Shumie!!! New Puppy

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:50 pm

so, we finally got her today. and she is the cutest thing XD

we named her shumie (after michael shumacher) and she is so fluffy. this is her:

she's been peeing everywhere. she pees immediately after she drinks so i don't even have time to bring her outside (especially since i live in an apartment) is this because she's only a baby and doesn't have any bladder control? how do i train it to pee and poop outside or to hold it in because i've tried to bring it outside and it was outside for over half an hour and it still didn't poop so then i just brought her back inside and she pooped immediately on the carpet. what to do?

also, when she drinks water she leaves a whole wet trail and her underchin gets really drenched. is there a way to counteract this?

i've tried to walk her on her leash but she's very reluctant to walk with the leash and just sits down once i try to get her to walk with me but as soon as i take off the leash she walks around freely and most of the times she follows me. how do i get her to start walking on her leash so i can stop picking it up everywhere. haha

i've bought a harness for the puppy but is there a recommended collar/harness for chow chows that people here have really liked?

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:08 pm

OMG What an ADORABLE LIL' CHOWLING!!!!!

She is just BEAUTIFUL!!!
Let me see if I can help a little......Puppies like small children have no control over their small bladder.....a trainer told me in order to potty train a puppy you have to make them PREFER to go outside to potty and until then do they aren't potty trained......so you need to consistantly take her outside every hr at least and instruct her to GO POTTY...and praise her like crazy when she does. If she has gone inside you need to clean the areas with something that completely removes the odor or she will go there again. I used Natures Miracle for Pet Smart. You have to take her outside after drinking, napping, sleeping, playing,eating and once an hr. I took mine every 30 mins. and instruct her to GO POTTY......Chows don't like to potty in their den(your apartment) so when she figures out that she can go outside she probably will....but it has to be consistant. They really can't hold it at this age. If you watch her she will duck her head down and sniff a little before she goes so WATCH her and you will see what she does. Distract her and take her outside....I would say annnnnnt and take her outside and say go potty. Good Luck

I have one that is a messy drinker and keeps a wet bib....some use a water bowl called the watering hole I think??? Mine I just dry her bib after she drinks but mine also sticks both feet in the bowl as well

The leash takes them some getting used to .....some say to put the leach on and let them drag it around in the house being careful to watch so they don't get caught on something so they get used to the weight....keep trying she will get used to it......it doesn't take long.....one of my girls fought me like crazy at first but she did get used to after a few trys.
I don't use a harness but alot of members do.....they will have to tell you that one, I think its called the Gentle Leader. I just use a rolled leather collar as it doesn't mat their fur and a regular leach.
Good Luck, it takes some time so settle in and be consistant, its pretty much like potty training a child.
Again WHAT A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE CHOWLING I LOVE HER COLOR [:D]Hope some of this helps

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:14 pm

Is this your first Chow Puppy??
And one other thing I should of mentioned first NEVER ever physically spank your Chowling as they don't learn from physical punishment......you can do just as much with your voice...that is all a Chow needs is a disappointed voice and they get the message.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:35 pm

I like the creamies

I potty trained Millie in a 5th floor apartment. It's a killer, but very do-able. I took her out EVERYTIME i saw her start to sniff the floor, after every play session & 15 mins after food. If I though it was an urgent situation, I carried her! SHe was on leash and slowly walking forward & backward over about 5 metres with mimimal interaction except 'go potty Millie' When she did, I praised & praised & played a little. I found the key was to watch her all the time. If I couldn't watch, or she wasn't going outside I popped her into her crate then tried again. Try limiting her area until she keeps that clean, then expanding it gradually. They have to think of it as their den (as Vicster said) then they'll keep it clean.

As for the leash, Millie was a terror! She sat on her furry butt & WOULD NOT move with it on. Try little & often is my advice

Enjoy, she's a cutie

layla, Millie, Alfie & our chowangel Milo

welshigirl · Post by **welshigirl** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:47 am

Ain't she just the cutest little thing?:x

Never realised there were fawn chow chows until I came on this site and OMG don't I want one

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:03 am

Too cute!!! You got wonderful advice from Vicster and Layla. Like Layla said, the most important thing is ALWAYS knowing what they're doing.

Oh and one more thing, some puppies don't show the usual signs of having to go, so make to follow the schedule and the tips (to take he rout after naps, play, etc.) that Vicster and Layla gave you and that should work.

It seems like it's been forever since you first posted you were getting Schumie!!

