Guarding Chow

Training and behavior topics, guidelines, and tips for Chow Chows.

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ferociousdog
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Guarding Chow

Post by ferociousdog »

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and came here to seek for help. I know that guarding is a chow trait and that's part of the reason why I love my chow. I've had him (my bf and I) since he was three months old and he was socialized well with people (not so much other dogs) but he is now almost four years old. I've had three roomates in which they all lived here BEFORE I got my chow chow so he's very familiar with all of us, but he's always slept in my room or right in front of my door which is at the end of our hallway. It just started last year that if i'm INSIDE my room and he's at my door or in my room he will GROWL and BARK at anyone that comes near or passes by. A couple months ago, he bit (more like severely attacked) one roomate that came to my door to ask if I wanted food. My chow has attacked her twice, and same thing happened also twice with my other roomate who ended up moving out. My other roomate (who also moved out for other reasons) was also attacked trying to pass through the hallway in a hurry to use the restroom. Lastly, my brother came to visit and my chow has known him forever because he's been in and out of my house and also helped me train him. He came to visit last week and everything was fine, but before he left he came to my room to say bye and was attacked, by far the worst attack we've had so far. I immediately muzzled my chow and he sat quietly and went to sleep the whole night (almost as if he knew he did wrong and was remorseful). He has never attacked me nor my bf but he gets very protective of us in public.

Anyway, cut to the chase, parents came to visit and they love our dog. In the past, i let them sleep in my room and our dog sleeps with them. After all these previous attacks my mom doesn't want to take chances so I kept him muzzled the whole time (he's able to eat and drink)... and he was fine. When people come over, I muzzle him. However, he's becoming more and more aggressive (not toward me or my bf) but toward everyone --whether he's known them a long time or not. He's the sweetest thing EVER to us, but we have been advised by many people for liability issues that he needs to be put down, especially since there are children in our neighborhood. We are also getting married soon and would like children in the near future. Other's have advised us to give him away, but I feel that he would be just as aggressive, if not more. He's never been abused, he's been cared for and loved for since we got him. I don't want to put him down, but even our vet is very afraid of him. Where do I go from here? Ideally, I would love to keep him, but his territorial and protectiveness is getting out of hand.
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Boogie and Linda
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Boogie and Linda »

Well it seems to me that you have let this go on way too long. Something needed to be done the very first time this happened. But we can't go back. Starting now, I wouldn't let your chow have free reign. Your chow needs rules and your guests need rules. It sounds like there is always a lot going on in your house. You have different people coming and going. In my house we don't have guests stay too often but, when we do, there are rules. My chows come out to meet the guests and then (if it is during the day) they are put outside for their safety and our guests. (Once my chows have checked everyone out, they are fine with not being part of the party). In the evening, they come in and are either put on a leash inside the house or they go into a bedroom. At night I keep them in a bedroom seperate from my guests and no one just comes in. They knock and wait for me to put the chows on leashes. It is a lot of work but until you get him trained you are going to have to be very dilligent with this. I would contact a chow friendly trainer in your area if possible. I would also do a search for NILF (nothing in life is free) on this site. Your chow needs to realize you and your boyfriend are in charge and he has to follow. Right now it sounds like he thinks he is in charge of you. I think it is possible for you to correct this but it will be a lot of hard work. I am not trying to be mean but it sounds like this happening has been your fault because you are letting your chow do as he pleases without any input from you until it is too late. As for having him with a baby, it could work but again, you better put the work in now. The older he gets the harder it will be although it is always possible. Hopefully some other people with better behaved chows will give you advice too. Read through the archives here and you will find a lot of good info as well. Good luck and don't give up on him. I would hate for him to lose his life for something that really is correctable. He can do it if you show him what is expected. :wink:
antoniokane
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by antoniokane »

nice to hear u are a caring n responsible Chow Chow owner, =) .
I also have a chow just 5 mths old but already started to show the protective nature.. haha
Thats the point having a dog anyway =p
maybe you should keep your dog properly instead of leaving your dog that way...
I'll always be around when someone wanna handle my Chow Chow , i guess my dog wasnt a friendly one towards strangers.. keke
and my chow is a BULLY !! hahahaha... i have a little nephew which always got bitten by her whenever he get panic coz sometimes the dog abit forceful..
but things goes well anyway , Dog is a just a Dog no matter how obedient we can get them to be , dont let your chow chow have that kinda freeedom ~_~ .
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Tippsy'smom
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Tippsy'smom »

