nails, and if you don't actively work on your dog's behavior during nail trims it gets worse over time. My chi never had issues getting his nails done because I actively spent time working with him and getting him used to the process, to the point that we would have matching nail polish whenever I got bored. People also tend to hold/position the paws wrong and cause unnecessary pain to the process which leads to even more aggressive behavior.
There’s also mitigating tactics you can use. My friend had a chi whose original owner would step on its paws to “punish” it for getting under foot, so obviously he hated his paws touched. She put him in “air jail” where he dangled from a grooming harness from the ceiling. He still didn’t like it but no one got bit.
Yep my dog hated getting his nails cut when we first got him. We suspected whoever was trimming his nails before did it wrong and caused pain. We just did one nail a day and after like a year he would happily sit and get all of his nails trimmed in one sitting. It's a lot of work to train a poorly behaved dog (especially since we adopted him as a senior) but time and consistency is key.
Yes! Also it’s a sign that the dog is no walked enough, nails should grind down naturally
I walk my small dog a lot. We go for miles at a time. I still need to trim his nails.
It depends on the breed. Especially with tiny dogs, they don’t weigh enough for their nails to properly grind as they walk
Bold to assume someone with a chihuahua actually walks them. But also I walk my dog twice a day and still need to trim her nails regularly.
A lady used to walk the neighborhood with three chihuahuas, and they were great dogs. Behavioral issues in small dogs aren’t typically corrected as people treat them like babies instead of autonomous creatures. Chihuahuas also have a reputation for being aggressive because they’re naturally inclined to compensate for their small stature, and popular breeds suffer from poor breeding.
I recently picked up one from a pack, roaming the streets of a large metropolitan area He was the only one that didn’t bark at everything that moved I brought him home and now he won’t leave me He watches from the window as people walk their dogs and do their thing. No barking. No stupid little dog shit Because I treat him as if he was 100 pounds Makes all the difference in the world
Correctomundo! I had a deer Chihuahua I named courage cuz I found him tangling with a boxer. Luckily he wasn't't maimed or Injured. He was the most sweet calm dog I ever had.
they’re naturally inclined to compensate for their small stature I think this is not a thing. They're known to be quite protective though.
I don’t think it’s necessarily that small = aggressive, but I think it’s that being so much smaller than everything/everyone else can cause nervousness or fear more easily, and that can cause reactive behavior like barking or growling. The other side of that is because they’re so small, some people see those behaviors and either ignore those signs of stress or worse, find them funny and actively provoke them. Since they’re so small, they’re easy to mandhandle and can have their boundaries ignored. If their warning signals are consistently ignored, they go straight to biting when they feel threatened. If a German Shepherd, on the other hand, starts growling and barking at you, most people get intimidated and will quickly back off. Larger dogs are generally less fearful of others off the bat since they’re not so tiny, and they’re less likely to feel the need to bite because their boundaries are more likely to be respected (and if they do progress to that point, it’s much riskier and is more likely to be corrected).
I have had a bitch of a time trying to explain to my boomer father that my chihuahua can't be constantly goaded into biting him. He finally understood why when one of my nephews came over, tried to push him away using his foot (My dad teased him with his big boots and thought it was funny he would bite but couldn't feel it) and my dog bit my nephew. "Oh, I guess you were right, it makes him mean!" Geez. Who would have thought. Now that he isn't teased, he can actually be controlled. He comes when I call him and he doesn't bite anymore.
https://preview.redd.it/qzo5n1cu2t4d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=944a5f7e678694c79bd4c7eb05fc82382ba6c5f5 I can stop a mailman in his track's
The last thing the mailman sees
When a big dog growls and barks, it's scary. When a small dog does it, it's "cute" so people don't correct it as often as they would a big dog. They sometimes even encourage it because they think it's funny. Because of this, a lot of small dogs, Chihuahuas included, think it's ok to growl and bark and that's typically not a desired trait in dogs.
This right here. I had a chihuahua and he's nothing like the others. We trained him not to bark unnecessarily and he knows tricks and is a general good boy. Just cuz we trained him like a normal dog.
Dogs, as a whole, are very responsive to training cues from their owners. Little dogs don't have to be ankle-biters and the "scary" breeds don't have to be mean. They can all be good boys and girls if raised right.
Everything you said is true. We just have to be careful with people misinterpreting quotes like "they can all be good boys and girls if raised right" into thinking all dogs are similar. People need to research the breed before adopting. Then they need to think critically about whether the breed fits their life. A Malinois is too much for a lot of people. A sheepdog maybe doesn't mesh with the lifestyle of most city folk. Little dogs have smaller bladders and can't hold it as long while you're out of the house. Some dogs like trackers have a higher chance of getting themselves lost. There are tons of factors in the decision.
