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DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

What Cocker Spaniels and Chihuahuas ARE LIKE. The reason I ask: I recently adopted a Chihuahua/Spaniel. I'm assuming she's Cocker Spaniel because the other half is Chihuahua... so a big Spaniel may not work o_O xD Tell me about training them, feeding them, exercising them, etc. PLEASE! Only people who have a family member/close friend or they themselves have owned one of the breeds! Lunie-Lulu-Luki (Lukari) I know you have a Chihuahua! =P You gotta tell me about her/him 8D xD I have a few questions, too. - Do Cockers have a lot of dandruff? - Are either breeds addicted to licking you? xD - Do Chihuahuas normally nip/snap a lot? - Which breed is more likely to have food aggression? - How often to bathe Cockers and Chihuahuas? Hmm. I'll post more after. Thanks guys!

NickelbackLuver · August 2009

- Are either breeds addicted to licking you? xD Depends on the dogs personality xD I have two springers, one licks all the time, the other doesnt hardly ever. - Do Chihuahuas normally nip/snap a lot? Chihuahuas do normally have a bit of aggression/issues like these. My friend has a Chihuahua/Terrier mix that is an absolute sweetheart though, and doesnt bite or anything =P Cocker Spaniels I think tend to be a bit nippy too, but, that depends on how they were raised as well if they will have these problems

- Which breed is more likely to have food aggression? My Spaniels seem to have aggression towards other dogs when food is around (they are springers though, not cockers) but with people, you can stick your hand in the bowl and they dont care. Once again, this is more so going to depend on how you raise a dog/train it. Ever since our dogs were puppies we've always made sure to be around them when they eat, and make them aware that we arent there to take their food from them. As far as training them, with Cocker Spaniels, I see a lot of them run agility =P So, if that interests you, you could try to pick up on that.

Hibachi · August 2009

My dad had two cocker spaniels, Misty and the other one.... i dun know it's name. 0_o xD Both where vuryyy aggressive, they didn't like other people nor other dogs. Smaller dogs are harder to train because they are stubborn. >.> My dads didn't have dandruff, but one have to my poodles has it and they aren't suppose to, she has skin issues so it all depends on the dog and owner, such as bathing I have to bath my dog at least 3 times a week because she has bad skin. :X Soo I'd say the spaniel part of her is going to show a lot, in the aggresive area.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

Maggie is a serious licker. My mother HATES it. xD I don't mind it as long as it's not excessive. We tell her "no" and sometimes she listens, but if you have lotion on, she keeps licking. We don't want her to get sick from licking something on our hands that she shouldn't... >.> She only snaps when you hold her mouth from barking. But, it's minor. She just puts her mouth around your hand and bites like she's playing. We tell her "no" firmly and touch her nose lightly. She learns. But I was wondering if the breed was normally like that - which I've heard but wasn't sure. She only has food aggression towards the dogs, yep. She'll let you pet her, pull her ears or tail, or stick your hand in her food bowl and she'll just ignore you. She knows we're not going to take her food or keep her from eating it. She's gotten better, though. She's also known to be possessive over her toys and blanket - which is improving as we discipline her. =D I am SO interested in taking her to the agility course

I've always been into the sport when I first saw it on TV/in pictures/on the internet! It looks like so much fun for the dog and owner! Plus, the dogs get so much exercise physically and mentally from doing the course and doing commands - so I've learned =P It sounds so great. Plus, Maggie is a bundle of hopping energy and loves to run so she'd like it.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

Avla wrote:

My dad had two cocker spaniels, Misty and the other one.... i dun know it's name. 0_o xD Both where vuryyy aggressive, they didn't like other people nor other dogs. Smaller dogs are harder to train because they are stubborn. >.> My dads didn't have dandruff, but one have to my poodles has it and they aren't suppose to, she has skin issues so it all depends on the dog and owner, such as bathing I have to bath my dog at least 3 times a week because she has bad skin. :X Soo I'd say the spaniel part of her is going to show a lot, in the aggresive area.

