Bad Bad Leroy Brown.

[WeLoveLeRoy]

I wish we had a chowchow chatroom.

[valerierichard27]

i would test again, to see if he really hates your neighbour, like you said mabey he was so over excited to see him, when I come home after a long day out, Romeo is very excited and he will try to bit my hand, (then i just ignor him and say no) and he stops,

[Michael's Maggie May]

I wish we had a chowchow chatroom.

That is exactly what we have here!!!!!

[Victory]

Hi Merlin. The vet told us that Leroy's vision was okay for now, but the bottom of his eye lids showed early signs of entropion....but so far he was ok.

I initially thought it was a play bite as well but Leroy had bitten him too hard for it to be a play bite. I thought maybe he had gotten so excited to see the neighbour, and just lost his mind for a second. I keep playing it over and over in my mind, so as to try and get a better understanding of our Leroy. I honestly couldn't tell you if our neighbour gestured to pet him as we approached, but Im sure he did. It just all happened so fast.

wait a minute...chows do bite hard! Even in play, unless they've been taught not to. A chows bite can put about 250 - 300lbs of presure per inch into any bite. (According to tests of three breeds, Rottie, GSD and ABPT all domestic dogs are about the same, with the ABPT having the lowest of these three breeds at about 328lbs psi) I figure a chow might be just a tad lower, but it might be up there with the other three too. The point being that you can't rule out that Leroy thought he was playing! No dog has any idea of how strong they are, how strong their bite is or even their own size.

I have a question, does LeRoy mouth? What I mean is does he approach family members and take them by the hand or clothing, or anyonter place with his mouth to ask for things or during play? If he does do this, that is the problem. And it is one that IS correctable. I'm not going to go into the whole bite hibition thing here there is a whole stickied thread on it in the training session. If this is LeRoys problem it is going to take a strong committment to correct now, but you can do it. Read the section, get everyone that interacts with him at all to understand the process and to make sure they NEVER allow him to nip or bite in play or for attention, EVER, without their being a correction, and if he persists a nice long time out. This is something he should have learned as a puppy, but a lot of times puppies are removed from Mom and sibs too early and then the human owners don't teach and the result is an adult dog that thinks it's playing, and an injured human, and owners that are scared.

[Merlin]

I honestly couldn't tell you if our neighbour gestured to pet him as we approached, but Im sure he did. It just all happened so fast.

ahhhhhhhhhhh, well see? This says it plenty! It is this uncertainty that you'll need to get a clear handle on, because like I said, it's extremely rare that any dog just walks up to someone and bites at random, and sometimes it takes a keen and trained eye to see these sutble nuances in order to point them out to you, because if you can see this coming, you can correct before it even happens, and that is generally the best way to handle aggression... by always staying one step ahead of your dog. But... if you don't know what to look for then you are robbed of many opportunities.

It`s true, like Victory said, a chow has a very large and powerful jaw so a chow nip might be more pronounced than that of another breed. A nip could have signified Leroy`s desire to keep this person in control while he is present. That is one possibility.- and that`s why you need to work with someone to help you identify exactly what the issue is. Please don`t experiment with your chow. In doing so you might be inadvertently be re-inforcing un-wanted behaviour especially if you mis-read or mis-interpret any given situation. You`d be surprised... just one session with a pro can diffuse a lot of not most of this - and at least you`ll walk away with clear and concise information rather than mis-hit information that you`ve acquired by the seat of one's pants or the bite of one's leg

The vet told us that Leroy's vision was okay for now, but the bottom of his eye lids showed early signs of entropion....but so far he was ok.

Even if he has good vision, if he has entropian, then he`s not ok. He either has it, or doesn`t have it. There is no grey area with this affliction. It may not presently be bad enough to scratch his lens or cornea, but imagine having a hair in your eye all day, every day without stop? It`s painful and even though the pain may be sporadic, all it would take is a good poke in the eye from an errant eyelash for him to blame your neighbour. Please consider looking after it as soon as possible.

Good luck!! Aggression is a very serious issue and hap-hazard solutions, or guess-work, aren't the way to go. Many chows die, are put to sleep because of it, and people get hurt. Please seriously considering hiring a trainer to help you with this.

[Victory]

[quote="Merlin]

The vet told us that Leroy's vision was okay for now, but the bottom of his eye lids showed early signs of entropion....but so far he was ok.

Even if he has good vision, if he has entropian, then he`s not ok. He either has it, or doesn`t have it. There is no grey area with this affliction. It may not presently be bad enough to scratch his lens or cornea, but imagine having a hair in your eye all day, every day without stop? It`s painful and even though the pain may be sporadic, all it would take is a good poke in the eye from an errant eyelash for him to blame your neighbour. Please consider looking after it as soon as possible.

Good luck!! Aggression is a very serious issue and hap-hazard solutions, or guess-work, aren't the way to go. Many chows die, are put to sleep because of it, and people get hurt. Please seriously considering hiring a trainer to help you with this.[/quote]

Also even if he didn't have entropian at all, looking at Leroy, he has little or no peripheral vision. His eyes are deep set and his face is wide with a lot of fur around it. Think of it as he is always wearing blinders like on a horse. He can't see anything that approaches from either side or top, or bottom, (though most things coming from below have to pass his face first) I don't know if this had anything to do with the most recent incident, but it is something to always keep in mind about him, and tell anyone who tries to approach or touch him from the side. Ask them to come to the front where he can see them, and then let him come to them.

[WeLoveLeRoy]

Am using my phone right now, but I appreciate all the responses, and will reply when I;m home.

Victory,
The vet said Leroy;s eye shape was an indication that he may get entropian, however she said right now he was fine. I;ve never noticed any vision problems. Hes very alert and follows everything.

[WeLoveLeRoy]

Hello Everyone.

I just wanted to give yall a little update


Leroy was neutered when he was 3 and a half. Almost 3 and a half years ago....where does the time go?? I have noticed such a difference in his behaviour since then. He hasn't snapped and bitten anyone...he just seems more calm all round. He is almost lazy to the point where I have to beg him to go for walks, especially if he doesn't have to pee etc. I worry that him being so lazy can't be good for him. His last weight check in he was 63 pounds and the vet said all good with that, but I still think he needs to be getting more exercise if even for his heart and lungs. Playtime consists of me throwing one of his fav toys and he may go get it the first time, however if I throw it again he looks at me as if I were a fool lol. Anyhow, I just wanted to let everyone know his issues with biting people seem to be a thing of the far gone past.

[WeLoveLeRoy]

One more lol

[Fozzbear]

That's good to know - he is a very handsome boy indeed.

[lweiher]

I'm not sure how old Leroy is, not that that is an issue, but I read that you and Leroy approached your neighbor....was it a "head" on meeting or was Leroy preoccupied with something else and caught your neighbor in is side vision? As we all know that beautiful mane also cuts down on the side vision and if he was preoccupied and a little surprised, perhaps he was just being a little protective of you....and didn't have time to react to a common scent?? They have such a strong jaw and although it seemed a vicious bite, it could have been a warning bite that turned nasty? Just throwing that out there....He is very handsome by the way!

[lweiher]

Ok, sorry...I just read the the peripheral vision was already brought up....glad things are ok now!