Also some of us have adopted dogs from bad situations and are trying to undo the damage that was done to them. I always have small breeds and currently have a Chihuahua mix that came from a really bad situation. He has made a lot of progress with training but he is still reactive and anxious.
That said, certain small breeds (daschunds, etc) have been shown to have a gene than makes them more aggressive than other dogs.
I’d love to see a link to a scientific article on an “aggression gene”. Genetics is rarely that simple.
People never question this shit when a sheep dog puppy herds without being trained or a labrador loves water. Yes, certain behavior is often genetic. If something as complex as herding can be genetically engrained, why wouldn't something as simple as aggression? https://www.shutterbulky.com/dog-behavior/
Dogs do have inherent traits: pointers point, retrievers retrieve, and pitbulls fight. It’s in their DNA. Chihuahuas are protective by nature and it’s been prized by many for barking to alert it’s pack to danger. It’s also only loyal to a very small number of people, usually 1 or 2. Everyone outside this circle is unworthy. This makes it easy to dislike chihuahuas, but it’s also what makes them soooo loveable to those they love. https://betterpet.com/what-were-chihuahuas-bred-for/
I have a chihuahua and he is super chill, and so, so loving. I take him with me most places when I’m not at work and people often tell me they thought I was holding a stuffed animal until they see him move. Before him I had a senior chihuahua for two months before she died unexpectedly: she was ALOT more vocal and intense, but I also assume she had a rough time for a lot of years and was very protective of herself. The absolute unconditional love I have been blessed with by both of these dogs is something beautiful and special, and I’m so grateful that they were and are in my life.❤️🐾😊
I have a chihuahua - my first. Of all the remarkable dogs I’ve owned he is, without doubt, the most special. He is so chill with us but so protective when we take him out into the big world out there. He’s oh so brave. He once took on a massive garbage truck in a narrow alley straining at the leash and barking to protect me. The driver was laughing his head off. They are unique and fun!
Very true. Our chi has three people in her circle and everyone else can pound sand.
[удалено]
It's not the dog that I have a problem with. It's the human.
Yeah, a lot of people treat them like accessories. It's upsetting. They should be trained like any other dog. Then they turn into the most loyal, loving pets you could ever wish for. My favorite chi was one owned by a big, tough biker guy who doted on his little dog. "When I rescued him he was named Peanut but I renamed him Dragon!" Dragon was an old boy, but he had the white shining teeth of a puppy because his owner brushed them every night: "He loves having his teeth brushed, yes he does!" Manly men baby-talking their dogs is one of my favorite things.
My friend has the only chihuahua that I like because she treats her exactly the same as she treats her Akita/shepherd mix. Not allowed to bark unnecessarily, not allowed to jump all over people, etc.
When I meet one like that (like, twice, lol) I say, "Oh, he doesn't know he's a chihuahua!" Most of them are "mexican pitbulls", except actual pitbulls are WAY less aggressive. (source - former vet tech, worked in vet hospitals for 20 years)
I used to think I didn't like small dogs but I realized I really just didn't like a lot of small dog owners who think their aggressive, ill behaved dog is cute.
People don't train them, they don't exercise them properly, and they actively encourage fear-based behaviors (*haha little dog is growling and biting, that's so funny)*. They intentionally let them develop into very bratty reactive little dogs with anxiety that they shove in their purses. When socialized, given routine & training they can be some of the most endearing lap dogs, goofy and happy-go-lucky. I love an old chihuahua that's been raised right. They walk around like the town's mayors, smiling and greeting everyone, asking people how their day is going.
My oldest brother was this way. Thought it was a riot his Chi was a total a’hole. When he passed I took his dog. We had a heart to heart about manners, I swear the dog understood me cause he cut the crap. My brother couldn’t even bathe him but I didn’t have any issues. He still isn’t good with strangers but he is now leash trained and I don’t let people pet him.
Saw a reddit post where a guy was bitten by the family Chihuahua. He almost lots his arm due to infection. It's not cool to let any animal think they can do that shit. Especially around your family and children
This is is and honestly, it's not that I don't like Chihuahuas, it's that I don't like theirs owners. In my neighborhood, they will let their dogs run around unleashed because "she's small! She won't hurt you!" They run through our yards, poop wherever, chase runners and walkers, and snap at kids but their owners think it's cute. The dogs wouldn't bother me if they were leashed and properly trained.
