Chihuahua mix 3 & half yrs. attacks at animals on TV

[DianeLDL]

Sandy was a rescue whom we adopted at age 1 yr. He is a neutered chihuahua mix (think may have Italian Greyhound mix since has long legs , jumps and runs fast) and may be a deer chihuahua and definitely has chihuahua personality. He had been returned to the shelter for not getting along with a cat. We were told he has to be only pet on family. He is my social and if there were such a thing he had doggy ADHD, very distractible. He is also very athletic and jumps at least a foot off the ground.

When we watch TV, though, he is a pain. He not only tunes into commercials with any animal from dogs, to cats, horses, ducks, etc., but it is impossible to watch a program with an animal in it. (Therefore, since we adopted him in Dec. 2010, we haven't been able to watch Victoria on Its Me or the Dog:(

I'm sure we are reinforcing the bad behavior since we yell at him to get down and quickly try to change the channel. Then, my husband and I yell at the one who has the remote for not changing it fast enough. He figured out the remote is the magic wand that makes the animal go bye bye. He has stopped looking behind the TV to find the now missing animal.

So, the only way we get to enjoy TV is to keep him in the living room where he sleeps and go into the bedroom. If there is a show with a dog, we have crated him facing us and with a towel covering the back so he can't see the TV and put on mute when the dog on TV barks.

It is driving us crazy. We travel a lot so in hotel rooms we are in the same room. He has scratched the TV stand at home and at my parents', we constantly have to clean the TV since he can reach that one.

Please any ideas to help. We would love to be able to relax and watch anything on TV with our dear dog on our laps.

Thanks,
Diane

[gwd]

i totally understand .......i've even had to switch off a show about caine toads.

i have two dogs and i've worked each of them separately and i've been able to get them desensitized to the tv animals, but we regress when they're in the room together.

what worked (separately) was to have a clicker and a handful of treats. each time i'd see them look at the tv i'd click and treat. in short order they'd look at the tv and quickly look at me for the treat......when you get to that point then you can start extending the time between them noticing the animal and the reward.......

[DianeLDL]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've never done clicker training so I'm researching it.

I don't want him not to look at the TV, but I just ant him to realize that the animals aren't a threat to him.

Part of his problem may be that he was never socialized and lunges and tries to attack any dog he sees even one on the other side of the park. It is difficult when we travel and stop at rest stops where we need to find places where there are no dogs. It's very difficult. We tried puppy training class at PetCo right after adopting him, but we were kept out of the circle, and he was so excited, he didn't learn anything. Someone with a pitbull puppy came over and our chihuahua mix went on the attack. The trainer got in between them.

I think too that the trainer was the wrong one for us since he had us doing what Victoria mentions is wrong by lying him down and holding him there until he gives up. I tried it once and stopped doing it. We lost a lot of money since we didn't continue the training.

We had someone come to our house, but even though she talked about positive training, she really wasn't.

So, we are still just trying to avoid any other dogs, saying he isn't social and going crazy when he sees animals on TV as threats to him. I believe that there is something in his past in that he wasn't socialized especially in a house with a cat. He may be expecting to be attacked as cats can creep up on anyone.

Any other ideas? In the meantime, I'm reading about clicker training.

Thanks,
Diane

[DianeLDL]

An update:

Today, I decided to try the clicker training while watching TV with Sandy. I had practiced with him a few days ago with clicking and treating.

Today, after watching VS 's YouTube on clicker training as well as a few others such as drop it and take it.

So, today, with clicker attached to belt and bag of Zuke chicken treats mixed with some of his kibble, I had hm sitting on my lap while watching TV. I started randomly when commercials aired to click and treat. I then added the word "stay" for him to stay on my lap and not run to the TV. Then, during 1 1/2 hours, we saw two dogs and a cat and each time clicked and treated. He was so interested in getting the treats (even when it was a kibble piece) that he stayed. I also gave him non food reward by petting him and saying good boy stay. One time, he was on my husband's lap, and I went over and was able to click and treat and we both gave him the good boy stay response.

It was a fantastic first time. I know there will be much more work, but I could see it is working.

Then, we took a break and did the drop it and take it with identical balls. It took a while, but he seemed to be picking up on it. His reward was playing with the ball and getting petted and good boy from both my husband and I. Actually, several of the times he brought the ball onto my husband's lap as I was standing with the other ball and dropped his ball on my husband's lap as he ran to take the ball I threw.

Very rewarding day especially after all the training and play, he gobbled down his kibble (gave him less than usual since used kibble with treats with training). (See my other post on problems with being picky eater.)

Thanks for the support. I feel so much more positive about my relationship with Sandy now.

Diane

[Nettle]

THANK YOU!

We love updates and thank you for working so well with your dog. We can advise, but you had to do it. Brilliant.

[DianeLDL]

Nettie,

I agree. I also like to know how things work out for those who have problems. It is always nice to know the results.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Diane

[DianeLDL]

Update:

It has gotten to the point where when he sees me sit down to watch the TV armed with the clicker and treats, he has stopped sitting and watching TV and spends his time trying to get to the treats. They were in a plastic bag in my pocket. I had to take them out of there for fear he was going to tear open my pocket. So, I'm not sure where to keep the treats without tearing up my pockets.

Successful in that as soon as he hears the clicker he is looking at me and ready for the treat. We had been doing well for an hour this afternoon before my husband took him out to the park.

I have been using the same clicker but with pieces of chicken and turkey when in the park for him to do his business. We have xeriscape here in Albuquerque which is so hot in midday and today we hit 101 degrees F. I had been making some progress when alone with Sandy. My husband took him alone this afternoon and came home angry and upset. Someone had their dog off leash chasing balls (and it is a leash required park). Sandy went bezerk even at a distance. Husband gave up on training. Grabbed the dog and put him in the car. So, Sandy got home, and after drinking some water, I encouraged him to come to sit with me. He must have been still worked up since as soon as a dog came on he ran to the TV as if I hadn't had any success earlier and all I could do was turn off the TV. That didn't stop him as he kept looking for the dog behind the TV then ran and drank more water.

I'm guessing that after an incident in the park, we shouldn't try continuing training at home since he is too upset and probably stressed and full of adrenalin.

One thing we didn't do today that I had been doing was playing ball with him in the house practicing drop it and take it. He spent quite a bit of time in the car today while I had an appointment. During that time, my husband had him out at a park and the Houdini slipped out of his collar and began to run. I know the clicker is working because my husband yelled his name, he stopped running and when he heard the clicker returned to my husband. (Sandy is not good at recall, this was the first time he had returned when called. We never intentionally take him off leash since he aren't sure of recall and secondly he will attack other dogs. Being a chihuahua, he thinks he is bigger than he is and doesn't realize the risks he is taking. So, we never let him off leash.

That could also be one of the problems when we see other dogs off leash. Does anyone think dogs are jealous if another dog is off leash and they aren't.

I feel like we're taking two steps forward and three steps back.

Any encouragement would be appreciated. Thanks.

Diane