My Chow Bit a Child

[Blackbear]

I guess it is every dog owners worst fear. My boy Jet is 18months old and it was quite evident that he was more protective/aggressive than our previous boy. From about 6 months was just not a guard dog but quite protective especially when out walking. He would not some strangers come close and had a fearsome growl. We have spent the best part of 12 months traing this out of him to the point now where he has showed no signs of this for about 3 months. I must add he has never looked like biting aqnyone. On the weekend a young boy about 12 yrs old was running towards us while we were walking and turned round on his hind legs and bit the boy on his thigh. It happened so quickly the boy fell to the ground crying. I couldnt believe it. The parents were very understanding and after the initial commotion things calmed down and thankfully the skin was not broken just bruised. I of course offered to pay and medical expenses.
We now have to work what to do with him. This is completely unacceptable.

[Jdcell100]

Just make sure he's not around little kids

[Cam Atis]

If the skin is not punctured, then it is not technically a dog bite. It could be a warning bite which was conveyed by your chow. Since you owned a prev chow, You should be aware of the guard dog bloodline of a chow and must have reined in or hold back your Chow's leash and tell him to be cool when you see such similar actions (running, shouting, anything that seems to threaten your existence) even before the culprit comes near or across you. Things happen quickly, therefore 100% of your attention must be towards your dog and surroundings. However, you must half expect a chow is going to bite in order to protect you everytime he feels someone will hurt you. I could not say any suggestion what you do coz you said you've been training 12months already. Never let your guard down because you got a guard dog and not a golden retriever. Continue with training / socialising.

[Tippsy'smom]

I'm sorry to hear your boy bit a boy. Sadly, I can't offer any advice. But I would suggest getting a basket muzzle for him to wear when you go out with him so no one else gets hurt.

And Cam Atis, a bite is a bite weather the skin is broken or not. I'm assuming since the boy was bitten on the thigh, clothing could've kept the skin from being broken.

[MissV]

Oh my gosh! That is bad news indeed sorry to hear this happened. You're right tho, biting is totally unacceptable and must be sorted out. Have you socialized your dog from an early age? I would start with small groups of people that you know in a very controlled environment. Keep your dog on a leash. If he starts growling, a firm "NO" from you. If he behaves, reward unconditionally. Treats, love, whatever. Remember, it's going to take time... Rome wasn't built in a day good luck and don't give up on your dog!!

[chowchowdaddy]

I agree, this is not acceptable behavior. However... remember that the boy was running towards you and your baby boy took that as a sign of aggression. He had no way of knowing what the young man had in mind, he did what he felt he needed to do to protect you. I think you just need to continue to be extra vigilant when walking him and as soon as you see someone approaching you (or, him), you need to rein him in very quickly.

[PCC]

Sorry about your problem. I agree about vigilance, but don't think you should rein him too hard or quickly; that just exacerbates the problem. IMO that sends the signal to your dog that you are afraid, which in turn can make him more protective. A better approach is to get Jet's attention on you, and/or to tell the person running toward you to not get too close (I tend to say "be careful!" while holding my hand out signaling 'stop')

[Piff Poff]

I have no real advice to give but I just wanted to let you know that Henry hates running people, he has never growled or bitten at them, but he will try to lunge them. He does it with bicycles too. I know he does this. I also walk Henry on a 20ft leash. I see a bike or a runner or even someone just walking coming towards us sometimes before Henry does as he likes to sniff a lot. As soon as I see someone coming I assess the situation and Henry's particular mood (if he has been woofed at lots he can get a bit anxious)I gently and slowly take up the slack on the leash until he is in the heal position and I tell him to walk nicely, sometimes he is interested in the person but most the time, if he has been told to be a good bo and walk nicely he will just resume sniffing, It's like I tell him it's not a problem, that these people coming towards us. Early spring is the hardest time I have with him as the trails are usually just ours all winter and then the snow melts and everyone one is out with their seldom socialised yappy monsters that strain on the leashes snarling at Henry, with the owners going 'is your dog friendly?' Whilst Henry puts his nose up in the air and ignores them. So I jusst think you need to be more aware of what is going on around you and be aware of how your boy is going to perceive things. I know Henry doesn't worry about people walking but he is very wary of people running.

[Blackbear]

We are experienced chow owners and we have made great progress with Jet with regards to socialization etc. When he was younger he was very skittish toward people even patting him and now he is not bothered at all and he no longer growls at everyone who walks towards us. This was unpredictable which worries me a bit. Jet obviously see differents actions as threats and respond accoridingly so we have got to try and sort that out. I think we may have to look at a muzzle for certain occassions but the good news he does repond well to training and is quite smart. Our previous chow was quite stubborn but as placid as a lab.

[Auddymay]

It sounds like you will do whatever it takes to help your Jet be a successful Chow. It is also evident by your description that Jet is over vigilent. My Lily is as well. She does not bite as a response, but can put on quite a show. I also know there are some things that are nearly impossible for our furbabies to overcome in their hard wiring. It was unfortunate that the kid was bit, skin break or not. You already know the solution. Keep working on his reactions, and control the situation. He will get better with age. The hardest part will be for you to not send nervous tension down the lead when confronted with tough situations. From what I have read from you, it is lucky for Jet he got you for an owner.

