How To Train A Chihuahua Puppy – The Ultimate Guide

Chihuahuas are sassy! But they’re also really clever too. If we do the same things over and over again, they get bored, so they do need to be challenged. Do this systematically using the Push. Drop, Stick method. Sidenote – it’s also good for short training sessions so your Chihuahua won’t get full of treats doing the same thing again and again.

So.. What is Push, Drop, and Stick?

Push, Drop, Stick, is a way of systematically raising the difficulty of an exercise or behaviour.

If exercises are always kept too easy, then dogs will keep doing them correctly because they are being rewarded (cheeky). However, progress will be slower as they’ll get ‘stuck’ at this level. 

If lessons are too hard, then it’s likely that they’ll give up since treats won’t be coming as easy.

‘Push Drop Stick’ can help avoid both scenarios by maintaining enough momentum: It will keep your puppy winning enough times to keep them interested and not quit, but not so much that they aren’t thinking about how to be rewarded by trying harder.

How does it work?

By doing 5 repetitions of an exercise, we are going to keep track of how many the dog gets right. Based on how they perform, we’re going to choose whether to do which of the following:

Push – Go to the next level of difficulty (raise criteria)

Drop – Back to the previous level of difficulty (drop criteria)

Stick – Stay at the current level of difficulty (stay with current criteria)

Why should I train like this?

By training in repetitions of 5, we are less likely to get stuck at a certain point.

It also means that we’ll be able to keep track of where we’re at so that we can build stronger and stronger behaviours. Off to better things!

What is the difficulty or criteria?

Difficulty or Criteria relates to the ‘three D’s’ Duration, Distraction and Distance. These refer to how long can the dog perform the behaviour for, what is the distraction like, and how far from us can they perform the behaviour.

This week and probably for some time yet, beside your bed will be the best place for your Chihuahua puppy to sleep, either in a crate or a puppy bed, it will help them feel safe, which at such a young age is super important. Having them next to you means you’ll know when they get up in the night needing the toilet. Getting into a nighttime routine so things become reliable for your pup. 

Your puppy will need a lot of sleep, but their body clocks aren’t the same as ours, so be patient for the first couple of months while they get into their groove and learn to sleep through the night. 

If you want to have your puppy in your bed that’s fine too, but do be careful as a fall off the bed can be a cause for concern in such a small puppy.

How can I teach my puppy to be ok on their own?  

This is really tough for puppies, it’s just the way they are made, they don’t like being alone but often we need them to be. So teaching a puppy to be left alone is an important part of puppy raising. Having a safe place like a crate or playpen to leave your Chihuahua puppy can be really useful for alone-time training. 

Dogs are social and have evolved to want to be with us, companion breeds like the Chihuahua especially. Every inch of your puppy is going to want to be with you at all times, following you around the house is perfectly normal at this age, it’s not something you need to worry about.

For the first week focus on making sure they feel safe and comfortable, we never recommend you let your puppy cry it out, this can cause long-term emotional damage, so meet their emotional needs at this age. Read our full guide on alone training for your Chihuahua puppy.

Socialisation and early learning are going to be important for your Chihuahua puppy. Too often people put their toy breeds in scary situations and don’t give them enough positive experiences of the world. This can make your puppy scared, which is the opposite of what we’re looking for. Read our full guide to socialisation to learn how to best socialise your Chihuahua puppy. 

This week let’s focus on 

• Letting your Chihuahua puppy explore the garden – make sure your garden fencing is secure so it’s safe for your teeny puppy to explore safely. 

Grab some treats and just sit in the garden with them, if they hear any strange noises give them a treat after to teach them there’s nothing to worry about.

• Teach your puppy about surfaces – surface confidence is important for puppies to learn while in their socialisation period. 

Lay out different floor coverings like a rubber bath mat, a carpet tile and a piece of cardboard and let them walk all over them. They might grab them and drag them around too, and that’s fine! Keep it fun and light and give them a treat every now and again to let them know it’s rewarding to be around these new things.

Just for safety and not to overwhelm them, don’t use anything too slippy just yet, we want to build confidence and not have them immediately a bit worried about walking on things before they’ve started. 

Dogs learn best using reward-based training. Chihuahuas will do well eating small treats, all they need is a tiny treat, not something that will take them a while to eat and fill them up quickly.

Let’s crack on with some life skills training for the first week of training your Chihuahua puppy. Click the links for the full training guides.

