# Spray bottle????



## Renee xO (Mar 29, 2006)

I have an important question. As some of you know, i got my 15 month old chi 6 days ago ( last saturday ). Hes got a great personality and is very energetic. The only problem(s) ive got with him is that he scares my cat and he will bark at MEN. let me explain...

With my cat things are going better than expected. As i type this, they are both sitting in the same room, 8 feet apart from each other. My chi is very energetic and loves running and my cat is 10 years old, so hes calm and really a friendly cat. My dog Happi, will try to chase him and it scares my cat away. I dont want my cat to be neglected and feel left out because we have a new dog. Just this morning, they were both on the kitchen table and my cat was rubbing his head into Happi"s head which is a good sign, as far as i know, that means my cat Angel, is putting his scent on Happi, claiming him as his own. Am i right?

The next problem is Happi barks at EVERY man that comes near him or me. If i am holding him, he will settle down a lot BUT once the man trys to come close to us he freaks out and almost jumps out of my arms. I am scared one day hes going to hurt himself and jump out of my arms. I spoke with Happi's breeder and she said he was NOT abused and that he WILL infact get used to guys and people in general. My question is.. hes 15 months old, shouldnt he be used to them already? 

Now my main question is.. I spoke with his vet yesterday, i am having Happi spayed on Wednesday ( i am SO scared!!!!!!!!!!) but the vet said that will calm him down alot and he also said that when Happi does something unacceptable like chasing my cat and being a bully to my cat, i should get a spray bottle filled with water and spray him. He said after about 2 days he will understand that if he does something wrong, he will get sprayed with water and learn to STOP. Also when i spray him with the water, say NO firmly and loudly

Does anyone agree with this method of training? I dont want to be mean and i dont want him to hate me for spraying him with water. Right now the water bottle is sitting next to me on my floor as i type this and Happi is on the couch 2 inches from me, napping. If he so much as starts to bark, i say NO and spray the water close to him but NOT on him, so that he understands, i will spray him if he continues... what do u think guys? Also..what are some methods of training that you guys use?

Thank you!!!!


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## peenutts mom (Mar 9, 2006)

Happi could just be scared of men coming in his territory. 
Is your vet a man? 

The spray bottle may work. My terrier, Twinkle, rest her little soul, was so smart and spiteful. She had an ear infection, we had to put the "radar" collar on her - she scared the hell out of my peke, he was so afraid of her, but she hated her collar -so we took it off her and left it on the coffee table so she could see it. she never scratched her ears as long as the collar was out. the minute we put it away, she started to scratch...so for 3 weeks the collar sat on the table. 

Happi may need to get squirted once or twice - but hopefully when he sees the bottle he may just know it means "leave the cat alone" 

Just remembered this....
Twinkle was a social butterfly, new everyone, and everyone had to be nice to her, she hated the rain, when my sister's boyfriend came over one day - Twinkle stayed outside in the rain. (Sisters now ex-hubby had some real issues). Justs watch the men Happi barks at...you never know if is something they have in common. (fluffly didn't like guys with beards for some reason, and (i'm dating myself) the "big 80's" hair on girls - she loved our mailman Bill) 

Go figure & keep us posted.
Therese


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## Nathalie25 (May 21, 2005)

I have used the spray bottle to get Mylo stop barking so much, and it worked.


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

ive never used a squirt bottle on the dogs (i use it on the cat when hes stalking the dogs as he turns tail (hes got all his claws so id rather freek him outt han deal with him scratching up the dogs hes already got vixies eye twice!)
Ive always found a firm NO to be effective. 
i had to train vixie to leave the cat alone (even after getting scratched she still truly belives the cat wants her to sniff his butt) so i started out watching her like a hawk, if she whent neer the cat i told her a firm no, if she left him alone she got a treat, if not then I removed her from the situation. she soon learnt that no means come away. i then moved on to "leave it" if the cat comes neer her food dish she wonders what hes doing so usually goes over to check it out, i started telling her LEAVE IT and if she comes away on her own treat, if not then removed her phisically, after a couple of times i only had to say No or leave it and she would come straight away from the cat.