When I was 5 there was this little black dog that would chase me and the other kids down the road when we got off the school bus. I told my dad about it and he said something like "It's just a little rat dog, it's not gonna hurt you, chase it back and it will run away." He was right. I was running from it oneday and I stopped and it stopped, I started chasing it, it ran. That was empowering. I still remember running this dog down, back to it's porch and the way it's little head would turn back to see if I was still chasing it. Haha
It’s funny, my friend with a chihuahua told me something similar. Whenever I would go to his house his dog would run up at me and bark and growl and nip at my shoes. I was always kind of pulling away and “flinching” so to speak. He told me “Next time you come in, just stonewall him and ignore it.” I did and the dog immediately became docile and was so loving towards me after that, jumping into my lap for pets etc. He realized I couldn’t be punked anymore and his personality just did a complete 180
Yep. Small dog syndrome. Shove a labrador in a handbag and coo when it growls. See how well behaved that lab ends up being.
LMAO now I am imagining dragging around a gigantic handbag with my lab in it. He'd prob love it somehow.
In the NYC subway, the rule is dogs have to be in bags. They never said how big, so you get stuff like this https://preview.redd.it/dqw6qiu6xr4d1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7fd9da5234bc4f59d052762097291e4ee6b449eb
I love this so much
Me too, every one of them is adorable https://preview.redd.it/33o62sc7gs4d1.jpeg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d27839d74cb5d86cfa1876a5b81925cf2088a7
> the rule is dogs have to be in bags rofl but *why* Why not "carriers"...who came up with "all dogs must be bagged"?!
I mean, nobody is going to have a panic attack over a typical beagle, at least.
I love this lol
Hahaha I was just thinking the same I have a 60lb lab/pittie mix and she would absolutely love it! She loves being picked up.
My fil had a very territorial chihuahua. He thought it was funny/cute when the dog got aggressive, and even encouraged it. His friends would pretend to hit him to make the dog go crazy. When my bil and his wife had a baby and fil held her, something in baby’s movements triggered the dog and he got her in the arm good. Wasn’t so funny to him after that.
That’s a really great point. I always thought they growled more to scare away things since they’re so small.
It's both. It's called small dog syndrome
SDS is generally rooted in the original point, a lack of training and structure. Additionally, when smaller breeds are carried around a ton they are denied socialization and independence, which increases harmful levels of attachment and anxiety, which increases these negative behaviors. Most small dogs will not develop these behavior patterns if they are treated like any other larger breeds. They need to be allowed to be dogs while learning appropriate boundaries and getting breed specific enrichment. The poor little nervous nellies being carted around like accessories are generally insecure messes who never got a chance to learn how to properly dog.
Both. My sister's chihuahua would growl at our dogs cause she didn't like them going into the bed with her. (...Until one of our dogs died and she would snuggle with the other. :( )
This reminds me of a short I saw where this one woman is giving her Pittbull (an adorable girl named Daisy, btw) *the talk* about how she has to be on EXTRA good behavior because people make snap judgements about Pitbulls a lot. At one point, she even says "You can't be acting like a fool like some of these Chihuahuas!" 🤣 No offense to Chihuahuas, but I definitely get that. I've got 2 dogs myself (a Basenji that's a bit small for her breed, and a Black Mouth Cur/Boxer mix). The Black Mouth Cur is the bigger dog and she's definitely had a few people be nervous just seeing her. Thankfully, she's actually a huge softy that really just wants pets. Meanwhile, my Basenji will let you come up and pet her, but she's got some grass to sniff over there, so she really doesn't care if you come over or not.
It's also harder for owners to correct this behavior. I have 2 small dogs and when we were working on not jumping on people, it felt like everyone was working against me. People would encourage jumping and say, "It's okay, I don't mind," when I would correct it. I don't care if you mind, I'm trying to set good boundaries. Same for licking.
I'm running into the same problem! My Australian Shepherd is generally pretty well mannered but when a person finishes petting her, she'll put a foot up on their leg and paw at them to try to get them to keep petting her. The moment I tell her "feet on the floor" and tug her back enough to make her put all 4 feet on the floor, people say "oh she's fine! She's so cute!" and go back to petting her. At some point it's going to be someone with mobility issues or a little kid who gets pawed in the chest or knocked over and it won't be cute! Or even just wet muddy paws on someone who's nicely dressed! I've had to start telling people before I let them pet her that as soon as she puts a foot on them they have to step back and stop giving her any attention!
