NEW PUPPY!

[nnguyentang]

Hello everyone! I'm new here, i was online looking through some chow chow training sites and came across this forum. Loved it! About 2 days ago, my boyfriend bought me a chow puppy to replace my lab i recently gave to his mom. I love this little girl, named her Violet because of her dark purplish tongue. She's so different from the lab, so much calmer, and she listens so well even though she's so young. He bought her from a breeder and told me that he didn't want to take her home because she is only 6 weeks old, but the conditions there were so bad, he took her. And here she is. I did call the vet to make sure that it was okay to take her home a little early, and he suggested feeding her some wet food, plenty of water and she should be fine. She's a great happy puppy. I'm a little worried because she sleeps all day, she wakes me up around 3 am to play for about 20 minutes then she goes back to sleep. She nibbles and chews a lot and it hurts! I've looked at the posts on here about nibbling, and so far it has worked. Everytime i "ouch" in a high pitched voice, she just starts licking my finger and stops the chewing. I do have to constantly remind her, but given that she is still so young, it's okay. It will eventually just stop, right? I'm trying to potty train her as well, i take her outside about 10 minutes after she eats or drinks so she can do her business. If she can't hold it in, she just pees on the floor. I do have the training pads out, is there anyway i can get her to go on that if not outside? My main goal is to calm down her chewing. And of course house train her. She is doing pretty good, and i'm happy with her. I just want to know what age is good to start training her? Just house manners. I'm scared to be too harsh on her because she's a baby. Any advice? Thank you!

[applebear]

Grats on your new girl. She looks so sweet sleeping there. A note on potty pads inside the house...from what I have read, it's a bad idea because they can't tell the difference from weeing inside verses out. Unless you want her going on a pad all her life, that is the only way I would use a pad personally...but that's just me. Puppies have small bladders, especially ones as young as her. Take her out a lot [not just after meals], find one spot in the yard and take her there each time to help her learn her potty spot. Accidents happen, but she should get it as she gets a little older...chows are known to be pro housebreakers. Just give it some time, she is a bit young to be away from mum yet and will need a little extra time to start catching on. And yes, the biting should stop...just keep reminding her it hurts, get her lots of toys to redirect her to-as it will help give her something to chew besides your fingers. Welcome!

[nnguyentang]

thank you! i figured... since every pad i put on the floor, she manages to miss when she does go. she does well outside. I take her outside as soon as i see her sniff around for a place. I know she'll catch on. I am a little worried because i noticed that she pees more than she passes stool. She maybe goes number 2 once a day, is that normal?! And, is it too early to train her to walk on a leash? I'm new to raising a chowlet on my own, but i am excited. I do have 3 other older Pekingese dogs that don't seem to be bothered by her, and she loves to cuddle with them. Will that change when she gets older? I have so many questions, I have called my vet, but it seems like they can't answer all my questions about my chow. Thanks again!

[Sarahloo]

She is sooo cute! I think at her age, she is supposed to sleep a lot!

May I ask why you gave your Lab away?

[sue]

If you are at home all day with her as soon as she wakes up take her outside.Whenever shes awake try to get in the routine of taking her into the garden every hour for a pee.When she goes to pee say wee wees when shes finished in a high pitched voice say good girl give lots of praise the same with a poo every time she goes say poo poo & praise again.It will take a few weeks but she will recognise the words by the tone of your voice.She's very young so she will nip she will grab at you as she would grab at her mum.The first few months can be the hardest there maybe times when you feel your patience is pushed to the limits but take a deep breath & carry on.When you get to the 4 months stage things will have settled down & all your hard work will then show through.Good Luck

[Fozzbear]

She is beautiful!
Dont have too high expectations of her just yet though - she is only a tiny baby and would normally still be with her mother. Do you have a replacement puppy milk for her?
My 10 week old has puppy pads at night, but is fully house-trained during the day. I think puppy pads are fine while they are little but put mine down beside the back door at night so that he can get the idea that he should do his business outside. I think that chows naturally want to go to the loo outside as they are very clean.
I too say 'wee wee'/give lots of praise when he goes outside. You only have to say 'wee wee' to my older chow at bedtime and she goes out for one.
I think that it is a little early for leash training but you could let her wear a collar /harness in the house for an hour or two a day to get used to the feel of it as a start.
It is perfectly normal for a baby to sleep all the time - just wait until she is a month older and then you will wish that she would start sleeping more again!
My puppy still nips me and needs constant reminders that it hurts! Sorry to break it to you but I think that you will have little love-bites/scratch maks all over for a few months yet! I'm covered in them! But they learn eventually and are the best dogs in the world! good luck.

