First Post - First Puppy - Please help

[presleysmomma]

My daughter and I welcomed Presley into our home 10 days ago. He is a nine week Chow pup. After being in our home for just one day, he went nuts barking and growling when my brother and niece came to visit. My mom came by this weekend and he did it to her as well.

I am so paranoid about him being "aggressive." Are these early signs of aggression? Would aggression be showing in a puppy this young?

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Judy Fox]

Oh Dear!

First of all, don't panic!

Secondly, stop and think!

Thirdly think up a cunning plan!

Just think. He has come into your home and may be feeling a little insecure and maybe he feels he has to guard you and your daughter with his life.

Don't think dog - think Chow Chow 'cos that is what he is - not a dog.

Be firm with him and let him know firmly and kindly, that you will not tolerate that sort of behaviour. Don't smack him or or shout at him - Chows do not tolerate being hit or bawled at.

Be firm and a "Aah! Presley! No!" or whatever phrase you favour.

Ask your visitors not to try and pet him and encourage them to ignore him to a degree - he won't like it and will probably make an approach to them. Ask them to just offer their open hand palm up for him to sniff. He probably won't ever be like a goofy labrador, leaping around and rolling to have his tummy rubbed! Chows don't do that!
He might be able to be coaxed with a treat.

Tell you visitors that he has limited vision and cannot really see properly to the side - because of his deepset eyes and furrowed brow, he can see clearly only ahead and therefore, make sure nobody approaches him quietly from behind - it will startle him.

I am sure all the others on the site will have advice but my best advice is, use your gut instinct - he will learn to trust - but when he is adult, you will probably find, he will greet (or rather, should I say, meet) your visitors to see who they are and determine what their business is and if it is ok with you, he will let them in and then clear off until they leave when he will probably reappear to see them off the premises!!

He will love you and the family but don't expect him to love everybody else!

As with all dogs, don't leave him unsupervised with children, certainly not until he is much older and proven. Children make sharp movements and can lunge at a puppy, not meaning to hurt but it can shock a puppy, especially a chowling who cannot see them coming up behind.

Good luck and please, don't panic.

Firm, kind, thoughtful, seeing a problem before it occurs!

Purple kisses for the little bloke from M & M.

[simbasmom]

Hi Presleysmomma,
How lucky you are to have nice little chowling to love. They are sooo cute and cuddly they are at that age. And you just got to love their chow talk. I am starting to understand what little grunts and squeals mean.

My little chowling boy Coco is 10 weeks old and he barks and growls when anyone comes to the door. But I just firmly tell him no and if I let the person in he usually comes around for a petting within a few minutes and then wonders off to do his chowling thing like chewing his toys.

Don't worry too much, and just be firm and loving and your little chowling will be fine.

[kingalls]

Oh, my! Sounds like your pup is a little advanced in taking on his guardian duties . My Mr. N did some barking at visitors but I don't remember any serious growling at that age. He's much more serious now with his guardian duties now.
As the others have noted, don't panic. You need to let your pup know your visitor is okay. We had one visitor that was a very large person. Mr. N did not take well to him - ever. Another friend came to visit who is quite tall. After hearing about Mr. N's reaction to the other person, this friend got on his hands and knees to make his first meeting. Mr. N had no problem at all and was playful with him.

Karen

[presleysmomma]

Thank you for your advice. I will definately try to be more firm without being harsh.

BTW....have any of you tried crate training your chowling?

[Rogansmommy]

Rogue is/was crate trained. He's 8 now, so I don't use one anymore. He was never a big fan, but I used to give him a raw hide and/or a cookie and that made him happy. Variety is the spice of life - chows get bored easily.

[Mandy]

We did crate training with chewie as a puppy with the sole purpose of getting him used to being alone at night. I am allergic to dogs and although I can control my allergy during the day, I can't have a dog in my room at night. He never loved it and after about 3 months we changed it to him getting the whole kitchen and basement. He has no problems now but has no desire to ever enter the crate. He found himself a different cave - under our clothes folding table. when he needs to hide, that's where he goes. We worked with treats when we were crate training him and it seemed to work just fine. We did not leave him in a crate during the day but that was because we had a large area that he could play in that didn't have anything that he could get hurt on. Good luck!

Mandy

[presleysmomma]

Well we are doing better with the growling but now my daughter has decided that she's scared of him. UGH!!!!!!! I'm trying to ignore her whining in an effort to downplay this and hopefully she'll stop being so dramatic. ha!!

On another note, Presley needs to learn to sleep through the night. This is exhausting. I'm going to try the ticking clock and hot water bottle. Any other tips?

