need advice

[deidre]

Hi all

Let me start by apologising for this topic as i no many a chow owner has asked and i can go read the threads but my story is slightly different so i wanted to post a new topic.

There is a 90% chance i am adding a new addition to our family tomorrow and i am so scared as it has been a while since there was a puppy in the house and coz 1: Kannika is two and 2: has had a difficult year with having to have three ops on her rear right leg for luxating pattelar and is currently in physio for that, i am so scared she is not ready for a youngster and might reject the male pup. Or might hurt herself getting carried away. She is doing great according to her physiotherapist but she recons nikka will only be ready muscle wise in june, i would have waited but the breeder contacted me to tell me there are two males available and she wants me to come view so i have first pick. I am so excited and i have wanted to get nikka a little brother for a while now but didnt coz of fear she wont be ready. I am home all day for this entire year and i know i can watch them but that still doesnt convince me that this is the right thing to do. But if i dont get one now, then when, nikka is not getting younger and she is very lonely and when she is with other dogs its as if she lights up. Otherwise at home she just lays around and even when i try and play with her i can see something is missing.

I need advice from the best people i know and that is you guys, you always have the right words of wisdom and you feel like family to me so i thought b4 i make a mistake id get help and advice. According to my bf nikka is fine and strong enough for a puppy in the house and he recons why wait when i am home to stop things from getting outa hand. I agree with him also that as nikka gets older she wont want to play with the pup as much if she were younger and i dnt want the pup to miss out on the joys of being a puppy.

So i need advice people and as i get it i will add more questions about other things that are worrying me. But i want to hear your opinion on my situation first.

Thnx guys

[chris]

both your concerns and your bf's beliefs are justifiable. You know your chow best. Think of it this way... in a matter of speaking, if your chow seems lonely but so much perkier and happier when there are other dogs around studies have shown in humans anyway that when they have a companion or "buddy" they mend faster. There are a few stories on this site where one day they had 1 chow and then on another they have 2 and the chows are inseperable, (sp?) yet when they are apart you can tell they miss eachother.
As your BF points out if you are home for a year, that alone might make it the perfect time to bring in another chow. But as you are concerned about the puppy playing with nika and nika getting hurt.. that is clearly a possibility. In the end, its a matter of weather or not you think YOU are ready to take on the responsibility to both Nika and the puppy and ultimately is your decision. I hope this helps and good luck to you.

[deidre]

Hi

Thanx chris, yeah what you say makes sense. I am going to go view tonight and i just know im coming home with one, both pups are adorable and i guess seeing as though nikka is my life i am scared for her well being. But i am home to watch them and i can afford another puppy time wise and financially so i think though it might be too soon for her physically (my opinion) it is the perfect time for everything else. Ill just have to watch them.

Tell me though i dont know what i must have ready for him when he gets here?
How do i introduce him to nikka?
Do i let them play? And if it gets a little rough do i stop them?
What are the chances nikka will reject the puppy in her home and want to hurt him? She is not agro with other dogs but can get a bit pushy wen she sees im paying attention to another dog for longer than she thinks is right.
Where do i let him sleep, seeing as though its "nikkas house" should i seperate him from her?
And when i pay attention to him do i do everything with both of them from now on or is it better to keep them seperate? Coz i want to be able to rub both of them together or play with both of them at the same time.
Can they drink out the same bowl or must i get him hes own, nikka doesnt norm mind my moms dog drinkin out of her bowl but i dont know if shes going to be jealous over the puppy.

I am just so uneducated when it comes to having two dogs as this will be the first time and nikka is so much older than the pup who is almost 11 weeks.

[kiwani]

Kannika is two and 2: has had a difficult year with having to have three ops on her rear right leg for luxating pattelar and is currently in physio for that, i am so scared she is not ready for a youngster and might reject the male pup. Or might hurt herself getting carried away. She is doing great according to her physiotherapist but she recons nikka will only be ready muscle wise in june, i would have waited but the breeder contacted me to tell me there are two males available and she wants me to come view so i have first pick...

The physiotherapist gave you her advice concerning Kannika's muscle
development needing several more months of therapy. It was the breeder, with her *own* agenda of selling eleven week old pups, which caused you to detour your plans. Yes, it's *very* hard to resist Chow pups, but the priority is getting Kannika's joint in optimal condition after her difficult year. There will always be pups, and the current batch of pups will already be much more than half their adult weight in June, when Kannika's joint strengthens.

[Victory]

Hmm, I can see your delema, (sp?) and if you weren't going to be home for a year, I'd say wait. But you are going to be home and that will allow you to closely monitor their interaction. First of all a young pup shouldn't be left alone with an older dog no matter what without supervision, the older dog can quickly become far too rough and seriously injure the puppy by accident, Second rough play on both parts should be discouraged until the puppy is 3-4 months old or even older, this will cut down the risk of injury to the puppy and in this case any strain or stress Nikka may wabt to indulge in. You said the therapist said she'll be better by June 1, by that time the pup will be closer to that 3 month range and more ready for chase games etc. You can still regulate their play at that age and keep it from becoming too rough.

