A Run for My Money!

[reddog]

I live in Pennsylvania and on Sunday I was preparing as best I could for “Hurricane Sandy”. I had just brought Whitby in from a long walk and decided to bring in the chairs off of my patio. I had fixed the closer on the storm door so it would stay open as I carried the chairs in. Whitby was up on the first floor. I brought a chair in, sat it on the landing and as I tried to release the closer Whitby pushed the upstairs door open, down the steps she came, dashed behind the chair and outside she went. I climbed over the chair and dashed out after her leaving the door open and not thinking to grab a leash for her. I figured I was going to be given a run for my money because she had picked up some “kitty scents” while we were out on our earlier walk. I live in town and in my neighborhood the houses are side by side with some having hedges or an alley to contend with plus we have a couple of streets. Needless to say Whitby had a field day running thru the neighborhood tracking down/chasing cats with me hot on her trail. My heart was in my throat. I was so afraid she’d run into the street and become a “speed bump” if hit by a car. I was like a crazy woman calling her and chasing her through yards, down alleys, around and jumping over hedges for about 20 minutes before I finally got close enough to grab hold of her mane and then her collar. Out of breath and thankful the chase was over, I marched her home scolding her the whole way. She was a naughty, naughty girl!

Here are my answers to a couple of questions that come to my mind that members have asked in some of their posts.

Some of you have asked if chows like cats. Hum-m-m Whitby thinks they are great for keeping the prey drive sharp.

Others have asked how chows respond to the “recall’ command. I don’t think that was in Whitby’s personal chow “handbook” and is not in her vocabulary. hehe

[612guy]

My opinion is that the recall comand is the most important all chows should be taught first. I don't care with sit and lay down. Brutus knows how to stay because we show him but if we didn't then only after the come comand . Brutus' is our third chow and the first 2 couldn't be trusted off the leash. The other thing yelling at a chow won't help let alone spanking them. That will only make it worst. Like most behavior problems , you where the problem by not making sure your dog is trained to come. How much time and effort did you put into training her? The good news is she is ok and you know you have work to do so when it happens again she won't run off.

Good luck
612

[Sarahloo]

Hurricane Whitby causing trouble in Pennsylvania!

If you run after a Chow, they'll only run faster. As long as they know you're somewhere around (even if it's just on the horizon), they have no reason to stop. But Loo has only ever run off in the fields, so I could fake desinterest in his flight and wait for him to come back quickly (running without a chase isn't nearly as much fun for them). It's a different matter when traffic is involved. You really have no choice but to give chase.
I just make sure Loo never, ever escapes from the house. This is the 2nd time in a couple of days that you've forgotten to secure Whitby, isn't it? She is quickly teaching you that you cannot forget, ever!

[Victory]

I am glad you caught her and all is well. It is difficult to know when they will come back to you and when they won't. People who say that with proper training any dog or chow will come back, are basically wrong. It sounds like this time Whitby was in full prey drive mode the instant she went out, in that mode, no amount of training will work. As I've said before, the St. Paul Police K-9 unit is one of the best in the nation, and they say that if one of their K-9s is in full prey drive mode and gets a certain distance from the handler, the handler has no choice but to try and catch the dog. Because the dog is at that time fully focused on one thing and one thing only, catching whatever is that is being chased.

On the other hand if she had stopped and looked back at you, that's the time to stop, stand and demand she come back to you. At that time she has acknowledged your presence and it has become a game of keep-away.

Also with the storm coming in she was most likely overly stimulated too, since animals can sense such things while they are miles and miles away. This can cause behaviors that aren't normal. This is something we all need to remember that in strange and violent weather our chows, (and other dogs) can act out in ways we may not expect.

Again glad that you got her and nothing happened other than a bit of a work out.

[Chowmomma]

Been there, done that

Glad you both are OK

I'm not far from pa border so next time I will do border patrol, lol
Just kidding

[612guy]

I'm not saying recall always works but think most chow owners are lazy when it comes to training them to come.

[Cocoa]

612 you may have a point, but in this case, if you have read some of reddog's posts, Whitby was a seven year old rescue when she got her so I don't think there is much chance of teaching recall now if it wasn't taught to her as a puppy.

[612guy]

I think you have to put the time into it to get results. Age or not trying shouldn't be a reason. Lexi our boxer was adopted too and use to bolt if she was loose. She was 2 years old but now she doesn't because I put the time into it.

[oceans]

612guy,
Ha,ha,ha. Your comments make me laugh.