How did you manage to wait! It must have been so hard.

TJordan · Post by **TJordan** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:06 am

What a cutie!! They have given you great advice.

Butters did not like his leash either. Except he would yelp and cry as if he were being beaten when he was on leash. It was horrible. Finally I would put it on him and let him drag it around the house a little at a time. The when he got use to that we would go somewhere. A ride in the car, a walk down the street. Eventually he knew he got to go somewhere with the leash and of course loves it now.

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:52 pm

yes it was the longest wait for shumie. i was so excited the first day that she came. i instantly fell in love XD

thanks for all the great tips guys. i went out and got the spray and it works really well. it really does wonders on the urine stains and smells.

i'm getting her used to the leash and she's more willing to walk with it but as soon as she feels any resistance she just stops and sits down. haha such a cutie but hopefully she'll get used to the leash.

she has peed i don't even know how many times on the carpet. I try to bring her out o her crate and bring her outside to the deck to pee but she never pees outside and i stay out there with her for an hour or more and so i just let her back inside and as soon as she comes back inside she just stiffs somewhere and pees instantly. i don't even have time to bring her out to pee. i think i've managed to teach her to poop outside though. she's pooped in the corner of the deck where i lay out a little poopy area for it and she's pooped there three times on her own. she just runs out onto the deck and poops in the corner. she comes back and shows me that she has pooped in the right place. she's so smart about the pooping but i don't know how to get her to pee outside. she always waits until i let her back in and she pees on the carpet.

i'm worried that she will get used to the living room being her pee area. she simply does not like to pee outside. i don't know why.

here's a new picture of her.

she's too cute for me to get mad at her. i've tried scolding her after she pees over the carpet but she's peed on the carpet so many times today that i just lost count. am i supposed to keep her confined to her baby gated corner? i really try to only leave her in there when i'm not around and i can't watch her. she always wimpers when she is left behind the baby gates

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:17 pm

Hey did you post any of these Cutie Pie Shumie pics in the Photo Section.....not too many members come over here and I'm sure they would LOVE to see this lil' baby Chowling

You can't fuss at them after they pee, you have to catch them in the act........and fuss at them during. They don't get it if its after.
Is there any grass anywhere for you to take her??? She smells the urine from previous peeing and that is what the trainer meant by PREFERRING to go inside. So start over with the peeing. YOu have to get her to prefer to go OUTSIDE

REMOVE the scent by soaking all urine spots and removing the odor. Back to square one. Watch for her sign....go back to what I said before. Take her out every hr. after playing, napping, sleepin etc. The poopin' part of potty training is very easy for Chow Puppies....they REALLY don't like to do that in the house.....I have potty trained 2 and neither ever pooped in the house. They both went as far in the back of my yard that they could go and still go back there for pooping.

Start over with the peeing part....she PREFERS to pee inside thats why she comes back in and pees:lol:

.......so start over. Take her out of her crate and take her outside.....Say Go Potty....and wait.... during the peeing process praise praise praise her.....
Good Luck

This is the hardest part and once they got it, they got it so don't give up. It took Kyra about 1 month before she really had it and she didn't have a accident.

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:02 am

i really appreciate all the great advice i'm getting here.

Shumie has started to chew on everything, including US. oh noes. how do we prevent her from chewing? we gave her a little plush toy to chew on but she prefers to chew on hard things. how do we get her from chewing on everything in sight? should we not let her chew on anything or is it normal for her to chew on stuff?

she's getting really wild and is starting to think our limbs are chew toys. we pretend that it hurts and put her back in her baby gates. she wimpers but eventually just starts chewing on the carpet or the baby gates and walls. after we don't let her out, she starts to growl at us. i'm afraid that she'll resent us if we leave her in the crate. she seems angry

it doesn't hurt now and it's cute but i'm just afraid that she'll not know her strength and start chewing on everyone. is this normal puppy behavior?

Larry Harris · Post by **Larry Harris** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:36 am

It is very normal for them to chew, they will try anything. Get her an assortment of chew toys, our babies are very smart and like new things to play with.

We have a box full of toys and they can take their pick. Mix them up with some soft and some hard. We do not care for the pigs ears and rawhide stuff. It is to easy for them at this age to swallow some.

