defiant stage

[Loha'sDad]

Loha's Dad

[Loha'sDad]

Loha's Dad

[fillyok]

if the effect you want from your Chow is it to fear and hate you forever, you did the right thing.

[Laura]

Oh that's just charming behavior. Maybe you and another on here can compare notes on how to make your Chow hate and bite you. You need animal control called on you!

[Loha'sDad]

So what do you do if your chow growls at you?

Loha's Dad

[Chow Chow Mama]

Punching him is just going to make things worse.

How about a nice, strong, deep "NO" and then waiting a bit before trying to brush the other side? You might have hurt him when you were brushing.

Hannah gets time out when she is misbehaving.

[Loha'sDad]

Loha's Dad

[Laura]

I have pm'd a member who isn't around on a daily basis lately but that should be able to offer you constructive...educated advice when she next checks the forum. I do this for the good of Loha and his future well being. She will have a much better method for his display of attitude then a hard closed fist to the head.

[Chow Chow Mama]

As I am sure you can appreciate, Loha's skull is far harder than my knuckles. I scared him with my tone and demeanor, not my relatively fragile bones.
Loha's Dad

You never know what kind of damage you can do. He might seem to be very sturdy, but the trauma to the head is a very serious thing. By disciplining him in this way you are going to end up making him afraid of you. You don't want to end up with a fearful Chow. A swat on the butt is one thing, but a fist to the head is another. If you wouldn't do it to your child, don't do it to Loha.

[chowfrnd88]

I have to leave for work in a minute, but what i would do is train him to love being brushed. The idea is never to let them get to the point where they have to growl, if you punish him for growling you're going to stop his "warning system" and he'll stop growling but next time he may skip to the bite. You need treat the reason he's growling, not the symptom (the growl). Start by doing one or two brush strokes, then reward. Talk to him in calm voice while brushing. If there are areas on his body he's more sensitive to, then spend time going very slowly there. If he hates his butt being brushed, do only a touch, treat then next session move to a stroke, then treat, etc. Go slowly, never push him to where he needs to growl because each time he gets to that point, he's essentially getting to rehearse this unwanted behavior. Each time he growls, you stop he learns it works. Believe it or not, your punch even had that affect. You stopped brushing, thus his growl served its purpose in his mind, then he was struck. Now if a growl happens, pause, then start again, slowly. For example, you burhs two strokes on his back, everything is a-okay, you do two strokes on his butt, he growls, pause, do two strokes on his neck and then just a touch on his butt. All thi has to be gradual, I can't stress enough that it has to be on his terms, don't rush him, I'm talking days. If it takes you a few days to brush him out the first few weeks, it's no big deal, it's not life and death, what's spending a few months that take a week at atime to go over his whole body compared to a lifetime with a dog who loves brushing. We had issues with Special D and brushing too, he hated his butt burshed and would leave each time. One summer he got sap stick in his hair and growled when I tried to cut it out. Just yesterday I read somewhere about getting your dog used to restraint while grooming, Special D never has to be restrained, I can use both hands to groom and he just hangs out. That's what I want from him, to enjoy it enough that he cooperates freely. It makes life so much easier. Sorry this is so rushed, but I have to get going, pm me if you need more direction with this.

[Chow Chow Mama]

Holden doesn't have to be restrained, either. He will let me do whatever I want to him. On occasion I have to cut the hair on his butt and he will stand perfectly still and let me buzz him. Hannah is still of the understanding that brushing is somewhat of a game so she gets shorter sessions. We're also working with her on letting me comb out mats behind her ears.

[Rowlee]

if the effect you want from your Chow is it to fear and hate you forever, you did the right thing.

Oh that's just charming behavior. Maybe you and another on here can compare notes on how to make your Chow hate and bite you. You need animal control called on you!

Couldn't agree more with Fillok and Laura. I am disgusted by this behaviour. You are at risk of damaging this chow for good.