• Teach your Chihuahua their name – this will be one of the most important cues to teach your Chi as it will get their attention, and you can ask them to do something else next. Only say it once, then follow it up with a treat, and do it in a place where they’re relaxed and not distracted until they’ve got an idea that it means ‘look at me’.
  
• Teach your Chihuahua puppy to sit – your breeder may well have done this with your pup already, and it comes quite naturally as dogs look up at us, their bottom usually hits the floor. The top tip for a Chihuahua puppy is not to loom over them. Us humans seem like giants to them, so try this sat on the floor so you’re not putting pressure on them and they don’t feel overwhelmed.
• Recall aka How to teach your Chihuahua puppy to come back when called – letting your Chihuahua puppy off lead would be nerve-wracking for anyone. but it’s just a step-by-step thing they’ll learn. Start from the very beginning, practise in your house at first, and make yourself really exciting! 
• Retrieve/fetch – Your Chihuahua will be playful, and probably like playing fetch, especially if you use small soft toys they can pick up easily. 

Hand Touch

Training a Chihuahua puppy to be handled in a positive way often gets overlooked. They are so small and are frequently picked up and overhandled or handled in the wrong way so they can start to not like it. It’s important to remember they are still dogs and not a teddy bear. They’re sensitive and rough handling can really damage them not only physically but emotionally.

In the first week spend time teaching your puppy that hands are a nice thing and that they have a choice whether they want to be touched or not. 

How to teach your Chihuahua puppy about handling

1. Sit on the floor of a room where they spend most of their time.

2. Allow your Chi to pace around you as they please.

3. If they walk away, leave them alone and wait for them to return.

4. They will most likely want to sniff and smell your hands, maybe even give them a lick. Yes, regardless of where they’ve been.

5. Once they are comfortable, you can begin softly massaging them. Begin with their sides and the base of their neck. See where your puppy likes to be touched; perhaps avoid their face and paws for the time being.

You’ll need to work continually for the next few weeks and beyond, teaching your Chihuahua puppy about the world and making experiences positive for them. 

• Fireworks – We all know what a headache fireworks can be for dogs. Fireworks can be quite a surprise for puppies, so they need gradual positive exposure to the noises they make. 

Have a look at the lessons in the Zigzag app for helping with getting puppies used to noises like thunder and rainfall, fireworks and traffic. Oh and we play meet the vacuum cleaner too!

• Watch the world go by – Although you can’t take your puppy for walks just yet, you can still start teaching them that the outdoors is a nice place to be by sitting out the front of your house and giving them a treat every now and again. Particularly if a wizzy bike or a loud bus or lorry goes past. That way they’ll learn that the loud thing will equal food, and build up positive connections.

• Play dress up – your Chihuahua needs to learn that the world is a diverse place and they’ll meet people with beards, glasses, hats and headscarves in wheelchairs, and on crutches, to name a few! You can do this easily yourself by wearing different kinds of clothing and acting like it’s no big deal. 

Here are some suggestions:

• Hi-viz jacket or vest
• A big woolly hat
• Bike crash helmet
• Chunky heavy boots

Sit in the car – oh the adventures you’re going to take your puppy on, we bet you can’t wait. It’s really important that your puppy is restrained safely in the car. Even just falling off the seat could seriously damage a Chihuahua so invest in an appropriate car carrier for them. This week just sit in the car and let them climb over it, give them a treat every now and again and just let them explore and check it out.

In week 2 we’ll get going and teach your puppy some important life skills – click the links for the full training guides.

• Alone training – it’s important that you teach your puppy to cope on its own. We can start this by using simple food puzzles and interactive toys while sitting nearby, gradually moving a bit further away each day, so that they learn being away from us is rewarding. 

• Crate training – many dogs get on well with crate training. It provides a safe space they can be left, and where they can choose to go if they want to sleep or have some peace and quiet.

• Teach them their name in the garden – this will be trickier than indoors as your Chihuahua will be sniffing all of those smells, bird watching and listening to the sounds! Practise the same as you did before, using high-value treats, but if your pup is in the middle of something, resist the temptation to say their name over and over again. It gets frustrating for us as we think they’re ‘not listening’ but we also don’t want to ruin that lovely name cue we’ve taught indoors, by teaching them they only need to respond on the fourth or fifth time.

• Recall training: add a cue word – add a word like ‘come’ or ‘here’ just as your puppy is coming toward you so they start to learn that the word = what they’re doing at that time. Getting down low on the floor and saying it in an exciting voice will make your Chihuahua really see you and they’ll hear your voice better.

• Fetch and drop – keep on going with your two soft toys and practise lots of swaps at the end so you can teach your Chihuahua to drop.

