recently adopted chowling.

[Kspurlock]

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Hello all!

I've posted a couple times on this site but hadn't realized there was a spot for new chow owners! I was so excited and have been reading and learning a great deal. I just wanted some specific help for my ball of fur.

I have owned animals all my life so i'm no dummy when it comes to dogs. I got my first dog at the age of 8 and he was the best dog anyone could ever imagine. He was my big wonderful 130lb pure breed collie, baron. He spoiled me for life, now every dog I get i expect very highly of them all because he was nothing short of perfect. Non the less i have had my share of "bad" dogs. My second dog was an animal shelter rescue. He was 1 1/2 year old australian shepherd name maxx. Next came beans our pomeranian. I love them to death but after I went to college they became more of my parents second kids and I couldn't take them away from them.

So around june my boyfriend lost his beloved Bulldog. She was his baby and he was heartbroken. I waited until i thought he was ready and came across a mix of his favorite breeds, english bulldogs and jack Russell's. Now we have hyperactive, energetic, full of love, Leela. Sadly she was pretty lonely and loves to play with other dogs. So as I was out buying some dog food I looked around the corner and there was the saddest looking eyes staring right at me. I fell in love with her and Josh had no chance of talking me out of it. I didn't care whether her parents had be healthy or where she came from all i knew is I was supposed to be her mommy and no mom leaves her baby sitting behind some glass.

So here we are, 2 dogs.

having never owned a chow I am a little nervous about her upbringing and I want to do the best i can to have 2 happy, well behaved, nice dogs. Here are a short list of some things I have noticed Tyna doing:

1. She is decently well potty trained but doesn't give the "signal". How can I get her to do this without the use of piddle pads. (Leela chews them up)

2. tyna chews on leela. it is never too hard but I don't want a fight to break out one day when she gets older.

3. SHE IS A PIG!! is it just a baby thing? (Leela was the same way but grew out of it) or is it a chow thing. She will eat anything she can get her chops on.

4. She is very noisy very very noisy. Normal?

Mostly we just want to make sure we are training her right. I don't want to end up with a dog that thinks she is alpha we had no problem with leela because she is a people pleaser. We also had no idea we were "submissive" training her. Meaning Josh would pick her up and bounce her on her back on the bed. He never was rough and it was always in good fun she was never scared or upset but I read a mans coment on her saying he did that to train his chows to be submissive towards him. While i would never do that as a training method it got me thinking of some kind of way to help with that. She's pretty well behaved already and it hasn't taken much work at all. I"m not sure if she's watching and learning from leela and just following suit or if she really see's us as her parents. She rarely pulls while on the lead and always comes when called outside. she's a pretty well behaved girl I'm just looking for some extra tips that could continue her good traits on down the road!

[sashasayys]

First, I want to say that you puppy is ADORABLE!!
My puppy, Thor, is around six months, we got him when he was 4 weeks old. I love him to death, but gosh he was a mean puppy for MONTHS when we first brought him home. I went through a lot of stress because of him. He's also my first dog and i had absolutely no idea what i was getting into. I'll answer your questions based on my experience.

1. She is decently well potty trained but doesn't give the "signal". How can I get her to do this without the use of piddle pads. (Leela chews them up)
We had the same problem with Thor. Actually, when we tried using pads, he would miss them for some reason and pee on the floor instead. After about 3 times we stopped using them. We started taking him outside every half an hour to an hour. We could not figure out what his "signal" was when he needed to go to the bathroom. It seemed to always change. After he got a little bit older, he would just whine. That was his signal for a while. Now he changed his mind, and instead of whining he puts his nose on the crack of the door and just waits until we let him out
Like i said, i honestly had no idea what i was doing, so both him and i eventually figured it out together

3. SHE IS A PIG!! is it just a baby thing? (Leela was the same way but grew out of it) or is it a chow thing. She will eat anything she can get her chops on.
From what I understand.. a chow will eat anything that does not eat them first. Thor literally eats everything. He tries to chomp on rocks, always chews on my socks, dirt, plants. No matter how many times i say "no", he goes back after it as soon as I walk away. I'm sure every chow is different. I'm just glad he doesn't go after his own poop

4. She is very noisy very very noisy. Normal?
Thor was loud the first week. Whenever I would leave the room he would cry and whine. The first night I made a bed for him in the kitchen, turned off the lights and went to bed... well within 30 seconds he started yelping. I figured "oh.. just ignore it.. he'll stop crying eventually". Well he did, but seven hours later... I did not get any sleep that night.
The next night though, he cried for only 5 hours. And it just kept on getting shorter and shorter. Within a week he was able to be in a room by himself without any anxiety. He now barks only for a reason.. like when he sees a stranger at night while we are walking around.