cheagle

Thanks so much to Vickie for posting the video of Chad at training!! :) He is my boy and is retired from Agility now due to a back injury that happened somehow at home and wasn't Agility related. He was able to achieve his AD and JD title and we are starting some Rally-O now for a bit of fun. One of my goals in life is to help people understand that Chihuahuas are dogs and can do anything that a larger dog can do. He free-runs in the park every day with my other 3 dogs ( 2 x Chi crosses and a Koolie) and has a great recall that was taught primarily using the premack principal. He goes to the dog beach but doesn't swim very often. He does everything that my other dogs do and I have the same expectations of him as I do of the others. There is a huge difference between a purebred 2kg Chi and a 3-4kg Chi x dog in terms of training. Chad weighs 2.1kg and my Chi x Mini Foxie Satine weighs 2.6kg. She finds life in general much easier than Chad, she can jump higher, run faster etc. I only know of 1 other purebred Chi in Sydney that is competing at the moment and she competes in Obedience and has been doing very well. I did find Chad particularly challenging to train because he wanted to please himself and not me, the world revolves around Chad. ;) I guess what I am saying is that it can certainly be done and is a challenge to be enjoyed. Do find a trainer that has experience with toy breeds and have fun. :) Regards, Karen and Chad the Chihuahua

I'm coming in on this really late but it may be useful for people later on. I use the Rogz Puppyz collars. They are teeny tiny adjustible collars and I have used them for both my Chi's.

I use Pet Plan and have been thrilled with them and their customer service. They are a bit pricey but pay 100% of the bill minus $100 excess. The refund takes 2 weeks to arrive. I even had one time when I had missed a payment (direct debit issue) and they were happy to cover something that happened in that period. I just had to get back up to date before I gave them the invoice to process. My parents had some issue with them with their cat where they asked for proof of flea & heartworm meds and the payout took about a month but I've never had that issue with the dogs.

I use Pet Plan and have been thrilled with them and their customer service. They are a bit pricey but pay 100% of the bill minus $100 excess. The refund takes 2 weeks to arrive. I even had one time when I had missed a payment (direct debit issue) and they were happy to cover something that happened in that period. I just had to get back up to date before I gave them the invoice to process. My parents had some issue with them with their cat where they asked for proof of flea & heartworm meds and the payout took about a month but I've never had that issue with the dogs.

Hi. Thanks for your insight. I found the blinking was pretty easy. I blink, he blinks, click & treat. So far I've done 2 sessions of relaxed closed eyes and he had no idea what I want. I think this may take a while. LOL. I'll let you know how we go...

I'm wanting to teach my boy to close his eyes when he plays dead and am wondering if anyone has taught this? It's easy to get him to blink but I'm wondering if It may be better to sit with him and capture it when he closes his eyes in a relaxed way? Any suggestions would be appreciated.