Larry

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:03 am

Ahhh, the chewing

Alf is a chewing frenzy around here, clothes, toes, furniture, doors.... NOTHING is safe

Whenever Alf is chewing, I simply swop whatever it is for one of the soft toys or chew toys. When he chews on that he gets lots of praise. If he chews on me I say 'no' & ignore him for 5 mins. If he goes straight to a chew toy, he gets the praise as well.

When I'm out, he stays in his crate with 2-3 different textured toys, or a stuffed kong to keep him occupied.

Both Millie & Alf LOVE rope toys to chew on. I also pop them in the freezer sometimes so they have a cold sensation to chew on.

When all else fails, I take him for a walk.... Tired puppy = less chewing

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:24 am

They chew because they are teething just like our human babies. When she bites on you it helps sometimes to yell IEEEE in a high pitched vioce same as the liter mates do when they bite too hard on each other. I noticed with my 2 that when I yelp like that, they let go right away. You have to teach them what they can and can't chew on.
Great advice from Larry and Layla also.

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:59 am

My families working on the biting while playing thing with Fiona right now too...puppy teeth hurt bad enough, a four year old's teeth are just awful. We found she love the big rope toys, and this old slipper my mom gave Tess years ago when we first found her. Tess doesn't use it, but Fiona thinks it's a great substitute for human arms and hands. We tell her "no bite" then substitute the toy. If she doesn't want to stop after we give the toy, we stop playing and ignore her for a few minutes. She looks so very sad when we stop playing and walk away, but it already seems to be helping. If she takes the toy and stops nipping us, she gets lots of praise and we continue playing.

LEO's mum · Post by **LEO's mum** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:27 am

Chewing:
1. Get Chew Toys of different texture. She'll pick out the one she enjoys most. As others' have said praise her when she is chewing what she is supposed to chew.
2. Get Bitter Apple or Chew-Stop Spray to spray on to things you do not want her to chew. You can even spray it on your trousers if she goes at it that often.

The others have covered pretty much of the housetraining bit. Remember not to scald her, tho. We should never scald anyone for going, dogs or human.... It's nature. You might want to bring a wee-wee pad outside or paper towel w/ her wee on to suggest to her where she should go. Mine preferes the lawn area for both. Use a set phrase, such as "do your business" or "spend a penny" and when she does praise & treat her, & treat her well(at least 3 kibbles or a nice treat). If you can bribe her into doing her business outside it's cheap!! Think of all the Natures Miracle & elbow grease you are saving. I still chant "wee-wee" & "Pooh-pooh" on walks and she pretty much obliges. I kept LEO off the carpetted area till she was 100% housetrained(we only have one carpetted room). I suspect the preference for carpets as wee-ing area comes from "paw feel" & safety from getting their paws wet as well as smell.

She is such a cute looking chowling. Enjoy and look forward to more pictures!!

Best of Luck!

Leonora & mum

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:51 pm

ahh more great advice. thanks everyone

so i guess i have to bring her outside to pee. the deck isn't really working out. i brought her out tonight and she peed on the grass, so i guess i'll just bring her out there again as much as i can. she pees a lot. she pees so many times in an hour. how many times will she go pee once she gets her bladder under control?

whenever we go out, everyone thinks she is the cutest thing and they automatically try to pet her, but she gets so scared

i feel so sad when she gets scared. i try to scoop her up and calm her. she lets people pet her if i pick her up. is she always going to be this scared or is she eventually going to start biting people?

i'm trying to get her used to people but i'm afraid i'm not doing it right.

should i leave her drinking bowl in her baby gate or am i supposed to limit her water? she seems so thirsty all the time so at first i just left her water in her baby gate but then she started peeing in the baby gates so i stopped leaving the water with her and only gave it to her when i could watch her.

the leash trick worked really well. now she walks with me on her leash like a champ

i love it.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:51 pm

Great going with the leash training

I always allow access to water. Chow puppies seem to drink huge amounts in my opinion! You may find it more successful to crate Shumie when you can't watch, rather than remove the water. Most chows will hold themselves to avoid peeing in their crate. I found with Millie that a walk around the block allowed her to empty her bladder a little better than just standing in one stop... These days she pees on her 2 walks a day, even with a UTI she didn't ask to go out more

As for the scared reaction I really won't recommend that you pick her up. To Shumie, you are reinforcing that it's the 'right' reaction to be scared. Hard as it is, try not to comfort her. If you can't resist (& it is really hard!) squat down next to her, ask the person wanting to pet her to do the same & simply talk to her soothingly. When people approach you to pet her ask them to let her smell their hand first, then pet the side of her face or under her chin. Millie HATES the top of her heading being pet & I don't blame her, I wouldn't like it

