is my chow chow aggressive????????

General discussions about Chow Chows.

Moderator: chowadmin

Post Reply
papi@
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:44 am

is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by papi@ »

Hello to all of you....my name is Natasha and i am from Greece (thats why i apologise for my English)....i am a new member and i have to say that this forum is very usefull.....before 6 months i got a sweet chow chow..he is so beautiful and very smart..and also his behaviour in the house is excellent from the first day!the problem is out of the house..he is so.....out of limits!!he doesn't hear me at all..when he sees a cat or another dog or children i can't hold him....the serious problem is not there also!!
Before two months he had a walk with one of my friend and without a reason he bite a small children....unfortunatelly my friend didn't tell him anything...after one month he was out with my brother and happened the same exactly!!But either him told anything to the dog....and the top problem is that yesterday we were at home and my cousin brought a cat to the house....when i saw her i took the little cat on my hands and suddently he jumped on me and bite my hand.....i left the cat and shout him a lot.....my sister did too and he turned and bite her leg......i was so upset.....i don't know what to do...
Is there anything i did wrong??is my dog aggressive from his nature??If anybody knows anything i would be glad to tell me..do i have to give him back???i wouldn't like it!!!!!!Please give me an answer....
User avatar
Coco Chow
Rank 3
Rank 3
Posts: 1498
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:49 am
Location: Paris, France

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by Coco Chow »

Hello Natasha,
Welcome and what is the name of your chow?
Don't worry there is no need for you to give away your chow! You can work on everything.

You probably know from reading here that it is important to socialize your chow, to make him meet a lot of different persons so he won't be affraid of them later (children, uniforms, etc...). Do you take him out a lot for walks? A chow who stays a lot at home and his garden only can be fearful when he goes out, and the fear sometimes leads to a bite. The encounters have to be positive ones too. Maybe make him meet sweet kids, and tell them to be gentle with him.

You've been told twice he bit kids, but you don't know how it happened because you were not there so don't panic. Maybe the kids were too familiar with him, maybe pulling his beautiful fur, or they were too rough.

My chow doesn't care about cats, but some see them as prey, it's probably the case for your chow. He saw a prey and got too excited, maybe he wanted the cat when he bit you at first. Then you shout at him, your sister as well and the excitement in his body went higher and that made him bite her too. I don't think he's agressive because of those bites, but you need to work on him a little. Do you see him as a stressed animal? Do you have something new in your life that could cause him stress?
Do you use the NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) method with him (you probably read about it here)?

I just thrown away a few ideas, I know others will be able to help you more but I just wanted to say welcome and don't worry.
Do you have a picture of your chow you could show us?
Elodie
Image
please help feed animals in shelters for free, click daily on the yellow button http://clicanimaux.com/
papi@
Rank 0
Rank 0
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 5:44 am

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by papi@ »

At first i wanted to thank you a lot for your answers...
i have to say that i believe i've socialize him a lot ....from the start he was very nice with the people...he was aggressive with other animals from the start...but not with the keds so much...maybe something happened with a child when i was not there..and he started acting like this with them....the thing is that i have to find a solution right know so my Dali and me have a better comunication......i will see what i can do....i want to try very much because i dont want to have problems with our relationship...i believe in him and i know that the wrong is mine...!! thank you again!!
Attachments
Dali says 'hello' to everyone....
Dali says 'hello' to everyone....
DSC00058.JPG (71.4 KiB) Viewed 3628 times
User avatar
tabitha
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:04 am
Location: Illinois

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by tabitha »

How old is your chow? Could he be going through a fear stage in his development?

"Second Fear Period"
6 to 14 months
http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/Develo ... tages.html
"Many dogs will show a rise in their level of aggression (reactivity) during this time. They may become protective and territorial, and may make a new attempt to dominate owners. Incidents of teenage flakiness may recur."
User avatar
TJordan
Rank 3
Rank 3
Posts: 3300
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:51 pm
Location: Amarillo,Texas

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by TJordan »

He may very well be a chow who hates cats. Mine is. So that one could be explained by overexcitement when he noticed his prey the cat.

Has he been checked by a vet to make sure there are no physical problems with him. Mine was sweet until his hips started to bother him. Mine ended up having hip diplaysia.

There are many physical things that could be making him cranky so to speak. I would watch him and see if you notice a pattern. Maybe he is huring when he walks? I would have him checked over and go from there.
Image
SweetPea Rocks!!
User avatar
Auddymay
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7575
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:49 am
Location: Muskegon, Michigan

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by Auddymay »

I agree, it is likely his second fear imprint stage. You need to put him into a training class that uses positive reinforcement. This will teach you some tools, and socialize him at once. Also, No cats. He has now told you this. He will not likely change, and trying to get him to is a set-up to fail. Many of our Chows see cats as prey. Some do not. Even with the class, socialize him to other dogs today, tomorrow and every day. If he acts aggressive immediately turn him away and walk until he acts calm again, and keep trying til he figures out being aggressive won't work. Avoid being soothing during an episode, yhat only validates the behavior. Chows are prone to this reaction because they want to be alone, anyway, and this is a great trick for them to that end.
User avatar
Sirchow
Rank 3
Rank 3
Posts: 2140
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:22 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by Sirchow »

Try to get into your chows head - he is a dog not a human. With the cat incident you showed him an animal and waved it in front of him and were angry when he tried to kill what he saw as prey/food. Chows are hunting dogs. If you were teaching him to hunt cats what you did would have been a good start. Sorry if that comes over as harsh I don't mean it to but I have two dogs and two cats and they live happily together because the cats get priority. They always have safe places that the dogs cant get them and when they meet the dogs it is on the cats terms only. They are never made to meet a dog and now they feel so safe they do voluntarilly meet the dogs and give my chow a good whacking if she tries anything they don't like.

You have to think ahead and see every danger or distraction before your puppy and then be in control. This includes children. Get his attention and don't let it go. If you loose his attention then walk away with him and try again as many times as it takes like Auddymay said. Then he knows he must listen to you and that if things go wrong you will sort it for him. He will trust you more if you take more control.

Good luck and if you have questions there are lots of very experienced chow owners here who will have some answeres.
Image
Siriol, Bramble, Izzie and Isla.
lightforce18
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 211
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:03 am

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by lightforce18 »

im afraid my little yogi is going to be this way as well. I dunno what to do.
User avatar
Auddymay
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 7575
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:49 am
Location: Muskegon, Michigan

Re: is my chow chow aggressive????????

Post by Auddymay »

Along with the advice so far, use the NILF method. http://www.dogo.org/Education/NILF.htm The sweet chowling stage is over, time for some schooling.
Post Reply