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[TyChowgirl]

Hello all! I've been following this forum since I first brought home my Chow puppy, Tiberius and I thought it would be about time to introduce myself. I am a first time chow owner, and believe me before I brought the dog into a household with two cats and me being inexperienced, I researched myself silly, renting books from the library and doing online searching. My fiance' had a Chow chow growing up (that I actually met once or twice) so he was extremely partial to the breed, but wasn't partial to the idea of a dog at the moment. We currently live in a two bedroom apartment and both work so most dog breeds would not do for our situation. In a couple years, we're aspiring to move out and get a real place with a nice back yard for our Chow. Anyways, I was told Chow chow or no dog. I was a little annoyed at this because I had heard so much bad hype about the breed, but I wanted a canine companion terribly so my research began. After really getting used to the idea of a Chow, I started searching for breeders and rescues. Since I was inexperienced with the breed, (and working on my Dog training certification) I wanted a puppy to start fresh with. There wasn't many options. We ended up driving 3 hours away to what we thought may be a good breeder, but in fact was a BYB. No AKC registration, but CKC papers dating back at least three generations. I didn't want to buy a puppy from her, but I didn't want to leave empty handed and the puppy we chose seemed so sweet. We brought him home, and so at about 3 1/2 months old we had a new addition to our "family". I've worked with him a lot and other than a little willful stubborness at the beginning, he's done very well and continues to amaze me daily at his intelligence, and ability to cooperate with me. I take him everywhere with me and although he's still wary of strangers and is still frightened by crowds of people and load noises (we live outside a city, and I take him for walks in town to try and help to at least ignore the things that scare him and work on the socialization) he amazes people at pet stores with his calm demeanor even if he's not outwardly friendly. He's now 7 months old and 60lbs. And I absolutely adore him. Our bond grows stronger every day and I'm so glad I brought him home. All the discussions I've read over the past few months have been helpful and so I thank you all for your information and know how!

Since I haven't conquered how to post pictures...
here's my photobucket of my chow boy
http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j34 ... /Tiberius/

[MissV]

hi <3
Your whole situation sounds just like mine! wow!
So happy to have someone in the same boat as me here

Your baby boy is so gorgeous!! I wish mine was weary of things like you says yours is... cos she just loves everyone and everything! The only thing that scares her is the garbage truck. lol
Happy Chowlie Days for us!

[Sirchow]

Tiberius is gorgeous. Is he a shaded red or a cinnamon? You learn as you go with a chow and I found this forum very helpful when I got my first chow three years ago. They aren't like most other dogs but by now you will know that, but as a cat lover and I see you are one too you will appreciate their independant nature and I couldn't have any other breed now! The one thing I found very helpful for both of ours was attending puppy classes and Bramble carried on attending classes on and off for a lot longer as she was a shy girl who scared easilly. Izzie is not bothered by anything so didn't need so much socialisation.

[Auddymay]

Here is one of your photos. Very cute! If you want to post them here, select the individual photo and to the right of the photo copy the code starting IMG and paste here.

[TyChowgirl]

Puppy classes was something I heard about from day one. The problem I had found with them was the cost and the time. My work almost always was during puppy classes and my fiance has a rotating schedule so its hit or miss. I'm not knocking them by any means! But remember, Ty was also my "guinea pig" so to speak with my dog training courses. If things didn't go well and had gotten completely out of hand, the puppy classes would have been a no brainer and I would have found a way for us to attend and afford it. It never got bad though. By the first night he knew sit, and the next day I taught him lay down. He picked things up really fast even though he was picky about his food reward (by this I mean he's very particular about treats and I had to start him off with small bits of cheese, but then I found these treats called tricky trainers in chedder flavor and it worked out) and there was very little trial and error involved, but if there was we worked it out right away. I crate him while I'm at work if no one else is home and it took a bit for him not to whine and cry, but I always had a back up there. My neighbor has a key to our apartment and if she heard him, she'd come over after a bit and visit with him (not always of course because she didn't want him to cry just for her visit!) and I would always leave him some treats in the crate to keep him distracted while I left. By the way, I think Jan gets more loving than we do sometimes as he's always excited to see her and her dog Dexter. Dog socialization was never an issue with him, he loves other dogs. It's definitely the people, and after trying over and over, taking him places with treats, trying to get them to pet him, giving him to my in-laws here in there (before he got familiar with them) it's still not the greatest. It puzzled me, but the people who bought his brother had taken a video of when they had to choose between the two males (when they were much much smaller) and Ty had shied away then when the lady tried to pet him. I didn't notice either of his parents having this issue. We still work on it though! There's a nice dog park outside the city where we go (the dogs are not as rowdy and the people more responsible than the one in the city.And it's bigger!) and we have access to so many petstores and there's always something going on down town, so it's an ongoing project. He's mostly to the point now where if we've been around the people long enough, he'll let them pet him (even a couple at a time) but he needs time to relax around them and smell them out beforehand. Versus, you know, some random person on the street oogling him.
As for his color, I would say that he's a lighter variant of red based on all the pictures I've seen of cinnamons. His dad was a little darker than him and his mother was a cream (black nose and all!). His father however was also a decendent of a cream and has the half brown half black nose, so that's where he gets it from.
I must say also, that for the first time (against my wishes!) I came home last night and I found Ty out of his crate. My fiance decided to run an experiment to see what would happen if we left him uncrated for 6 hours...well thankfully nothing was destroyed and there was no evidence of eliminations. He doesn't really bother anything anyways and now he's very particular about the bathroom thing (he makes me go the whole way around the block before he'll drop duties now) so I'm glad, but he is still a puppy and I'm not sure when it's time to start fading out the crate as that was the original plan, especially because the crate is HUGE and takes up a lot of space.
Thanks for all the replies (especially the photo drop, but alas I'm out of recent pictures!) You all seem like very wonderful people. And yes, I do think Ty is very handsome