She may seem angry about being crated, mine certainly threw a few tempter tamtrums about it

It too will pass! You just have to be consistant & full of praise when she is calm & behaving as you want. Ignore everything else. My DH was far better than me, Millie was my first puppy & I was constantly terrified of harming her or REALLY screwing up. As he said, you'd not give into a child just because they threw a tantrum would you? I thought that Millie was plotting to take over the world in her first 2 weeks with us

Look for what motivates Shumie & use it to your advantage. Millie is food motivated (once I found the right food) Alf is food & praise motivated.... Therefore, I use those things that THEY value to train.

Relax, you're doing great. It does get easier very quickly I promise

vicster605 · Post by **vicster605** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:41 am

Socialization is very important for Chowlings. I would do what Layla said. You should read as much as you can about socialization and take her places to meet different people, see different places, meet other dogs etc. There are alot of posts on the subject so go and check them out. Since she is going potty outside and there are people around, good place to start......instruct her to Go Potty or Spend a Penny and socialize while your there, since people will be around while she is being potty trained, and in the future when she has to go out, it would be good for her to feel comfortable while she is there with people around. No she isn't always going to be afraid and NO she isn't going to start biting people. You have to teach her that all people are not bad by helping her to understand thats its ok to see and meet other people. Instruct people that want to pet her that they are head shy and to not try and pet her on top of her head.....they have poor side vision due to their deep set eyes and fur so they can't see someone going for the top of their heads, so they duck.....you would too

Socialization is one of the most important things you can do for Shumie and for yourself. If all of her experiences with people are positive ones you will have a happy puppy and a well adjusted grown up Chow.
I would let her have all the water she wants and would never restrict how much or little she drinks. They are very thirsty when they are babies.
You are going to find as Layla said, that in no time at all she will catch on to her new life and you won't even remember all of this in a few months

Its alot of work training a puppy but the rewards make it worth your time and effort. See you have the leach down already

As Layla said RELAX and enjoy your new baby they really don't stay babies very long

Keep us posted and you can post pics all day long and I wouldn't get tired of seeing that little ADORABLE Shumie

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:09 pm

oh noes. now i feel really bad. she gets scared of a lot of people and i always try to comfort her and pick her up. i guess from now on i'm going to take the advice i got hear and not pick her up. thanks everyone.

i've noticed that whenever she drinks water after she's done she slaps her paws into the water and it gets everywhere, and her paws get all wet. why does she do this? it's really cute but very messy.

everyone in my building is in love with shumie and everyone just tries to pet her. she always runs away scared. should i let her run away or should i try to restrict her from running away while she's on her leash? i don't like the thought of her running away and then feeling a sudden tug from the leash.

i've also noticed that shumie really loves to chew on leaves. should i let her chew the leaves or are the leaves bad for her? i tell her no and take her away from the leaves because im afraid she'll swallow the leaf.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:36 pm

[quote="bettybloopi've noticed that whenever she drinks water after she's done she slaps her paws into the water and it gets everywhere, and her paws get all wet. why does she do this? it's really cute but very messy.[/quote]

Alf does this, & Millie did it as a pup as well. I'm sure that their is a technical answer for you... but my feeling is that they do it because they are hot. THey loose heat through their paw pad (I believe...) so this cools them down. Mine always do it after playing / walking, or when I've just mopped the floor for the 5th time

Personally, I'd sit down with her & pop my arm around her chest to restrain her....Just my method though

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:16 pm

LOL, I think the paws in the water is just for fun. It's interetsing to see all that water spash when you're that little. Think about human babie splaying, it might be something similar with puppies. Also, soemtimes you might notice it looks like they're digging in their water bowls. And yes, water should always be available.

Socialization is very important, especially right now. Allowing many people to pet her is really important. Like the others said, it's also very important that you not pick her up because when you do you teach her that she has to be insecure. Don't feel bad, it's something we all do, it's our primate heritage, we crave that kind of contact, so it's a hard idea to get used to that it's not the best for them. While if someone hugged us when we were worried it would calm us, it only tells them that something is up and makes them feel insecure. What you can do to help her is ask people to approach the way Layla and Vickie said: don't pet from above, pet on the side of the face or under the chin. Tell people not to approach her but to squat down, not looking her in the eye and standing perpendicular to her, that is a non-threatening position to be in. Tell people not to lean in over her because that is very intimidating to them.Don't ever force her to meet someone she doesn't want to, if people are patient she will go over even if it's just for a sniff. If she's shy, don't say "it's okay" because once again, you're just reinforcing her state of fear. It helps if you are clam when you allow others to pet her, try to be smiling so she can see your face is relaxed and not stressed. If she's on a leash, makse sure that the leash is held loosely because a tight leash puts them on guard. I hope this all makes sense, let me know if it doesn't!

