female 6 month old blue/silver chow chow

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Ferngully94
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female 6 month old blue/silver chow chow

Post by Ferngully94 »

Hello, My name is Meka, and my husband and I are first-time chow owners but I have been around them for quite awhile. (My godfather has been breeding purebreds since I was born!) I finally was able to acquire a pup from him. I have had her since she was 6 weeks.
Her name is Nova. She is a blue purebred and on the 14th of this month, she will be 7 months. She is happy and smiles all the time. She is my baby and I hate that she is automatically labeled as aggressive. I have been introducing her to people and I take her with me almost everywhere I go. She is very fond of a male mutt that belongs to my mother-in-law and he is of her too. Follows her around when we come to visit. He does drool which I have come to assume as he wants her. She is too young at the moment but My spouse and I do intend on letting her have one litter at least so she can and we can have the experience. She's pretty smart for basic training, doesn't like the 'roll=over' one though, hates being on her back unless she's sleeping/being lazy lol. Puppy pads are a touchy subject. She uses them but then some days she poops on the carpet or lets out her bladder right in front of the pad. She does know how to go outside but the puppy pads are mainly for night time. She has SEVERAL different toys that she loves playing with but when it comes down to it, she likes to chew on her leg or her tail and chases around and around for about 10 minutes even when told to stop. She loves to rip up dryer sheets. It is infuriating because I don't know how she gets ahold of them sometimes.
She has chosen me as her Alpha and is always by my side when I am home. If my spouse is trying to play/teach her something and I walk in the room or make a small movement, she immediately comes to me and he no longer exists.... but when I take her for walks she is very aggressive on her leash. She doesn't attack anyone (she does little chuff noises at them though) it's more of she is trying to go ahead of me and tugs hard on her leash to where she almost hurts herself. I am trying to train her to stay by my side but she is stubborn on the matter. I know it is a lot of info but I want the best results. Typing as much detail as I think I need to put is the least I can do. She is very playful and gives us hugs all the time.
My questions are;
1- why does she choose her body parts instead of toys?
2- how can I train her effectively to stay at my side on walks instead of ahead?
3- is there more Alpha-ish things I should be doing?
4- When is the right age or time to take her for a vet visit. (a lot of my family has animals and never take them to see a vet unless something is wrong)
5- How old should she be for proper breeding?
6- I have been seeing diets for dogs based around sweet potatoes and raw meats, is that bad?

I have more questions but I can't think of more atm. I want to be a good chow mama so please advice is welcome!!
p.s I have added a photo of her from the day we got her. I tried to add a current photo but they are too large :/
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Laura
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Re: female 6 month old blue/silver chow chow

Post by Laura »

Congrats on your baby. I have a few comments related to your questions.
Chows should be trained with positive training techniques only. The alpha thing is very confusing to me. Love and kindness, socialization, and positive training is all you need. NILF (nothing in life is free) training is good. You can search for that topic on this site. Never lose a chows trust.
Potty training is relatively easy with chows so I'm not sure why you still have training pads at 7 months. That must be very confusing to the pup. I would imagine she is confused about where she is suppose to potty. No reason at her age that she can't do all of her business outside.
Vet visits should be yearly for physical exam, heartworm testing, etc. as long as there are no issues in between. I assume she has completed her puppy shots?
My female went into heat at age 5 months the first time so be careful that you don't wind up with an unwanted litter. I'm no expert on breeding but I believe it's after she has passed all testing for hips, health, eyes, etc.
For walks I have a harness that fastens two different ways. (Think it is one of the 'gentle leader' brands) It will fasten at the middle of their chest when you are wanting to work on pulling. This causes the dog to turn when they pull. Once they are more polite walkers it will fasten in the middle of their back/shoulders. There are many techniques to work on polite walking but she is probably just curious and wanting to meet everyone. I always encouraged meeting everyone as long as it was safe. I don't want to be drug around the neighborhood though so we did work on that. I do let mine walk ahead of me because the walk is for them to sniff and explore, not a regimented exercise march for us. I even have really long leashes that we use sometimes.
I have no idea why she is chewing on herself. Is it hotspots? Allergies? Or just play? Boredom? I have one chow who loves toys and one who looks at me like I'm crazy if I offer her one.
Enjoy puppyhood. It flies by.
Image
Chloe (left) Shuggy (right)
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