New owner - thanks for your advice!

[Alexandra88]

Hi all,

I just wanted to introduce myself! My name is Alexandra and I am the proud new owner of a 12 week old beautiful Chow Chow ‘Hugo.’

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone as I have spent a lot of time just reading over the forum looking for advice and reassurance that the Chow was the right bread for my partner and I.

I spent about 6 months researching breeders before selecting one and was fortunate enough that they had a litter due. I now have the most special little (growing each day!) man in my life. He is beautiful and very well behaved; don’t get me wrong after he eats he does race around like a mad man, but for the best part of the time he is just so relaxed.

I have one question though, in light of the above it would seem that of an evening (the time between his last walk and going to sleep) he pants and pants and doesn’t settle very well. We bring him into our TV room with us and he just moves from one spot to another panting and huffing. He wants to be there because we let him have free rein of the house and do not shut the doors so he can leave if he wants to. I have checked and the room isn’t that hot, he has water, is feed and has had plenty of exercise and play time. when we put him to sleep in his room he doesn’t make a sound and falls asleep without any problems. He seems a bit stressed, but we think it just might be that he is overtired. Does anyone else have this ‘panting and huffing time?’

Also good story; I got told off by the dog trainer! So we took Hugo home at 8 weeks old and by the second day he knew his name and how to sit.
2 weeks later he can; sit, stay, come, go down, and go to bed. He is highly food motivated so training has been easy. When booking into to training classes the lady told me that ‘there is no way he can do that’ ‘he is a baby and cannot understand you’ I can reassure you he understands very well!


Thanks for all the helpful hints.. oh and yes I am in London so if there is any other chow chow owner in London, UK let me know!

Alexandra

[Cam Atis]

look at his tongue and his nose. if they are wet or moist, good.
sometimes we think it is not hot in the room but to a dog it is already hot. also just asking, is this your first dog? panting with the tongue out is just normal for the dogs. they dont sweat much so that's where they regulate their temperature.

[Laura]

Worms?

[612guy]

Chows love floor fans pointed at them, some more than others. Brutus loves his and with all the fur chows have it's no wonder.

612

[Alexandra88]

Thank you for the reassurance. This is not my first dog but is my first Chow so I think I am just a bit nervous about making him comfortable! Good news the panting has stopped now he is more relaxed.

Thanks

[siewchingan]

Hi Alexandra,

My chow ( Aslan ) is 2 years old now . We have him since he was 10 weeks old , chow are so clever , when we took him to training class , the trainer was telling everyone that chow is one of the difficult breed to train, hey guess what , we passed with flying colours , won the rosette !!
About the panting , we have the same concern as you, I was checking on him every single night , as I wasn't sure why he panting so much and seem distressed , I can say now is part of chow thing as long as u know he is not over heating . My one still move around the room where he finds somewhere cool and comfortable , I notice that panting is getting less and less as they grow too.
We live near London , great to know you r in London too , as not many chows about .


Jackie and Aslan

[Juniper]

Sheena at 11 years old began to pant heavily...vet stated that as they age their lungs become less elastic and don't expand as easily so they pant more. However, I did notice that when she was younger she hardly panted when it was 75 F degrees or lower. Now the temperature needs to be around 70 F degrees or lower to pant considerably less. I only found her at 3.5 yrs old so I don't know how she was as a pup. She absolutely loves it when the temp goes to 60 to 65 F degrees and is very happy I notice...and more active. So year round I keep the air on so the house never goes above 74 F Degrees even when the temps go above 100 F degrees outside...HUGE electric bills but anything for my Queen Sheena!

Oh, at 3.5 yrs I took Sheena to Basic and Advanced Training classes at Petsmart since she had no training at all...she just watched other dogs do everything and refused to do anything at the training...but when I went home she could do everything I asked w/o any treats! She is not a treat oriented chow. Then on her graduation day she performed all the commands for the trainer! Yes, chows are really intelligent and apparently don't want to be humiliated by letting any other dog know that they are learning something...after all chows are know It alls!

[Alexandra88]

Juniper that is so cheeky of your puppy! Fooling the trainer and all! But it shows how intelligent they are!! Hugo was so cheeky tonight, on our return home from the park he went into crazy mode and was just lashing out for my feet. I was trying to hold him back and saying a firm NO but it didn't really work, so I got the biggest leaf I could find and tried to distract him with that. I think it was his way of saying he didn't want to go home yet! Does anyone have this ?


Here is a photo of him at 8 weeks

[Juniper]

Hugo is sooooooooo hugably cute!

Sheena needs a little help getting up sometimes. However, there are times at the park where she has decided she isn't leaving and I will say..."Up Sheena Up" and try lifting her up...but she is dead weight and won't budge. So I usually need to wait until she's good and ready...however, if I stomp my foot and say sternly "Up, NOW Sheena," she will obey and not even need me to help her get up. But most of the time I just let her have her way...she's been soooooooo good all these years she deserves to be pampered and given a lot of leeway.

Hugo is so royally cute...

[JammyJoy]

Thank you for the reassurance. This is not my first dog but is my first Chow so I think I am just a bit nervous about making him comfortable! Good news the panting has stopped now he is more relaxed.

Thanks

That's good to hear. Though,really..you don't have to worry about your dog panting,it's normal for them.