About the leaves, I wouldn't let her chew on leaves because you never know if they're safe or toxic and you don't know if they've been treated with pesticides. To get her away from them, you can teach her the "leave it" command.

Good luck and ask away if you have any more questions.

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:11 am

the amount of knowledge here is really awesome. thanks everyone for answering my questions so promptly. i just want my shumie to grow up and be the best chow she can be.

i only put on her harness when i bring her outside, should i leave her harness on all the time? i don't want my baby to be uncomfortable. i use the harness instead of a regular collar. the one where she just steps into it and i clip it on the top. a lot of dogs that i friends have had, had their collar on all the time, but i only put the harness on my baby when she needs to go outside with me. is this not what everyone else does?

also, how much food am i supposed to give her? i looked on the back of the orijen bag of food that i got for her and it says that for a puppy her size she should get about 2 cups per day. so i guess i give her 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup at night? she seems to get hungry in the middle of the day so i feel like i should be feeding her 3 times a day by splitting up the 2 cups of food into thirds. is this better than feeding her two times a day?

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:51 am

Unless I forget to take it off, Tess only wears her harness on walks, when she comes in, we take it off because it mats up her fur underneath it. All of my families dogs wear their regular collars all the time with their tags on it though. I'm not planning on any escapes, but just in case something should happen where they would get away, they would have their tags.

For the food, I don't have a lot of advice on puppy feeding. I haven't had a puppy in over ten years...all of my current pets came as adults, but here's what I do for my adults. As far as the food, I have always fed our twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening. In the morning they just get dry food and a lot of days, when I go to feed them in the evening, they still have a few bites left from the morning. In the evening, they get a little homemade food with the dry, so usually eat all of it. The family I'm dog sitting for right now feeds smaller meals 3 times a day though because their lab eats so fast (and I don't mean just kind of fast...her food is usually gone before I put the scoop back in the bin they keep the food in), they don't want to take a chance with bloat from her eating larger meals, and she was climbing their counters while they were gone eating food out of the cupboards because she would get hungry in the middle of the day

.

bettybloop · Post by **bettybloop** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:58 pm

so it's ok for the puppy to eat human food? i asked my breeder about human food and she said the puppy should only eat human food rarely and it should be fully cooked with no seasoning? she also said the puppy can eat cheese. is this correct? i want to give my puppy some human food
but i don't know if she should strictly eat puppy food. should she eat a mixture of dry and wet food? i feed her the same food morning and evening, the dry orijen food.

also, she seems to be really wild, is it because i'm not taking her on long enough walks? how long of a walk should she get? i'm just afraid that she's getting too tired on the walks so i bring her back after a while.

i don't want to give her too many treats, but every time she doesn't pee until i bring her outside and she sits for me, i feel like she deserves a treat and when i don't give her one she seems so hungry.

she also has some eye boogies at the corner of her eye but every time i try to wipe them off she goes moves and gets scared because my hand is going so close to her eye. how do i get her to just sit there and let me get the eye crusties out? this goes the same for brushing her, she just keeps biting the brush that i use.

am i supposed to brush her teeth? i don't know how i am supposed to because for the same reason as the eye boogies, i can't really see her teeth without her wanting to chew or bite my hand. i want her to get used to people touching her, but i don't want to force it on her.

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:41 pm

I don't know about age limits on the homemade dog food. Hopefully someone with a little more experience with puppies will have an answer for you on that one. The homemade food I use is a recipe Bama posted in the food section...it's all natural, unseasoned...just consist of chicken livers, chicken gizzards, hearts, then I add some sweet potato. The homemade food is the only way I can get my collie to take her supplements

. Right now, with our new dog, we are needing a lot of treats. Fiona is extremely picky with treats, so I boil a boneless, skinless chicken breast...cut it into very small piece (the size of my little finger nail or smaller), then use them as treats. She is very happy with the little piece and I don't have to worry as much about her filling up on just treats.