Assistance with our Chow

General discussions about Chow Chows.

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snakecharmr
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Assistance with our Chow

Post by snakecharmr »

I have a Chow she is 3 years old will be 4 in November. I did very well to socialize her as a puppy but she has always been afraid of new people as she became older. When she was about a year and a half we took her to a boarding school for training to help curb that. It worked for awhile but she was still afraid of new people. If she gets cornered and she cant get away she gets really afraid.

My brother's daughter cornered her yesterday and she snapped and bit her. I have a one year old son and we are afraid the same thing will happen to him. I have been searching online and everything says we should Euthanize her. I really do not want to do that. She is absolutely the sweetest dog in the world. She is just confused and scared at times around new people and when people corner her. We are not sure why she gets that way when being cornered but other then that shes a sweet heart. She opens up when she knows people are friendly.

I am hoping someone might be able to help us or give us advice or point us in the direction of something other than Euthanasia.

I am in St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Missouri every week. I am willing to drive out of state to a rescue that will take her and help her. I did not find any in Missouri.

Thank you.
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Sarahloo
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Sarahloo »

Wow, that is one outrageous post!
snakecharmr wrote: I have been searching online and everything says we should Euthanize her.
What a big, fat lie! Working with her on her fears is what is recommended everywhere! PLUS: not cornering a dog!

NO DOG WANTS TO BE CORNERED! It is crazy-stupid to corner a dog, especially one that you know reacts even more negatively to it than the average dog.

Please give her away, even if it's just to a stranger in the street. Anywhere is better for her then somewhere she is provoked into biting just for the "fun" of it and has execution plans made following the inevitable bite!
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snakecharmr
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by snakecharmr »

I don't think you understand anything that I said.

How could what I say I read be a lie. I would not lie about what I have read. Everything says that if you have no children and have the time to get a trainer otherwise having children it would not be recommended to euthanize. In some states it is against the law meaning child endangerment to have a dog with a bite history.

I have a one year old child it would be endangering him for me to be able to keep her around him. It would also be against the law for me to give a dog that has a bite history to just anyone off the street. I also read that most shelters and Rescues won't take dogs with aggressive behaviors or bite history's.

No one said anything about doing any cornering on purpose. You are suggesting that people are purposefully cornering this dog which is not the case. Kids are notorious for chasing or rough housing with dogs and puppies. Especially young kids, a 2 year old did not do anything to harm the dog in anyway.

I am not sure exactly what happened with my brothers daughter. I was at work when it happened. I only assume she was cornered in some way because that is how she gets aggravated sometimes. No one corners a dog on purpose. She may come lay by my feet and a child walks up on the other side and she will feel cornered. She actually has plenty of ways to escape that's just how she is.

What you have posted is very hurtful and unkind and is extremely rude. I Love this dog and I am trying to find help and your not. Your just pointing blame and being rude.
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Boogie and Linda
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Sarahloo, I think there may be a cultural differnce in the posts here. In the US, dogs who bite, even when provoked are a lot of times reccommended to be killed. In the shelter, they give the dog food and then try to take it away. If the dog gets aggressive (just a growl, not even a bite) then it doesn't pass and is deemed unadoptable and killed. It isn't right and the poster isn't agreeing with it, they are asking for help. Also, there is a huge liability both civilaly and criminally in the US. You can go to jail if you knew your dog was aggressive and it attacks someone.

Snakecharmr, I don't usually reccommend rehoming but in this case I think it is inevitable. Your chow sounds like she needs an adult only home. If you don't make some serious changes, things could go horribly wrong for the kids and your chow and I can tell by your post you don't want that to happen. In the meantime you need to keep the children and chow seperate. You need to use baby gates, play pens, etc. Small children and dogs should never ever be left unsupervised, even just for a minute. Dogs by nature nip at their young when they are trying to teach them. When you are not in the room, your chow may think that she is now in charge and needs to teach the little ones and if they are bothering her and not respecting her then this will only get worse.

You are probably going to tell me it is impossible but trust me it can be done. I have my 2 chows, a foster chow, a cat, and a young grandson that visits. My foster chow doesn't get along with one of my other chows and will fight with him, he hates the cat and wants to kill him, and he doesn't want to be touched so I have to make sure my grandson is no where near him. One of my other chows also wants to kill the cat. We manage to keep everyone rotated and happy but seperate so no one gets attacked. It takes a lot of work but you can and need to do it.
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tabitha
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by tabitha »

There is a Chow Rescue in the St. Louis, MO area.

