chows and children

[samimama]

My husband and I just got a Chow a week ago, he is 1 year old and has a very mellow personality. Everyone I have told about our new dogs says the same thing and it has me worried. They all say that although he may have a mild disposition now I shouldn't take my eye off him for a minute because these dogs will attack small children for no apparent reason at all. I find it very hard to believe, but why do I keep hearing the same thing. Any insight would be great, I love the dog but obviously my son comes first, not to mention I have a baby on the way. Please help.

[TJordan]

Has he done anything that would make you think he is going to "attack"? Many people don't like chows and say what they have told, most of the time by people who have never been around one. If he hasn't shown any behaviors to support this I wouldn't worry. My chow doens't like anyone and he can be trusted 100% with my nephew. He protects him. You will have to teach your son how to respect and handle animals.

[chow fancier]

First of all, thanks for adopting an adult. It is so much harder for them to find homes.

Chows have a bad reputation. There are good chows and bad chows just like any other dog breed. Blame the owner not the chow for poor behavior. It is our responsibility to set limits and teach acceptable behavior just like with human children.

In the photo gallery there is a thread called chows and kids, any questions? You will see many kids and chows interacting without difficulty.

That said, would I leave your chow and child alone together without supervision today, probably not. (But then I wouldn't any dog that I hadn't observed with the child, when it is a new member of the family). You don't say how old your child is, so some of these questions may not apply. Does the child know how to behave around the chow? Or will the child pull the chow's hair and tail, try to ride it, be rough with it in other ways? How does the chow respond to the child? Is it fearful? (A fearful chow (or any dog) can be dangerous if cornered or pushed into a situation that increases that fear).

Initial interaction: remain nearby and observe and manage the interaction.

Have the chow and the child in the same room, child on the floor ignoring the chow. Let the chow come to the child, not the other way around. When the chow comes to the child, have the child slowly extend his hand, palm up, below the chows head, for the chow to sniff. If the chow sniffs and stays put, the child may touch the chow below the head, then go back to whatever he was doing before the chow came up to him.

[samimama]

my son is six, however he has down syndrom and is developmentally around 4, he is 33lbs and 33inches so that of a 3 year old. I have successfully taught him to only approach the dog from the front so the dog can see him coming. Sami the dog seems to like my son. He wants to be in his room, or near him on the floor when he is coloring. I guess I am only scared because so many people have said the same thing. I have been doing a lot of research online so I can be a good mom to sami, are there any other resources you can recomend? Thanks for the input I appreciate all the help I can get, I sure do love this dog.

[chowkidz]

Welcome to the site and you deserve for adopting a chow. We don't have the two legged monsters just the 4 legged little monsters but hopefully i can give you some positive comments. I know when we first got a chow (10 yrs ago) and told people, we might as well have told them we had a rabid raccoon as a pet. Most of them are just going by " my cousin knows someone............" story. The house where Nanook was raised until we got him had a 5yr and 7 yr old. Nanook loves kids. His best friend is the neighbors 7yr old. We were at a dog show for fun, when Nook was 2. Two little girls ages 6 or 7 came over asked if they could pet him and before we could say yes he was washing their face's and they were giggling so loud we got a lot of attention from it. The mom came over and said had she not seen it in person she never would have believed it. Jade on the other hand tolerates kids but she is very fond of the elderly and handicapped. I would never leave either one of my chowkidz alone with any child just because both ( 4 legged and 2 legged ) can be so unpredictable. Some can be like Newfies and others can be like a porcupine, neat to look at but don't hug. Be patient and by all means keep this site in mind for assistance.

[chow fancier]

BTW, Welcome to the site. We love pictures here and would love to see pictures of your chow and son interacting.

Chows tend to be very loyal and protective of their families and it sounds like Sammi knows you are his family already. I don't have any human children myself, but there are those on here that do and can offer more practical advice about day to day. (I use the method I described to introduce my chows to any children visiting here). They are also very strong willed (ok, stubborn). One thing I found very helpful to deal with this is NILF (Nothing in life is free). The chow must earn what he desires. A simple sit, shake, down will do before treats, dinner, etc. This really seems to help them realize that I'm in charge and they are not.

Frankly, unless you see signs of aggression or fear I wouldn't worry about a chow anymore than any other dog. My first chow (who I got as a puppy) was over 10 when she met her first child and she allowed the child to hug her the first day. (I wouldn't say she enjoyed it as it hurt her chow dignity, but she just sighed and put up with it).

