First time chow/dog owner...

[Ingrid]

after a few minutes she still goes after our slippers, from there I put her in her crate for a good time out, around 20mins, then let her out again and same events happened the whole day...

You're on the right track. This is a puppy stage where they nibble everything. It won't last forever and you are doing the right thing by giving her a firm "NO!" and giving her something that she is allowed to chew on instead. When she chews on her toy or bone, praise her and tell her she's a good girl! Be consistent and this phase will be over in a while. Make sure she is not left alone at this stage with exposed electrical wires or sharp things that she could chew on and hurt herself with.

[BigBoyBat0]

Thanks Ingrid for the suggestion.

We puppy proofed the house, no sharp objects around nor wire hanging nor taped on the floor. Basically, she's very free to run around the house except inside our rooms and the wash area where our soiled clothes are.. Really, this forum gave me all the idea on how to interact and train my little baby.. I am so thankful to all of you guys who are sharing their knowledge and experiences.

As of today, Sparkle is still so active and keeps on running and playing with everything. I am also giving her 1ml of Vitamin C everyday for extra protection.

[Ingrid]

You also might want to take Sparkle to puppy school and then basic obedience classes after that. Make sure that the obedience class you chose trains with "motivational methods" which means there is no harsh punishment but when the dog does something good, she gets praise and a treat. My dogs have all LOVED puppy school and went on to win prizes at the competition level in obedience. Obedience class teach your dog to listen to you while they are distracted by other dogs and new people. The classes are also beneficial because they are a safe, controlled way to introduce your pup to other dogs which is great for socialization! Your dog will end up being well behaved around other dogs.

Sparkle is beautiful and I hope to own a cream chow as lovely as her one day!

[BigBoyBat0]

oh thanks Ingrid.. Hope you get one sooner too..

We ain't got puppy school here in the Philippines. We really need to the training by ourselves.. Actually, Sparkle is a smart puppy, she learned the "sit and stay" in a span of 2 hours or so, though she haven't perfected it yet. The only thing that we really need to teach her is to stop from biting our slippers and couch. Though, as I have mentioned earlier, when she tries biting slippers and couch, we always tell her NO! and give her toys to teeth with. Also, our vet said it is normal for her age as her teeth are growing and her gums are irritated and always needs to chew on something.

[Victory]

Puppies have a very short attention span, so she probably forgets where her toys are and the slippers and couch are near so...When my first chow was a puppy, he belonged to my mom and they found this little rubber toy for him, it was shaped like a baby pacifer, but it was all green rubber and in the loop part it had a ribbon and a doggie clip on it and it clipped to his harness so it went every where he did, so he always had it to chew on. Maybe you can find her something like that. If she is a really active puppy, and it sounds like she is, part of the slipper biting is asking for attention.

And yes, like Jess says you can take her out on short walks, just don't let her interact with other dogs or if there is a place where they have pooped and no one picked it up, don't let her sniff there or walk across it or anything like that.

And dogs don't need vitamin C suppliments, their bodies make it on it's own in the amount they need. Feeding them vitamin c supplements can shut down their bodies ablity to produce it, thereby making them dependent on suppliments. Don't feed it unless the vet recommends it and then ask why she would need it.

[Pinoy51]

Agree with Victory,
no vitamine C needed. I'm giving a fish oil supplement which is supporting skin and furr.
Simba had a very early episode of hot spot caused by wheat allergy. Even my old girls (12 and 13 year old resuce dogs) are having a nice furr again.
Everybody loves it, it is too cute having two chows and two Azkals sitting around me, waiting for their turn to lick a teaspoon of fish oil

[BigBoyBat0]

Thanks for the info Victory and Pinoy!

I truly appreciate everything I am learning from you guys and with the others. And yes, sparkle is so so active, it's like she is being possessed by the Energy god every morning when she wakes up. How about multivitamins?

To Victory: That was, again, very informative. As of earlier today, she rarely bite slippers and couch anymore. As for our approach, we say NO! all the time and a time out if she doesn't listen. I just want to clarify. During time out, when will I let her go out of the crate? She barks and whines and bites the crate during time out.

To Pinoy: What brand of fish oil do you use and where to buy it? Thanks..

[BigBoyBat0]

Oh I forgot to ask, How many times should I feed my baby girl? She is now 10 weeks.. How many cups of dog food does she need per meal? and water too? How many hours after eating does a puppy need to poop?

We are having problems when she barks at 2am or 3am because she pooped.. LOL ... We need to reschedule her feeding times so that we know when she will be pooping..

Thanks again guys!