Chow Rescue of MO
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/MO136.html
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Sarahloo
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Sarahloo »

Boogie and Linda wrote:Sarahloo, I think there may be a cultural differnce in the posts here. In the US, dogs who bite, even when provoked are a lot of times reccommended to be killed. In the shelter, they give the dog food and then try to take it away. If the dog gets aggressive (just a growl, not even a bite) then it doesn't pass and is deemed unadoptable and killed. It isn't right and the poster isn't agreeing with it, they are asking for help. Also, there is a huge liability both civilaly and criminally in the US. You can go to jail if you knew your dog was aggressive and it attacks someone.
As you guessed, I had no idea. Wow, that's just cruel. Especially the food trap. What dog who has just lost his home, his family, everything, is going to react kindly to having the only thing he has left, his bowl of food, taken away? :shock:

Now that I know this, it seems even crazier to me to provoke a dog into biting in self-defense and sealing his fate that way. :? I hope the poor dear gets a chance at a new life.
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Jeff&Vicki
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Jeff&Vicki »

What it sounds like to me is fear biting, this is not uncommon and comes in all breeds.

Read these two articles by Ron Hines DVM PhD, it will give you a little understanding as to what is going on.
When Your Dog Bites -
Understanding And Correcting Aggressive Behavior
http://www.2ndchance.info/aggressivedog.htm

What To Do When Your Dog Is Aggressive With Your Children
http://www.2ndchance.info/aggresive.htm

I emailed you a list of rescues and shelters in your area, but she cannot go to a normal shelter. If any are willing to work with you and do a courtesy post, being very specific at placing her in a home with no children, it could work.

There is no reason to put her down because of fear biting, that can be taken care of by getting her to the right environment.

It is what it is, now is not the time to blame the breeder or the owner. It's time to find a solution without judgement and do the blame game after the Chow is safe.
Last edited by Jeff&Vicki on Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Merlin »

I have a one year old child it would be endangering him for me to be able to keep her around him. It would also be against the law for me to give a dog that has a bite history to just anyone off the street. I also read that most shelters and Rescues won't take dogs with aggressive behaviors or bite history's.
Hello. My name is Kathy and I run a chow rescue that specializes in aggressive chows.
I have to tell you, that your story is a story we hear a thousand times a day from people in the exact same predicament.

My children grew up with chows and so did many other children of chow owners around the world.
The parents of those children applied themselves to the dog and to their children to ensure safety and harmony in the home.

It's very easy to turn around and say, "now you're scared for your child". Do you not supervise your child? Have you not trained your dog?
If you have a dog with a problem and company comes over with small kids, or you have a hoard of people over to a party, and your too busy to supervise, then make a simple decision and simply put the dog in another room with a bone to chew on! It's not rocket science.
I have a one year old child it would be endangering him for me to be able to keep her around him.
ANY DOG... ANY DOG on the planet can be dangerous if left alone untrained and unsupervised by it's owner around young children.
You need to supervise your child AND your dog, and NO you're not endangering your child if you act responsibly and take clear measure to train you dog and your child.



A scared or intimated dog uses the one defense it has, and the only defense it has is it's teeth? Do you not realize this?
A chow by nature is not a dog open to strangers, that is part of their wonderful characteristic, and they do necessarily enjoy being touched or pursued by people they don't know.
( do you? ) This doesn't make them bad dogs, but this makes you someone who didn't do your breed homework before they got the dog perhaps.

So many chows are doomed to euthanasia due to owners who won't take the time to train their dogs, or won't educate themselves on proper dog ownership or take time to educate themselves about the origins, purpose and caveats of the actual breed.
If you love your dog, please don't look to dump YOUR problem onto the back of an already over stocked rescue or shelter - or worse - an individual. What are you going to do when your child becomes a teenager and starts giving you back talk? Are you going to take your child back to the hospital???

Pick up the phone, call a dog trainer and start to work with your dog like any other responsible dog owner would.
Take your dog to school, take it out into society and socialize it. Educate your dog just as you would your child


Teach your child how to respect a dog's space. A dog is not an amusement toy for neither yourself nor your child.

I personally have such a short fuse for this, because I see so many chows put to death because of people like you who just didn't take the time to educate yourself about how to understand dog language and how to properly integrate a dog into one's family. I'm not trying to give you a hard time here, but you really need to understand what has happened here.

I hope you make the right choice for your chow. I truly do, but personally from what I'm reading, you've already committed yourself to getting rid of this dog because deep down you realize that you've probably bitten off more than you are willing to chew and the easier solution is just to place the blame on the dog. Her life is now in limbo because of your decision and your choices. Please realize that.

Lastly, WHERE does this chow come from? ANY breeder of merit will take back their chow. Normally it is even written in your contract of sale.
That is your starting point, not shelters, not rescues and not individuals. Have you contacted the breeder??