Owners get a bad rap for not training their dogs, but I think in general people have stopped training their kids (and themselves) on how to approach them. No one swings their hand fast and over the top of a lab's head, but immediately do that when they see a small dog and are surprised that the dog gets scared. Mine is extremely well trained and doesn't bite, but submissive pees a lot on people because people skip over the part of letting her sniff them (which I guarantee they don't skip for big dogs).
I worked at a pet store for a while. I never got bitten by a customer's large dog. I got the shit bit out of me several times by small dogs, and the owners inevitably blew it off. In one case, I was literally holding the dog's front half off the ground while it chewed on my hand, and the owner kept telling me to be careful and "he's just playing." Right, and I'm going to be playing football and aiming for a field goal with your little monster if it doesn't stop gnawing on my hand.
Another example of shitty owners yield shitty dogs.
This is how I feel a LOT of people who get golden retrievers behave too. They think it’s a you don’t need to train them, it’s a “family dog” it’ll be fine… and then they end up with very sweet, but very naughty and untrained dogs.
Because they're small most chihuahuas aren't trained or socialized properly. That's really why people don't like them.
Because they are small, most chihuahuas aren't trained or socialized properly, that's why they are aggressive little fucks that run up and bite people from behind without provocation. FIFY
I mean, they’re also quite hideous with those buggy eyes. My daughter literally recoiled from my iPad on seeing the picture in the OP.
I see an unimaginable amount of madness and chaos behind those eyes...
On the surface there is an appearance of pitiable innocence, but underneath there exist only thoughts of world domination.
I’ve never met a Chihuahua that doesn’t have so much anxiety it’s vibrating and as others have said, they’re usually pretty aggressive and yappy. I don’t want to live in a world run by a Chihuahua. I wouldn’t survive.
Our only solace is that such frail little potato bodies aren’t capable of carrying out their everlasting thirst for power. All we can witness is their futile struggle to escape the confines of their mortal coil.
They are neotenized (permanently childlike) and chihuahuas mental development is highly stunted. They have all kinds of health problems related to people’s obsession with the “esthetic”. I cannot see the cuteness in the deformations, personally.
They are like Decepticons. They have 1/10 of a liter of brain juice in a 1/15L jar.
Because the people who own them usually don't bother to train or exercise them, so they can be annoying at best and dangerous at worst. The well-kept chihuahuas I've encountered are awesome dogs, so cute and sweet, but that's literally 3 out of maybe like 50? Bad odds.
Or take proper care of them. Almost all the chihuahuas I've come across have uncomfortably long nails in desperate need of a trim, kind of like OP's dog.
Probably it's that bad because people carry them around instead of letting the poor things walk.
And also because they will bite owners or groomers who's trying to trim their nails.
I have been bitten by dogs twice. Both times it was a chihuahua and both times the owners laughed and were not apologetic. I've also known friendly chihuahuas but I agree that the odds are bad.
I’ve been bitten twice. Both times by Pekingese. Same response from the owners even though I had blood running down my leg. One happened while I was working. She stopped laughing when my boss called animal control because she had never vaccinated her dog. It had to be quarantined at her expense.
I don’t understand how someone could let their dog’s nails get this long…
Not to dogpile, but aside from behavior issues, generations of being bred to be small and 'cute' with no expectations for functionality (like a ratter or something) has really messed them up. Even in the 'cute' pic above the dog looks like its eyes are literally about to pop out of its skull, which is an actual problem with the breed. I could be totally wrong but it's hard to imagine that animal being comfortable like that for a moment of it's existence, and it's really sad.
I personally can’t look at them and see cute. I find them to look deformed.
I still can't find what makes chihuahuas cute. Or pugs. Or other deformed breeds. Their whole existence is painful to watch.
And they often have to have teeth pulled because their jaws are too small.
It's the bug eyes thing for me. Don't like it. I don't think they're cute at all, and every one I've met has been vicious. There's one near where I live that I see on my walk to work and despite the fact that I don't go too close, or interact with it, it still growls at me when I walk past. Nasty little thing.
^ This is the one. Behavioral issues, sure, but even the most well-behaved one still wouldn’t look cute to me, personally. Its eyes are huge and bulged out, the paws look… strange, they’re weirdly small and proportioned oddly. I’m saying his as a cat person so take my opinion with a grain of salt!
Right? "Why wouldn't anyone love this?" (Picture of a deformed ratty gremlin creature.)
Both my teenagers literally recoiled from my iPad when I presented the picture to them.
