few questions related to potty train

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jeff2hardy2003
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few questions related to potty train

Post by jeff2hardy2003 »

im a highschool student so i wont be home from 8am to 3:30pm then i have to go ot work at 4 and back like 8. so i cant keep an eye on him 24 7 . I think u all know little about my puppy chow right now and do u guys have any suggestions or i ll have to make it an outdoor pet.
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Jeff&Peks
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Post by Jeff&Peks »

I have a question, How and why did you get a Chow puppy? if you are gone 12 hrs a day and who gave it to you and what do your parents think about all this.

All of the Chow mixes I have ever seen the Chow personality and temperament is usually the strongest part of the mix, that's just my opinion from the mixes I have seen.
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SWANCIN
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Post by SWANCIN »

Jeff&Peks wrote:I have a question, How and why did you get a Chow puppy? if you are gone 12 hrs a day and who gave it to you and what do your parents think about all this.

All of the Chow mixes I have ever seen the Chow personality and temperament is usually the strongest part of the mix, that's just my opinion from the mixes I have seen.
Hi Jeff (and the awesome Pekoe)
If Kodi's an example (chow/gsd), you'd be right. She's just abit disguised by her shorter coat and some saddleback black fur. She's chow chow through and through otherwise :wink:

OP: I hope you don't put the poor pup out to the backyard if you can't be with the pup or have the issues with potty training. Please review past posts on the proper care and needs of this special, special breed!
Cindy & Kodi

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jeff2hardy2003
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Post by jeff2hardy2003 »

i have other family mebers at home but they cant keep an eye on him all the time. and i m the only one that does my chow's training
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Post by sweetpea »

But you need the family to step in and help you out with this right now. You can still be the main trainer of your puppy, but let them help you with the pottytraining when you cant be home.
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Jeff&Peks
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Post by Jeff&Peks »

If you and your other family members all get together and just spend a few weeks working together and reading the other sections of this site on how to raise a Chow, you or your family won't have to spend their time watching the Chow, The Chow will be spending its time watching and protecting you. If you all work together and raise this Chow properly you will have a wonderful addition to your family and it won't take along time or alot of work, just a little bit of time and patience.
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Post by kingalls »

I second Jeff&Peks advice...if you can get your family members to help for a few weeks this will no longer be an problem.
Karen
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ngraham
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Post by ngraham »

OK, I'll opt to be the hard a** here. :( I also agree with Jeff. If you aren't going to be home, then you will need your family to help potty train. My daughter had to help train Koda while I was at work. And Koda adores my daughter. But he is MY chow... he prefers me and I am the one who does the rest of the training with him. Chows are a family's dog. Yes, they can and will pick one member to truly be loyal to and you can still be the one who does all of the rest of the training. But you can't leave a dog, much less a chow alone for 12 hours a day and expect them to be good dogs and do what is expected of them. Dogs, and especially chows need more socialization than that. If you chain a chow up in the yard with no human contact for that long everyday, you are going to end up with a mess and a mean, unsocialized chow that will end up having to be put to sleep. And that is not fair to the chow. Now where I will be the one who is hard is: Please, if you can't get your family involved in helping to train and socialize your chow puppy, please think about letting another family have him now while he is still young and can be trained and socialized the right way. In all honestly, chows are usually not a good choice for first time dog owners, because of their traits and independence. It takes a firm owner who knows what they are doing and who has the time and is willing to spend that time to train and socialize them properly. <sigh> If you don't have that time, then a chow or chow mix isn't for you. We can give you all the advice you need, but if you can't follow that advice, or don't have the time because of school and work, then it's going to be your pup that suffers in the long run. And sometimes it's better for them if we accept that now as opposed to later when all of the damge has been done. You're in high school and have a job. You're a teenager and life is truly busy for teenagers. Are you going to have the time and patience to train and socialize your pup? What about the hours of grooming that chows need? The vaccinations and neutering/spaying and other medical needs? Who is going to take care of your boy if you go off to college if your family doesn't have the time to help with him now? It's part of a chow's nature to want to be close to it's master. It's in their nature to love and protect their person/people. Can you imagine how frustrating it is for a chow if it's tied up outside away from the people it was meant to defend and protect? No wonder they get mean and don't trust people. Jeff, these are all things that you need to think about. I don't like being mean and believe me, we all want you to be able to be successful in raising your chow. But if you don't have the time to devote to making sure that he will be what he was meant to be, then maybe it would be better to let someone have him who can be sure to help him become the outstanding creature he was meant to be.
Nancy and Tai

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Post by Brisco »

Swancin, I've left my Chows outside from puppies and I have friends with dogs that think mine are the best dogs they've ever seen. they are well adjusted, loving, affectionate, well behaved. They come inside all of the time and whenever they want, when I home. Sometimes they will spend an hour or two inside but that is unusual. I certainly didn't quit my job or anything just because I decided that I wanted a dog and it needed me to be with it all of the time. I think that it's much more fair and better for dogs to be able to be outside in a nice fenced yard than locked in the house all day or worse in a crate. I don't think that it is fair of you to refer to a pup as "poor" because it's outside. I do agree that you shouldn't get a dog, any dog, and especially a Chow if you don't intend to spend the time required to raise it properly.
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Post by SWANCIN »