Dodger was much the same.

with their barking again a firm no in cases where they shouldn tbe barking at all (ie out on walks) at first a firm no, when they stop a treat. if they refuse to stop physically removing them from the situation, and then after a few times they would stop barking if i said no, now thye just dont bother barking at all...

they do however bark at the doorbell or the sound of the door opening, this is a behaviour i dont realy want to discourage but like to have under control.
I like them to bark, its a great alarm system, id rater deal with barking then them not tell me if a stranger was in my house. so i taught them "enough" the door opens, they bark i let them bark a couple of times then say enough at first very loudly enough to startle them, the very moment it stops, treat.
start lowering the tone of your voice so eventually your just simpley saying in a normal tone.
If your persistent with this eventually simply saying "enough" will stop the barking. 

as for the strangers issue, he probably wasnt exposed to many men as a puppy, very common problem, most breeders are women, and they socilize their puppies during the day when most of the people the puppies will meat are also goign to be women out doing their shopping or at the dog park (yup i know old fashioned there but its very true) there are often things the puppy will not be exposed to and if not exposed early puppy tends to fear it through their life.
Dodger is exactly this way.
the only way to break this is to socilize him with men more. have a jar of his most favorite treat by the door (Or kep a bag full in your pocket) he should only get this favorite when working with men for now. when a man comes in your house he should grab a handfull of treats from the jar...ignore the dog completly right now, he shouldnt talk to the dog or even look at the dog, make sure you use a word upon the man entering that will indicate to happi that this man is ok to enter your house. I like to say COME IN, my dogs have associated this with me inviting a person in. if i dont say come in (ie one of those jahovas witnesses at the door or an anoying salesman) they continue to bark till i say enough but unless i say come in even after the enough they will stand by my feet and growl...they know without that "come in" the person is not welcome here.
anywho...
after inviting the man in, he has a hand full of treats and is ignoring happi, he should just walk right past him and drop a treat on the ground.
invite him to sit down and he should just drop a few treats on the floor neer his feet, if happi wants the treats (whihc if there his fave he realy will) hell slowly aproach the treats, again have everyone ignore happi, a sudden reach down to pet him at this point would cause him to either bite or run...just ignoring him will help him get used to that man being in his house and knowing that man isnt going to hurt him or his family.
Over time happi will become more comfotable and actually might sniff the mens feet or legs while getting his treats, now for the next step, treats on the palm of the mans flat hand just keep it lowered to happis nose height, (dont drop any now, your trying to get him to not be shy of the hand) hell slowly shart to take treats out of the hand, again once hes comfortable with this progress to single treats from the fingers (holding it like you normally would)
and eventually after probably a long time, the men comming into your house may even be able to pet happi...
Happi will soon develop a connection, men = favorite treat.

he may NEVER fully like the company of men chihuahuas are notorious for their dislike of strangers (for the most part, vixie is the frinedliest dog in the world for the most part, but dodger is very people shy, and ive seen over the years about 90% of chihuhuas seem to be VERY wary of strangers, its their nature.
However this method will give him confidence enough to start aproaching men and trusting them a little more.


I personally 100% belive in positive reinforcement.
i think possibly the WORST punishment you can give your chihuahuas is to ignore him (even for 3 seconds)
So i reward the behaviours i like, and ignore those i dont...they quickly learn, "mamma doesnt pay us any attention when we do that" and so dont bother doing it...

ive honestly NEVER had to Yell, or squirt or hit or any of that with ANY of the dogs ive trained. most respond well to a firm voice a strong presence and positive reinforcment...
a dog is not TRYING to be bad...they just dont know what behaviours you want...most dogs with anttitue problems are from families that never taught the dog good behaviours...

A beginners obedience class would also help you guys a great deal as itll socilize happy with other people and dogs as well as help him learn (or if he knows refresh) the basics, as well as being alot of fun.

and rember, with ANY kind of training, presistence, patients and praise...