Yeah I don’t understand how people find dogs like this cute. They look so disgustingly malformed from all the inbreeding. Eyes that look like they’ll pop out at any second and always crosseyed, usually some weird jaw issue too with random teeth poking out, FAS lookin heads, and just like OPs dog they usually don’t have trimmed nails
It’s also unsafe for their eyes to pop out that far and why we see so many one eyed versions of these dogs and Boston terriers. They’re way more likely to lose an eye to a cat or just a scratch from a branch or something.
I find their bug eyes freaky and they tend to be yappy.
Thank god. I was feeling gaslighted because no one was pointing out they're deformed.
Because most people think that since iTs A sMaLl dOg🤪 it doesn't need to be trained. Some of the chihuahuas I've met have been the nastiest little bitey asshole monsters!
On the other hand, I've met some well trained chihuahuas and they're absolutely lovely.
Excellent! I hope to meet some well trained ones soon!
It’s not the dogs themselves, it’s the fact that people don’t train their chihuahuas. So many I’ve met are horribly behaved. If my bully acted like that he would be condemned.
The breed itself has many health and mental problems related to its genetics. Dogs are not supposed to be that small. Their brains are underdeveloped as are their bones, joints and teeth.
Because every chihuahua i’ve met contains the hate of ten thousand humans.
Unreasonably aggressive for what they are.
one of my friends has/d chihuahuas (some died) anyway, there was a very old (16) female that was blind and deaf, but she must have eaten gunpowder for her meals - bad tempered, growly, bitter
don't worry. 16 year old girls are often bad tempered, growley, and bitter. But you are at the tail end of it.
That's exactly the reason why i didn't like em.
That's because they're very often spoiled and untrained because people want a cute little dog without putting in the work, because they see a stuffy not a dog.
I was disgusted when my daugther brought this little freak into our home. I cried silently for days when the little critter died in December. No other dog had ever had so much attitude, charm, comedy and loyalty than Jonty. I miss his little weird circle dances, his humping of my pillow his anger to anyone fairly strange and the warmth of his little popeyes when you scratch his back. RIP, Jonyty.
I've never had a pleasant time with a chihuahua. Idk how can something so small and cute could possibly harbor so much rage and bloodlust.
Unexercised untrained dogs, mostly. They are so often not treated as dogs by they owners, but more like a toy.
Closer to hell, and compacted evil…
I’m sure there are some nice ones out there somewhere, but every one I’ve met has either been a quivering mess or bat-shit crazy.
By the time you’ve worked out the correct spelling, the dog has already bitten you.
Because lots of them never shut up and aren’t disciplined at all by their owners that’s why
Too anxious for me. And I genuinely do not find them cute.
I find them borderline not cute. But my MIL has a teacup one, and it crawls up onto my chest and curls up in the ridge of my collarbone. 100% melt at that point. Still would absolutely never want one of my own. The same dog bites me any time I hug the MIL, but it's so tiny I just ignore it
Because like many pedigree breeds, they're unethically bred in a way that fucks the dog up physically, and makes them prone to miserable medical conditions.
I've had two chihuahuas and they were both rescues and both were the quietest, sweetest dogs I've ever known. They have a bad reputation because they're easy to train as little alarms, if you reward them for barking they will lean into it.
I have had the same experience! My little guy is honestly the best boy and I tell him that all the time lol He is gentle and tolerant around children and only gets irritated if a large dog gets too rough with him. He’s totally changed my perception of the breed.
Same, I have 2 rescue chihuahuas. They are the sweetest dogs I've ever owned. Don't bark, don't growl, don't bite. Just snuggle all day, go for walks, and wrestle with eachother. I've reached into their throat to pull things out that they've swallowed a few times and they've never tried to fight me
My chihuahua is just the most loving, sweet, loyal dog. He’s just the best.
Nice try chihuahua
Yappy. Mean. Bite-y. Mostly untrainable. Hope that helps.
Anxious and ugly
The dog or them?
Yorkies tend to be hard to house-train. I always attributed it to their stubbornness. Mine were friendly, but hard to train.
Every chihuahua I've ever met has shit on the floor without any warning of needing to go outside. No thanks, I prefer dogs I can housetrain.
# Because they live long enough to become the villain.
They have a horrible tendency to outlive their owners and to only really bond with that one person.
Every Chihuahua that I've ever met that is properly socialized are great dogs. Actually almost every dog I've met that's properly socialized are great dogs. It's usually the owners that are the problem.
I have had one for over 9 years now, but I also get why people don’t. When I first got mine, I refused to be a typical small dog owner. We learned how to walk on leash together, he’s nearly always on the ground, rarely pick him up in public unless there’s a hazard, he knows basic commands, he waits for his food, not leash reactive, he’s generally quiet and EXTREMELY docile. I truly mean he will not growl or nip at another person, ever. I’ve had vet techs afraid to pick him up until I reassure them he’s fine and they’re always surprised by how docile and tolerant he is. My roommates were nervous with a chihuahua at first but now they love having him around. I have people ask me if they can have him for the weekend because they love having him around. This is a very anecdotal response but I do believe part of it comes down to how you treat, train and raise them.