[chica_2626]

Tiberius is very handsome and I definitely LOVE the name!!! Welcome!

[Tippsy'smom]

Ty is gorgeous! Welcome!

[Victory]

It's definitely the people, and after trying over and over, taking him places with treats, trying to get them to pet him, giving him to my in-laws here in there (before he got familiar with them) it's still not the greatest. It puzzled me, but the people who bought his brother had taken a video of when they had to choose between the two males (when they were much much smaller) and Ty had shied away then when the lady tried to pet him. I didn't notice either of his parents having this issue. We still work on it though! ... but he needs time to relax around them and smell them out beforehand. Versus, you know, some random person on the street oogling him.

I must say also, that for the first time (against my wishes!) I came home last night and I found Ty out of his crate. My fiance decided to run an experiment to see what would happen if we left him uncrated for 6 hours...well thankfully nothing was destroyed and there was no evidence of eliminations. He doesn't really bother anything anyways and now he's very particular about the bathroom thing (he makes me go the whole way around the block before he'll drop duties now) so I'm glad, but he is still a puppy and I'm not sure when it's time to start fading out the crate as that was the original plan, especially because the crate is HUGE and takes up a lot of space.

On the first issue, not being comfortable with people petting him, this is an issue with many chows, they don't like it, and they never will. That aloofness is bred into them deliberatly, it's part of who they are. He looks like a very aloof chow, (the way he's laying there, calm but attentive), and as one, he will be more app to just sit or lay and watch and once in a while allow someone the priviledge of petting him. You also want to discourage people from approaching him from over his head, or from the sides as he, (like most chows) has poor prefrerrial(sp?) vision, in other words anything coming at him from above or beside him, he can't see, and it startles him. Many chows also don't like people towering over them, it is after all a posture of dominance, so it puts them off immediately. If you want people to pet him, have them squat, sit or kneel in front of him and talk to him, then offer the treat, and then give him a scratch under his chin. I even do this with my own two and they like it better than people standing when trying to pet them, and my two are very into people petting them.

on the crate thing, at 7 mos, he should be fully house trained and also out of the chewing stage...I would caution however about removing the crate completely, you might want to find a way to cover it so it feels like a den to him. He is home by himself most of the time and needs some where to feel safe, a covered crate is a good thing for this, he can come and go in and out of it as he needs too. My boy spent the first 6 mos in the bathroom with a baby gate, he still spends most of his time when I'm gone in there, and his silly sister spends most of her time where she did when he was little, in front of the bathroom.

Another thing is in about 2-3 mos, he's going to be a teenager and he's going to act like he doesn't understand any commands or anything else. This is the most difficult part of having a chow, neutered/spayed or not at 9-10 mos they start pushing to climb the ladder in the pack...it's normally about that time that people start coming here begging for help and we start talking about NILF. Don't want to scare you, but it will happen in one way or another...and it's normal.

[TyChowgirl]

Thanking for the advice, but oddly enough these are all things I do and have done with him. I ask people to squat down to his level and stick out their fists and I in turn will stick my hand out close to theirs and guide his nose to their hands. And if successful I tell them to pet under. His crate also has a queen sized blanket over it.
As for the adolescent months I've read about them and know it's not just chows but all dogs. Hopefully I can keep my patience with him, keep reviewing with him, and stand firm. I'll let you all know how that goes in the following months hehe. Thanks again!

[MissV]

Another thing is in about 2-3 mos, he's going to be a teenager and he's going to act like he doesn't understand any commands or anything else. This is the most difficult part of having a chow, neutered/spayed or not at 9-10 mos they start pushing to climb the ladder in the pack...it's normally about that time that people start coming here begging for help and we start talking about NILF. Don't want to scare you, but it will happen in one way or another...and it's normal.

OMG
I dont know what i'll do if my chowlie gets any worse!
AND i'm attending puppy classes with her!
I'm having a hard time now ensuring that she knows her place with the "human" pack. She's testy already! How much worse does it get and what will they do? I dont crate her because she really REALLY hates it (i have tried so many times, treats, toys, feeding her in it...nothing works) so she gets to hang around in the house with my kitty. It calms her down instantly.
Shes super well behaved in doors. Chews her toys and rips up newspaper if we leave it close to the edge of the couch, but leaves cables and furniture alone.
Will she start to kill my furniture?

ps. My pup looks JUST like Ty I love her to bitties and piecies!

