Concerned......Please Help!!
Moderator: chowadmin
HOLY SMOKES PEOPLE - what a lot of emails and opinions with a little dash of tension...
Viva la differance!! sorry for the poor french. Everyone raises their chow differently and that is why our chows are different and have little idiocyncrasies...
I read a book when I was pregnant with my first son (12 years ago)called "when Baby meets Bowser". What I did after reading this book and later with my 2nd chow was to pull at his ears and various parts of his body and fur (not hard) to ready him for my children. This got him used to the idea that this might happen. Similarily when my chows were young I would stick my hand in their mouths and rub their teeth and grab their tongues (not hard) to ready them for brushing teeth later on.
I also taught my children as they have grown to be gentle with the dog - as gentle as 2 energtic and "spirited" boys can be. I put Bones outside when my boys have friends over as he growled and snapped at an 8 year old boy when the boy put his hand out to Bones; I was sitting right beside him and had my hand on his back - I don't know why he did this.
I don't want to set Bones up because if he did bite a child I would feel as Chowlover that I would be caught in the awful dilemna of not trusting the dog and knowing I couldn't give my children up! I wouldn't want to give the dog up but logistically it would be very difficult to work around the trust issues.
Thank goodness he only growled and snapped once at a child even under my very close supervision and I have been very cautious ever since.
Keep enjoying your little chow chow and your children and always stay as close as you do during their interactions so you can intervene if necessary and I think that the growling will likely fizzle out for your little one and then he will start doing something else like chewing on your new shoes! Keep in touch with your breeder who can walk you through your worries (and there are so many with new lives - both chowlings and babies!) Too bad there is no breeder to call for our babies!!
Viva la differance!! sorry for the poor french. Everyone raises their chow differently and that is why our chows are different and have little idiocyncrasies...
I read a book when I was pregnant with my first son (12 years ago)called "when Baby meets Bowser". What I did after reading this book and later with my 2nd chow was to pull at his ears and various parts of his body and fur (not hard) to ready him for my children. This got him used to the idea that this might happen. Similarily when my chows were young I would stick my hand in their mouths and rub their teeth and grab their tongues (not hard) to ready them for brushing teeth later on.
I also taught my children as they have grown to be gentle with the dog - as gentle as 2 energtic and "spirited" boys can be. I put Bones outside when my boys have friends over as he growled and snapped at an 8 year old boy when the boy put his hand out to Bones; I was sitting right beside him and had my hand on his back - I don't know why he did this.
I don't want to set Bones up because if he did bite a child I would feel as Chowlover that I would be caught in the awful dilemna of not trusting the dog and knowing I couldn't give my children up! I wouldn't want to give the dog up but logistically it would be very difficult to work around the trust issues.
Thank goodness he only growled and snapped once at a child even under my very close supervision and I have been very cautious ever since.
Keep enjoying your little chow chow and your children and always stay as close as you do during their interactions so you can intervene if necessary and I think that the growling will likely fizzle out for your little one and then he will start doing something else like chewing on your new shoes! Keep in touch with your breeder who can walk you through your worries (and there are so many with new lives - both chowlings and babies!) Too bad there is no breeder to call for our babies!!