teenage phase, aggressive?

[ccyang]

hi everyone!
Pong has been the perfect little baby/puppy since we got him....he's now 8 months old. He's been neuteured already and has always been social with everyone from my family & friends....to strangers while talking a walk (although he is sometimes fearful when a stranger wants to pet him, but after a few secs, he will let them). You can't believe how many times ppl are surprised at how friendly he is....they all have the same stereotype in their head: "OHHHH Chows are bad tempered, mean dogs....they will attack you and other dogs....Chows are the only dogs that can fight and win over a pitbull"...hate when they say that...but then, I'm super happy that Pong helped them understand that it is not necessarily true, it just depends of how you educate him.
Anyways, I was talking to a guy the other day at a dog park, and I was telling him how Pong always gets attacked by other dogs (big or small sizes)....yet he never defends himself. And he NEVER attacked a dog....ever. The guy told me that when he will get older, he will become more aggressive & will stand for himself. Is this true??? I mean, I dont want him to become aggressive....but I do want him to defend himself. I hate seeing him get attacked when he just wants to play with the others....and not only does he not defend himself, he will try and go back to play with the same dog after a few mins. My bf says he has a super "peace & love" attitude because of how I treated him since we got him....he's been super spoiled. He says Pong is like a little prince....too spoiled, so he becomes weak in some way.
Is this true? Will he have a stronger character as he gets older? Is it true that during the teenange phase, Pong might wanna rebel against us...and behave badly just to challenge us (such as pee at home, even though he's been perfectly trained to go outside since he was like 4months old)????
Thanx!!!!

[Victory]

At 8 months he is in the teenage phase, it goes from about 8 months to 10 months sometimes lasting up go a year. Canine personalities are pretty much set by 6 months in reality. Pong has always been a cooperative, non assertive chow, he's a beta or gamma or even a natural omega, no alpha in him at all. Neutering him only reinforced that. My Dreamdancer on the other hand challenged from day one, minute one, he's a natural Alpha and I have to be careful with him with all dogs, (he adores people!) If they challenge him in anyway, it's over with, he will fight. We're working on it, the best I think I can hope for is that he just ignores them. He was a pain as a teenager, because he decided that listening wasn't worth the bother. NILF was strongly instituted during this time and continues to be a big part of out lives.

Continue to treat Pong as you always have, defend him from other dogs, because I doubt he'll do it, and help him find friendly dogs to play with, golden's are good choices because they don't have many aggressive charateristics themselves.

[Judy Fox]

I think your boyfriend might be right about Pong being the way he is because of the way you treat him.

Our two pups are now 8 months old and they were very much loved by their breeder - cuddled and loved by her and loved by the other adult chows in the house. The other adult chows put up with our two and their litter sister swinging on their manes and their tails and pulling at them without a grumble. When Matilda came to us at 8 weeks, we cuddled and loved her and Mabel loved her too and when Maisie arrived with us at 5 months of age, we just cuddled and loved her too. Result is two very lovable and playful pups so I agree with Victory, carry on with Pong as you have been doing and defend him where and when necessary.