[Rory's Dad]

Agree with your last post as to the timing of feeding. I think you answered your own question. At 10 weeks, she needs to go out to pee fairly frequently, but should be able to hold movements. If she is having accidents at 2am, what time is dinner. I would suggest smaller, more regular feedings for a bit longer. 3-4x per day, but make the last evening feed as a reasonable time. Call if 8pm for arguments sake. You should be taking her out for a walk no more than 1/2 hour later. Encourage her to 'do her business', with whatever terms you choose, and reward/praise immediately. No more food until next day.

This will have multiple positive results. 1st she learns to eat when food is presented. Grazing can be OK in adults, but not the most desired behavior for pups. 2nd, it gets her on your schedule. 3rd, it gives you the chance to teach her where to go. At her age, you definitely want to walk with her to get all these things going (pun intended) in the right direction.

[BigBoyBat0]

Thanks for the info RorysDad. I started her schedule earlier, I fed her at 8am, gave her snack at 1pm and dinner at 7pm. So far, with this schedule, Sparkle never missed a poopy time, after breakfast she pooped after 1 1/2 hour and in the evening an hour after.

I am having troubles with her now with the leash... I tried to practice walking her inside the house first but the first time a put a leash on her harness, she always bites on it. Tried the reward system so that she will not bite on the leash, sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't.. Also, earlier I tried to put her outside our garage but she just sniffs around and bites on the plants..

[Rory's Dad]

OK, so you are starting to develop a time line for her activity. Very good. Leash training for Chows can be a definite challenge.

Be firm. Walk her where you want her to walk. For 'business' trips, take her to a specific area, and stop. You may need to walk back and forth within that area, but continue with vocal encouragement...'OK, get going", or something similar (none of us want to sound silly, so use your own cue words). Stay in that area until she goes. After she has gone there, the scent will remain and it will become normal. My own advice on that though, dont let it get over-run with waste. Chows are clean dogs and will not want to step in it, etc.

For excercise walks, control the pace. Don't let her stop for every tree, bush, hydrant. Try to keep her at a good position. If you like her slightly ahead, or at your heal, this will take work. For me, i trained with a favorite treat held at my knee. I will say, i havent had the best success at this with him, but the objective is to have him looking to you during the walk and in the position you would like. Walk a few steps at first, and reward your dog when she is in the right position.

[BigBoyBat0]

Thanks again Rory's Dad... I tried to train her on leash again earlier inside our house, she still bites the leash and we cant even walk 3 steps because of biting situation. I tried giving her treats to distract her from biting, she walked me with for a good 5 or more steps. But she will stop and again bites the leash.

[ldiniz]

Oh wait, i do have more. You can take several bites??? That is a training method? A chow is not anything about dominance. It's about leadership. Any Chow can be taught to be behaved through intimidation or fear. But that dog will strike back at some point in time. He will not be a good companion, and likely will act the bully to other dogs and people who are not yourself. It's about respect. Teach the dog to behave on his terms, not yours. Reward, in the form of praise and affection, or the occasional treat. That's what works and results in a well balanced Chow.

You have taken a dog that was allowed poor behavior, which was then not accepted. He was then given to someone who believes wrestling him into submission is a good thing.

Wow.

Yes, it is, and poor dog... I wrestle my chow everytime, dog ownership is like a home ufc, amazing men vs dog training everyday...

Take it easy Rory's Dad, maybe you pictured the wrong thing about me and my dog. Also, you seriously have no idea how she was when she came to me, was not like poor behavior, was more like humans are my toy and houses are my playground behavior.

I "dominated" the dog when she come here, see, today this is not necessary anymore and I doubt I will ever have to do it again, she is not afraid of me or anything, now the everyday training is just normal, pleased with treats and punished with timeouts, but now she "accept" a timeout...

Really, take it easy, i'm not a ultimate fighter/pitbull owner or anything... My pitbull was more friendly with anyone then any golden retriever you ever meet.

[ldiniz]

A chow out of control? No a chow that was not correctly trained and still hasn't been. A chow that only stops biting YOU because she is afraid of you...what happens when she is around someone else and you're not there? At some point this chow is going to bite and it's going to be serious.

The proper way to train a chow to learn the word No! is timeouts. You say "No!' once, if it is not obeyed you say it again, and then put the chow in a time out, with a puppy you have a place to put them, (crates are good) you put them there and then leave them, alone for a good 10-15 minutes, totalling ignoring them. Then you let them back into where ever you are, you say nothing, do nothing, just let them back in. If done right you'll only have to do it 3-5 times max.

Chows hate to be left alone, and they learn quickly from this. I adobted my Ming when he was almost 8 years old, from his first owner who had had him from when he was a little puppy. He behaved just fine until we got to my house he was okay, a bit stand offish, then I went to take him for a walk and he backed up from me and snarled. I didn't get excited I didn't try to fight him. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "okay, fine" then I left and took a walk by myself, leaving him completly alone. I was gone for 20 minutes. When I walked back in I looked at him, picked up his leash again and said, "well are you ready to behave?" He walked to me allowed his leash to go on and we had no more issues, ever.
I'm a pretty big person too, I'm 5'8" tall and I spent 20+ as a nursing assistant lifting people in and out of beds, wheelchairs etc, but I'm not going to wrestle any dog onto their backs, and risk getting bit for any reason. For one thing having a dog bite treated here can end with your dog being put down by the authorities. it is easier to teach them properly.