As for other resources, The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell, PhD is one of my favorites. It is not exclusive to chows but can be very helpful. The author is an animal behaviorist and it explains how dogs view human behavior and how small changes in our behavior can help elicit the desifed behaviors in our dogs.

[Laura]

Welcome to the site and congrats on your new family member. Others have given great advice and I'm sure more will come. I will just say that there are alot of people out there who practice breed discrimination...chows are all vicious...blah blah. You will hear plenty of it...all unsolicited and often times from perfect strangers. For example I had a man tell his granddaughter at the park that my Chows (who were maybe 3 and 7 months old at the time) would eat her. I wanted to slap him but you'll get used to it and the more you come to know your Sami the more you will realize people are just ignorant and pay them no mind. Just supervise your child with Sami as with any other rescue dog that you had brought in the house. I am of the mind that Sami will become your childs protector...dogs have a sense about things...time will tell. Glad you joined us.

[redangie24]

Hi, there. I have been around chows my whole life and I have never seen a chow attack a child. I have seen a chow growl at a kid who was pulling thier tail or trying to make the chow into a horse, but even more chows just do thier best to get away. I have two daughters ages almost 6 and just turned three. I have never worried for even a second. However, I would never leave any child under the deveolpmental age of about 9ish alone with a dog...any dog. Both dogs and children can be unpredictable and for both of thier intrest i would not leave them unattended. A small child can hurt a dog seriously and vice versa. So until both of your children are mature enough to respect the chow and understand to always be kind then I would supervise them. I don't have that problem anyways, because Ivana follows me all over the house. Again I want to stress that a chow is no more likely than any other dog to be aggressive towards a child. Goodluck with your new addition both the furry one and the soon to be non-furry one.

[Auddymay]

It does sound like your new Chowboy has taken to your son. The only problem I foresee, is he could become too protective of your son, and growl at people that go to hug him, like grandma and grandpa. This can be overcome, but if it happens don't freak out. Work on having your new chow met a variety of people, and give tidbits for reacting correctly. Make sure to also treat when he acts good to people hugging your son, or even approaching your son. He will see it as a good thing. As with any dog, you need to monitor the interations of young children and the new pet. Contrary to urban legend, no Chow just 'suddenly turns on their master'. Congrats, and please, post photos!

[Traci]

Hi, there. I have been around chows my whole life and I have never seen a chow attack a child. I have seen a chow growl at a kid who was pulling thier tail or trying to make the chow into a horse, but even more chows just do thier best to get away. I have two daughters ages almost 6 and just turned three. I have never worried for even a second. However, I would never leave any child under the deveolpmental age of about 9ish alone with a dog...any dog. Both dogs and children can be unpredictable and for both of thier intrest i would not leave them unattended. A small child can hurt a dog seriously and vice versa. So until both of your children are mature enough to respect the chow and understand to always be kind then I would supervise them. I don't have that problem anyways, because Ivana follows me all over the house. Again I want to stress that a chow is no more likely than any other dog to be aggressive towards a child. Goodluck with your new addition both the furry one and the soon to be non-furry one.

When you say supervise them, does that mean that you follow your children around the house so that the chow and child are always in eye sight? or does it meean you are aware of what's going on, or something inbetween. Please clarify for those of us new to chows and kids mixed together.

Thanks.

[vicster605]

When I first found this site, Feb. made a year ago...I was in tears....Horror Stories...people felt the need to come up to me with my lil' Black Chow puppy and share nothing but horror stories. Chows eat children, and turn on their owners....I was so upset had even thought I needed to go ahead and give her up. We had 4 grandchildren and all very small over here all the time, 2, 3 yr olds....I was very scared that I made a terrible mistake, although our puppy had done NOTHING to lead me to believe that she would ever do anything like that. I found the thread Chows and Children Any Questions?? and everyone here made me feel that what I was hearing was just what it was.....Peoples stories....they heard from a person that had a Chow and none had ever had one. I relaxed and raised her right and since adopted another one. We are soon to have our 6th Grandchild, they all have Birthday Parties over here and have lots of their friends over to swim in our pool. Our Chows LOVE our kids and have NEVER EVER made even a grrrrrr at them. Our Chows love our kids, and the kids them.
I would check out the thread that made me feel sooooo much better a year ago....some of my own pics are there too now.
As far as how I watch my Chows with our children......I watch them as I would watch 2 small children playing together. Children will pull each others hair, bite each other, hit each other, throw things at each other etc. I am always in ears length...I can hear them...I put my eyes on them every few minutes as I would 2 small children. If they get too quiet I put my eyes on them to see what they are doing, or I'm in the room with them. Learn your Chows body language. Teach you children how to respect animals. I have NEVER had NOT ONE incident with our kids and our Chows. My Chow Kyra LOVES our 4 yr old granddaughter, I think she is her person when shes here.
Just have good common sense as you would with ANY BREED of dog with your children...and you'll be fine.
Welcome to the site, and yes we all LOVE pics You just brought back memories for me so I hope this helps.