She doesn't like passing dogs and people on walks - especially the ones that come up to her barking. But she's never gotten into a scrap yet. o_o She's also unspayed... I'm not sure if that effects females in the dominance area, but so far I think it does with her. If dogs are in their yard and barking at her/ignoring her she's fine. She won't bark. She just looks at them and keeps walking. As with people in their yards. But if a person is passing her while on a walk, she gets barky. >.> Which is something we want to stop. She wasn't properly socialized with people, that's for sure. But she's good otherwise. She had HORRIBLE dandruff when we got her. We've given her two baths in nine days and it's almost gone! =D So I think she wasn't bathed properly. I do know that a lady named Angela had a Cocker named Brandy that had horrible dandruff and had to be bathed about 3-5 times a week. o_o

NickelbackLuver · August 2009

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

Maggie is a serious licker. My mother HATES it. xD I don't mind it as long as it's not excessive. We tell her "no" and sometimes she listens, but if you have lotion on, she keeps licking. We don't want her to get sick from licking something on our hands that she shouldn't... >.> She only snaps when you hold her mouth from barking. But, it's minor. She just puts her mouth around your hand and bites like she's playing. We tell her "no" firmly and touch her nose lightly. She learns. But I was wondering if the breed was normally like that - which I've heard but wasn't sure. She only has food aggression towards the dogs, yep. She'll let you pet her, pull her ears or tail, or stick your hand in her food bowl and she'll just ignore you. She knows we're not going to take her food or keep her from eating it. She's gotten better, though. She's also known to be possessive over her toys and blanket - which is improving as we discipline her. =D I am SO interested in taking her to the agility course I've always been into the sport when I first saw it on TV/in pictures/on the internet! It looks like so much fun for the dog and owner! Plus, the dogs get so much exercise physically and mentally from doing the course and doing commands - so I've learned =P It sounds so great. Plus, Maggie is a bundle of hopping energy and loves to run so she'd like it.

Lol, my one springer, Emma, LOVE to lick lotion off your hands >.> She also likes to lick chapstick/lip gloss off your face (I know, it sounds gross... xD) we dont let her do any of that, but... she occasionally gets a lick or two in like that. She also licks you if you blow in her face xD Tucker doesnt lick too often, but when he does...its excessive xD He'll just lay there and lick you till you tell him to stop >.> Glad to hear you're interested in agility =D Lol, I got interested from watching on TV too, but, I never thought Id -actually- get to be the one out on the course

We didnt do agility at first, because our trainer said it wasnt as fun as flyball (Psh, yeah right) Agility is WAY more enjoyable/fun. Flyball... doesnt take much, really xD Its too boring for me (and Tucker). He easily gets bored of just running back and forth xD He needs something that engages his mind. But yeah, now I totlaly love it <333 Im getting my first teeter soon =D Like, my OWN teeter. It sounds silly, but, Im like way over excited over that xD lmao.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

xD I'd be excited too! I can't wait to learn how to train dogs for the agility ring and get Maggie in there. We don't have many competitions in my small town. Maybe once a year near the kid's park. I enjoy watching everyone's dogs compete in that. =D Flyball never interested me. Besides, Maggie won't bring back the ball. xD Before I even consider getting Maggie into agility/competing though, she needs to work on her manners towards people and other dogs. -sighs-

NickelbackLuver · August 2009

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

xD I'd be excited too! I can't wait to learn how to train dogs for the agility ring and get Maggie in there. We don't have many competitions in my small town. Maybe once a year near the kid's park. I enjoy watching everyone's dogs compete in that. =D Flyball never interested me. Besides, Maggie won't bring back the ball. xD Before I even consider getting Maggie into agility/competing though, she needs to work on her manners towards people and other dogs. -sighs-

