My Chow Mia

[griddez15]

Hi Everybody!

I'm so happy to have found a site to share any issues or advise on chows! The new member to my family is our Chow Mia! She's 9 weeks, about to turn 10! beautiful golden chow. She came home on Monday and has been a change for everybody! She is loved and adored by all members of the family, which is great. I have her signed up for training classes at our local pet smart so I hope I'm doing all the proper steps into raising a beautiful well behaved chow. She currently resides in a play pen right outside my door. She's GREAT with using the potty pads and was just able to get the sit command down. I guess I have once concern and that's the biting...of course she does so as she's playing but how if anyone could advise how to start minimizing those bites as well as the standing o the gate. Just read somewhere how extreme movement to the chow could be vital to there growth...anyhow, any beginners advise would be greatly appreciated!

[Rory's Dad]

Congrats on your new Chow pup. Sounds like you have done your homework and are prepared to take the necessary steps toward proper training and socialization.

Those puppy classes are great. They should prepare you to work with your dog and get him trained properly. And that should be the focus. They should provide you with the skills needed to get your Chow to behave the way you want him to. Avoid any training lessons that push you to 'enforce your will' on the dog. I would also be alert to any training method that tries to use your Chow as an example of 'what to avoid'. These are usually not positive. Many trainers don't really understand Chow behavior, so it will be up to you to make sure it's positive.

Puppies tend to nip and bite, and chows are no exception. This is normal, as they learn to protect themselves and play with their littermates in that fashion. However, it is not something that you want to allow with a grown dog, so it does need to be stopped. The 1st thing to do is to provide her with a 'proper' chew toy/item as soon as she mouths something unacceptable. That can range anywhere from people, to tables, to shoes. As littermates, they also learn when too much is too much, so if she nips at you, you should yelp in a high pitched voice 'ouch', 'no', etc. Mimic the sound she would get if she bit another puppy too hard. If she doesn't get the clue, let her roam the house with her leash on. As soon as she gets too excited and begins to lead with her teeth, step on the leash so she can't leap up or swing her head.

Not sure what you meant with the gate issue. In young chows you do want to be careful that they don't jump down off of furniture or hyper-extend the leg joints. They take a while to build strength in the joints and ligaments, so you want to minimize risk to those areas. Front paws up onto a gate or similar obstruction shouldn't be an issue, she is probably just being curious, but you want her to learn an 'off' command. They should address that in the puppy class.

And last but not least, the term "golden". Hope that was just a term you threw out there and not a description used by the breeder. Unscrupulous breeders will frequently use color descriptions to make their litters sound exotic, rare, or desirable. Officially, Chows come in Red, Cinnamon, Cream, Black, and Blue.

[griddez15]

Thank you!! Your words of wisdom are very appreciated. She's a cream color with that unique blue tongue. The gate issue I mentioned is how she stands up whenever someone approaches her, i mean, Clearly she wants attention but I don't want her to make a habit of leaping up at people when she gets older. She has these spurs of energy sometimes, often after lunch and dinner and for some reason, after breakfast she just goes back to sleep...she's really interesting to watch! Getting to know her is awesome!

Thanks again for the tips!

[Jdcell100]

Classes are great thing to do we did the petsmart classes with are blu chow boo boo. Best thing you can do is socialize , socialize ,socialize. We would bring boo boo when he was a puppy up petsmart to walk around and meet as many people as we could all the time Chows to me are the easiest dog to house train . We got boo st 8 weeks day we bring him home I brought him outside I'm not exaggerating like every 20 to 30 min in 2 days he was going to the door to go outside to potty he never had an accident in the house never. The biting when he was a puppies is normal every time he stated biting on our hands we would let out a scream After a few weeks he learned bite control we luv are boo we always say why would anyone Owen any other breed Good luck

[Rory's Dad]

Alright, cream is very nice.

Front paws up on the gate shouldn't be an issue, she may just be trying to get a better view. She is going to be very curious for a while. If she starts to do the up thing to people, have her wear the leash in the house. When she tries to jump up, step on the leash at ground level and tell her 'off'. Reward her good behavior when she keeps all 4 paws on the floor. Once that is in place, or if she is not on the leash, have her work with you. Lean your knee into her chest until she gets 'off'. Repeat the command every time she tries to jump up. Reward when she is in the correct position.

The puppy class may work on this as well. Doing the exercise at home will speed things along. If that is her worst behavior you will be fine.