New dog; chiwuawua

[-Moo-]

Hi,

I just got a new chiwuawua.. And its been acting strangely. It's running around in my house, very fast too. He's ripping all of my pillows, and he ruined my bed too! Should I keep him outside? And.. Is this normal? Oh yea, today I took my dog out for a walk, I saw a stray dog and he went up to (as it appears) sniff the dog's butt. -_-;

[Jerica]

Not to nit pick lol, but it is spelled chihuahua. Sorry just had to point that out. Chihuahuas are great dogs, my family has one. They can be very high energy sometimes, but you can't keep a chihuahua outside, even if you live where the weather is always warm they can't live outside because too many animals can see them as prey. Please don't keep your chihuahua outside. Do you have toys for you dog? Our chihuahua never has been much for ripping things up, but not much for toys either. Try to give your dog some toys and other things to chew on and see if that helps. How old is your chi?

[craigminah]

Pur English Springer gets like that but has never really damaged anything (cept for digging). We keep a lot of toys scattered around the house to include several NylaBones. We play with her regularly but not enough and she still behaves. I think some toys would help.

[PatchO'Pits]

Sniffing a dogs butt is how dogs greet each other
(NORMAL)

Running , playing, chewing
(NORMAL)

Honestly you need to start training the puppy and getting the behaviors under control. Putting a pup outside and not socializing will not help and plus will not teach the puppy anything. Puppies are like babies they have to be taught and supervised at all times. If you can't be with the pup to watch start crate training . Puppies require tons of work and attention

[PatchO'Pits]

Please read
http://forums.petlovers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9801

[bumme]

his behaviors are not really strange. you probably need to get him toys so he knows what is okay to chew on. i have a chihuahua too. when i first got him, he would put his mouth on anything but after telling him no and directing his chewing to his toys, he has stopped since.

and chihuahuas are not outside dogs. so dont leave him out there!

as for the running. i think you might have to play with him more. my puppy gets the zooms too when he's has a lot of energy. he just starts running back and forth, seemingly without purpose.

you might want to train him or at least learn more about taking care of a puppy.