I need some socialization pointers...

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CinnasDad
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I need some socialization pointers...

Post by CinnasDad »

Hi all,

My Cinna is 4 months old and I want her to be okay with children and other dogs. I've taken her to dog parks and she does fine, but when she gets into a one-on-one situation with another dog, she gets too aggressive with them. I can tell that part of it is being a puppy, but my instincts tell me it's definitely also a dominance thing. How can I correct this? Also with children she is very shy and will even bark and nip. She's great with any adults, friend or stranger, but with kids she's a totally different dog. What can I do? I have her in puppy classes with a trainer who has a lot of experience with Chows so that should help, but I'd like to get some feedback from all of you. Thanks.
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Merlin
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Re: I need some socialization pointers...

Post by Merlin »

she gets into a one-on-one situation with another dog, she gets too aggressive with them
Your instincts are correct and it's a fairly normal reaction for some chows to be this way, after all, they are, as a breed, pre-occupied with dominence.
You can try several things. When she is showing dominence towards another dog, but her in a 'downstay' immediately. Right there this tells her brain that she has no chance at assertion in this particular instance, and if you are consistent, she will most likely choose good behaviour over having to go down in front of any other dog. If you don't want to put her in a down stay, you can still diffuse the situation by making her do some other task. Just don't stand there and watch her wiggle her tail then try to jump in another dog's face. Take her attention span somewhere else, by doing something else. It could be 'sitting", 'heeling', staying there and listening to you talk... whatever it takes to move her mind away from the assertion.

With children things are a bit different. Children, and people in general, outside your immediate family, shouldn't ever feel they have, 'carte blanche' to come at pat your chow, especially if they are patting her on the head. Patting a dog on the head in itself is a sigh of dominance and many dogs don't accept this. She doesn't know these people and doesn't feel to have them touching her all over the place, and you need to be aware of this.

At given times you could ask children to offer her a treat ( if she's so motivated), and that would help create a more accepting attitude from her, but don't over do it, and realistically, like I mentioned, don't expect that she wants to be everyone's friend. There is nothing wrong with a 'look' , but 'don't touch' attitude, and as a chow owner you have to get used to that, to a large extent.
Ask yourself if you'd like to be touched by every tom, dick and harry that came your way. Generally speaking, chows are poor candidates for that. Have fun in puppy class!
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CinnasDad
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Re: I need some socialization pointers...

Post by CinnasDad »

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!
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