New Chow in the house!

[Zsa2x]

Zsa Zsa

zsa zsa.jpeg (44.72 KiB) Viewed 6295 times

Hi guys,

I just got my Chow 2 days ago. She's 2 months old and she's a very smart puppy so far! We took her home on Sunday and by the next day she will try to go outside to poopee. We named her Zsa Zsa and will post pictures of her soon

I have a few questions about the chow for chow's expert out there.

1. Will they be fine to leave them for hours in the morning until I come back home? Everyone in the house usually leave around 7 and won't be back till 4 in the evening. We left the house earlier and I can hear she was crying

2. I have the vet records from the seller before and since this is my first dog, I'm not really sure when would be the next time I should take her to the vet. Should I take her to the vet asap along with the record from the previous vet?

3. I'm thinking about getting her spayed later on... I was just wondering when would be a good time to do this (she's 2 months and a week old right now)?

4. How often do you guys brush them? Daily? twice or three times a week?

I think that's all I can think of right now


**Update 1**
As promised, here's a picture of her when we first got her.

[Tippsy'smom]

Welcome! She is a doll! Thank you for sharing the picture.

For your first question, I would suggest crate training. My two stay in their crates while I'm at school, I leave at 6:30-7:35 AM and I don't get home usually until about 4:15 PM.

I would personally wait until after her first heat to get her spayed. But others can offer better advice on that.

I typically brush mine, if not everyday, everyother day. But especially their "mains" where their collars sit.

[mischyf]

I've never crated any of my chows and gave them full range of the house. BUT I lived in an area that wasn't exactly safe so I wanted a dog that would protect its domain when I wasn't home. There were a lot of brake-ins and women getting raped back then. Glad I moved from there. I always left a radio on low for them when they were puppies for the extra noise in the house. It seemed to comfort them to know that the apartment wasn't completly quite.

I never really had to potted train mine and I got them when they were 8 or 9 weeks old. They never potted in the house and always wanted to go outside. I guess I lucked out with my puppies. I now leave a potted pad out for my Nicky if I'm going to be gone for an extended period of time (12-14 hours). He has figured out when I put one down I'm not coming home for a while so he pouts before I leave. I understand crating works really well though.

I brush him about once a week. More if I find the brush. He likes to be brushed but he also likes to hide it. Its a game to him, he hides everything. About the only thing he doesn't hide is his food dish.

When I brought Nicky home I took him to my own vet within a week of getting him just in case. I wanted to make sure he was healthy and not be caught with an unexpected surpise.

Sorry, I don't know about spading... I've always owned boys.

As soon as I figure out the picture posting thing on here I'll start posting photos.

[kingalls]

1. Will they be fine to leave them for hours in the morning until I come back home? Everyone in the house usually leave around 7 and won't be back till 4 in the evening. We left the house earlier and I can hear she was crying
I've never done the crate training thing. If you have an area where you can keep her contained with baby gates that would work. Try leaving a radio on (as was suggested) and something that smells of you (clothing or blanket). Talk to Zsa Zsa and tell her you will be back. You might try that even when you're not going to work. Give her a treat and say "I'll be back" - leave the room for 10 minutes and return. She will begin to understand that when you say I'll be back, you will be back and she won't fret.
2. I have the vet records from the seller before and since this is my first dog, I'm not really sure when would be the next time I should take her to the vet. Should I take her to the vet asap along with the record from the previous vet?
You should take her to the vet to establish a good relationship with the vet. It also helps to socialize her. Some people will visit the vet outside of needing a checkup just to let the chowling know that the vet visit doesn't mean being poked and given shots but can be a happy visit with treats.
3. I'm thinking about getting her spayed later on... I was just wondering when would be a good time to do this (she's 2 months and a week old right now)?
As long as Zsa Zsa isn't going to be around other male dogs you could wait for her to go through 1 or 2 cycles before having her spayed.
4. How often do you guys brush them? Daily? twice or three times a week?
I'm not very disciplined in brushing. It's about once a month for me and then it's for over an hour. They are pretty easy to get them brushed and fluffy when I do get them up on the table to groom.

[ilovemysmoothie!]

Zsa Zsa is precious! I wouldn't call myself a chow expert, but here are my opinions/expereinces!

My boyfriend works from home, so when Little Bear was a baby there was someone home with her most of the time. When we did go out, we left her in the house (she has full run of the house except for the basement, and we just shut the door when we left). Now she is fine to stay for the entire day inside.
If you are concerned about her going to the bathroom in the house, puppy pads work!! Also, if she is starting to chew on things when you are gone, upping her exercise may work. That worked for us!

My vet and dog trainer recommended getting LB spayed when she was one year old (she went through 2 cycles before getting it done). I believe that this is because is gives them time to fully *Censored Word* mature, making them calmer in the long run...

As for brushing, I have a smooth coated chow, and I brush her about once a month if that... I do however check quite often under her chin and all around her squishy face to make sure there are no hot spots or skin issues, etc. that could be hiding in the folds... brushing also catches these issues

[Sirchow]

Hell and welcome to you and your pretty baby.

I have never used puppy pads with my girl because there was someone there to let her out when she needed. A puppy can only go a very few hours at that age without messing and I wonder what the effect on her will be if she is crated for 9 hours and has to mess in her crate. Not good I think as chows hate to mess near their bed. I would contain her in one room with a bed area and a puppy pad at the other end. If it was me I would use the kitchen and put the pad by the ouside door so when you are there and you see her go to the pad you can get her outside quickly. Puppies need to go when they wake up, when they just ate or drank and before you put them back to bed.

