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mazzyandbellasmom
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Question...

Post by mazzyandbellasmom »

As many of you know 6 weeks ago I got 2 beautiful black chow girls, mazzy and Bella. They are doing wonderfully. Although I am having a slight problem with Mazzy. She is very anti-social. I've had chows before and I know how important it is to socialize them right away from the beginning which I have been doing. I have my grandchildren come over, my daughter's friends, I take them to the Pet store, (Where I was carrying her in the other day and some woman in the parking lot came up to pet her and Mazzy snarled and growled at her). Whenever anyone comes over to the house Mazzy will growl at them and will run away from them. Bella will usually warm up to them after a short while. Mazzy is very attached to me, she tolerates my husband and daughter. They will be 13 weeks old on Tuesday. My chow Sierra who I lost 2 months ago loved everyone so I'm really at a loss here. I met the mother of Mazzy and Bella and she was very friendly. Any idea's or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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612guy
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Re: Question...

Post by 612guy »

I would say always walk them with a leash and not to carry them in public. If someone comes up to them it allows them to greet new people at their comfort level. As for socializing them, have as many different people walk them as possible because chows love to go for walks. My father inlaw when ever he comes over had taken our present and past chows for walks. He has always been one of their favorite people and when he arrives they go crazy happy.

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mazzyandbellasmom
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Re: Question...

Post by mazzyandbellasmom »

Thank you for your advice. I usually do walk them on a leash. That day we had just come from the vet and they had just gotten shots so I was carrying her in. I try to walk them every night weather permitting :)
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Cocoa
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Re: Question...

Post by Cocoa »

Sounds like it might be fear aggression that you are dealing with. Cocoa was very shy as a puppy and didn't want to let anyone touch her and would sometimes react the same way. I would carry treats in my pockets and let people give them to her and that worked to help with the socialization (she is not shy at all anymore, she's very friendly and outgoing). Also make sure that when you are introducing them you have people approach them properly, let the girls sniff the person and have them pet under the chin first, not the top of the head, and socialize as much as possible and she should get over her shyness.

By the way the girls are adorable. :D
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Re: Question...

Post by giseleassink »

Cocoa wrote:Sounds like it might be fear aggression that you are dealing with. Cocoa was very shy as a puppy and didn't want to let anyone touch her and would sometimes react the same way. I would carry treats in my pockets and let people give them to her and that worked to help with the socialization (she is not shy at all anymore, she's very friendly and outgoing). Also make sure that when you are introducing them you have people approach them properly, let the girls sniff the person and have them pet under the chin first, not the top of the head, and socialize as much as possible and she should get over her shyness.

By the way the girls are adorable. :D
Is exactly the advice I was going to give to you!!

you can also go further and start to get them seat to someone to say hi…

Still they are chows.. my chow is very pick with who she will allowed to pet her (besides kids she love all them … she’ll seat and put her head down to all of them) what is really cute and I’m really glad as she looks like an white bear and every single kid that sees her wants to touch her..
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mazzyandbellasmom
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Re: Question...

Post by mazzyandbellasmom »

Yeah I've been trying the treat trick. It takes a while for Mazzy to even get close to someone to get the treat and then she'll still run away. I'm hoping she will grow out of it, but her being a chow she may just carry that strong chow instinct and be a one person dog. I just don't want her to be mean because with me she is very loving and adorable. Thank you for your suggestions. Keep them coming please ♥
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Cocoa
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Re: Question...

Post by Cocoa »

Just keep at it. She probably won't ever greet people like she's a retriever but with patience and lots of socialization she should tolerate most people. When Cocoa was a puppy she wouldn't let my son anywhere near her for the first few weeks (he lived at home at the time), she would run away and hide every time he tried to pet her. Now he is her boy - and quite frankly I wish that I got the same excited greetings when I get home. Just be patient and try not to get discouraged if it takes some time, it will be so worth it in the end.
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Cam Atis
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Re: Question...

Post by Cam Atis »

You cannot pattern her after your old chows. Mazzy has her own personality. Others have already said socialization and training. You can socialize her to a certain point only. Then from that point you have to respect her choices.if she doesn't want to greet after so many similar situations , let her be. Growling is not good so you have to somehow try to make her understand it is not necessary. You study her behavior. Why she does that. Don't make her insecurity much worse by reprimanding at the wrong moment. You need to boost her confidence. A wrong upbringing can make it worse for her.
When I have dogs who does growl at the person I am talking to because it was the first time they saw him or her, I usually only call their names to cut short their attention to the stranger and sometimes say "no" but only if the person is a relative of mine. Then I'll excuse myself, calling my dog to my side, then "praise" and then I'll put them in their cages. I usually say : " good dog!"
This is my own unique way of telling my pooches that although I don't disagree, they can't do the guard thing at that moment. I don't clip their confidence of protecting me. But I don't let them run the show as well.
That training begins at the earliest age
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mazzyandbellasmom
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Re: Question...

Post by mazzyandbellasmom »

Thank you so much for the advice! I love Mazzy and I love that she has her own personality and is very loyal to me. Thank you Cam Atis for the advice.
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Re: Question...

Post by Victory »

Growling and snarling at strangers is not acceptable, under any circumstances unless the stranger is threatening you or her. My Firesong was people shy when I got her, she would run away or try to hide behind me when approached by strangers, (she wasn't allowed to growl or snarl a short sharp verbal correction resulted if she tried that) What I would do was put her in a sit, and then let Darkwind, (my older boy at the time who adored people) get pets and attention. Eventually she got jealous and would approach the "stranger" for her share. It didn't take long for her to start to see strangers as a way to get scratches and rubs.

She still isn't a supper lover of strangers, she greets, gets her attention and then she's ready to go and do her thing. However, the important thing is that she can be approached by strangers without any fear reaction and that's why you want your girl to learn that. Fear reactions can lead to fear bites and they [chows] can bite in seconds before you can react. Getting her over her fear reaction will be good for you and for her as well. I know I didn't want a chow I always had to be on guard with when we went on walks.
Victory, Darkwind, (our angel), Firesong, and Dreamdancer
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mazzyandbellasmom
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Re: Question...

Post by mazzyandbellasmom »

Thank you Victory. So when I have people come over and she starts growling and barking at them, I do correct her immediately with a firm, NO but she keeps at it. Should I take her out of the room or what should I do with her? Now last night my husband had a friend over. Both her and Bella growled and barked. My husband gave his friend treats for the dogs and eventually they worked there way over there and after awhile they were fine with him being here.
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