[Fozzbear]

I was wondering why you gave your lab away too btw.

[Cam Atis]

As far as sleeping goes, let her sleep all the time
She wanna nap. It is age related. The younger the longer amd deeper they sleep. They dont get easily startled. But in 2 wks time it will be like this:. More awake time.
Start training her now. One by one. Week by week. She'll be fine. Start drawing the boundaries as early as now but give her some slack. She'll develop into a lady in a few months time. Nipping is normal but it should go away at age 12-16 weeks old. Assuming you are constant in your training. If you raised your lab from a puppy 8 wks old or so, you notice the difference in temperament and behavior. Chows are sensitive and get discouraged by you getting too physical. A vocal reprimand is usually enough for them. Thus it is advised never to hit your chow if you can avoid it. The shyness is not actually shyness, more like cautiousness and suspiciousness, not willing to trust easily. Be patient on that aspect as when she finally learn to trust, she will Overcome the shyness factor and will be like any other dog around you - playful and wanting attention even if it means grabbing your socks or sleepers so she can get you to chase after her.

[Cam Atis]

Wee wee are more often than pooping of course. What you are doing is correct with regards to house breaking.

[nnguyentang]

Well about a month ago, I found a stray lab puppy and tried to find her a new home for about a week. After the unsuccess, I decided to keep her (the reason I hesitated to in the beginning was because I had the older dogs back at home). I took her down to San Diego, CA where my boyfriend's mom lived for the weekend and she fell in love with her. She's at home by herself most of the week, so they planned to get her a big dog. And so I decided that the puppy loved her anyway so I gave her away (:

Thanks for the feedback! I do have puppy milk for little Violet, but she refuses the bottle now. She is doing okay with the wet food, still not chewing well though. I only feed her twice a day, is that enough? I work 5 days a week but I spend my lunches with her. She loves it outside and sometimes refuses to come into the house, she cries when I bring her in, I don't know what to do with that. She's still a mellow puppy and it's been 4 days. I want to take her to the vet ASAP but some people are telling me that it's too soon? Last night before bed, she peed 3 puddles but they were tiny puddles, in 3 different places. Is that marking of territory? Or unable to hold her blatter? I just thought it was funny. She has so much personality for a little one. Sorry, I'm everywhere with all this information! I love to go running and taking my dogs on walks, but I read that chows don't exercise as much as other breeds, is it possible that maybe if i start her out young, she might like to go running with me? Thanks for the answers.

Will post up more pictures as soon as I can!

[Sarahloo]

She loves it outside and sometimes refuses to come into the house, she cries when I bring her in, I don't know what to do with that.

That is a Chow thing! They think they get to decide what do to and where to spend their time!

[nnguyentang]

More questions! Her ears aren't standing up... will they eventually stand up like other chows? When my boyfriend picked her up, he was describing her parents, and he said that they weren't that big, how big are your chows?

[sue]

Feeding 2 x day is not enough she should be fed at least 4 x day.Better still would be 5 x day for the next 2 weeks if you could set your alarm clock to feed her in the middle of the night & then put her out to pee that would better for her.It will be hard on you for 2 weeks with disturbed sleep but will be worthwhile.I would suggest that you take her to the vet for a check up at 8 weeks to make sure shes gaining enough weight, then back at 10 weeks for her first innoculations.

[Cam Atis]

Peeing in different spots is because dogs dont want to step on the existing pee. Feeding 2x is a bit too far apart. But as long as you give her her daily ration...but it will distend her stomach so... If you spend lunch with her feed her 3x at least?
Marking in its true sense is not evident until they enter adulthood. With dogs in general.
My Cassie also loved to be outside but she stays inside when she was small. Now she is around 16inches at the shoulders and enjoys the night with Blue and she run away from me come day break as she knows she shall be inside due to hot weather. Chows are medium sized dogs but some are also tall and bulky.

