“You got a what?” …

and “They are such a challenge to train!” is about all I heard for almost the first eight  months of owning Chloe, the Chihuahua I got as a puppy.

I must admit the first year was a bit of a challenge, never having a small dog before Chloe.  I had gone from an 80 lb. lab to a 7 lb. little itty bitty dog.  I had tried some private lessons and some group lessons, but nothing seemed to stop her running out the door and not coming when called.  The real push came when I was taking my mother to the UK for almost three weeks and my 82 year old dad (who really loves this dog!) volunteered to care for her.

I was absolutely worried about his ability to stop her from darting out the door and then to catch her as she darted about.  Well, along came Sit Means Sit.  I came across Nick at the annual Women’s Expo May of 2010.  We crunched in some valuable lessons with both my dad and I to make sure I could leave her with him, and after three home visits, I felt that I could do just that!  Even Matt and Nick came in at first talking about how mean Chihuahua’s could be.  But all went well with my dad’s three weeks with Chloe, due to his good care, and Sit Means Sit.

Now Chloe and I have been attending training classes on a regular basis and she is always the littlest in the class, but many times the most obedient in the class.  I have a very well trained, not perfect, but well trained little dog that is a pleasure to have as a companion.  I am sure that Chloe would not have turned out this way without the methods of Sit Means Sit.

It is now a year later and we still attend training classes.  I am glad to say that she is friendly, but still a bit skittish, a trait of Chihuahuas.  She is my pal though, through and through.  So it is possible to have control and enjoy little dogs.

In fact, I am thinking of a second one and we will definitely use Sit Means Sit!

~ Phyllis

(Trainer’s note:  Phyllis followed through, and now owns a second Chihuahua, Tucker, who is enrolled in our program!)