• Introduce lead walking training – train naked! Your Chihuahua puppy that is. Lead-walking is all about positioning so teach your puppy to walk where you want them to by rewarding them when they’re in the right position. The harness and lead are just there for safety so you can add them later on.

We hope last week’s handling exercises went well. This week we’ll move on with the husbandry exercises a little. 

• Brushing your puppy – Chihuahuas come with different coat types. Long-haired coats will need more thorough brushing and combing as it can get knotty. The short-haired Chihuahua still needs brushing though, not only is brushing an excellent bonding experience, but it also distributes oils throughout the coat and increases blood flow to the skin so it’s good for skin health.

Use plenty of treats when brushing them, or stuff up a Kong or a lickimat to keep them entertained. Avoid any highly sensitive areas for now, and if you notice they don’t like being groomed on a certain part (often their back legs) brush somewhere they like and come back to it later.

As both long-haired and short-haired Chihuahuas both shed they shouldn’t need too much bathing, but you can read our guide to how to give a puppy bath to know for later.

We hope your Chihuahua puppy is beginning to feel more comfortable with the outside world, and socialisation is going well. 

• Scent trails – Even a nose as small as a Chihuahuas is incredible! Let’s use your puppy’s natural sniffing abilities to give them something to do with their wonderful search skills. This is always appreciated for any breed – if my French Bulldog can do it, your Chihuahua certainly can!

How to do it 

1.  Pop your puppy outside of the room or have someone hold them while you lay out a trail of 10 treats at around half a metre apart.
2. At the end of the trail, lay a pile of the remaining treats.
3. Bring your puppy in and show them the first treat. They will likely follow the rest of the trail all on their own.
4. Add a cue word such as ‘find it’ as your puppy trots down the trail, eating the treats.

We’re sure your puppy will ace this exercise, leave them to do the sniffing, there’ll be no need to crowd them!

• Invite friends over  – we know you can’t wait for your friend to meet your little mouse! Big groups of people can be overwhelming for any puppy, so just start off with a couple of friends. Hand them treats on the way in and then ask them to sit down and allow your Chihuahua puppy to sniff and investigate them. Ask them to resist the urge to pick your Chi puppy up, but they can also sit on the floor to play and stroke them. 

• Go for a drive with your Chihuahua puppy – pop them in the car carrier and go for a short drive around the block. 

• Write a puppy socialisation checklist for your Chihuahua puppy: remember how huge everything is in your Chihuahua world. Hence, having them approach people, or look at things from the comfort and safety of your lap is fine.

Teaching your puppy to come back when called outside, not jump up, cope with being alone and learn in different environments will be important life skills for any dog, especially a toy breed like a Chihuahua. Let’s get going and find out how to do it, and more importantly, why!  

• Recall: teaching your Chihuahua puppy to come when called, outside – you’ve been doing great training them to come inside, let’s just try it in the garden now, make sure it’s secure of course. Use high-value treats, tiny pieces so their tummies don’t get full too quickly.
• Stop your puppy jumping up – jumping up in toy dogs is a very common behaviour. They want to get close to us and they’re so small! Read our full guide to jumping up to teach your Chihuahua to sit to greet or keep four paws on the floor instead. 
• Generalisation – in other words… different locations. Teaching your puppy that sit means sitting wherever you ask them to do it requires you to train in different locations. The picture looks different to the dog when you train at a new place. 

This week choose four different places to teach your Chihuahuas basic cues so that they start to learn to generalise. 

• Teach your Chihuahua puppy to lie down – teaching a toy dog to lie down can be tricky. Use the methods in our full guide, but you’ll also find it easier if you put them on a raised table with a non-slip mat, or piece of vet bed. 
• Alone training – companion breeds like to be with us, it makes sense, doesn’t it? This week start to pop out of the room for a few seconds at a time while your pup is eating. 

Harness fitting for a puppy. Finding a harness to fit a Chihuahua can be tricky, they’re so small aren’t they? Wearing a harness is much kinder for all breeds of dogs, but toy breeds, especially as their necks are so delicate. For tiny dogs, we like the Dog Games Perfect Fit range. Make sure you spend some time getting your puppy used to its harness.

At 12 weeks your puppy’s socialisation window is closing. It’s important that you work within and beyond this period to teach them about the world. Socialisation doesn’t stop at 12 weeks, it carries on throughout your puppy’s life.