Having another chow buddy to walk with her will help Nikka's recovery, they not only stimulate each other physically but emotionally and intellectually as well. They will be receptive to each other's moods and problems as well. They will grow to be inseperable; last year when I had to board my two over the weekend, they were in cages facing each other at first but Firesong, (my oldest and the girl) wasn't happy, so they put them in a bigger cage together and she settled right down and stopped being depressed. Just like with people their emotional well being is important to their overall health, and no matter how much we humans love them and try to understand them, I think they do better with another of their own kind around.

[kiwani]

...You said the therapist said she'll be better by June 1, by that time the pup will be closer to that 3 month range and more ready for chase games etc...

The puppy will be closer to *five* months in June. He's about 11 weeks of age now. Male pups engage in a *lot* of mounting behavior, and that's a problem for Kannika's leg weakness. This pup will be at about half his adult weight in another month.

[deidre]

Hi all

Thanx for your advice and comments. After giving it much thought on Friday with my last post i decided to go have a look at the pups and i took one home. I know many of you are going to judge me and think it was a bad decision but i had made up my mind and hoped that my judgement didnt fail me.

We brought him home at 8pm on Friday night and my female ran up to him with her tail wagging off the hook, she sniffed and circled him as he did with her and that was it for the night. Since Friday they have been wonderful together, she hasnt played rough to the point where she hurts him and we seperate them when i fear for her leg or him getting hurt. I had my doubts about her accepting him but she is so loving and caring towards him, they share water out the same bowl, drink together, eat together, even play on the same toy together, but i am not forcing them to do anything they dont want to, i know Kannika has been the one and only in our house and she is still "the boss", when he gets too forward with her she puts him on hes place but has not been nasty in any way towards him and he has already accepted that shes boss. I must say, i thought she would be irritated by him but surprisingly she is very tolerable and doesnt mind him around her or me and my bf at all, she doesnt even get jealous when we play with him alone coz she doesnt always want to play with and i respect that. So so far so good.

I just want to thank kiwani for hes concerns and i fully understand where he is coming from and i appriciate hes comments.
It is advice like that that i need from you guys and i always get it, so thanx.

At the moment they are sleeping. Hes at the sliding door and shes in the passage closest to me.

I am going to upload pics once i resize them so look out for them.

Doc says hes 7kg and very healthy, he had hes first shot and a micro chip put in at the same time as the exam on Saturday and he is such a good boy already and already he responds to hes name, which is Kaida by the way, meaning little dragon in japanese. I just had to pick a japanese name for him as kannika is japanese too.

Well thats it for now, ill keep you guys updated with my concerns and questions and ill add pics as he grows.

Love ya guys

[Coco Chow]

Congratulations! I am really happy for you!

[kiwani]

...I just want to thank kiwani for hes concerns and i fully understand where he is coming from and i appriciate hes comments.

Kiwani is a she, and I felt that you would get the pup anyway

Keep in mind that adult dogs allow pups a protective "grace period" of several weeks. It's similar to a parent/child relationship which helps the pup thrive - but once the pup's hormones start surging, their "grace period" relationship changes more towards adult/adult. This coincides with his "humping" phase and with the development of his adult male temperament as hormones start flowing.

All best wishes...

[deidre]

Oh my goodness, so soz kiwani was clearly under the wrong impression there

Thanx for that, had some idea of that phase already through puppy training classes that i did with nikka.

As i said before i will be present while he is growing in to a well mannered young man, hopefully, lol. And so when the shift takes place ill be ready and so will nikka as she is getting stronger by the day and i wouldnt have gotten her a little brother unless i was 100% satisfied that it would work, and so far my girl is making me so proud and he is a good boy. I just love watching them together and i can already see how much happier nikka is. And as for the playing, she is taking it easy and he already knows when enough is enough but i will keep watching things develop between them and if i need help i know you guys are there.

Im going to upload pics tonight as i dont know how to resize them but my bf does lol

Hope you are satisfied kiwani and just know that i love nikka very much and i would never put her at risk for selfish reasons, i have never had two dogs before as i thought i was always a one dog person but i like the change and so does nikka as i said before so i hope you feel more at ease with my decision.

[Auddymay]

Since Kannika will be in a healing mode for the next few months, you may consider getting baby gates to separate them from time to time. As a chowling, Lily was relentless at playing with Pip whether she wanted to, or not. We look forward to photos of your new addition.

[kiwani]

... i hope you feel more at ease with my decision.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over your decision, but *you* might I've raised enough male Chow pups to know what their adolescence phase is like Looking forward to your photos...

All best wishes for health and happiness