[chowpups]

Ty is a good looking chow, and I do remember Nikki in the teen time being more stubborn but take it as it is and know to be a leader(stern not mean) and most of all patience. I wouldn't trade Nikki for any other breed, they are a special one of a kind breed for sure. she is my most loyal companion and goes every where with us now..think of the teen years like humans not much different to me. They will try your rules, they will be stubborn, selective hearing, they might even try to run away, gee just like kids ....and then they grow out of it much more quickly than kids ....that's the good part by 1 to 2yrs Nikki was the most loving sweetheart and at 4 now is just a beautiful girl. oh, and the human kids turned out just fine too. LOL

[TyChowgirl]

Exactly. I'm actually a certified teacher (though finding a job has been murder right now!) and working on the dog training stuff, but in both I have found that dogs are a lot like children. A lot. So Ty has been (so far, pre-teenager crazy phase) a wonderful companion because the things I teach him works out and he also knows that I won't put up with bad behavior, but I can be tons of fun. Therefore, for the most part he is pretty darn obedient and I'm extremely proud of that fact without having taken him to obedience training, and I think in a way so is he.
Miss V, I know this is a no brainer, but how often do you take her for walks? I know Chows aren't supposed to need to be walked and excerised much, but I take Ty for a longer walk before leaving him alone for a while and another when I get back (just around the block)and because he's particular, we go for many walks just so he'll poo. Another thing, are you challenging her mentally? Seriously, it's been raining almost every day and so our walks and fun time are limited. So I'll just arange a couple of things around the apartment, pull out the laser, and let him chase it around an obstacle course (or even just try to catch the laser). I've also hidden treats under bowls and played the shell game with Ty so he doesn't get bored. Introduce her to new environments and new things every once in a while to keep her stimulated. As for the crate, do you hurry up and shove her in and then leave? You can always try putting some treats in and do the whole, leave her a little bit at a time until it phases out. If you're anxious about putting her in there because she "doesn't like it" chances are she's going to be anxious too, so try to make it a pleasurable experience. I had to phase out the crate issue a little myself, and now if I start turning off the lights and walking back to the bedroom he goes straight to it because it's his "den".

ChowPups, thanks! and it's good to know the human kids turned out good too!

[Victory]

Another thing is in about 2-3 mos, he's going to be a teenager and he's going to act like he doesn't understand any commands or anything else. This is the most difficult part of having a chow, neutered/spayed or not at 9-10 mos they start pushing to climb the ladder in the pack...it's normally about that time that people start coming here begging for help and we start talking about NILF. Don't want to scare you, but it will happen in one way or another...and it's normal.

OMG
I dont know what i'll do if my chowlie gets any worse!
AND i'm attending puppy classes with her!
I'm having a hard time now ensuring that she knows her place with the "human" pack. She's testy already! How much worse does it get and what will they do? I dont crate her because she really REALLY hates it (i have tried so many times, treats, toys, feeding her in it...nothing works) so she gets to hang around in the house with my kitty. It calms her down instantly.
Shes super well behaved in doors. Chews her toys and rips up newspaper if we leave it close to the edge of the couch, but leaves cables and furniture alone.
Will she start to kill my furniture?

ps. My pup looks JUST like Ty I love her to bitties and piecies!

No. She won't start on the furniture. In fact it is about this age she may stop being interested in toys completly. What she may do is pretend she has no idea what you are talking about. You say, "come here." she goes in the opposite direction. You say, "Sit and she stands there and looks at you with a look that says, "Why should I sit? Make me." During this stage your kittie may be the only one that can make her behave the first time, every time.

[MissV]

LOL!!!
ok great! then i think i'll be able to deal with the "teenage" years just fine because my baby chowlie doesnt come when called anyway. HAHAHAHHA!
Shame, in her puppy class, shes known as the naughtiest one there. She fails ever single test when shes supposed to come when called. All she wants to do is play with the other doggies.
The trainer did tell me that I get 10points for socializing her so well. She said she's never seen such a brave and excited chow pup.

Oh, and i walk her twice a day - one of walks those is to the doggie park were she plays off lead for a good 15mins, and then we head on the walk back home. All in all, she gets over an hour excerise a day - sees people, other dogs etc.
She has toys all around my house. Knuckle bones fresh from the butcher...

With regards to the crate - the only time i shove her in there is if i need her to be out of the way. Which has only happened twice when we had some new furniture delievered to my place and i couldnt leave her roaming - the front gate was open.
She gets treats in her crate, and has had a snooze in there once... but she mostly likes to be with either my boyfriend or I - somewhere where she can see us. She really doesnt like to feel isolated. (which is really wierd too because she has no abandonment issues / seperation anxiety what so ever).

maybe my chowlie is just crazy hehehehehe... shes busy licking my toes!