• Meeting another dog – Find a calm adult dog that likes puppies for your first introduction. They may be a lot bigger than your Chihuahua, this doesn’t matter as long as they are friendly. No need to let them off the lead or to play just yet, simply reward both dogs for being near each other. Your puppy might want to go and sniff the other dog, this is fine, but let them do it in their own time. 
• Find a good puppy class for your puppy – Puppy socialisation classes can be a great safe environment for your Chihuahua puppy to be exposed to all different kinds of dogs. Many toy breeds of dogs are frightened of big dogs, so being around them in a controlled environment helps them not be scared. You’ll also pick up some great tips from the trainer, and just realise ‘my puppy is normal’.

This week we’ll work on some essential new skills your Chihuahua puppy will need to learn to be out and about with you in the world. 

• Settle on a mat – you can teach your Chihuahua there is a safe place to be when out and about and that they can settle in cafes and restaurants. A puppy bag also works well for this. 

How to prepare

Choose a mat or bag – something portable and non-slip like a piece of vet bed is ideal for this. 

Have your puppy’s harness on, and their lead ready. 

Have a stuffed Kong or yummy chew toy ready to go too. 

How to do it

1.  Pop the mat on the floor, next to your sofa or favourite chair.
2. Attach the lead to the harness.
3. Sit down and switch your TV on, attaching the lead to the leg of your chair or pop it under your foot.
4. You’ll need your puppy to stand up, lie down, and shuffle comfortably, so make sure that the lead isn’t too tight. At the same time, don’t let it stretch too long so that your puppy wanders about looking for trouble. 
5. Pop the Kong on the mat so that your puppy has something to do while you enjoy your show. 
6. Watch TV for 10/15 minutes more after your puppy empties the Kong. At this point, they might carry on chewing the toy, be awake or asleep. 

Here, the goal is to have your puppy lie down and relax, but they might move around or stand up. But what this exercise will teach them eventually, is that sometimes they’ll just have to settle next to you. 

• Lead walking – loose lead walking can be tricky with a toy breed because they’re so close to the floor, and far away from you! Using a refillable food tube to dispense treats or a tube of liver sausage, means your Chihuahua puppy can have a little lick of the end of the tube without you bending down so much. 

Make sure you have a comfy harness and a good long length of training lead so that they have room to sniff too. 

• Recall games – Play tennis with your puppy! To play tennis with your puppy, imagine them as the tennis ball, needing to ping-pong between humans to obtain their tasty rewards!

Grooming a puppy – focusing on sensitive areas. On your Chihuahua puppy, this will often be their legs. Some will also need their eyes cleaning, or their ear hair trimmed. Good to get them used to this stuff from the beginning so it’s not an issue later on.

We hope your Chihuahua puppy is coping with the world, here are some more socialisation activities for you to do

• Go to the pub/dog-friendly café – you deserve it! This is where your bag or settle mat will be useful. People will likely want to say hello, ask your Chihuahua if they want to, and don’t disturb them if they’re relaxed and asleep. It can take a while to calm them down afterwards. 
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – your lifestyle and what you like to do will vary, so what you need to socialise your puppy will vary also. But key things all dogs need socialising and learning about are different environments, different surfaces, noises like traffic, fireworks, and thunderstorms, as well as a diverse mixture of people and animals. 

• Alone training: increasing time alone will be important, work at the level your Chihuahua puppy can cope with and just stretch the time little by little. 

Read our guide to how long can I leave my puppy alone, for more info. 

• Recall – Outside, using a lead, dealing with distractions. Letting your puppy off the lead at the park seems nerve-wracking, doesn’t it? Use a long lead in a safe corner of the park, to begin with, and come armed with high-value tiny treats to deal with any distractions.
  
• Lead walking – outside, loose lead walking might be tricky. There are so many smells and noises that will be distracting for your puppy. Firstly, let them check their pee-mails when you’re outside, they hold vital information about the outside world.

Many Chihuahua puppies will stop on walks. This is normal, give them time to work things out before trying to move on and read our full guide to why does my puppy stop on walks. 

• Push/drop/stick on known exercises – can your puppy sit on verbal cue when you say ‘sit’ yet? Try using the push, drop, stick method to raise criteria and keep exercises challenging for your Chihuahua puppy. 

Start pretending to clip your dog’s nails – puppy claws will need trimming, and even if they’re not very long they’ll have sharp pointy ends. Start out by just playing with their feet when they’re relaxed and snoozy. If they’re ok with that you can start touching the paw with a nail clipper and giving them a treat, no rush to actually clip them yet, just get them used to being around the nail clippers and that it’s a fun exercise.