[Piff Poff]

I have so been there with Henry 9.99% of the time, Henry will come. That point one percent, when he looks at you with that glint, he is GONE GONE GONE. One day he found that if he hit the screen door a certain way he could get it open, an off he went, I'm chasing him, offering rides in the car, cheese - anything, please and a guy on top of a roof (he was replacing the roof) yelled to me, 'Lay Down and he'll come', well I was quite puffed out so layed down, well Henry thought I was broken and came to investigate, don't know if it will work again but it did that day

[wokman]

Yes 612Guy, owners can be like their dogs, i.e. lazy. For PiffPoff; having your car near the dog and opening the door while saying RIDE has gotten mine to come back. Also suddenly dropping to the ground sprawled flat out has worked for me several times for catching an escaped Chow.

[Chowmomma]

Oh wow! Laying down

Gave me chills

[Piff Poff]

When Henry has escaped and I've lured him by, 'Henry do you want to go in the car', I unlock the car and pop him in and take him round the block. I don't want him to think it's a trick, so he gets a treat lol. OH was really bad at not closing the screen door all the way and Henry knew, oh boy did Henry know!

I'll never forget the day when a neighbor rang the doorbell 'Your dog the big fat fluffy one, it's running down the next street!', I was in a towel, you have never seen anyone pull clothes on so fast while calling husband on the phone. Henry had gotten scared of a hot air balloon and bust through the garden fence and RAN. We eventually found him 3km's away, I called him and offered the car, you have never seen so much relief on a chows face (and his Mums), he bounded into the car without a second thought, poor thing had pooped himself and was slobbering everywhere. He won't even go for a walk if there is a Hot Air Balloon attacking us now.

[reddog]

Here is some behind the scenes and inside info regarding my post. Whitby is 7 yrs. old and has been through a lot. Prior to me rescuing Whitby last December her original owner had died 3 yrs ago. Whitby was bounced between several homes and states, being kept both inside or outside depending who had her, before the brother-in law of the owner dumped her in a kill shelter. Luckily for Whitby and me I found her at this site and “Santa Paws” help orchestrate her rescue , bailed her out of the shelter and relayed her to me via an 8 hour road trip. It was an early Merry Christmas for both of us!

I have worked with her and she has come a long way in getting settled in and learning some commands. I was joking when I said “recall” isn’t in her vocabulary. She does well in the house. Outside, she is either on the other end of a leash with me or on a tie-out if just out in my yard since my property isn’t fenced in. When on the tie-out, I always double check that she is securely hooked on it. A week or so ago I did find that she had been undone from it. I think that was the work of my resident ghost. For those of you who do believe in ghosts and for those of you who think “ghosts” are hogwash – a ghost came with my home/property when we bought it 40 yrs. ago.

As for the Sunday chase – Whitby was in a full-blown prey drive mode and the pending hurricane Sandy didn’t help. She just kept running and didn’t stop until I caught up with her. She reminded me of a beagle my dad had when I was small. Oct would just keep running and barking when he was hot on a trail of a rabbit. Come to think of it – Whitby kept barking but it wasn’t a bark I’d heard her make before this.

Chowmomma: I loved your “border patrol” suggestion. I don’t think I could make it that far.

[Sarahloo]

I'll never forget the day when a neighbor rang the doorbell 'Your dog the big fat fluffy one, it's running down the next street!', I was in a towel, you have never seen anyone pull clothes on so fast while calling husband on the phone. Henry had gotten scared of a hot air balloon and bust through the garden fence and RAN. We eventually found him 3km's away, I called him and offered the car, you have never seen so much relief on a chows face (and his Mums), he bounded into the car without a second thought, poor thing had pooped himself and was slobbering everywhere. He won't even go for a walk if there is a Hot Air Balloon attacking us now.

You have a great neighbour!

[Judy Fox]

Recall!
Not a cat's chance in hell - with our old chows Milly and Mabel or with these youngsters, Matilda and Maisie.
We are not lazy and do know how to train dogs - we have had dogs all our lives and I will be 70 at the end of the month. Fred had a war dog when he was in The Royal Military Police so we do actually know what we are doing.
With Milly and Mabel we "knew" we could do it and we went on very well until the little baggages were about 10 months old - then off they went and since that day they were never off their leads.
Matilda and Maisie got out of the front gate - Matilda had worked out how to undo the latch and they are never let off their leads.
Gate now has a padlock on when they are in the front garden.
So I honestly do not think laziness or inexperience has anything to do with it.
Some chow chows will recall but the majority won't.