[Victory]

Hi, there. I have been around chows my whole life and I have never seen a chow attack a child. I have seen a chow growl at a kid who was pulling thier tail or trying to make the chow into a horse, but even more chows just do thier best to get away. I have two daughters ages almost 6 and just turned three. I have never worried for even a second. However, I would never leave any child under the deveolpmental age of about 9ish alone with a dog...any dog. Both dogs and children can be unpredictable and for both of thier intrest i would not leave them unattended. A small child can hurt a dog seriously and vice versa. So until both of your children are mature enough to respect the chow and understand to always be kind then I would supervise them. I don't have that problem anyways, because Ivana follows me all over the house. Again I want to stress that a chow is no more likely than any other dog to be aggressive towards a child. Goodluck with your new addition both the furry one and the soon to be non-furry one.

When you say supervise them, does that mean that you follow your children around the house so that the chow and child are always in eye sight? or does it meean you are aware of what's going on, or something inbetween. Please clarify for those of us new to chows and kids mixed together.

Thanks.

I'm not redangie but I think I have a few suggestions: it is never, ever a good idea to leave a very small child with a dog alone together and out of site for any reason or time, if you have to leave the room for something put the little one in a play pen or put the dog or chow behind a baby gate, (placing the baby in play pen is actually better, as this leaves the dog able to move away from the baby if the baby pokes or pulls or something) And older child who knows how to behave around dogs is fine out of site, but should never be out of earshot, and this advice is for small dogs and large dogs as well.

Most of the time it is the children that need to be taught certain rules; never sneak up on a sleeping dog or startle one that is sleeping, teach them to clap their hands softly or sing or call the dog before they are too close or reach to touch them. Never take a dog's food from them, this is a parents job if necessary. Never tease with a toy or food or pretend to hit a dog. And never hit or be physically violent with a dog, ( or any pet for that matter). Children should learn that a dog isn't a toy, or a doll, but a living being with feelings. Children also have to learn that sometimes, doggie doesn't want to play and they need to leave the dog alone.

Dogs should be taught to not be too sensitive to their "space" a dog that reacts badly when someone is within 3 feet of where they are sleeping needs to be desenthized to this. An adult delibertly violating this space calmly and matter of factly and giving praise when the dog reacts camly or doesn't react at all is a good way.

For chows in particular; never approach from behind or from the sides without letting the dog know you're there, calling their names is a good way to do this. Also don't rough house with the chow, this encourages alpha behavior in the chow, sort of "I'm the boss of you" a chow or any dog, must always respect that humans are alpha to it, no matter how small the human.

Chows and kids can get along just great...I need to scan in the pictures of my neice with my mom's two chows...there were never any issues between her and MingToy and LiChi.

[luvchows]

Chows were bred for protection among other things and the adult in the home needs to understand and appreciate that characteristic about their chow.

I know of two instances where irresponsible adult behavior contributed to a child being bitten and ultimately the chow being put down unnecessarily.

One person let their chow go outside on a tie-out in the backyard. A neighborhood child came into their yard to retrieve a ball and the chow bit the child. The chow thought the child was an intruder and was simply protecting his territory, but the chow paid with his life for the owner’s mistake. There was such a stink from the neighbors that he felt he had to put the chow in order to keep the peace.

On another occasion, the chow was asleep in the entry hallway and a neighbor child came into the home a few minutes after the resident child. The neighbor child stepped over the sleeping chow, who woke up and bit the child twice in the arm. Again the chow thought the child was an intruder and was simply doing his job, but he too was put down to keep peace with the neighbors.

Having a chow comes with a certain responsibility. You have to understand the breed and their unique personalities. Don’t expect them to behave like a golden retriever that loves and welcomes everyone and everything. Chows need to be well socialized and trained, as socialization does not come naturally to them. They need help learning to accept a lot of different people and circumstances into their lives.