[Rory's Dad]

Wow that was a lot of questions, ok though. I may have to look back a few times to get most of it.

My 1st impression is that she is definitely too young to have been released from mom, but if the conditions were not good, then it may have been the better call by your boyfriend. That being said, she should have an immediate vet check. Unless he obtained the medical records, she may not have been tested for worms, etc and should be. Poor conditions at the breeder could lead to all sorts of medical issues, and you want to have her examined.

As for feeding, i definitely agree that at that age, 2x a day is not enough. If you are not home during the day, except for lunch time, expect the puppies bladder not to be able to wait that long. But dont stress either, as she ages, she will be able to wait longer. Consider crate training. As others have mentioned, Chows are extremely clean dogs (thing cat). They hate to soil there own space. If she recognizes the crate as her home, she will do all she can to avoid messing there. If you want to confine her to a specific room during the times you are away, that will work in a similar fashion. Mixed results on puppy pads. My current Chow decided they were chew toys. And anything that resembled a short cut lawn (carpet), to his paws was fair game for a while (say about 5 months). We went to wood flooring, but he continued to use areas that werent finished yet and found the underlayment suitable for peeing. #2 was never an issue unless stomach problems arose.

Very normal for young Chow's ears to lay a bit flat. I wouldnt worry about that.

As Sarah responded, the Chow will attempt to make the rules. They are extremely smart and will test boundaries. She will let you know when she doesnt like your decision.

You can find many posts here about the topic, but absolutely stick to NILF. Reward your pup for good behavior. Ignore mistakes, and use a firm NO for poor behavior. Never, ever strike a Chow. Find a treat your dog likes (lots of trial and error, mine prefers American Cheese), and give her that reward for the behavior that is most important to you (stay, sit, come, inside, whatever). I use a 2nd level treat for stuff that is cute, but not so critical (paw). You can decide what is important to you and using treats, to the dog.

Make sure the Chow is socialized. This is the biggest thing. Have her greet your family, neighbors, and other dogs. Get her used to different situations. Take her to the local pet store and meet old folks, young kids, etc. Chows are way different than a Lab, so you need to have a different approach.

[Ursa's daddy]

Rory's dad is correct. You will just have to ignore the incorrect behavior and reward the correct behavior. Get her some chew toys, because she will chew and it is best she chew on her toys. The thing about removing a puppy early from her litter is that she will miss a lot of the socialization she will get from her litter mates and her mother. You are going to have to provide that socialization. As far as house training, it will take a few more weeks. She is very young and will not have good bladder control. As you said, she is a baby. She will learn. If you can introduce her to new people in a non stressful way, it will help with her socialization. Your Pekingese will also provide some dog education for her. Basically, she is learning ever day, so if you can do some teaching, do so. It takes a lot of work to get a chow to walk on a leash, so don't expect any quick training with that. The best thing to expect is that she will walk at her own pace and direction. Once she decides that she likes to walk, you can work on taking the lead. My chow are the most loyal and loving dogs I have ever had, and I am 63 and have had a lot of dogs.

[nnguyentang]

Thanks for the feedback! She's doing a lot better today. I took her to a park and as soon as we got home, she curled up and napped. When she does want to play, she has crazy energy. She ate 4 times today, smaller portions than when I fed her twice. She loves socializing. The only thing is that she nips at the little babies but we're working on that. I hear that how's are stubborn and tend to do what they want, I hope she won't be too stubborn. All in all, I'm very excited to grow with her and learn. And you're right, she is so different from the lab, but a good different. I have scheduled for the vet this week and will update on that.

Why is socializing a chow so important? Besides that, should I stress any other points or training when it comes to baby Violet? Thank you (:

[nnguyentang]

Decided to rename her because my nephew had a hard time saying Violet. Hopefully she catches onto her name name : Podo, it's Korean for grape, which is purple (color of their tongues)

[Cam Atis]

Oh, Violet was an awesome name. Podo is not so fem. anyway Go Podo !