• Tick 3 more items off your socialisation checklist – maybe you can take your Chi to a beach and let them feel what it’s like to get their feet wet in the sea?

• Following on walks – Playing the ‘follow me’ game on walks is an excellent technique to boost recall. 

The ‘follow me’ game will help keep your puppy focused on you in areas where there are distractions, which is anywhere other than your home. 

Download a trial of the Zigzag app for the full information

• Push/drop/stick – what exercise can we make a bit more difficult for your Chihuahua puppy – dealers choice!

• Start checking your puppy’s mouth and teeth – Chihuahuas have the same amount of teeth as Great Danes. Of course, they’re a lot smaller in size but it can make their mouths cramped with all of those teeth and lead to dental problems if you don’t take care of them. Make sure you take care of your puppies’ teeth by cleaning them regularly with appropriate toothpaste and toothbrush.

• Have a go at puppy agility – Chihuahuas can be excellent at Agility, they are fast and nimble. You won’t be jumping with your puppy until they’re fully grown but they can do other things on the flat as well as learn to wait and come when you call them. Excellent!
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – maybe you can take your puppy along to the agility club so they can watch a lesson? 

• Teach your Chihuahua puppy to stay – teaching your puppy to stay or wait can be used in many real-life situations, like waiting at the side of the road until it’s safe to cross, or waiting while I pick up your poo! Do this very gradually, it’s natural for your puppy to want to be with you and follow you so don’t rush it.
• Go for a walk with a friend’s dog – the stuff that dreams are made of. Just a short walk will be fine, reward both dogs for being calm and walking nicely. You can let them have a sniff and a little play if you like too. 

• Recall – off the lead. You’ve done so well with practising that this should be a breeze, use your happy ‘come’ cue, get down low and gesture your puppy in. Check out our training games library for the best dog in the world recall. 

• Push/drop/stick on known exercises – how’s your little Einstein going with their training? Have you been amazed at how well they’re learning? Bet they’re teaching you a thing or two! 

• Pretend ear drops = Some puppies, in particular, have really hairy ears where all sorts of stuff might accumulate if we aren’t attentive. Because Chihuahuas have pricked ears, they can collect a lot of dirt, so make sure you clean and dry your puppy’s ears on a regular basis, to avoid them itching and scratching at them. 

Preventative exercises such as (fake) ear and eye drop training can be extremely beneficial in teaching your dog that using them is not a big deal. When the time comes to use them, it won’t be as difficult because they’ll be completely prepared.

• Joggers and Cyclists – these fast-moving targets can frighten your Chihuahua puppy, causing them to lunge and bark. Teach them to ignore them by working at a safe distance and feeding them little treats as they go past. 

• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – perhaps you’ll go to a farmers market, hang out near a city farm, or just go for a little stroll around a DIY store? All of these places make great training areas too. 

Let’s bring it all together and how about we teach them something new, too?

• Practice exercises in different locations – we talked about generalisation before, didn’t we? It’s an important thing to do, that’s why! This week try training sessions in different locations, and you’ll be socialising with them too. Almost like a two-for-one. 

• Teach a hand target  – this is a good one, your Chihuahua’s gonna love it, and we hope you do too.

Hand targeting is the basis of most trick behaviours, the tricks can wait til later, but get the foundations in and you’ll be teaching your Chihuahua puppy to weave through your legs, spin and twist in no time. 

How to do it

1. Hold your right hand out flat with your palm towards your puppy at the height of its nose. 
2. They will likely investigate it and go in for a sniff (their dogs – sniffing things is as good as life gets). As soon as they do, say your marker word ‘good’.
3. Immediately give them a treat with your left hand.
4. Repeat this at least 10 times. At this point, you should start to feel your puppy really giving your hand a shove with its nose once they’ve got the hang of things.

• Introducing nose work to your puppy – your Chihuahua puppy may have the tiniest cutest button nose you’ve ever seen but it can still sniff and scent incredibly well! 

How to prepare

• Find an old towel to use.
• Stuff a Kong or a toilet roll with some food

How to do it

1. When your puppy is out of the room, hide the toy under a towel. 
2. Bring your puppy in and encourage them to find the toy by using the cue word ‘find it’.
3. Use your wonderfully cheerful voice to give your puppy some extra encouragement.
4. Good job! There’s no better reward than finding a toy with food inside.

• Trim your Chihuahua puppy’s claws – hopefully the last two weeks of pretending to cut your Chi’s claws have paid off, and now you can clip their nails? Start off just doing one paw at a time, give them a break, then go back to it a little later.