Wont stop BITING!

[MissV]

Hi again guys,

PLEASE help me! I actually dont know what to do...
my chowlie is 12 weeks old and will NOT stop biting. She got better, and now she's gotten a whole lot worse. I can understand the whole teething thing, but biting hands and ankles and calves needs to stop.
She does on this rampant biting spree early in the mornings and at night (we call her Spawn of Satan when she starts up).
We've tried everything...

1. firmly saying NO! <-- didnt work
2. Putting out fore-arms in her mouth and pushing back to show her that biting results in uncomfortable-ness <-- didnt work
3. Ignoring her <-- didnt work
4. Time out <-- sometimes works for 5 mins only
5. Submission - i wrap her up in a blankie and hold her tight till she calms down <-- works for about 5 mins
6. Picking her up and holding her with her back to us and holding her muzzel closed while saying NO! <-- just makes her madder
7. Play with other dogs <-- doesnt work

Seriously, what on earth do i do? I walk her twice a day, she visits the doggie park each time for a good old romp, she has more chew toys than we have furniture in our house... what on earth am i doing wrong?
I dont want a biting dog on my hands! She was ok with me, but yesterday i was brushing her and she just kept lashing out at me and growling... i brush her all the time... why now?
Then this morning, she wouldnt stop biting again!!!!
HELP!

[Blackbear]

You will not change this behaviour in 3 or 4 weeks. Be patient and consistent with this. Always a firm no every time biting occurs. I would somtime slap a newspaper across my hand which gets there attention. I think it took 4-5months for boy to completely stop biting so I think you need to adjust your expectations.

[Auddymay]

I have a pug at home that is 6 months old and constantly jumps and bites in excited play. So far, my Chow Lily is the only one who can stop it, and she uses fear and intimidation. But that is a stupid dog. A smart Chow can learn quickly. Be consistant. I KNOW the frustration. I would use the word STOP instead of no. When you say stop, also put your hand out like a traffic cop, stopping traffic. Of course, it will not work. When your Chow continues, crate him for 5 or 10 minutes. Repeat..repeat..repeat. No frustration in your voice, just consistency. While incarcerated, ignore him completely. Each release is a new try to do it right. Also, it will be worse at the beginning of the day because that is an active time for most dogs. The first time, and even the second or third will take many repetitions. It will not be fun for either of you, but that is the point (for your Chow, at least).

[MissV]

YAY! I've been doing something right! I've also just started using the word STOP instead of NO and putting my hand out like a traffic cop in front of her face. It does seem to work a bit better.

I am sad to say this, but i hit her on her nose on Sat night . I was on the floor getting something from under my bed, and without warning she snuck into my room, sunk her pointy little teeth into my right foot and just wouldnt let go. oh my. The pain! Those little needle-teeth went straight into my skin.
When i yelped, and screamed NO! She simply sunk them in deeper. I had to open her mouth with my hands to get my foot out. That was HECTIC. I hit her on the nose. She got such a fright when i did that. She just sat there... stunned that I hit her. I said NO again, and she just sat there... looking at me.
She must have realised that what she did was hectic becuase she didnt leave my side for a while...just chilling...behaving. Well... at least I hope she understood!

Shes such a smart dog. But she only behaves when it suits her. Typical chow!

I felt bad for hitting her, but i cannot have her drawing blood when she bites. I dont want her biting other people when they come to visit. I dont need someone forcing me to put my dog down later on because i couldnt teach her bite inhibition.
I hope she doesnt rebel against me cos i gave her a smack. I feel terrible, but then again... so does my foot!

[Ursa's daddy]

I have seen her picture, she is beautiful. You need to remember that you are the alpha dog and speak to her like you are a dog. If she is doing something that you don't want her to do, when you tell her STOP, make it sound like a bark. You want a loud sharp sound. Tippy's mom and Victory, help me out with this. Auddymay has pointed out that her dog Lily is able to get the point across. Now if your puppy had come up and bit the back leg of an adult Chow, the adult would have rapidly turned around, barked in the puppy's face and quite possibly bitten back. The puppy would have been delivered the message that here behavior was unacceptable. Hitting a puppy is not the training, but I can picture the whole thing. Ideally, you want to be able to issue verbal commands that your dog obeys. You are going to have to be consistent with training and you will have to do a lot of reputation.

