My doodle attacks Chihuahua

[Edith & "Lucy"]

My mother in law has a 10 year old chihuahua. She is kind of skiddish and not very playful. Well, Lucy is about 9 months old and rather dominant. Every time the chihuahua is in our house, Lucy gets really jealous when we pet the other dog or when the chihuahua gets treats she immediately growls at her and attacks her. So, we learned to be careful about treats and food and attention giving to the chihuahua when Lucy (our doodle) is around.
This time we were in my MIL's house and I didn't think anything and gave the chihuahua some love and Lucy immediately attacked the chihuahua. The other situation was that I gave Lucy one of her own toys and the chihuahua was maybe 3 feet away from the toy and Lucy just attacked the chihuahua and had her by her neck. From that point on we had her on the leash the whole time. We are talking about 3 hours or so.

My sweet doodle. What's going on with her? What would you do? Should I search for a trainer to help me with this?

[Edith & "Lucy"]

You are absolutely right. It was good a while back with those 2 dogs but than the chihuahua was in our house and Lucy really let her have from that point on it's was always the fight reaction in Lucy. I already put the word out to the Southern Cal Group if they know of a behaviorist.
Thanks for responding.

[Mr Sneaky]

Just wondering does Lucy socialise with lots of other dogs much in a group situation with out you there? My friends dog had this same reaction (she is tiny but would growl and attack my 80lb doodle) untill they took her to socialise at doggy day care. She learned all the right doggy language and doggy etiquette from the other dogs and since then is much better. Now she just uses subtle body language and my playful puppy knows when to steer clear of her and when she does feel like playing. Just an idea.

[Edith & "Lucy"]

Yes, I started Lucy once a week at a doggy day care and she is doing really well there. No problems. With our neighbors dog which is a bigger dog than Lucy, also no problems. I got to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for your response.

[Lynne B]

How are they on neutral territory? I would remove all toys and food when they are together, and try to get them together outside or in a place they aren't used to. How is Lucy when you take a toy or food from her? If she shows any signs of being upset about it I would work on that- I'm sure there are plenty of people here who can give you some tips to help her get over food & toy guarding

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Oh no I have a chihuahua (but he is pretty friendly, but protective over me) and I am bringing home my baby mini goldendoodle next Monday! I have been worried that he is going to be mean to her LOL. Good luck training/working on the behavior and let us know if you figure something out!

[Edith & "Lucy"]

I talked to a behaviorist yesterday. She said it's all about guarding. Everything I told her all the scenarios were about guarding. She said we have to bring her down a notch (sp?). She is too high on her pedestol. She also wants to change the choke collar into a halter collar. She said that the constant jerking with the choke collar makes her mad and it is too much of a good thing. If that makes sense. I have a really good feeling about this behaviorist. She has been doing that kind of work for over 30 years. I think we are getting somewhere.