I agree with Linda(Boogie and Linda).... YOU HAVE to be the Alpha! He's walking ALL over you and you just let him do it. It is a liability for him to be attacking people and one he will lose his life for if not corrected NOW. My chows are very protective of me, but they would NEVER attack someone unless it was necessary. The ONLY doors in the home they are even allowed to guard a LITTLE are the front, back, basement, and garage doors. Everywhere else they get a quick correction and put in my bathroom for timeout. It's not, "Oh it's a dog, that's what they do..." It's a behavior that is dangerous, even deadly, that needs to be fixed. And like Linda said, it's all about leashes. My chows are allowed to greet people when they enter the house ON LEASH and then they go outside while we have visitors. Or at night if I'm in my room and someone comes to the door, they get put on leashes before I even open the door. And they are never left on the other side of a closed door without me if there's other people in the house.
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ljyoung
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by ljyoung »

One thing that I would like to add in training your Chow is that you and your bf should show him that you are the alpha personas in the house. When he does attack someone, be sure to get a hold of him and put him on his back -- this is the dominance position in that you are the dominant over him. Also tell him "NO" and "UNACCEPTABLE" in a loud and angry tone. Hit him on the nose if need be -- it does not hurt him, and it is not cruel. I have an aggressive Chow for whom I have had to do this, and it really works! My Odie is all of 78 pounds, and that is a challenge for me to put him on his back. However, this has done more good than anything else in correcting his behavior. Odie's breeder is the one who taught me this particular move. Not only does she breed chows but also she shows chows in dog shows. My Odie will be 3 years old this July, and he is a better dog now. Finally, I rarely have issues with visitors and him being in the same room or with anyone going to any room in my house when he is around.
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Sarahloo »

ljyoung wrote:When he does attack someone, be sure to get a hold of him and put him on his back -- this is the dominance position in that you are the dominant over him. Hit him on the nose if need be -- it does not hurt him
Do not do this! It might not be ineffective (after all, a frightened dog is an obedient dog), but it definitely is cruel. Plus it's so much more important to actually prevent the attack than to act all macho after the attack!
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Merlin
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Merlin »

When he does attack someone, be sure to get a hold of him and put him on his back -- this is the dominance position in that you are the dominant over him. Hit him on the nose if need be -- it does not hurt him
I totally agree Sarah, in fact this accomplishes absolutely nothing except demonstrates to your chow that you are aggressive and does not remove the attitude from the dog.

This dog is guarding without your permission because he thinks he can, and because you never told him that he can't
Put him in a down - stay when he attempts to become possessive. Right there, in a subordinate position he will be less inclined to be assertive.

This is why it is important for people to work with qualified people with these types of situations - sorry - casual advise on egroups is not competent enough, especially if you don't even know how to train your dog into a down/stay properly. Aggressive dogs are a very serious issue and using techniques like this one described above is a, 'hit or miss' debenture and is not going to help you. If you take the time to read many of the messages here you'll see that one of the prime complaints are aggression. You'll also read about a lot of people who chose the low road and ended up dumping their chows in shelters, or are trying to give them away. What is wrong with going to school? Too many chows die each year because of owners who won't properly apply themselves to these issues. Please seek professional help.
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Tippsy'smom
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Tippsy'smom »

ljyoung wrote:One thing that I would like to add in training your Chow is that you and your bf should show him that you are the alpha personas in the house. When he does attack someone, be sure to get a hold of him and put him on his back -- this is the dominance position in that you are the dominant over him. Also tell him "NO" and "UNACCEPTABLE" in a loud and angry tone. Hit him on the nose if need be -- it does not hurt him, and it is not cruel. I have an aggressive Chow for whom I have had to do this, and it really works! My Odie is all of 78 pounds, and that is a challenge for me to put him on his back. However, this has done more good than anything else in correcting his behavior. Odie's breeder is the one who taught me this particular move. Not only does she breed chows but also she shows chows in dog shows. My Odie will be 3 years old this July, and he is a better dog now. Finally, I rarely have issues with visitors and him being in the same room or with anyone going to any room in my house when he is around.
You should NEVER, EVER do this with a chow! Or ANY dog for that matter, in my opinion! It does NOTHING but put yourself in a situation where the dog can and WILL bite YOU. And if your "breeder" is telling you to do this, there's a REALLY BIG problem! I would've NEVER bought a puppy from a "breeder" who said to do this. It PROVES there's aggression issues with their dogs, and they're supposed to be selectively breeding dogs WITHOUT those issues. This "breeder" obviously only cares to make a buck off of pups.