[MissV]

ah, thanks for the reply.
I know what you mean about the whole alpha thing. The problem is, is that i do bark a loud NO! and it still does nothing.
Yesterday was interesting tho... she attacked me, so I swirled around and pinned her head down to the floor. I yelled STOP!
and then I let her go.
This was possibly the most amazing thing that happened... she looked at me when she got up, so i just stared into her eyes. I must have held her stare for about 5 seconds before she rolled onto her back and exposed her tummy to me. MY DOG SUBMISSED!
oh yea!
Maybe she will start to get it after all

[MikoNSuki]

My Suki did this for a couple months. I luckly do have another chow that submitted her and once Miko saw she hurt my hand, she grabbed the pup and rolled her, pinned her down...she never did it again. At 7 months old Suki knows that the humans, all the way down to the children are in charge here. Miko knows this also, but shes known her place early on. Suki is more high strung. Sounds like my Suki and your baby could be friends. hahaha.

[Sarahloo]

I must have held her stare for about 5 seconds before she rolled onto her back and exposed her tummy to me. MY DOG SUBMISSED!
oh yea!

That is nothing to be happy about. That is not a part of normal human-dog interaction. It's something that happens between two dogs. You dog is not supposed to be afraid of you.

[Victory]

I think Ursa's Daddy is talking about the pitch of your voice. I think you're a woman, am I right? Women have high pitched voices and when we get excited or angry our voice's pitch actually goes up. To a dog that high pitched sound means, "come on let's play" What you have to learn is to drop your voice an octave or more. Drop your voice to the back and bottom of your throat, let it sound growly, (like it can when you first get up and you have a cold), it helps to tuck your chin in too, (which is also an alpha posture by the way), now say, no, short but harshly and drag it out. I even add a few more words to it, "I. SAID. NO!" I keep my teeth kind of together so I even look a bit like I'm snarling, my teeth are showing, but I'm NOT smiling.

Now this isn't a perfect mimic of an angry adult dog, but it is close enough to get the idea across, usually the first time. It is actually a very human experssion, just one that we don't normally use with each other, (unless on the battle field or street fighting, or martial arts fights, go rent any of the Karate Kid movies, study their faces during the fight, they snarl at each other). Remember dogs have been bred for over 100,000 years to be our companions, they understand human expressions as easily as they do their own experssions.

The reason you shouldn't do or react physically in anyway is that right now she is a puppy, and easily dominated physically, when she weighs 50-60lbs trying to pin her can really start a physical fight between the two of you where someone can end up hurt. I'm 5'8" and spent 20 years in nursing lifting, carrying and moving humans, I'm strong, and know who to move other living things, and yet, I would think twice about trying to pin a 60lb canine fo any kind, even my two 40lb kids could be a handfull. Much better and easier to make my voice and expression what they want to watch. It's safer for everyone, and it prevent the chow, (or any dog) from becoming hand shy. They should always see your hands, (and anyone else's) as something that comforts, never ever as something to fear. You DO NOT want her to become a fear biter.

[Cocoa]

I totally agree with Victory. Dogs need to be taught to respond to commands, both verbal and visual. When Cocoa would nip at me as a puppy I would tell her no and if she didn't listen I would give her a time out and totally ignore her. She didn't like that at all so she soon learned and stopped.

[oceans]

I also agree with Victory. I am somewhat going through the same situation with bite inhibition. Matilda is 5 months old and it seems like her evenings are her rowdiest. She is like clock work everynight she starts in about 7:30 just being a little terror wanting to get on you and bite, bite, bite. What we have learned to do is say "NO" sometimes this works and other times it seems to get her even more excited. Soooooo now we say outside lets do "zoomies" and she runs outside and we play ball back and fourth to where she is extremely tired. She runs zoomies like crazy for about 15 minutes and then she is ready to come inside and get a drink of water. Then usually she is satisfied for the rest of the night. One thing that I have found out is usually when she starts this biting, biting she has pent up energy that she needs to get out. This does eventually go away if you nip it in the bud when it starts, while their young. I have previously owned two chows and they do outgrow it. But what you do not want is a fear biter and I think when you start smacking or using agressive, challenging behavior your just asking for trouble.