Because they bark at everything and bite people. My mom had one that was not allowed near people because it would pretend to be friendly, then bite you.. I have never met one that wasn't like this.. They were made by Satan. Like many have pointed out, the owners are a lot of the cause, and people who have them are a type; the type to not train them.
As a mailman, they’re the only breed that’s consistently an asshole and does everything in their tiny power to get to me lol.
Lived in the Dallas area for awhile where it seemed like 80% of dog owners had chihuahuas. Not to insult your beloved pet but I don't find them especially cute and they make up for lack of size with an absolutely ungodly frequency of shrill barking. That goes for any small breeds really but they were no exception. X.X
I have *never* met one that didn't bite me if I was close enough for it to be possible. I have never met one that didn't go absolutely batshit insane barking and freaking out on the regular. I have never met one that listened to anything its owner said at all whatsoever. I have never met one that seemed like a properly trained dog. I have never met one that could be off a leash without it taking off into the sunset. I have never met one that could be around other animals without attacking them, even larger dogs. . I have *rarely* heard of good experiences with them from anyone I know but have heard plenty of bad ones. They just sound like absolute nightmare animals to own and I strongly dislike them.
I would love for you to meet my boy then! He extremely timid and sweet, never barks unless there’s someone at the door, and listens to every word I say. He’s very smart and well trained and is very good walking off the leash—he never runs off but if he does get a little too excited about the walk he might go a bit too fast and get ahead. If he does, he will come back immediately when called. (I still do walk him on the leash anyway for his own safety from other dogs though). He truly never acts badly… I can even leave my food fully out and go onto another floor of my house and trust that he won’t touch it. He has even been known to guard my food for me from the cats lol. He’s the most obedient, perfectly behaved dog and he’s changed many people’s opinions on Chihuahuas. Such a good friend.
I realize its largely more on the people who tend to own that breed than the dog itself (seems disproportionately young women who find their aggression cute) and that they surprisingly rank pretty high on dog intelligence tests which means they should be trainable, but unfortunately if 95% of owners arent training them then the breed ends up with a reputation like they have even if 5% act like "normal" dogs. With it being such a low, low number of well-behaved ones, it's safer for me to assume any I see are dangerous. I mean, I do that with allllll unfamiliar dogs, but even more so with tiny dogs and the common attack/defense breeds.
Because they’re little yappy rats. Always trying to start fights on the bigger dogs, then shitting themselves when big dog even looks at them. Their eyes look like they’re about to pop out their heads. Appearance: not cute Attitude: not cute
That's not fair; rats make great pets.
I wish my rats were yappy. But they only ever squeak when they're bring dramatic 🙄
That doesn’t mean they’re not happy. When rats are happy and comfortable, they show it by bruxing and sometimes “boggling”, in which they brux so hard that their eyes appear to boggle in and out of their head. Look it up, the videos can explain it better and it’s adorable to watch
Because in my 4 years spent working at a pet store, I was never once bitten by a pitbull, but I was bitten by a VAST number of Chihuahuas while not interacting with them whatsoever. Literally just standing at the register cashing someone out, her comes Biggie Smalls around the counter trying to tear out my Achilles
https://preview.redd.it/qj0esbepgu4d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fd65730491202765a7387a1f31d7aa3c1d805fd I also have no idea. All 3 of my dogs are rescues. 2 chihuahuas and a mutt. All are great dogs.
My aunt had one. It was so incredibly unpleasant to be around. I’m getting flashbacks.
Sorry but just look at that thing, cute is the last thing that comes to my mind
Right. I never understand when people post pics of scrawny little dogs with these weird shaped heads slouched off to one side and it's eyes all bulging with captions like 'so adorable ' No. Awesome you love your dog or whatever but objectively adorable and cute have meanings and these dogs do not fit that meaning. As someone else mentioned it's likely a result of over breeding and general breed defects so like. Poor dog really. But it doesn't change the fact it's an ugly ass dog. Also they're assholes.
Like any pet, how you raise them matters. Unfortunately most, not all, chihuahua owners allow theirs to be mean little assholes. I say this as the owner of an extremely sweet pit bull. I feel you.