Haha, yeah. Luckily, unlike with flyball, you pretty much just need the dog to be good in crowds, not direct contact xD Though, you have the occasional person who lets their dog run wild all over the place >.> We travel 1-2 hours for our trials xD Some people travel across the coutnry and stuff though o.O I would think it'd get repetative after a while if you went EVERY weekend. I like it as more of a treat when I get to go to trials xD

dogtrainer101 · August 2009

Cockers aren't normally aggressive they get that way when they are older I have a Cavalier Cocker Cross she is very loving barks to much though. She does lick people a ton we are working on that but most of the time she catches you by surprise. I do agility with her and shes wonderful I don't do much yet as shes only a year old and I don't want to hurt her legs. She is also very food aggressive when it comes to our beagle thats cause she is always taking her food/toys away from her shes fine with my lab though.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

She's gotten very aggressive and possessive over toys, food, beds, and even areas in the yard. If she gets too aggressive towards my biggest dog though, I'll get worried because Molly is highly defensive... and will actually attack her if she gets out of hand. Since Molly is a Pit/Rhodie cross, you can imagine how much bigger she is than Maggie. $:\$ It seems that the more Maggie adjusts, the more aggression she shows. Which is something I am not willing to deal with. I've dealt with Molly and her aggression towards other dogs (which is getting a lot better!) but I will not put up with a dog who has aggression towards me or anyone else in my family. I was in the yard earlier today and tried to grab her collar when she wouldn't come. She tried nipping my hand and I pulled her down on her side so I could have complete control and show her that she's not allowed to do that. When I did so, she had a spazz and tried to get up repeatedly while biting my hand. She didn't bite enough to leave marks or make me bleed, but how can I trust her around my little sister or anyone's kids that come around if she continues that? I know it's not playing because when she plays she wraps her mouth around your hand and doesn't bite down. My mother and father are worried about her. They said they'd rather have gotten a puppy if they knew a shelter dog would be this much trouble. Honestly, I do believe them. But I was prepared for a dog that had the problems the shelter told us. What I didn't prepare for was all her unknown bad habits and aggression that she's now shown - the ones in which the pound convienently didn't tell us about.

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UnknownDreamland · August 2009

..This is so much like Auzzy it's not funny. It's awful to see. I mean. The SPCA does a.. fair job I suppose. But.. It's obvious they didn't evaulate him deeply. He was there for over a month. And in another one for two. Come on. A dog in a shelter for three months is going to have some lasting issue(like separation anxiety which was awful.).. If you ever want to talk, I'm willing to help. First week or so we had Auzzy he was a dream dog. He didn't get on the furniture, he didn't obsessively lick(he was never much of a licker), he was playful, sweet, etc. But yeah, he had the mouthing which progressed into full blown aggression. My advice to you is don't let her put her teeth on you in any way shape or form. Even if it's an accident show her that that WILL NOT be tolerated. I didn't do this with Auzzy and I severely regret it.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

She was only at the shelter for about two weeks. The shelters here don't evaluate them well AT ALL. They just assume, test it once, and tell you that's how it is. For instance; apparently Maggie shared a food bowl with Luna, another Chihuahua mix in her run. There is no god damn way Luna ever got to eat. Maggie is possessive over food, beds, toys, people, etc. Which we were not aware of when we got her or we would've crossed her off our list considering we have two dogs already that aren't possessive. We don't let her bite EVER. Never would I allow it. But she still does it. And it might escalate... and I don't want to deal with that. We have just until Saturday to decide whether we're keeping her or not... it would be Monday but my mother has to work then and the shelter is closed on Sunday... meaning... we have to decide two days early. D; It doesn't help that my sister is saying, "Why did you even adopt Maggie if you were going to get rid of her? YOU DON'T CARE. I want to keep her. SHE'S CUTE! Those dogs you're looking at AREN'T AS CUTE. You shouldn't have got her then. You're mean. How can you take her back to the pound?!" It makes me really upset. Because I don't want to give her up if we can give her a good home and she is good. But so far she's not being good and my family won't have the time to rehabilitate her. We'd rather get a puppy that we can raise ourselves and socialize easier. But. I don't know. I never did know what happened to Auzzy... and I won't ask. But he's like Maggie you say?

