very shy puppy

[tekendall]

I have a chow puppy that is about 3 and half months old, and very shy of people. She seems to do okay with strangers after about 5 mins or so. However, she is extremely afraid of children and very scared to pass anybody on a sidewalk (jerks and pulls on leash to get away). She has been in training classes for about 5 weeks and does great with the people in the class, and loves other dogs. The trainer seems to think she will always be very shy and says to just hope for the best that she doesn't ever bite anyone. We take her with us everywhere to socialize her. Is this true, that at 3 months old it's already too late to get her over her shyness? Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Judy Fox]

Hello and welcome to the site.
There are a lot of people who post on the site who have years of experience with chow chows.
I have only had chows for almost five years. My Milly and Mabel are nearly five and we brought Milly home when she was just six weeks old and Mabel, her litter sister, when they were six months old.
As soon as Milly had had all her injections, we took her out to town four or five days a week to socialise her. She too was shy and a bit wary of people. But, she got used to people.

You must understand the chow nature. The stories about them being unsociable and bad tempered are not true.

However, they are very often aloof and do not always have a lot of time for anybody, other than their family.

They are very loyal and love their families very much indeed but you would be excused for sometimes wondering!! Sometimes Milly and Mabel will walk through from the kitchen through the sitting room to their little beds in our bedroom and if we speak to them, they will take absolutely no notice and not even give us a sideways glance. But, we know that they love us as much as we love them.

Your little chowling is only still a baby. When she gets scared on the pavement, just stop and stoop down and pat her, reassure her, talk to her - this way she will know you are there for her, as she will most certainly guard your home for you when she is a big grown up chow lady. You see, at three and a half months old, she is only a very little chow.

Continue to take her out to meet people and let people stroke her but always on her terms. Show people how to hold their hands out for her to sniff and accept. If necessary, pick her up and cuddle her up and hold her nice and safe whilst people do stroke her. Never let children jump at her and overwhelm her. Encourage people to stoop down to her - imagine how big a stranger appears standing over her.

Also, remember, shyness as a puppy will probably develop into the wonderful aloof nature a fully grown chow has, together with the wonderful chow scowl or indeed the unforgetful chow grin!

Regarding biting or not biting anybody, I rather resent that remark (on behalf of your little chow of course) made by the person at the training session. This is the typical attitude so prevalent in the U.S.A. about the Chow Chow being a biter.

I suggest that you start by trusting your little chowling and being positive about her behaviour. If you love her, trust her, train her, defend her and understand her chow nature, she will grow to be a well balanced chow.

However, you must also be vigilant - never trust her alone with children - for her sake and the children's. I must stress this is not because she is a chow chow but because she is a dog. I would make the same remarks about any dog. Children do not always treat dogs as they should be treated and together with many people on this site, I always advocate that dogs and children should always be supervised - never left alone.

If you have children in the family, lay down strict ground rules as to what they are allowed to do, to and with the chowling.

For example, when she is asleep in her bed or on her blanket or whatever, she must be allowed to sleep. If they are playing with her and her toys, they must must not tease her and play pulling - chows are not particularly good 'players' - they tend to stand and watch! If you throw them a ball, they will stand and look with the attitude of "Well, if you want it, you go and get it!"

So children must know the rules and abide by them and if visiting children won't play by your rules, keep the chowling away from them.

When she is a grown up chow, you will probably find she will go and see the visitors, check them out then clear off out of the way until your visitors are leaving then appear to see them off the premises.

This is Chow!

In short, be on you chowling's side - you are her Mummy/Daddy person - there is no doubting she will be on you side when she is grown! Good Luck with her but don't worry about her - be proud of her - you have one of the oldest and proudest breeds sharing your home with you and she deserves your trust and understanding and whilst she is still a baby, your protection!

I am sure that others on the site will tell you the same and more - most of them have far more experience with chow than I do.

Oh! Just one thing more - we don't really regard chow chows as mere dogs!
They are Chow Chows or when they are babies, chowlings.

Purple kisses to your baby from Milly and Mabel.

P.S. I have just told my husband and he reminded me to tell you about the Chow chow's vision. They cannot see to the side only to the front. So, if someone approaches them from the side, they might not see them coming and will be startled. Always be aware of that.

[tekendall]

Thank you Judy! Your info really helps!

I have lived the last 2 yrs with my boyfriend and his 16 yr old chow (who recently passed away). She was so different from any other dog I had been around. I just absolutely fell in love with her (attitude and all) and just had to get another one!