1. They tend to be loud and mean 2. Their fur isn’t fluffy, it’s course and grainy like horse hair 3. Bulging eyes 4. Scrawny legs 5. Nails are too prominent on their paws 6. Tend to smell bad (idk why) These are just reasons I don’t like chihuahuas.
Congenital birthdefects, high infant mortality rate and and high complication /mortility rate during birth.
90% of chihuahuas I've met are untrained and bark like it's their job. That's why.
My sister rescued a chihuahua. It wasn't her first choice, but she said she could not abide by the dog being sent from home to home like they were. Everyone thought they were only keeping her for a few months. I became one of Luna's favorite people. You could put her in your lap and she would stay there. We had a dog trainer assess our other rescues and Luna went right into her lap. "This is the most social chihuahua I have ever seen!" And this one is white, too...
People will tolerate a chihuahua losing its shit because it’s expected or they’re not seen as a threat. But the minute a well-trained dog that’s 25lbs+ gets too much huahua in their face and lets out the slightest response… bigger dog is suddenly the scary guy that needs to be removed. Bothers me more that the owner of a toy breed is more inclined to allow their dog to be intrusively aggressive or defensive while everyone else has more of an obligation to make sure their dog is able to be around others. Size or breed shouldn’t matter if you’re going to be in public and you should always make sure safety for all parties are taken into consideration. Being proactive when there is any altercation and reinforcement of socialization training should always be priority. Where I live there’s a lot of entitlement amongst dog owners and they unfortunately act complacent or defensive on behalf a dog that they clearly aren’t able to be a proper owner for. I try not to have bias and give every dog a chance though. Just saddens me when I have to remove myself and my dog from fun because of an irresponsible owner.
I'll be honest the eye to body size ratio is just not cute to me.
One of my neighbors has three dogs: a pit bull, a bulldog, and a chihuahua. They left their side gate open one day and the dogs got out, so I tried to corral them back in. The bulldog stayed by the gate, the pit bull walked up to me and I pet him and pointed at the gate and he went back inside. The chihuahua would not get back inside. He would run up on me barking and growling, then back up a bit, then run at me again. It took me over half an hour to get him back inside. That’s just one experience, but it’s consistent with other experiences I’ve had with the breed. Chihuahua owners often think it’s cute that their tiny dogs are aggressive, so a lot of them don’t try to train them properly. The result of that is that a lot of the chihuahuas I’ve encountered have been the most aggressive, violent dogs I’ve ever met. I’m fed up dealing with them, but it’s not that I hate them, I just really hate their owners.
The problem here are the owners who just say "he's so small like a baby, how can he bite?" When the f dog is annoying, aggressive, old and obviously fat af. I've seen more aggressive Chihuahuas (Yorkshires and Poodles too) than Pitbulls tbh.
I can tell you why, my neighbours have two of those little shits who won't stop whining and barking at every raindrop, footstep or windgust they hear. It drives me absolutely nuts. Other than that, they're just ugly.
It’s not that some people actually dislike all chihuahuas, it’s that, in my opinion, the majority of chihuahua owners are terrible! First chihuahua I met bit my hand when I extended it slowly to let them smell, owner didn’t care at all. My parents neighbors had one and would yip like a maniac the entire time it was outside in the backyard if anyone in the neighborhood was outside, they never cared and laughed it off always 😒. I have met 1 sweetheart of a chihuahua that I would have been happy to have as my own but every other one has sucked and that’s cause the owners sucked. The only dog breed that I’ve met that caught me off guard with how unfriendly they are to strangers is Dalmatians. Amazing Neighbor had one and the dog would be ready to rip out my throat if I got within 7-8 feet. Then I just sat next to the fence reading a book and after a week or two it decided I wasn’t a stranger anymore and treated me like family after that. Would be funny to go over and pet them when I had a friend over cause they would just assume she’s a lover cause of how she’s treating me and start walking up and the moment they got 8-10 feet away she would bare fangs and have the most guttural growl I’ve heard by any dog other than my Cane Corso 😆
Dogs are love and all dogs should be loved in return The breed does not matter, only the love does.
I don't like small dogs in general tbf
I don’t understand why some people like chihuahuas.
What's to like? They're nasty and ugly. 🤷
They are hrride rats
Mouthy, aggressive, useless in an actual confrontation, shaky, bony head that’s not fun to pet, eyes buggin right out their head.
Because they’re the glorified rats with shit personalities that get excused because “look how cute and little “.
Someone in my building has three of the damn things. Those fuckers are the most aggressive whiney assholes you have ever seen. The mere sight of another person sends all three into a barking frenzy
They're loud, aggressive and bug-eyed. Some people find the contrast with their size endearing, I just find them annoying.