With all respect, you are giving too much fly to your imagination.

She is not afraid of me or anything, i never hurted or scared Blue. Now she respect me as owner, it's different.

When Blue was in my sister's house, she was not only allowed to have poor bahavior, she was encoraged to. Blue learned that bite humans was ok, not only as a self defense, but as a way to rule. After she bite the human, she could simply keep doing what she wanted as the human would just go away scared. Do you have an idea of how serious 3~4 months of this is? A timeout punishment was simple impossible as if you just touch the dog during a poor behavior she would bite you, she learned this way and was working to her.

I totally agree with you, please with treats and punish with timeouts, thigs that are now possible with my chow. As I said before, I did this when she came here and was not even allowing me to take her to a timeout, any kind of touch during a poor behavior was resulting in a strong bite when she came here. And it was not because I was new to her, she knew me from a long time as i'm always going to my sister's house and always played with Blue.

But now everything is normal again, well, almost, she got some real bad hot spots and I would love to have some help at the other thread i just started in Health Discussions.

Cheers, and seriously, relax, she is being treated with tons of respect.

[Rory's Dad]

Good luck.

[BigBoyBat0]

Updated pictures of Sparkle..

She is growing so fast.. Very high energy puppy..

[Rory's Dad]

She looks great. Really, everything. Coat, weight, eyes. Nicely done and congrats. Hopefully she is settling into the house rules a bit and behaving herself as a chow lady should.

[BigBoyBat0]

as of now, she starting to stop the "biting everything " thing.. leash training is still in proces, we've been practicing walking for more than 1 week now, still she wants to run and try pulling me, always wants to play with other dogs..

[Ana Fatima]

Hello! I´m also a first time chow chow owner and new at this forum (sorry if i was not suppose to ask these questions here...i tried to post a new topic but i couldn´t). He´s been with us for 2 weeks now.
We decided to change his food because of the vet´s advice (the old food was not providing him the necessary nutrients). We changed his food yesterday and, today, we noticed that he´s not eating much. Actually, i think he didn´t eat today. He´s not lethargic, he´s feces and urine are normal...but he didn´t eat today.
I was reading a few things about that on the internet and some of the things i read talked about the dog´s ask for attention (he stays on his own for a few hours when i have to go to work).
Is it possible?! He´s 2 months old!
I decided not to let the food at his disposal all the time. I´ll offer him the food 2 or 3 times a day. If he doesn´t eat, i´ll remove the bowl and will try to offer it again on the next meal....maybe he´ll get interested in the food.
Am i doing this right? What should i do?
Once again, sorry if i posted this on the wrong place.
Thanks, take care.

[BigBoyBat0]

hi there.. changing your puppy's diet should be a step by step process..

you should introduce his new food little by little until he gets used to it..

1st-3rd day -- 75% old food + 25% new food
4th-6th day -- 50% old food + 50% new food
7th-9th day -- 25% old food + 75% new food
10th day -------- 100% new food

good luck with your puppy.. post some pictures too..

[Ana Fatima]

I was wrong!!! I was so wrong about it! My puppy was not asking for attention! He was sick!
He had a condition called ehrlichiosis!! I almost lost my puppy!
I´m very glad i noticed it in time. He´s been treated and looks great now.
He´s been taking antibiotics since last week and he´s a lot better.
The vet said this is one of the most common diseases (sometimes fatal), specially where i live (northeast of Brasil). I´m a first time dog owner. I had no idea about that! I keep my house always clean, i take care of his space, his food and water...but, it´s very likely that he got sick after a visit to the pet shop. Pet shops have a lot of different dogs every day, so that´s probably how he got sick.
About the diet change...i did follow the instructios posted here. It´s working!
So, thank you very much!

[BigBoyBat0]

Oh! Good thing you had him checked.

Sounds great on his diet change! Do not bring her outside until he completes his shots.. Better safe than sorry..

[princesslea]

Good day! I will be having my first dog and i chose a chow chow. I would like to gather some tips on how to take a very good care of my chow? What are the stuffs I need to buy for my first chow?

Also, the chow i will be getting was born nov. 6, is it ok for me to separate her to her mother, bros and sis on Dec 21?

Thanks for your help guys.. I appreciate all your replies..

Hi! My family and I also have chosen a chow chow to be our first dog, but we just dont have one yet! I was wondering where you got your cute puppy?