POSITIVE training is the ONLY way to go.
Jess
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ljyoung
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by ljyoung »

You all misunderstand what I was saying. It appears that the person with the guarding dog has not worked with his dog in regards to obedience -- but I cannot say that is completely true since I don't know them. I had to put my dog on his back only twice in his lifetime (he is almost 3), and he does not present any problem with anyone else or with me. He is treated with love and care. We have nightly sessions of petting, and he is brushed twice a week while he lays on the floor. Odie is quite sociable, and is interested in being petted by anyone willing to do so. He will sit like a gentleman at a person's feet to be petted and shows appreciation with kisses. At the same time, Odie knows that he is not the king of the house and that if I say a visitor is okay, then he is to behave like a good dog. The breeder uses this action only with a dog that is being too aggressive. My dog knows and understands that I rule the house and not him. He is also very good at laying down, staying, and sitting when commanded to do so, and I don't have to raise my voice or sound angry to get him to do it. He also knows that he is allowed to protect me should the need arise. I am not saying to be cruel -- just establish dominance and establish who is in command. Remember that chows are very stubborn dogs. They take much longer to learn and obey the command than other breeds. At least that has been my experience -- and I have owned 4 chows.
antoniokane
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by antoniokane »

i agree with u ljyoung and i understand that u can't explain 100% everything here , just ignore some comments from tippsymum , she really think she is the best with chow , and she said her 10yrs old chow never bite b4... haha , what a joke , i guess u would agree with me since u got 4 chows .
and tipsymum if u wanna reply to me, just want u to know , bite doesnt mean bite to die , crazymum
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Merlin
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Merlin »

he breeder uses this action only with a dog that is being too aggressive.
I have to totally agree with Tippy's Mom. Your breeder is being a bully with these chows and that's all he/she is doing.
While under certain circumstances it is ok to work with an aggressive dog through dominance, it is never ok to work with an aggressive dog using blatant aggression. This is an antiquated method used by some, ( invented by a human who totallly has mis-interpreted and mis-understood dogs interacting with each other). It is important to clearly understand the differences between assertion, dominance and aggression, because there IS a difference, and it is important to keep in mind that the objective to successfully work with aggressive dogs is to cultivate trust and co-operation and this is never achieved through bullying.

It doesn't say much about your breeder's ability to pre-assess the situation, because there are plenty of signs that occur prior to actual aggression, and the problem (s) could have been stopped right there, instead of waiting until everything escalates out of hand, then running in like a bully and flipping your dog over, and then assuming that this is the way to train a dog. All you've done is challenge the dog, and some day down the road, if your dog ever perceives you to be weak, they will look for payback, and let me tell you, payback can be sweet.
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jackk001
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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by jackk001 »

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Re: Guarding Chow

Post by Chow master »

Wow talk about drama. lol. I honestly agree with Tippsy'smom, I don't think that tackling your dog to the ground then its back is training. It may establish dominance but not in the right way. It is telling your dog that you are bigger and stronger, then after awhile it is possible that your dog will challenge and attack YOU! Wait I take that back it isn't possible but instead they will.

On another note a good way to work on your dogs guarding issues is to maintain dominance. Doing so; have some people over re-socialize the fuzzy buddy with people who are close to you. Also make sure that you do this with your boyfriend. So that way he knows that both of you are the boss.

If your dog attacks again (which I hope it wont because you will make sure to keep an eye on it all the time when company is over even. And just to be sure put the chow outside or in a separable room to make sure he wont attack.) If he does then dont tackle him be loud and obnoxious and get his attention away from trying to kill your friend and get your dog to come and put a leash on him as soon as possible!! By the way not all this info is accurate so if some of it is wrong I am sorry.

I hope some of this info helped! :)
~chow master =;
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