Newly adopted Chow Chow bites the finger of her owner

[andrea01]

The newly adopted chow chow that my boyfriend adopted is too hyper and playful. Recently, he bites Veronica while giving her some treats, we immediately rush her to the nearest hospital to attend to her medical needs. We've got Charlie from a close friend of ours, he has been staying with my boyfriend and his family for almost a month now and still they are having a hard time telling the dog to stop biting someone and that it is wrong. I actually told my boyfriend that he needs a lot of patience as the puppy tries to cope-up with the new environment that he is into. Now he just wants to give it back to Omar as fear tries to hunt him and her baby sister got traumatised about what happened.

I really want to help my boyfriend and at the same time keep the dog but he really is not in the mood to talk about it anymore.

[Tobi]

Hello andrea,
You might find some advice and help here:
http://www.dog-obedience-training-re...om-biting.html

There are many other sources online which have advice about puppy behaviour. I just chose a quick one.

It is natural for a puppy to bite. This is what is called "mouthing" and all pups do it. They are learning about the world and discovering by biting things. It's an important way of discovery for them.
When a puppy is with its littermates and mother, it soon learns the limits of biting. If it bites other puppies too hard, they will yelp, and so it senses not to do that so hard any more. It will learn to bite much softer (in play.) If they are taken from their littermates too young, they will carry on biting because they can't learn when to stop. That's why it's never a good idea to take a puppy from its mother/siblings before 9 weeks old at the earliest.

I truly do not feel there really is such a thing as an overly hyperactive puppy. They are all like that. Full of endless energy, and with no guidance about what the social rules are. So we have to learn about what to do, to guide them and be fair to them. And yes, this takes patience and a little knowledge.
Sometimes puppy training classes will help. Often a local vet's office will have "puppy socialisation groups" or at least may know of some training classes. This is just to guide all that puppy energy in the right direction, and socialise them properly with their own kind, and with humans.

You will have to be patient with this little one, and train him!

[meandray]

Hi Andrea. While our circumstances were rather different to yours, there are many areas with common solutions. Our situation involved adopting 75lbs of German Shepherd/Rotti, who had no social skills, clearly no house training, was fear aggressive, had startle response, did not like being touched, and used "bark and lunge" to resolve his issues. When 75lbs of GSD/Rotti lunges and barks at you... it certainly makes an impact.

Because our dog (Ray) had no prior training (he was a rescue) and no social skills (possibly removed from mother too early), and was afraid of anything that moved, he needed to be assured of many things... as does a puppy. However, whereas Ray had a poor perspective on the world, your puppy is developing his perspective. All dogs, like children, need to be taught where the boundaries are, and please keep in mind that it is generally accepted that a dog's mentality is similar to that of a 3 year old child. I found that comparison very helpful when trying to understand Ray.

Very briefly, we have had Ray with us for just over four years now and while he is not perfect (are any of us?), he has made incredible progress which I attribute to the following:
1. We tried hard to see the world from his perspective. It really does help.
2. We found what motivated him. Food!
3. We only used Positive Reinforcement Training.
4. We referred back to a dog training quote when a reprimand was necessary - "If you wouldn't do it to a 3yr old child, then perhaps you shouldn't be doing it to a dog!"
5. Neither puppies nor children become responsible adults over a week-end! Training is an ongoing responsibility and failing to put all the time necessary into training is unfair on the dog, and on the person that one day could be bitten.
6. Patience, Education, Patience, Education etc. All dog owners must be prepared to be a very patient with any dog. They must also be prepared to ask for advice rather than guess! We have been in constant dialogue with our Humane Society (where Ray came from) trainers. We used the services of a dog behaviorist, and have had Ray in training programs. He also had to wear a muzzle when we first got him but... today... he is a sweet-heart of a dog! :)

I hope it all works out well. I have often said that Ray's original owners have no idea what they missed out on by neglecting him. He is my first dog, and I love him dearly! :)

All the best. Colin

http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstor...or-Adoption%3F

[perriejinnie]

Hello Andrea, your chow chow is looking very cute in the picture. I know many chow chow dogs who are hyper and very active. But sometimes owner can find it very difficult to keep a pet which is very too aggressive. Owner has to give such pets behavior training from professional trainers.