"Aggressiveness" and training

[gebower]

HI Chow Lovers,
I hope this doesn't start a big stink, it seems that some people who have Chows are SO afraid of their "aggresiveness and want them trained to accept all people and never show any "aggressiveness". My Chows have never been trained and have never ever bitten anyone. If you train your Chow to be friendly to everyone then they will let anyone into the house with their upturned tails wagging. Do you really want to make sure that your Chows are so docile? If you watch TV you'll see many people murdered in their beds because they didn't have a dog in the house. I will give you an example that will explain what I am trying to say. A woman was attacked by an insane man that had escaped and got in her own home and she had a Peekinese. This tiny dog attacked him for all he's worth and the man kicked the little dog aside. But, this little guy came right back at him again and started chewing on him again. He'd had enough and left. Was this dog aggressive? Of course he was, if he wasn't this woman would have surely died. Some people may be thinkng, what about kids? Well, I've had three Chows and they KNOW that kids are kids and are always friendly towards them, at least mine have. I've had kids screaming their heads off in front of my house and my Chows do not react, they just watch. They love kids. I'm only trying to say, aggressiveness can be good in a Chow as long as it's not OUT OF CONTROL.
Gene.

[chow fancier]

I there is confusion as to aggressiveness and assertiveness just as there often is when describing people. There is a continuum of behavior from submissive through assertive to aggressive.

At one far end of the spectrum, a completely submissive individual has so much concern for gaining the approval of others that they ignore their own needs and wishes to win that approval and will attempt to avoid conflict of any kind. They back down immediately when confronted. A chow that is completely submissive will seem meek and easily intimidated. May roll over whenever approached, or run and hide.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the extremely aggressive individual who has no concern whatsoever for the feelings of others, is often patronizing and can display verbal hostility and abuse. This is the chow whose hackles come up whenever he is approached. In addition, he will pursue what he's after as though it is his right, stealing food right off your plate, for example.

Right in the middle is the person I hope to be and chow I hope to raise: assertive. This individual realizes that others have rights, needs and feelings and respects those things. However, they also believe in their own rights to express themselves. They will defend themselves when verbally attached. An assertive chow will check out everyone entering your home, but if you tell your chow these individuals are "ok", they should allow them in without difficulty. On the other hand, an unauthorized individual will be met with snarling, growling, and if worse came to worse (if the individual entered the home without your signal) biting.

[Victory]

I agree with chow fancier, it isn't that you want a completely docile chow, (or any other dog) what you want is one that is confident enough to THINK the situation through and then respond appropriately.
My LiChi was my mom's first and he was extremely unsocialized, she would put he and MingToy away when she had guests and because they were in the yard all the time, they didn't go on walks. When I brought him, he wasn't too happy about people coming to visit us, but a few sharp discussions between he and I taught him that if I or one of the other humans in the pack, let a person in it was okay. He grew to accept company and I could trust him with guests, however that didn't mean he had become submissive, when I would take him for walks and we encountered people up to no good, like the three young people who were trying to get into our building to steal stuff he would go into full protection mode where he would plant himself right in front of me and stare the people down, (no he wouldn't drop his eyes for people he was trying to intimidate), he stared down those three people and another group of gang bangers.

Same thing with Darkwind who was the gentlest, sweetest and most friendly chow I've ever owned. I'd only had him a few months, Firesong wasn't even here, and one night he started giving out this very, very low menacing growl standing at the front door to the apartment, he meant business and I don't know who or what was out there but they moved on. Yet this was the same chow that let seven unknown children run up to him at the Ren Fest, two of which fell on him and he never even twitched.

My current two are protective and alert, but when I wasn't home and the apartment flooded they allowed the maintanence guys and cleaning people into the apartment without becoming aggressive, they weren't real friendly, as in they wouldn't allow themselves to be touched, they backed away, but they didn't bark, growl or lunge. The strangers were non-threatening so my chows were non-threatening. When I came home they became a little more protective as in they wouldn't leave my side and stayed between me and the maintanence people. I was and am quite proud of Firesong and Dreamdancer for handling the situation in such a way.

Appropriate reactions to a situation are something you should expect from a person and also something you want to work towards in your dog, no matter what kind of dog you have.
That Pek in your article reacted appropriately to a situation, and having had a pek when I was a kid I know how absolutely tenacious they can be.

[dizzy]

i think in a certain situation a dog will react in diffrent ways i have to male chows one is 3 and the other 1 the oldest love everyone and anyone but the young one wont let strangers go near him my girlfriend was walking him when two guys with hoods came over asking do they bite she said no and as soon as the guy moved towrds her the young chow went for him .about in the house a dog knows whats nomral an wahts not so if sumone was kicking your door trying to get in and rob your house they would go into attack mode im sure

[Victory]

i think in a certain situation a dog will react in diffrent ways i have to male chows one is 3 and the other 1 the oldest love everyone and anyone but the young one wont let strangers go near him my girlfriend was walking him when two guys with hoods came over asking do they bite she said no and as soon as the guy moved towrds her the young chow went for him .