[cherriemater]

First of all ... all of the replies above are the REASON I come back to this site, even though we are chowless right now. I am learning SO much!!!

Now, this may be naive but I was looking for the pix someone mentioned were posted (she is GORGEOUS, by the way) and I noted that you, MissV, are from South Africa and mentioned that you don't have any trouble with the heat. May I ask you to observe her biting and evaluate whether or not she's suffering? Is she panting heavily, scratching (as in a hot-spot), or other mannerism that might indicate she's actually too hot??? This might be way off base, but it's certainly worth checking into. I remember when I had a cat (and chows are a bit cat-like) that when she got sick she would puke in the bathroom sink that we all used. In that way, she was telling (showing) us that she was sick and we knew to get medical attention. Just a thought for you, might be way off but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

Thanks to EVERYONE who posted. These tips will help when the day comes that our little Sasha girl arrives.

[Ursa's daddy]

Hi Y'all. Thanks Victory. You want to use a voice from deep inside that sounds like you mean business. We are all in agreement that you want your dog to respond to audible, facial and hand commands. In the long run, it is easier for everyone if this is the case. The woman I know who has dobie believes that dogs are more secure when they know exactly where they stand in the "pack" and like to follow the instructions of their master.

[MissV]

Hi Everyone!

Shoo!
So many replies!!! First off, thanks everyone for your info.

I can safely say, heat is not a problem for chowlie unless she bolts around for more than 20mins. At home shes extremely comfy. After walkies, i turn on this huge fan for her, and she just chills by it. Breathing returns to normal after a few mins after walkies. I am extremely careful to watch out for overheating. Also, my house is quite cool and we have aircon.
Second, for a chick, i have a pretty darn low voice. High-pitched is not one of my octaves. When i say NO! or STOP! its usually pretty gruff.
After I pinned her down that day, my NO! and STOP! commands are being heeded to SOOOOO much better. Its like shes learning to respect me. Last night when we were playing, she went for my feet AGAIN... opened her little mouth like she was about to nip my toes...and before she did anything, she closed her mouth slowley, turned the other way and ran for her little ball and brought it to me. She must have remembered that biting me = bad.
My dog is in no way scared of me. I would never do that to her. I am totally devoted to my pet. And dont get me wrong, apart from her biting and not listening to me at the doggie park (so naughty!), we have the most awesome times together.
She just needs to know that she's not the one who gets to call the shots at home, and biting people is off sides.

I will take all the advice that you have given me and try to put it to use. I'm really grateful.
This week she starts puppy school (yay)! I'm sure to recieve some more good advice there

[Victory]

My dog is in no way scared of me. I would never do that to her. I am totally devoted to my pet. And dont get me wrong, apart from her biting and not listening to me at the doggie park (so naughty!), we have the most awesome times together.
She just needs to know that she's not the one who gets to call the shots at home, and biting people is off sides.

I will take all the advice that you have given me and try to put it to use. I'm really grateful.
This week she starts puppy school (yay)! I'm sure to recieve some more good advice there

As long as she doesn't become a fear biter. Most fear biters never bite the person who they are actually afraid of, or the one who hits them. They bite the innocent child who reaches for them, or the vet/vet-tech. or someone liek that who reaches for them. In the US this can mean the chow MUST be pts in many places so those of us in the US are a bit adament about it. Sorry.

[MissV]

Happy to report that the biting is getting better My feet are left totally alone, boyfriend is still getting used as a chew toy, but thats his own fault because he gets on the floor and rough-houses with her - he doesnt see it, but she's fighting for his place in the pack (long story). She will rarely listen to him at all.

This past weekend puppy attended her first day of puppy school. The trainers there were very helpful and had boat-loads of good advice. They also gave my boyfriend one helluva lecture that set him straight with how to treat chowlie.
Long story short, we discovered that our little chowlie is a material girl, and she wont behave for treats, but she will behave for toys!
This awesome discovery is going to help so much, we've taken her fave toy, and only give it to her when she REALLY behaves well. It seems to be working!

YAY FOR PUPPY SCHOOL!