[Guest]

Chingy has slept through the night since he was nine weeks old. (He is also crate trained) We make sure to run that little dog HARD before bedtime, he also doesn't go to bed until midnight (sometimes 11) and then he gets up around 7-8 in the morning. I always make sure he goes potty before he goes to bed. He has not had any accidents in like 4-5 weeks. I keep him on a pretty strict schedule and he is not allowed to play on the carpet unsupervise yet. He has been allowed full run of the kitchen with a baby gate blocking it. Sometimes if I can't watch him and I don't want to put him in his crate, I put him in his play pen for a while with toys.
Another thing that might help with him in his crate is a Kong(you can find them at any petstore and most grocery stores) They are a hard rubber toy that you can put food in and it can entertain them for HOURS! Good Luck!!

[Rogansmommy]

The first night we had Rogan, it was very rough. My husband had decided that 'the dog would NEVER sleep in our bedroom' and insisted that the crate (and dog) stay in the kitchen. Rogan CRIED like I have never heard an animal or human cry. He cried and cried relentlessly, until at 2 am, my husband carried him (crate and all) upstairs and plopped him into our bedroom. Instantly the crying stopped, and we have never again had a sleepless night caused by him. (The other animals and the human child are a COMPLETELY different story.)

[presleysmomma]

He goes into his crate and goes to bed very easily. However, he's usually up in about 2 hours. I let him out then and he goes back in to his crate, whines for a few minutes and then goes back to sleep for a few more hours. Interrupted sleep and I do not agree. He has not slept through the night at all and I've had him for three weeks.

[Guest]

Does he go potty when you take him out? He is getting you up at 2 am because he can, you are getting up and letting him out when he whines, if you think that he does not have to go potty, let him whine a little. It won't hurt him but rather it will teach him that you will not come at his every beck and call(I know it is hard as I want to do that with both my dogs) But both of them learned very quickly that I set the rules of the house and they both sleep great in their crates.

[presleysmomma]

Yes he does potty when I take him out but you're right....I'm just letting him know all he has to do is bark and I'll come running. I'll try tough love tonight.

[Brisco]

I've never used a crate to keep any of my dogs in and don't believe in it at all except maybe in the case of an allergy, and then I still don't like the idea of it. There is no real "training" involved in putting a dog in a crate and closing the door until it gets use to it. Some people claim that there dogs like the crate but that is because the dog doesn't know any better and it becomes a security blanket that they feel insecure without, which is not a good thing, just that you'll accept anything when you have no choice. I know that some will be offended, but we all have our own opinions and this is mine, it certainly doesn't mean that I'm right either though.

My two Chows slept in the laundry room for a few days each until they felt safe and comfortable in there new surroundings and then outside after that. And yes, they did whine the first night or two, maybe for 5 or 10 or even 15 minutes but it won't hurt them and they do stop and that is the end of it for ever. Maybe try giving him a small chewy treat that will keep him busy long enough for you to get to bed and turn out the lights without him realizing that you left. Then when he wines, if there is no noise in the house and no response he will stop much quicker than if he hears anyone.

My two come in the house whenever they feel like it but much prefer to
be, and sleep outside. even at 2 1/2 years and 7 months old I don't think that they would ever sleep all night if they were inside, they just don't want to be inside for that long. This has nothing to do with needing to go to the bathroom or anything. Even when they won't go out at bedtime they'll get restless and wake me up to go outside within an hour or two.

[simbasmom]

When we got Coco a couple of weeks ago I decided I didn't want to get a crate for him it seemed like such a cruel thing to me. However, I found that he got so upset that he would throw up on the floor whenever I had to go out and leave him alone even for a very short time. I left him in the kitchen a couple of times and he knocked all the chairs over and chewed the paint off the baseboards trying to get out. My friend sugggested that maybe it was a good idea to keep him from hurting himself if I got him a crate. So against my better judgement I borrowed a crate. First thing he did when I brought the crate home was take all his toys in it and curl up and go to sleep. I am not saying that he loves the crate. But he does go in there and play and nibble on his treats and I know that I don't have to worry when I am out. I work from home most of the time and I seldom go out for more than 2 hours in a day so he isn't in the crate very long and I am hoping once he is a little older and is more secure I won't have to use the crate anymore.

Little purple chowling kisses from Coco
Simbasmom

[presleysmomma]

I work outside the home and, therefore, I cannot leave a puppy to roam my house all day. I would come home to a disaster every evening. I would love to not keep him in a crate but as a puppy I have no other choice. I am not going to keep him there forever....only until the accidents are less frequent and/or the chewing is not a constant thing. I know that dogs are dogs and they will chew but I can't afford for him to demolish my house.

[Brisco]

I'm glad that the crates are working for your situation. I guess that I must have just assumed, which I know you shouldn't do, that you would have a yard to leave your dog in. All houses in Perth must have a fenced yard by law, I forget that this isn't the case in many places. I still don't like crates though.