[nnguyentang]

You're right, Podo isn't as feminine, but It's okay since she is a little more tomboy-ish. Speaking of the devil, she's awake Npand ready to play. (:

[Sirchow]

Dont mean to be a party pooper but your puppy shouldn't be in the park till it has had all its shots. There are so many dogs that dont get them that it is way too risky to her health. Parvo kills puppies and one with a poor start to life will be even more vulnerable. The vet visit will help you to find out what she will need.
My puppies are about the same age and they have five meals a day of good quality large puppy kibble with a spoonful of wet puppy food mashed in and a spoonful of puppy milk then I add some warm water so the kibble is just damp and they get used to chewing but there is plenty of mushy tasty stuff round it and they are getting all the nutrition they need.
They tend to play in quick burst of complete madness and then sleep for three or four hours and then repeat. I have the outside door open when I am home and let them out as soon as I return if it has been shut. They go out every time they wake up, before they eat, after they eat and any other time they look like they are looking in corners or might be going to do something.
As far as training at this point I would concentrate on making sure she stop nipping when ever possible, house training, and you can start on sits. Put a treat etween your finger and thumb and hold it just over her head and move it backwards and she will automatically sit down. As her bottom hits the ground say "sit". She will get it pretty quick.
Socialising is important as chows tent to be alloof and independant dogs that dont think they need people so if you dont socialise they wont bother and you will have a chow that doesn't care for people. They can then tend to be territorial and even agressive in keeping people off their patch and unwilling to be handled by owner, other people and vet. So it is important your baby meets as many people as possible and that the experiences are positive and encouage her to want to associate with people and be happy at the vets.

[nnguyentang]

I didn’t know how serious getting her shots was, so thanks! Now I know for next time. Yesterday she was did well, she would run to the door and cry when she needed to be let out. She got up and woke me in the middle of the night when she was hungry, does it matter what time she is fed throughout the day? I take her everywhere with me, thus begin her socializing! I’m excite to see how she does with training. I went to PetSmart to get her some treats, but one of the workers there said she was too young to eat treats, is that true? I wasn’t sure so I just bought her the puppy food and went home. I didn’t understand what the harm would be to give her little treats but apparently it is a big deal. I don’t know much about that so some opinions would be great, thank you! And at this age (6 weeks) is it safe for her to not drink the milk formula anymore? She’s rejecting it and it’s really hard to get her to drink her milk (ha-ha like my nephew). Also, if I start teaching her to sit and work with her on it everyday, will she forget it once we start the real training? Thanks for your help!

[Rory's Dad]

I'll start with the easy one. She will not forget sit. And thats because you dont teach and then not come back to it. Behavior training is ongoing. You add new, harder items as she gets older, but continue with the earlier lessons. Rory is close to 10 months old, and sit was the 1st thing he learned (and also became his automatic response when treats did come out). Then we add other basics (down, stay, stand, etc), and then add trick type commands (paw, speak, over, crawl). But continue to work with the earlier items. We have such a schedule set that when i come home after work, Rory expects me to get the treats and run through his routine. I wonder who is training who.

During the day he works with my wife, with completely different treats and a show collar so he can practice that part of his routine. We do keep everything separate so he knows the difference.

He still doesnt 'walk' well. On his regular lead, once we leave the yard, he is all pull. He is a Chow and wants to command where he goes. A flex lead is better, but once he reaches the end of its distance, its right back to pull.

Not sure on the treats, that is a vet question. We didnt get our pups so early, so it wasnt an issue. I would think though, that a carefully chose, healthy treat shouldnt be an issue. Thats just my thought though.

As Sirchow stated, a good quality puppy chow, geared for large breed puppies is a must. At his age, you will need to moisten it still so as to not damage the puppy teeth. That may also have been the concern with treats, but i'm not sure.

Definitely follow up to make sure the vaccinations are complete, and then really work to introduce the pup to every sort of environment you can think of.

[nnguyentang]

thank you guys!

[Cocoa]

You can use his regular kibble as treats, because you are hand feeding one kibble at a time he'll think it is the same as getting a biscuit. Eventually he will figure out it isn't anything special but by that time he will be old enough for you to feed him other treats.