You young one was most likely reacting to the hood over the head, mine used to do that, and in Minnesota where almost EVERYONE wears a hood of some kind in the winter it wasn't a good thing, fear biting is bad. I started wearing my hood up even around the house and got him used to hoods over human heads and now he's okay with them. Some chows, and other dogs, are sensitive to the shape of the human head and need also to be able to see the features of the face, hoods, hats, scarves and even heavy makeup, like clown make up at halloween, or masks, can make these dogs afraid and then they'll bite just from that. This is fear biting and it's bad, it indicates a stressed canine and it seems that once they get stressed and fearful of one thing they start developing other fears.

Like I said in my earlier post you want a chow, or dog, that is confident in any situation and not ever fearful. They will still be protective, they'll just have an even better idea of when that protectiveness is needed.

[lightforce18]

My yogi loves all my friends and family. But certain people like my neighbor he hates he always barks at him lol. But hes super nice now to everyone and just wants to play. I would hope tho in a situation where im getting hurt and need help he would help me. But well never know unless that happens really.

[JasonandNat]

For us FengHuang is the Universal Ambassador, she loves everyone. ShenLung not so much.

We taught him to shy away or back off if he doesn't like someone. If you reach for him, forget it, not going to happen, if you corner him, then we don't want to be you. He does everything he can not to be in a position that we would get upset. Even with other dogs, both take a lot before doing anything, but when they do, nothing has gone further. We had a Rottweiler lunging at both a month back and they patiently just sat there while the owner tried to get control. Asked us how we controlled our 'aggressive' dogs, we shrugged and said we're calm, they're calm and we know they are the dominant dog and they know we are dominant. Still think the fella has no clue what we said.

Some people can walk right up to ShenLung and he's affectionate. Most cannot because they are scared and he knows it. He also knows he can't outright dominate them or mommy and daddy will be upset. Anyone coming on the property or in the house though when we are not around is fair game. The weird part is the one you really have to watch is FengHuang, she has no warning signs, a switch just flips and she is Mr. Hyde. She luckily has few bad moods and they usually only involve her brother.

Aggression is never an issue if 1) it is controlled and 2) it has some form of release. Predators are never 'not' predators. Yet they are the best guard dogs, best for raising children, and almost always the most intelligent animals. They just need focus.

All the info provided here is of value and I hope you find the answer to your questions.

[Merlin]

ggressiveness can be good in a Chow as long as it's not OUT OF CONTROL

Sorry. I beg to disagree. Aggressiveness in any dog is carte blanche to getting into trouble with the law and takes away a tremendous quality of life away from both you and your chow.
You need to understand the difference between aggression and assertion. It is not the same thing.
Everyone here gave you very valuable information which is something to bank on.
The chow chow was bred as a guardian dog so has a natural tendency to do t heir job very well, and that has nothing to do with being aggressive.
Please take heed of what everyone here is sa ying!
Cheers
MM

[Victory]

I want to add something to this discussion. A canine who feels they need to be aggressive as oposed to one that is assertive, is a canine that has no true leader and therefore they feel they need to be the leader, the alpha and that is why they are aggressive. They feel they have no backup or leadership so they are ALWAYS looking out for themselves. This is an exhausting and stressful way for them to live and can cause multiple health problems as well as the emotional price, (and the potential legal ramifications as mentioned). A confidnent canine is one sure of their place in the world, in the pack and knows that their chosen alpha will provide them with appropriate leadership and has their back. They are far happier and have less stress, and are therefore healthier.

What everyone should be looking for is a working partnership, like that between a human and the K-9 in a police, rescue or army situation. The dog does their job of sniffing or hearing or whatever, the human provides direction and leadership, and they protect each other.

I think one of the problems with the chow is that they are just so CUTE! How can anything that fluffy and cuddly be aggressive? The situation occurs when people fail to look into those dark eyes and see the wolf/bear instincts that still reside inside them. The independence, the nobility, the intelligence. Someone else mentioned that they are predators, I think because they have been domesticated for so long people assume that dogs are naturally tame, I prefer to think of them just like people who work with lions, tigers and other wild animals think; that they are trained, never tame. It's just that dogs, cats, horses, mules, donkeys, cows etc have been trained for a lot longer than lions, tigers and bears.

[Merlin]

A canine who feels they need to be aggressive as oposed to one that is assertive, is a canine that has no true leader

Hi Victory... I just want to add a twist on your nice post....

A canine who feels they need to be aggressive as opposed to one that is assertive, is a canine that IS no true leader!

I don't think chows ever really have leaders so to speak. I know they enjoy sublime relationships with their humans, but do they really see us as their leaders? I don't think so.

But too true, many dogs make poor leaders and usually the ones that do, are the ones who are aggressive and that is absolutely not good.


I hope the owner of this chow can work out the nuances and appreciate the difference.