[TyChowgirl]

I have no real advice to offer other than maybe taking him (muzzled) to a park or playground where he can get used to kids running about? That may not even help, but it's worth a try. Ty is the same way, though he'll try to run first before attempting a snap. No stranger petting him right away and especially no running toward us. But I trust that with your determination it'll get better. I agree that there's certain things wired in that you can't change. I doubt that Ty will ever get over the initial dodge of a friendly greeting from people because he doesn't seem to like immediate confrontation, but he's mellowed on this. Perhaps Jet can too with the kids. Only time will tell. Unfortunately, in this case I heard many different people's words echo in my ears ( I know a lot of vet/vet techs) that they don't like Chows because they say there's no warning to a bite. I can usually tell when Ty is overwhelmed by reading his signals and I try to change the situation to a less stressful one immediately to difuse it. But strangers can't always pick up on your dog's energy the way you can...

[Rory's Dad]

I agree that alot of this was the situation...you had a person approaching at speed from behind, we know that this is the worst possible scenarios for our chows. the response is not acceptable, but it is engrained into the dog. So, obviously, this cant be repeated. If the normal walk routine involves this type of possibility, it may be best to muzzle or to change the routine. I think its a kind of remove the temptation type of thing. Perhaps a shorter lead will help, as suggested by Piff.

[Blackbear]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. We are seeing another side to this breed we have not seen so we will need to be more vigilant. We love him to death and we will fix this.

[Victory]

My Dreamdancer loves everyone, and I do mean everyone. However, walking him one night, this woman had her border collie off leash and the dog took off, ran straight by my Dreamdancer who was watching something else, the woman then ran by too and actually jumped over Dreamdancer's head. He tried to snap at her in reaction, luckily I figured her for an idiot, (having a your dog off leash in the open streets of the city qualifies you for idiocy in my book) and had pulled him closer to me. She never even noticed.

What I'm saying is even the best tempered chow can respond to the unknown with aggression if they precieve it. I thin your chow reacted to a precieved threat, and was unexeptable as you say. However, he did just warn, which shows he has some sense of right and wrong about it. I wouldn't get too defensive with him about this, stay calm. Take him to parks or play grounds with kids of all sizes, keep him right by your side and relaxed and let him watch for a while. When he can take it all in and be totally relaxed allow some of the kids to come near slowly. When he's fine with that, have them call him a greeting and then walk faster towards him. Keep this up until a child running toward him doesn't bother him a bit. But be wary, chows with wary, shy personalities may never be comfortable with someone running toward them. My Firesong who was/is very wary as improved to the point where she'll let almost anyone come to her and pet her, and she will approach strangers and kids nicely, would still back away from anyone she feels threatened by. So I make sure to watch her surroundings and keep her out of such situations.

[TJordan]

Sorry to hear about the bite. I have a chow that does a lot of unexpected things. He hasn't bit on a walk, but he was always worried about people trying to touch him . So he would growl and act crazy when someone approached to scare them away. Eventually I would stop people about 5 feet from us, soon Butters wasn't bother by much. As long as he felt like people were "minding" thier space he quit acting so crazy. If he thinks I don't see them approaching he will alert me, so as long as he feels like I have control of the situation he is ok. Having said that, if someone is running, he will drag me out of the path and huff at them just to be safe. You are doing right by your chow, just keep working! I also learned quickly that he picked up on my mood to read the situation, the calmer I am, the calmer he is. It is quite amazing how they can read us!

[Ursa's daddy]

You are doing right by your chow, just keep working! I also learned quickly that he picked up on my mood to read the situation, the calmer I am, the calmer he is. It is quite amazing how they can read us!

TJordan is correct. My two look to me for cues on how they should act. For socialization, about once a month, I take them out to Pet Smart so that they can see a number of people in a shopping center and interact. I will wrap the lead around my hand until it is about 3 ft (1 meter) long. This keeps the dogs closer to me. If people approach, I have the dogs sit, and possibly lie down. I believe this is calming for them, and gives me a little more control over them. I try to be reassuring to them.
I don't know what would happen if someone ran up to them and startled them. I hope that situation never arises. Ursa would probably step back and give warning barks. Malachi would probably step forward and give challenging barks. This could be a problem, if he felt there was some kind of danger involved in the situation. It could get very ugly.

[Blackbear]

We spent some time with Jet on the weekend in different social environments and he was very well behaved. We went to the pet store to get a muzzle fitted and everyone wanted to hug him until they saw we were fitting a muzzle and everyone seemed to back away. Strange that. Unfortunately we were not able find a muzzle that would fit his short, broad snout. At the beach there were people running and jogging past him and he was fine but they were at a distance. A blue heeler(off-leash) came up and snapped at him but he just stood his ground until the owner dragged the other dog away. We still have work to do but I think for the most part he is ok. I think we just need to be a but more careful in certain environments.