From being around her for 2 yrs, I did learn a lot. She was definately grumpy when she was sleeping, and did things when she wanted to and not when we wanted her to do something. I don't think she had a lot of socializing though as a puppy. She was not very fond of strangers.

This is my first puppy, so I'm trying very hard to do things the RIGHT way to avoid any problems in the future. I do have faith that if I keep introducing her to strangers and new surroundings that she will be a very sweet girl. I guess it just concerned me to have a dog trainer tell me that if she was showing signs now of shyness that I wouldn't be able to change it and just be ready for what could happen. There are so many bad attitudes about the breed, it's really sad.

Thanks for your insight. I'm sure I'll need more info along the way!

[SWANCIN]

Kudos!!! to Judy for her thorough, warm and well thought out reply!!!

I will make a copy of her reply and keep it, it's that good!

Thanks so much, Dear Judy.
Hugs and purple kisses to all,

[Rogansmommy]

Hello! I wanted to add my experience to this thread for you so that you can see just how foolish your trainer is.

When Rogan was 4 months old (and in obedience class - I started him at 10 weeks of age), the trainer told me to put him down because he would never, ever be trustable. Needless to say, that was the last class I attended with that trainer. Rogan is now 7 1/2, completely socialized, with TWO obedience titles! He is calm, aloof and a trusted member of my household. He sleeps on the floor in my 5 year old son's bedroom.

My suggestions to you:

Find a new trainer. One who understands chows. A trainer's attitude is very readable to your chowling. If the trainer goes into the relationship with a firm, but loving, accepting attitude, your chow will benefit from the experience.

Take your chowling with you to big pet stores like Petsmart or Petco. Most pet stores allow leashed pets. Bring your baby and ALOT of treats. Practice your basic obedience in the store. Have people approach your chowling, and offer treats. This will teach your chowling that people are all right, and some are downright cool. This will NOT eliminate the chow's natural ability to protect it's owner as a fully mature adult. It will teach your chowling to read you. Rogan responds to people based on how I respond to them. If I am calm and relaxed, he is as well. If I am tense or anxious, he sits down just in front of my feet and just stares at the other person. It is a rare situation that he feels compelled to bark.

Another great place to take your chowling is a strip mall. Again bring LOTS of treats. This gets them used to busy places and again teaches them that not all situations are 'barkable moments'.

There is alot of prejudice against our breed out there. We work hard to eliminate that prejudice by education. Thank you for joining the battle!

[Guest]

Thanks Michelle! That's very encouraging! I'll just keep doing what I have been and not listen to all the negativity. This is such a great place to get advice from.

[Judy Fox]

I think it is very negative to brand a baby as a failure at the tender age of 3 months.
As I have already said, she is only a baby so I think you are wise to ignore those sort of remarks and get on with loveing her, playing with her and bringing her up!
Just use your own gut instinct - I am sure you won't go wrong.

Purple kisses and snugs from M & M.

[Guest]

My chow was 4 months old when we got her and had rarely been out of the breeders kennel. When we went on walks in the park she would growl at anyone when they were closer than 10 feet away! We were very nervous about what her temperment would be like, our vet labelled her a fear biter, although she had never bitten anyone, and demanded she have a muzzle on her when she was in his office.(even as a puppy) We went to a trainer who as it turned out had quite a heavy hand. When we asked about how to deal with her barking at people when they came to the door, she recommended spraying her with water from a spray bottle. It took quite a while to find an understanding and trusting vet, and trial and error with different approaches to reducing the impact of her natural behaviors. It is important to trust your instincts and not let anyone bully you into using techniques that will weaken the bond between you and your chow rather than strengthen it. She is now gentle and accepting of almost everyone and everything. (We take her outside to greet people before they come in the house, and she know they are OK, and the barking is greatly reduced.)

Joanne

[Miko's Mom]

Hi, I just found this site & am thrilled. Just some quick background: I've had chows for the last 24 years and had a grandfather who bred them. I am very familiar with peoples negative remarks & as others have mentioned, you just need to keep up with what you're doing & find a new trainer. We only take ours to one vet in our vet's practice, because he's a chow lover & doesn't panic when he sees one.
As far as the shyness & biting...HA! Two of our chows have been rescues & one of them had been badly abused (Genie). We got Genie when she was about 3, and while it took a lot of patience befoe she could trust, once she did she was the sweetest, most loving dog you could find. We lost her last summer, at age 14, to cancer & I miss her everyday.
Your little one sounds just fine, and if I were you I'd try to find a more "chow friendly" vet. Best of luck!