I would take her to the et to be sure she has no small problems you would want to let the breeder know about and so you know when her next shots are due.

Make brushing a relaxing time, play with her feet so she gets used to it and open her mouth so she doesn't mind that too. Brush behind her ears well to prevent mats and just enjoy being with your beautiful Zsa zsa.

[vicster605]

Everyone's given you great advise....I'll just add that brushing and grooming is something that you need to do often as a baby so that she gets used to be groomed. I would brush daily or every other day making it a very pleasant experience. Like Sirchow said. Perfect time for bonding too. Be sure to play with her ears, feet, legs etc so that she gets used to be touched...toe nails will need to be trimmed etc
Beware of Vets that aren't familiar with the Chow breed or have the opinion that Chows are visious...... I had to change 3 times before finding one that liked my girls
Your new Zsa Zsa is ADORABLE!!! Welcome to the site

[Zsa2x]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Really appriciated it

I'll try to get that puppy pad and hopefully it works well.

How long does 1 cycle last usually? a week?

[Victory]

Hi and congrats on being owned by a chow. She's a cutie too.

1. Will they be fine to leave them for hours in the morning until I come back home? Everyone in the house usually leave around 7 and won't be back till 4 in the evening. We left the house earlier and I can hear she was crying

Well, they do do better with a companion but as long as she's alone, I'd do like others have said and make sure she has something that was yours to snuggle with, old coats, pillows or mattress pads work the best because they are saturated with your scent. Don't wash them, just fold them or if it's a pillow put it in it's place as is.Also as someone else said, tell them that you'll be back when you leave. Chows are very intelligent and she'll soon learn that your good-bye means you're leaving and that you'll be back. I always tell my two, "Be good, I'll see you later." when I leave and they know that it's time to lay down and sleep, (or bark at the birds and squirels in the window) until I get home.

2. I have the vet records from the seller before and since this is my first dog, I'm not really sure when would be the next time I should take her to the vet. Should I take her to the vet asap along with the record from the previous vet?

Yes, and the sooner the better, at 8 weeks she should have had her first set of vacinations, she'll need the first boosters right about now or in a week or so. DO NOT let anyone tell you she doesn't need these. The Parvo/distemper combination is really necessary, distemper is a nasty disease that can kill her, parvo is a man-made disease that can do the same and even if she survives either of these she can end up with permanent nerve/brain damage and other issues. Besides if you take her to puppy class she'll need proof that she's had these vacines.

3. I'm thinking about getting her spayed later on... I was just wondering when would be a good time to do this (she's 2 months and a week old right now)?

You want to wait until she's fully mature at about a year, this gives her joints and organs time to become strong and healthy. Waiting a year will still reduce her chances of developing breast cancer significantly and of course she won't get uterine cancer.

4. How often do you guys brush them? Daily? twice or three times a week?

Depends on the season. When they are doing the heavy shed in the spring you might need to brush them twice a day, (if you have the time) especially if you live in a northern cold climate. The rest of the time, it'll depend on how dirty she gets, my Dreamdancer could find more mud to get into when he was a puppy, he was a mess all the time. Now he's as fastidous as most chows and stays pretty clean. I brush them about once a week most of the time, but the heavy shed season is coming up and getting brushed as often as I can will start soon.

[Zsa2x]

I've been reading a lot about when to spayed the puppy and most sites said to spayed it before the 1st cycle since it reduce the chances of developing mammary cancer by 99%. Is this true? Here's the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/At_what_age_s ... ppy_spayed

[Tippsy'smom]

I think a typical cycle lasts for 3 weeks? At least, that's the case with Tippsy.

[Victory]

I've been reading a lot about when to spayed the puppy and most sites said to spayed it before the 1st cycle since it reduce the chances of developing mammary cancer by 99%. Is this true? Here's the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/At_what_age_s ... ppy_spayed

Yes that is true. What they don't tell you is if you wait until after the second cycle it still reduces the chances of mammary cancer by 98%, and also reduces the occurance of joint issues, AND aggression issues. Females that are spayed too young run the risk of becoming agressive due to the testosterone in their systems.

[Judy Fox]

Our vet says that at least two heats then he likes to spay roughly 3 months after the second heat. It is just a case of keeping a strict eye on her whilst she is on heat until it is time for her to be spayed.

[Zsa2x]

Thanks for the great answers so far guys! Really appreciate it!

Also is it normal around this age that she like to play bite? Some day she got really quite some day she's all over the place running around and when I try to touch her she's really jumpy and sometimes she try to bite me. What do you guys usually do if your chow act like this?

[Victory]

Thanks for the great answers so far guys! Really appreciate it!

Also is it normal around this age that she like to play bite? Some day she got really quite some day she's all over the place running around and when I try to touch her she's really jumpy and sometimes she try to bite me. What do you guys usually do if your chow act like this?

Yes it is normal to play bite at this age, but she's not really playing. She's telling you very distinctly, "leave me alone!" This is dominant behavior and has to be stopped ASAP. At 8 weeks she can't do much harm. At 8 months it will be quite a different story and it you don't stop her now she will bite as an older puppy and as an adult. There is a sticky in the training section about bite inhibition, read it, live it. I began Dreamdancer's bite inhibition training the moment I picked him up from the airport, in a couple of weeks he'd gotten the message. Biting even mouthing resulted in time outs and he didn't like that.

I don't know where you live but in most states in the US these days a dog that bites has two chances, the first bite if non-fatal to the person or other animal, (unless it's a squirel or chipmonk) will result in the dog having to be muzzled in public, the second bite will result in the dog being put down.