If you do put this dog down, I hope you make a conscious effort to never own a dog again as extreme as this sounds.
Last edited by Merlin on Tue Oct 26, 2010 7:55 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Merlin
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Merlin »

It is what it is, now is not the time to blame the breeder or the owner.
It's not about blame. It's about assuming responsibility.

Rescues in the USA are not going to take chows with bite histories. I don't know where you heard they would. They won't.
If this chow is fear aggressive then chances are good that the receiving shelter will realize this immediatly and refuse the chow.
This person needs to assume responsibility for this dog.
This is so avoidable. This dog shouldn't and doesn't have to die because of this.
NEVER Support Back Yard Breeders & Puppy Mills
Contact Your local Chow Chow Association to find your Breeder of Merit!
Better Yet ! Adopt!
chow315

Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by chow315 »

have you thought about a crate? put the dog in it when kids are over?i think i understand akittle about how you feel. we took in a dog that was part chow . we did everything we could. lots of love ,traine,r bark collar. nothing we did made any difference. we put her on craigslist and found a home told them all problems.because dog had chip in it it we cwere called by the pound to come get it. the pplwho took her moved and left her alone .i wanted so badly for this dog to work out but i couldnt do it. she would do her business in the house bark all the time, bite would not walk on aleash, i feel badly for the dog but i know i did my best
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Me & Tess »

I have a Chow she is 3 years old will be 4 in November. I did very well to socialize her as a puppy but she has always been afraid of new people as she became older. When she was about a year and a half we took her to a boarding school for training to help curb that. It worked for awhile but she was still afraid of new people. If she gets cornered and she cant get away she gets really afraid.

My brother's daughter cornered her yesterday and she snapped and bit her. I have a one year old son and we are afraid the same thing will happen to him. I have been searching online and everything says we should Euthanize her. I really do not want to do that. She is absolutely the sweetest dog in the world. She is just confused and scared at times around new people and when people corner her. We are not sure why she gets that way when being cornered but other then that shes a sweet heart. She opens up when she knows people are friendly.

I am hoping someone might be able to help us or give us advice or point us in the direction of something other than Euthanasia.
So many chows are doomed to euthanasia due to owners who won't take the time to train their dogs, or won't educate themselves on proper dog ownership or take time to educate themselves about the origins, purpose and caveats of the actual breed.
If you love your dog, please don't look to dump YOUR problem onto the back of an already over stocked rescue or shelter - or worse - an individual. What are you going to do when your child becomes a teenager and starts giving you back talk? Are you going to take your child back to the hospital???
I feel that what was said to snakecharmr was just mean. She was asking for help. I can understand how she feels when children are around her Chow. She did seek training for her Chow. After being bit (full on attack) by Lilly (am sure I was not the first one she bit) I had to make the decision to either forgive her & work with her or put her down. If we had small children close by my decision would have had to be the harsher option. Also, there should be a law that it is mandatory that the previous owners disclose if the Chow (dog) has a history of biting or a propensity to bite.
Tiffany Scott
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Tiffany Scott »

With chow you cant corner them to them everthing is a threat leave the cho2 alone and let them meet the people on there own time. I had a chow his name was zues i got him at 8 weeks we took him to Alabama wi5h us and socialized him with chows its hard to determine how much socialize they can have with zues i over socialized him he got mean toward anyone but family i have another chow now her name os bree ive had her sinc3 she was born i helped keep her alive and i socialized her with people but i found the best way is to invite people to your home not in public cuz that is not there territory. Now i can tell you since the chow is so old there is nothing you can that chow will torment people for the rest of its life i have been around chow my whol3 life and they can b3 wonderful dogs they really can you just have to learn how your chow is
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Tiffany Scott »

You know the only training i did with my chow bree was potting training her and teaching her simple comands like sit shake and jump and she is the sweetist thing . I also had another chow and he bit me one time then he became my protector when it came to my dad h3 use to beat me and that chow was the only thing 5hat latterly kept me alive. Mandatory to put down a chow if they bite someon3 i dont think so how about mandatory to spend time with them they are just like children you have to patiant with them and chow them who the dominant one is. I loves chows more than ever i have changed a chow from biting at everyone including myself. It took me 6 months before i could get her to like me. just beacuse achow bit someone doesn't mean killing them. Thats like putting down someone who punch3d someone.or a little child bitting some its stupid and pathetic
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Re: Assistance with our Chow

Post by Tiffany Scott »

I will take her for you if you still have her. She doesnt need to be put down!!
Last edited by Zhuyos mom on Sat Nov 26, 2016 8:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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