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## chimama (May 14, 2004)

You can try it, I tried it and all it did was make my dogs wet. :roll:


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## peanutlover (Oct 8, 2005)

awww i laughed at the reply you can try it, i did and all it did was make my dogs wet.. lol i thought it was so cute


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## Gypsy (Feb 13, 2006)

A spray bottle has worked well with my girls and my mom and sister's chis. We fill a spray bottle with water and a little vinegar and it's just about the only thing the bad barkers (including Cosette) will stop for. I don't like to yell at them and definitely not spank or anything so this the pain free solution for us. :wave:


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## dolly'sgrandma (Nov 8, 2005)

First of all, I really liked Foxy's post! I personally use "NO" for pretty much everything. And depending how aggravated I am, it can be pretty stern!

I had a question about the spray bottle for chis...what about their lovely--but let's face it, a bit bulgey, eyes? Can they be hurt by a direct squirt accidentally? I know their eyes are really vulnerable to cat scratches, so I thought I would ask.

Also, this is just funny...we tried the squirt bottle on our lab puppy years ago. We totally forgot he was a LAB, ie, LOVED water. It was a reward to him! hee! He would sort of cavort and be like, "Is it time to play". So yeah, it didn't work with him! I can see it being VERY effective with a cat


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## chimama (May 14, 2004)

This just made me think of when I had cats and was told to use a spray bottle on them and I squirted one of my cats and it hit the electricity outlet and started to spark and started a small fire in the wall, so be careful where you aim it! :sign5:


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

if its just water i woudlnt be too worried about the eyes, however if you add vinegar then yes be EXTREEMLY carefull around the eyes, jsut like if we got vinegar in our eyes it would be extreemly painfull. and yes i agree, dont squirt it neer the outlets lol.

dodger actually likes to drink out of the squirty bottle...
Vixie just looks at me like...what was that for if she gets in the way of the flow when the cats getting it..lol


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## Tucker-N-Jasper (Aug 6, 2005)

Tucker does very well with voice commands, including the enough and leave it commands.. however the "enough" did have to be inforced with the squirt bottle. He was very much out of control with his barking. I'm taking running through the house for more than 20 mins at a time barking as if there were bad guys at every corner. NOTHING stopped it. And I used treats and redirection for all his other training. The squirt bottle definitely worked for the barking. If he doesn't believe me now when I say enough (now that he's learned the command) I just have to hold it up (I bought a bright green one so its very distinguishable). I never squirted him in the face and never squirted him without giving him opportunity to respond to verbal. I don't think its negative nor hurtful. I aimed for the shoulders and only shot once. BTW Tucker loves water and will beg and whine while I'm filling the sink for his bath, he's so eager.

Jasper hasn't really done any excessive barking.. and I'm just starting the other commands... but one thing that the water worked for is his chewing the carpet. (Tucker never did that) He will pull and pull at the fibers as if it was saturated in A-1! So I tricked him by squirting the water into the air, it would "rain" on his back (I never said a thing), he would stop, look around like where did that come from, and start to chew again, I'd rain and he'd stop.. after about 4 rains he just gave up and went to get a toy (I'd tried redirecting to toys many times). After a few episodes of rainstopping, I haven't caught him chewing recently...


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## trixiesmom (Jan 31, 2006)

We used the water treatment for my sons dog, only we filled a coffee cup and threw water on her to stop the barking. After a few weeks all we had to do is show her a coffee cup and she shut up. She was such an excessive barker. She lived to be almost 16 and the cup was still working all those years. :wink: I'm using a squirt gun for the chi's, I also carry it with when we go walking in case she does something she shouldn't. :lol:


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## Renee xO (Mar 29, 2006)

thank u for all ur responses everyone. I cant believe how detailed all of your posts were! Thank u sO much!!! I took all of your advice and the water bottle worked, to my complete amazement! i was scared to do it at first because i didnt know if Happi would hate me for squirting him. It worked and he doesnt hate me! =)
I was SO scared to discipline him with water and i REFUSE to hit him. i see people hitting their animals ALL the time and i think thats cruel and SICK, personally. I dont know how those people even own dogs, someone should have them removed from their homes. 
anyways... thanks again everyone. im sure ill have tons more questions for use!! =)

Let me get started on some more posting questions lol


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