[TyChowgirl]

See, Ty has a recall. And he doesn't stray far if he's off leash...but in a very chow personality, he's decide when he wants to acknowledge and obey versus acknowledge and have a little fun first. The lay down thing does work with most dogs, espeically if you're a little dramatic and collapse in a heap. It's how I caught my in laws lab who was totally winning the game. And Ty is better at the stay and wait game, than the come game. I can leave him on a leash not tethered outside the apartment, tell him to stay, and run back inside to get whatever and he'll still be there, waiting. Albeit a little concerned. I've practiced leaving him tethered outside the pharmacy down the street and tell him to stay while I get what I need. And he waits, and guards because now I'm out of sight and he's concerned. I also make sure to give him lots of loving when he's behaved accordingly, which he's never not! I think what helped with this was leaving him in the car while I went inside to places (no worries! not during the summer! It was during fall, winter, and early spring that I practiced this and the only time I'll leave him in there) But I would tell him to stay and be a good boy. The only difference is no containment.

[oceans]

Judy,
I couldn't agree more with what you said. I didn't much appreciate the laziness comment neither. What works for one person does not necessarily work for the other. Recall is great for some dogs but certainly not for all. One shouldn't assume just because your dog doesn't recall like you would like them to, that this has to do with laziness. Laziness has nothing to do with it. Unless, you just flat out don't try or give a ****. I will tell you with Matilda once her nose has caught a scent it's all over. She stops hearing anything and her nose takes over.

[chowpups]

After owning 3 chows Iam happy for anyone who has been able to accomplish Total recall , and by total recall I mean even with distractions from the outside world of prey!! Nikki was fine in a controled environment but put a fox scent on our lawn and she was tracking it down to its den which she did on one occassion. She was being walked and caught a fox out of the corner of her eye and pulled the leash out of my daughter inlaws hand. It was a total surprise during the day walk ,my daughter inlaw wasn't expecting it and Nikki pulled from a loose lead walking to a full on Iam out of here.. Nikki at about 2 yrs developed her keen prey instinct we live in the country and she could sniff out even the littlest mole in the yard. I think after being on the forum for close to 5 yrs there are only a handful of chows that have recall outside of a fenced yard, and even then some are still young and might change their ways once prey instinct comes along.
like I said happy for those that have it and for those that don't well we have to be as careful as possible. maybe double doors or baby gates outside the doors that have porches..what ever we can do to safety net those escapes . but the majority of us have been there at some point! Glad Whitby is ok! And you too.

[kitten1426]

Both our chows have awesome recalls...actually all 4 of our dogs do...Leash who needs one when trained properly...We can walk up and down our street... people out..dogs out...cats out...anything.. yes they get alert..mite bark but dont leave our side...I think that is very important!!!! When leaving the dog park we say go to the truck and thats were they go....I guess what got lucky....

[Chowmomma]

Border patrol...OK we on it, I'll put a two chows on pa side and two on the md side, mason Dixon line here we come lol

Wait that would REQUIRE MY chows to do total recall huh

I am not sure why the huge debate because we have all agreed that we own one of the most stubborn breeds there is and that's why we love them....the challenge!!!

I've had them for over 20 years and understand their very strong seek and find critters instinct

Me as a chow owner am relieved when I hear a story had a happy ending, no fingers pointed, just happy

[oceans]

Happy endings are always great. It doesn't matter how you get there.

[Chowmomma]

Exactly!! Hugs!

[ski]

I so admire those of you who can get your chows to come when called. Loki just zones out if there is prey involved. I have tried everything. One day he took off after deer and was gone an entire day. I was frantic. By the way, he has no problem running after prey with a pin in his hip. A nice lady saw him on the side of the road. He must have been tired. She stopped her car, opened her door to check on him and he just jumped in her car. She took him home and notified me. She said she was reluctant to stop as she recognized he was a chow and thought he might be aggressive. She was pleasantly surprised by how sweet he was. Here is the kicker....when I went to pick him up HE REFUSED TO GET IN MY CAR. I don't think he wanted his adventure to end. I said to the nice lady, "he really has a loving home". I was so mad at him and on the way home he reached over the driver seat and smothered me with kisses. These chows can work you over!!!!!

[Judy Fox]

Love that Ski! So Chow Chow !
I would love it if I could have trained my chows to come back, I really would.
But there you go, I am happy with what I have got.