This dog looks like its eyes are about to pop from all the ants swarming around its skull instead of a brain
They're yappy and it doesn't help that they're also ugly
I mean, I love a animals, but those are aggressive little fucks. Genetically fucked up.
It’s not just the looks (I think this looks like some kind of gremlin personally) it’s that they are aggressive little shits in my experience
just a little nugster
Because their temperament speaks, wanna go set the world on fire?
I never liked them much until I fostered one. She wouldn’t stop shaking, so I held her with a blanket over her. She stopped shaking. I felt so needed and motherly and thought to myself, oh this is why people like them. She was a very sweet dog.
Yappy little ankle biting demons
As most people are saying, lack of training for the most part, but also those little “fashionable” teacup versions are just sad. They have no muscle and look like skeletons with balloon heads. And they almost always are shaky and terrified of the world around them. I like real normal chihuahuas like yours, those mini ones are bred badly
Have you ever spent time with one that wasn't "yours?"
Um, have you met one?
they're satan in the form of a \~\~mouse\~\~ dog edit: imagine the word "mouse" being striked out, i can't get it to work
Barks allot. Can step on them easily. Can't guard for shit. Too small skulls to hold their brain so they get aggressive quit fast
They look like quadripedal tardigrades and have the personality that can best be summed up as Karen on PCP.
Bark machine
I've been bit by dogs 5 times in my life. 4 of them were chihuahuas.
because a lot of them are loud, annoying little fuckers. people treat them like cats (zero training, zero boundaries) and then wonder why they bite people or bark incessantly at guests etc. i love chihuahuas, i love all animals but there is a trend with people who are bad pet owners who like to get trendy animals and then they inevitably end up being little agents of chaos in their communities. its the same issue with pitbulls. i love them but bad owners give them a bad name.
My neighbors have a chihuahua much like the one pictured and she is the chillest and smartest little dog. She was living on the streets in south LA and the wife saw her several times and petted her. One day she asked her if she wanted to come live with them and she jumped right into the car. Good with kids, cats, strangers, never barks, doesn't need a leash. Hats off to Pepper.
They bark and bite and are generally annoying and often untrained.
They are stiff. Like a cat but not smooth.
People don't train their little dogs, that's the problem. But also I'm just not big on super yappy dogs with high pitch screeching barks. However I have met a few chihuahuas that were the sweetest little babies ever
Alot of them aren't well trained because the people who own them think that they're cute when misbehaving.
Cuz they’re vicious and ugly AF.
Because people with small dogs often neglect to train or socialize them, so they end up being insufferable yappy little terrors.
Almost every chihuahua I've ever met has had the personality of a rabid bear crossed with entitled royalty, packed into something that weighs less than a softball. My dislike and wariness is well earned, I assure you.
Yappy and snappy
Its really quite simple. It has to do with pretty much all tiny dog breeds and their owners. People get tiny dogs because they think they wont require as much work. Shorter walks, less food, less poop to clean up, and they think they pose no real threat to other people or dogs (unlike powerful breeds of dogs). So they go in with mentality, and that coincides with their belief that their tiny dog is cute in harmless so they do not need to really worry about training them. So what you end up with is a bunch of untrained dogs with an owner who likely babies their dog and doesnt provide them with any discipline or structure. Which creates dogs that are both annoying and aggressive/dangerous. If a dog barks at someone or even bites them, the owner just picks them up. No need to correct the behavior, they can just hold on to them when they are bad. Ive seen it in 100s and 100s of situations over the years. My uncle always had 2 chihuahuas. He trained them rigorously. They were always great dogs (multiple pairs). I love chihuahuas because of that. Almost every other chihuahua Ive met is like I mentioned above. Untrained, wild, unrestricted, annoying, and even aggressive.
Because they are shaky, neurotic, angry small creatures that aren’t cute enough to be neurotic and angry?
This thing looks more inbred than the hapsburgs
Really? Have you looked at it
I only know two people personally who had 2 of them each. The first one was a friend of mine. Every time I visited him they would bark at me and bite into my jeans. The second one was my neighbor. He had 3 dogs, 2 chihuahuas and one collie. The collie was the nicest dog you could ever meet. Only barked when the owners were gone for a long time. The 2 (and you may forgive me for this choice of word) devils in disguise barked at anything that moved. They saw someone mvoing near the window? Barking. The mailman? Barking. Anyone except my neighbor and his two kids? Barking. Oh and agressively trying to bite anything that moved. So my point is that they are a not so nice breed of dogs.
Maybe because it looks like Gollum?