[IliamnasQuest]

Hi tekendall -

I work with a lot of shy dogs (I do behavior consultations, the vets locally refer people to me who have behavior problems with their dogs). There are some tips I can give you that may help you out.

The prime time for socialization is up to about the age of 12 weeks. Ideally a puppy is introduced to friendly people, friendly dogs, and good experiences during those very formative early weeks. But often they aren't, and sometimes we end up with dogs that are shy or uncertain.

Good temperament starts with good breeding, and is followed by good handling. If your pup is genetically unsound, then she may never become trustful of strangers and strange dogs. But there's a very good chance you can work her through some of the rough spots.

First of all, I commend you for taking her to classes and for taking her out for socialization. I find that a lot of trainers don't really understand the chow nature and have preconceived ideas about the chow temperament. Don't let those opinions bother you!

When you get her out to socialize, I'd recommend that you not push her into situations that make her nervous. If she's shy of people and you force her to accept petting when she's afraid, you could be increasing her fear instead of alleviating it. Find her "comfort zone" where she doesn't react to a person or dog, and reinforce her for being calm and comfortable. Move a little bit closer, and continue to reinforce her for accepting the other person or dog. By reinforcement, I mean a combination of praise, petting (if she likes it), and special treats like tiny pieces of meat or cheese - something really yummy that she doesn't normally get.

One of the things you absolutely want to avoid is petting or praising her when she's acting fearful. This is a common mistake. In human children, we reassure them that things are okay because we can speak to them and have them understand that they don't need to be afraid. Dogs don't work this way, however. When you pet and reassure them, they take that as reinforcement of whatever behavior they're exhibiting at the time. So if a dog is acting fearful, and you pet them and talk to them in a sweet voice, you're actually telling them it's okay to be afraid.

Instead, when your pup exhibits fearful behavior, take your attention away from her and just try to ignore it. When I say fearful behavior, I mean pulling back on the leash or hiding behind you. If she's throwing a fit because she's so afraid (cowering on the ground, fighting the leash, howling in fear) then you've got her in a position she can't handle and you need to remove her from it. No praise or reassurance or petting - just removal to a point where she is not so uncomfortable. Get her attention off of what's scaring her and onto something else.

But typically, if she's acting a bit fearful (like hiding behind your legs in class) you just want to ignore this and not feed into it by petting her or reassuring her. You will actually teach her to be more fearful by doing that. You also don't want to give her "bad" attention, like scolding or sounding frustrated with her. I don't think you're doing that, but it's easy to get frustrated when your dog is acting fearful - especially when YOU know there's nothing to be afraid of.

As she gets more comfortable with people (and she may already be at this point) I would encourage you to get people to walk by her and drop a treat for her. I wouldn't ask them to reach out to pet her at this point - just drop a treat and walk on. She will start to anticipate the approach of others with eagerness instead of fear. Once she is feeling comfortable with people walking by, they can start to offer her a treat from their hand. Once she's comfortable with treats from their hands, they can hold a treat in one hand for her to nibble, casually bring up the other hand for a soft pet along the head, and then give her the whole treat. Initially the petting should be just a soft one-stroke type of pet.

You can see that you break it all down into steps and then build from there. When she's comfortable at one step, you can add a bit more. You do the same with dogs. Find people with calm friendly dogs and work at a distance, then gradually closer, then to the point where the dogs can greet but not play, and eventually to play time.

I ended up with a dog (not a chow - a shepherd) who was 4-5 months old and extremely fearful. She tried to hide behind me everywhere I took her. If something scared her, she ran and hid in her kennel. It was truly an experience to deal with this girl because most of my dogs are very confident and outgoing. Tori had no socialization early and it really showed. But I kept with it, never reinforced her for hiding behind me (in fact, would stand against a wall or something so she couldn't get behind me) and reinforced EVERY little positive move she made. If she took a voluntary step towards another person or dog, I immediately praised and gave a treat. I had people dropping treats for her, petting and giving treats, etc. She went from the most fearful dog I'd ever seen, to being a loving girl who runs up to people and leans against them for petting.

It takes awhile - but you've got years with your girl. You can do it! Our chows are independent dogs but there really isn't any reason they can't also be sociable friendly dogs.

[Guest]

http://www.buddhachows.go.ro/behavior.html

SOCIALIZING THE SHY CHOW
CAUSES OF SHYNESS
TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH SHY DOGS
STEPS FOR SOCIALIZING THE SHY DOG

http://www.buddhachows.go.ro/behavior.html