UnknownDreamland · August 2009

Well, I was just going by what you said about her when you played with her she'd put her mouth on your arm but not bite down. That's how Auzzy started. And it got worse. It was like trying to put out a wild fire. We were told he was partially potty trained but there was no way that dog was ever taught where to go. We were told he was good with dogs, there were issues at first, but we worked through them. We were told he was surrendered for being too hyper. He was abused, it was obvious. He urinated and pooped submissively if any male figure spoke in a stern voice. Rolling on the back and everything. He was very toy, food, and possession aggressive. He would growl and lunge at my brother if he got too close to "his" steps. Auzzy was leashed 95% of the time he was in the house. And confined at all times to a few rooms. Even at night he was tied to a leash on a couch that I slept on for 6 months to make sure he didn't go in the house. He, in the end, bit me in the face and was surrendered to the SPCA and was euthanized. Does that answer your question? I really hope you don't give her up. Keep in mind that Auzzy DID improve with time. He worsened at some things, yes. But I've had time to evaluate the situations and I'm thinking of solutions. Too little, too late. It's not too late for Maggie though.

Lukari · August 2009

I got a chihuahua alright >.> & hes a lil runt. does anything to push your buttons. Definatly hard to teach things, there good listeners though. Scare em to much, they'll pee all over lol My Joey definatly bites & nips ALOT. he'd prefer to be with my mom than me, so when I try to take him from her he will bite meh T.T lol Barks alot to people he doesn't recoginze xP I'm sure I can think of other useful things, just ask.

DiamondPuppy0809 · August 2009

Dreamland wrote:

Well, I was just going by what you said about her when you played with her she'd put her mouth on your arm but not bite down. That's how Auzzy started. And it got worse. It was like trying to put out a wild fire. We were told he was partially potty trained but there was no way that dog was ever taught where to go. We were told he was good with dogs, there were issues at first, but we worked through them. We were told he was surrendered for being too hyper. He was abused, it was obvious. He urinated and pooped submissively if any male figure spoke in a stern voice. Rolling on the back and everything. He was very toy, food, and possession aggressive. He would growl and lunge at my brother if he got too close to "his" steps. Auzzy was leashed 95% of the time he was in the house. And confined at all times to a few rooms. Even at night he was tied to a leash on a couch that I slept on for 6 months to make sure he didn't go in the house. He, in the end, bit me in the face and was surrendered to the SPCA and was euthanized. Does that answer your question? I really hope you don't give her up. Keep in mind that Auzzy DID improve with time. He worsened at some things, yes. But I've had time to evaluate the situations and I'm thinking of solutions. Too little, too late. It's not too late for Maggie though.

Thanks, Dreamy. And I am so sorry... I'll work with Maggie, but I honestly don't think I have the patience to get her used to her new rules. She might have been abused, but I'm unsure. She does cringe whenever someone acts too loud or tells her "no" firmly... Sometimes I go to pet her and she cringes like I'm going to hit her. I know that ANY dog can improve. They will all improve if you keep at it. Molly for instance. She's got aggression towards other dogs. We've always avoided the situation, but now that she's killed a dog once (terrible accident, never want it to happen again) we keep her muzzled on walks so people stay away with their dogs and introduce her very slowly and properly to other dogs. She's gotten so much better in the past year and gets along with 7 dogs perfectly fine that she's been introduced to carefully. The shelter and animal control still keep a BIG eye on us, though. I, in fact, am not allowed to walk her anymore because at the time she killed the dog I was handling her. Now I am classified as "not able to control her". Which upsets me because I am the ONLY one who would ever walk her. Now I can't. That upsets me a lot because a walk is the MOST important exercise a dog needs. My mom tries really hard to find time to walk Molly with me, but often she's working or catching up on housework. If we do have to give up Maggie, I am not going to be getting another dog for a while - hopefully. I plan on trying to get one next summer if Maggie has to go, where I will have saved up enough money to pay (myself) for the adoption fee, training classes, and all supplies... but. I don't know. I'm still working with Maggie and don't want to think about sending her back.

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