There is a wealth of info about the breed on http://www.chowwelfare.com incuding a section about chows and children. Best of luck with your new chow he sounds like a good boy! Just take time to study the breed and work with him.

[jerryo]

It just occurred to me that one reason we keep hearing all those urban legends about "kid eating Chows" is that they are so uncommon that any incident gets repeated and blown all out of proportion. It's the old thing about "man bites dog is big news, but dog bites man isn't". Beagles and Collies are seldom the subject of the horror stories, but they are the only breeds that have ever bitten me. And the beagle that went for my throat was MY dog!

[max5105]

Hi, and kudos to you for adopting a chow. I adopted mine only 12 days ago, and Misiu is so well integrated into out family that we can't imagine life without him. I, too, had some trepidations for which I was chastised and somewhat ridiculed by some members of this forum. "If you want a dog to act like a Golden Retriever, get a Golden Retriever" was my favorite. No - I wanted a Chow because they have MANY admirable qualites to which I am particular and I wanted one that would be a good family dog, too. Thank God I followed my own instincts and talked to knowledgeable people who did understand what I meant. My kids are not babies, they are 8-16 (4 of them). Misiu is alone with them often and they are great together. When they sit by him and pet him when he is eating - he doesn't bat an eye. Actually, we have never heard him growl at anybody or anything. We take him everywhere and he relates to people beautifully. Time will answer most of your questions. Just take him out a lot to encounter many different people and situations. Sounds like he's well on his way. Good Luck.

[chowkidz]

max5105, congrats on getting your chow. glad to hear you took the time to explain to someone what it was you meant and your concerns for your neighbors.

sammi's mom and max don't forget pictures.

[coleywoley]

Hi and welcome to the site! I have a two and a half year old little girl. We have three dogs, Max, a daschund, Ginger, chow mix, and Bel, bloodhound. Ginger is the youngest and is only about six monthes old and is a mix so she's a little different than pure chow I guess. Anyway since my daughter was born we have taught her how to act around animals. She knows not to hit or even raise her hand to them, how to approach them-slowly walk towards them stopping a few feet a way in a squat with her hand out so the dog can come to her if it chooses and if not it doesn't feel cornered. All of our dogs do really well with her. When we first brought Ginger home she thought Soph was just a walking chew toy and would chomp on her arms and legs and any of her toys but we taught her bite inhibition and made sure she knew the difference between her toys and soph's toys. She doesn't put her mouth on Soph anymore but it did take time because being two soph doesn't quite understand not waving her arms around in the air while yelling and laughing at Ginger to stop. Kids. Now my biggest fear with Ginger isi that she will knock sophia down because she is a jumper but we are working on that too. Having an adult chow is a bit different. Just please know that your chow may love kids especially yours. Ginger and Bel both go in their crate if they want to be left alone or on their beds and I have taught soph that those are the dogs areas not hers. If soph needs peace she lets me know and will play in her room with the gate closed so they can't come in (Bel has a hard time with this since he believes soph is his and her bed is his favorite place to sleep). Don't let other people's words or stories scare you away. Just know you have to go on your own experiences with your chow and just keep an eye on any interactions between chow and child.

[luvchows]

Max, unless I am mistaken, you have a chow mix, correct? and a young puppy too. With a mix you often have a combination of personalities and breed traits. There is a difference between a mix and a purebred chow. All breed rescue groups often say chow mixes are typically the best of both breeds. Bottom line, every dog is an individual whether a mix or purebred.

[max5105]

I adopted Misiu from a posting on this site. He was never relinquished to a shelter because, as a Chow-MIX, he would have been euthanized-no questions asked. To me, this indicates that he is on par with any pure bred Chow in terms of getting a bad rap, so to speak. The shelter in Warren County apparently did not feel that a mix would be the best of both breeds. Perhaps because, genetically speaking, he just as likely could have been the worst of both. Sure, a Chow-mix is different from a PB Chow, however in this context, I feel justified in offering my two cents. Judging from the replies of PB Chow owners with dogs of great dispositions, I can only agree that each individual, PB or mix, is unique and that much of how they develop is in our hands.

[luvchows]

I am very familiar with Warren County and Leeland, the shetler manager. They have no problem with chows or chow mixes and would have given your boy a chance there. That shelter is always full though, as are other shelters and was definitely better off at the vet's office than any shelter. Glad he is working out for you!