Brisco wrote:Swancin, I've left my Chows outside from puppies and I have friends with dogs that think mine are the best dogs they've ever seen. they are well adjusted, loving, affectionate, well behaved. They come inside all of the time and whenever they want, when I home. Sometimes they will spend an hour or two inside but that is unusual. I certainly didn't quit my job or anything just because I decided that I wanted a dog and it needed me to be with it all of the time. I think that it's much more fair and better for dogs to be able to be outside in a nice fenced yard than locked in the house all day or worse in a crate. I don't think that it is fair of you to refer to a pup as "poor" because it's outside. I do agree that you shouldn't get a dog, any dog, and especially a Chow if you don't intend to spend the time required to raise it properly.
Hi Brisco,

All our dogs (and chow :wink: ) have had the choice of indoors or out when we're home. Kodi prefers the outside (safe, gated, secure backyard) when it comes right down to it. But if I was going to be gone for 12+ hours a day and the only option I thought I had was to put the pet outdoors (no matter what the weather??), then I wouldn't (IMHO) get the pet in the first place. Again, my opinion and lifestyle.

Take care all,
Cindy & Kodi

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Post by Judy Fox »

The thing that worries me is that a puppy, chow or otherwise, even if it belongs just to one person in the family, is in fact a member of that family.
When our daughter lived with us and he Schnauzer Hector was here too, when she went to work, we did not just ignore Hector.
He was part of the family and as such was looked after. If he wanted to go out, he was let out. He was talked to and played with and treated as a loved dog should be. :)
We would not have dreamed of ignoring him and tying him up in the backgarden. :shock:
However, he belongs to our daughter and she was responsible for his training, his vets bills and so on. He was fed with Milly and Mabel - either we would feel all three or our daughter would feed all three.
It is what is called being a family. :wink:
So if you havn't got the rest of the family behind you and supporting you and the chowling, I am afraid you are in trouble Jeff.
I would suggest that it would be very sad, indeed probably curel if your family were happy in the house and your chowling tied up outside - being excluded from the human company he knows is inside the house.
If other members of the family do look after him and talk to him and play with him and let him out to spend a penny and let him in if he wants to come in, he will still be your chowling.
Hector was always our daughter's dog and we never challenged her for him - But - he loved us too and still does when he visits.
So I think you have got to evaluate the situation and come to some sort of agreement with the other members of the family.
As has been said, Chow Chows are extremely intelligent and proud animals and he will be very sensitive to his surroundings.
Good Luck!
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ngraham
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Post by ngraham »

I agree Judy.
Believe me Jeff... all of us want you to succeed in being able to raise your pup. But you just have to understand that a dog needs socialization, and chows need it more so. If they don't get that socialization, they can be come extremely dangerous. Even with a chow mix, the potential for becoming dangerous is there. You're a first time dog owner, so you have to learn just like your pup does. I know you are reaching out for help, or you wouldn't be asking for help. But that pup isn't going to train on your terms and in your time. Their bladders and other functions don't work that way. House training means keeping an eye on the pup... not expecting the pup to hold it until you are home or until someone is watching him. He is physically not capable of doing that right now. A chow who is house trained would just as soon explode then go potty in their house. And as soon as your boy gets house trained, then you can expect him to hold it for longer periods of time. But at this stage, it is up to the human/humans to watch him and get him outside to go potty.
A chow can't be tied up all day long with no socialization. It will make him mean. Go back and read all of the posts on the importance of socializing your chow. Being tied up 12+ hours a day and only spending a couple of hours if that, with you every night is no where near enough socialization for the 2 of you to create a bond, much less get well behaved around other people. Pekoe's Jeff said it well when he said you didn't adopt a dog, you adopted a chow. It's a totally different ball game when you have a chow. It does worry me that he will get mean and possibly start biting if you don't do things differently. You're inexperienced in raising a pup, and that can be overcome... but the entire family is going to have to involve themselves in this puppy's life. If they aren't then you're heading for trouble. I don't know where you live, but most places have a zero tolerance for a dog that bites... and that's exactly what will happen if you don't socialize him. House training is just the beginning of training your chow boy.
But one last time.... try this:
1. Schedule his feedings... 3 times a day right now. That means SOMEONE is going to have to let him outside before he eats at noon and then after before he settles down for a nap. If you're at work, SOMEONE is going to have to feed him by 6:00 pm, and again also let him outside before he eats and after. And he is probably going to have to go out inbetween feedings also until his gets a little older and his bladder gets a little bigger.
I don't know what kind of feeding schedule you have him on right now, but if you will put him on some kind of schedule, that will help potty train him.
Nancy and Tai

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